Synthetika

Unlike Hegel, who called the set of ideas of a given era the “spirit of the times” (Zeitgeist), we could call our era “Zeitsynthetik” (the time of the synthetic). In the classical period, art was inseparable from religion, whose essence was spirituality; in modernity, spirituality was replaced by the ideologies of grand narratives (capitalism and socialism). The classical arts invented poetics and aesthetics: the beautiful and the sublime. Modern art invented the avant-garde that proposed to be revolutionary, its driving force was the dialectic of the new without the old, and on the other hand, postmodernists mixed everything with everything, including the old with the new. Today we live in the era of synthetic technologies, the era of disruptive technologies. In which the new of modernity is no longer sufficient or surprising. Syntheticity is the new vector: synthetic algorithms; synthetic virtual realities; synthetic intelligences. The driving force behind synthetic art is: 1) the fusion of new art and technological innovation, and 2) the inter-creativity between the artist and artificial creativity. Prompt engineers strategically simulate personas for AIs in order to move away from triviality and thus obtain more creative results. Synthetic intelligences are no longer just instruments, but partners of artists in the construction of a creative and innovative symbiosis.

Art and culture are going through a moment in which creativity ceases to be just human, it becomes artificial; syntheticity thus prospects a post-culture, a new FORM: the form SYNTHETIKA.

Ricardo Barreto

Curator and co-founder of FILE

Electronic Language International Festival

Plant Growth Dreams

Silvia Ruzanka

FILE São Paulo 2025 | LED Show
Festival Internacional de Linguagem Eletrônica

Plant Growth Dreams – Estados Unidos

Plant-being (ser-planta) é um estado de crescimento perpétuo — de estender-se para baixo e para fora, atravessando fronteiras. A computação especulativa inspirada no pensamento vegetal envolve extensão e mistura, operando não por limites rígidos como os portões da lógica, mas por continuidades. A animação usa time-lapse e redes de difusão treinadas com plantas e eletrônicos, formando um sonho especulativo de híbridos vegetal-eletrônicos.

BIO

Silvia Ruzanka é artista e filósofa, atuando com animação, realidade virtual, instalações interativas e jogos experimentais. Seu trabalho foi exibido em festivais, galerias e museus internacionais. É professora assistente no Departamento de Artes e no programa de Artes de Jogos e Simulação do Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, em Troy, Nova York.

XENO: UNDERTOW

Hsujing

FILE São Paulo 2025 | Videoart
Festival Internacional de Linguagem Eletrônica

XENO: UNDERTOW – China e Inglaterra

XENO: UNDERTOW é um curta-metragem experimental que utiliza narração em fluxo de consciência e arte visual surreal gerada por IA para explorar os conflitos de identidade e a turbulência interior vivida por migrantes interculturais na sociedade. Por meio da metáfora, o filme retrata uma baleia arrancada à força do imenso mar azul e lançada em um deserto de areias em constante movimento. Essa imagem simboliza os desafios enfrentados por migrantes culturais ao tentar se adaptar às culturas dominantes, bem como o profundo sentimento de perda de identidade.

BIO

Hsujing é um artista contemporâneo, artista digital e diretor. Sua pesquisa concentra-se principalmente na integração entre tecnologia e arte, além de produções criativas especulativas. É habilidoso na combinação de técnicas diversas para criação artística. Seus trabalhos fundem elementos do classicismo com a ficção científica, imaginando paisagens futuras ao mesmo tempo em que revelam realidades persistentes.

Spiral of Time — Amazonas Brazil — UFAM

Edwin van der Heide

Interact with Spiral of Time — Amazonas Brazil — UFAM via FILE ARCHIVE

FILE São Paulo 2025 | Instalações
Festival Internacional de Linguagem Eletrônica

Spiral of Time — Amazonas Brazil — UFAM – Holanda

Spiral of Time captura e encena a paisagem sonora diversa de um local específico ao longo de vários anos. Ao documentar as dinâmicas naturais, culturais, espaciais e temporais únicas de um lugar, a obra homenageia as contribuições de todos os seus atores. A cada hora, é feita uma gravação de um minuto, resultando em um vasto arquivo sonoro ao longo do tempo. Ele é acessível online por meio de uma interface em forma de espiral, permitindo aos ouvintes explorar os padrões cíclicos revelados ao navegar pelo material em diferentes intervalos de tempo.

