Infomobility and Technics: Some Travel Notes

“…With every step, I emit a smog of data; my journey is being archived too. Every few seconds, my device “pings” the network and receives a response; my location zone is then recorded in a log. I am conscious that I leave a trail of digital breadcrumbs for Maroc Telecom through the ancient city, that my position could be triangulated within metres based on my distance from nearby cell stations. I have become data “travelling through data landscapes” [5]; I have become a roaming subscription number. As my feet slide upon thousand-year old stone, I am at once travelling through networks and central servers back in Australia, my details handed on via invisible network handshakes across the globe, my trajectory recorded. I am not lost, I am identifiable; I am a string of information events…” From Infomobility and Technics: some travel notes, by Belinda Barnet, 1000 DAYS OF THEORY, CTHEORY, VOL 28, NO 3, Editors: Arthur and Marilouise Kroker. Also, Understanding Meta-Media by Lev Manovich. Continue reading

Thoughts on Ice

Nikolaj Osinin is a Russian Cosmonaut who is now a part of Zvezdastella crew. He is in a cryogenic box (he has to remain young and fit until the spaceship Zvezdostella reaches the Magellanic Clouds, to pilot the ship back to Earth) and his brain activity is monitored by the Central Mission Computer. Data is transmitted to the Bajkanur server and fed to NikolajÂ’s personal blog. Frozen Niki is a story of this cosmonaut, organized in the form of a blog without text and has to be read from bottom up to follow his fragmentary thoughts and a detective love story.

By Dragan Espenschied (mostly known for being a part of Bodenstandig 2000) and Olia Lialina (author of early web narrations like My Boyfriend Came Back from the War and Agatha Appears). [blogged by Regine on we-make-money-not] Continue reading

Shout it Out

Troika, the U.K. design firm that brought us the SMS Guerilla Projector, has unveiled their latest project: Tool for Armchair Activists. Where the projector displayed the text of an SMS message on a distant surface, the Tool for Armchair Activists will shout it out loud. The rig can be strapped to a lamp post and thanks to an embedded mobile phone, can vocalize messages from anywhere.

The Tool for Armchair Activists is currently located in Troika’s studio. Give them a shout by texting here: +44(0)7790272804. [blogged by Josh Rubin on Cool Hunting] Continue reading

code: HumanSystems | DigitalBodies

Call for Papers: The International Digital Media and Arts Association and Miami UniversityÂ’s Center for Interactive Media Studies presents the 2006 iDMAa + IMS Conference. The conferenceÂ’s theme is built around an examination of the many codes that drive the digital media and arts world. The Conference will bring academics, artists, and industry representatives together to help define, refine and advance the leading edge of new media. This is the third annual iDMAa Conference and fifth annual IMS Conference.

The conference will include refereed paper presentations, panels, discussion workshops, gallery talks, and performances. Pre-conference, hands-on tutorials (free for iDMAa members) will begin on Wednesday, April 5th, 2006. The conference will begin on April 6th and end on April 8th. The conference will also include a juried exhibition and a vendor fair. This conference is sponsored and hosted in Oxford, Ohio by Miami UniversityÂ’s Center for Interactive Media Studies. Continue reading

JeanRichard + Open Session

It’s a busy week this week in UpStage: on Saturday 29 October we have a live public performance by JeanRichard; and on Wednesday 2 November we have the regular Open Session and walk-through.

LIFE2 performance by JeanRichard: This is the first public performance to be staged in UpStage by a group other than Avatar Body Collision (the creators of UpStage). JeanRichard is a Swiss family of artists who began using UpStage a few months ago, and they love it so much they’ve already reached the point where they are ready to give their first public performance. [Related]

To join the performance, you don’t need to be logged in; just go to http://jeanrichard.ch/Life2/ where there will be a live link to the stage from one hour before the performance time. And the performance time is: 1am California; 4am New York; 9am UK; 10am Switzerland; 11am Finland; 6pm Australia (NSW/Queensland); 9pm New Zealand. See http://www.worldtimeserver.com/ for other local times. Continue reading

Open Call for Papers

Convergence 12.3: After eleven years as one of the foremost international journals in new media studies, Convergence is undergoing some exciting changes, including a move to Sage publications from 2006. This will significantly extend the distribution and indexing services available to the journal and its authors, and we expect a large increase in readers and citations.

