The Digital Hub, in partnership with Aisling Murray and with the support of Science Foundation Ireland, held the inaugural edition of BETA in November 2023 at The Digital Hub and the surrounding Liberties area of Dublin 8.
The festival comprised of four days of immersive content, performance and discussion alongside a unique two-week exhibition of Irish-based and international artists spanning the material and digital, the real and the virtual, the local and the global through creative and critical practice.
Key highlights from Beta 2023 included:
- miss-communication by Joanna Walsh; Talk with Markievicz Mark1, an AI trained on the historical records of Irish women’s words, and print out a receipt of your conversation.
- Ent- by Libby Heaney; a 360-degree immersive installation taking quantum computing as both medium and subject matter.
- The Ethics Studio developed with the festival research partner ADAPT Research Centre; a space for members of the public to engage with real ethical concerns and potential real-world impacts of new and emerging technologies.
- Prompt Battle; a rambunctious live event where people competed against each other using text-to-image software from Sebastian Schmieg, Bernadette Geiger, and the Prompt Battle Team
- Dwelling by Peter Power & Leon Butler.; a new audience driven interactive performance, creating imperceptible, poetic worlds that allow the audience to pass through space, time, and memory to experience the lives of others.
- Keynote talk from Rachel O’Dwyer, nominated author of the Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year 2023 on Tokens.
For more information on Beta, visit: https://betafestival.ie/About-Us
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