BIONICA AV CALL FOR ENTRIES

Posted by BRISA MP on December 11, 2021 at 1:00pm

BIONICA AUDIOVISUAL IS A PROJECT BY BIONICA WOMEN, ART, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY FROM BARCELONA-SPAIN.

BIONICA purpose of bionica is to vindicate thinking, production and and the artistic and technological practices carried out by women.

In this first version of BIÒNICA are interested in exhibiting a diversity of audiovisual proposals from all over the world.

The call extends to all artists regardless of their gender who deal with issues related to women and enthusiasts of film, dance film, video or documentary.

Biònica Audiovisual will be held online, based on the website www.bionicas.net as well as an online presentation in the context of Biònica women, art, technology and society found remotely from the city of Barcelona between 27 and December 30, 2021.

DEADLINE : D-2Oth

SUBMIT HERE

Performance Connecting Fingers +Screening The Birthday (Berlin Premiere)

Posted by Daniela Lucato on January 13, 2016 at 2:50pm

6th-7th Februry 2016 Ackerstadt Palast Berlin

Connecting Fingers (Theatre Dance Performance -45 Minutes- English):
An encounter with some refugees.
In attempting to connect with their stories, dancers will lead us on a second journey.

https://www.facebook.com/connectingfingers

The Birthday - Short Film (16 Minutes, Mandarin/English with german subtitles) Berlin Premiere

Two taiwanese girls, Ron and May, are living in Berlin. As Ron’s birthday approaches, the different love that they feel for each other places them in front of a meaningful change.

Nomination Best Cinematography ShanghaiPride 2015 -
14 Festivals Official Selection
More info: https://www.facebook.com/thebirthdayshortfilm

http://ackerstadtpalast.de/Events/The-Birthday-Connecting-Fingers-Kurzfilm-Tanztheater-Performance

When I Dance Website is now online

Posted by Daniela Lucato on April 12, 2016 at 12:57pm

When I dance is now online. Please feel free to have a look and follow

us to get updated about our first Premiere!

http://www.whenidancefilm.com/

https://www.facebook.com/whenIdancefilm/

Connecting Fingers Trailer

Posted by Daniela Lucato on June 15, 2015 at 2:30pm

The Trailer of Connecting Fingers is now online!

https://vimeo.com/130348459

Dissolving Self: Wearable Technology + Contemporary Dance

Posted by Maziar Ghaderi on May 6, 2013 at 7:48am

Here is the premiere of our wearable tech / contemporary dance piece at the HASTAC conference last week.

Our clumsy bows aside, we got some good feedback, and I am interested in continuing this line of research where new media technologies can be employed to enrich the affectivity of performative art.

Would love to get your thoughts on it.

Enjoy. Click!

Watch it at night. If you don't I'll know. :)

MG

Something out of Nothing: Marcia Tucker, Jeffrey Deitch and the De-regulation of the Contemporary-Museum Model by Nizan Shaked

