At the opening, the artist will guide visitors through the exhibition. In the subsequent panel discussion, we will examine nature and technology, analog and digital worlds, scientific skepticism, and trust in science from the perspective of various disciplines (geoinformation, civil engineering, art).

By learning from and imitating nature’s organic systems, we humans have expanded them to such an extent over time that they are now known to have the potential to grow beyond our control. With the observational system of art, Olaf Osten questions our only partially controllable technological achievements in his exhibition in the library of the TU Wien and reminds us that we, the designers of the Anthropocene, should see ourselves more as part of nature instead of thoughtlessly distancing ourselves from it.

His works raise various questions of scientific ethics: Should we focus only on what is possible or also on what is necessary when curiosity and inventiveness drive us into abstract spheres? How do we behave when it is difficult to predict what technological developments such as artificial intelligence will do to us?

Olaf Osten (born in Lübeck in 1972, living and working in Vienna since 1997) is exhibiting ten selected works from the Pendeln series and the video installation Fernsehen III-12 as part of VIENNA ART WEEK.

Meeting point:

Data Visualisation Space

TU Wien Library

Resselgasse 4, ground floor

1040 Vienna

Panel discussion with:

• Olaf Osten – Born in Lübeck; studied graphic design in Hildesheim and Dublin; has lived and worked in Vienna since 1997.
• Helga Nowotny – Internationally recognised scholar in science studies and sociology; Emeritus Professor at ETH Zurich; President of the European Research Council from 2010 to 2013; member, among others, of the Council Assembly of the Austrian Council for Research, Science, Innovation and Technology Development, and of the Board of Trustees of the Falling Walls Foundation.
• Univ.-Prof. Dr. Norbert Pfeifer – Professor of Photogrammetry in the Department of Geodesy and Geoinformation at TU Wien; expert in the use of Earth observation imagery for the 3D modelling of our environment.
• Univ.-Prof. Dr. Agathe Robisson – Professor of Building Materials and Material Technology at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering; expert on the relationships between microstructure and properties in filled elastomers, gels, and cementitious composites, using experimental characterization of solids, liquids, and soft materials.