RHIZOME DIGEST: 9.23.05

discussion

Posted Sept. 22 2005 20:00

RHIZOME DIGEST: 9.23.05

RHIZOME DIGEST: September 23, 2005 Content: +note+ 1. Lauren Cornell: Rhizome Community Campaign, please help spread the word +opportunity+ 2. Warren Sack: Job Posting: Assistant Professor in Critical Studies 3. Sheindal Cohen: Director, Culture Campus, Liverpool, UK 4. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR of SCULPTURE, STANFORD UNIVERSITY +announcement+ 5. nat muller: ISTANBUL RELOADED at De Melkweg 6. David Galbraith: David Galbraith sound installation at Diapason (NYC) 7. christa@eyebeam.org: Eyebeam Announces Amanda McDonald Crowley as Executive Director +comment+ 8. Kevin Hamilton: "Poor Duke - he can't shoot his way out of this one." + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Rhizome is now offering Organizational Subscriptions, group memberships that can be purchased at the institutional level. These subscriptions allow participants at institutions to access Rhizome's services without having to purchase individual memberships. For a discounted rate, students or faculty at universities or visitors to art centers can have access to Rhizome?s archives of art and text as well as guides and educational tools to make navigation of this content easy. Rhizome is also offering subsidized Organizational Subscriptions to qualifying institutions in poor or excluded communities. Please visit <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/info/org.php">http://rhizome.org/info/org.php</a> for more information or contact Lauren Cornell at LaurenCornell@Rhizome.org + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 1. From: Lauren Cornell <laurencornell@rhizome.org> Date: Sep 19, 2005 9:29 PM Subject: Rhizome Community Campaign, please help spread the word Hi RAW: Today, Rhizome is kicking off its membership drive, the Community Campaign, and I am hoping you can help us spread the word. Its been an exciting time for Rhizome over the past five months. Following the launch of our new membership policy in May, we launched several features, including the reBlog and also RSS feeds and a Location tool for Members. We also evaluated and energized our current programs, and started to spark new initiatives–such as spotlighting Member work–that should represent our interest in more actively serving the constituencies that use Rhizome as a resource. Meanwhile, the new policy has encouraged former Rhizomers to come back, and opened the door for newcomers. (Site traffic is up 50% from last year.) Fundraising at Rhizome has also been vigorous as of late, as have our efforts at bolstering our earned income initiatives. Still, we are in need of funds to sustain our current programs and seed our energy into new projects such as important enhancements to our site and archives, and an educational program for youth. Contributions from Members play a critical role in our overall financial picture, and the success of this Campaign is key to our survival and growth over the next year. We have set a Campaign goal of $25,000 which we hope to meet by December 1st . It would be enormously helpful if you could help get the word out by encouraging people– via your website or blog–to become Members or use this time to renew. We are also offering some very compelling limited edition works by artists–including Cory Arcangel, Lew Baldwin and MTAA–on a first-come, first-serve basis to people who make higher level donations. You can send people to this page: www.rhizome.org/support As the new Director here, its been an honor to get involved more closely with the network of individuals that make Rhizome the incredibly vital platform for new media art that it is. I see it as of the utmost importance to leverage the work of Rhizome's community, as do Francis Hwang and Marisa Olson, and with your support, I know we can carry this exciting moment of change and growth through to Rhizome=B9s ten year anniversary next Fall. Thanks for any help you can give, and all my best to you, Lauren + + + Lauren Cornell Executive Director, Rhizome.org New Museum of Contemporary Art 210 Eleventh Ave, NYC, NY 10001 tel. 212.219.1222 X 208 fax. 212.431.5328 ema. laurencornell@rhizome.org + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Refresh! The First International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology Hosted by the Banff New Media Institute, Leonardo/ISAST, and the Database for Virtual Art. September 28-October 1, 2005 The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, Canada Register today! www.banffcentre.ca/bnmi E-mail: luke_heemsbergen@banffcentre.ca + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 2. From: Warren Sack <wsack@media.mit.edu> Date: Sep 18, 2005 10:36 AM Subject: Job Posting: Assistant Professor in Critical Studies Position: Assistant Professor in Critical Studies Institution: University of California - Film & Digital Media Department Location: Santa Cruz, California Application deadline: 11/18/2005 If you are interested in more information about the job do not reply to me; rather please email