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About us    

 

Beta is a new festival of art and technology critically engaging with the impact of emerging technologies on society. Taking Ireland’s role as a central node in today's wired world as a starting point, Beta will showcase and celebrate Ireland’s research and artistic communities through a combination of creativity, debate and experimentation. Beta allows members of the public to engage playfully and critically with new technologies essentially beta testing ethical issues facing society.


WHEN?



The festival opens the first weekend in November and runs 1st - 17th 2024.

The first edition took place November 2nd - 5th 2023.


WHERE?



The Digital Hub have made a five-year commitment to the festival (2023 - 2028) and in 2024 the festival will take place in The Digital Hub, Pallas Projects/Studios and Samuel Beckett Theatre


WHY BETA?



We came up with Beta as a title for the festival as it is immediately linked to technology, it is experimental in nature and it allows us the opportunity to beta test the ethical implications of these technologies on society with the general public.


WHY NOW?



The festival is currently the only festival of its kind in Ireland for art and technology bringing together artists, researchers, and industry with a focus on ethics and public engagement. The recently published National Artificial Intelligence Strategy and National Digital Strategy highlight Ireland’s longstanding commitment to being a leader in innovation and research in digital technologies, platforms and infrastructures - a commitment that has seen so many international tech companies establish themselves within the country over the past two decades. With government plans to position Ireland as a leader in artificial intelligence and immersive technologies it has never been more important to engage the general public with the skills and literacy required to use new technologies, while critically situating them within wider societal contexts relevant to our contemporary networked world. The Arts Council plans to publish their Digital Art Policy this year and this has also highlighted the need for more opportunities for communities interested in art and technology to come together.


IDENTITY & DIGITAL COMMISSION



The artist Leon Butler was commissioned to imagine what the identity of a festival of art and technology could be and he created an artistic response utilising machine learning to generate a new font - he corrupted the data set with unusual fonts to lean into the more uncanny and imperfections of the type. The final logo almost looks hand drawn or screen printed with beautifully imperfect edges - this juxtaposition of cutting-edge technology and human creativity is exactly what we want to showcase and explore with the festival.

The homepage of the website features a new commission from the artist and designer Farouk Alao. He is a  artist specialising in 3D motion and web design, driven by the possibilities these mediums offer for immersive and interactive experiences. He drew inspiration from nature, his world, and human emotions, his vision explores the intersection of reality and imagination.

The artists core concept behind the site and motion piece is positioning Beta Festival which is represented by the Beta Cube as a centre point in which art, technology and creativity revolve. He developed the Beta Cube in response to Leon Butler's Beta logo design.


Beta festival is co-founded by The Digital Hub and Aisling Murray and funded by The Digital Hub and Science Week.

The Digital Hub is managed by the Digital Hub Development Agency, a state agency set up by the Irish government in 2003 to run The Digital Hub and implement its enterprise and campus development strategy. It also facilitates and contributes to urban regeneration in the Liberties area and pilots projects that are vital to the ongoing development of the digital sector in Ireland. The Digital Hub campus is home to companies, organisations and individuals at the forefront of technology, digital media and the creative industries in Ireland. For the last twenty years The Digital Hub has delivered imaginative programmes that span a variety of areas, from developing 21st century skills in young people and empowering females to develop their own businesses, to demonstrating the potential of digital innovations to transform the health and wellbeing of citizens. The Digital Hub’s arts and culture programmes provide an intersection between innovation, art and technology to the benefit of enterprises at The Digital Hub and the residents of the Liberties community. The festival is incubated by and supported by The Digital Hub. www.thedigitalhub.com

Beta is led by Aisling Murray (Festival Founder & Director) a curator and creative producer with 15 years’ experience across exhibitions, festivals, literature, spoken word, theatre and dance. She has worked as programme manager for Body & Soul and recently worked with the Goethe-Institut Irland in developing their Quantum Technology Art residency. She also curates the art and science stage Human Lab at Electric Picnic funded by Science Foundation Ireland. Prior to this she worked for Science Gallery Dublin where she produced national and international creative programmes converging art, science, technology and society. Aisling has extensive experience in public engagement and transdisciplinarity and has spoken on the subject internationally including MuseumNext (New York, 2019) on “Critical Thinking and Crucial Conversations with Audiences”, “Art & Science on Display: A Critical Perspective” at Medical Museion (Copenhagen, 2022) and was the keynote at the International Federation of Finance Museums Conference (Rome, 2022) speaking on “Art and Technology: A Transdisciplinary Approach”.  This year she was the Irish representative and one of 20 people selected internationally by Institut Français Paris and supported by the French Embassy in Ireland for the Digital Art Focus Programme in Paris that coincided with the International Symposium on Electronic Art 2023.

Anne Kearns (Event Manager) is an experienced engagement officer, project manager, researcher and creative producer. Anne has a background in learning and development, evaluation, and community co-creation across the public, private and cultural sectors in Ireland and the UK. She is passionate about designing playful encounters which inspire ideas and connections.

Paul O’ Neill (Research Lead) is an artist and researcher whose practice and research are concerned with the implications of our collective dependency on networked technologies and infrastructures. Paul is a postdoctoral research fellow at the ADAPT Centre for AI-driven Media Technologies at University College Dublin where he is focusing on the ethics and design of Artificial Intelligence systems. He is also a co-curator of the Dublin Art and Technology Association (D.A.T.A).


PURPOSE


To empower people in the way they think about and use new technologies.

To support and showcase Irish artists and researchers in art and technology.


MISSION


To critically engage with technology’s impact on society through creativity, debate and experimentation.


VALUES


Collaboration: 
Reaching outside ourselves. Always seeking partnership and new ways of doing and seeing things. Inter/Multi/Trans-disciplinary


Integrity: 
Embracing openness, transparency and equity across all areas.


Empowerment:
To equip people with the tools to engage with and understand new technologies


Curiosity: 
To be playful, generous and inquisitive in the way we engage with ideas and people.


Our supporters



Festival partners, supporters and funders include:

Science Week, Creative Futures Academy, Ambassade de France en Irlande, Novembre Numerique, The British Council, ADAPT Research Centre and The Arts Council.