IGUMO hosted the demo version of the Days of Contemporary Art (DOCA) international festival. Using contemporary art methods, the artists studied the influence of the hi-tech future on humanity and an artist’s place in the new digital reality. 

DOCA Demo: Preview of DOCA 2021 

 

This year, the organisers tested the demo format for the first time. DOCA 2020 as a demo version was a preview for a full-scale festival scheduled for April 2021. That format was chosen because of restrictions on exhibition space during the pandemic.

Not Now Yet: The Future Through Science Art

 

‘Not Now Yet’, this year’s topic of DOCA, is closely related to the field of science art. That sphere goes beyond the art world turning to science and technologies. At DOCA Demo, the authors explore the impact of the technological future on humanity in general and the artist in particular. 

Video art, performances, and installations make it possible to study the consequences of cyborgization, the relationship between the present and the future, digital reality, the relationship of people with inhuman agents, the role of the artist in the hi-tech future, and the transformation of public consciousness under the influence of the pandemic.

The exhibition programme of DOCA Demo brought together artists from different regions of Russia: Ilya Fedotov-Fyodorov, Olya Kroytor, Varenye Organizm, Olya Remneva, Ivan Petrokovich, Alisa Gorshenina, Ekaterina Malakhova, Ekaterina Popovich, Denis Uranov, Evgenia Malysheva, Dmitry Morozov ::vtol:::, and Anastasia Kovaleva. 

International authors such as Yinglin Zhou and Jane Hwang also took part in the event.

DOCA Demo introduced an interactive system of evaluation of the projects. Thus, the viewer was an integral part of the festival and could influence future events.  

Student Projects at DOCA Demo

 

DOCA Demo became the platform for creative fulfilment of students of the Faculties of Design and Photography as beginning authors. They presented two projects on equal footing with professional artists. The two projects of students were created under the guidance of Elizaveta Zemlyanova, Curator of the Faculties of Design and Photography. 

The installation titled Thumbelina demonstrates the view on the appearance of people and fashion of the future. The students study modifications that the human body can experience influenced by digital technologies. They reflect on the development of artificial organs and the opportunity for people to choose their appearance through virtual reality tools.  

The students depicted the desire to combine gadgets through the image of the chip, which will be implanted into the wrist of each person.

‘A Brief History’ installation presents a guide to the future for familiar objects and makes it possible for us to create the ‘Museology of the Future’. 

According to the authors, the objects that humanity has used for many centuries may become unexplainable artefacts in the future. One thousand years later, a person discovering a thing from the past may invent its new purpose and new functions.

Educational and Music Programmes at DOCA Demo

 

DOCA Demo hosted workshops and intensive courses by renowned modern artists. The topics of the role of the artist of the future and the transformation of artistic processes united them. Dmitry Morozov ::vtol::, Ilya Fedotov-Fyodorov, and Varenye Organizm art collective took part in the educational programme.

Participants of the performance studio of Olya Kroytor also showed their works within the festival. The format of the workshops is habitual; for DOCA. It makes it possible for beginners to gain experience of working with famous representatives of the art community and to implement their own projects.

DJ Sonya Tarasova and DJ Dima Midborn presented their original playlists as part of DOCA’s music programme.  

Volunteers as an Integral Part of DOCA

 

IGUMO students, traditional volunteers of the festival, were responsible for creating a comfortable and friendly atmosphere at DOCA. They met guests at the very entrance and helped them understand the works presented by the artists. This year, DOCA demo was accompanied by 20 volunteers whose work echoed greatly in the hearts of the festival’s guests.

Thanks to the exhibition, educational and music programmes, the demo version of the Days of Contemporary Art festival was none the worse than the usual format of the festival. It set the start for a more conscious conversation about the future and the role of the artist in it. The full-scale DOCA festival scheduled for April 2021 will become the platform for that research. 

Kristina Danilina, Agency for Relevant Communication students’ business incubator

Translated by Nikolay Gavrilov

30.10.2020
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