General Theme for FACTT 2017 

Repetition and difference

We write only at the frontiers of our knowledge, at the border which separates our knowledge from our ignorance and transforms the one into the other.
Deleuze, Preface of Difference and Repetition

The general theme chosen for FACTT 2017 comes from a variation on Deleuze’s famous title. The trans-disciplinary focus of this festival asked for a theme which allowed any artist, scientist or thinker, regardless of their area of expertise, to embrace the common ground to all these fields which is rarely addressed. This way one can analyze the importance of “trial and error”, serendipity, repeatability, originality, convergence/divergence, creativity, nature/nurture, subjective/objective and many other concepts or ideas connected to it.

Theme for New York and Mexico City: Art & Health

The proximity between Art and Health is far greater than most can imagine. In fact, artists and scientists often have very similar perceptions of the world. One of the main differences is the fact that they represent them with different languages.

Being Health such a crucial field in Science it makes sense to consider how it can influence Art. Regarding its absence one has to take in consideration disease, addiction or other psychiatric issues which possibly gave rise to many art works and even historical movements. But if we take into account what it can offer to Art we need to start with the new knowledge and technologies this field allows artists to use as “new media”. Eventually, among many other possible connections, Health research will inevitably bring new insights of ourselves and what we create including Art in particular and culture in general.

On the other hand it is critical to pay attention to what Art can offer to the health sciences. We can think in immediate and specific terms and remind ourselves of art therapy for example. However, in very broad terms one can take note of Art’s contribution to lateral thinking which is often essential to molecular biology and many other Health-related research. Also and maybe even more relevant is the influence artistic practice can have on any psyche (healthy or otherwise) including the artist’s and the public’s psyche… if we extend this to the future we can even consider the production, understanding/sensitivity of Art and  less logical/poetical connections as being essential for artificial intelligence to simulate human behavior perfectly and maybe even be able to develop an emotional dimension.

The theme chosen by the curatorial team for FACTT New York 2017 was Norm and Mutation. Each of these words have to be taken in their broadest sense. Which means they can be interpreted in social, philosophical, scientific, artistic or poetical terms since both are inherent to creativity, thought, experimentation, social analysis, meme theory, etc… Norm as copy/repetition. Mutation as variation/difference.