film@ucsc.edu. The Film and Digital Media Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, invites applications for a tenure-track position in critical studies. Applicants with a scholarly emphasis in international film and/or media are especially desirable; candidates with expertise in other areas of film, television and/or digital media theory and/or history are also invited to apply. Requires Ph.D. in relevant field of study, with demonstrated potential for excellence in innovative research and for excellence in university teaching. Please refer to the complete job announcement and application requirements at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www2.ucsc.edu/ahr/employment/bulletin/05-06/700-06.pdf">http://www2.ucsc.edu/ahr/employment/bulletin/05-06/700-06.pdf</a> Candidates should submit letter of application, curriculum vitae, writing samples, syllabi from courses previously taught, three confidential letters of recommendation, and summary of past student evaluations, if available, to Search Committee, Film & Digital Media Department, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064. Refer to provision #700-06. Postmark deadline: November 18, 2005; position open until filled. UCSC is an EEO/AA Employer. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you desire writing samples returned at the end of this recruitment. Questions regarding the department or position may be addressed to film@ucsc.edu. Further information about the department is available at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://film.ucsc.edu/">http://film.ucsc.edu/</a>. Contact Information: Job code: #700-06 E-mail: film@ucsc.edu Web Site: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://film.ucsc.edu">http://film.ucsc.edu</a> Search Committee Film & Digital Media UC Santa Cruz 1156 High Street Santa Cruz, CA 95064 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Rhizome ArtBase Exhibitions <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition/">http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition/</a> Visit the fourth ArtBase Exhibition "City/Observer," curated by Yukie Kamiya of the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and designed by T.Whid of MTAA. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition/city/">http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition/city/</a> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 3. From: Sheindal Cohen <admin@fact.co.uk> Date: Sep 19, 2005 8:17 AM Subject: Director, Culture Campus, Liverpool, UK CULTURE CAMPUS DIRECTOR Salary £45,000 Culture Campus is a new organisation formed as a partnership between Tate Liverpool, the Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art, Foundation for Art and Creative Technology, the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University. Culture Campus is envisaged as an international centre providing an environment for learning, incubation, research, development, participation and expression in contemporary visual, media and popular culture forms. The appointment of a Director provides an exciting opportunity for the right candidate to drive the project forward. We are looking for a highly experienced arts professional with a passion for contemporary culture to work in partnership, developing links between the sector and HE. The Director will bring a mix of academic and sector specific experience, will be a leader in the field of contemporary culture with excellent strategic and managerial skills and a proven record as a good communicator. You will have the ability to develop a strategy for taking forward this innovative partnership and co-ordinate its activities with key regional, local and national partners. You will represent the partnership at local and international meetings and will be an effective fundraiser able to attract additional funding for the project. This is a full time post on a two year contract in the first instance. Job share applicants will be considered. For more information please contact: Sheindal Cohen. Email recruitment@fact.co.uk Tel: 0151 707 4444. Website www.fact.co.uk. Deadline for applications: October 17 2005. Culture Campus welcomes applications from any individual regardless of ethnic origin, gender, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation and age. All applications will be considered on merit. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Rhizome.org 2005-2006 Net Art Commissions The Rhizome Commissioning Program makes financial support available to artists for the creation of innovative new media art work via panel-awarded commissions. For the 2005-2006 Rhizome Commissions, eleven artists/groups were selected to create original works of net art. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/commissions/">http://rhizome.org/commissions/</a> The Rhizome Commissions Program is made possible by support from the Jerome Foundation in celebration of the Jerome Hill Centennial, the Greenwall Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional support has been provided by members of the Rhizome community. