Festival theme: Exit Human

The Conflux 2022 theme ‘Exit Human’ originated from the various questions that arise when thinking of humans and their relationship with the constant transformation within technology, ecology, society and space. During the conference thinkers, artists and performers reflect on this year's theme and explore radical new ideas on how the Post-Anthropocene will come into being. How will our bodies adapt? How will our senses evolve? Or are we bound to exit stage left and stop to exist.

With the rise of planetary-scale computational networks powered by artificially intelligent sensory systems, a posthuman machine infrastructure is progressively taking hold of the world. The archaic human-nature distinction is giving way to an entangled conception of human and nonhuman intelligences acting as agents of change on the interconnected global cybernetic landscape.

Biotechnological advancements, such as mRNA vaccines and CRISPR gene editing, increasingly blur the boundaries between computational and biological systems. The interplanetary expansion of human-robotic hybrids to neighboring planets and nearby asteroids and the looming possibility of space colonization furthermore consolidate our path to a post-anthropocenic future.

The question then arises: What role will humans play in this future? Are we bound to exit stage left or will we continue to adapt to our current cyborgian reality? Technofuturistic utopianism points us in the direction of an existence in which the borders between characteristics such as the race, gender, species or biochemistry of sentient beings become porous and malleable. The barriers between human and nonhuman agents will dissolve. Through technomaterialist and biotechnological efforts a multispecies ecology will emerge that is inclusive of different modes of knowing and being, such as the perception of scale and spacetime, patterns of information storage and retrieval, and structures of self-organization. This new ecology dispels traditional notions of identity and ushers in an alternative understanding of kinship and interconnectedness between humans, machines, nature, geology, and the universe.

Technoscientific imagination is the driving force behind the transformation from our present anthropocenic focus to a conception that takes the significance of the kinship between human and nonhuman agents into account. However, while on the surface technology seems to bring progress, we also have to consider the responsibilities it imposes and the likelihood of negative consequences from a technologically augmented future. The notion that all terrestrial and societal problems can be solved by techno-utopian thinking doesn’t seem realistic given that many current technological developments sow division instead of unity and growth. The accelerated expansion of technology and urbanization is leading to the mass extinction of species, the rapid proliferation of disinformation, and the growing inequality in wealth and resources. This will lead to further disruptions and distrust between and within societies, species and ecologies. Our ability to adapt is being stress-tested and we will have to search for alternative methods to successfully transform and reshape society under constant technological pressure.

Conflux festival’s four-day program will investigate the current state of the human race and its natural and technological environments. Through adventurous cultural and artistic practices, Conflux invites thinkers, artists, musicians, and creatives to collectively explore the relation between humans, technology, ecology, society, space, and the future.

Program 2022

  • Performances

    Conflux festival offers a variety of innovative experimental music, live audio visual performances and performance art. Experience a cross-section of internationally renowned artists hailing from the front lines of digital culture and adventurous music.

    The program invites the audience to enter abstract and digital worlds through numerous screen setups and analogue light spaces. By presenting genre-defying performances the artists within this program will put our senses to the test and explore the relation between live audio visual composition and the festival theme: 'Exit Human'.

    Artists
    Klara Lewis & Nik Colk Void + Pedro Maia
    Helm
    (visuals by Tatsuya Fujimoto)
    Flora Yin Wong
    Mark Fell & Will Guthrie
    Animistic Beliefs & Jeisson Drenth
    CACHE/SPIRIT
    Lichun Tseng & Robert Kroos
    Ebb and Flow
    Dadub & FAX
    Hypersynchronous
    Marco Donnarumma
    Corpus Nil
    Dylan Cote & Pierre Lafanechère
    Earthsatz
    Nikki Hock
    ISSIZ
    BJ Nilsen
    Acidic Male
    Pinar Demirdag and Sofia Crespo
    Panspermia
  • Exhibitions

    The exhibitions show artworks and installations that emerge at the intersection between science, art and technology. In some of the works, technology is being used to give us a dark glance on how our future could evolve. Other works experiment with new forms of sensory perception and strive to activate the imagination that arises when encountering abstract fields of light and sound. These installations explore the limits of our senses by using fast rotating mechanisms, stroboscopic light and multichannel speaker setups.

    Opening times exhibitions at V2_, UBIK and Slash Gallery:
    Thursday 19:00h - 22:00h, Friday till Sunday 14:00h - 21:00h

    Opening times exhibition at Plein 1940:
    Friday till Sunday 22:00h - 00:00h

    Artists
    Carla Chan
    Drifting Towards the Unknown
    Joanie Lemercier
    View From the Moon
    Marnix de Nijs
    AOR-200 Autonomous Oil Reserve
    Cocky Eek
    Void
    Macular
    Cylinders
    Mariska de Groot
    Hidden Patterns
    Marco Broeders
    The Open Loop
  • Club Nights

    In a time in which our societal freedom is heavily under discussion, a space for escapism becomes more and more important. Since the dawn of time humans felt the need to immerse into dance rituals where sound and the human body interact. Club culture caters for this need and provides a space where escapism, trance and full body immersion in sound and light relate to technology.

    Conflux explores the current state of electronic dance music by inviting a few of the most innovative electronic and techno-driven musicians and local talents who experiment with the boundaries of club culture and dance floor rituals. With these nights Conflux strives to push the limits of the sonic pallet, combining the worlds of nocturnal sound with mind-bending visual experiments.

    Artists
    Pessimist
    Umwelt
    Samuel Kerridge
    Unit Moebius
    Mad Miran
    Genyten
    RAFF
    Marsman
    Das Ding
    Rita Maomenos
    Zohar
    Slick Chick
    Ruwedata
    Inge K
    Blondewednesday
    Acidic Male
  • Conference

    Thinkers, artists and performers reflect on the festival theme: 'Exit Human'. Through lectures, talks, and discussions the conference will focus on the transformation of nature and society by reflecting on current social developments within art, technology, and science.

    We are slowly but surely moving towards the post-Anthropocene. How will humans adapt to the constant changing world around us? What changes will we see on both a global level and on a biological level?

    Artists
    Stefan Sorgner
    Lisanne Buik
    Matthew Fuller
    Geocinema Network
    Visual Methodologies Collective
    Roel Dobbe
    Marco Donnarumma
    Klara Lewis & Nik Colk Void + Pedro Maia
    Dylan Cote and Pierre Lafanechère
    Cocky Eek
    Pinar Demirdag
    Jeisson Drenth
    Lawrence Lek's Sinofuturism
    Lawrence Lek's Geomancer
    Lawrence Lek's AIDOL
    Eric Parren
    Holly Dicker
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