For immediate release:
PRESS RELEASE FOR THE 6TH WERKLEITZ BIENNALE (No. 5, 31.08.2004)
********************************************************************
1) Opening on 1 September 2004, 6 p.m.
2) On the theme of Common Property / Allgemeingut
3) Programme Highlights
4) Press Conference on 1 September 2004, 11 a.m.
********************************************************************
1) Opening on 1 September 2004, 6 p.m.
_________________________________________
The 6th Werkleitz Biennale Common Property / Allgemeingut opens on 1 September at 6 p.m. With more than 170 participants from 30 countries the biennial is the biggest media art festival in the area of the former East Germany.
Apart from the exhibition with over 40 works, visitors can look forward to a comprehensive film and video programme as well as numerous workshops, lectures and panels around the issue of common property.
2) On the theme of Common Property / Allgemeingut
_________________________________________________
The festival is centred around the claim that art, culture and information should be considered common property and should be treated accordingly.
Digitalisation and networking have enabled the free exchange of ideas, concepts and technologies. The utopia of a 'Network of Commons' is now within reach - but whether or not it will become a reality will depend on decisions made regarding intellectual property.
The 6th Werkleitz Biennale festival and the preceding 'Halle School of Common Property', will offer a general overview of existing initiatives and art projects concerned with this theme.
3) Programme Highlights
___________________________
Exhibition
—————-
Sharmila Samant's (IN) mobile boutique is one of the works in the exhibition - she is mimicking the common practice of labelling mass-produced textiles as designer products, intending to question the market-economy system of monopoly and copyright. By marking pieces of clothing she has selected as artworks and selling them in exhibitions, she turns the system upside down.
Musician and composer Christian von Borries (DE) has produced an interactive audio play especially for the festival that explores issues of authorship rights and Creative Commons. During the course of the biennial, visitors' comments will be added to the play.
Thomas Saraceno's (AR) flying garden consists of helium-filled balloons inhabited by a number of resilient airplants which possess the ability to exist without any roots and can therefore grow in places where no other plants can survive. For Saraceno they symbolise the possibilities for plants, humans and animals to migrate beyond geo-political boundaries.
Film
———
As part of the workshop series 'Halle School of Common Property', US American found-footage filmmaker Craig Baldwin has been hosting a seminar on Culture Jamming and Found Footage Film Editing. At the biennial he will also be presenting 'Sonic Outlaws', his by now classic film which makes the case for the abolition of copyright.
The documentary‚ 'The Yes Men' shows actions by the political activist group of the same name, who have managed to gain access to meetings of the WTO and others under false pretences and use creative means to subvert these events.
The 'Night of Crime' takes a closer look at diverse strategies of dissent, i.e. activities that question existing copyright law and position themselves against the commercialisation and privatisation of the media and public space.
Discussions
——————-
Media theorist Volker Grassmuck will be discussing the consequences of the current copyright legislation with Elmar Huckow, Ministerial Director at the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Andreas Broeckmann will be joined by Pit Schultz, Rachel Baker and others in a debate about the impact of new media on the public sphere as a space for communication.
Architecture historian Simone Hein will be talking to Annegret Hahn (Thalia Theatre, Halle) about the different traditions of cultural identity in East and West Germany.
Music and Performances
————————
The programme includes Torsten Lauschmann's (UK) performance 'Filter'. Berlin's 'friends of pong' trace the history of music collectives such as MC5 and Amon Duul in an audio-visual presentation.
Bastard-Pop DJs Shapemod (Terranova) and Shir Khan from Berlin will be unashamedly mixing their way through all musical genres - on their bootlegs punk meets freestyle and Madonna is crossed with Harry Belafonte.
Also present are: god is a dj & tadpole, teer4.com, zapotek, Marlow and Karoline Korbel (moon harbour), DJ Slender Whiteman (UK), dj LN.
For the complete list of participants and other additional information on all artists please visit our website at http://www.werkleitz.de/common_property.
4) Press Conference on 1 September 2004, 11 a.m.
_______________________________________________________
The opening press conference will take place on 1 September at 11 a.m. at Volkspark.
It will be followed by a tour of the exhibition with biennial director Angelika Richter and curators Anja Casser, Martin Conrads, Ariane Muller, Karin Rebbert, Peter Spillmann, Florian Wust and Peter Zorn, all of who will also be available for interviews or to answer any questions after the tour.
Press Contact
Luc-Carolin Ziemann
phone: +49 345 68 24 617
mobile: +49 173 39 25 231
biennale04@werkleitz.de
The 6th Werkleitz Biennale is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Stiftung Kulturfonds, Lotto-Toto GmbH of Saxony-Anhalt, the City of Halle (Saale), Mitteldeutsche Medienforderung, GmbH, Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, via medien GmbH, Mondriaan Stichting, Stadtwerke Halle GmbH, and the British Council, Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau and the Spanish Embassy.
