„We leave traces. On our bodies and on the others. In the city and on the planet. Whether we want to or not.

The signs we generate can be decoded or remain incomprehensible. We act upon their interpretation.

Once marked out and deciphered, the sign generates volume and space around it. We are captivated by the endless birth of our own traces. Experience and interaction leave scars on us, becoming part of our biological imprint. The signs we produce in the biological cycle of the planet raise a question mark over the future existence of man on a planet whose stones have been marked for more than 2.5 million years.

The architecture of traces thrown out by humans is multi-layered and underlies human-to-human connection and change of information. The signs we produce are so incredibly rich in their diversity: there may be verbal, visual, physical, written, or even chemical traces that we leave behind us, and they all add up to the essential material of the communication media where each of us is immersed in the complex dynamics, generated by the interaction between our own codes and the language of the others.

White Imprint directly addresses the need for each of us to understand, decode and transmit meaning through signs to others, in an age when we realize that the traces we leave on the planet can be overwhelming for human life. Social media gives everyone the opportunity to send out signals and mark the digital environment instantaneously, generating a giant digital carbon footprint. Who and how decides which memories (tokens) are worth keeping? For how long?

Alexandru Berceanu, in collaboration with Constantin Basica, Grigore Burloiu, Sebastian Comanescu, Dorin Cucicov, Denis Flueraru, and Andrei Mitișor, presents the White Imprint series of works. The exhibition is the result of a process of co-creation and mutual influence, which in some cases lasted for more than 10 years. The works had been produced using both new technology-based media (from magnetic tape to conversational robots based on Artificial Intelligence, from algorithmic composition to bio-art), as well as classical media. Each of the artists explores a certain medium of expression, focusing on the process of tracing the signs in that specific medium.

Imprinting is the process by which experience is encoded into biology. Each organism’s life experience impacts the epigenetic and implicitly the genetic level, shaping the DNA message for future generations. White Imprint proposes an affective image of the sign, caught in the interaction among the viewers, artists, and artworks.

Will the future bring the sign of a human-generated AI or of a life form with enough resilience to leave intergalactic signs?

White Imprint invites you to leave your own marks in the spaces that are still white to you.

||| Biographies |||

Alexandru Berceanu is a mixed media director active in the uses of new technologies and media in the performing arts. Alexandru Berceanu is the author or co-author of several installations of which the most important are 1958-1958 Atelier 35, Lost Interferences, Who am I?, an H3 production with Odeon Theatre or works in VR exhibited nationally and internationally, as well as the graphic novel „Mickey on the Danube”. Alexandru is in search of new narratives, relating through play and interactivity through artistic and interdisciplinary research.

Constantin Basica is a composer whose current work focuses on symbiotic relationships between music, video and performance, with the use of the computer. His works have been performed in Europe, North America and Asia at various festivals and conferences. Constantin holds a PhD in composition from Stanford University (US), an MA in multimedia composition from the Hamburg University of Music and Theater (DE), and two bachelor’s degrees in composition and conducting from the National University of Music Bucharest (RO). He is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford.

Grigore Burloiu is a lecturer in the Department of Animation and Interactivity at UNATC, where he coordinates the Interactive Technologies for Performing Arts and Media (ITPMA) master program, teaching creative programming and interactive music systems. Grigore develops expressive accompaniment systems for interactive music that are time-aware on multiple scales, and the use of AI in art – especially for sound and text. Grigore has collaborated on numerous artistic works including CORPUS VIDERUM (Ryan Walsh 2022, with Hans Brouwer), Violin Concerto(Fred Popovici 2021, with Patricia Kopatchinskaja), Lost Interferences (Alexandru Berceanu 2021), Urban Delta Scapes (Anne Dubos, IRCAM, CINETic 2019).

Andrei Mitișor is trained as an architect, specialized in 3D design and prototyping, among the most important works executed are the sets for Dino Park Râșnov or big festivals such as Untold, Saga or Electric Castel. In the New Media area, Andrei Mitișor created the choreography of the robot Kuka in the show Who am I? and installations such as Grid, exhibited at RADAR or more recently Multivers at RDW 2022.

Sebastian Comănescu is a Computational Designer and New Media Artist.
He graduated from Ion Mincu University of Architecture with a Master in Architecture in 2018. In 2021, he graduated from the Interactive Technologies for Performing Arts and Media Master program at UNATC’s CINETic Research Center. Among his main works projects Butterflies et.al, Sowing Futures, Pak-Pak, Quantum Polytypes exhibited at festivals in the country and abroad. (IG: @ko.om.a)

Dorin Cucicov is an artist and coder with a genuine interest in exploring the human-technology relationship. His artistic concerns are to question the processes of mutual influence between human and technological through research, interactive installation and performance. The results of these investigations have been translated into physical sculptures, digital and new media projects in local and international exhibitions.

Denis Flueraru is a new media artist whose interests revolve around connecting sound and visual art with digital and analog technology. The core concept of his work is interactivity, in this sense, he constantly strives to innovate and raise awareness on a variety of dimensions that encapsulate the idea of the contemporary human habitat. By immersing users in live performances, interactive installations, and written works, Denis seeks to stimulate the boundaries of their perspectives and thereby instill new interpretations. Among his works: narcissus in the digital era, an encounter with a stranger, and particle composer.” SOURCE: Mobius