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 4. Date: Sep 22, 2005 1:31 PM Subject: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR of SCULPTURE, STANFORD UNIVERSITY ASSISTANT PROFESSOR (tenure track) STANFORD UNIVERSITY Stanford is seeking to hire a practicing sculptor, preferably with expertise in areas such as installation, environmental systems, or advanced fabrication technologies, to start September 2006 with the rank of Assistant Professor. The ideal candidate will possess a record of important exhibitions, a studio practice likely to attract gifted graduate students, and a strong commitment to teaching and advising. An M.F.A. (or equivalent) and college?level experience in teaching sculpture is normally expected. Responsibilities will include the teaching of sculpture classes for majors and non-majors and the teaching and advising of M.F.A. students. We are seeking someone eager to participate fully in a dynamic studio art program that grants B.A. and M.F.A. degrees in the Fine Arts, an M.F.A. in Documentary Film, and an M.F.A. degree in Product Design (in cooperation with the Department of Mechanical Engineering). Application deadline: December 15, 2006. Please send a letter of introduction, a statement of artistic and academic goals, a c.v., a record of teaching experience, and 20 slides labeled with slide script, video documentation on DVD (as applicable), and a SASE for return of slides and/or DVDs. In addition, please supply the names and contact information of three referees. Applications should go to: Search Committee in Sculpture, Stanford University, Department of Art and Art History, 435 Lasuen Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-2018. Stanford University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Support Rhizome: buy a hosting plan from BroadSpire <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/hosting/">http://rhizome.org/hosting/</a> Reliable, robust hosting plans from $65 per year. Purchasing hosting from BroadSpire contributes directly to Rhizome's fiscal well-being, so think about about the new Bundle pack, or any other plan, today! About BroadSpire BroadSpire is a mid-size commercial web hosting provider. After conducting a thorough review of the web hosting industry, we selected BroadSpire as our partner because they offer the right combination of affordable plans (prices start at $14.95 per month), dependable customer support, and a full range of services. We have been working with BroadSpire since June 2002, and have been very impressed with the quality of their service. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 5. From: nat muller <nat@xs4all.nl> Date: Sep 19, 2005 9:33 PM Subject: ISTANBUL RELOADED at De Melkweg ***************************************** ISTANBUL RELOADED Date: Wed 5th October Location: De Melkweg, Theaterzaal, Lijnbaansgracht 234 A, Amsterdam Time:Performances: 20.30 - 22.30 hours Entrance performances: euro 10,- Time: Panel: 16.00 - 18.00 hours (free) Bookings: 020 ? 5318181 URL: www.melkweg.nl (under media) ***************************************** ISTANBUL RELOADED invites you to reload your sonic perception, and sample the diversity of Istanbuli experimental sound art. Istanbul evokes many connotations ranging from the mysterious riches of Byzantium to the throbbing capital of the Eurasian world Constantinople.History books and travel guides have imprinted an image on us ranging from orientalist fairy tale dreams to a modern metropolis negotiating tradition and future, east and west. We can picture Istanbul visually with all its landmarks, and have probably eavesdropped on Turkish pop and traditional music.However, how diversified is that perception? As the cultural capital of Turkey, Istanbul boasts a small, but exceptional experimental electronic music scene, probes the new possibilities real-time processing and other technologies allow for performance and composition, sometimes merging traditional Turkish influences and instruments with the aesthetics of contemporary electronics. ***************************************** PROGRAM: Wed 5th October ISTANBUL RELOADED: performance 20.30 - 22.00 hours, entrance: ? 10 Erdem Helvacioglu (TR) Cev Edit (TR/NL) Anabala (Murat Ertel & Ceren Aykut) (TR) ISTANBUL RELOADED: panel 16.00 ? 18.00 hours, entrance: free Participants: Cevdet Erek (TR/NL), Erdem Helvacioglu (TR), Anabala (Murat Ertel & Ceren Aykut) (TR), Abdullah Hendrik Geels (NL) Moderation: Nat Muller (NL) URLs: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.erdemhelvacioglu.com/">http://www.erdemhelvacioglu.com/</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.babazula.com/">http://www.babazula.com/</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.audiomaze.com/">http://www.audiomaze.com/</a> ***************************************** ISTANBUL RELOADEDis part of ?Xeno_Sonic: Experimental Music Mapping in the Middle East?, a project and initiative of Nat Muller in collaboration with De Melkweg. ISTANBUL RELOADED is kindly supported by VSBfonds, Mondriaanfonds, Fonds voor Amateur