PROTOCOGNITION

The Arts Exhibition and Performances organised by Bristol Art Gallery and Unconventional Computing Lab UWE Bristol.

Protocognition refers to the ability of non-living creatures and substances without a nervous system to acquaint themselves with information, recognize stimulatory spaces, accumulate knowledge, and develop wisdom. It encompasses various processes such as sensing, decision mapping, learning, reasoning, believing, and even exhibiting emotional states through chemical and physical substrates.

Artists, scientists, musicians, and engineers are encouraged to submit their work, exploring how apparently non-intelligent or even non-living substrates demonstrate a remarkable capacity to sensibly and purposefully gather information about their surroundings, analyse this information concurrently, and make decisions based on the analysis.

Formats of potential submissions include photographs of artworks, installations, processes, videos of sound and visual performances, sculptures, artefacts, performances in person. 

Important dates

Submission deadline: 10th September 2023

Curator: Irina Petrova Adamatzky (Director of Bristol Art Gallery)

Scientific advisory board: Prof Andrew Adamatzky (UWE Bristol), Prof. Konrad Szaciłowski (AGH University Krakow), Prof. Alessandro Chiolerio (IIT Genoa)

Physical exhibition: 4-8 October 2023, The Island, Bristol, UK

Parallel virtual exhibition: 15 October - 15 November 2023