Martin Mušič, a part of Baobap collective, is planning to design a useful ceramic product with a story connected to Soča Valley. He will use the 3D printer to make a prototype, which will be used as a plaster mold for casting liquid clay in it. He is also planning to build an outdoor furnace out of locally sourced materials and burn the clay products in there. The finished ceramic products will have an extra kick – a story with a local connection.
Cabinet Of Curiosities
Last year’s PIFresidency artist, Maggie Kane, will continue leading their integrative communal build project that centers digital storytelling and upcycled material (re)use at PIFcamp this summer. In 2022, Maggie led a group of artists in Ljubljana to build a freestanding wooden structure that houses interactive controls, a Raspberry Pi, and a digital screen. This summer, Maggie will host a workshop on how to build basic HTML games that allow participants to explore personal stories or memories that they have & how they can incorporate those experiences into an interactive game using the open-source platform Bitsy.
Experimental Scoby Therapy
In Experimental Scoby Therapy, developed by Nastja Ambrožič and Celeste Sanja Smareglia, the visitor is immersed in an immersive experience under the dome of Blaž Pavlica while lying down. In the comfort of the cushioned mattress, the sound coming from the e-textile DIY speakers sewn into the pillows, and the animations spreading across the projection screen on top of the dome, the user will get in touch with the symbiotic organism SCOBY. Capacitive sensors made of SCOBY paste, connected to the OctoSens interface, and other sensors that read physiological changes will form a key part of the therapeutic experience. The signals read from the sensors will be converted into sound frequencies and colorful visualizations. The experimental therapy will be a meditative, hypnotic conversation between humans and bacteria, a sensual dance of sound and visuals in the ambient silence of the dome.
The immersive experience is based on the use of SCOBY, a living symbiotic organism of bacteria and yeasts, commonly used for the fermentation of tea in the popular kombucha drink. In our case, SCOBY will be used as a sensor, as it has the ability to detect changes in the environment, such as skin conductivity. The values collected through the sensors will be converted into audio and visual signals, the effects of which will be reciprocally mirrored in the subsequent meter values. A communication loop will be established in the experimental therapy.
What about PIFcamp and sustainability?
PIFcamp joins forces with a local NGO Ecologists without Borders who will provide a more circular event and shed some light on the issue of waste. During the camp they will also focus on further developmentent of the carbon footprint calculator for PIFcamp participants and other events which are part of Rewilding Cultures project. Its aim is encouraging participants toward more sustainable mobility and assessing the total level of transport-related emissions.
Ecologists without Borders is a non-profit founded in 2009 and one of the leading Slovenian NGOs dedicated to improving the state of our environment — focusing on efficient resource use and active citizenship; and implementing the concept of zero waste on several levels – individual, municipal, governmental and within organizations — including cultural ones. Jaka Kranjec, who will join PIFcamp, is their expert on policy, and a researcher of the useless world, a developer of open source solutions and a lover of puzzles who believes in free access to knowledge in the spare time.
Artificial Intelligence Listens to the Trees
Nejc Trampuž, a young multimedia artist from Slovenia, will host a workshop on creating art with the help of artificial intelligence tools that he has been using in his work for the past year and a half. He will mainly introduce tools that enable generation of animations: the open-source Stable Diffusion (Deforum, ControlNet) in Automatic 1111 WebUI. The workshop will also be a space for sharing knowledge of others among participants and for discussing the society of the future that artificial intelligence brings on one hand, and the ecological threat on the other.
In addition to the workshop his goal is to work on his project with the working title “We Must First Listen to the Trees,” which is being developed under the scholarship from the Slovenian Ministry of Culture. The emerging short experimental generative animated film, created with the assistance of artificial intelligence – both in terms of the screenplay and animation – will reflect society in relation to the environment and ecosystem. It will conceive and present sustainable and environmentally friendly ways of living.
