“It is when we are in transition that we are most completely alive.”
– William Bridges
What does it mean to be alive? Co-existing, communication, creativity. How much do we say when talking? What kind of elements could we extract from non-verbal communication? When dealing with social phenomena that affect our daily lives, what are our bodily reactions? How could contemporary artists deploy those reactions for artwork creation?
Transition to 8 takes on the challenge to explore all of the above. It is an innovative project that seeks to unite social sciences, technology, and contemporary art to transition to a new state of mind; social issues related to human rights are turned into subject matters of active confrontation among those affected the most.
Science establishes the epistemological framework, the sociodrama.
Technology is used to gather biometric data and transform them into source material for artistic productions.
Artists integrate the analysed data in their artworks and create original art pieces of electronic music and visual arts.
Transition to 8 initiates a public discourse concerning important social issues. The project’s pilot edition “Transition to 8: Bridging social issues, tech and contemporary art” took place in Eleusis from 2020 until 2023, where residents, through sociodrama sessions, dealt with the crucial social issues of environmental pollution, labour, and the refugee/immigration issue.
In its new edition (2024 - 2026), titled “Transition to 8: European societies in flux”, the project travels to Europe through the Creative Europe programme, and focuses on the effects of air pollution on communities and its social dimensions. It lays the foundation for an expanded role of art in society, using creativity to promote climate action in line with the EU Green Deal and to advance a reimagined, cross-cultural dialogue on the effects of air pollution.
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Transition to 8: Bridging social issues, tech and contemporary art (T2EΔΚ-00623) was a research project coordinated by MENTOR Cultural Production and Management Company and implemented in collaboration with Athena Research Center and the Laboratory of Quality Research in Psychology and Mental Health of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens’ Department of Psychology. The project is co-funded by Greece and the European Union as part of the Operational Programme Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation under the single RTDI State Aid Action "Research-Create-Innovate B' Cycle" 2014-2020 (EPAnEK)
“Transition to 8: European societies in flux” is a Creative Europe project implemented by MENTOR, the Museum of Transitory Arts (Slovenia), Electroni[k] (France) and Today Art Initiative (Armenia) and it is co-funded by the European Union.
