POSTCITY, Conference Hall 09.09.2016 SYMPOSIUM II THE ALCHEMISTS OF OUR TIME Moderator: Jurij Krpan (SI) Speakers: Joe Davis (US), Siegfried Zielinski (DE), Verena Kuni (DE), Fumio Nanjo (JP), James Gimzewski (US) In the second panel of this year’s festival, there will be talks spanning the historical development of alchemists techniques to current trends. With their lectures, experts seek to answer questions about who the alchemists of our time are, on which projects they are focused on and what conditions they need to do so. The speakers present and explore concepts, technical challenges and developments of new materials uncovering intersecting points in biotechnology, design, engineering, architecture, art etc. They introduce their own cultural-social perspective and critical analysis and show speculative scenarios to give possible insight of our future. Joe Davis (US) focuses on the future possibilities of Astrobiological Horticulture. Siegfried Zielinski (DE) interprets Alchemical Theory & Praxis as a Specific Form of Matériology in an attempt to discover alchemist principles as archaic energies in the process of changing the world. Verena Kuni (DE) will take a closer look at contemporary artistic perspectives on the quest for the gold of our time and on the impact of its “elementary hallucination(s)”. Fumio Nanjo (JP) deliberates on, how today, art relates to the landscape, nature, bio-tech, at the same time to audience and life. art is no more just painting and sculpture. art exists everywhere and art becomes norm of life. James Gimzewski (US) discusses Atoms: A collective order, entropy and self organisation. • Info: A symposium in the context of the European Digital Art & Science Network.