Albert.DATA is the new artistic identity of Albert Barqué-Duran, Lleida 1989.
Albert is an artist and a researcher in Creative Technologies and Digital Art, currently based in Barcelona.
Albert, the human one, earned a PhD and a Postdoc in Cognitive Science from the Centre for Mathematical Neuroscience at City, University of London (UK) and have been a Visiting Postgraduate Researcher at Harvard University (USA) and University of Oxford (UK).
Albert's artistic research focuses on: (1) human-machine interaction during artistic and creative processes, (2) Artificial Intelligence's (AI) aesthetic artifacts, (3) perception and aesthetics under sensory conflicts, and
(4) experimental formats and aesthetics in virtual environments using game engines.
They have exhibited and performed at Sonar+D (Barcelona, Spain), Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria), ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany), Creative Reactions (London, UK), Cricoteka (Krakow, Poland), Albumarte (Rome, Italy), SciArt Center (New York, USA), IGNITE Fest (Medellin, Colombia), Nuits Sonores (Lyon, France), Mobile World Congress (Barcelona, Spain), Ming Contemporary Art Museum (Shanghai, China), DMA (Daejon, South Korea), and more.
Albert was awarded with the Artist Residency at Sonar+D x Factory Berlin in 2020 and received an award from "We Are Europe" (Creative Europe Programme of the European Union), which endowed him as one of the 64 young "Culture Activists" in Europe in 2019. Further, they have been internationally awarded by the "Re:Humanism Prize" for work on the relationship between AI and Art; by "We Are Equals-MUTEK Music Academy"; by "Art of Neuroscience" award for bridging science and art; and by the Catalan Government with the "International Award City of Lleida" for the significant cultural impact of their projects.
Website: ww.albert-data.com
Instagram: @albert_data
Twitter: @Albert_DATA
TikTok: @albert.data
YouTube: Albert_DATA
S.F.I.D. Slowly Fading into Data, 2023
SUMMARY:
‘Slowly Fading into Data’ is a speculative audiovisual project expressed in multiple artistic formats: a retro- game & arcade installation, a conceptual music album, a live a/v performance, and a film. These audiovisual experiences are the results from Albert.DATA’s artistic research on disembodiment, extended cognition, hybrid beings, and synthetic identities. An avant-garde, ambient, and contemplative story of a human, slowly mutating into data: A transformative journey about non-human forms, the boundaries and extensions of experience, existence, and identity. The creation of new audiovisual instruments to interpret the last human reverberations. A step forward for the disintegration of the self.
THE PROJECT:
The Retro-Game & Arcade Installation is based on a narrative-driven, interactive-storytelling, action-adventure experience. It is designed to be played more than once to discover all its hidden secrets, choices, easter eggs, and alternative endings. An intense cinematographic audiovisual experience that pushes your 8-bit perception and puts into test your exploration and philosophical skills. The project’s goal is to challenge standard audiovisual production methods by combining "low-tech" (8-bit retro console) with "high-tech" (artificial intelligence and procedural sound design) using game engine technologies. In specific, the experience presents 8-bit artistic game assets designed and produced using artificial intelligence techniques (machine learning applied to visual arts); and it also features 8-bit procedural music and sound design that experiments with and exploits the sound hardware of this iconic family of consoles.
The Music Album is a conceptual sonic project that delves into the past to peer into the future. Using research on 8-bit music and neural audio synthesis, Albert.DATA proposes an avant-garde ambient, and ominous experience that feels completely out of time. The creation of new digital instruments to interpret the last human reverberations. A memory trip based on contemplation and ecstasy. A step forward for the disintegration of the self.
The Live A/V Performance (45 min.) is an experimental narrative-driven, interactive-storytelling audiovisual show implementing 8-bit sound technologies with neural audio synthesis in real-time. The live show invites us into an ambient, ethereal, abstract and contemplative story of a human, slowly mutating into data: A transformative journey about the meaning of transfiguring into a non-human form, the boundaries and extensions of experience, existence and identity.
The Film (45 min.) is an experimental cinematography project that aims at merging all the other expressions of the ‘Slowly Fading into Data’ project into one single audiovisual experience. It consists of 6 different short pieces that combine scenes from the live a/v performance and fictional material. The goal is to challenge the canonical audiovisual production methods by combining retro formats (8mm Film) with state-of-the-art cinema technology (Virtual Production and Artificial Intelligence).
PROJECT’s WEBSITE
www.albert-data.com
