Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) presents Under_score: Net Art, Sound,
and Essays from Australia, an online exhibition showcasing the works of
nine Australian artists for whom the internet has emerged as one of the
most significant arenas for artistic experimentation and multimedia
production. The exhibit is part of Next Wave Down Under, BAM's month-
long celebration of Australian arts and culture.

The works presented here represent a vast diversity of approaches,
technologies, applications, and aesthetics, but with few exceptions,
coalesce thematically around "the body", a persistent theme which at the
beginning of the new millennium is present more than ever in discussions
of art, the sciences, and the media. From Francesca da Rimini's diary-like
reflections and confrontational rants concerning erotic relations, power,
and sexual taboo in GashGirl, to the richly layered dream-like 3D spaces
and soundscapes in Melinda Rackham's empyrean, Australian artists are
helping to define new modes of electronic writing and reading, multimedia,
performance, image making, and sonic production. Other artists include
John Tonkin, Mez, Paul Brown, geniwate, Ian Haig, Jason Sweeney, Honor
Harger, Adam Hyde, zina kaye, Caleb K., Mr. Snow, and Gary Zebington.

In addition, Under_score provides related links to fourteen works by
Australian artists working in a variety of new media formats including
CD-ROM, installation, and performance. There are two innovative online
broadcasters, l'audible and r a d i o q u a l i a, delivering some of the
most compelling sound work in Australia and New Zealand, and select audio
pieces from The Listening Room, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's
award sound art program.

In order to expand the discussion of these works and their significance
BAM has commissioned three online essays by Allen Feldman, an American
cultural and political anthropologist, Australian new media theorist
Darren Tofts, and Australian writer and media critic McKenzie Wark.

Under_score: Net Art, Sound and Essays from Australia, now available at:
http://www.bam.org/under_score

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In conjunction with Next Wave Down Under, BAM commissioned Australian new
media company, Drome to recreate the CD-ROM Making Chunky Move for web
delivery. The web work explores how one of Australia's most exciting
contemporary dance companies created the dance work Corrupted 2, which
made its U.S. debut at BAM during this year's Next Wave Festival. The
documentary follows the company from the germ of an idea to the stage,
behind the scenes and beyond, including snapshot interviews with the key
players, dancers, creative collaborators, and other cultural professionals
as well as unique virtual 3-D segments, sound bites, and extensive video
footage.

Making Chunky Move, now available at:
http://www.bam.org/chunkymove

For more information, contact Wayne Ashley, BAM's Manager of New Media via
email at washley@bam.org