[ 19. Oktober 2015 ]

CALL – BALANCE-UNBALANCE conference 2016 @ Colombia – deadline for submissions: OCT. 31 – theme: data science + eco action

Subject:BALANCE-UNBALANCE conference 2016 @ Colombia –

deadline for submissions: OCT. 31 – theme: data science + eco action

From: Ricardo Dal Farra

University of Caldas – Manizales, Colombia

http://www.balance-unbalance2016.org

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Balance-Unbalance (BunB) is an International Conference designed to use

ART as a catalyst to explore intersections between NATURE, SCIENCE,

TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY as we move into an era of both unprecedented

ecological threats and transdisciplinary possibilities.

The Balance-Unbalance conference will bring artists together with

scientists, economists, philosophers, politicians, management and policy

experts, sociologists and engineers from across the world with the

intent of engendering a deeper awareness and creating lasting

intellectual working partnerships in solving our global environmental

crisis.

“We are living in a world reaching a critical point where the

equilibrium between a healthy environment, the energy our society needs

to maintain or improve this lifestyle and the interconnected economies

could pass more quickly than expected from the current complex balance

to a complete new reality where unbalance would be the rule and human

beings would need to be as creative as never before to survive.

Environmental problems, economic uncertainty and political complexity

have been around for a long time. What was different before was the

speed and depth of transformations compared with today’s sudden changes.

The frequent occurrence and severity that certain weather and

climate-related events are having around us is increasing, and the

ability of human beings on modifying adjacent surroundings as well as

distant places have turn into a power capable of altering the planet

[…] The arts could play a major part in helping the global society to

understand the magnitude of the crisis we are facing, and in promoting

the awareness around environmental matters. it could also be a very good

vehicle to disseminate proposals able produce changes in our behavior

and decisions, influencing our chances for the future. Artists could

promote inter and transdisciplinary actions focusing on our

responsibility regarding the turning point we are living in defining the

future of -human- life on Earth.” (Dr. Ricardo Dal Farra,

/Balance-Unbalance/ founder).

The theme for BunB 2016 is „/Data Science + Eco Action/”.

How can we extract knowledge from large volumes of environmental and

related data? How that can be used in benefit of the human society? What

should we change in our thinking and in our behaviour? Individual vs

community vs global: What matters? Why big or complex data is so

relevant to our daily life? How the capture, analysis, curation,

sharing, storage… and control of large data could rapidly change our

world? What positive sides does it have? What not so positive, and even

risks does it have? What data science has to do with humanitarian

organizations? And with electronic art?

We want to inspire explorations of how artists can participate in this

major challenge of our ecological crisis. We need to use creative tools

and transdisciplinary action to create perceptual, intellectual and

pragmatic changes. We want to discuss our proposals for the future from

a diversity of cultural perspectives and socio-economic situations with

open minds.

The 5th edition of the BunB conference will be held from May 9 to 11 of

2016 in Manizales, Colombia. It will be produced by the Department of

Visual Design of the University of Caldas, with support of the

International Image Festival.

Balance-Unbalance is seeking for papers, transdisciplinary workshops,

artistic activities and exhibitions, posters and panels considering to

propose, analyze and discuss specific projects and actions that could

help us to face the serious environmental crisis. BunB 2016 is also open

to host a diversity of virtual components allowing global accessibility

and significantly reducing the carbon footprint of a major international

conference.

The official language of the event will be English but Spanish

submissions are accepted. Keynotes and paper (oral) presentations in

Spanish will be -simultaneously- translated to English. Workshops won’t

be translated.

Deadline for submissions: October 31, 2015 (midnight, Colombia’s time)

Submission categories (there is only one template for all categories;

you should adapt it as indicated) :

Papers (4-8 pages)

Posters (2-3 pages)

Panels (2-3 pages)

Artistic works (2-3 pages). Be sure to indicate the title of your

project; if you are proposing a live performance, a presentation

using fixed-media support or a work to be exhibited; duration, if it

applies; a full detailed description of your technical needs,

including what will you be providing and what are you expecting the

organisation to provide; links to your online CV and your web site;

and 3 links to online samples of your previously created artistic

work, hosted in a non-expiring URL – please, DO NOT send your

material using wetransfer or any similar application, and DO NOT

send your reference material by email – only submit the links with

your submission.

Transdisciplinary workshops (2-3 pages). This is an open format

area of the conference to propose any kind of transdisciplinary

activities up to a maximum duration of 90 minutes.

Virtual projects (2-3 pages). Virtual projects such as websites,

interactive installations and transdisciplinary documentation

related to the theme of the conference will be considered for

inclusion in our virtual program and onsite virtual showcase.

Successful artists may be required to participate in a Skype forum

(or interaction using another online platform) during the virtual

projects showcase.

In addition, a selection from accepted papers will be invited to publish

in the /Leonardo/journal under a special section devoted to

Balance-Unbalance.

Submissions will be only accepted via EasyChair

(https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=bunb2016). Templatesfor

submissions are available for downloading here

.

