Christl Baur

Neither naive escapism into virtual worlds, nor the technological ultra-topia of space colonization will save us from facing the big, uncomfortable questions. How will our life on this planet have to look to prevent ecological super disaster? What actions must we take and what consequences must we accept? How much persuasion, how much effort, how much pressure, how much coercion will be necessary, and what “collateral damage” will be involved?

We have been teetering on the edge for decades, knowing what is going to come, but choosing to largely ignore it. The Japanese term “GiriGiri” describes this dangerous but thrilling feeling of living on the edge.

We don’t have a planet B, and science nor art can solve our problem. Science can point at it while art and artists, through their work, have the ability to open a space of “art” thinking. This might be our chance for change as change is required when there is no way out. Through artists we can explore the possibilities of our futures.

Expanding the program open to the public, the CCCB, the epicenter of the International Symposium on Electronic Arts (ISEA2022 Barcelona) host four keynote speeches at its Theater by leading figures in their respective fields: Olga Goriunova, academic and curator in the fields of digital arts and cultures; Joan Fontcuberta, internationally renowned photographer and conceptual artist; Christl Baur, head of the prestigious Ars Electronica Festival; and Ricard Solé, expert in complex systems analysis and synthetic biology.