Futuros – Art and Technology has a history rooted in artistic experimentation across the fields of art, science, and technology. In our programming, new artistic languages fill the galleries with works, artists, and curators who point to new directions in addressing contemporary challenges. For this reason, the Cultural Center is hosting the second edition of the exhibition Numerical Existence – Emergencies, whose first edition was held here in 2018 with great success, showcasing artistic data visualization to the public. In this edition, the curation by Barbara Castro, Doris Kosminsky, and Luiz Ludwig pushes forward with a broader use of data as the raw material of works by 9 Brazilian and international artists/collectives who reflect on and critique the current challenges faced by society. Among these challenges, climate emergencies, the persistent scourge of racism, and the spread of fake news emerge as central themes, prompting deep reflection on power dynamics, inequalities, and the erosion of truth.
Thus, the exhibition Numerical Existence – Emergencies invites the public to understand and reflect on our role in perpetuating or changing these realities toward a future that is more just, transparent, sustainable, and diverse.
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It is often said that artists use the technologies of their time. In the case of art that uses data as raw material and the theme of its works, the anxieties and accomplishments of contemporaneity are inseparable from its creation. We are witnessing a world shrinking under the weight of various threats—from viruses to wars—but also grappling with uncertainty about our own survival due to the misuse of vital natural resources. Climate change, identity politics, and the value of science are some of the themes explored by the works featured in this exhibition at Futuros - Art and Technology. Emergencies are the pressing issues that constrain us, creating a sense of urgency in response to situations that threaten life, and pointing to new pathways and practices that signal the beginning of much-needed transformations.

The second edition of the exhibition Numerical Existence features artists who use data as a medium of creation to conduct a visual or critical analysis of contemporary issues. We will see visualizations that employ sophisticated technologies with large datasets, as well as works that present a critique of a data-driven society. In both cases, the act of creation carries an intention to raise awareness about the urgency of a global transition towards a more just society, one centered on the cohesion of humanity with the planet’s other inhabitants. The use of data as raw material for artistic creation reveals that the issues addressed in these works are indeed embedded in our existence. In this context, perhaps it is up to artists to recover a poetic approach capable of articulating the hidden politics within data, connecting beyond its technological dimension.