HACKfemEAST is an exhibition about women, technology and networks in Eastern Europe. The exhibition project HACK.Fem.EAST seeks to present experimental and artistic practices of artists and activists working in digital networks in Eastern Europe. Main topics are media, art and hacking. Main protagonists are women or projects in which women play an important role. Aim of the project is to provide and to develop a network platform. This is achieved through five elements: the exhibition, the opening event, two days of conferences, a publication in newspaper format and a website. Central idea is to involve women artists to develop independently their concept in each of the 14 rooms of the Kunstraum Kreuzberg / Bethanien and be part of the network formed by the all groups and artists/activists participating. Existing networks from 11 Eastern countries are at the heart of the project and form the basis of the exhibition. A total of 11 networks are invited to the various rooms of the Kunstraum Kreuzberg /Bethanien to introduce their work, their strategies and their aims in the form of video and computer installations, documentations and presentations. The result is a “network of networks”.

A two day long conference on 10 and 11 May, held at the outset of the project, intends to bring the lines and networks together and discuss on women perspective in the Eastern cultural scenario. Its aim is to provide a forum for a form of politics based on radical invention - media and Internet art projects, performances, network platforms, software development, artistic coding, organization of media festivals, etc.

On SUNDAY MAY 11th at 16h Kyd Campbell will give a talk about the development of tiny noise and some other projects she was a part of in Eastern Europe. This will be in the framework of the Activism and Accessibility of Technology panel. Kyd will talk alongside Andreea Carnu (RO) and Ana Filip (RO/SK), moderated by Jasmina Tesanovic (RS/USA).

The Saturday and Sunday conference program can be found here: http://hackfemeast.org/web/?page_id=8

tiny noise is a nomadic open concept audio art platform conceived by Toni Dimitrov [skopje] and Kyd Campbell [montreal] in february 2005. It started spontaneously as a d.i.y. experiment in forming an independent network by using global communication tools, personal contacts and experiences. The idea of tiny noise is to spread and connect experimental, provocative and adventurous music and sound projects at irregular times and in diverse places. tiny noise remains open to many sound/music forms, especially those enriched by other medias and looks to collaborate with other open projects.

info: tinynoise [at] gmail [dot] com
Kyd Campbell
Toni Dimitrov

The Free Knowledge, Free Technology Conference (FKFT) is the first international event which will centre on the production and sharing of educational and training materials in the field of Free Software and Open Standards. With the objective of promoting Free Software and the sharing of free knowledge, the FKFT 2008 Conference will bring together hundreds of people from different continents including government representatives, school and university teachers, IT companies, publishers, and NGO’s. By gathering together people from all these groups, we aim to stimulate both present and future collaboration between diverse disciplines, sectors and countries, through the medium of free software programs and the sharing of successful experiences related to free software and free technologies.

The Free Knowledge Institute and the SELF Consortium will collaborate to organise the content of the conference and to build strong relationships between attendees. The programme consists of an elegant mix between keynote speakers, panel discussions and parallel tracks on topics such as Social implications of Free Knowledge and Free Technologies, Technological aspects of e-learning, Learning Standards, Free Software in society, Legal issues of Free Knowledge, Free Knowledge in public bodies, the SELF Platform, and many more. During the social evening the Award Ceremony of the SELF Open Documentary Contest will take place.

The DRHA (Digital Resources in the Humanities and Arts) conference is held annually at various academic venues throughout the UK. The conference theme this year is to promote discussion around new collaborative environments, collective knowledge and redefining disciplinary boundaries.

The aim of the conference is to: * Establish a site for mutually creative exchanges of knowledge * Promote discussion around new collaborative environments and collective knowledge * Encourage and celebrate the connections and tensions within the liminal spaces that exist between the Arts and Humanities * Redefine disciplinary boundaries * Create a forum for debate around notions of the ’solitary’ and the collaborative across the Arts and Humanities * Explore the impact of the Arts and Humanities on ICT: design and narrative structures and visa versa.

There will be a variety of sessions concerned with the above but also with a particular emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration and theorising around practice. There will also be various installations and performances focussing on the same theme. Keynote talks will be given by our plenary speakers who we are pleased to announce are Sher Doruff, Research Fellow (Art, Research and Theory Lectoraat) and Mentor at the Amsterdam School for the Arts, Alan Liu, Professor of English, University of California Santa Barbara and Sally Jane Norman, Director of the Culture Lab, Newcastle University.

In addition to this, there will be various round table discussions together with a panel relating to ‘Second Life’ and a special forum ‘Engaging research and performance through pervasive and locative arts projects’ led by Steve Benford, Professor of Collaborative Computing, University of Nottingham. Also planned is the opportunity for a more immediate and informal presentation of work in our ‘Quickfire’ style events. Whether papers, performance or other, all proposals should reflect the critical engagement at the heart of DRHA.

