ART AND TECHNOLOGY: IN THE AGE OF INFORMATION

Liverpool, UK - 1-3 July 1998

Conference Announcement and Call for Contributions

1. Conference Idea

We live in a world that depends increasingly on electronic communication
technologies. The global diffusion of these technologies is creating
what has been called the virtual planet. The new technologies promise
to restructure every aspect of modern life, from science to art, from
education to entertainment, from business to politics. Fundamental
changes are already taking place in the way we experience and think
about the world. Among these changes are: Information and images take
the place of conventional knowledge; the reconstruction of the world in
terms of recombinable "bits" of information; the substitution of
transient parts and fragments for stable wholes; the emphasis on speed
and motion rather than static structures; the dissolving of traditional
divisions in social and cultural life, e.g., between art and technology.

Art has always reflected major changes in science and technology.
Photography is one example of a technology that can be said to have
redefined art. Photography introduced new ways of seeing and
form-making. Cinema revealed further possibilities of visual form. The
new electronic technologies - computers, video, virtual reality,
artificial intelligence, cybernetics, robotics, TV, etc., - dramatically
extend our capacity to create new worlds of form and in-formation. Art
can be seen as a running commentary and reflection on these
technological developments. No longer concerned with simple
representation, art draws attention to itself as a form-making activity
and so raises fundamental questions about the ways in which we construct
our world and about our role in the construction process. It's this
revealing of the world as a source of in-formation that brings art and
technology together.

2. Call for Contributions and Participation

This conference is aimed at a wide range of participants. In addition to
academic specialists in areas such as Art Theory and History,
Cultural/Media Studies, Sociology, Philosophy, Psychology, and
Literature, we would like to invite artists, technologists, art critics,
art teachers as well as interested members of the public to take part in
this conference. Indeed, one of our main aims is to create discussion
among these different groups about art and technology in the age of
information.

Contributions for this conference are therefore invited from all the
different groups mentioned above. The form of such contributions is
negotiable. While we invite the academic paper that will analyse the
art-technology-information relationship in conceptually imaginative and
provocative ways, we also invite contributions that will express and
explore the conference theme in visual forms e.g., demonstrations, small
exhibitions, performances, computer installations, etc. If you are not
sure about the appropriateness of your intended contribution, please
feel free to contact one of the organisers informally.

Questions about contributions to the conference should be
addressed to:

Toby Jackson
Tate Gallery Liverpool
Albert Dock
Liverpool L3 4BB
United Kingdom
Tel: ++44 (0)151 709 3233
Fax: ++44 (0)151 709 3122

Robert Cooper
Centre for Social Theory and Technology
Darwin Building, Keele University
Staffs ST5 5BG
United Kingdom
Tel: ++44 (0)1782 583421
Fax: ++44 (0)1782 584272
Email: mna13@keele.ac.uk

Further information and latest updates are available on the WWW pages of
the Centre for Social Theory and Technology at:
http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/stt/cstt2/tg/

The conference will take place at:
Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts
Mount Street
Liverpool L1 9HF
United Kingdom

from 4.00pm on Wednesday 1st July, to 5.30pm on Friday, 3rd July, 1998.

We require five copies of a one-page abstract of your contribution by
Saturday, 31st January, 1998. If you are unsure about the suitability of
your contribution, please contact one of the organisers well before this
date. Five copies of your abstract should be sent to:

Toby Jackson
Art & Technology Conference 1998
Tate Gallery Liverpool
Albert Dock
Liverpool L3 4BB
United Kingdom