30th ANNUAL ANNIVERSARY INTERNATIONAL LIGHT ART SYMPOSIUM.

The two-day symposium organized by the International Kepes Society will address the possibilities, challenges, and questions regarding the aesthetic quality and creative aspects of light with invited artists and scholars who are working in the intersection of art, science, and technology.

This event is free and open to the public without reservation.
For the entire duration of the conference, English live translation will be provided for all Hungarian-language presentations.

In line with the spirit and activities of Kepes György, the International Kepes Society aims to present and utilize universal research results, and support artistic creative and research programs. Its members include artists, scientists, and research engineers. The group seeks to facilitate the establishment or deepening of human connections among representatives from diverse fields and nations, which can be mutually enriching, with their common interest being contemporary life and openness to new scientific and technical developments. Their activities extend beyond just technical arts, with the core being the society of light artists who have engaged in fruitful dialogues at light symposiums regularly held over the past 30 years.

1rst day (THURSDAY, September 14)

9:30 a.m.
registration
9:45 a.m.
Greetings from Attila Csáji (painter, founder-president of the International Kepes Society—IKS)
The history and mission of the International Kepes Society
10:00 a.m.
Greetings from László Zsolt Bordos (light artist, Secretary-General of IKS)

THE PAST AND THE PRESENT – DOMESTIC STRATEGIES, MEMORIES, AND INTERSECTIONS
(Chair: László Zsolt Bordos)
10:30 a.m.
Dénes Nagy (mathematician)
“The Hungarian Connection in Art-Science”: “Martians” (Hungarians) in Art, From Cars and Talking
Machines to Light Art and Light Symposia (lecture)
11:00 a.m.
Endre Lehel Paksi (art historian)
The Decay of the Ideological Iron Curtain. Shifts in the Attitude of the Socialist State towards
Lumino-kinetic Art (online lecture)
11:30 a.m.
Antal Kelle (designer, artformer)
Immaterial and Virtual Sculpture as an Art Form and New Aesthetic Dimension (lecture)
12:00 p.m.
Dr. Lajos Szilassi (mathematician)
Visible and Hidden Symmetries. The Szilassi Polyhedron and the “Charm” of Mathematics (lecture)
12:30 p.m.
Dr. Ákos Nemcsis (electrical engineer, Óbuda University, Kandó Kálmán Faculty of Electrical Engineering)
The Nature of Beauty or the Scientific Approach to Harmony (lecture)
1:00 p.m.
Márton Orosz (art historian)
Art as Luminoscience. György Kepes and the Genesis of a New Medium Sculpted from Light
(lecture)
1:30 p.m.
Lunch break

APPROACHES: TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL — ARTIST TALKS
(Chair: Márton Orosz)
2:30 p.m.
Zoltán Szegedy-Maszák (media artist, Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, Intermedia Department) (presentation)

3:00 p.m.
Tamás Waliczky (media artist, City University of Hong Kong) (online presentation)
3:30 p.m.
Karolina Halatek (light artist, Łódź, Poland) (presentation)
4:00 p.m.
Carlo Bernardini (light artist, Milan) (presentation)
“Invisible Dimensions.” Light Sculpture and Dynamic Vision: Electro-luminescent Object
Creation with Optical Fibers
4:30 p.m.
Balint Bolygo (light artist, London) (presentation)
Event Horizon at the Art Tech Festival
5:00 p.m.
George Legrady (media artist, San Francisco) (online presentation)
“Pockets Full of Memories” and “Alchemist study”. Aesthetics of Artificial Neural Networks
5:30 p.m.
Closing remarks

OUTDOOR VENUE
(Uránia National Film Theatre, 1088 Budapest, Rákóczi út 21.)
6:30 p.m.
Documentary film premiere at the Uránia National Film Theatre, in the program of the
Budapest Classic Film Marathon

György Kepes. Interthinking Art + Science
Hungarian-Canadian documentary film, director: Márton Orosz (97’)

Followed by the film screening, a roundtable discussion will take place on the international
reception and recognition of György Kepes (60’)
Participants: András Kepes, writer; Charissa Terranova, art historian; Robert Horvitz,
media artist–university professor; László Zsolt Bordos, light artist, the producer of the film;
Márton Orosz, the director of the film

