CONTEMPORARY ART AND MEDIA OBJECT
ARTEFACT is an international cultural and social art project that will present an object of new media art – a digital sculpture that combines art and technology – in Chernobyl for the first time.
ARTEFACT is an answer of art to continuous problem of digitalization and general overload of information space, the dominance of fake news and the low level of media literacy of the population.
In the post-truth era, we need an information revolution, an appeal to conscious consumption and dissemination of information, stick to a media diet and strict media hygiene rules.
In the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukrainian and international artists will present a media art project ARTEFACT that combines digital sculpture, activism, music, VJing, light art and artificial intelligence of the Internet, by which the sculpture will communicate with users.
The soundtrack to the sculpture is being created by world and Ukrainian musicians – based on the «Sounds of Chornobyl» library, which were recorded in the Exclusion Zone by the art project team.
MISSION
To call for responsible consumption, filtering and dissemination of information. Today, due to general overload of information space, the dominance of the fake news, post-truth and manipulation of public opinion, poor media literacy is becoming a major problem almost for everyone.
The activation of ARTEFACT in the Exclusion Zone draws the attention of the world community to this problem.
PARTNERS
The project is implemented with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, the Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine and the State Agency for Management of the Exclusion Zone.
MEDIA-SCULPTURE
This media object is dedicated to the science fiction novel «Roadside Picnic» by the Strugatsky brothers, as well as to Tarkovsky’s adaptation in the film-parable «Stalker». This work was a kind of prophecy, and in 1986 the Exclusion Zone, described in the story, became real. And now it’s time for ARTEFACT to appear. Using artificial intelligence, it will be able to answer the most important questions and draw attention to the problem of media literacy and conscious consumption of information.
Only 200 media representatives from all over the world will be able to see themselves the ARTEFACT comes to life in the Exclusion Zone and speak to the sculpture. The rest will be able to observe the activation online and will be able to ask the ARTEFACT questions through the digital platform artefact.live.
SOUNDS OF CHERNOBYL
This fall, “Sounds of Chornobyl” library will become available for free. Everyone will be able to hear the sound of Chornobyl. And musicians from all over the world will be able to use the library to add the post-apocalyptic atmosphere of the Exclusion zone to their music.
«As a part of the ARTEFACT project, we recorded the typical sounds of the Zone: the sound of dosimeter, the squeaking of the Observation wheel, the sound of the Red Forest, technical sounds, echo, river sounds, etc. The reverberation and phase-frequency distortions, which are typical for these places, make the music unique and help it recapture the atmosphere of Chornobyl», – the author of the art project ARTEFACT, media artist RASSVET Valery Korshunov says.
The sample library is being created of these sounds and will be available for free at one of the world leading music services.
The soundtrack to this sculpture using the «Sounds of Chornobyl,» which will be written by Grammy’s nominee Christophe Hetier in a collaboration with the Ukrainian artist RASSVET, who is the main author of the project.
EVENTS
As a part of the project a number of events were implemented – strategic sessions with art community and top media experts, communications and lectures at Kyiv festivals, such as Burning Man Decompression, UPark, Kurazh Bazar, Atlas Weekend, Hedonism. Follow our upcoming events in the Events section.
MEDIA LITERACY MATERIALS
As the social part of the project, in this section of ARTEFACT.LIVE and on our Facebook page we provide media literacy materials daily to various TA`s.
As a part of the media session we have developed the main messages of these materials and now we’re disseminating them among the socially active people.
CONTACTS
If you want to join the project or visit our events, feel free to contact us: pr@artefact.live.
PROBLEMS
WHERE IS THE TRUTH, BRO?
The use of the term «fake news» became a stable trend: the term is constantly mentioned in the press, social media newsfeed and various analytical materials. Lately there has been a wide discussion about faking the news, hate speeches or so-called «alternative facts», all of that have turned into a worldwide phenomenon.
A powerful method of propaganda in the form of intervention into the information field of the countries results unexpected effects in geopolitics. How it works? Could someone have believed two years ago that most of the British would vote for secession from the European Union, or in the US americans would elect Donald Trump as a president? The society pursuing answer through the democratization of power and media.
PREHISTORY
DIVIDE ET IMPERA — DIVIDE AND GOVERN
Both the information and context have always created the reality of our lives.
Rewriting the history, media malpractice, understatements or corruption the context, – all of this works nowadays.
From Babylon to Rome, from the Crusades to the Renaissance, from Napoleon to Trump.
We know the history of mankind according to those who defeated all the dissenters.
In the past only governments and powerful figures could manipulate public opinion. Today almost any person with access to the Internet has this opportunity.
