City to City is a project commissioned by the cities of Austin (USA), Braga (Portugal), Calí (Colombia), Changsha (China), Dakar (Senegal), Enghien-les-Bains (France), Guadalajara (Mexico), Gwangju (South Korea), Karlsruhe (Germany), Kosice (Slovakia), Sapporo (Japan), Toronto (Canada), Viborg (Denmark), York (United Kingdom), members of the Media Arts Cluster of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, to mark their commitment with the importance of cooperation and support to art and creativity as a major force for the sustainable development in these times of uncertainty.

Below, you can watch the result of an 2020 open call from nine UNESCO Creative Cities for Media Arts to their local artists in order to create an online collaborative artistic object. Matched in five pairs, our artists worked around the concept of Human Responsibility, finding answers to three critical questions: 1) Does technology have the ability to solve all the problems in the future? 2) Do we need more arts and empathy to be able to use technology in better and more responsible ways? 3) Are we allowed to make decisions on behalf of the planet?

Virtual Gallery

Beáta Kolbašovská — Košice (Slovakia)
Junichi Oguro — Sapporo (Japan)

Reminiscence Path

The project is connecting two cities: Košice and Sapporo. AVV installation is based on data tracking of experiences from people during the pandemic. Co-creation of two artists working together across the continents is a symbolic connection at overcoming virtual distances. The goal is to collect traces by using GPS on pedestrian and cyclist paths from topographic maps and various apps and make CGI animation with binaural sound. Beáta Kolbašovská is responsible for the visuals and Junichi Oguro for the sound.

João Carlos Pinto — Braga (Portugal)
Sarah Degenhardt — Karlsruhe (Germany)

LIMBO

LIMBO is a one-shot journey through landscape perceptions in a digital and abstract space. Fluctuations between micro and macro perspectives relate to human relationships with nature and the planet. Transitions in our environment are slow to our perception but steady and hard to reverse. By using extreme slowness we not only wanted to refer to this fact but also put contrast to the fast-moving ads and imperatives we are surrounded by in our everyday (media) life. Designed as a large-scale installation, the dimensions of the projections alongside with explorations of binaural beatings and specific frequency spectrums come together as a physical experience.

Gerardo Nolasco — Karlsruhe (Germany)
Paris Díaz — Guadalajara (Mexico)

Cartography of the Stain

When we talk about the project «Cartography of the stain» it is a comparison to make the viewer aware of the differences and similarities between the city of Guadalajara (Mexico) and Karlsruhe (Germany). Starting with the Macro perspective of the cities, to specific points where the artists will intervene each one. The project will be made up of video shots, intervened images, and original music by the artists: Gerardo Nolasco (Karlsruhe, Germany) and Paris Díaz (Guadalajara, Mexico).

Daniel Escobar — Calí (Colombia)
Mike Stubbs — York (UK)

Water Mirrors

The work created by Mike Stubbs (York, UK) and Daniel Escobar (Calí, Colombia) uses the water element as a started point to indicate an exchange process. Water is that first natural element that has the possibility of reflecting our cities and their inhabitants, and our shared responsibility to take care of it. The two artists begin with a process of collecting materials: water and sediments from the rivers that cross and reflect their cities, to reach an exchange of images, ...

Biin Shen — Changsha (China)
Liz Rodda — Austin (USA)

Margin of Error

The project is the result of negotiating questions such as: can meaning be accurately represented in translation from human sensibility to machine logic? What does it say about us globally that we trust the perfection of computers over the sentimentality of humans? Using these questions as a foundation, the artists have run philosophical texts through a software translation program that obscures the language mechanically. The resulting texts are then transformed to visual images. This final step relies on the intuitive and imprecise thinking that mirrors human perception.

More about City to City

City to City presentation at 2021 UCCN meeting | This project marks the Cities commitment with the importance of cooperation and support to art and creativity as a major force for the sustainable development in these times of uncertainty. Click on the video to watch the presentation.

Creative Process | 2020 City to City: Human Responsibility brought together artist from nine different cities in an online collaborative artistic experience that lead up to five digital art pieces. Watch the creative process here.