The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar at the 2024 Leipzig Book Fair: »Even more reading, even more writing. Neues Schreiben – neues Lesen«
This year is the first year since the pandemic that the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar will be represented with a stand at the Leipzig Book Fair. Guided by the theme: »Even more reading, even more writing. Neues Schreiben – neues Lesen«, students have designed an interactive exhibition that will be set up at Booth H503 (Hall 2) on 70 square metres centred around current developments in reading and writing in conjunction with artificial intelligence. The title of the exhibition ironically references this year’s »Literaturfestivals Leipzig« slogan: »Who is still reading?«
Dr. Simon Frisch, Vice President of Student and Academic Affairs, came up with the idea and initiative for presenting AI as a topic at the Book Fair. He quickly brought together an interdisciplinary team who was excited about the idea and has been coordinating and implementing the exhibition at the Book Fair since the beginning of this year. Students and employees from the Computer Science, Media Studies, Visuelle Kommunikation (Visual Communication), Civil Engineering and Media Art and Design departments have designed and built the structure for the exhibition. They are also planning how the project will be presented at their stand. The project team hopes to engage in a dialogue with attendees in an ambitious programme and explore the future of reading and writing together.
All of the projects exhibited recognise that processes related to reading and writing are changing rapidly as a result of technological advancements. There are a number of developments that will be completely normal for us in the future and some that won’t. The media technology exhibits take this abstract perspective one step further: They are already revealing the impending changes and making them tangible for non-experts, playfully and in a hands-on way.
From 21 to 24 March, Book Fair attendees will have the opportunity to test the interactive screen themselves. The screen is made up of multifunctional cubes that show how AI will make it possible for individuals to express themselves audiovisually in the future. The »Bauhaus Gamesfabrik«, which was extremely popular at summaery2023, shows how interactive reading and writing can be done in a playful way. The »Illumulus« exhibit also allows visitors to experiment with it by testing out the results of AI-generated texts and stories and shows how impressive results can be delivered even without a dedicated author.
Alongside this interactive approach to topics for the Leipzig Book Fair, the classic book medium will also be included at the stand. The LUCIA VERLAG e.V., a publishing house founded in 2014 as a student initiative, will be showcasing its most publications, including books and magazines, at the stand. The publishing house was named after Bauhaus artist Lucia Moholy-Nagy. Today, the publishing house is run by student, alumni and freelance volunteers; it provides a platform for creative work produced in the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar environment and aims to capture the cultural zeitgeist.
Further information on all Bauhaus-Universität Weimar projects at the Leipzig Book Fair can be found here:
Leipzig Book Fair 2024
21 to 24 March 2024
Hall 2
Stand H503
Multifunktional Projection Screen »Interactive Cubes«
Prof. Jörn Hintzer and Prof. Jakob Hüfner, Department of »Crossmediales Bewegtbild«, Faculty of Art and Design
»Bauhaus Gamesfabrik«
Gianluca Pandolfo, Scientific Associate in the Department of »Grafische Datenverarbeitung«, Faculty of Media
»Illumulus« – AI-Generated Writing and Storytelling
Prof. Dr. Benno Stein, Department of »Intelligente Informationssysteme«, Faculty of Media
LUCIA VERLAG
www.luciaverlag.de