Please, make sure you select the correct submission category (paper,

poster, panel, artistic work, transdisciplinary workshop or virtual

project). Submissions will be peer-reviewed. All submissions in Spanish

must also include an abstract in English.

The proposals must be oriented to the goal of this conference. Only

submissions clearly focused to that end will be considered.Please note

that Balance-Unbalance is not able to provide funding support for travel

or lodging, or fees for the presentations.

Previous Balance-Unbalance editions:

BunB 2010 – Buenos Aires, Argentina:

http://www.ceiarteuntref.edu.ar/eq-deseq

BunB 2011 – Montreal, Canada: http://balance-unbalance2011.hexagram.ca

BunB 2013 – Noosa, Australia: http://www.balance-unbalance2013.org

BunB 2015 – Arizona, United States:

http://www.balance-unbalance2015.org

Please direct any questions about submissions to:

submissions(dot)bunb2016(at)gmail.com

Balance-Unbalance 2016 website – Manizales, Colombia:

http://www.balance-unbalance2016.org

Balance-Unbalance 2016 Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/balanceunbalance

Balance-Unbalance 2016 organizing team_:

Dr. Ricardo Dal Farra. Director, Balance-Unbalance Conference

Dr. Felipe C. Londoño. Director, International Image Festival

Dr. Adriana Gómez. Academic program co-chair

Dr. G. Mauricio Mejía. Academic program co-chair

Dr. Walter Castañeda. Artistic works program chair

Dr. Leah Barclay. Virtual projects chair

Liliana Villescas. Transdisciplinary workshops chair

Carlos A. Escobar. Keynotes program chair

Artistic / Academic Review Committee_:

Dr. Pau Alsina/(philosopher; director Artnodes Journal; professor, Open
University of Catalonia – Spain)/

Pat Badani/(artist, writer; editor-in-chief, Media-N journal –

Canada/Argentina)/

Dr. Leah Barclay/(composer, sound artist, producer; Biosphere

Soundscapes – Australia)/

Mónica Bello/ (curator; Head of Arts@CERN – Spain/Switzerland)/

CEIArtE-UNTREF/(Natalia Pajariño and Bernardo Piñero, artists; National

U. of Tres de Febrero – Argentina)/

Joel Chadabe/(composer, author, educator; founder of Ear to the Earth –

USA)/

Ian Clothier/(artist; professor, Western Institute of Technology;

director of Intercreate – New Zealand)/

Nina Czegledy/(curator, artist; co-founder SCANZ – Canada/Hungary)/

Dr. Ricardo Dal Farra/(composer, artist; professor at Concordia

University – Canada/Argentina)/

Peter d’Agostino/(artist, World-Wide-Walks; professor, Temple

University, Philadelphia – USA )/

Dr. Frank Ekeberg/(sound artist; curator Meta.Morf/Trondheim Electronic

Art Centre – Norway/USA)/

Dr. Tony Fry/(philosopher, cultural theorist; professor of Design

Futures at Griffith University – Australia)/

Dr. Diego Golombek/(biologist, science communicator; National Univ. of

Quilmes / CONICET – Argentina)/

Dr. Ramón Guardans/(Scientific advisor, UN’s Global Monitoring Plan on

Organic Pollutants – Spain)/

Land Art Generator Initiative/(architect Robert Ferry & artist Elizabeth

Monoian, co-founders LAGI – USA)/

Eric Leonardson/(composer, artist; president of the World Forum for

Acoustic Ecology – USA)/

Dr. Felipe César Londoño/(architect, author, curator; President,

University of Caldas – Colombia)/

Dr. Rob Mackay/(composer, sound artist, flutist; University of Hull – UK)/

Dr. Roger Malina/(astrophysicist; professor, University of Texas at

Dallas; executive editor, Leonardo – USA)/

Olga Mink/(artist, curator; managing director of Baltan Laboratories –

The Netherlands)/

Dr. Anne Nigten/(founder, The Patching Zone; prof. Rotterdam Univ. of

Applied Sciences – The Netherlands)/

Dr. Raúl Niño Bernal/(aesthetics, political science; professor,

Pontificia Universidad Javeriana – Colombia)/

Santiago Ortiz/(mathematician, data scientist; director of Moebio Labs

– Colombia/USA)/

Mike Phillips/(director of i-DAT; principal supervisor, Planetary

Collegium; prof. Plymouth University – UK)/

Dr. David Rothenberg/(musician, composer, author, philosopher-naturalist

– USA)/

Dr. Peter Stoett/(global ecopolitics; Loyola Sustainability Research

Centre, Concordia Univ. – Canada)/

Eugenio Tiselli/(digital artist, systems engineer, researcher; Golden

Nica, Ars Electronica. – Mexico)/

Michel van Dartel/(curator; Hanze Univ. of Applied Science; CODARTS

Univ. for the Arts – The Netherlands)/

Wim van der Plas/(formerly, Utrecht Univ. of Applied Sciences;

co-founder ISEA – The Netherlands)/

… this list will be updated in the following weeks.