FLUX Events: Current trends in contemporary media arts.

FLUX is a forum hosted by artists to discuss strategies, processes and collective themes within the media arts. FLUX is a fluid platform committed to media artists working right NOW in the UK. We hold bi-monthly events, which are curated by one of the hosts and facilitate the exchange of ideas, as media artists come together to profile their work. Performances, talks and showcases of artwork provide a forum for artistic discourse and exchange. Hosted in different London venues and supported by the British Computer and Arts Society, these larger events offer a space for the exchange of creativity, inspiration and support

Art in Flux at EVENT 2

A FLUX Events paper and presentation about the curation of FLUX’s contribution to the EVENT 2 exhibition held at the Royal Academy next year in collaboration with EVA, the Lumen Prize and the Computer Arts Society. Founded in 2016 at Light of Soho in London by the artists Maria Almena, Oliver Gingrich and Aphra Shemza, FLUX Events is a charitable organization committed to furthering the development of the media arts community in the UK. As an artist-led forum, FLUX offers a space for collaboration and exchange as key artists and organizations come together to profile their work. Through talks events, performance evenings, workshops and exhibitions, FLUX brings these ideas to the wider public - providing a fluid platform to discuss strategies, processes and collective themes within the media arts. In July this year FLUX has been invited to take part in the EVENT 2 exhibition at the Royal Academy. In collaboration with EVA, the Computer Arts Society and the Lumen Prize it is a fantastic opportunity for FLUX to curate and provide a platform for contemporary media artists. Building on the legacy of Event 1, an exhibition of the Computer Arts Society at the Royal Academy 50 years ago the event will showcase some the original computational artworks from the Computer Art Society’s collection as well as some of the very best cutting-edge talent globally. Over the next few months the FLUX co-founders, Maria Almena, Oliver Gingrich and Aphra Shemza will embark on the curation of the FLUX part of the exhibition and our submission to EVA would be to write a paper on our curation rationale and detailed information about each artist and artwork involved in the exhibition. We will provide some context for the exhibition and elaborate on our exhibition choices. The curatorial concept and paper will be presented at the conference together

TRANSFORMATIONS: New media art between communities and professional practice

Media Arts has long been regarded as a niche within the contemporary art discourse, secluded from the art market and from the public alike. As technology becomes more accessible, these former boundaries erode. While the art market slowly starts to embrace new media artists, local communities show a renewed interest in the power of technologically-facilitated art, due to its participatory nature. How do professional media artists make a living outside of the constraints of the contemporary art market? How can local communities and the public profit from media art

Photoswitchable diacylglycerols enable optical control of protein kinase C.

Increased levels of the second messenger lipid diacylglycerol (DAG) induce downstream signaling events including the translocation of C1-domain-containing proteins toward the plasma membrane. Here, we introduce three light-sensitive DAGs, termed PhoDAGs, which feature a photoswitchable acyl chain. The PhoDAGs are inactive in the dark and promote the translocation of proteins that feature C1 domains toward the plasma membrane upon a flash of UV-A light. This effect is quickly reversed after the termination of photostimulation or by irradiation with blue light, permitting the generation of oscillation patterns. Both protein kinase C and Munc13 can thus be put under optical control. PhoDAGs control vesicle release in excitable cells, such as mouse pancreatic islets and hippocampal neurons, and modulate synaptic transmission in Caenorhabditis elegans. As such, the PhoDAGs afford an unprecedented degree of spatiotemporal control and are broadly applicable tools to study DAG signaling

Sustainability of bioenergy – Mapping the risks & benefits to inform future bioenergy systems

Bioenergy is widely included in energy strategies for its GHG mitigation potential. Bioenergy technologies will likely have to be deployed at scale to meet decarbonisation targets, and consequently biomass will have to be increasingly grown/mobilised. Sustainability risks associated with bioenergy may intensify with increasing deployment and where feedstocks are sourced through international trade. This research applies the Bioeconomy Sustainability Indicator Model (BSIM) to map and analyse the performance of bioenergy across 126 sustainability issues, evaluating 16 bioenergy case studies that reflect the breadth of biomass resources, technologies, energy vectors and bio-products. The research finds common trends in sustainability performance across projects that can inform bioenergy policy and decision making. Potential sustainability benefits are identified for People (jobs, skills, income, energy access); for Development (economy, energy, land utilisation); for Natural Systems (soil, heavy metals), and; for Climate Change (emissions, fuels). Also, consistent trends of sustainability risks where focus is required to ensure the viability of bioenergy projects, including for infrastructure, feedstock mobilisation, techno-economics and carbon stocks. Emission mitigation may be a primary objective for bioenergy, this research finds bioenergy projects can provide potential benefits far beyond emissions - there is an argument for supporting projects based on the ecosystem services and/or economic stimulation they may deliver. Also given the broad dynamics and characteristics of bioenergy projects, a rigid approach of assessing sustainability may be incompatible. Awarding ‘credit’ across a broader range of sustainability indicators in addition to requiring minimum performances in key areas, may be more effective at ensuring bioenergy sustainability

ART IN FLUX

Exhibition on State of Media Arts in the UK with 14 Artists, 30 Talks, 6 Performances and 1 Worksho

Rheological characterisation of Arzua-Ulloa cheese by compression

International audienc

Texture evaluation of cheese with soft consistency : effect of testing conditions on penetrometric parameters

International audienc

Art in Flux / Event Two Exhibition

ART IN FLUX London curated the exhibition ART IN FLUX at Event Two, a selection of pioneering media arts to celebrate the Computer Arts Society's 30 year anniversary. The exhibition took place at the Royal College of Art, the exact space where the very first exhibit of the Computer Arts Society had taken place 30 years earlier