Posted by Marlon Barrios Solano on April 8, 2012 at 11:13am

Reblogged from ART&education http://www.artandeducation.net/paper/something-out-of-nothing-marcia-tucker-jeffrey-deitch-and-the-de-regulation-of-the-contemporary-museum-model/ “Who needs yet another anthology about Andy Warhol”!? The question came to mind upon seeing, in 2010, the October special issue devoted to an artist for which there seems to be a constant abundance of critical attention.[1] A satisfactory answer did not fail to arrive soon thereafter in an interview with the former dealer and newly appointed director of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Jeffrey Deitch. “For Jeffrey Deitch, Andy Warhol is a longtime influence,” wrote Jori Finkel in her tellingly entitled interview “His Pop Idol,” which, one sentence after another unraveled Deitch’s layman understanding of Warhol’s practice, stripping the work of its subversive, radical, and queer complexities. Deitch’s translation of Warhol’s artwork, actions and intensions shifted the artist’s infamous proclamations just enough to seemingly remain felicitous to their original context, but in fact left the Warholian operation flat by taking its highly contrived words literally. As Finkel cited Deitch: ‘Andy loved American establishment institutions like Citibank, the same way he loved kids who just graduated from Princeton dressed in their preppy clothes,’ Deitch says of the self-proclaimed ‘business artist’ who once quipped, ‘Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art.’[2] Clearly, this is an a-historical reading of Warhol’s performative opposition to expressionism and its suppression of art’s relationship to money. To take Warhol at face value seems convenient, especially for all the art dealers who are raking in record amounts set by the trade in his work, as they scurry to sell it sans its campiness and often to collectors steeped in homophobic culture. But if art dealers care to devalue the work’s meaning for gain there is probably not much that we can do about it—commerce in art in the United States has never been regulated. However, mandated to self-regulate are museums, whose guidelines do in fact suggest that they have an advanced understanding of art and adhere to ethical standards.[3] Herein lay the stakes of the corporatization of museums that has been escalating in the U.S. since the 1970s. The increasing sway of a power/money nexus over the operation of museums has been rapidly turning into control over content executed by individuals who are unprepared for the task and hence substitute opinion for knowledge. Acquisition, scholarship and curatorial work in museums should not only be in the hands of specialists, but should also adhere to the ethical guidelines—there to ensure that institutions holding patrimony in public trust are capable of making decisions for posterity. [4] I argue that this is particularly important in the case of contemporary art as we lack the perspective of time to determine significance. Given our proximity to the subject matter it is only sensible that, in order to make sound decisions about acquisitions and programming, leaders should either have an understanding of historical processes or be versed in theoretical frameworks to help guide decisions that will impact the future.[5] Deitch was recruited from New York to Los Angeles by Eli Broad, a patron well known for his insistence on control in return for his gifts.[6] On the one hand there is nothing new under the sun when a businessman has sway over cultural issues, as Jennifer Donnelly explains about the U.S. context: The link between business and museums is evident in the profiles and policies of directors, as well as in the contents of the collections themselves. In a country without the tradition of royal, religious, or federal patronage the cornerstone of the first European museums, it has been private individuals, often businesspeople, who have stepped in to help fund buildings, donate artworks, and fill leadership positions as board members and presidents. U.S. museums still receive far less public funding than their counterparts abroad. As a result, American art museum directors have long had to maintain links with private business, in order to fulfill the fundamental objectives of acquiring, exhibiting, and interpreting works of art.[7] On the other hand, the degree of control exercised by patrons has varied historically, and also varies according to individual institutions. Yet, what has become increasingly problematic in the atmosphere of deregulation, escalating since the 1970s, is the return to a model Vera Zolberg has characterized as the: “pre-professional era,” where businessmen controlled the function and content of museums.[8] Most recently, blatant undemocratic practices have been openly exercised, becoming practically permissible.[9] It seems that anyone footing enough of the bill can institutionalize their personal taste while exploiting the benefits of tax deduction. For example, rather than choosing to strengthen one of the city’s existing institutions, Broad, other wealthy Americans before him, opted to add another museum that will carry his name, taking control over urban-scale design decisions while receiving rebates from public monies.[10] Like many of the other private museums, decisions are made autocratically, oblivious to appropriate democratic processes that were specifically outlined to sustain a self-regulating system. As successful as they may be in boosting or dealing, Broad or Deitch each have a very different set of expertise than scholars, or other professionals, who have the depth and breadth to foresee what will matter for future generations.[11] Being a successful collector or dealer does not qualify one to make substantial decisions towards our collective cultural patrimony. The problem is not with their taste per se—both figures have a proven track record in collecting or the business of art. The setback is that they have not the critical capacity to understand the facts of their limitations, and it is in these hands that decisions about acquisition, and more dangerously de-accession, will be placed. I claim that having failed to absorb the critical lessons of the postmodern period, the corporate model today can be compared not only with the U.S. pre-professional model, but even with an early framework of Renaissance collecting and classification. This paper imagines a future where there exists a distinction between opinion and knowledge, and that museums remember that it is their job to evaluate quality outside market considerations and programing driven by ratings. Since in the U.S. the reality is a dependency on private and corporate funds, it is there that the need for a scholarly approach should be impressed, and it is museum professionals that have to advance this imperative. Change can only happen if we continue to press for a cultural shift in values, and it is the onus not only of professionals but also scholars and intellectuals to exercise their knowledge and positions ethically and to resist the “networking imperative” highlighted by Isabel Graw.[12] A model for a better money/art relationship exists already, particularly appropriate for the medium-sized contemporary art museum. The unprecedented structure developed by Marcia Tucker, the founding director of The New Museum, was a non-corporate contemporary art museum in the U.S. context that emerged at the same time as a new market structure is emerging, with Deitch largely at the helm. Given the influence of the New Museum and its importance in defining and sustaining artistic practices that matters now, this paper highlights the unique relationship set up by Tucker between institutional practices and programs, urging a return to her museum structure.[13] Putting her writing and lectures into context I outline a position within a history of perspectives and debates regarding the appropriate expertise and ethical guidelines of museums and collecting. It examines the waning of museum self-regulation in the context of the escalation of the global art market and asks what it may mean to attempt objectivity and scientificity in an age that challenged these modern notions, and what kind of guidelines we may set to insure that our museums mount substantial exhibitions and collect significant and representative work. An Abridged History of Curatorial Expertise It is perhaps best to first ask what is the museum’s scholarly framework and how has it evolved? The development of collecting and classification between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment can be generally described as a gradual and highly flawed stride towards the “scientific,” ending with doubt of the latter’s methods with the advent of postmodernism. In the 16th and 17th century collecting and classification relied on the categories of the curious and the marvelous inherited from the medieval emphasis on wonder as the organization principle of the world.[14] For the most part, princely and aristocratic collections strove for some scheme of order based on poetic or literary structures, and were more formal than didactic. It was scholars, Jesuits and professionals (such as botanists) that began building private collections of natural and artificial objects as depositories of resources, refining their encyclopedic impulse into the early methods for scientific classification.[15] Scholars still debate whether and to what degree those methods were indeed scientific, as they were of course tied to contemporaneous belief systems, their knowledge often subjected to ideologies in support of networking and the perpetuation of commerce, self-aggrandizing or religious proselytizing.[16] Notwithstanding, the point here is that scientificity became a value, a form of authority that necessitated either being a specialist or hiring one, significant for example in the case of the Medici family, as Giuseppe Olmi writes: The need to legitimize the Grand Duke and his dynasty meant that the glorification of the prince, the celebration of his deeds and the power of his family had constantly to be exposed to the eyes of all and to be strongly impressed on the mind of every subject. This transition from private to public also entailed a new arrangement of the collection. Works of art and antiquities gradually came to be seen as status symbols and instruments of propaganda, while grand-ducal policy increasingly brought scientific research under state patronage.[17] As Olmi concludes, it was ultimately a turn to specialty knowledge that influenced the reorganization of museums in the 18th century. During the Enlightenment period the earlier connoisseur and gentlemanly hang of the fine arts eventually gave way to classification by national schools and chronological installation. These methods then served to promote the ideology of the nation state, while museum treasures came to be considered as the heritage of the entire nation.[18] Based in the rational and reformative intentions of the Enlightenment progress paradigm scientificity and scholarly approaches became the articulated means for the organization of materials, also supporting the architectural scheme and the design of the space.[19] Throughout the Modern period museums engaged in gradual self-correction, advancing through dialectical criticism of former methods. Two major philosophical underpinnings underlie the resulting models. A depoliticized Hegelian contemplative museum and the didactic one, both nevertheless relying on authority derived from scholarship.[20] In the U.S. context the establishment of art historical departments in universities propelled the professionalization of museums in the early 20th century and curatorial and managerial roles from the late 1920s and on, mostly under the influence of Paul Sachs’s “museum course” at Harvard. A generation of museum professionals became his legacy, forming such strong art historical positions as Alfred Barr’s at the MOMA. Between the late Modern age and postmodernism, advancement of social, political and philosophical critique culminated with the discrediting of scientific certitude and curatorial method became an arena for political debate. From the late 1960s into the 1990s a wave of protest followed by subsequent scholarly analysis challenged museums, and in the 1980s and 1990s focused on the questions of representation in the institutional context. Institutional ideology and methodologies were analyzed, examining in detail how they framed and contextualized the meaning of objects.