As part of the exhibition Sensing the Future: Moholy-Nagy, Media and the Arts, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art is pleased to present a panel discussion on Monday, May 12th at 7:00 PM in room 4BC55 in the Buhler Centre. This discussion will explore the contemporary works commisioned for the exhibition and their relation to László Moholy-Nagy’s theories and practice. The panelists will be curator, Dr. Oliver Botar (moderator), alongside artists Freya Olafson and Erika Lincoln. The event is free and all are welcome to attend.

Freya Björg Olafson is an intermedia artist who works with video, audio, painting and performance. Her creations have been presented and exhibited internationally at venues such as SECCA – SouthEastern Center for Contemporary Art (North Carolina), OchoYmedio / Alas de la Danza (Quito, Guayaquil and Manta in Ecuador), The National Arts Center (Ottawa), High Performance Rodeo (Calgary), Tangente – Laboratoire des Movements Contemporains (Montreal), Sequences Real Time Media Arts Festival (Iceland) and Medea Electronique / Onassis Cultural Center (Athens, Greece).  Freya’s solo performance AVATAR received the ‘Buddies In Bad Times Vanguard Award’ at the Summerworks Theatre Festival in Toronto and toured across 7 provinces in Canada, 4 states in the USA, three cities in Ecuador. AVATAR was also performed in Reykjavík, Iceland and various excerpts were shown across Europe. Freya’s video work has screened in festivals across the globe with upcoming dates in Belgium and Brazil. To develop her work Freya has benefitted from residencies: most recently through EMPAC – Experimental Media & Performing Arts Center (Troy, New York), Atlantic Center for the Arts (Florida), Medea Electronique (Greece), Plug In ICA (Summer Institute) and Studio 303 (Montréal).

Erika Lincoln is a Canadian based electronic media artist working in kinetic sculpture and responsive installation. In her work she mixes objects with communications and control mechanisms to visually trace patters found when human made systems and natural processes converge. Her work has shown in Media Art festivals and events across Europe including Artbots (Dublin), Filmwinter (Germany), Pixxelpoint (Slovenia), and Love the Robots (Zurich). In Canada she has shown in galleries and festivals including The Winnipeg Art Gallery, Plugin-ICA, Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre, Musée National des Beaux-arts du Québec, Send+Receive Audio Festival, and the Vancouver Underground Film Festival. Over the past ten years Erika has been awarded several grants from the The Canada Council for the Arts and The Manitoba Arts Council. She has participated in residencies at the Banff New Media Institute in Canada and Medialab Prado in Spain.

Oliver Botar is an art historian. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in urban geography at the University of Alberta in Edmonton; and a Master of Science in urban and regional planning, a Master of Arts in art history, and a Ph.D. in art history, all at the University of Toronto. He has taught art and architectural history at several Canadian universities. Since 1996 he has been professor of modern art history at the University of Manitoba, where he teaches a world survey of art and architecture, modern and contemporary art, post-war Canadian art, and art in new media. He has been Professor since 2011. His research, writing and exhibition curating have focussed on early to mid 20th century art, architecture, photography and media art. This work has been international in scope, with concentrations on Weimar Germany, Hungary, Canada and the United States. The art and ideas of László Moholy-Nagy have been a focus throughout his career. He has lectured, published, and has curated exhibitions in Canada, the United States and Europe. He lives and works in Winnipeg.