en Podiumkunsten, Stichting Kulsan, Fonds voor Podium-Programmering & Marketing.The research phase of Xeno_Sonic was supported by The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture. Editor?s note For more information, visual material or interviews, contact: Publiciteit Melkweg: Esther Lagendijk | tel: 020-5318167 | fax: 020-5318118 | esther@melkweg.nl + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 6. From: David Galbraith <djg@panix.com> Date: Sep 22, 2005 10:00 AM Subject: David Galbraith sound installation at Diapason (NYC) Diapason, gallery for sound and intermedia, presents David Galbraith Composition 2005 No. 1: Two Straight Lines Displaced, Nudged and Gently Spun A Sound Installation Saturdays, September 3, 10, 17, 24 6 PM - midnight Diapason, gallery for sound and intermedia 1026 Sixth Avenue, # 2S (btwn 38th & 39th St.) New York, NY 10018 <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.diapasongallery.org/">http://www.diapasongallery.org/</a> Notes on the work: Diapason is pleased to present the first solo exhibition by New York-based composer, performer and multidisciplinary artist David Galbraith. This exhibition pairs Galbraith?s 2003 mixed media work on paper Two Straight Lines For La Monte Young, originally shown in Berlin and on view at Diapason for the first time in New York, with a new work for multichannel sound titled Composition 2005 No. 1. The work on paper references American composer La Monte Young?s Composition 1960 No. 10 which reads ?draw a straight line and follow it.? Galbraith?s Two Straight Lines For La Monte Young uses twenty pages of tabular random permutations of integer numbers overlaid with systematically placed small blue dots. These pages are pinned to the wall each skewed so the blue dots produce a pair of vertical straight lines each over six feet long. With this work Galbraith breaks from the singular act called for by Young?s score and instead creates through repetition and serial techniques two straight lines that emerge from an infinite numeric field. For Composition 2005 No. 1 Galbraith transformed Two Straight Lines For La Monte Young into a graphic score for string quartet. Galbraith realized this score by recording the process of hand tuning each note using his self-built analog electronic sound oscillators. The work is animated by the micro-intervallic tension between two sets of pitches: the ?absolute? sine tones determined by graphical analysis and the ?string? tones which are derived from the ?absolute? tones by quantizing each to the nearest note of a justly intoned scale. The final work is a multichannel edit of the ?absolute? manually tuned quadrature oscillator sine tones, digitally synthesized reference tones, and the recordings of the ?string? tone manual tuning process. Biographical information: David Galbraith explores the couplings between art, music, technology and the body through his sound installations, live sound performances, video works and drawings. In addition to recent New York performances at Art in General, Diapason, and free103.9, Galbraith?s international performances include Erase & Reset: International Night Of Experimental & Electronic Music at Staatsbank Berlin (2003); Garage Festival, Stralsund, Germany (2003); and Pro Musica Nova (with Marina Rosenfeld), Bremen, Germany (2000). Galbraith has had two-person shows together with Teresa Seemann at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2001), the Soap Factory, Minneapolis (2001), and Innocence & Mystery, Berlin (2003). Collaborative and individual work has also been shown in group exhibitions at Kunst-Werke Berlin, P.S.1/MoMA, Artists Space, and Rosmund Felsen Gallery, among others. This show is supported in part by a grant from the Experimental Television Center. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Rhizome Members can purchase the new monograph on Thomson & Craighead, Minigraph 7, for a discounted rate: £10.80 which is 10% off £12.00 regular price plus free p+p for single orders in UK and Europe. thomson & craighead Minigraph 7 Essays by Michael Archer and Julian Stallabrass Jon Thomson and Alison Craighead ¹s extraordinarily varied, almost unclassifiable artworks combine conceptual flair with sophisticated technical innovation. Encompassing works for the web alongside a host of other new media interventions, this book ? the first monographic survey of the artists¹ work ? highlights a number of impressive installation and internet-based pieces which use digital technology to echo the art-historical tradition of the ready-made. Part-supported by CARTE, University of Westminster. Published by Film and Video Umbrella 52 Bermondsey Street London SE1 3UD Tel: 020 7407 7755 Fax:020 7407 7766 <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.fvumbrella.com">http://www.fvumbrella.com</a> To order, Rhizome Members should write Lindsay Evans at Film/ Video Umbrella directly and use the reference ³Rhizome T + C² in the subject line. