-- Gina Czarnecki Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design University of Dundee Perth Road DD1 4HT Dundee Scotland
---------- artist residency project, Johannesburg - nathaniel stern The 24.7 artist residency project - http://247residency.blogspot.com - had its launch party in the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) this past weekend. A motley crew of traditional and contemporary artists, designers, performers, musicians, fashion designers and interested parties in all of the above disciplines gathered in the heart of downtown Johannesburg to see potentiality at its start. The concept began in Christian Nerf's City+Suburban studios (also downtown; now shared with Kathryn Smith and nathaniel stern) in mid-2002, when Barend de Wet spent 24 non-sequential hours knitting bikinis there, for an upcoming exhibition. Since then, the studio has housed several artists - including Stephen Hobbs and Tracy Hennen - working through experimental phases of various projects. The JAG residency proposes to exhibit "art as usual," turning the gallery into a live, working studio for all participators during open hours (24 hours of time per week, for 7 weeks); approximately 35 projects are now planned, and that number is still growing. Although the residential weeks are broken into specific areas of interest (beginning today with New Media, and continuing with Traditional Practice, Fashion, Audio, Conceptual, Lens-Based Media, & Public Art, respectively), the shows goals are simple: participation and collaboration between specialists in varying media, their surroundings, and their audience. They are given space, equipment, and each other. Each week will start and end with the "Braai Klub," a barbeque, drinks and DJs, while showcasing the previous week's documentation and art-in-progress. It will culminate in a final exhibition, from August 30th - September 20th, of archives, works, and works-in-progress, which are currently unknown to the facilitators. The first of the Braai Klub art parties featured ArtThrob - http://www.artthrob.co.za - editor Sean O'Toole reading excerpts from past interviews with Nerf. From interest in chance proceedings, to facilitating active participation and collaboration, one thing was clear: he sees no work that includes a viewer as anything less than collaborative, and believes that process equals provocation. "The exhibition of this project offers an opportunity for the passive [or perhaps not so passive?] participants to experience the Creative Act and arrive at their own conclusions." The full text of O'Toole's talk is already available on 24.7's blog, http://247residency.blogspot.com. When they first arrive at the JAG, each resident is given a time card to "clock" their art-making hours, and a username and password allowing them to post ideas and progress to the site, which should be updated on a regular basis. Both conceptually and technically, this is a new frontier for the JAG, often considered to be a fairly conservative art institution. Upon entering the 24.7 space, boxes full of roped off equipment are seen stacked along the walls, just waiting to be used; at the launch, excited artists were chatting away about bringing in dancers, computers and musical instruments, and moving in directions they never have before, using other participators and their talents. Of special interest to most, was continual access to space, audience, equipment and critical and curatorial expertise *during* their process, rather than after it. Some ideas I overheard being passed around included a live dance/painting/music performance organized by Wayne Barker, rehearsal space for the Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative's new multimedia work on HIV - http://forgottenangle.org - an all-African hack into Jonah Brucker-Cohen's bumplist - http://www.coin-operated.com/projects - collage workstations for artists to team up with viewers, and further plays on public/private space through the use of the gallery's security camera footage in the final exhibition. And this is just the beginning (literally). The 24.7 artist residency project promises to be one of the most interesting and provocative explorations that Johannesburg has seen in a long time. And when asked if he'd be interested in having oversees e-participation in the project, Nerf simply responded, "Yes, please - [EMAIL PROTECTED]" "Curating Digital Art" panel event Tuesday July 8th, 2-4pm Commonwealth Institute, London Admission Free In recent years, digital art has presented an increasing curatorial challenge to art institutions. Digital art practice often suggests an emphasis upon systems rather than objects, remote rather than local events, and privileges reproduction over authenticity. Significant galleries such as the Walker Art Centre, ICA, Whitney Museum of Art and Tate Modern have all tackled the issue of institutional support of digital art, with varying degrees of success. This panel brings together a range of curators involved in the definition of contemporary digital art. They will discuss a number of questions, including: * Can digital art be considered within a larger visual arts framework, or should it be considered as a separate discipline? *What are appropriate means for presenting digital art -- are galleries valid display systems for it, or is a process-based residency model more successful? *What are the specific aesthetic challenges of digital art and are the various institutional frameworks addressing these challenges? *Who is shaping these new models of artistic production? Are certain experimental art practices not being represented because of their means of production? * How