Desde 17 de julho de 2024, o artista tem gravado os sons da praça em frente ao MACBA (Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Barcelona). Trata-se de um espaço urbano muito interessante, diverso e vibrante. A obra está acessível online por meio do site https://www.macba.cat/en/spiral-of-time-placa-dels-angels/ e será também apresentada fisicamente no museu a partir de 10 de julho de 2025.

Edwin está expandindo o projeto para incluir outros locais de gravação ao redor do mundo — não apenas em contextos urbanos (dominados pelos humanos), mas também em áreas regidas pela natureza. O artista dedicou-se a um local de gravação na região amazônica. Desde 11 de fevereiro de 2025, Spiral of Time está instalado na Floresta Amazônica ao redor da UFAM (Universidade Federal do Amazonas), em Manaus. Trata-se de um dos maiores fragmentos de floresta urbana do mundo. Completamente cercada pela densa malha urbana de Manaus, essa floresta encontra-se isolada desde o final da década de 1980. Ela conserva características ecológicas ricas, incluindo áreas de floresta madura de terra firme, vegetação secundária em estágio avançado e pequenos trechos de campinarana (floresta de areia branca). Esse ambiente único oferece uma rara oportunidade para estudar as dinâmicas de uma floresta tropical dentro de um contexto metropolitano. Spiral of Time – UFAM imerge os ouvintes na vida acústica de um dos ecossistemas mais biodiversos do planeta. Esse contraste entre os ritmos naturais da floresta e os padrões artificiais da cidade enriquece a narrativa mais ampla de Spiral of Time, oferecendo uma reflexão mais profunda sobre coexistência, mudança e continuidade em diferentes ambientes.

BIO

Edwin van der Heide é artista, compositor e pesquisador com foco em som, espaço e interação. Seu trabalho expande os limites da composição musical em direções espaciais, interativas e interdisciplinares. Ele cria instalações, performances e ambientes imersivos onde o público é colocado no centro, incentivado a se envolver de forma sensorial e investigativa.

QUBIT AI | quantum & synthetic ai
Electronic Language International Festival

July 3rd to August 25th
Tuesday to Sunday, 10am – 8pm
FIESP Cultural Center

Design: André Lenz
Image: Iskarioto Dystopian AI Films – Athena

QUBIT AI

In its 25 years of existence, the International Electronic Language Festival (FILE) is an internationally renowned Brazilian project that since 2000 has explored the intersection between art and technology. With more than two decades of history, the festival stands out for fostering exhibition spaces and debate about artistic innovations driven by disruptive and innovative technologies, inviting the public to get involved with experimental forms of art that challenge the boundaries of conventionality. Currently, two of these technologies stand out in the contemporary scenario: the accelerated development of quantum computing and artificial intelligence corroborated by synthetic data.

Quantum computing, an emerging revolution in the technological field, offers a new range of creative possibilities for contemporary artists. This new era allows the exploration of unprecedented frontiers through a new computational format that consists mainly of quantum superposition and entanglement, a new field of exploration for synthetic computer science, as well as for the arts in general; on the other hand, artificial intelligence, fueled by synthetic data, offers artists a new way of making and understanding art, opening up space for new forms, concepts and artistic expressions.

Entitled QUBIT AI, the exhibition delves into this unexplored territory presenting a selection of works of art resulting from the connection between artistic creation and technology, proposing a theoretical reflection on what the interrelationship between quantum computers and synthetic artificial intelligence will be.

