VIDEO TEASER:

The founders and directors Estela Oliva and Carmen Salas tell us about the ideas behind the exhibition and the criteria they’ve used for choosing the work of arts.

Presented in collaboration with Espacio Fundación Telefónica in Lima, New Realities is a project that aims to explores the implications of technology on human behaviour and identity, and how the ever ­changing nature of the Internet and use of new technologies are bringing about new avenues for creative expression. The exhibition runs until Friday 17 June 2016, free access, all ages.

“It’s been an amazing experience to present the exhibition at Espacio Fundación Telefónica in Lima. They’re doing such a great job, and we found many synergies with what we do here. We’ve worked very closely with them for over a year to adapt the project to their spaces and audiences.” says Carmen Salas.

Photo credit: LaTurbo Avedon.

Through this journey of art, technology and digital creativity, we seek to provide new perspectives on the reality we live, and anticipate the future we are all heading to. A future in which we can decide what role to adopt in order to make a more harmonious place for future generations. The exhibition illustrates a culture of continuous change and complex transformation in which the digital tools we once created are now acting as important agents of change.

Photo credit: Espacio Fundación Telefónica.

New Realities includes the works of 12 contemporary artists and designers featured across three thematic areas. The criteria for selecting the works has been to choose projects that significantly deal with defining questions of this new reality in which we live; artworks that blend artistic research with innovative practices to break boundaries, and foster the development of new disciplines. The artists featured in the exhibition include: Karolina Sobecka, LIA, LaTurbo Avedon, Jan de Coster, Lawrence Lek, Mark Dorf, Quayola, Universal Everything, Ustwo, FIELD, Fabrica and Realität.

Photo credit: Energy Flow by FIELD.

For Alpha-ville, it is essential that all technological developments go hand in hand with a critical reflection through research and artistic creation, so that we can deepen the impact and possibilities that these new technologies have on society and culture. This is the message we wanted to convey with New Realities, a concept that is also explained in the Marshall McLuhan’s quote we’ve used in the exhibition text: “artists are always ahead of technology offering us clues to understand the impact these technologies will have later on. “

Photo credit (left to right)
First: Ustwo.
Second:Espacio Fundación Telefónica
Third: gEOF by Jan de Coster.

More details about the exhibition can be found here.

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I started working when I was teenager, but I’m not sure if that’s illegal so I won’t speak about it.

1. My first job in London was as a video game tester, I worked at Square Enix playing games all day long and making sure that all the features and the translations in the different languages were good, functioning and accurate. That was fun.

2. Not long after that I got a job at PR Newswire in one of the subdivisions. I was a media analyst focusing on media monitoring. It was around 2003 so we did the monitoring manually looking at newspapers and magazines to identify coverage… if only I would have known about the amazing tools that were to arrive later on. I produced reports that helped brands identify how their new products were accepted by the press.

3. My next big step was in 2004, I interviewed at Google a few times (actually 9 interviews). I was lucky to be selected and I entered an important period of my life that was defined by a lot of learning and moving at a fast pace. I had always been a geek girl, but when I started working at there I felt at home, so it was great. At Google I did 4 different jobs between the Sales and the Marketing teams. I spent almost 6 years working hard and at some point I left.

4. After Google, I felt like the world was my oyster, and I was very intrigued by exploring more my creative side so I decided to start Alpha-ville, is an organisation that wants to investigate the cross over between art, technology and society. I really love this project. It focuses on an annual festival that is just about to happen.

5. Apart from Alpha-ville I currently work as a freelance online consultant helping companies make the most out of their websites and implementing online tools that allow them to make decisions. Since recently also moving onto the mobile app world.

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We’ve asked professionals in creative industries what jobs they have had in the past to get their foot through the door (or at least pay the rent). For more in the “My First 5 Jobs” series look here.