Ada Wagner, Jana Hartmann
and Mário Pereira

Augo Mergina

Caspar-David-Friedrich-Institut, Köln International School of Design, Germany
Universidade do Porto, Portugal

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Augo Mergina is a critical reinterpretation of the Lithuanian folk song "Augo Bernelis"
(a young man grows up)
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The song tells of the courtship of a wealthy young man for a young woman. In the song, the woman is only depicted in relation to others and is compared to the rue plant in her mother's garden.

The rue became the central visual element due to its ambivalent symbolism. It is considered to be the national flower of Lithuania, but is also an invasive species. The rue symbolizes virginity and purity, is supposed to ward off evil spirits and is also poisonous.

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Augo Mergina was developed as part of an Interdisciplinary Summerschool at Vilnius Technical University on the occasion of the 100th Lithuanian Song Festival.

Ada Wagner

Ada Wagner is currently studying art education at the Casper David Friedrich Institute in Greifswald, where she explores both traditional and new media. In her work with new media, she is focusing on how reality can be depicted in digital spaces. Across her projects, she emphasizes the importance of process—whether through discussions or the methods she employs—ensuring that these elements are not just a result but are integral to the work itself. Ada is still in the experimental phase of discovering new media techniques, and in the early stages of her studies. For the presented project in particular, she is working with 3D scans.

Jana Hartmann

Jana Hartmann is an interdisciplinary designer and researcher. With a background in Integrated Design as well as Sociology and Philosophy, Jana is exploring ways of working within/between (or beyond?) qualitative social research, reading and writing, generative design, creative programming and algorithmic animation. Critical Thinking, feminist and postcolonialist perspectives are the base of all her works. As of now, Jana is working on her master’s thesis on AI-generated images and beauty.

Mário Pereira

Mário Pereira is a musician and sound designer with a background in Fine Arts and Physics. He is currently working on his master’s thesis, focusing on music information retrieval, performance analysis, and sound computation. In his creative work, he explores digital synthesis techniques, abstract sonic textures, and generative processes, using sound as a medium for storytelling and challenging the way we experience music.