Visitors will be invited to experience immersive installations, experimental videos, digital sculptures and other forms of interactive art, which intertwine reality and imagination. The exhibition encourages reflections on the influence of technology on art and contemporary society, while at the same time providing an environment to compare already established technological arts (analog and digital) with the possible futures of art in the synthetic era, enhanced by quantum computing. The QUBIT AI exhibition at FILE SP 2024 transcends the mere presentation of works of art; it is a journey to the limits of human creativity, driven by the convergence of art, science and technology.

Ricardo Barreto and Paula Perissinotto
co-organizers and curators of FILE
International Electronic Language Festival

FILE 2024

QUBIT AI | quantum & synthetic ai
Electronic Language International Festival
July 3rd to August 25th
Tuesday to Sunday, 10am – 8pm
FIESP Cultural Center

Design: André Lenz
Image: Iskarioto Dystopian AI Films – Athena

QUBIT AI

In its 25 years of existence, the International Electronic Language Festival (FILE) is an internationally renowned Brazilian project that since 2000 has explored the intersection between art and technology. With more than two decades of history, the festival stands out for fostering exhibition spaces and debate about artistic innovations driven by disruptive and innovative technologies, inviting the public to get involved with experimental forms of art that challenge the boundaries of conventionality. Currently, two of these technologies stand out in the contemporary scenario: the accelerated development of quantum computing and artificial intelligence corroborated by synthetic data.

Quantum computing, an emerging revolution in the technological field, offers a new range of creative possibilities for contemporary artists. This new era allows the exploration of unprecedented frontiers through a new computational format that consists mainly of quantum superposition and entanglement, a new field of exploration for synthetic computer science, as well as for the arts in general; on the other hand, artificial intelligence, fueled by synthetic data, offers artists a new way of making and understanding art, opening up space for new forms, concepts and artistic expressions.

Entitled QUBIT AI, the exhibition delves into this unexplored territory presenting a selection of works of art resulting from the connection between artistic creation and technology, proposing a theoretical reflection on what the interrelationship between quantum computers and synthetic artificial intelligence will be.

Visitors will be invited to experience immersive installations, experimental videos, digital sculptures and other forms of interactive art, which intertwine reality and imagination. The exhibition encourages reflections on the influence of technology on art and contemporary society, while at the same time providing an environment to compare already established technological arts (analog and digital) with the possible futures of art in the synthetic era, enhanced by quantum computing. The QUBIT AI exhibition at FILE SP 2024 transcends the mere presentation of works of art; it is a journey to the limits of human creativity, driven by the convergence of art, science and technology.

Ricardo Barreto and Paula Perissinotto
co-organizers and curators of FILE
International Electronic Language Festival

FILE 2024

QUBIT AI | quantum & synthetic ai
Electronic Language International Festival
July 3rd to August 25th
Tuesday to Sunday, 10am – 8pm
FIESP Cultural Center

Design: André Lenz
Image: Iskarioto Dystopian AI Films – Athena

QUBIT AI

In its 25 years of existence, the International Electronic Language Festival (FILE) is an internationally renowned Brazilian project that since 2000 has explored the intersection between art and technology. With more than two decades of history, the festival stands out for fostering exhibition spaces and debate about artistic innovations driven by disruptive and innovative technologies, inviting the public to get involved with experimental forms of art that challenge the boundaries of conventionality. Currently, two of these technologies stand out in the contemporary scenario: the accelerated development of quantum computing and artificial intelligence corroborated by synthetic data.

Quantum computing, an emerging revolution in the technological field, offers a new range of creative possibilities for contemporary artists. This new era allows the exploration of unprecedented frontiers through a new computational format that consists mainly of quantum superposition and entanglement, a new field of exploration for synthetic computer science, as well as for the arts in general; on the other hand, artificial intelligence, fueled by synthetic data, offers artists a new way of making and understanding art, opening up space for new forms, concepts and artistic expressions.