2nd day (FRIDAY, September 15)
LUMINOASTHETICS AND SCIENCE
(Chair: Márton Orosz)
9:30 a.m.
Dr. Gábor Horváth (physicist, ELTE Faculty of Science, Budapest)
Light Polarization in Human Vision – Lessons from a North Pole Scientific Expedition (lecture)
10:15 a.m.
Dr. Norbert Kroó (physicist, MTA-Wigner Research Centre for Physics)
Bright New World. Examples Showcasing Correlations between Arts and Sciences (lecture)
10:45 a.m.
Ágoston Nagy (media artist, Binaura, Budapest)
Audible Code: Sonification Possibilities in Generative Artistic Systems (presentation)
11:15 a.m.
Marcello Farabegoli (curator and physicist, Marcello Farabegoli Projects, Vienna)
Aestheticised Science? Exploring Quantum Physics through Contemporary Art (lecture)
11:45 a.m.
Endre T. Rózsa (cultural journalist)
The Grammatology of Transparency: Clarity and Permeability in the Art of László Moholy-Nagy (lecture)

12:15 p.m.
Dr. Miklós Hoffmann (mathematician, artificial intelligence researcher, EKCU)
Between Anxiety and Intimacy: Artificial Intelligence in Visual Arts (lecture)
12:45 p.m.
Artificial Intelligence and Art Panel
“How can artificial intelligence, a prominent topic of our time, shape the future of light art?”

Participants:
Andor Wesselényi-Garay (Hungarian Academy of Arts, Budapest, Division of Architecture), moderator
Márton Szentpéteri (MOME, Budapest, Theoretical Institute)
Antal Lakner (MOME, Budapest, Associate Professor)
Zoltán Szegedy-Maszák (Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, Intermedia Department)
Dr. Miklós Hoffmann (mathematician, artificial intelligence researcher, EKCU, Eger)
1:30 p.m.
Lunch break

PRESENTATION STRATEGIES. NEW MEDIA IN EDUCATION AND EXHIBITION SPACES
(Chair: László Zsolt Bordos)
2:30 p.m.
Alexandre Czetwertynski (media art curator, Brussels)
Thin Air & Art+Tech. Lessons from Gilbert Simondon, Bernard Stiegler, and an Exhibition in London
(presentation)
3:00 p.m.
Martin Pošta (media art producer, Founder of Signal Light Festival, Prague)
Illuminating the Urban Landscape: The Aesthetic, Social Impact, and Future of the Signal Festival
(presentation)
3:30 p.m.
Andrea Sztojánovits (media artist, Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest, Intermedia Department)
Dream Machine and Light-based Perception Research in Education (presentation)
4:00 p.m. KEYNOTE ARTIST TALK
Jeffrey Shaw (media artist, Hong Kong Baptist University), presentation

NEW LANDSCAPE — NEW VISTAS: THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF DIGITAL CULTURE
(Chair: Márton Orosz)
4:30 p.m.
Robert Horvitz (media artist–university professor, Anglo-American University, Prague)
Integrative Thinking at MIT - Vannevar Bush, Jack Burnham, Ithiel Pool, and György Kepes
(lecture)

5:00 p.m.
Gediminas Urbonas (architect–university professor, MIT, Program in Art, Culture and Technology, USA)
Swamp Observatory AR App (online presentation)
5:30 p.m. KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Charissa Terranova (art historian, University of Dallas, USA)
A Biological Bill of Rights: Organicism as Justice-Seeking (lecture)
6:00 p.m. CLOSING PLENARY
Michael Naimark (media artist, NYU Shanghai / UC Berkeley, USA)
How the 65-Year Story of Art at MIT Shaped the Media Lab Ethos (online presentation)
6:30 p.m.
Closing remarks

OUTDOOR VENUE
7:30 p.m.
Exhibition Opening ― Vasarely Museum, Budapest (1033 Budapest, Szentlélek tér 6.)
Luminotheque. Exhibition of the International Kepes Society’s Light Artists
-------
The program of the Light Symposium continues on Saturday, September 16, in Eger at the Kepes Institute with a visit to THE NEWEST LANDSCAPE OF THE WORLD exhibition.
The opening ceremony of the temporary exhibition featuring works of members of the International Kepes Society will take place at 5:00 PM on that day.
-------
PRE-CONFERENCE PHOTOGRAM WORKSHOP
Wednesday, September 13th from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Photogram-making workshop with Renáta Liszi (University of Westminster, London)
for MOME students and for the interested audience at MOME TechPark film lab