[21] The demand that museums change their administrative structure and content was voiced strongly by women and minorities, such that it practically characterizes the period. These insights were so significant that they manifested publically, demonstrations commencing with the campaign against the Metropolitan Museum’s Harlem on My Mind (1968), followed by protests against the Whitney Museum for American Art (where Marcia Tucker had worked until 1976) and the Museum of Modern Art, leading to the formation of new alliances between different minority groups, and also Leftist artist groups, demanding that museums better serve the public by changing administrative approaches.[22] When museums began responding to these public demands, the process was dialectical. When well-intended display and exhibitions were found to have been based in inherited historical biases that replicated structures of social injustice, they were then followed by attempts at correction, and so on the cycle repeated.[23] My point here in presenting this complex history in its abridged form is to underscore a development towards an ideal of social justice. For the most part today museums are still operating between the two historical poles of the didactic versus the contemplative, which can be said have been replaced by an opposition between the political and the experiential. It is widely acknowledged that political work can be easily subsumed into the experiential model, but there still exist a difference between art that associates human development and progress with social justice, and that which is concerned with market value and profit. Spinning the Loophole: the Monetization of the Art Object In 1970s U.S. financial decline and inflation drove museums to heavy dependence on corporate sponsorship, which in return influenced content in direct and indirect ways. As Hans Haacke observed: Certainly, shows that could promote critical awareness, […] have a slim chance of being approved—not only because they are unlikely to attract corporate funding, but also because they could sour relations with potential sponsors for other shows. Consequently, self-censorship is having a boom.[24] Led by a way of thinking exemplified by the Guggenheim’s director Thomas Krens, attitudes shifted in the late 1980s and early 1990s when museums themselves began to assume a corporate logic, to a greater degree of consequence, as Rosalind Krauss outlined: This bizarre Gestalt-switch from regarding the collection as a form of cultural patrimony or as specific and irreplaceable embodiments of cultural knowledge to one of eying the collection’s contents as so much capital—as stocks or assets whose value is one of pure exchange and thus only truly realized when they are put in circulation—seems to be the invention not merely of dire financial necessity: a result, that is, of the American tax law of 1986 eliminating the deductibility of the market value of donated art objects. Rather, it appears the function of a more profound shift in the very context in which the museum operates—a context whose corporate nature is made specific not only by the major sources of funding for museum activities but also, closer to home, by the makeup of its boards of trustees.[25] Krauss traces the process by which the bonds issued by the Guggenheim to fund their expansion were ultimately leveraged by the collection.[26] In effect placing what was entrusted to them for safekeeping at a risk of falling into private hands, this move directly violated the public trust for the sake of what Marcia Tucker termed the: “mindless expansion in American museums.”[27] Indeed, why would growth, the logic of the so-called free market, even be an ideal for museums? Doesn’t sustainability seem more appropriate? The automatic adoption of the model of growth was part and parcel of the overall atmosphere of deregulation, as Philip Weiss wrote: “To a great extent the museum community’s crisis results from the free-market spirit of the 1980s. The notion of the museum as a guardian of the public patrimony has given way to the notion of a museum as a corporate entity with a highly marketable inventory and the desire for growth.”[28] Initially, other museum directors criticized the overall direction the Guggenheim was taking.[29]Yet soon thereafter the MOMA and the Metropolitan began emulating some of what their directors initially criticized, mounting what are termed “fluff” exhibitions—populist and easily funded. In an article named after a remark made by then director of the Metropolitan Museum, Philippe de Montebello: “A museum is not a business. It is run in a businesslike fashion,” Andrea Fraser observed the extent to which this structural shift has further taken over every aspect of the museum: The continuing rise in corporate sponsorship and decline in public spending is only a small part of this trend. Much more striking are the changes in the structure, organization, and orientation of institutions themselves, as well as within art as a professional field.[30] In our contemporary situation the blatant conflicts of interest are so extreme such that the authority of our institutions of public trust become questionable. As Isabel Graw writes: This kind of mix-up occurs, for example, when museum trustees try to influence the institution’s acquisition policy in such a way as to enhance the perceived value of works they themselves own. Another example is the now-pervasive figure of the “collector-dealer,” who tends to claim the additional function of a curator or publicist. He collects and deals in art, speculating on the appreciation of his purchases, which he buys at attractive prices, possibly splitting resulting resale profits with the gallerist. Practices that in other fields would be denounced as criminal or insider-trading are commonplace in the art market.[31] The corporatization of museums ran parallel to an unprecedented growth of the art market, which I hypothesize is the direct result of the establishment and promotion of the art-advisory departments by major banks and auction houses.[32] The art-advisory department at Citibank, in association with Sotheby Parke Bernet, was modeled after a program developed by the British Rail Pension Fund, which ceased its operation because of the clear conflict of interest created when specialist advice came from the same source as the sale. As Lee Rosenbaum writes: “[l]ike the British Rail Program, Citibank’s program is rife with conflict of interest and will not necessarily benefit the people is purports to serve.”[33] In the U.S. the art advisory service was devised primarily by Jeffrey Deitch and according to him aimed to bring “stability and liquidity to the art market.”[34] Liquidity and its aftermath were indeed introduced, but stability not. Following the 1970s recession there was a perceived notion of art as boom/bust resistant and thus more stable than other investment vehicles, but this was partially refuted in the 1990s when art prices fluctuated dramatically. The selective elite services, expanded later to other banks and auction houses, provided uninitiated investors with information and assistance with art collecting, artificially growing the market and creating inflation of prices.[35] The services expanded internationally, targeting and exploiting open markets such as Japan during its real-estate boom.[36] In effect, the status of the art object had been reformulated as asset, with mortgage-type deals offered by banks and auction houses.[37] The influx of new collectors, a globally expanding market, and the new system, drove prices to unprecedented peaks, followed by dramatic fluctuation.[38] Art turned into big business, pushing museums out of the market. Unable to purchase art at bubble prices dependency on collector gifting increased. The consequential current reign of the philanthropist effect is a throwback to the pre-professional condition of the late 19th century. Today, where there is miniscule governmental support of the arts, in the U.S. cultural institutions are so bound to private interests that the prevailing sense is that there exists no way out.[39] In 2006 the threat on fractional giving evoked a massive outcry from museums fearing the loss of their major acquisition avenue.[40] Letter-writing campaigns were effective, and the law changed in part in 2008. It seems that this is the extent to which museum professionals can have a say in the system, begging the government to retain tax-deductions that grants advantages to wealthy individuals and is thus glaringly unequal.[41] This creates a paradoxical situation where in this late age museums are still servicing class discrimination. Of course, fighting partial giving would be detrimental to museums within the existing system, demonstrating the powerlessness of these institutions to support any kind of broader structural change, and underscoring how they are confined to serve the existing socio-economic order. “By conviction Alone:” Marcia Tucker’s New Museum, the Self-Regulating Institution Yet the sense of helplessness in regards to bettering the system is false. One feasible project that worked against the grain took place simultaneously with the corporatizing of museums and at the same time when art advisory boards were artificially expanding the commerce in art. There exists a concrete model worth revisiting and foregrounding as an option. From 1977 to 1998 Marcia Tucker theorized and implemented an unprecedented experimental approach to exhibiting contemporary art, and brought the museum and its program to international prominence. Her decision to open yet another museum in an already culturally rich city aimed to fill a gap created by the limited attention paid to the work of living artists, as well as address discrimination of women and minorities by existing New York institutions. Tucker based her administrative structure on an academic rather than a corporate system, implementing peer-reviewed selection processes and committee-based decision making. Importantly, many of the boards and committees consisted of artists and took diversity as its primary criteria. An experimental model of a rotating, rather than a permanent collection, was in constant consideration. Tucker developed a working model for a contemporary museum, persuading her trustees and donors to allow the museum its intellectual freedom, effectively mediating between the radical ideas of artists and scholars and the mainstream reality of the museum as an institution. Unfortunately, it has been all but displaced since her departure from the museum in 1998, its feasibility as a system has not been considered in the planning, building, or expansion, of a host of recent contemporary museums (including the New Museum itself), all of which follow corporate models and seem to address first and foremost the concerns of private and corporate donors.[42] The New Museum was far from perfect during Tucker’s tenure, riddled with internal conflicts and multiple crises. Yet as experimental and difficult to sustain as it was, it nevertheless offers the best case study for thinking and rethinking the administrative structure, the program and their inter-connectedness in the American museum dedicated to contemporary art. In the museum’s nonprofit proposal Tucker outlined the mission and structure of the museum: It will focus on work which does not have sufficient outlet in the present museum or gallery structure of New York, and/or work which is not being presented within a critical and scholarly context. […] It is intended as a forum for the kind of visual and verbal exchange between artists and the public that existed in the 1920’s and 1930’s when the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Studio Club were first formed. The New Museum’s projected scope would cover the area between the small, non-historically oriented “alternate spaces” which deal with the work of younger and lesser known artists, and the larger, bureaucratically top-heavy museums. […] Establishment of a permanent collection, while not an immediate priority, is intended to provide an extension of the historical framework offered by critical essays and documentation.