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 7. From: christa@eyebeam.org Date: Sep 22, 2005 8:59 PM Subject: Eyebeam Announces Amanda McDonald Crowley as Executive Director For Immediate Release Media Contact: Christa Blatchford/ Perry Lowe 212/937.6580 x231/ x222 press@eyebeam.org www.eyebeam.org Amanda McDonald Crowley Appointed Executive Director of Eyebeam New York, NY, October 10 - Eyebeam is pleased to announce the appointment of Amanda McDonald Crowley as Executive Director of the not-for-profit arts and technology center. McDonald Crowley is relocating from her native Australia where she has been based while working nationally and throughout Europe and Asia as an arts producer, facilitator, researcher and curator. She will begin her new position at Eyebeam on October 10, 2005. McDonald Crowley brings to Eyebeam a substantial and international background in media arts. Her prior vision and experience in fostering the cross-disciplinary practice, collaboration and exchange provide a perfect fit to Eyebeam?s mission and model. "Amanda McDonald Crowley is one of the most accomplished, groundbreaking new media curators and producers anywhere in the world," stated Steve Dietz, Director, ISEA2006 Symposium and ZeroOne San Jose Festival. "Her experience as director of ANAT, as a producer at the Adelaide Festival and ISEA2004 Symposium is a perfect match for the adventuresome, artist-oriented programming that both Amanda and Eyebeam are known for." Prior to joining Eyebeam, McDonald Crowley served as the Executive Producer of the 2004 International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA2004), developing the event from concept to major conferences, exhibitions, performances, concerts and site specific installations on a ferry in the Baltic Sea and locations in Estonia and Finland. In 2002-03 she was an arts worker in residency at Sarai: the New Media Initiative in Delhi, India and was Associate Director for Adelaide Festival 2002. From 1995 to 2000 McDonald Crowley was Director of the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT), an organization with a national brief to foster links between the arts, sciences and new technology. ?I am particularly excited by the opportunity to work with an organization that has such a strong commitment to an 'atelier' model. It encourages a direct engagement with and participation in work that makes sense of the intersection of the arts, sciences and technology,? said McDonald Crowley. ?Eyebeam's objectives and programs engage with impressively diverse groups of artists and audiences. I have a strong personal commitment to cross-disciplinary and collaborative art practices and am keen to ensure that Eyebeam continues to build partnerships nationally and internationally whilst maintaining it's important role locally in providing innovative, stimulating, hopefully occasionally challenging but also celebratory spaces for the research, production and presentation of contemporary culture.? Eyebeam Board Chair John S. Johnson stated, "We're thrilled to have someone with Amanda's experience and vision to take Eyebeam into the next phase of it's development." McDonald Crowley arrives during the final phase of a year-long renovation of the Eyebeam's Chelsea facility which locates all programming under one roof for the first time. The renovation created new production and education studios, labs, editing suites, prototyping galleries, administrative offices, a flexible lounge/events space, a bookstore and expanded public entrance while retaining the existing 5,000 square foot main gallery, one of the largest uninterrupted exhibition spaces in Chelsea. This reconfigured space renews emphasis on artists' experimentation and process, the exhibition of work produced within Eyebeam's studios and labs, as well as on alternative forms of public presentation. "Amanda is a generous colleague and tireless advocate for whom contemporary cultural production is always firmly positioned within the broader political, socio-economic and cultural landscape," affirmed Sarah Miller, Director, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA). "This new role sees her well positioned to progress Eyebeam's charter as it moves into the next exciting stage of its development. " Eyebeam Eyebeam supports the creation, presentation and analysis of new forms of innovative cultural production. Founded in 1996, Eyebeam is dedicated to exposing broad and diverse audiences to new technologies and media arts, while simultaneously establishing and demonstrating new media as a significant genre. Eyebeam's programs are made possible through the generous support of Atlantic Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, Time Warner Youth Media and Arts Fund, Alienware, the Jerome Foundation, the Helena Rubinstein Foundation, the Greenwall Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the David S. Howe Foundation, the Lerer Family Charitable Foundation, the Sony Corporation, Alias Systems, Inc. and the Milton and Sally Avery Foundation. Eyebeam Location: 540 w 21st Street between 10th & 11th Avenues Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 12:00 - 6:00pm Bookstore: Tuesday - Saturday, 