Meta.Morf X – FAEN ONLINE EXHIBITION: FY FAEN SÅ DIGITAL! / digital.faen.today / October  17 – 31, 2020 / Curator: Zane Cerpina / Online vernissage: Saturday, October 17 @ 19:00

Curatorial note by Zane Cerpina

FAEN (Female Artistic Experiments Norway): FY FAEN SÅ DIGITAL!
An online exhibition by four young female artists based in Norway transforms the Covid-19 canceled FAEN exhibition into an interactive and experimental online experience. In this third edition, the FAEN artists explore new creative ways to transform physical, living, interactive and tactile projects into digital works of art: the new standard format in times of the Covid-19.

Darknet spa meditation from your living room? Digital scenography made with your microbes? Algorithms making you a better lover? An immersive deep dive into our ancestral past and possible futures? FY FAEN SÅ DIGITAL! is the third group exhibition by four young female artists based in Norway: Anja Malec (HR/NO), Annike Flo (NO), Anne Cecilie Lie (NO), Unnur Andrea Einarsdóttir (IS/NO), curated by Zane Cerpina (LV/NO).

FAEN ONLINE EXHIBITION
FY FAEN SÅ DIGITAL! transforms the Covid-19 canceled FAEN exhibition into an interactive and experimental online experience. In this edition, the FAEN artists explore new creative ways to transform physical, living, interactive, and tactile projects into digital works of art: the new standard format in times of the Covid-19.

Many art installations are now impossible for the public to experience. Artworks in enclosed spaces, physical and intimate interactions, and group experiences don’t fit with the guidelines of social distancing and current health and safety regulations. The FAEN online exhibition takes on the challenge and explores the alternatives. 

How can physical and interactive artworks translate onto the screen? How to keep the performative, live aspect of works when put online? How to break out of the boundaries set by digital tools? What experimentation with these tools lead to new and playful discoveries? How can text, image, video, 360 videos, and live streaming be recombined with physical artworks in an innovative way? How to mix the digital with the physical in real-time?

The FAEN online exhibition is a result of an exploratory and experimental approach to tackle these exciting questions. The new edition of FAEN artworks experiments with new technologies and art dissemination methods for better art experiences online. 

EXHIBITED WORKS
Unnur Andrea Einarsdóttir’s The Darknet Spa is a guided meditation through anonymous internet browsing on the Dark Web. From the comfort of your own home, the participants are offered to leave their body and temporarily merge into the physical infrastructures of our global networks. 

Annike Flo’s  s h i f t   d i g i t a l  is a performative scenographic experiment reacting to the pandemic by tying together our digital lives with the microbes we share our bodies and spaces with. S h i f t   d i g i t a l   investigates how and where do we start to feel like metaorganisms? 

Anja Malec’s No Strings Attached: a profound doubt explores the heavy use of algorithms in self-help apps and softwares found online. The artwork plays with our mental state when caught up fighting for perfection in love-life. By offering a set of dysfunctional self-help tools, it haunts your dating life.

Anne Cecilie Lie’s Intersected Waterbodies is an online continuation of her artistic research project criticizing the deep-sea mining industry. The work investigates what real-life consequences the material and energy used to create this online artwork have on the already painfully excavated earth surfaces, seafloor and exploited labour.

FAEN ACADEMY
FAEN Online Exhibition is made by the FAEN Academy – a pilot project supporting the development of new artworks by young female artists working with experimental art in Norway. The FAEN Academy focuses on art productions from concept to exhibition-ready work in close collaboration with FAEN partners. 

The FAEN Academy is needed to give production and exhibition opportunities for young female artists working with cutting edge art and experimental artistic approaches. The FAEN Academy offers an interdisciplinary, supportive, and reflective environment for producing experimental art. It is for artists that address and challenge contemporary issues in society, politics, culture, and ecology: art that makes the audience question and reflect on the world through new, unique experiences and perspectives. 

ONLINE PROGRAM
FY FAEN SÅ DIGITAL! program includes a live-streamed vernissage and series of artist talks and virtual exhibition walkthroughs spanning over a period of two weeks. 

Online vernissage: 
Saturday, October 17 @ 19:00

Artist evening / Anne Cecilie Lie
October 20 @ 19:00 – 20:00

Artist evening / Unnur Andrea Einarsdóttir
October 22 @ 19:00 – 20:00

Artist evening / Anja Malec
October 27 @ 19:00 – 20:00

Artist evening / Annike Flo
October 29 @ 19:00 – 20:00

ORGANIZERS
FAEN Online Exhibition is organized and curated by Zane Cerpina / TEKS – Trondheim Electronic Arts Centre. The exhibition is kindly sponsored by Arts Council Norway.