[43] The description of the planned exhibition program also discussed: large solo exhibitions for artists whose work has not been shown in depth in NY; group exhibitions covering themes in contemporary art which have not yet been examined in depth; a regional exchange program; circulating NY artists around the U.S. and visa versa; small solo shows for artists with no NY representation; and community access exhibitions of modest scale, showcasing visual material which is not generally considered to be within the aesthetic mainstream. The museum intended to collect slides of exhibitions as scholarly materials, and expressed a strong commitment to forming a depository of scholarly resources that could also support artists and collectors interested in artists working outside the gallery system. The intent was to reach as large audience as possible through multiple programs that would cross audience, as well as offering free admission. “I know how ambitious the project is, and how impossible it must seem to those who do not feel that a museum can be created by conviction alone. I believe otherwise. I am convinced that the best and the most difficult art of our time is essential to human development.”[44] Passion, and the tenacity to sustain it, drove Tucker to continue and fight for what she believed was right. Her letters, minutes from boards meetings, and lectures, all show her working relentlessly to persuade her trustees rather than allowing them to dictate content. Describing her administrative and programming vision as an “egalitarian mode,” Tucker was nevertheless not anti-corporate by any means, for she understood very well the realities within which she was operating. Instead, her actions reveal a persistent attempt to change the ways in which the relation of corporations to museums was established, and to convince corporate entities and private donors that it is ultimately in their best interest to allow museums to function through a cultural and not a free-market logic. Talking to a group of corporate collectors in Toronto in 1985 Tucker emphasized that: “we show work, ideally, which is experimental, difficult, challenging, intellectually provocative.”[45] Through the structure and style of her presentation Tucker issued a gentle yet forceful criticism of the relation of corporations and museums, culminating a list of negative trends with: 6. Museums only doing funded shows. 7. Museums only planning shows, which can be funded. 8. Museums doing post-opening receptions at discos like the palladium. 9. The Palladium doing shows that museums should be doing. And about three dozen other examples of expediency, conflict of interest, exploitation, showmanship, and decadence. Sort of a fall of the Roman Empire scenario…[46] Instead Tucker offered examples of collaborative or performative practices and those that are not market-driven or even based in the art-world, also giving concrete examples for how corporations could support these modes of art-making and contribute to art and education without exercising direct or coercive control. She detailed how and why content control would in fact prevent museums from supporting practices most likely to retrospectively become significant. As the very essence of contemporary art lies in the unknown and not in what is already known or expected, museums should be given the room to facilitate what is radical, or at that point may seem radical. In her notes for a talk entitled “The New Museum and its Programs,” Tucker discussed bringing to the New Museum various exhibitions that subverted her own taste, that were incredibly difficult for the trustees, or that deliberately juxtaposed multiple points of view on truth and history—all of which caused her: “a lot of problems with trustees, who remember ‘the good old days’, i.e., the days when the value of art had to do with its appearance.”[47] Nevertheless, her ability to communicate to her board that a moment’s present will be the future’s past gained her the freedom to program controversial materials, some of which of course became important in retrospect. Leading trustees to allow for artistic speech with which they disagreed, Tucker facilitated a democratic structure. Giving the Hans Haacke Retrospective as an example, she explained how: “the Museum was not a political platform in and of itself, but […] many artists were making art which was socially committed.”[48] This way of thinking and her ability to “sell” political art to a board of trustees was key to her vision. In a letter to her board in 1993 Tucker emphasized how the relation of program and structure was facilitated through participatory management, various kinds of advisory groups, and housing a semi-permanent collection. [49] She discussed the museum’s aspiration to be multicultural and multi racial not only in exhibitions, but also in staff and governance on all levels, describing how the radicalism of the late 70s and early 80s has by then been accepted and emulated by institutions. Detailing the programming focus on specific socio-political concerns; on interdisciplinary work that collapses media divisions; on the underrated work of women and minority artists; the critical exploration of popular culture; and the intersection art and life, Tucker underscored that the museum aimed to create a lab organization where curators could experiment. This was achieved by inviting independent curators to create exhibitions un-supervised, co-curating with other institutions, paying honoraria to artist, commissioning major work, and placing a strong emphasis on education by incorporating viewer response into exhibitions as well as training on site staff to interact with the public. Citing the publications and grants as evidence of the museum’s strong commitment to scholarship, she summarized how highly regarded it has come to be as a model of radical pedagogy. Nevertheless, she mentions accessibility of the materials as one of the challenges to the museum. Pointing to how artwork today is done not only for the sake of aesthetics but within a social context, she mentions how challenging it is in terms of display and the flexibility required in order to exhibit it. Aware of the shortcomings of her idealistic structure, Tucker also responded to the board’s expressed concern regarding the reduction of the original ambitions plans, cut down due to budget and staff shortage. She explained that, sixteen years after the opening, people are no longer willing to work for low wages or for free for the sake of a cause. Tucker worked relentlessly to convince publics about her way of thinking. In a lecture entitled “The Fight for the Right to be Wrong: Museums and the ‘Cutting Edge,’” delivered at the Aspen Design Conference in 1988, she framed the historical structure of museums as institutions frozen in time, proceeding to elaborate upon recent changes, while highlighting the paradox of contemporary art museums that institutionalize the present.[50] Identifying that the restructuring of institutions was gradually following the corporate model, she contrasted the corporate model’s constant aim for success with the idea that contemporary art museums should be allowed to fail. Her humorous example of how Hilton Kramer’s bad reviews of her work have helped her built a successful career gave realistic traction to her argument. She then continued to emphasize why it is so important to constantly question the concept of cutting edge, as otherwise it can so easily be co-opted as a commodity, fashion, or style of the new. In “The Ten Most Pressing Issues for Contemporary Art Museums Today, and Some Uncommon Solutions,” delivered at the MOCA in 1988, Tucker discussed Museum Ethics stating that: “[…] museums today are clearly not simply motivated by pure scholarship (if there even were such a thing). All of us are struggling competitively for funds (and some for survival), and we’re differentiated only by the extent to which we understand our complicity in the process.”[51] This sober proclamation serves as a reminder that running a museum based on scholarship, and governed by an intentionally and actively democratic structure, is in no way impossible or utopian. Perhaps for larger museums a cultural change in values seems out of bounds, but for the medium-sized contemporary art museum it is possible to imagine that a sustainable ethical structure and an emphasis on scholarship are not impossible. Under Marcia Tucker the New Museum gained momentum as one of the world’s most important centers of contemporary art. Following Tucker’s track record I assert that in order to remain relevant as a museum of contemporary art it cannot be controlled by corporate interests, for the logic of business is always too conservative to be able to facilitate what art may need for its future. While historically the establishment of U.S. museums has always been by the wealth of private money, those that were museums of contemporary art at their time of inception have not managed to sustain their viability as such, and it is precisely into this gap that the New Museum had stepped in 1977. Conclusion Above and beyond Tucker’s model respected the intelligence of her audience as well as that of corporate entities.[52] Confusing populism and accessibility, the logic of the corporate model attempts to make everything easy rather than consider the possibility of education seems condescending in contrast. Deitch’s invocation of Andy Warhol neglects to distinguish between popular culture, that can be subversive and political, and mass appeal, which is closer to entertainment and its focus on attendance as rating symptomatic. Art as celebrity culture fosters identification rather than critical distance and foregrounds experience over thinking. This content is echoed in the administrative structure, where dominant figures lead according to what they think is right—after all, they can always “prove” their success by showing attendance numbers. As such, debate and dialogue are rendered moot, denying museums of their societal role as arenas for scholarly experimentation and the development of consciousness. Museums should be democratic, not autocratic, using peer-review and committee based systems to assure good practices and the sustainability of the symbolic value of their collections. Drawing from centuries of improvement as well as from recent scholarship that has refined its positions through endless debate, professional associations have developed guidelines, which in the U.S. today are simply not followed. Keeping with the guidelines of regulatory bodies not only contributes to their accumulative knowledge, but also has a proven track record for better chances of success. No system is perfect, nor can it make guarantees, but by facilitating broader perspectives it is most likely to have a healthier outcome. For example, observing diversity guidelines such as those outlined by the AAM, is more likely to yield a well-rounded program that will not in retrospect disappear into the sea of mediocrity. Democracy is not just an umbrella under which things happen, and it is the role of its institutions to practice it constantly in order to uphold it. What kind of culture are we facilitating if decisions about cultural heritage are made behind closed doors (as do those about deaccessioning) or for the direct benefit of an amateur elite? We have historically surpassed this structure, and should fight to resist this retrograde trend. The recent shift to the autocratic museum is potentially unsustainable, as we may very well see a cultural shift that will render their criteria extraneous. With the recent budget crisis and its aftermath, the growing public mistrust of banks and corporations, and the invigoration of the left, it is possible to imagine a cultural shift that will devalue the spectacular and the populist, where much of the overpriced contemporary art will eventually take an unrecoverable dip. What would it take for curators, critics, scholars and intellectuals, to devise ways to work within and in between the system to affect such a change? Can we at least encourage self-regulation amongst ourselves? The seed is still there. Some of the corporate museums harbor positive elements within them. At the (new) New Museum, projects such as Museum as Hub—a collaboration between five international organizations focused on intellectual exchange—has been facilitating sophisticated and timely forums.[53] As for the L.A. MOCA time will tell, for some of the museum’s future plans still hold scholarly remnants from the past. This article is written in hopes that not only will museum directors and personnel push to rethink their institutions considering Tucker’s model, but that they will also encourage their patrons to direct their energies towards self-education and leave decision making processes to professionals. As for the professionals, again, they too should practice a greater degree of self-regulation.