12:00 - 6:00pm Admission: All events are free to the public unless otherwise noted Website: www.eyebeam.org Email: info@eyebeam.org # # # + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 8. From: Kevin Hamilton <kham@uiuc.edu> Date: Sep 22, 2005 8:30 AM Subject: "Poor Duke - he can't shoot his way out of this one." Rhizomers- This morning, as I sat by the open window at my laptop, engrossed in a departmental email, one of my senses - sight, smell, hearing? - pricked, and I looked to the immediate right of my lap to see a large and twittery squirrel, on the sill of our screenless window. I jumped and yelled HEY, causing the contents of my coffee cup to go shooting up and over everything in sight - powerbook, papers, window. During the requisite freakout-session of careful cleaning of my laptop to keep coffee from getting inside the thing, I noticed a nut the squirrel had left behind, on the sill - he was looking for a place to stow it, I suppose. Of course last weekend's challenging and enlightening New Forms Festival in Vancouver came to mind, where the 2005 theme was "Ecosystems." Biological metaphors are nothing new to this community or to some of the more theoretically(academically?)-minded in new media. But Niranjan Rajah and the other conference organizers put together a collection of presenters and panels that gave the subject a deep, difficult examination, unlike any I have experienced. It was a rich weekend of difficult analyses and proclamations about the relationship between our tools, the institutions that hold them, and the other beings or places we have displaced, eradicated or absorbed in the process of creation. I thought I should share with the list some of what transpired, in part because I think there should be more of it south of the border. The New Forms Festival has been running for a few years, and this was my first. I'm sorry to say that I saw none of the exhibition components, and only a small piece of the music components, but the conference portion was quite a full plate. Three days saw numerous panels, papers, and performances - unique about these for me was that a new media conference was focussing on so many allegedly "extra-medial" concerns that don't seem to come up often in new media discourse. I'll run through some of the highlights. First, perhaps the most remarkable thing about this conference was its setting in the Museum of Anthropology at University of British Columbia, a world-renowned collection of works by the First Nations people of western Canada. Niranjan's characterization of this choice as forcing the examination of a field that runs "from bones to broadband" was just the start. The days' events went far beyond the predictable and essentialist juxtapositions of "hi-tech" and "low-tech" we've come to expect of some McLuhan-esque rhetoric. Instead, the setting constantly forced the difficult question of technology's role in colonization - the same colonization that led to the assembly of such a collection as anthropology rather than as history, as technology, or even as art. Carol Gigliotti's keynote paper on Friday took us through the history of the West's definitions of "human" and "non-human", with an emphasis on some seriously disturbing metaphors employed by the likes of Descartes. It comes as no surprise to many of you I'm sure that the Enlightenment gave us descriptions of Nature as "the proverbial 'bad girl'" (Carol's words), requiring a strong hand to the forelock and a slap to the back of the head, if not an outright rape. And from this we get modern science, and from that we get vaccine, but also flash memory and nanopods, and at the expense of beings and places we first had to label as not worthy of respect. For you skeptics, this was much more than an effort to scare more "PC" into your P.C.. To recognize the roots and expenses that make possible our faster and ever more social media forms is to weigh our enthusiasm about new possibilities against some of the effects. I count this as progress in an area that normally slips into utopianism like an old drug habit. Following Carol's talk was a provocative examination of the museum as a site of grieving - we witnessed a live remote performance by Peter Morin, who from just outside the auditorium took a page from Coco Fusco or Fred Wilson, and placed himself among the artifacts of his own people. Through a seemingly casual video monologue Peter spoke and sang about those who had long died, those of his people who were at that moment facing arrest during protest, and about the experience of the museum as mausoleum, as pain. The following panel complicated this perspective through the presence of Anthony Shelton, the museum's Director, and Raman Srinivasan, who related the story of visiting a temple in the Philadelphia Museum of Art as a graduate student, reverent and comforted but also aware of the violent rip that made the presence of the temple in his temporary home possible. These strategies persisted - we saw several panels set up to keep us uncomfortable in our assumptions, including the odd and provocative