NODE Forum for Digital Arts was one of the first media art festivals to take on the challenge of developing a hybrid format in the special year 2020 that would address primarily online participants and yet bring together artists, professional audiences, viewers and projects in a virtual space in the most tangible and activating way possible.

The seven-day conference NODE20 Second Nature on sustainability in cultural and creative industries allowed for the critical exchange of 6,856 participants from 45 countries, who accessed the livestream a total of 11,135 within the week of the event.

The main conference program was distributed via our ‘Emergency Broadcast Studio’, an innovative AR television studio specially designed for NODE and placed at Künstlerhaus Mousonturm. From here, we broadcasted keynote talks, panel discussions, project deep dives, community spotlights—and so much more. Via the NODE festival hub, the participants got to chat, connect, and interact at all times.

Second Nature

The program of NODE20 Second Nature intended to explore artmaking and creative practice in times of ecological crisis—a crisis that is, in large part, fueled by our technology needs. How seriously do we as a community of digital creators take our share of responsibility? How can we rethink our practices, challenge our industries, and empower others to do the same?
The first step is the critical examination of the everyday tools, technologies, and processes that have become our second nature. The second is to get creative and actively reimagine them.

At NODE20, themed Second Nature, we tackled both theory and practice. The conference brought together international experts—artists, designers, researchers, technologists—to drive the conversation. A list of all speakers and contributors is available on our website: https://20.nodeforum.org/people/

Take a look at the full program here: https://20.nodeforum.org/
And find the recording of the conference below:

GreenHouse NAXOS

For less formal forms of encounter, we created an expansive virtual playground: at GreenHouse NAXOS, participants got to visit the exhibition and co-create with fellow festival visitors.

 

Ambassadors

For the preparation of the whole program, the festival team worked in collaboration the art education department of the Goethe University Frankfurt. A seminar group led by Prof. Verena Kuni together with the NODE mediator Begüm Inal worked intensively on the subject area, developed content contributions for the online formats, and prepared in particular for the increased mediation requirements within the framework of a hybrid program. As ambassadors – between the analog and digital worlds – and moderators, they became active in various areas of the festival and the online seminars.

 

Second Nature Lab

Finally, NODE20 launched the corresponding Second Nature Lab, a 6-month educational initiative that provide practical workshops on the topic. More details here.

 

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Festival Management

Creative Direction: David Brüll • Artistic Direction: Jeanne Charlotte Vogt

Curation Arts & Culture Program: Jeanne Charlotte Vogt, Alexander Scholz
Curation Creative Technology & Workshops: David Brüll, Joreg
Curatorial Advisors: Prof. Verena Kuni, Carmen Salas Pino, Sebastian Oschatz
Festival Management: Johannes Scherg
Technical Direction: Christian Hergarten, Gloria Schulz, Johannes Scherg, Miriam Guter
Public Relations: Erie Ehrenberg, Jeanne Charlotte Vogt
Speaker & Artist Management: Christine Mayerhofer, Doreen Keck, Irene Rodenas, Marie Trabandt, Benjamin van Bebber, Paula Bohm, Noelle Ehrenfeld
Graphic Design: Maria Fröhlich & Susanne Duswald
Web Development: David Bührer, David Brüll

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The Emergency Broadcast Studio

Augmented Reality & On Air Design: Johannes Lemke & Björn Schwarzer
Interior: KeinStil – Theo Voss, Philipp Beisheim
Production: Christian Hergarten, Alex Niggemeyer, Julius Lebert, Miriam Guter, Stefan Kraus, Wieland Hilker, Carlos Serrano, Timo Bittner, Sebastien Escudie, Alex, David Brüll, Andreas Behl
Camera: Hannes Weiss

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Workshops

Curation: The NODE Institute, VVVV
Production: Johannes Scherg, Christine Mayerhofer, Sebastien Escudie, Alexander Shaliapin
Educators & Hosts: Anton Mezhiborski, Ekatarina Danilova, Elias Holzer, Joreg Dießl, Juliane Götz, Sebastian Neitsch, Matthias Husinsky, Natan Sinigaglia, Sebastian Escudie, Takuma Nataka, Tebjan Halm, Kyle McLean, Sebastian Gregor, Randall Vásquez, Hayden Anyasi, Katharina Gruber, Dominic Jančík

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GreenHouse NAXOS

Concept & Curation: Gloria Schulz, Katharina Held, Jeanne Charlotte Vogt, Alexander Scholz
Concept Naturtheater Naxos: Jan Philipp Stange & Simon Möllendorf
Lead Digital Artist: Gloria Schulz
Creative Production: Katharina Held
Mediation Concept: Begüm Inal
Mediation Team: Alexandra Schmidt, Alexander (Sascha) Korolkov, Anastasiia Melai, Maja Dabir Zadeh, Nini Parlagaschwili, Pei Li

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Digitale Welten Team

Lead Production: Anna Meik
Workshop & Educators Team: Andrea Eberlein, Nils Weger, Jannik Buddeberg, Rainer Killinger, Christian Schneider

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Second Nature Lab

Second Nature Platform Editorial Management: Julia Schaake

AG MAPPING ECO FUTURES: (Goethe-Universität/Institut für Kunstpädagogik) Hannah Heilmann, Marie-Louise Meier, Julia Neumann, Daniela Sonnabend, Nikolett Trenka, Carla Wiggering
Lead: Prof. Dr. Verena Kuni & Julia Schaake

Second Nature Platform Concept: (Hochschule Mainz – University of Applied Sciences) Prof. Florian Jenett, Julia Schaake

Realisation: Jean Böhm & Prof. Florian Jenett