representative is the digital art that gets shown in galleries of the scope of actual digital art practice? Panel members: Charlie Gere (chair), Helen Sloan, Honor Harger, Walter van der Cruijsen, Beryl Graham The panel is part of Plug-in 03, annual degree show of the London College of Music and Media, a Faculty of Thames Valley University (TVU) For further details and map, see http://www.tvu.ac.uk/plug-in03/prog3.html or contact James Coupe, Lecturer in Digital Art: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 3 : Radical Entertainment 9 � 26 July 2003 radical entertainment a season of multi-media exhibitions, film, talks and events @ the ICA Bobby Abate, Cory Arcangel/ BEIGE, Natalie Bookchin, Ximena Cuevas, Alex Galloway/ Radical Software Group, Futurefarmers, Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, Negativland, Nullpointer, Kent Lambert, LoVid, Paper Rad, People Like Us, Seth Price, The Space Hijackers, Eddo Stern, Deborah Stratman Surveillance technology, web tools, video games and mass-media television are repossessed in this unique season of subversive actions, experiments and exhibitions, which playfully explore the traditional experiences of cinematic, digital, and public domains. Featuring fresh US East Coast talent alongside leading international media artists and collectives, highlights include �Holding Your Breath and Not Touching The Floor Sight-seeing Tour with Space Hijackers�, where �anarchitect� collective Space Hijackers take an ICA audience on an alternative exploration of the West End. World X-1 is an on-line exhibition featuring manipulations of gaming software. These include various re-imaginings of Nintendo�s Super Mario Brothers, Anti-War Game, which twists the traditional video game format to explore the profit and power-driven agendas of war, and I Shot Andy Warhol, which asks players to shoot various 8-bit versions of Andy Warhol. 201 : a space odyssey by Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, is an on-line software which provides methods of re-editing Kubrick's science-fiction classic. In their controversial animated short Gimme The Mermaid, Negativland and Tim Maloney have created an alternative version of Disney�s The Little Mermaid. Disney animator Maloney created the film using Disney's equipment after hours. The new and recent film and video work in God�s Eye View engages critically with images produced using consumer and non-consumer technologies, such as surveillance, infrared police tapes and video games. Many of the artists will also take part in a series of discussions, demonstrations and presentations throughout the season. Further Information: World X-1, exhibited in the ICA�s Digital Studio (9-26 July), presents a collection of recently developed games, modifications and experiments in digital subversion that problematize straightforward entertainment mediums. An installation by the US-based BEIGE programming ensemble features two hacked cartridges for the 1984 Nintendo Entertainment System, entitled I Shot Andy Warhol and Clouds. Described by founding BEIGE member Cory Arcangel, the cartridges are �part computer hacker video-synth fantasy and part nerd experiment�. In I Shot Andy Warhol, players are asked to shoot various 8-bit versions of Andy Warhol, while being careful to avoid other characters such as Colonel Sanders and the Pope. In Super Mario Clouds, a modification of the original NES game, all action and imagery has been erased from the game�s landscape except for the blue sky and the scrolling clouds. Artist collective Paper Rad coalesce material from the net, video games, and advertisements into an exuberant and anarchic digital aesthetic. Paper Rad�s work fashions a new form of psychedelia that emerges from the consciousness of a generation nourished on �70s and �80s cartoons and consumer electronics. L.A. based design collective Futurefarmers present Anti-War Game, which twists the traditional video game format to explore profit and power-driven agendas behind the playing of war; the game player takes on the role of the US President, responsible for the USA�s economy, gaining votes as expenditure on arms is increased. RSG-SMB-TAB by Alex Galloway of Radical Software Group is a multi-levelled project that critically packages extensive hacking, programming and game-playing. RSG-SMB-TAB presents the NES game Super Mario Brothers in two juxtaposed grids, one containing 30 quicktime movies of Galloway�s hands as he navigates Mario through each of the 30 worlds it takes to beat the game, and the other presenting the corresponding tablature of the buttons on the NES keypad Galloway pressed while playing. Hosted by Radical Entertainment curators Lina Dzuverovic-Russell and Lauren Cornell, (Program Director, Ocularis, NYC), the associated cinema programme The F25 Key (12 July) is dedicated to artists' video that strategically appropriates a variety of gaming and entertainment interfaces. Video games, net detritus, e-commerce and mass media are ripped off, inverted and re-presented in forms that simultaneously critique and revel in the culture of consumer entertainment. The event will feature an exclusive screening of selected works by Negativland, Seth Price and Paper Rad, with a discussion to follow. Industrial Synth by Seth Price (2001, 20 min.) assembles media across various formats into the format of an early video game to assess our relationship to modernity; Paper Rad�s PJ Vidz is a compilation of their ground-breaking flash animations, intercut with a stream of U.S. TV commercials, shows and trends that never took cultural hold. In another screening, God�s Eye View (13 July) engages critically with images produced using