The Deadline for submissions will be 30 April 2008 and abstracts should be approximately 1000 words.

Cambridge’s venues range from the traditional to the contemporary all situated within walking distance of central departments, museums and galleries. The conference will be based around Cambridge University’s Sedgwick Site, particularly the West Road concert hall, where delegates will have use of a wide range of facilities including a recital room and a ‘black box’ performance space, to cater for this year’s parallel programming and performances.

The advances in computer entertainment, multi-player /online gaming, technology-enabled art, culture and performance have created new forms of entertainment that attract, immerse and absorb their participants. The phenomenal success of such a “culture” to initiate a mass audience in patterns and practices of its own consumption has supported the evolution of an enormously powerful mass entertainment, digital art and performance industry extending deeply into every aspect of our lives, leading further to major societal and business contacting changes.

The International Conference on Digital Interactive Media in Entertainment and Arts (DIMEA), in cooperation with ACM, is the premier forum for the presentation of societal, business and technological advances and research results in cross-disciplinary areas related with digital interactive media in entertainment, art and creative technologies. This conference is dedicated to build common ground between research, design and development, learning and collaboration in its myriad digital media forms: one of its many objectives is the exploration of ‘play & learn’, demonstrating new arenas and applications for digital gaming and incorporating leading edge technologies, designs and models in our changing views about what is involved in gaming.

DIMEA 2008 is jointly organized by Athens Information Technology (AIT), ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI, Singapore Chapter) and the Society for Excellence and Innovation in Interactive Experience Design (InExDe).

DIMEA 2008 will bring together academics, technologists, artists, designers, and industry representatives to address and advance the leading edge of new digital and interactive media.

Who should attend:

Academics, Animators, Artists, Designers, Developers, Educators, Engineers, Game Designers, Industry Professionals, Media Industry, Video Producers, Directors, Writers, Performers, Photographers, Videographers, Researchers, Students. Anyone who wants to be inspired to adopt advanced ways in industry, society, business, research and teaching, expand their knowledge on a wide variety of topics within the field of digital media, network with cross-disciplinary experts from digital media professionals to academic experts, and evolve with this ever-changing field!

DIMEA 2008 is one of the few conferences that combines full technical papers as well as artwork / game / demo submissions, to accommodate, after evaluation and selection, both technical oral sessions as well as artwork / game / demo exhibition sessions. For each one of the two tracks of the conference further information is separately provided below.

Technical Conference Track: The following, non exclusive, topics are called for:

Entertainment, Art and Technology - Location-based and Pervasive Gaming, Mobile Entertainment, Digital Games in Practice, Computer Entertainment Research, Open-Source Gaming Engines, Implications for Multimedia and Web Design, Artistic Games, Commercial Games, Edutainment, Educational/Serious Games, Interactive Games, Games as Pedagogy, Analysis of Games, e-Performance (e-Opera,e-Theatre, e-Concert, …), Virtual Exhibitions and Museums

New Media Emerging Technologies - Personal Broadcasting (Podcasting and Vlogging), Novel Applications for Mobile Phones, Social and Interactive Computing Applications, Collaborative Spaces/Environments, Innovative Applications of Technology in the Arts, Mixed Reality and Enhanced Visualization, Context-aware Environments and Devices, Immersive Learning Experiences, Communication Technologies and Systems for Digital Media, Advanced Authoring and Composition of Media, Advanced Interaction, Targeted/Personalized Media, Adaptable Media and AI

Code Art - Algorithmic Art, Software Art, Net Art, Installation Art, Tangible Computing, Sonic Art

Digital Visual and Auditory Media - Digital Photography, Digital Imaging as Art, Advances in 3D Modelling, Digital Printing, Non-Photorealistic Rendering, Digital Sound and Music, Digital Music Synthesis and Composition, Graphics and Animations, Digital Comics

Moving Media - Digital Video, Distance Collaboration/Performance, Computer Animation, Interactive Movies

Culture of New Media - Network Culture, Philosophy of New Media, Digital Identity

Interactive Stories - Digital Narrative, Digital Asset Management, Semantic Web Technologies, Interactive Television and Cinema, Game Design and Storytelling

Full Paper Submissions: Prospective authors are invited to submit full technical papers of not more than 8 pages, including tables, figures and references at the conference online paper submission system. Prospective authors should adhere to the conference full paper submission guidelines. Full Papers should present original research related to the above mentioned scientific areas, not published elsewhere. Please refer to the conference Web site for detailed submission guidelines. Full papers will be peer-reviewed by at least three reviewers from the International Technical Program Committee in a single-blind process, judging on their relevance, novelty and technical quality.