Herberger Institute @ ASU: Emerge: Artists + Scientists Redesign the Future, USA.

Posted by Marlon Barrios Solano on March 3, 2012 at 7:55pm

Digital Culture Festival (map + parking)

Throughout the three-day run of Emerge, the Digital Culture Festival celebrates the collaboration of artists, engineers and scientists as distinguished guest artists and faculty and students from ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and the Fulton Schools of Engineering exhibit a series of interactive happenings. These creations will fill indoor and outdoor spaces spanning the arc of design and arts buildings at the west end of the Tempe campus. The Festival will culminate in a Saturday evening gala that will also include the closing show of the ASU’s Night of the Open Door. All festival exhibits and events are open to the public.

The festival activities include:

Immerge (Nelson Fine Arts building and plaza, begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 3) The setting will become the canvas for a unique interactive performance that immerses the audience in the futures imagined throughout the conference. Improvising actors (call them "animators") will move through the crowd enticing them to drive interactive sculptures and animations. The audience – based on their interactions with the actors and machines and their patterns of movement – will drive real-time graphics and sound engines. These engines will produce three-dimensional visual displays on the building and create surround-sound displays in the plaza. This cutting-edge show is being developed by a diverse group of ASU faculty and students from the arts, design and engineering units led by faculty members Daragh Byrne, Lance Gharavi, Hilary Harp, Todd Ingalls, Jordan Meyers, Loren Olson, Garth Paine, Jacob Pinholster, David Tinapple and Pavan Turaga. Read more
Digital Culture Corridor (open all three days, March 1–3, unless otherwise noted):

Sensory Meadow: located in the Digital Culture Walkway of the Stauffer Building on the Arizona State University Main Campus in Tempe, Arizona, features a lighted sculptural passageway that responds in real time to environmental sensors visualizing a range of metro factors such as air quality, water usage, and traffic levels. The artwork is a suspended garden of 45 light-weight translucent forms made of multiple layers of laser-cut Plexiglas. These computer-generated blossoms pulse in response to local real-time data such as river water flows, barometric pressure, CO2 levels and air particulate readings. In addition, the environment reacts dramatically to people passing under it through responsive sound and quickening light pulses. Created by Mary Neubauer and Todd Ingalls. (Stauffer Breezeway)
“Your ______Here” is an SMS “happening.” Text-based projections will be displayed on the exterior of the Nelson Fine Arts Building, prompting passersby to contribute responses via mobile phone. Throughout theEmerge event, the system will collect and display provocative participant messages related to the festival themes. Created by Aisling Kelliher, Silvan Linn and Ryan Spicer. (Nelson Fine Arts Building exterior)
Building Projections: Jake Pinholster, director of the Herberger Institute School of Theatre and Film, and his students will illuminate the Nelson Fine Arts Plaza and portions of the desert sky.
2012: A Golf Odyssey: A multidisciplinary team of students from across The Design School and Digital Culture are collaborating to turn the Neeb Plaza into a miniature golf course. The typical mini–golf experience is augmented by holes that react to a player’s progress, successes and failures. The four holes communicate with the golfers and with each other to create a fun, responsive and collective update to the mini–golf tradition.
Powered by Fiction: Artists, Makers, Tinkerers and the Backstories that Inspire Them to Create, presented by Intel: A past that never was; a future that may never be; a present day made strange…. The imagined worlds of speculative fiction give us a lens through which to interrogate our own world, to explore paths we did not take and to begin to chart a new course toward tomorrow. This gallery exhibit, sponsored by Intel Labs, showcases fictional worlds made tangible and real through the creation of not just stories but also costumes, props, gadgets and environments. Explore the power of design fiction to generate the artifacts of alternate worlds. (The Design Gallery)
Alien Health Embodied Game and I Know Where We Stand Game:SMALLab invites you to play in an immersive health game for middle-schoolers called “Feed yer Alien.” Students level up as they learn about nutrition while feeding a foundling alien who has a body like ours. This active, mixed-reality game will also be demoed with the new game that was created during the EMERGE Workshop called the “I Know Where We Stand Game.” (Open on Saturday, March 3 from 5–7 p.m. Digital Arts Ranch at University Drive and Myrtle Avenue.)
Echo:System: “echo: system” is a live performance and installation work led by Arts, Media + Engineering Professor Grisha Coleman with Todd Ingalls and a collaborative team of ASU artists and researchers. The project is a response to our current environmental crisis caused by contemporary humans’ inability to reflect on the impact of their actions on the natural world. The goals of the project are to create lasting, arts-driven vehicles for cross-disciplinary research, curriculum advancement and community engagement. (Open Saturday, March 3 from noon – 1 p.m. and 4:30–7 p.m. Neeb Plaza)
Starting With the Universe: Design Science Now: Experience an immersive theater experience inside David McConville’s GeoDome and explore cosmic models to design problems in an era of unprecedented global change induced by human activities. (Open Saturday, March 3 from 5–7 p.m. ASU Art Museum)

Interactive Performances (Film Studio, Stauffer B125, Saturday, March 3,
5–6:15 p.m.):

Digital Culture Music Ensemble (5–5:30 p.m.): The DC Music Ensemble, directed by Visiting Professor Garth Paine, transcends the acoustic/digital divide. Members control software interfaces in an organic and dynamic fashion that rivals the rich musicality and nuance that heritage acoustic instruments provide. The ensemble seeks to address the question “What is the music of our time?” by combining the old with the new.
Laptop Orchestra (5:45-6:15 p.m.): Laptop Orchestra of Arizona State (LOrkAS) is a student–initiated, student–led and student–managed group from various backgrounds and disciplines. Performers explore the possibilities of the laptop for musical, visual and interactive expression and push the envelope of integrating arts and technology.

WALA! what about Live Art? - from 7th to 11th of December + TUESDAY 13th

Posted by La Porta on November 28, 2011 at 5:44pm

WALA! what about Live Art?

A project by La Porta (www.laportabcn.com) in collaboration with the Live Art Development Agency from London (www.thisisliveart.co.uk)

WALA! What about Live Art? is a cycle of activities intended to inform and approach to the audience and professionals of Barcelona the work of the Live Art Development Agency. An international benchmark known for its capacity to generate innovative and efficient projects for the professional development of contemporary Live Arts.

La Porta has invited the people in charge of this agency, based in London, to expose and share with us their strategies and working methodologies. We will also practice some of the diverse tools they have developed in the last years and approach the creative universes of some artists they usually collaborate with.

LECTURES / SCREENINGS / WORKSHOPS / PERFORMANCES / MEETINGS WITH THE ARTISTS

From 7th to 11th of December 2011 at La Porta__casa and Caixa Forum / Free entrance

--------------------------------------------------------

TUESDAY 13th

After closing WALA!’s cycle and in connection with its contents we propose an extra afternoon meeting for the public introduction of a new documentation project that will gather together the last three editions of Nits Salvatges (wild nights) and the new website of La Porta, as well as an open talk for shearing the new lines of work that our new space is opening.

The people in charge of Continta me tienes, an interesting publishing project, will also present A veces me pregunto por qué sigo bailando, (Sometimes I wonder why I keep on dancing) a book edited by Oscar Cornago.

December Tuesday 13th 8pm at La Porta__casa / Free entrance

on dance-tech.tv: BLEU REMIX (2007) by Yann Marussich

Posted by Marlon Barrios Solano on February 9, 2012 at 11:30pm

dance-tech.tv

presents

BLEU REMIX (2007) by Swiss Choreographer Yann Marussich

as part of

Choreography or ELSE.

ARS ELECTRONICA 2008 – CATEGORY HYBRID ART

In his spectacle-instalation Bleu remix, Yann Marussich returns to the theme already explored in 2001, in the Bleu Provisoire spectacle when he let a mysterious blue liquid ooze as blood would, through the layers of his skin, as though it was a final effect or a by-product of his body’s inner processes. This way, Marussich opened the paths between the inside and the outside world – secret passages from the unconscious, straight to the conscious.

WATCH HERE

RELATED POSTS

Choreography or ELSE, is an online series on dance-techTV featuring complete performances from international choreographers, dance artist or directors that continue to challenge traditional and contextual notions of choreography, dance and performance. They problematize the performance of movement and the body experimenting with compositional and aesthetic strategies, dramaturgic approaches, non conventional spaces, appropriating uses of the new technologies, crossing disciplinary boundaries and cultural hybridity.

All pieces are presented with educational purposes and by courtesy of the artists.

Support dance-tech.tv & .net

Art.On.Wires Festival #2 Oslo 2011 - daily report - day 1

Posted by Johanna Roggan on May 25, 2011 at 9:44pm

Here we (*) are again. The young Art.On.Wires festival opens its doors for the second time.

Like last year, we arrived in a very warm and wellcoming atmosphere here in Oslo. Not just because the sun is shining...

Today the day starts with an introduction talk by Alexander Eichhorn, the founder of this festival.

The day is reserved for talks and lectures. People introduce themself and their work in general or more specific, talk a little about the workshops they will give and answer some questions.

