RE—NEW 2013 264 CONFERENCE PROCEEDING 1. INTRODUCTION NANO Lab (Nucleus of Art and New Organisms) was created in 2010, at the Graduate Program in Visual Arts (PPGAV) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), by Carlos Augusto (Guto) Nóbrega and is coordinated together with Maria Luiza (Malu) Fragoso. Projects are sponsored with undergraduate student grants from CNPq 1 , direct funds from FAPERJ 2 , which also support most of our events together with CAPES 3 . As it is summarized in the abstract above, our artis- tic projects explore processes of creating artiﬁcial interfaces, which in some way are connected with natural and organic elements, experimenting on possible hybridization, interaction, or presence in telematic environments. One of the most impres- sive sensations observed from artistic telematics performances is the state of incomprehension of the presented complexity. However, if we believe that telematic situation enhances the vitality of an aesthetic experience, then this experience must allow the telematics environment to inﬁltrate the work of art. Maybe this is an aspect of what Roy Ascott 4 refers to as cyberception. Projects engaged at NANO Lab have the prem- ise of believing in building a trans-linguistic cultural geographic telematics communication system. We believe that the idea of a plant or insect-ma- chine-human interaction deﬁnitely enhances our capacity of perception. Not only we can visualize the interaction (accessible feedback) but the expe- rience provides, to all involved, a renewed state of consciousness. One in which the human end of the system is more generous and open to understand- ing life and nature, a premise from the origins of art. Artists from different ﬁelds (visual arts, dance, music, theatre, etc.) are emerging into a trans-dis- ciplinary methodology of research, in which mechanical, electronic and computer systems are merging into hybrid systems, not only physically, but also aesthetically, providing innovated forms of perceiving and expressing reality. Sometimes, in the process of creating ﬁelds of experimentation, art, science and technology become so close in this process of investigation that it’s almost impossi- ble to distinguish between them. In our projects, artistic practical, experimental and technologic procedures are in focus, but also an approach to the subject relating artistic practices and science NANO Lab: exploring artistic interfaces with natural/ organic elements in telematics environments Carlos Augusto (Guto) Nóbrega 1 , Maria Luiza (Malu) Fragoso 1 1 NANO - Nucleus of Art and New Organisms, School of Fine Arts, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Av. Pedro Calmon 550, Prédio da Reitoria, sala 618, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil nanolabmail@gmail.com www.nano.eba.ufrj.br Abstract. Can a telematic system provide an ex- perience in art? The question emerged again dur- ing the last three years, resulting from research on computer art, science, and telematic systems developed by artists Guto Nóbrega and Malu Fra- goso at NANO Lab (UFRJ-Brazil). The idea of a “Telematic Embrace”, introduced by artist Roy As- cott in 2003, is constantly reviewed with techno- logical development through artistic projects that explore processes of creating artiﬁcial interfaces which in some way are connected with natural and organic elements, experimenting on possible hybridization, interaction, presence and context in telematic environments. We believe that telem- atic situation enhances the vitality of an aesthetic experience and that this experience provides a re- newed state of consciousness. The idea of a plant or insect-machine-human interaction deﬁnitely enhances our capacity of perception. In this paper, the presentation of artistic practical, experimental and technologic procedures are in focus, together with research strategies applied at NANO.