Visions of the Now 2017

In September 1966, the festival and congress Visioner av Nuet (“Visions of the Present”) took place in Stockholm. The event aimed to investigate the impact of technology on humanity, society and art. Computing was only in its infancy, yet discussing its consequences and exploring what it would mean to make use of it artistically was considered paramount at that time. Almost half a century later, artist Anna Lundh produced an updated version of the festival, based on research into the event from 1966, to reconsider its original concerns in a world fully immersed in the technology that in 1966 was called “the new”. What lies in the “and” of art and technology now? Who is occupied with technology and its role in society? Which values do we want to maintain, and which should we challenge? Lundh’s festival, Visions of the Now, took place on 24–26 May 2013 and gathered over thirty international artists, musicians, theorists and scientists, in a series of lectures, panels, open discussions, art and music performances.

For the 2013 festival, Konst & Teknik designed a catalogue, titled Catalogue (!), containing — among other things — essays and scans of the correspondance regarding the 1966 festival. The catalogue was distributed to the festivals’ visitors and signed with today’s date using a inkjet printer pen. The addition of a second catalogue, titled Proceedings, was added with a series of documentation photos and an introduction letter to an archival box, released in September 2017 by Sternberg Press.

Both Catalogue and Proceedings reference heavily the researched material in its design choices in its usage of the original letterhead font (Bank Gothic), typewriter fonts and more, while still trying to keep the box current — an attempt to blend the past with the future in its approach to (printing) technology.