Art Work / Game / Demo Exhibition Conference Track: DIMEA 2008, with the participation of the MEDIATERRA FESTIVAL, aims to offer the opportunity to artists, independent creators, multimedia authors, programmers and theorists to exhibit their digital interactive rich-media works in art and entertainment, and at the same time to create a forum of communication, discussion and collaboration on advances in the already deployed practices.

We cordially invite artists, creators, designers, game developers, generally practitioners working with digital interactive media to submit their original contributions to the DIMEA2008 Artworks / Games / Demos exhibition track, in the context of the following five DIMEA 2008 subject art-related areas:

Entertainment, Education, Art and Technology: Location-based and Pervasive Gaming, Mobile Entertainment, Digital Games in Practice, Computer Entertainment Research, Open-Source Gaming Engines, Implications for Multimedia and Web Design, Artistic Games, Edutainment, Educational/Serious Games, Interactive Games, Games as Pedagogy, e-Performance (e-Opera, e-Theatre, e-Concert, …), Virtual Exhibitions and Museums

New Media Emerging Technologies - Personal Broadcasting (Podcasting and Vlogging), Novel Applications for Mobile Phones, Social and Interactive Computing Applications, Collaborative Spaces/Environments, Innovative Applications of Technology in the Arts, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and Enhanced Visualization, Context-aware Environments and Devices, Immersive Learning Experiences, Communication Technologies and Systems for Digital Media, Advanced Authoring and Composition of Media, Advanced Interaction, Targeted/Personalized Media, Adaptable Media and AI, Semantic Web Technologies, Digital Identity

Code Art - Algorithmic Art, Software Art, Net Art, Installation Art, Tangible Computing, Sonic Art, Artificial Entities

Digital Visual and Moving Media - Computer Animation, Interactive Movies, Advances in 3D Modeling, Semantic-based Approaches, Real-time 3D

Interactive Media - Digital Narrative, Interactive Television and Cinema, Interactive Drama, Interactive Storytelling

TELIC Arts Exchange presents a symposium on time-based conceptual art at UCLA with the Department of Design | Media Arts and basjanader.com. This symposium is held in conjunction with our exhibition, Gravity Art. It is free and open to the public. Two artists from the exhibition will speak: Guido van der Werve and Marco Schuler. The curator of the exhibition, Rene Daalder, will give a short talk about Gerry Schum’s film Identifications, which will then be screened. At the end of the evening, Seven Easy Pieces by Marina Abramovic will be screened for the first time in Los Angeles.

Here is the schedule:

3:00 - Opening reception
3:30 - Introduction by Rene Daalder
4:00 - Marco Schuler presentation
5:00 - Guido van der Werve presentation
6:15 - Screening of Identifications by Gerry Schum
7:15 - Screening of Seven Easy Pieces by Marina Abramovic

Presentations on the theory & practice of surveillance and contemporary protest art, by graduate students in the ITP program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. The presenters’ talks will be grouped into four panels, to be moderated by their Professor, Marisa Olson (Curator at Large, Rhizome), on topics ranging from voyeurism and play to intervention and networks of control. These panels will consist of both artist talks and critical essays, and audience members will be invited to give feedback on a few works in progress.

Program:

11:45 Open Seating
12:00 Welcome & Introduction, Marisa Olson

12:05-1:15 Voyeurism vs. Exhibitionism: Online and In the Streets
Panelists: Allistar Peters and Meng Li, Ana Maria Gutierrez, Heather Rasley

1:15-2:00 Watchful Intervening: From Scientologists to Spy Shops
Panelists: Amanda Bernsohn and Kacie Kinzer, Syed Salahuddin

2-3:30 Playtime: Games, Toys, and Entertainment
Panelists: Oscar Torres, Scott Hoffer, Shlomit Lehavi and Leah Gilliam

3:30-5 Looking at Control: From Candidate Self-Surveillance to Wireless Subversion
Panelists: Michael Clemow and Tom Jenkins, Alberto Tafoya, Emery Martin

The Change You Want To See is the gallery and convergence stage run by the activist arts collective Not An Alternative.

4-ICOM brings together leading international scholars from a range of disciplines (i.e. linguistics, social semiotics, communications & new media, digital media art, history, mathematics, science, computer science and education) to explore the ways in which technology enables and constrains the ways knowledge, social relations and culture are constructed and enacted, with a special focus on interactive digital media. The aim is to explore the functions of language, visual imagery, three dimensional objects, space, sound, music and so forth, and to develop new approaches to understanding how these resources integrate in the world of new interactive digital media.

Questions which arise include the following. What is the relationship between technology, multimodal representation and knowledge? How is interactive digital media changing our view of the world and each other? What are the implications for teaching and research in the humanities and social sciences? What directions have research & development in digital technology taken, and for what reasons?

