Digital Media Summer Institute

NEW MEDIA ART
AS THERAPY

13-16 September 2021

Can NEW media art heal, uplift, inspire, and soothe?

The Digital Media Summer Institute (DMSI) 2021 is a hybrid immersive 4-day event aimed at the collaborative development of research projects that bring together art, technology, and science.

Leo Tolstoy once said that art "is a means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings, and indispensable for the life and progress toward well-being of individuals and humanity." More recently, Alain de Botton and John Armstrong wrote a book called "Art as Therapy," where they call for the necessity to rethink the uses of art. They suggest exploring the therapeutic potential for artworks, framing them according to a psychological method that invites us to align our deeper selves with artworks. The truth is art can help us to recognise emotions that are hidden in our subconscious.

This year's edition of the DMSI aims to create new media artworks that can function as therapeutic tools. Plus, the artworks will be presented at a future "therapeutic" Digital Media Art Festival, in Portugal, where the gallery visitors will be the "patients" looking to be "treated" by the artworks.

This event will take place at iNOVA Media Lab, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal - 13 to 16 September, 2021. The event is free for students of the Digital Media Doctoral Program (UNL/UP) and the Master in New Media and Web Practices (FCSH/UNL). For students from other institutions, the price will be 20 euros. For everyone else, the price will be 40 euros. Apply until August 13th, 2021!

The painting above is "Femme aux yeux bleus from Amedeo Modigliani" (1918)

Joins Us!
4 days

Every day, mentors and participants will be working together at iNOVA Media Lab, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal.
Since this is a hybrid event, it might be possible to attend partially or totally online.

6 mentors

During the event, the mentors will give talks and workshops designed to enrich and guide the artwork's design and development process.
The mentors will also guide and assist the participants throughout the entire process.
This edition's mentors are: André Rocha, Carla Nave, Massimo Menichinelli, Rodrigo Carvalho, Sara Albuquerque, & Tânia Costa.

12 Participants

A small group of extraordinary, kind, and passionate people.
We are looking for students, researchers, designers, artists, developers, and anyone interested in being a part of this fantastic project.

new media artworks

The main goal of this event is to create one or more New Media Artworks that can also function as therapeutic tools. The resulting artworks will be presented at a future "therapeutic" Digital Media Art Festival, Portugal, where the gallery visitors will be the "patients" looking to be "treated" by the artworks.

available materials

The following materials will be available at the event:
Intel® RealSenseTM Depth Camera D435i; PsychoBIT BT Kit; Arduino Starter Kit; HTC Vive; Eye Tracking hardware; EEG Emotiv Epoc+; Chroma Key screen; Film cameras; 360 cameras; Audio studio; ZapBox: Mixed Reality for Everyone by Zappar; Small CNC and Laser Engraver; 3D Printers; Arduino Boards; Multiple Sensors; Sewing Machines; Hot Wire Cutter; Carpentry Bench; Metal Work Bench; Vinyl Cutter.

endless fun

We are 100% sure that you will never feel like you are working. Still, there will be plenty of opportunities for fun activities, networking, and relaxation during the event.
During the event, coffee, water, juices, and snacks will be available all around.
On the last day, there will be a goodbye sunset party with drinks for everyone.

Joins Us!

andré rocha

André Rocha is a Designer and Maker. He is a Product and Interaction Design Professor at the Polytechnic of Lisbon and a PhD student on Digital Media at FCT UNL, where he researches Open-source Agriculture.
He co-founded Fab Lab Benfica, where, among several projects, he coordinates the Polytechnic of Lisbon participation on the Distributed Design Platform, organizes Maker Faire Lisbon and runs the Fabschools.pt initiative. He is also an active member of the Creative Commons Global Network, with responsibilities in the Portuguese affiliate since 2014.

carla nave

Carla Nave is an interface designer and software developer, with a particular interest in usability and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). She is currently researching graphical user interfaces for the self-assessment of emotional states (iNOVA Media Lab, NOVALincs, ICNOVA). She also teaches Standards, Usability, and Accessibility at FCSH, NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal.

Massimo Menichinelli

Massimo Menichinelli, Doctor of Arts in New Media from Aalto University, is a designer who researches and develops open, collaborative, and co-design projects and the systems that enable them since 2005. Massimo has lectured and published articles and books on Open Design, Digital Fabrication, Makers, Fab Labs and Social Innovation. Massimo worked as Director at Make In Italy Foundation CDB, managing research projects and platforms at IAAC | Fab Lab Barcelona; now he is Research Fellow at RMIT University and Senior Resident Researcher at Politecnico di Milano.

rodrigo carvalho

Rodrigo Carvalho is designer & new media artist from Porto/Portugal. His work on live visuals, coding and interactive art involves a wide range of different outputs, from screen digital work, interactive installations, audiovisual live acts, or interactive visuals for stage performance. He has presented work in many events worldwide as: Sonar Festival (Barcelona), MutekEs (Barcelona), Echo(Dubai), Stereolux (Nantes), Iminente (Lisboa) among others.  He is also the visual side of BorisChimp504 and co-founder of Openfield creative studio.

sara albuquerque

Sara Albuquerque holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Coimbra. She has published several articles in scientific journals and book chapters focused on grief and trauma. She is currently Coordinator and Clinical Psychologist at the Grief Consultation at the PIN Development Center (Lisbon, Portugal) and a professor at Universidade Lusófona.

Tânia costa

Tânia Costa is a clinical psychologist at the PIN Development Center (Lisbon, Portugal). She is part of the anxiety consultation, where she is responsible for intervention in Anxiety Disorders in adults. She also coordinates the consultation on personality disorders at PIN and is a professor at Instituto Criap.

Joins Us!