pairing of the champion of sampling, John Oswald (of Plunderphonics fame) with Ahasiw Maskegon-Iskwew, who told stories of information theft as colonialist strategy, but also of artist Cheryl L'Hirondelle Waynohtew's approach to piracy or sampling as act of infiltration or homage. Other standout moments included: - Learning from Ahasiw Maskegon-Iskwew and Stephen Loft about Winnipeg's Urban Shaman gallery, drumbytes.org, and conundrumonline.ca, several efforts at supporting and displaying works in New Media by aboriginal artists. In his talk, Stephen Loft re-imagined the gods of fire in aboriginal mythology as John Wayne, protecting and hoarding a powerful technology until he's finally encircled by his opponents. - Filmmaker and conference sponsor Loretta Todd also shared some about the effort she's leading, the new Aboriginal History Media Arts Lab. - Steve di Paola described his work with the Vancouver Aquarium to model Belugas and fishes in 3-D environments, in which he found himself confronted with the irreality of what some expected the virtual animals to do, and the shocking reality of illusionistic 3-D renderings that even react to stimuli. - Landscape architect Kelty Miyoshi McKinnon's excellent paper on "The Urban Bestiary," how animals adapt to and infiltrate urban landscapes, how we sensationalize their arrival, and how some architects respond. - Curator Alice Ming Wai Jim shared some about the new and exciting efforts of the recently relocated CENTER A, a non-profit space for new media and contemporary art from Asia and the Pacific Rim. Significant to Center A's current mission is the gallery's intentional and stark relationship to the surrounding neighborhood of Gastown, infamous as the poorest postal code in Canada. Alice and the Center seem committed to acknowledging this contrast through exhibition and outreach, including their involvement in the upcoming Container Project for ISEA 2006. - John Wynne's work on his project Hearing Voices, in which he explores the endangered Khoisan clik-languages of the Kalahari Desert through field recording, photography, radio documentary and installation. The conference concluded with a performance in the Anthropology Museum, at the foot of the totem poles in the main hall, backed by the setting sun over the pines of Vancouver's bay. At first, the pastoral sounds of electronic musician Noah Susswein jarred with the memories of violence implied by the artifacts, even as the landscape behind seemed timed for the music. But when vocalist Tanya Tagaq Gillis took the floor, backed by Souns on the laptop, we were reminded that even as we remembered death, First Nations people were very much alive, and strong. Tanya's throat-singing (which you may have heard on Bjork's Medulla album) and Souns' glitches meshed together in service of the power of the voice. Tanya ruled that space for awhile, as I'm sure she will with the Kronos Quartet later this Fall, and resisted our identification of the "natural" or aboriginal as dead or dominated. It was a fitting close to a weekend I won't forget - and for which I'm indebted to a long history of conquest. Kevin Hamilton LINKS: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.newformsfestival.com">http://www.newformsfestival.com</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.centera.org">http://www.centera.org</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://conundrumonline.ca">http://conundrumonline.ca</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://drumbytes.org/">http://drumbytes.org/</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.sensitivebrigade.com/">http://www.sensitivebrigade.com/</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.terrain.org/essays/13/mckinnon.htm">http://www.terrain.org/essays/13/mckinnon.htm</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/02/22/todd.html">http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/02/22/todd.html</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tanyatagaq.com">http://www.tanyatagaq.com</a> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Rhizome.org is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization and an affiliate of the New Museum of Contemporary Art. Rhizome Digest is supported by grants from The Charles Engelhard Foundation,  The Rockefeller Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Rhizome Digest is filtered by Marisa Olson (marisa@rhizome.org). ISSN: 1525-9110. Volume 10, number 38. Article submissions to list@rhizome.org are encouraged. Submissions should relate to the theme of new media art and be less than 1500 words. For information on advertising in Rhizome Digest, please contact info@rhizome.org. To unsubscribe from this list, visit <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/subscribe">http://rhizome.org/subscribe</a>. Subscribers to Rhizome Digest are subject to the terms set out in the Member Agreement available online at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/info/29.php">http://rhizome.org/info/29.php</a>. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +