Art & Technology Symposium

Convene with a selection of artists from UBC’s latest SCI_ART cohort for a series of demonstrations and discussions exploring contemporary art and research situated within the context of climate change. SCI_ART is a science-based art initiative that positions artistic practice as a form of research capable of engaging with environmental transformation through critical inquiry, experimentation, and public activation.

Moderator:

Dr. Megan Smith is a new media artist, designer, and UBC 2022 Killam Laureate. Her practice-based research probes systems for delivering syndicated data through narrative structure. She works with scientific data, AI, and virtual and augmented reality, geo-location, live-feed installation, and performance as storytelling methods.

Panel:

Ernst Logar is an interdisciplinary artist based in Vienna Austria who has been working with photography, film, video, sound, and installations since 1995. In his work, he addresses existing power structures and historical, sociocultural, and ecological phenomena. Logar joins SCI_ART after returning to the Athabasca River to continue his work Reflecting Oil.

Sylvia Grace Borda is a media arts practitioner working at the intersection of regenerative contemporary art and public engagement for over a decade. Her artwork explores climate, place, space, and community narrative. She has been recognized by the Mozilla Foundation, Lumen Prize, and exhibited at the 2026 Venice Biennale.

Carlo De Gaetano is an artist-researcher and information designer working with the Visual Methodologies Collective at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. In his artistic research, De Gaetano uses fiction as a method to spark reflection and dialogue about our interconnectedness with more-than-human worlds.

Welcome Art & Technology Artist in Residence, Ben Bogart, as they present the culmination of their work for the past 6 months.

Ben Bogart (they/them) is a neurodivergent, non-binary, agender, adisciplinary artist with 25 years of experience working with generative computational processes. Their practice draws on physical modelling, chaotic equations, feedback systems, evolutionary algorithms, computer vision, and machine learning, and is informed by fields such as quantum physics and cognitive neuroscience.

Ben’s work has been presented at galleries and institutions around the world, with notable involvement at the Quantum Information Center Sorbonne, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Montalvo Arts Centre.

Join artist Pawel Janicki for a workshop on how to create interactive art on the web. The Miniatures are simultaneously records of cultural concepts and their implementation in the form of interactive media artworks. The core premise of working with Miniatures is that they enable anyone to seamlessly enter the world of interactive art, ranging from simply launching and experimenting with selected miniatures on a mobile device or computer by modifying and hacking them to create one’s own works.

Pawel Janicki draws mainly on the achievements of music, contemporary and media art and posthumanist practice. Drawing from historical and current contexts, he engages a wide spectrum of techniques, approaches and protocols. He creates works using synthetic senses, programming techniques and elements of space and material engineering. 

MOVE37XR (M37) is an evolving Indigenous and Indo-Canadian led non-profit creative studio and emerging media research lab. Gather for an artist panel celebrating Indigenous media and futurism. Indigenous artist Joshua Conrad will be joined by fellow Indigenous artists at different stages of their careers to discuss their artistic practices, mentorship and how they define media art.

Moderator:

Natalia Lebedinskaia is an independent curator, writer, and cultural consultant based in Vancouver, BC. Her practice emphasizes deep relationship-building, reciprocity, and collaboration, often positioning her as a bridge between cultures and contexts. She is part of the core team at the MOVE37XR collective, curating immersive media projects, including the Indigenomics IMPACT conference.

Panel:

Joshua Conrad is a Stó:lō multi-disciplinary Digital artist, Art Director, and founder of Slow Studies Creative. His work spans from 3D augmented reality illustrations to public art installations. Using vibrant colours, shapes and movement, he creates inviting spaces of meaning and stories. He is a contributing artist and mentor at the MOVE37XR collective.