Entitled QUBIT AI, the exhibition delves into this unexplored territory presenting a selection of works of art resulting from the connection between artistic creation and technology, proposing a theoretical reflection on what the interrelationship between quantum computers and synthetic artificial intelligence will be.

Visitors will be invited to experience immersive installations, experimental videos, digital sculptures and other forms of interactive art, which intertwine reality and imagination. The exhibition encourages reflections on the influence of technology on art and contemporary society, while at the same time providing an environment to compare already established technological arts (analog and digital) with the possible futures of art in the synthetic era, enhanced by quantum computing. The QUBIT AI exhibition at FILE SP 2024 transcends the mere presentation of works of art; it is a journey to the limits of human creativity, driven by the convergence of art, science and technology.

Ricardo Barreto and Paula Perissinotto
co-organizers and curators of FILE
International Electronic Language Festival

FILE 2024

QUBIT AI | quantum & synthetic ai
Electronic Language International Festival
July 3rd to August 25th
Tuesday to Sunday, 10am – 8pm
FIESP Cultural Center

Design: André Lenz
Image: Iskarioto Dystopian AI Films – Athena

QUBIT AI

In its 25 years of existence, the International Electronic Language Festival (FILE) is an internationally renowned Brazilian project that since 2000 has explored the intersection between art and technology. With more than two decades of history, the festival stands out for fostering exhibition spaces and debate about artistic innovations driven by disruptive and innovative technologies, inviting the public to get involved with experimental forms of art that challenge the boundaries of conventionality. Currently, two of these technologies stand out in the contemporary scenario: the accelerated development of quantum computing and artificial intelligence corroborated by synthetic data.

Quantum computing, an emerging revolution in the technological field, offers a new range of creative possibilities for contemporary artists. This new era allows the exploration of unprecedented frontiers through a new computational format that consists mainly of quantum superposition and entanglement, a new field of exploration for synthetic computer science, as well as for the arts in general; on the other hand, artificial intelligence, fueled by synthetic data, offers artists a new way of making and understanding art, opening up space for new forms, concepts and artistic expressions.

Entitled QUBIT AI, the exhibition delves into this unexplored territory presenting a selection of works of art resulting from the connection between artistic creation and technology, proposing a theoretical reflection on what the interrelationship between quantum computers and synthetic artificial intelligence will be.

Visitors will be invited to experience immersive installations, experimental videos, digital sculptures and other forms of interactive art, which intertwine reality and imagination. The exhibition encourages reflections on the influence of technology on art and contemporary society, while at the same time providing an environment to compare already established technological arts (analog and digital) with the possible futures of art in the synthetic era, enhanced by quantum computing. The QUBIT AI exhibition at FILE SP 2024 transcends the mere presentation of works of art; it is a journey to the limits of human creativity, driven by the convergence of art, science and technology.

Ricardo Barreto and Paula Perissinotto
co-organizers and curators of FILE
International Electronic Language Festival

Paradoxal Sleep
File Festival
O projeto “Paradoxal Sleep” integra uma série de obras na qual grandes cubos robotizados, medindo 2,25 m3, funcionam como estruturas flutuantes usadas como plataformas para vários projetos multimídia e performances. No FILE 2012, a equipe da NXI GESTATIO apresentará um único cubo que irá se mover nos espaços expositivos. O cubo reajustará constantemente sua posição medindo a distância entre as paredes ao redor.

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The “Paradoxal Sleep” project integrates a series of works in which large robotic cubes, measuring 2.25 m3, function as floating structures used as platforms for various multimedia projects and performances. At FILE 2012, the NXI GESTATIO team will present a single cube that will move in the exhibition spaces. The cube will constantly readjust its position by measuring the distance between the surrounding walls.

