IMPAKT and the HKU will collaborate on a seminar in which students of the Schools of Fine Arts and Media will participate.

IMPAKT SEMINAR – Speculative Interfaces: The term interface discribes a point where two systems meet. It is a place where information is exchanged. That can mean information between humans and computers, or different software or even different species. To interface to something means to link to it – with the goal of forging a connection.

The theme of this years IMPAKT Festival is Speculative Interfaces. The program aims to reflect on and question existing notions of the user interface and imagine its future. How do interfaces define the way we interact with technology? What are the implications of technology becoming invisible by the disappearing tangibility of its interfaces? And how does this alter our behaviour and perception?
Together we want to reflect on these critical aspects, but also speculate and envision how we can construct new emancipatory narratives through technology.

The seminar consists of two parts – one in June and one in September
The first part is an intensive seminar including lectures, workshops and discussions with HKU lecturer Anika Schwarzlose, the IMPAKT curators Jan Adriaans and Marloes de Valk and some of the artists participating in the IMPAKT Festival 2019.

During the second part in September HKU students develop an artwork in relation to the IMPAKT theme. This work will be exhibited during the festival in October.

Part One: 17th of June – 27th of June

IMPAKT Festival 2019 is themed Speculative Interfaces and will take place from 30 October until 3 November at various locations in Utrecht.