Marko Ritter (D), co-founder of the company intolight, starts the lecture about his work and research. Intolight got a grand from the E.C.A.S. network to develope their project CHET (collective hedonistic toolkid). One part of this software mainly based on vvvv is switchboy. It's a toolkid for Vjing. You basically can do everything with it. The software will be open-source and Marko hopes for many people who will contribute new patches for switchboy in order to develope this multi-functional toolkid. You can do mind mapping, project 3D graphics, Videos and all the things a good Vj programm should be able to provide.
Marko will give a workshop together with Valérie-Françoise Vogt for vvvv - An introduction into the Multipurpose Toolkit on Thursday and Sunday.

Marko Ritter // intolight // intolight.de
Valérie-Françoise Vogt // veevee.de
E.C.A.S. // ECAS/ICAS
CHET // chet toolkid
Switchboy // switchboy

After the lunch break the talks continue with 5uper.net/DAAL and DKIA.

Based in Vienna Philip Fischer, Erkin Bayirli, Michal Wlodkowski, the guys from 5uper.net/DAAL, talk as well about their artist collective and their artistic-research work. Michal gives us a short overview about their projects, one is the international festival coded cultures. Erkin introduces us to the roboter plant superViVo and some other agiland mobile cybernetic plants. It's all about playfulness and an easy access to solar topics, agil cybernetic plants and gadges.
They will give their workshop on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

coded cultures // festival

superViVo robot // supervivo.daal.at

5uper.net/DAAL (AU) // 5uper.net
DAAL // 5uper.net DAAL

DKIA are based in Vienna as well, working and researching in the fields of media art, electronics, prototyping and sustainable innovations. In the last two years they focused on LED technology and realized several LED driven projects.
To just drop in some words what they're doing: web development, participating activism art, interactive talking cubes.
They gonna give a full day workshop Thursday and half day on Friday.

DKIA // dkia.at

Jacob Korn talks about his main projects over the last years, beside being a musician and producer for Techno and House music. Automatic clubbing is one of it. Now called I.D.A (interactive dancefloor application) which is a collaborative instrument. In the beginning it would run with kalypso and max.msp stand alone. He collaborates with different people to realize several performances, such as Frieder Weiß, Matthias Härtig, intolight. Next project is Harmony Universe. An instrument mainly for children. They learn playing with music and rhythm through an interactive software and visuals on the floor (for instance). It is a collaborative instrument, so if the kids play well, it sounds well...max4life and vvvv is used for the software stuff. Another baby of Jacob is Uncanny Heroes - a workshop based development for a tool to let people interact with the sound and visuals they're confronted with in a normal party situation.

He will give a workshop for Abelton live on Thursday

Jacob Korn // jacobkorn.de
Harmony Universe // vimeo.com/9935622
Uncanny Heroes // intolight.de/projekte/uncanny-heroes

Lars Graugaard is basically talking about his great wish to have a software which does everything for him. Well, who doesn't. His longstanding research in music, working as a composer and programmer brought him to a constantly improving "organism" to make music and performances happen. One software, huge possibilities where and how to use it. Together with his students he enlarges the necessary patches for max.msp. Lars' aim is to have a flexible system to work with many different instruments and their very specific characteristics.

His workshop will be on Sunday.

Lars Graugaard // l--l.dk

After a small coffee break we continue with Jason Geistweidt (US/NO) and Brock Craft (UK).

Jason Geistweidt introduces us to his projects and philosophy of his work. It's all about collaboration and trust and communication. Working on a huge project called "world opera" Jason is connected to 6 different countries in order to create and research how to make a world opera happen. In realtime of course. Using video, OSC, vvvv and all you need, there is still the problem of time delay. Even if it is just about milli seconds still a lot of artists (musicians, dancers...) have problems to interact over camera to a different place in the world. Where am I? What is your time, what is mine?

Friday night there will be a linked performance with Oslo and California.

Jason Geistweidt // geistweidt.com

Last but not least Brock Craft talks about his work. Brock is an Interaction Designer, artist, and specialist in Physical Computing and Information Visualization. One of his many projects is "NetChimes". Basically you need a chime and a station to live stream it. Over a server you can listen to any chimes listed on the server. We checked it out during his lecture and it worked perfectly.

His workshop for Arduino will be on Saturday.

Brock Craft // brockcraft.com
NetCHimes // netchimes.org/

Tomorrow starts an exciting day full of interesting workshops. I'll keep you updated!

(*)We is:

Marko Ritter - VVVV programmer - http://blog.intolight.de

Valérie-Françoise Vogt - graphic design - http://veevee.de

Jacob Korn - musician (Abelton, Max 4life) - http://www.jacobkorn.de/

Johanna Roggan - dancer, choreographer - www.moveonit.net

Celebration of Life! "Be-In" September 11th, Park Slope - Seeks Collaborators

Posted by Judith Z. Miller on August 29, 2011 at 3:48am

Celebration of Life! “Be-In”
Artists Commemorating 9/11

“Celebration of Life!” - a dance-percussive-art “Happening” - features Sticks & Stones healing ritual artist Judith Z. Miller’s primal wearable art and sculpture made from trees and stones, set to a live soundscape of global rhythms by Music for the Masses DJ Neva Wartell, in Park Slope’s lush St. Marks/Warren Street Community Garden.

“Celebration of Life” will include dancers in body paint wearing Judith’s handmade, one-of-a-kind amulets, moving throughout the garden with her “Sacred Staffs” made from the roots and trunks of trees. Dancers will be accompanied by music spun by DJ Neva along with live percussion. The community will be invited to participate.

Artist/Designer/Raconteur Thomas Lyn Pool will display his origami designs and teach participants how to make their own beautiful designs.

Jazz improvisational and devotional vocalist Deborah Shelton, who has been teaching singing and vocal improvisation for over twenty-five years, will lead a song circle combining vocal improvisation and multi-part songs of faith, hope and love.

Artist, designer, muralist Jim Su will paint the dancers’ bodies.

Dancers are invited to honor the earth by creating movement in response to the song “MANKIND” by MAURI, accompanied by live music.

[http://mauri.bandcamp.com/track/mankind]

Dancers, Choreographers, Percussionists, Body Painters, Poets & Writers, Photographers, Videographers, and advance & on-site Event Organizers are invited to collaborate. If you want to participate, please let us know what skills you'd like to share!

POTLUCK: Please bring food and non-alcoholic beverages to share. The grill will be fired up.

*RAIN DATES, Saturday, September 24 or Sunday, September 25th.

DJ NEVA (Music for the Masses) is an ethnomusicologist and long-time cultural activist. Along with performances at festivals and events, she co-produces "New York International" — NY’s longest-running weekly live-format World Music radio show — on Haitian community station Radio Soleil [http://www.radiosoleil.com/].

More information: [http://www.facebook.com/DJNeva]
Radio show archive: [http://www.djneva.podOmatic.com/]

Judith Z. Miller (Sticks & Stones) is a self-trained healing ritual artist who lives in an erotic, musical, spiritual universe. Inspired by the beauty of nature and the guiding force of her intuition, she draws and creates primal sculpture and wearable art from trees, stones and found objects, which she fashions into ritual staffs, instruments, wearable amulets, and employs in healing rituals.

To learn more about Judith Z. Miller, go to:

[http://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/blog/2009/10/16/featured-member-judith-z-miller]

[http://www.zamo-zamo.com/]

Event Hashtag: #911COL

For more information and to RSVP search Facebook “Celebration of Life! “Be-In” - or go to:

[http://www.brooklynartscouncil.org/forum/1719]

Email: CelebrationOfLifeNYC@gmail.com

We invite you to create and document a submission for "Return, Remember" sponsored by the Brooklyn Arts Council at Celebration of Life!

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION - BROOKLYN ARTS COUNCIL

Return, Remember

Ephemeral Memorials in the Legacy of September 11th Deadline: September 30, 2011

For more information:

[http://www.brooklynartscouncil.org/documents/1716]

For information and inspiration, view this beautiful memorial on CityLore's website:

[http://www.citylore.org/911_exhibit/911_home.html]

EMBEDDED VLOGGER @ TEC ART ECO, Lugano, Switzerland

Posted by Marlon Barrios Solano on May 4, 2011 at 4:00pm

YouTube Playlist TEC ART ECO

DancetchTVMOBILE

Video chat rooms at Ustream

So You Like To Dance? Could You Without Any Music?