Elite institutions have lost their control of electorate, so their ability to act as gatekeepers of the information flow, determining what is or isn’t true, has also been undermined.
COMMUNICATION EXTENSION
7,5 BILLIONS OF PEOPLE LIVES ON EARTH
Every day we contact with a huge number of people.
According to studies of scientists at the University of San Diego:
— Only in one hour of social media consumption an average person can see as many people as he/she could not see in all life if he/she lived 100 years ago;
— During one week an average person receives as much information as a man of the Middle Ages received in entire life;
— Today we consume 34 GB of media content per day;
ACCORDING TO STUDIES
THAT WE KNOW:
— Modern humans are mosaic thinking: they acquire information quickly and disengage from it rapidly
— Scrolling social media newsfeed the average user needs less that a second to decide if he/she is interested in the content
— 96% of users acquire information only by titles
AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGIES
It became possible to edit pictures right on smartphone
— It is possible to find in web a 3D model of almost anything or at least order it for $10, and then build it in a real decor. Just a few years ago it was possible only in case of use complex film production technologies
— Even face replacement became a simple method of image editing
— Special conversational algorithms and neural networks have learnt to synthesize human speech and to pronounce it with any voice
All these technologies available online and easy-to-use.
RESULT
GROWTH OF FAKE NEWS
Fake news / post-truth / alternative facts
— The FAKE NEWS term became the main word of year 2017, according to Oxford Dictionary
— The 2016’s main word was “post-truth”
— While traditional media trying to define their place in modern world, media credibility reached its historical low. During the year 2017 a part of 18-49-year-old audience, which used to trust media, decreased from 36% to 26%. The 50+ audience’ fall figure is almost the same – from 45% to 38%
FAKES AGAINST UKRAINE
HYBRID WAR CASES
Ukraine is no exception and also experiencing different kinds of invasion. The word of 2015 for Ukraine could be – “hybrid war”.
And during this was Kremlin uses lots of information methods to affect both home and foreign policy of other countries.
Does truth have a chances vs. fakes? What warnings and dangers the world should take into account?
UKRAINE TO SELL MRIYA AIRCRAFT TO CHINA
On 1st of September 2016 almost at the same time tens or online media resources began to parrot news about Ukraine to sell its the one and unique aircraft building technology – strategic airlift cargo aircraft – An-225 Mriya (the world’s biggest cargo aircraft) to Chinese corporation with all tech docs and ownership. In fact all this information contradicts the reality
NUCLEAR DUMP TOMB JUST NEAR THE KYIV
May 2016. Russia’s official government publication Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports that Ukraine can potentially become a “nuclear dump” because of increased international financing for the construction of a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the country. This concern was apparently expressed by Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon.
SHOT DOWN BOEING МH17
A number of media blamed the MH17 plane crash, that happened on the 17 of July 2014 in the sky of Donbass, on Ukraine.
That day Russian TV channel LifeNews aired a news about Ukrainian Air Force aircraft AN-26, shot down by rebels. Any signs of shot down Ukrainian Air Force AN-26 were never found. In the indicated place shot down Malaysian Boeing-777 was found later. It all adds up to rebels that informed about shot down plane, but they probably were sure they shot AN-26, not the Malaysian Boeing
CRUCIFIED BOY IN SLOVYANSK
On July 12 Russian television aired an interview with a woman claiming to be a refugee from the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk. She told the Russia Channel One that upon entering Slovyansk Ukrainian armed forces herded city residents to the central square and publicly executed a small boy and his mother, the boy was nailed to a wooden board and crucified.
Author of the fake — Julia Chumakova or Channel One top management haven’t made public apologies to the people of Slovyansk and the channel audience
WHAT NEXT?
ON NOVEMBER 22 ARTEFACT IS ACTIVATED IN CHERNOBYL
On November 22, in the Exclusion Zone in the city Pripyat, there will be an activation of a large-scale interactive digital sculpture ARTEFACT, as well as a presentation of the soundtrack to the sculpture from the Ukrainian artist RASSVET and the French nominee for Grammy Christophe Etier.
Only 200 media representatives from all over the world will be able to see themselves the ARTEFACT comes to life in the Exclusion Zone and speak to the sculpture. The rest will be able to observe the activation online and will be able to ask the ARTEFACT questions through the digital platform artefact.live.
On the event the author of the project Kyiv-based artist of new media art RASSVET with Grammy’s nominee Christophe Hetier from Telepopmusik will present the soundtrack to this sculpture using the «Sounds of Chornobyl». This song will feature for the first time “Sounds of Chernobyl”, which were also recorded as part of the project and will soon be available in the largest international store for free use by musicians from around the world.
MATERIALS ABOUT PROJECT