We encourage papers which address the conference themes from different theoretical perspectives. Papers which address more general issues in semiotics, multimodality and multimodal analysis are also welcome.

4-ICOM is run in conjunction with the International Symposium on Electronic Arts (ISEA2008). 4-ICOM participants will have access to ISEA2008 exhibitions and galleries at no charge from 25 July to 3 August 2008. Information on the exhibitions, galleries and combined events will be provided soon.

We encourage you to pre-register for NEO LEO as this will help us plan, design the conference and fundraise. Pre-registration is voluntary and free, and is not required for final registration. Pay registration will launch later in 2008. Fees are planned at 300 USD for general, 200 USD for students, UNM and Leonardo members.

This conference, the final in a series of Leonardo 40th Anniversary events, will bring together scientists and artists, elder practitioners and younger creators, scholars and administrators from around the world. Thematically, the conference is centered on the convergence of art, science and technology, and will celebrate the achievements of the Leonardo Organisation and Publications [MIT Press] as well as design the important questions that will shape and impact the future over the next 40 years. The event will showcase some of the most compelling work of the New Leonardos. It will provide a framework to debate the burning issues that face the arts, humanities and the sciences and technology in a world of declining science literacy, limited resources, anthropogenic environmental change, and enduring inequalities and social injustice.

The Leonardo 40th Anniversary celebrations began with a kick off conference MUTAMORPHOSIS: Art and Science in Extreme and Hostile Environments held in November 2007 in Prague. A one-day Symposium will be held on June 3, 2008 at the University of California, Berkeley. The New Mexico conference will be the culminating event bringing together the Leonardo community with interested organizations and corporations.

The conference will be hosted and co-organized by the ARTS Lab at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque and Leonardo/ISAST.

Call for papers and pay registration will launch later in 2008. To be kept up to date, please visit the conference website and sign up on the mailing list.

For more information, please contact

Roger Malina
International Conference Chair
Chairman of the Board
Leonardo/ISAST
neoleomalina [at] gmail.com

Claudia X. Valdes
New Mexico Conference Chair
Associate Director, ARTS Lab
University of New Mexico
cxvaldes [at] unm.edu

Participants: Andrew Beck, Jason Freeman, Mark T. Godfrey, Sawako Kato, Zach Layton, LoVid, Adam Nash, Helen Thorington, Peter Traub, Dan Trueman, Tobias C. Van Veen. Bios here.

Based on the rapidly expanding archive of music/sound experiments to be found on Networked Music Review and the fifteen short works recently commissioned for it, the symposium aims to stimulate critical and far-ranging discussion on emerging music and sound art practice. Program here.

We are living in a time in which the ‘made’ and the ‘born’ are fusing. Hypoallergenic cats are already on the market. Plants are used as sensors, information displays and chemical factories. Animals are being augmented and branded. Young girls are provided with hypernatural vaginas, modeled after the photoshopped vaginas seen in Playboy magazine. In response to donor organ shortages, researchers are working on a 3D organ printer. Real nature is not green. It is out of control. Games have become jobs. Second life is not sustainable. Digital world metaphors are boomerang into our physical environment. Everyday robots give massages and take care of the children. RFID chips open doors, they might be infected, but nonetheless are edible.

The extent to which new technologies are intervening in the constructive, material, aesthetic and social practice of everyday life can hardly be underestimated. Highways, airports and supermarkets are part of our natural environment. Our established image of nature needs to be updated.

Next Nature; the nature caused by human culture. Nowadays, children know more corporate logo’s and brands than bird or tree species. Our technological world has become so complex and uncontrollable it has become a nature of its own. Wild systems, genetic surprises, autonomous machinery and beautiful black flowers. Nature changes along with us.

With: Manuel Castells, Kevin Kelly, Rob Schroder, Michiko Nitta, Tinkebell, Susana Soares, David Kremers, Rene Daalder / Folkert Gorter, Floris Kaayk, Julian Bleecker, Erik Davis, Peter Lunenfeld, Hendrik-Jan Grievink, Judith de Leeuw, Luna Maurer / Roel Wouters, Arnoud van den Heuvel, Rolf Coppens, Christian Bramsiepe, Helena Muskens, Quirine Racke and more…

In the weeks towards the Biggest Visual Power Show 2008 we post a few video’s of earlier power show presentations. Philosopher Prof. Dr. Jos de Mul – author of countless articles and books like ‘Cyberspace Odyssey’, ‘Domestication of Fate’ and ‘Database Delirium’ – was a speaker at the Biggest Visual Power Show 2005 in Paradiso, Amsterdam. Inspired by the images of Basia Knobloch and music of Lauri Anderson, professor De Mul decided to sing his lecture.