This May the International Festival of Digital Arts in Greece, Athens Digital Arts Festival (ADAF) returns to the Theatre Square to present a multidisciplinary programme. The 11th edition of the event is brought together under the title Public Space_s, exploring both the digital and physical properties of public space. The project asks artists to create a temporary yet energetic environment in the historic building. The various works examine how technology has altered the experience of open spaces.

During ADAF, the contributing artists will present their visions of what a public space might look like when fully engulfed by the digital. Living in a world which has been irreversibly changed by advancements in technology, the pieces question whether society will always be so accepting of such adjustment. Imagination is crucial to this event and the audience are immersed within possibilities that are not yet known.

The festival covers a range of forms from a wide selection artists, exhibiting multimedia interactive works, audio-visual installations, video art and web art. A highlight of the show is Karl Heinz Jeron’s investigation into how mobile phone access has brought closed, private conversations into a public setting. Expanding on  this idea, Heinz Jeron represents the protagonists of real conversations as robots, reflecting on how the world is continuously shaped by technology. All of the artists on display in Public Space_s  raise questions of how open and accessible public existence has become.

International Festival of Digital Arts in Greece, Athens Digital Arts Festival (ADAF), 21-24 May, Athens.

Credits
1. Nicolas Bernier, frequencies – v3.MM16 – Photo by Isabel Rancier 2014.