THE SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO TO HOST ISEA97, THE EIGHTH
INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ELECTRONIC ART

Calls for Proposals Now Posted

From September 22 through 27, Chicago is welcoming the electronic art
world's most exciting thinkers as the host of ISEA97, the Eighth
International Symposium on Electronic Art. The week-long conference is
organized by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in conjunction
with the Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts. Launching the
conference are two days of workshops addressing hands-on technological
issues, novel approaches to teaching in this field and other topics
related to electronic art, defined as all art using electronic
technology as an essential prerequisite for its production. The
subsequent three-day academic sessions feature keynote and plenary
speakers, academic paper sessions, topical small-group discussions, and
exhibitions and events presented by today's foremost electronic arts
scholars and artists. Many of Chicago's leading cultural institutions
are planning to work in conjunction with ISEA97 by hosting special
events throughout the week, such as concerts, performances, and art
exhibitions and installations.

The ISEA97 web site: http://www.artic.edu/~isea97 contains the most
current and complete information on this important international event.
Calls for papers and exhibitions, a short schedule, and discussion
groups to develop topics for small-group panel sessions to be held
during the conference can also be found on the website. The site allows
easy registration for ISEA97 with substantial discounts in fees for
students and for those registering early. For those without web access,
email or contact the above number with your name, address, phone and
fax.

"CONTENT," the theme of ISEA97, is being approached from many points of
view. In the decades since McLuhan's observations on media, a profound
change has taken place in the arts. As computer technology has become
increasingly widespread and affordable, many artists are asking "Now
what?" For years, the challenges for electronic artists have often been
the overcoming of technological barriers and the pioneering of new
media. Today, we find ourselves wrestling with the more perplexing
questions of meaning, content, and social context. Is the medium still
the message? How are computers shaping the languages of expression for
our age? What can we say now that we could not say before? Do these
new media change our vision of ourselves and the world? How is physical
experience, even architecture, being redefined by the virtual? Does
advancing technological obsolescence preclude historical continuity?

Past ISEA conferences include 1996, Rotterdam; '95, Montreal; '94,
Helsinki; '93, Minneapolis; '92, Sydney; '90, Groningen; and 1988,
Utrecht, Holland. The series of symposia was initiated in 1988 by the
Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts in order to support the founding
and maintenance of an international network of organizations and
individuals in the field of electronic arts ("arts" is meant to include
all disciplines, not excluding music, dance, theater, etc.). The
conference serves as a meeting ground for interdisciplinary involvement
among scientists, theorists, academicians and artists facing the
problems and potentials of electronic art.