Ljudmila Art and Science Laboratory

Ljudmila in lights, Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, the predecessor of Ljudmila Art and Science Laboratory.

Set up in the middle of the 1990s, Ljudmila Art and Science Laboratory has ever since been bent on various way through which to weave together technology, art, science, and civil society. As such it is a place where hackers and artists meet, yet also a place where culture is reflected and modified through the lens of politics, as generated by the developments of communications technologies.

Its programmes are wide-ranging. Ljudmila runs the Strictly Analog Festival and the art&hacking meeting PIFcamp. Since 2010 it operates the Culture.si portal and database, and as of 2013 also the metasearch engine and cultural news and events aggregator Kulturnik.si. From 2011 it acts as a public lead of Creative Commons Slovenia. It organises regular workshops in use of open source software and DIY technological practices; supports the production of new media artworks; has an orchestra; and more.

Mission

Ljudmila engages in the development and popularisation of open culture, free licences and software, and in new ways of data distribution. It detects the ways through which the transformations in the field of information and communications technologies affect the society and encourages the corresponding cultural and artistic practices.

Venue

As of 2017 Ljudmila is stationed in a skyscraper in the centre of Ljubljana, sharing the 8th floor with the Delak Institute (exploring performance arts and space 'culturalisation') and Projekt Atol Institute. Together they work on establishing the floor as a new venue for new media art and contemporary theatre.

Background

The laboratory is a successor to the Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, as of 1994 a programme of the Open Society Institute Slovenia and later also of the KUD France Prešeren Arts and Culture Association. Self-proclaimed as 'the latest spin-off' from the Open Society Institute - Slovenia (1992–2000), the Ljudmila Art and Science Laboratory was established by 10 new & all media artists, software developers, hackers, and computer engineers in 2010.

The founding members of the Ljudmila Art and Science Laboratory are Urban Belina, Mitja Doma, Luka Frelih, Tomaž Ižanc, Žiga Kranjec, Igor Križanovskij, Zoran Obradović, Alenka Pirman, Robertina Šebjanič, and Živa Zupan.

video sofa @ ljudmila by fullmoonunit on YouTube

Education

Ljudmila organises regular workshops in basic and advanced use of open source software (Blender, Pure Data, MediaWiki), as well as the Free Circuit [Prosto-vezje] workshops and Digital Dish public lectures and artist talks by international new media artists.

The activities usually feature various modes of "tinkering" with electronic circuits and technology in general, hacking and re-imagining it with the help of free software ('home-made synths' and 'wearable electronics' can serve as an example). The participants are encouraged to search for further uses and include the findings in their artistic work. Since 2013 Ljudmila is developing the education programme in collaboration with the Projekt Atol Institute.

Art projects and residencies

Ljudmila's artistic endeavours, sometimes done together with Projekt Atol, are rather diverse. However, the most obvious is its support for young artist and their new media productions. It also organises artists residencies, inviting and hosting one artist from abroad per year.

Portals and digital agenda

On the behalf of the Ministry of Culture Ljudmila runs two web portals – Culture.si, which offers information on Slovene cultural producers, venues, festivals and support services, all in one place; and Kulturnik, a digital aggregator and search engine for all things (Slovene) culture.

In 2013 Ljudmila Art and Science Laboratory was invited by the Ministry of Culture to collaborate with the National and University Library and Archives of the Republic of Slovenia and organise a line of discussions related to Digital Agenda in the Field of Culture in order to identify the issues and outline basic standards and recommendations for a common strategy. The working group led by Ljudmila focused on data acessibility, while the other two groups discussed the processes of digitisation and permanent data preservation.

Strictly Analog Festival and PIFcamp

In 2013 Ljudmila launched the Strictly Analog Festival, an international joint project with partner institutions from Graz, Trieste, and Tokyo as well as with the locally based Lighting Guerrilla Festival, MoTA Museum of Transitory Art, and Projekt Atol Institute.

The year 2015 saw the birth of PIFcamp, a temporary nomad hacker-base, taking place in the idyllic valley in Trenta. Several hands-on workshops, presentations, field trips and laboratory research are assisted by experienced local and international guests from different fields. It is organised by Ljudmila Art and Science Laboratoy and Projekt Atol Institute.

PIFcamp 2015 by Ljudmila on Vimeo

Theremidi Orchestra

As a result of a theremin and theremidi physical interface workshop at Ljudmila in 2011, the electronic noise ensemble Theremidi Orchestra was founded in 2011, in collaboration with Borut Savski from Cirkulacija 2. The Theremidi audiovisual public presentations at festivals are usually combined with open workshops for making DIY instruments and gadgets.

Theremidi Orchestra, group of enthusiasts from Ljudmila Art and Science Laboratory performing at Mladi levi Festival and 7th edition of U3 Triennial of Contemporary Slovene Arts, 2013

External links

Ljudmila Lab website
Powered by Ljudmila - exhibition at City Art Gallery Ljubljana in June 2011
Documents of the programme Digital Agenda in the Field of Culture, 2013 (in Slovenian)
The final document Digitalisation Guidelines - Cultural Heritage Long-term Preservation and Access (in Slovenian)

Gallery

Od oblike do oblike [Form from Form] in Match Gallery by Dan Adlešič, Tilen Sepič and Matic Potočnik, Lighting Guerrilla Festival in co-production with Ljudmila Art and Science Laboratory, 2013

Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana, Domače Volt Orkester, Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, 2012

Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future, Autonomous Interactive Radio, 2012

Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future, 2012

Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future, organized by Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, 2012

Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future, TeleVotón, 2012

Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future, Ophiodea, Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, 2012

Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future, organized by Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, Mycophone, 2012

Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future taking place at Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, Repurposing of abandoned printing devices through physical computing and open source software and hardware, 2012

Mentors of the Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Ida Hiršenfelder (Slovenia), Luka Frelih (Slovenia), Yago Torroja (Spain) and Chris Sugrue (USA), Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, 2012

Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future at Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, 2012

3D Printing of a case for Raspberry Pi as part of Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future at Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, 2012

Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future, 2012

Projects review at Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future, Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, 2012

Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future, 2012

Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future, taking place at Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, 2012

Reid Bingham(USA), testing Autonomous Interactive Radio, part of the Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana by Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, 2012

Reid Bingham (USA) presenting Autonomous Interactive Radio at Lightning Talks, part of the Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana, organized by Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, 2012

Janez Janša at Lightning Talks, part of the Interactivos?’12 Ljubljana: Obsolete Technologies of the Future, organized by Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab, 2012