Just back from Linz, Austria where RHIZOME participated in Ars
Electronica's Open X Forum. The festival featured installations at the Ars
Electronica Center, an Infowar Symposium, a radio program "Xchange," a
Hacker gathering and Open X, an informal collection of various
people/collectives working in new media art and culture. RHIZOME took
advantage of the opportunity to see new projects and talk with other folks
working in the field.

3 memorable encounters from the week in Linz:

1. Mongrel (http://www.mongrel.org.uk/)

Mongrel's work is highly affecting, examining, sometimes brutally, the way
technology reflects social relations with regard to issues of race, access,
eugenics and class.

I recommend their software project Heritage Gold. Similar to Photoshop, but
with tools that modify race and class, Heritage Gold allows users to
construct images of race, class and discord that are generally absent from
new media art and communities.

2. Rtmark (http://rtmark.com)

Rtmark, a corporation for blacklisted cultural production that uses the
mutual fund model to channel capital to subversive activity (and recently
hired RHIZOME as fund managers), were in Open X and also gave a memorable
talk as part of the Infowar symposium.

After showing their video "Rtmark–bringing it to you" (available at the
thing http://www.thing.net/projects), Rtmark gave a power point
presentation that pointed out that while Ars Electronica had invited a
range of "likeable subversives," like the hackers installed in bunkers on
the lawn, or Mongrel, who were disallowed from ISEA just a few weeks ago,
this inclusion should not mute the criticisms raised by their projects.
Rtmark made explicit that their work is meant to question the structures
and administration of the festival, particularly its awarding of $10,000 to
the Titanic Special Effects team in face of the movie set's destrucive
impact on the Mexican village of Popolta.

Rtmark, and Mongrel too, were intent on locating problems not outside of
the lefty, arty Infowar extravaganza, but inside…

3. Vuk Cosic (http://www.vuk.org)

Cosic, of Ljudmila's Media Lab (and who is soon heading west to a residency
at Banff), previewed his ascii version of the porn classic "Deep Throat."
Much of Cosic's recent work connects ascii and sound, like his "History of
net.art for the Blind," which reads ascii images of famous art works out
loud ("A, $, B, B, _"). I'm looking forward to seeing the ascii-centric
software he and Luka Frelih have been developing…