Upgrade! Berlin presents: Mader | Stublic | Wiermann :: April 25, 2008; 8 pm :: Redesign Deutschland, aka System Lüftung, Torstrasse 94 in Berlin-Mitte (U Rosenthaler Platz oder Rosa Luxemburg Platz).

Heike Wiermann, Holger Mader and Alexander Stublic focus on video art installations, media facades and art in the public sphere. Their latest projects cover for example the spectacular media facade design (”twists and turns”) of the Uniqua tower in Vienna, where they have managed to transform the structure of the architecture into an ever-changing, fluid state of transition. Furthermore, they co-initiated OSRAM’s new light platform Seven Screens, which they launched with their LED-piece Reprojected. This installation focuses on the shadows of computer-simulated people. Continue reading

Upgrade! Warsaw: Jacek Markiewicz: From Christ to Kaczynski | Od Chrystusa do Kaczynskiego :: April 27, 2008; 5:00 pm :: Dziekanka (dormitory of The Academy of Music), 58/60 Krakowskie Przedmieście, Warsaw, Poland :: informal and free.

Born in 1964 in Plock. Studies: 1986 1988 at PWSSP in L dz; 1988 1993 at the Faculty of Sculpture of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Graduated under professor Grzegorz Kowalski. Since 1992 he run a.r.t. Gallery in Plock. Urodzil sie w 1964 r. w Plocku. Studia: 1986 1988 w PWSSP w Lodzi; 1988 1993 na Wydziale Rzezby Akademii Sztuk Pieknych w Warszawie. Dyplom w pracowni prof. Grzegorza Kowalskiego. Od 1992 prowadzi w Plocku galerie a.r.t. Continue reading

Welcome Upgrade! Eindhoven, the newest Upgrade! International node! - Upgrade! Eindhoven: Mateusz Herczka and Frederico Bonelli :: May 5, 2008; 8 - 10:30 pm :: TAC (Temporary Art Centre), Vonderweg 1, 611 BK Eindhoven. The discussion will be in English.

The artists will introduce themselves and their projects related to the discourse between art and technology. To get things clear, we want to discuss the notion of ‘art VS science’. Is art hacking technology? or is technology hacking creativity? Where do we stand as artists, curators? And what do technologists, academics say about this? Continue reading

Upgrade! São Paulo: Wearable Computers: Spatiality, Sensory Experience, Mediation -Luisa Paraguai Donati :: April 26, 2008, 7:30 pm @ i-People: Av Vergueiro 727, next to the Vergueiro Subway Station.

Luisa’s present research reflects about mobile technologies and several objects / gadgets, particularly the wearable systems, that explore other orders / configurations of the body in the space, as they introduce a digital context that overlaps / creates the physical domain and that bring not only social consequences but also other spatial and temporal dynamics of perception and action. Continue reading

Major B - Live Video Art Performance :: April 11, 2008 3:00 pm :: Digital Convent Seminar Room, School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand.

“One man, vocals, maracas and a stripped pulsating showcase of obscure sounds and visuals.”

Major B cuts up analogue, obscure audio samples from all over the world and merges them in his own audio visual recordings or found footage. This shuffle results in rhythmic, surreal pieces that tell about people, animals and their bizarre encounters. These sounds and visuals form basis and background for his vocals and maraca on stage, where the projection works alternately as a spotlight or camouflage kit.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED - Upgrade! Boston: Seth Riskin :: April 17, 2008; 7:00 - 9:00 pm :: North 181 - entrance on Evans Way [map], Massachusetts College of Art and Design, 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston. [Follow the signs posted on the outside of the Tower Building (black glass) [Green Line “E”].

Seth Riskin is an artist, researcher and teacher of light. A former U. S. national champion gymnast, Riskin brings his physical ability to his Light Dance art. In silent, space-defining performances, Riskin’s precise movements articulate light effects that extend from his body. Continue reading

Upgrade! Munich: Andrea Faciu and Tim Wolff: transreport :: April 20, 2008; 8:00 pm :: i-camp / Neues Theater, Entenbachstrasse 37, 81541 Munich [MVV: U-Bahn: U1, U2, U7 or U8, Kolumbusplatz]

“The first main focus of the project is framed by the contextual emergence of diverse positions in multimedia works, and consequently, by the intended positioning of each artistic point of view within the aimed grain of characters, attitudes and statements. On this note, there is no topical preset or a certain thematic field to be outlined. It is much more about the confrontation of the participating artists with the self-chosen issues and fields of activity, the dialogue among them, and the intensive preoccupation with the different venues, contexts and working processes. Continue reading

Upgrade! Paris: Marswalkers - Peter Brabeck, Sadaki kajiwara, Anne Laforet (Moderator) :: April 4, 2008; 8 pm :: La Cantine numérique, 151 rue Montmartre, 75002 Paris (M° Grands Boulevards (8,9) or Bourse (3)).

Les Marswalkers font des images et se demandent pourquoi ils font des images. Ils archivent de l’information numérique, comme tout le monde, et se demandent pourquoi le vivant tend à disparaître tandis que son archivage ne cesse de croître. Ils sont polyvalents, polyglotes, poly-pluridisciplinaires, sans prétention de sauver le monde. Le dimanche ils ont loisirs à photographier, numériser, programmer, googliser, percer-scier-visser, brainstormer… est composé de Karl-Otto von Oertzen & Alexandre Berthier. Continue reading

Upgrade! Tel Aviv - Jerusalem: Watchmen: Screening of the video, meeting and talk with Jack Faber :: April 2, 2008; 8 pm :: Daila, Shlomzion Hamalka 4, Jerusalem.

Model of Influence by Tal Ben Zvi / Jack Faber: Tal Ben Zvi: from the various constructions of meaning that artworks can create to influence other structures of society, the recent and relevant work to the Model of Influence investigation is to my opinion ‘Watchmen’ - an ongoing 3 years project ranging from guerrilla filmmaking, through gallery installations, to an innovating international precedent court verdict in the field of art, human rights and the freedom of expression. Continue reading

Upgrade! Paris: Ministère de l’Architecture: Soliton by Société Réaliste :: March 28, 2008; 7 pm :: La Cantine numérique, 151 rue Montmartre, 75002 Paris (M° Grands Boulevards (8,9) or Bourse (3)).

MA: Soliton is a typological inquiry about Solitonism, commissioned by Ministère de l’Architecture. In this research, Ministère de l’Architecture has demanded to continue the work of some eminent physicists about non-linear waves, by proposing to extend the analysis of Solitons to the field of the politics of space, and more precisely for reading activities like design or the erection of buildings. Continue reading