January 17, 2005
Turbulence Commission: "getawayexperiment.net" by Nathaniel Stern and
Marcus Neustetter
http://turbulence.org/works/getawayexperiment/index.php

"getawayexperiment.net" proposes a dialogue between the virtual and
physical processes of sign and site design and perception. Stern and
Neustetter have transformed several information-based web pages into
collaboratively constructed communication sites; they commissioned local
sign-makers in Johannesburg, South Africa to "re-mix" five websites (Fox
News, Google Images, joburg.org.za, Solidarity and Turbulence) by
painting stylized versions of each image on their main pages. The
hand-painted signs were then scanned, prepared for the web, and uploaded.

Each of the five sites can be seen in three ways: 1) the original site
(on its original server); 2) the "getaway" site in edit mode; and 3) the
"getaway" site in non-edit mode. In edit mode, participants from
anywhere in the world can click on an image in any one of the "getaway"
pages and upload their own replacement images. In non-edit mode each
individual image is randomly pulled from the site's database, thereby
transforming the "getaways" into dynamic collages that signify something
completely new.

Concept, Artists/Designers: Nathaniel Stern, Marcus Neustetter;
Information Architecture: Templar Wales; Programming/Scripting:
BlinkNewMedia; Core Sign-Writers: Mduduzi Manyoni, Tebogo Phafudi,
Bongani Nkou, Kasa Thamae, and Nkosana.

"getawayexperiment.net" is a 2005 commission of New Radio and Performing
Arts, Inc. (aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It was made
possible with funding from The Greenwall Foundation.

BIOGRAPHIES

NATHANIEL STERN (NYC/Johannesburg) is an internationally exhibited
installation artist, net.artist and performance poet. His interactive
installations have won awards in New York, South Africa and Australia,
and his net.art has been featured in festivals all over Europe, Asia and
the US. Stern's collaborative physical theatre and multimedia
performance work has won three FNB Vita Awards - including Best
Presentation of a New Contemporary Work - and has been featured on the
main stage at the Grahamstown Festival (South Africa). His poetry
repertoire includes the US National Poetry Slam competition and the RSA
HIV/AIDS Arts, Media & Film Festival.

MARCUS NEUSTETTER has been developing projects that address the
relationship between art and technology. These take the form of mobile,
installation, and web artworks tackling the translation of data through
different online and offline platforms. In this process he has been
exploring the digital and analogue ways of representing virtual
experiences. Neustetter has exhibited and been actively involved in
developing opportunities and platforms for local digital art through
projects in South Africa and Europe. These include ARS Electronica
(Austria), Transmadiale.03 (Germany) and E-tester (Spain). As director
(with Stephen Hobbs) of The Trinity Session and sanman (southern african
new media art network) and The Gallery PREMISES, Neustetter is actively
involved in developing cultural strategies through a range of projects.
Currently he is a consultant for UNESCO DigiArts Africa.

For more information about Turbulence, please visit http://turbulence.org

–
Jo-Anne Green, Co-Director
New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.: http://new-radio.org
New York: 917.548.7780 . Boston: 617.522.3856
Turbulence: http://turbulence.org
New American Radio: http://somewhere.org
Networked_Performance Blog and Conference: http://turbulence.org/blog