Posted by Roman-Gabriel on March 1, 2011 at 9:00pm

Seriously, when there is no music all I hear is the scuffing and dragging of feet and for the youth-fully challenged, some joints popping. Unless I watch a video of you dancing and the music has been either disabled by youtube or there is simply no sound available.

I challenged you dancers to show me a dance sequence without any music. Why? Well, what else can a DJ blog about on a 'dance' blog?

What if you could have music made specifically to your talent, speed or routine? How about a sound-alike music track? Matched precisely to your desire.

I use to customize a dozen songs for aerobic instructors. Just a thought.

Thank You,

Roman-Gabriel

KEEP ON MOVING! 4 suggestions on how to keep the dance moving by the use of web 2.0!

Posted by Christopher Engdahl on August 23, 2010 at 7:05pm

This is how you keep the movement moving:

Embark on a Movement Adventure! Here you create work through other dance artists' work! CLICK HERE

Ask your friends at Facebook or followers on Twitter to provide you with movements and ideas to your next work. See example HERE

Bring your Iphone out in the street, play the radio, and dance! VIDEO-EXAMPLE of Mobile Disco

Share your dance blog to DANCEBLOGGERS! Here you share your dance blog with hundred others!

Circus and street arts: Encouraging European cooperation projects

Posted by karla kracht on June 15, 2010 at 5:47pm

This publication presents operations taking place in 2010 within the EU or in relation to outside countries. The goal is to help these sectors identify current networks and projects, to promote the opportunities available to (future) professional of the circus and street arts and to emphasize different community-related grants. The diversity of the projects supported proves the vitality of our sectors and its needs, while also accentuating their commitment in contributing to the objectives set by the European Union.

website circostrada

Download the French version

Download the English version
Download the Spanish version

Art.On.Wires Festival Oslo 2010 - day 2

Posted by Johanna Roggan on May 11, 2010 at 8:30pm

May 11th

As a festival like this, or maybe every festival, it is always a contact-making-connections-pool.

A possibility to get to know other fields of art/artists which could or do collaborate in order to create new art (pieces).
Along those lines the day yesterday ended in an open space introducing the people who give the workshops.
Everyone who was interested in talking a little about their work, their art-approach, projects etc. got a microphone in his/her hand and could give a glimpse into their life to the audience.

Today we(*) started our workshop for interactive environments. Talking about recent projects and showing some video material to expose the listener to some ways of making use of the system/environment.
I was talking about the need of finding a common working-language. Just by trying to understand the other participating project-developer. Which means, everyone creating a performance (for instance) should move a little in the interactive space, should look over the shoulder of the musician, try to comprehend the graphic program or install the camera system. Within this crossing the boarders you bring everyone to a point of equality. There you have a chance of a communication which eventually will lead to an artistic output with hopefully some semantic comprehensible line for the audience.

Across the hall where the festival happens, Alexander Carot ( http://www.carot.de/ ) is giving his workshop on a software he developed to enable musicians to rehears and perform together without meeting in real person. Having the problem of delivering the sound with a delay he invented his software “Soundjack” ( http://www.soundjack.eu ).

Another interesting workshop deals with kids toys. Through soldering components together they create the weirdest sounds. After everything is put together, you just press buttons and the sounds come out of a toy. Very funny one.
( http://www.daal.at/ )

After a very intriguing key note by Mark Coniglio about his work, he is giving a workshop on the software Isabora, which he invented himself.

In his lecture he was talking about some art pieces which work with the matter of fact that we are the number one in our life.

I am - is the most used expression in Skype chat.

When we use interactive environments we are fascinated by the music I can create because I move (or graphics etc).

Mark introduced us to one of his recent works "loopdiver". Loopdiver was created with the Isadora software.

They basically filmed a dance phrase from 6 different ankles and then cut them apart and together in all possible orders. In addition they put loops on top with different durations and so on.

At the end, the dancer had to learn what they created with the software.

( http://www.troikaranch.org/vid-loopDiver.html )

In one corner you could see a huge table with stooped people around again soldering something together. The goal was to built a small LED Gadget/Screen with a USB connection which can be fed with any information you want. Some of the components just need to get a software, which has yet to be written.

( http://www.daal.at/ )

Before dinner time I was sitting together with some people and Frode Volden (docent for cognitive psychology and human interface design at Gjøvik university) for a so called focus talk.

The question to discuss was on perception of quality. What does it mean to us. How do we use it in a artist approach.

This focus talk is used as a platform to develop a new vocabulary in the field of audio-visual cognition in order to find a way to measure quality. To install parameters and make technology/interfaces more effective, better designed for an intuitive use, to simply define it with its own words/vocabulary.

A few statements shall be listed here

- in the moment there is human energy invested it has a high level of quality

- everything containing passion has high quality

- that would be nice

- it is a matter of (expert) knowledge if you receive something as high or low or no quality

- it's a matter of content

- don't mix high and low quality components

- but "south park" does it

- does technology helps to raise the level of quality?

- depends on the use of it

- restrictions within the use of technologies can be useful

and so on.

Frode Volden was mostly listening, making some notes and asking some questions.

Even that we all came from a very different background (musician, dancer, wearable LED artist, VJ, programmer) we were able to talk on an equal level. We made similar experiences and so had a platform of communication in a high quality ;-)

After dinner there will be a concert with Alexander Carot.

http://www.carot.de/

(*)
We is:
Marko Ritter - VVVV programmer - http://blog.intolight.de
Valérie-Françoise Vogt - graphic design - http://veevee.de
Jacob Korn - musician (Abelton, Max 4life) - http://www.jacobkorn.de/
Johanna Roggan - dancer, choreographer - www.moveonit.net

CALL FOR ENTRIES RESIDENCIES

Posted by Varga Gabor on May 29, 2010 at 11:27am

CALL FOR ENTRIES RESIDENCIES 1/2011 FROM JANUARY TO JUNE 2011

From January to June 2011 PACT Zollverein is offering a residency programme for the development and realisation of projects and productions, which is open to professional artists from both Germany and abroad working in the fields of dance, performance, media art or music. Residencies are planned individually and include a working space and local accommodation as well as financial support in the form of a weekly grant allowance and travel costs. By arrangement and subject to requirement, PACT Zollverein also offers its residents technical support and advisory assistance with press and public relations and dramaturgy.

A residency CAN incorporate the following:

> Studio space (from 63 to 173 sq.m.)

> Local accommodation (maximum 6 people)

> Weekly grant allowance for all of the residency project participants (maximum group of 6 people)

> Travel costs covering one journey only per participant to and from PACT Zollverein (subject to prior agreement)

> Technical equipment (by arrangement and subject to availability)

> Stage rehearsals with professional technical supervision and support (by arrangement and subject to availability)

> Daily professional open class

> Professional advice in: Project funding, project management, press and public relations

Your applications should include:

> the completed application form (to be found at: www.pact-zollverein.de --> Working fields --> Residencies)

> a short letter of motivation

> a project description

> a 10 line summary of your project description

> curriculum vitae for everyone involved in the project

> only 1 DVD / CD-RoM of your own work

Closing date for applications: June 30th 2010 (post-marked) Please do not send the material by registered post or by email !

All complete applications received by this date will be considered and replied to in writing. Residents are selected by a panel. Please note that we can unfortunately not return your application material to you.

Please send the Application to us by post:

PACT Zollverein Residencies 1 / 2011 Katharina Charpey Bullmannaue 20 a D-45327 Essen

For further information contact:

Katharina Charpey Fon: +49 (0)201.2894712 Fax: +49 (0)201.2894701 katharina.charpey @ pact-zollverein.de www.pact-zollverein.de

PACT Zollverein / Choreographisches Zentrum NRW and its residency programme are supported by the Minister President of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the City of Essen. Tanzlandschaft Ruhr is supported by the Kultur Ruhr GmbH.