The River Knows by duo Swamp_Matter
The project aims to engage with water scarcity and real-time visual storytelling to speculate on climate futures of the Soča River in Slovenia. The bed of the glacial river has been shaped by its waters in remarkable geological formations for millennia. Recently the river’s water level has been low due to summer drought, a consequence of anthropogenic factors. The project looks at the interplay and relationship between humans and the river’s geological processes. It reflects on changing ecologies and raises awareness for the conservation of this important water ecology through speculation. The project aims to use 3D scanning and photogrammetry to create a digital extension of the Soča landscape with particular attention to the dry riverbed and glacial rocks. The digital landscape will be linked to sensors placed in the landscape recording various parameters in real-time (landscape sound, water level, pollution, rainfall) which will create distortions and deformations within the digital landscape.
Swamp_Matter is a duo consisting of Eva Garibaldi (designer & researcher) and Ana Laura Richter (artist & dramaturg) motivated by a shared passion for exploring the complexities and mysteries of amphibious landscapes. Their work is driven by a deep curiosity about the relationship between humans and nature, and the ways in which this relationship is constantly evolving. Through their projects, Swamp_Matter seeks to challenge the perception of unstable landscapes as stagnant and lifeless places, and instead, highlight the rich biodiversity and ecological significance of these often-overlooked environments.
We invite you to apply and develop immersive sound works with the support and help of Blaž Pavlica!
The Immersive Sound Dome is a project of Blaž Pavlica, which he has been developing for the last years and upgrading every year at PIFcamp. The project was developed out of a desire to create immersive sound, but also as an experiment in how to create such an environment with limited resources – when the project started in Slovenia, this option was not yet available. The latest version consists of a geodesic dome (designed by Staš Vrenko), 16 loudspeakers and a computer.
We invite you to submit your idea for a PIFproject that will be able to come to life in the Immersive Sound Dome with the technical support and mentoring of Blaž Pavlica. Your proposal can be anything related to immersive sound (music composition, algorithms, synthesis…), but we also welcome slightly different projects, such as lighting or decorating the dome.
For more information contact the author: blaz.pavlica[at]gmail.com
Applications for PIFtopia are open!
Open call for the 9th edition of PIFcamp is out! You can find all the information on how to apply in the APPLY HERE menu section.
Catch the early bird price by applying until March 31st. Open call will be open until end of April.
Looking forward to build PIFtopia in Soča this summer!
PIFcamp 2022 #ePIFany
Saturday, last day at PIFcamp //PIFlog, Day 7
Bittersweet would be a perfect term to describe the last day of PIFcamp. This year’s Open Saturday started out to be more of an Open Skies Saturday, but that didn’t stop us from making the most of it.
Part 1: Morgenspaziergang to the river
It is hard not to get inspired by the beautiful river of Soča and its surrounding nature, so after a week of hard work, some of the participants decided to install theirs on the riverbanks (and in the stream), and invite everyone for a walk down to the river. Vivian and David planted their watermill for generating electricity from the river and converting signals into sound. Upstream, Seamus installed his orchestra (made up of a mycelium conductor and plants/water/lichen musicians) with various sensors and speakers placed on debris from a building site near PIFcamp, which translates sensory data and signals into glitchy synth music to evoke nature’s distress.
Part 2: Raining cats and dogs (and T-shirts)
Riverside activities had to be wrapped up quickly as the rain started to pour… While the youngest enjoyed themselves in the newly formed lake, Urška was hard at work screenprinting approximately a hundred T-shirts with this years’ PIFcamp motifs.
Part 3: Mains hum ePIFany and other community activities
After the rain stopped, PIFparticipants continued with presentations of their projects, formed a 50 Hz cult, and engaged in a community broadcast. We figure this is as good as any spot to thank the amazing PIFcamp kitchen crew for their weeklong service, crowned by the Saturday’s banquet. Thank you!
Part 4: Dance the PIF away
Our incredible video team set the tone for last night at PIFcamp with the world’s premiere of two short video documentaries (ISOLABS and Live coding) made from scratch during the past 6 days. After a quick change of the tent’s function from a cinema to a concert venue, the crowd enjoyed Bernhard’s and Mitja’s performances accompanied by Aljoša’s visuals, and was thus well prepared for a night of clubbing. Under the canopy, a wonderful lineup of live coders programmed their dance steps at the (probably world’s first) terrace algorave, followed by Blažen DJ’s blissfully eclectic mix. And so, we danced the PIFcamp goodbye. Until next year!
