Thanks to you Melinda and the guests (programmers / speakers) for a great month.

R. Buckminster Fuller, for all his failings, developed a compelling history of our faith in the unseen. Technology and especially this monstrous world called virtuality was for him powered not by metaphors but an existing history, going back to the first representational arts, by which we placed faith in exteriority. That was the force by which we intuited representation and metaphors. A natural instinct for feedback which when developed, becomes trust - and distrust. Continue reading

transmediale.08 – Conspire … festival for art and digital culture berlin :: 29 January - 3 February 2008 AND club transmediale.08 - Unpredictable :: festival for adventurous music and related visual arts :: 25 January - 2 February 2008 :: Call for Entries - Deadline: 7 September 2007 :: Award Ceremony: 2 February 2008.

Together, transmediale and club transmediale invite the submission of works and projects for the festival 2008. Submissions for both festivals participate in the transmediale Award 2008, for which an international jury will award prizes totalling ca. 10 000 EUR. Abstracts and papers for a proposed Vilém Flusser Theory Award are also being invited. Continue reading

3DVisA DISCUSSION FORUM: Illusions of Virtual Reality by Hanna Buczynska-Garewicz, 3DVisA Bulletin :: Keywords: time, space, illusion, virtual reality, phenomenology.

Time and Space: The experience of a moment of time or of a fragment of space is essentially an act of understanding in the human sense. Our temporal and spatial experience is never simply given as a pure sensual perception (vision, touch, sound, etc.), but its sensual aspect is always dominated by intellectual and emotional meanings. In other words, the sensual is conveying the spiritual. Moreover, in our perception of the time past (a historical event such as the Battle of Waterloo) or of the remnants of the place which no longer exists (e.g. the ruins of Forum Romanum) a sort of imagination or empathy is frequently at work. We see and feel more than that which is really present: in a magical way, due to the ability of emphatic understanding the non-present is presencing itself as well. Continue reading

Films and Slides by Ellie Ga and David Gatten :: September 7, 2007; 7:00 pm :: 16 Beaver Group, 16 Beaver Street, 4th Floor, New York :: 212.480.2099 :: Free and Open To All.

Please join us for an amazing evening of 16mm film and digital slides. We are lucky to have experimental filmmaker David Gatten and artist Ellie Ga sharing their work with us. Ellie will present The Catalogue of the Lost (and other revelations), a slide lecture she first presented at the Explorer’s Club last spring and David will showing a number of his films. Both artists are interested in explorations of the lost and invisible, and both are fascinated with the archive and invested heavily in questions of material and media specificity in relation to notions of the poetic. Continue reading

Affective Diary - A diary provides a useful means to express inner thoughts and record experiences of past events. In re-readings, it also provides a resource for reflection, allowing us to re-experience, brood over or even shed the thoughts and feelings we’ve associated with events or people. To expand on the ways in which we creatively engage in diary-keeping, we have designed an affective diary that captures some of the physical, bodily aspects of experiences and emotions—what we refer to as “affective body memorabilia”. Continue reading

Wildlife Offline - Members of a more than a few species are beginning to be outnumbered by cute caricatures on the Internet. This collection of illustrations depicting some of the world’s most endangered species demonstrates this trend. By finding and contributing similar illustrations you can participate in the production of posters that draw attention to the virtualization of the animal kingdom. For instance: King Cobras are threatened by the reduction of rainforest jungle and bamboo groves.

The destruction of their natural habitat has led King Cobras to come into conflict with humans. The fear of the cobra’s venom often leads to Cobras being killed as soon as they are seen. Cobras are usually killed due to human encroachment. They are also killed for their skin which is used to make leather items such as belts, purses and bags.

By Andy Deck and the artists and designers who produced the graphics featured here, and the contributors who will upload graphics, but also fellow Transnational Temps members who translated the texts.

ArtCamp07: Re:use :: September 8, 2007; 10 am - 6pm :: Intersections Digital Studios (IDS), Emily Carr Institute, 1399 Johnston Street, Granville Island, Vancouver, Canada :: Reception to follow.

The aim of ArtCamp07: Re:Use is to bring the open, participatory and creative energy of BarCamp to the world of art in an interdisciplinary forum. As an unconference, it’s about using principles of self-organization to bring people together, and to create an emergent format where people may talk, meet, show work, present ideas, receive input, and generally discuss, view, and advance ideas, research and projects. The unconference format is borrowed originally from the technology community, where it was observed that conversations happening outside formal sessions at traditional conferences were often more enjoyable, productive and illuminating than the sessions themselves. Continue reading

RealTime is Australia’s leading contemporary arts magazine. With a reputation for providing intelligent and accessible commentary, RealTime publishes over 60 articles bi-monthly, exploring innovative practices in cross-disciplinary, hybrid and media art in Australia and internationally. Since 1996, the print publication has been complemented by an online version. In 2007 RealTime has significantly restructured its online presence to include many new features and a schedule of additional monthly content. RealTime online is an ideal resource for international readers, a window on what is happening in the contemporary arts in Australia, along with increasing coverage of international events. Current highlights include: Continue reading

Displaced Familiarity: Interview with Scott Kildall by Domenico Quaranta - Scott Kildall is a visual artist currently living in San Francisco, where he is working as a fellowship artist with the Kala Art Institute. In 2006 he received an M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Starting in 2001, he put together a huge body of work in a variety of media including video installation, sound architecture, electromechanical sculpture and single-channel video projection. Being interested in issues such as dislocation, transition and emotional upheaval and in the exploration of anticipatory moments , it’s no surprise that he was attracted by Second Life, where he become Great Escape, the purple-faced member of the Second Front performance group, that he co-founded in 2006. There he anticipated the re-enactment trend with his print series Paradise Ahead, and there he is developing (together with artist Victoria Scott) his last project, No Matter, one of the winners of the Mixed Realities Commissions organized by Turbulence.org and Ars Virtua (see the end of this interview for more details on the project). Continue reading

Artist Encampment on Bumpkin Island :: September 1-3, 2007 :: 11:00 am - 3:30 pm :: free :: Produced by Island Alliance and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation in collaboration with Berwick Research Institute and Studio Soto :: Getting there: Take the Harbor Islands ferry from Long Wharf to Georges Island and transfer to the Southern Loop inter-island shuttle to Bumpkin Island. Other mainland departure point for the inter-Island shuttle is in Quincy. For more information and for ferry schedules go here or call 617-223-8666. [Related]

Nine groups of artist “homesteaders” will create interactive installations, using available materials and what they bring as primary media. Works will pay tribute to the Island’s past inhabitants, highlight the Island’s natural resources, and engage the public as performer, apprentice, student, and honored guest. Works include temporary shelters, shrines, musical instruments, performance, video and electronic art, and sculpture. Continue reading