March 1, 2005
Turbulence Commission: "IN Network" by Michael Mandiberg and Julia Steinmetz
http://turbulence.org/works/innetwork
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"IN Network" is an extended cell phone life-art performance about
distance, communication, intimacy, telepresence, and living together
while apart. Faced with the prospect of a long-distance relationship
when Michael moved from Los Angeles to New York in August 2004, the two
artists got their frequent flyer numbers handy, and switched both of
their cell phones to a provider with free "IN Network" service.

Michael and Julia started out having regular conversations and sending
cameraphone pictures back and forth. However, when they switched to
using hands-free microphones they began using their phones differently;
they started doing things together at the same time, 3000 miles apart,
via cellular connection–driving to/from work, eating dinner, giving
lectures to students, going for walks, having cocktails, reading books
in silence, falling asleep and waking up.

During the month of March the artists will present this cell-phone
life-art performance via a photo moblog and podcasts of their phone
conversations. There will also be several live audio webcasts of the
artists sleeping together on their cellphones. All of their text and
picture messages will be routed through the "IN Network" website. If
you'd prefer, you can have installments of the performance sent directly
to you via the Podcast.

"IN Network" is a 2005 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, (aka
Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It was made possible with
funding from the Jerome Foundation.

BIOGRAPHIES

MICHAEL MANDIBERG is a new media artist who uses the internet, video and
performance to explore subjectivity, labor, and commerce. His projects
include "Bush Poll," a statistical survey of the 170 George Bushes in
the United States, 2004; and "The Exchange Program," a collaborative
performance, 2002. Mandiberg has exhibited at Ars Electronica Center,
Linz, Austria; ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany; Transmediale Festival, Berlin;
and C-Level, Los Angeles. His work has been reviewed in The New York
Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Berliner Zeitung, and Wired. Mandiberg
is Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Culture, at the
College of Staten Island/CUNY.

JULIA STEINMETZ is a founding member and co-director of the Toxic
Titties, a Los Angeles based collective working in performance, video,
photography, and new media. Their work has been performed at the Museum
On Contemporary Art, Seattle; REDCAT at the Walt Disney Concert Hall;
Out Fest Film Festival Los Angeles, LA; "Intersectional Feminisms"
conference at UC Riverside, CA; and Edith Russ Site for New Media,
Oldenberg, Germany. Titties have been reviewed in the Los Angeles Times,
Mexico City's La Reforma, and Black Book Magazine. Their performance
documents and design work have appeared in "Gendered Geographies," and
"SITE, Schinitt Austellungsraum."

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