We are currently seeking papers for Winter 2006 (12.3). This is an open call for any research that addresses Convergences in the broad field of new media studies. For this issue, papers would need to be submitted by 31st January 2006. Continue reading

Algorithm as Hiker

A Short History of Virtual Hiking + video by Brett Stalbaum: A virtual hiker is an algorithm that produces computationally derived paths from data in such a way that allows them to be re-followed through the actual world. The virtual hikers that are included in the C5 Landscape Database, beginning with version 2.0, include various Least Cost Path hikers and a Slope Reduction hiker based on a natural selection algorithm.

The first attempt to follow a virtual hiker through a real landscape was performed by C5 on April 9th 2005 near Dunsmuir California as part of the quest to discover the *Other Path* of the Great Wall of China in California, or as it is now known, simply the Great Wall of California. After a rigorous insertion hike and facing both fading daylight and rapid waters flowing through necessary water crossings, C5 was only able reach the beginning of the Great Wall’s other path. The visual comparison of the China terrain and its California other were satisfyingly documented, even through it was impossible to actually walk in the footsteps of the virtual hiker. (C5 personnel are Joel Slayton, Steve Durie, Geri Wittig, Jack Toolin, Brett Stalbaum, Bruce Gardner, Amul Goswamy and Matt Mays.) Continue reading

decentred | distributed improvisation

WebJam 09: Saturday 29th October, 8-11pm, Norwich Gallery, UK, FREE ENTRY. Live Webcast Online from 7.30 p.m. (performance starts at 8:00 p.m.). Connect at http://www.n0media.net. Live Sound/ Visual Performances featuring Phil Archer, Andre Bosman, Laura Cannell, Shigeto Wada, Tonesucker, Hermits’ Squeal, BabyGrand, Hoofus, Dan Tombs, Tom Simmons, and Liam Wells.

Webcasts require QuickTime Player (version 6+): Download QuickTime Player for free. Directions/Gallery info at http://norwichgallery.co.uk Continue reading

Creating a Simple Electroacoustic Piece in Easy Stages

Steps for a simple electroacoustic creation–A practical seminar with free online access from UNESCOÂ’s DigiArts portal. UNESCOÂ’s DigiArts project currently offers beginners a step-by-step approach to creating a short electroacoustic piece. This musical creation can be accomplished with the help of detailed software tutorials on the DigiArts portal.

Free access: The practical seminar on electroacoustic music, Creating a simple electroacoustic piece in easy stages, compiled by Bruno Bossis.

Minimum equipment required: Only the simplest material possible is required to access the practical seminar. Whatever the available configuration is, an external microcomputer will be preferable to avoid a too poor sound quality and disturbing background noises. An additional soundcard is by no means a necessity. The practical seminar contains numerous references to documentation on the freeware and to the theoretical seminar already available online. Continue reading

Postcoloniality, Transculture, and Dance Performance in Asia Pacific

[posted by Yukihiko YOSHIDA] FAQ: Postcoloniality, Transculture, and Dance Performance in Asia Pacific has been released. This list is written and managed by contributors. If you add research material, such as URL, name of document, etc., you will be added to
the contributor list.

Contributors: Ya-Ping Chen (TNUA, Taiwan), Yatin Lin (TNUA, Taiwan), Hsin-Chun Tuan (PhD. UCLA, USA), Yukihiko YOSHIDA (PhD. Candidate, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio Univ, Japan), Yuji Sone (Vice-Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Media, Film and Theatre, The University of New South Wales, Australia-Japan), Mariana Verdaasdonk (66b/cell, Australia-Japan), Julie Dyson (Ausdance National, Australia), Teresa Pee (researcher/educator, Singapore), and Urmimala Sarkar Munsi (WDA Bengal, India). Continue reading