Performance: Anna Lundh, VISIONS OF THE NOW

In September 1966, the festival and congress Visioner av Nuet (“Visions of the Present”) took place in Stockholm. The event aimed to investigate the impact of technology on humanity, society and art. Computing was only in its infancy, yet discussing its consequences and exploring what it would mean to make use of it artistically was considered paramount at that time. Almost half a century later, artist Anna Lundh produced an updated version of the festival, based on research into the event from 1966, to reconsider its original concerns in a world fully immersed in the technology that in 1966 was called “the new”. What lies in the “and” of art and technology now? Who is occupied with technology and its role in society? Which values do we want to maintain, and which should we challenge? Lundh’s festival, Visions of the Now, took place on 24-26 May 2013 and gathered over thirty international artists, musicians, theorists and scientists, in a series of lectures, panels, open discussions, art and music performances.

Anna Lundh will present an evening about the project, to celebrate the publication of a multi-volume archive box with Sternberg Press that documents this artistic experiment in its entirety. An artist talk by Anna Lundh, that “unpacks” the festival through the archive box, starts at 19:00.

Anna Lundh is an artist and researcher based in Stockholm. Her work investigates cultural phenomena, societal agreements, and how ideological shifts take place, often taking technology and our experience of time as points of departure. She has exhibited internationally and in Sweden, amongst others at Moderna Museet, Bonniers Konsthall, Tensta Konsthall, and Röda Sten Göteborg.

Visions of the Now. Stockholm Festival for Art and Technology
Edited by Anna Lundh and Julie Cirelli, design: Konst & Teknik
Sternberg Press, Berlin
184 pages, 23 × 34 cm, ca. 100 images, two volumes in a box, ISBN 978-3-95679-262-5

With contributions by Katja Aglert, Lars-Gunnar Bodin, Rosi Braidotti, Brian Droitcour, Tyler Coburn, Mat Dryhurst, Katarina Elvén, Luke Fischbeck, Jacob Gaboury, Jennifer González, Goodiepal, Sanne Krogh Groth, Gry Worre Hallberg, Hannah Heilmann, Holly Herndon, Natalie Jeremijenko, Jacob Kirkegaard, Siri Landgren, Magnus Larsson, Kristin Lucas, Anna Lundh, Julie Martin, Astrida Neimanis, Laurel Ptak, Sten Ternström, Cecilia Åsberg and others.

The publication includes also archival material from the 1966 festival, with never-before-published correspondence of John Cage and Buckminster Fuller, and texts by Alvin Lucier and Nam June Paik, highlighting the 1966 New York festival, 9 Evenings of Theatre and Engineering.