RAIN PART I – THE OWL – KYBDslöjd
“We live in a time where hardware and software become obsolete even before we have learned how to use them. KYBDslöjd is a brutalist storytelling about technology and keystrokes using Commodore 64 computer, Teletext System, and typewriters. These technologies are not souvenirs from the past. They are hard-won knowledge.”more…

퐁 치 웨이

‘Time is a Dimension’

The beauty of photography, in its essence, is conveyed by capturing a moment in time and freezing it out of its context. Singapore-based photographer Fong Qi Wei, however, uses photography to show the passage of time. In his time lapse series called ‘Time is a Dimension’, Fong doesn’t use a typical long exposure trick. He captures the passing time by layering different photos of the same spot with clear edge lines of each frame. Each collage is digitally cut and created from pictures Fong takes within 2 to to 4 hours. Fong usually works at sunrise or sunset, as the light and color palettes are most varied at those times.
“The basic structure of a landscape is present in every piece. But each panel or concentric layer shows a different slice of time, which is related to the adjacent panel/layer. The transition from daytime to night is gradual and noticeable in every piece, but would not be something you expect to see in a still image. Similarly, our experience of a scene is more than a snapshot,” explains Fong.

ダグエイケン
道格·艾特肯
new horizon
Doug Aitken was born in California in 1968. He lives and works in Los Angeles and New York. Widely known for his innovative fine art installations, Doug Aitken is at the forefront of 21st century communication. Utilizing a wide array of media and artistic approaches, his eye leads us into a world where time, space, and memory are fluid concepts.

Grössling City Bath
Maria’s photographic work is both non-sentimental and emotionally powerful at the same time. In one of her latest projects, the photographer has produced a range of portraits in the Grössling City Bath. The images are characterized by some kind of mirrored symmetry of unspoken tension.

A Dog’s Heart
Dutch National Opera
Libretto by Cesare Mazzonis
based on a novella by Mikhail Bulgakov

Organic Cube
GIF
In early 2011 I was exploring the relations of geometry, nature and the human being in a series of 25 pictures that I called ”Fractal Experience”. This is part two – continuing the exploration of geometric shapes, patterns, and fractals with an added element: space-time. This time I’ve worked in 3D and produced a set of animated looping gif’s.
I’ve limited each animation to at most 48 frames, most are around 10-15 frames – to keep the file size small and to maximize the creativity with in these frames.

Джозефин Мексепер
Josephine Meckseper is adept at critiquing her environment. She questioned the prosperity of the art world by placing an “Out of Business” sign in the window of a gallery in Chelsea (a similarly cheeky “Help Wanted” sign attracted up to 20 applicants a day who had failed to get in on the joke). In 2012 she erected two 25-foot oil rigs in the heart of Times Square to remind unsuspecting tourists about the perils of capitalism and industrialization. Her work critically examines mass media, our consumption-obsessed society, and even our political systems.

Jourdan Dunn
Originally from Yorkshire, England David graduated with a First in Economics and wrote an academic book before committing full time to photography at the age of 25.

SPIEGEL
‘I like to challenge my obsessions by imposing new rules on them,’ he says. The easy way is never an option: ‘I like things difficult, so as to be able to enjoy it afterwards and to be able to say that it was all worthwhile.’
Which is why, after 25 years of Ultima Vez, Vandekeybus still loves creating performances. ‘Sometimes I can’t face the start of the process. There’s always that stress and sleepless nights with five ideas running around in my head at the same time, but then the production’s own world takes shape and it instantly becomes captivating and fun again.’

Putting The Pieces Back Together Again

The kinetic installation “Putting the Pieces Back Together Again” is a complex system with self-organizing and emergent behaviour, at the same time it is an artistic inquiry and meditation on contemporary scientific methodology. The installation investigates non-hierarchical communication and collective behaviour by implementing such a system physically through many electro-mechanical actors.
The Installation consists of 1250 stepper motors arranged in a two dimensional grid of two by two meters. Each motor is equipped with a pointer made from white acrylic glass. The radii of the pointers are chosen to intersect with the pointers of its neighbours. All motors are excited with the same alternating current that let them move initially in a random direction. Each actor is at the same time sensing its environment. In the event of a collision the pointers reverse their turning direction. This is achieved through a custom motor control circuit. Through the interplay of many entities a complex behaviour emerges on the surface of the installation. By manipulating the signals during runtime the system will form spontaneous pattern on its surface. It seems like they are negotiating it’s position with nearby actors. By this the system is showing behaviour of self-organization. The installation drifts through various activation levels during its run time by this it constantly evolves new formations and constellations (crystallization).