Art.On.Wires Festival Oslo 2010 - daily report - day 1

Posted by Johanna Roggan on May 10, 2010 at 5:00pm

May 10th
A new laboratory-like festival has been born. In Oslo, Norway. Out of nothing Dr. Alexander Eichhorn ( http://www.dance-tech.net/profile/echa ) organized a whole festival by himself. Inviting artists (dancers/choreographers, musicians, code-poets, interior designer, visual designer), programmer, nerds as well as students from the university Oslo to lead workshops in the wide field of media art.

Introduction to OpenFrameworks, Motion Capture Systems and Techniques, BoBo – Gadgetto, Isadora – Advanced Features Quick Boot, Using Interactive Environments for Performance (dance, visuals, music), Telematic Interaction – How physical and technical restrictions determine artistic consequences, Systematic Understanding of Music.

http://art-on-wires.org/workshops

After a nice long ride from Dresden, Germany to Oslo, we(*) arrived with a lot of equipment for the workshop we're going to give. Using Interactive Environments for Performance (dance, visuals, music).
A warm atmosphere and friendly people were welcoming us.
On Sunday and today we set up the festival venue at the Kanonenhallen and due to the fact that there are not so many people from the "outside" (people who would just come to take a workshop) have signed in and all the workshop-leaders are wanting to go to the other workshops as well, we decided not to have the workshops overlapping, but giving space that everyone could participate in every workshop and/or to tinker on or with something...

This is how we started today. With some setting up, a nice lunch and a short introduction speech from Dr. Eichhorn.
Now people listen to the OpenFramework lecture and already implementing codes.
Mark Coniglio ( http://www.dance-tech.net/profile/TroikaRanch ) gives kind of a private workshop for two people on the software Isadora, which he invented.

Everything is quite informal and relaxed - a good start for a young festival.

http://art-on-wires.org/

(*)

We is:

Marko Ritter - VVVV programmer - http://blog.intolight.de

Valérie-Françoise Vogt - graphic design - http://veevee.de

Jacob Korn - musician (Abelton, Max 4life) - http://www.jacobkorn.de/

Johanna Roggan - dancer, choreographer - www.moveonit.net

About me, Johanna Roggan:

I'm a dancer, dance creator, teacher. Currently residing in Dresden, Germany. Working together with the non-profit organization Trans-Media-Academy (TMA) Hellerau ( http://t-m-a.de/ ).

I'm going to give a workshop here in Oslo for interactive environments. Questioning the need of interactivity in performances, how long is it supportive and when does it turn into a show effect.

About communication between the performance-developer (the dancer, the programmer, the designer) - how to find a common working language.

Art.On.Wires Festival Oslo 2010 - day 4

Posted by Johanna Roggan on May 15, 2010 at 8:30pm

May 13th

After an AMAZING evening with 3 professors playing music for us, a handsome live act by Jacob Korn, amongst others, and a very cosy atmosphere, the next day started relatively relaxed and a bit late. For me at least.
Jacob Korn gave his Abelton live/MAX MSP workshop.

Here and there was still some working, talking, tinkering around going on.

Within the festival there was a small scholarship given for two projects.

Veronika Mayerböck, Jordi Puig & Wendy Ann Mansilla presented us their work-in-progress results from the last 4 days of researching. Veronika was hunting for a way to let music response to light changes.

Jordi Puig and Wendy Ann Mansilla were working on light changes in 3D environments.

But in general we had to dismantle everything.
We (the Dresden crew) left around 5pm.

It's not the easiest to make a synopsis on the last 4 days.
We all had a very good time. We met new people, were listening to interesting keynotes and workshops, we had good food and good music all the time. We learned new things or immersed deeper into topics, software or conversations.
We were part of a great birth of new and promising festival for media art on wires.
For the next year we all just hope for more audience. This festival needs to be seen!

People missed out something very special.

A BIG thank you to Alexander Eichhorn and all the hands and good souls behind the scene! Great work, well done!

Thanks for reading,
Johanna

Art.On.Wires Festival Oslo 2010 - day 3

Posted by Johanna Roggan on May 12, 2010 at 7:30pm

May 12th
First some pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/art-on-wires/

This day we started the interactive environment workshop with introducing the software VVVV (V4). Two rows of laptops (which have to run windows for using V4) were set in front of a screen to show each single step on it. Valerie Vogt and Marko Ritter were conducting the workshop and walking around to help out with any problem the participants might have.
It was an short and very basic introduction of how to use it and what is possible beside making 3D generated graphics.

One of the most beautiful things here at the festival is the feeling of equality with every person. Two luminaries of the media art section were holding a keynote and afterwards they just hang out, talk to who ever is having a question. There is no privileging going on. Just Sharing knowledge, interest and going for ones curiosities.
Lars Graugaard, Anders Friberg both from the Stockholm university, Alexander Refus Jensenius (Olso university) and Aki Asgeirsson from Iceland hold a keynote on „systematic understanding of music“ by presenting several projects.
Music and emotion and creating new instruments were the trigger point of their lecture.
Coming from the fact that there is a level of emotional content inside every musical piece, they disassemble the vocabulary in order to categorize it into parameters like sad, happy, angry, tenderness/love etc.
Knowing that an expert listener is able to distinguish different moods easily but not an untrained ear, every research issue comes across psychology.
Emotion perception – listeners' perception of emotional expression.
Lars Grauggard and Anders Friberg presented then a software based on MAX/MSP which works with these parameters to analyze music and/or create new music pieces.
http://www.graugaard-music.dk/
Alexander Refus Jensenius gave us a brief glimpse on his, still in germinal, SUM sensor device. A gadget like tool to measure emotions. Using the information of blood preasure (via infrared), skin conduction and movement, the small sensor device in your hand gives a lot of parameters to scale your sensitivities.
It is still under construction but could be used in performances to navigate other out/input for instance.
http://art-on-wires.org/workshops/sum
Aki Asgeirsson presented us some of his new instruments he invented. One is an impossible one but still quite impressive. He would use the tunnels of Iceland. Tunnels such as for cars, wires, water. On one side he would place a violin snail on the other end a horn looking like amplifier. For every tunnel the same set up. The audience would be sitting in the center of Icland and receive all tones from all tunnels. BUT – the tunnels have to be empty. So that is the impossible part of it.
http://slatur.is/aki/about.html

After a short break Atau Tanaka was holding his keynot about various projects he has done.
He was working on using networks as a performance space, network music and many different music-related projects and research fields.
I really recommend to read his papers or watch the recorded lecture (online soon on www.art-on-wires.org)
http://www.ataut.net/site/spip.php?page=plan
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/culturelab/people/profile/atau.tanaka

Before lunch time Alexander Eichhorn announced the open laboratory space – so who ever is interested in collaborating with one, two, three of the others at this festival, should go for it and maybe we have something to show at the end.
It is meant to be an option of crossing boarders, of overcoming the idea of this or that could never funktion together but just trying it out and having fun within it and maybe have some outcome.

There is some not so well recognized stuff going on as well. Beside two always very tasty meals (lunch and dinner (German chefs)), the crew FEM ( www.fem.tu-ilmenau.de ) is, beside managing all sound and light happenings, recording and live-streaming the whole festival all the time. All lectures, keynotes, workshops are streamed and most of them will be online soon – if you missed something.

The evening concert series is about to start. All the musicians, producers and Vj's in the hall are going to have some great fun together.
At first all is a live act and then the Dj's will finish us up..
Pierre Proske (music), Arturo Castro (visuals), Jacob Korn (music), Marko Ritter (visuals), Lars Graugraad (music), Aki Asgeirsson (music), Atau Tanaka (music) and then the two Dj's Rainer Wachtelborn and Dj Subway.
www.jacobkorn.de
www.residentadvisor.net/dj/rainerwachtelborn
www.myspace.com/_subway
www.digitalstar.net/about/

http://arturocastro.net/index.html

Digital Culture Festival (map + parking)

The festival activities include:

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