new media festival/conference
[ART + COMMUNICATION]
22-23 November, 1996. Riga
+
OPENING OF THE ELECTRONIC ART AND MEDIA CENTER "e-l@b"

Preliminary festival program:

FRIDAY, 22 November

Day program

CONFERENCE /1 DAY/
Location: Latvian Academy of Arts
Conference organized by Rasa Smite (Riga, "e-L@b")

12.00 - 15.00
INFORMATION SOCIETY => COMMUNICATION and DEVELOPMENT

INFORMATION => FIXED REALITY
the space we are living in is endless flow of information crossing our
consciousness it becomes an fixed reality which information is preferred
to be fixed in our society and from what/whom depends the development of
the information-society

COMMUNICATION => INTERACTION
we are connected: with our past and future = that is our present open
mind /feel and love/: eternal creativity, possibility for self- &
environment- awareness
do we need old experience /endless comparing future=past=present/ to
create new space for new community

CYBER-SPACE = NEW MEDIA
to
develop individuality - creativity - new level of communication
or
new space to restructure the old system: new media => new market place

PRESENTATIONS:
*Eric Kluitenberg (Groningen (The Netherlands); SCAN)
"The Rear-View Mirror of Ubiquity - An Assessment at the Dawn of the
Information Age"
*Ando Keskyla (Tallin, e-media center) "Cyber City Tallin"
*Diana McCarty (Budapest)
*Kaspars Vanags (Riga) "The influence of sub-, pop-, techno-, rave-
cultures in art"
*Pit Schultz (Berlin)

15.30 - 19.00
ART => SYSTEM … ART => CREATIVITY

NET ART. MEDIA ART. ART
art = self-expression => /creative/ process
or
art = professional occupation => /end-of-process/ commodity

PRESENTATIONS:
*Heath Bunting (London)
*Inga Steimane (Riga) "Media art situation in Latvia"
*Olia Lialina (Moskow) "Netfilm"
*Rachel Baker (London) & Alexei Shulgin (Moskow, WWW art center)
presentation/Interview

DISCUSSION: Definition of Art
Is there space in new media for developing art->creative process?

12.00 - 19.00
Archive show: video and CD-ROM show in the Art Academy hall.
Hi-tech art, performances, video art, independent film festival and
media art festival documentation, media art exhibitions and events in
Latvia, East, West Europe, etc.,

Night program

pl. 19.00
OFFICIAL OPENING OF ELECTRONIC AND ARTS CENTER "e-l@b"
11.Novembra Krastmala 35, # 94.

# Presentation/screening of the on-line Internet project "Refresh" #3
Alexei Shulgin (Moskow), Vuk Coshich (Ljubljana), Andreas Broeckmann
(Rotterdam), Amsterdam, Berlin, Skopje, etc.
+ Riga (page consists from one loop - pages made by Janis Garancs, Rasa
Smite, Raitis Smits, Gints Gabrans, Arvids Alksnis, Toms Vitins)

SATURDAY, 23 November

CONFERENCE /2 DAY/
Location: Performance and art club "Secret Experiment"

14.00 - 17.00
"ART & TECHNOLOGY"
Interactive & high-tech art, body-machine, etc. artist's attempts to work
with progressive technologies:
step closer to self-discovering?
high-technologies - new artistic tool?
how accessible can be progressive technologies

PRESENTATIONS:
*Inga Steimane (Riga) "Videofinal" /Secret Experiment/
*Eric Kluitenberg (Groningen) "The Dream of Immateriality and the Data
Body"
*Artis Dzerve (Riga)
Video-show: "Stelarc's performance", interactive art (Monika
Fleischmann & Wolfgang Strauss)
*Janis Garancs (Riga)
*Raitis Smits (Riga)

DISCUSSION: Individual in Techno-Age
Does progressive technologies & information help people to self-express,
self-understand and self-develop themselves better?

18.00
AMBIENT MUSIC CONCERT
Location: performance and arts nightclub "Secret Experiment"
(Ugis Vitins, Toms Vitins and others)

#Festival/conference is organized by E-L@B: Rasa Smite (conference),
Raitis Smits & Janis Garancs (homepage, Refresh) Alise Tifentale
(press), Inguna Audere (manager)
#Festival/conference is supported by:
Latvian Ministry of Culture, Soros Contemporary Art Center Riga, British
Council in Riga, Goethe Institut - Riga, Latvian Academy of Arts,
Internet service "PARKS", Latvian Artists Union, Visual Presentation
Facilities, club Secret Experiment

PARALLEL MEDIA ART EVENTS IN RIGA:

22 - 24 November. 12.00 - 14.00
French - Baltic videoart festival in Riga
Cinema "Andaluzijas suns"

23 November. 20.00
opening of Electronic Caf