6th Werkleitz Biennale Common Property / Allgemeingut
1 - 5 September 2004
http://www.werkleitz.de/common_property
For immediate release:
PRESS RELEASE FOR THE 6TH WERKLEITZ BIENNALE (No. 5, 31.08.2004)
********************************************************************
1) Opening on 1 September 2004, 6 p.m.
2) On the theme of Common Property / Allgemeingut
3) Programme Highlights
4) Press Conference on 1 September 2004, 11 a.m.
********************************************************************
1) Opening on 1 September 2004, 6 p.m.
_________________________________________
The 6th Werkleitz Biennale Common Property / Allgemeingut opens on 1 September at 6 p.m. With more than 170 participants from 30 countries the biennial is the biggest media art festival in the area of the former East Germany.
Apart from the exhibition with over 40 works, visitors can look forward to a comprehensive film and video programme as well as numerous workshops, lectures and panels around the issue of common property.
2) On the theme of Common Property / Allgemeingut
_________________________________________________
The festival is centred around the claim that art, culture and information should be considered common property and should be treated accordingly.
Digitalisation and networking have enabled the free exchange of ideas, concepts and technologies. The utopia of a 'Network of Commons' is now within reach - but whether or not it will become a reality will depend on decisions made regarding intellectual property.
The 6th Werkleitz Biennale festival and the preceding 'Halle School of Common Property', will offer a general overview of existing initiatives and art projects concerned with this theme.
3) Programme Highlights
___________________________
Exhibition
—————-
Sharmila Samant's (IN) mobile boutique is one of the works in the exhibition - she is mimicking the common practice of labelling mass-produced textiles as designer products, intending to question the market-economy system of monopoly and copyright. By marking pieces of clothing she has selected as artworks and selling them in exhibitions, she turns the system upside down.
Musician and composer Christian von Borries (DE) has produced an interactive audio play especially for the festival that explores issues of authorship rights and Creative Commons. During the course of the biennial, visitors' comments will be added to the play.
Thomas Saraceno's (AR) flying garden consists of helium-filled balloons inhabited by a number of resilient airplants which possess the ability to exist without any roots and can therefore grow in places where no other plants can survive. For Saraceno they symbolise the possibilities for plants, humans and animals to migrate beyond geo-political boundaries.
Film
———
As part of the workshop series 'Halle School of Common Property', US American found-footage filmmaker Craig Baldwin has been hosting a seminar on Culture Jamming and Found Footage Film Editing. At the biennial he will also be presenting 'Sonic Outlaws', his by now classic film which makes the case for the abolition of copyright.
The documentary‚ 'The Yes Men' shows actions by the political activist group of the same name, who have managed to gain access to meetings of the WTO and others under false pretences and use creative means to subvert these events.
The 'Night of Crime' takes a closer look at diverse strategies of dissent, i.e. activities that question existing copyright law and position themselves against the commercialisation and privatisation of the media and public space.
Discussions
——————-
Media theorist Volker Grassmuck will be discussing the consequences of the current copyright legislation with Elmar Huckow, Ministerial Director at the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Andreas Broeckmann will be joined by Pit Schultz, Rachel Baker and others in a debate about the impact of new media on the public sphere as a space for communication.
Architecture historian Simone Hein will be talking to Annegret Hahn (Thalia Theatre, Halle) about the different traditions of cultural identity in East and West Germany.
Music and Performances
————————
The programme includes Torsten Lauschmann's (UK) performance 'Filter'. Berlin's 'friends of pong' trace the history of music collectives such as MC5 and Amon Duul in an audio-visual presentation.
Bastard-Pop DJs Shapemod (Terranova) and Shir Khan from Berlin will be unashamedly mixing their way through all musical genres - on their bootlegs punk meets freestyle and Madonna is crossed with Harry Belafonte.
Also present are: god is a dj & tadpole, teer4.com, zapotek, Marlow and Karoline Korbel (moon harbour), DJ Slender Whiteman (UK), dj LN.
For the complete list of participants and other additional information on all artists please visit our website at http://www.werkleitz.de/common_property.
4) Press Conference on 1 September 2004, 11 a.m.
_______________________________________________________
The opening press conference will take place on 1 September at 11 a.m. at Volkspark.
It will be followed by a tour of the exhibition with biennial director Angelika Richter and curators Anja Casser, Martin Conrads, Ariane Muller, Karin Rebbert, Peter Spillmann, Florian Wust and Peter Zorn, all of who will also be available for interviews or to answer any questions after the tour.
Press Contact
Luc-Carolin Ziemann
phone: +49 345 68 24 617
mobile: +49 173 39 25 231
biennale04@werkleitz.de
The 6th Werkleitz Biennale is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Stiftung Kulturfonds, Lotto-Toto GmbH of Saxony-Anhalt, the City of Halle (Saale), Mitteldeutsche Medienforderung, GmbH, Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, via medien GmbH, Mondriaan Stichting, Stadtwerke Halle GmbH, and the British Council, Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau and the Spanish Embassy.
6th Werkleitz Biennale Common Property / Allgemeingut
1 - 5 September 2004
http://www.werkleitz.de/common_property