f5x5x5
f5x5x5 is a kinetic light sculpture conceived of and realized by the belgian design studio lab[au]. the project was most recently installed in the basilique de saint denis in paris for nuit blanche 2009. the design consists of fixed and kinetic aluminum frames that can move randomly or be programmed for use as a low resolution display. the piece is designed as a framework, taking inspiration from software development
frameworks. in the case of the project, the framework is a five by five module which is repeated five times
to create the final form. one side of the work is white, while the other is black. the 125 pixel screen works on binary language and can transform captured data from the physical environment into kinetic actions.

Dividual Plays
While the antonym of “individual” is “collective” in general, Gilles Deleuze (1925-95), a French philosopher, came up with the notion of “dividual” since the preposition “in” disaffirms the following word. Notions of “individual” and “dividual” have been, and continue to be, discussed in various contexts such as the economy, civil society, personal identity and more.
Through her time at The Forsythe Company, Yoko Ando came to define improvisation as “being individual but with the possibility of being collective at the same time”. While each agent performs independently, he/she is synchronized with other dancers simultaneously. RAM project began by finding shapes for the ideas in Yoko’s dancer’s mind. The piece expands on the idea of “dividual” and explores new dance, new notions of the body and the new relationships between the human body and technology by pursuing deeper interaction between dancers and the notion of system.

Requiem

In REQUIEM choreographer Nanine Linning imagines the tension between life and death, the profane and the sacred, the carnal and the spiritual. Themes, which are inextricably linked together and are at the same time absolute opposites. Inspired by Fauré’s “Requiem”, Dante’s “La Divina Commedia” and the absurd and surreal images of the artist duo “Les Deux Garçons”, Linning is searching for her own paradise on earth.REQUIEM is a multidisciplinary production with 25 dancers, live orchestra, two soloist singers, a choir, a sound artist and video. It is a triptych where the public will first walk on stage through dance installations; the dancers create a frozen, silent world.In the second part Fauré’s “Requiem” is being performed while singers and dancers follow Linnings choreography in a world of immense video images on stage. In the last part a Sound Artist will break apart Fauré’s “Requiem”. The frozen world of part one will melt and the energy of life will be released in a dynamic choreography for the choir and dancers.

阿尼什•卡普尔
アニッシュ·カプーア
Аниш Капур
Arcelor Mittal Orbit
Award winning London-based artist Anish Kapoor has been given the commission of a lifetime to design the spectacular new public attraction in the Olympic Park. The stunning artwork, to be entitled ‘The ArcelorMittal Orbit’, will ensure the Park remains an unrivalled visitor destination following the 2012 Games, providing the key Olympic legacy Mayor of London Boris Johnson envisaged for the East End.The breathtaking sculpture – thought to be the tallest in the UK – will consist of a continuous looping lattice of tubular steel. Standing at a gigantic 115m, it will be 22m taller than the Statue of Liberty in New York and offer unparalleled views of the entire 250 acres of the Olympic Park and London’s skyline from a special viewing platform. Visitors will be able to take a trip up the statuesque structure in a huge lift and will have the option of walking down the spiralling staircase.One of the world’s most distinguished contemporary artists, Turner Prize winning Anish Kapoor studied in London, where he is now based. He is well known for his use of rich pigment and imposing, yet popular works, such as the vast, fleshy and trumpet-like Marsyas, which filled the Tate’s Turbine Hall as part of the Unilever Series, the giant reflecting, pod like sculpture Cloud Gate in Chicago’s Millennium Park and his recent record breaking show at the Royal Academy, the most successful exhibition ever presented by a contemporary artist in London.