consumer and non-consumer technologies, such as surveillance, infrared police tapes and video games. In Sheik Attack (2000) Eddo Stern weaves together pop nostalgia, computer war games, the sweat of virtual commandos, and the blood of sheiks to create a contemporary non-fiction horror film. In La Tombola, Ximena Cuevas makes a direct intervention into lowest common denominator televisual fare by hijacking and disrupting a Mexican gameshow and attempting to speak directly to the home viewer. On 10 July, Cultural collagist, sound contortionist and saviour of orphaned video footage, Vicki Bennett of People Like Us takes you on a whirlwind tour of her latest adventures in the land of found footage. Finally, UK-based �anarchitects� Space Hijackers cause two days of subversive mischief. In �Social Hacking� (12 July) Space Hijackers will discuss and demonstrate how they aim to corrupt the culture of architecture and oppose its hierarchies imposed by architects, planners and owners of space. On 13 July this turns into some street action in an event called �Holding Your Breath and Not Touching The Floor Sight-seeing Tour with Space Hijackers�. The Space Hijackers will take the ICA audience on a sight-seeing tour of the west end, where participants are banned from touching the floor, except whilst holding their breath to cross roads. Tickets & Box Office Information: 020 7930 3647 / www.ica.org.uk ICA, The Mall, London, SW1 For further information on Radical Entertainment please contact Lina D. Rusesll, ICA New MediaCurator, at [EMAIL PROTECTED] + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + CALL: Artist in Residence ****** CALL: DEADLINE PROPOSALS NEXT PERIOD JULI 1 2003 Artist in Residence Starting in 2002, the media lab at the Netherlands Media Art Institute, Montevideo/Time Based Arts is offering artists from The Netherlands and other countries the possibility of carrying out investigations in three areas: � Streaming media � Wireless applications � 3D applications Artistic concept, innovation and cooperation are to be central in these investigations. Preference will be given to research which makes use of "open source" and that develops "tools" which will be available for further use. Investigations that have an interdisciplinary character will also receive preference. The artists will be working together with Dutch universities and academies in the research. Facilities An Artist in Residence will have at his/her disposal � Technical facilities, including assistance � Working budget � Housing Technical specialists advise the participating artists during research, experiments and production. Results The outcome of the research will be presented in an appropriate manner, through exhibitions, discussions, seminars, publications and workshops. Applications Applications will be evaluated twice a year (December 1 and July 1) by an internal committee. This will be done on the basis of a research proposal with a work plan, which must include a formulation of the problem, and a description of the resources needed (technical and facilities) and the result. The artist should also submit a comprehensive biography, with documentation on his/her previous projects. The final round of the selection process will be based on an interview. The duration of the work will depend on the research proposal, but should run an average of three to six months. For more information: Gaby Wijers, Artlab [EMAIL PROTECTED] Netherlands Media Art Institute Montevideo/Time Based Arts Keizersgracht 264 The Netherlands 1016 EV Amsterdam T +31 (0)20 6237101 F +31 (0)20 6244423 www.montevideo.nl + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Book on Computer Games and Art CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS Computer Games and Art: Intersections and Interactions Submissions of previously unpublished articles are invited for a special edition of the book series Anomalie, guest edited by Grethe Mitchell and Andy Clarke, entitled "Computer Games and Art: Intersections and Interactions". This call is also available online at the following address: http://www.transformreality.com THEMES What new art forms are emerging from computer games, and how do they fit into the world of art galleries and museums? Should computer games play with ideas or are they just meant to be played? What makes a computer game a work of art? Can a commercial computer game be art or is it just well-executed craft? Is digital art just a game? Can art be playable? These issues and others are to be explored in a special edition of Anomalie: "Computer Games and Art: Intersections and Interactions". The theme of Computer Games and Art will be interpreted widely, but could include the following: - Art, whether digital or non-digital, that appropriates or critiques the aesthetics, conventions, iconography, or technology of computer games. - Games levels, patches, skins or modifications as art. - Interviews with, or monographs by, relevant practitioners. - Criticism, case studies, histories, surveys, and overviews. - Studies of the aesthetics and iconography of computer games. - Computer games as art objects. - Play and playfulness in digital art. This list is clearly not exhaustive, and alternative interpretations of the theme are invited. No restriction is placed upon the definition of "computer game" or "art". ------------------------------------------------- a m b i t : networking media arts in scotland post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] archive: http://www.mediascot.org/ambit info: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and write "info ambit" in the message body -------------------------------------------------
