NEW NOW -

FESTIVAL FOR DIGITAL ARTS

The Zollverein Foundation sets a new format for digital arts:

"Let's get phygital"

 27 August to 3 October 2021

Zeche Zollverein Schacht XII Foto: Jochen Tack

   © Stiftung Zollverein 

NEW NOW -

FESTIVAL FOR DIGITAL ARTS

The Zollverein Foundation sets a new format for digital arts: Let's get phygital

The festival for digital arts NEW NOW will take place for the first time at Zollverein in Essen from 27 August to 3 October 2021. For five weeks, the UNESCO World Heritage Site will be transformed into a temporary production centre for digital arts, connecting physical and digital space. Where coal was once mined, art is now being produced. Zollverein's industrial architecture with huge coal hoppers and concrete bunkers offers an incomparable spatial situation.

NEW NOW explores phenomena of our time and invites artists and the public to design and test new presences. The festival is an anchor project of the newly founded "Neue Künste Ruhr" initiative. With its moving industrial history, the Zollverein World Heritage Site offers the perfect location for a new culture of production and art. Not only is 'finished' art exhibited, but international artists are given space to develop new works during the festival. A large part of the works are created on site.

From 27 August to 17 September, ten international digital artists will work on new works in the mixing plant at the Zollverein coking plant. From 18 September to 3 October, an exhibition on site will then present the realised works and reflect on the artistic process.

For NEW NOW, media artist Christian Mio Loclair is digitally recreating the historic Zollverein building complex as an interactive and virtual exhibition and event space. Under the title "ZECHE", a unique "Art-in-Art-Experience" is being created, which will be accessible online worldwide during the festival. 

As a discursive part of NEW NOW, an international and interdisciplinary conference will take place at Zollverein from 18 to 19 September, at the end of the exhibition opening week. Under the title "Another End Is Possible", questions concerning the interplay between people, the environment and technology will be discussed. Another highlight will be the installation "Another Moon" by the Korean artist duo Kimchi and Chips as part of NEW NOW. From 18 September to 3 October, a second moon will appear in the sky above Zollverein - drawn with laser projectors and powered by solar energy. As a digital monument, "Another Moon" celebrates the end of the coal era and will be visible from all over Essen at night when the sky is clear.

THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JASMIN GRIMM

Jasmin Grimm designs experimental formats for digital arts and artistic research. Since spring 2021, she is also the artistic director of the Zollverein Foundation with a focus on digital arts.

By G. 7. August 2021

NEW NOW is a project of the Zollverein Foundation.

newnow-festival.com

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Kimchi and Chips Another Moon- Sketch of artwork idea Courtesy Kimchi and Chips