<br />RHIZOME DIGEST: May 29, 2005<br /><br />Content:<br /><br />+announcement+<br />1. Lauren Cornell: New Membership Policy<br />2. Kevin McGarry: City/Observer, curated from the Rhizome ArtBase by Yukie<br />Kamiya, opens at Rhizome.org!<br />3. Annie Abrahams: Why rock?+"Yes", no. release+10 onlone selections<br /><br />+opportunity+<br />4. Kenneth Jones: Digital Arts/Interactive Media 1 Year Appointment-Harford<br />Community College, Bel Air Maryland<br />5. Kevin McGarry: FW: [NEW-MEDIA-CURATING] Job: Peterborough Digital Arts<br />Curator<br />6. Brooke Singer: Job: New Media Tech @ SUNY Purchase<br /><br />+commissioned for Rhizome.org+<br />7. Helen Varley Jamieson: How re:mote am I?<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />Rhizome is now offering Organizational Subscriptions, group memberships<br />that can be purchased at the institutional level. These subscriptions allow<br />participants at institutions to access Rhizome's services without<br />having to purchase individual memberships. For a discounted rate, students<br />or faculty at universities or visitors to art centers can have access to<br />Rhizome?s archives of art and text as well as guides and educational tools<br />to make navigation of this content easy. Rhizome is also offering<br />subsidized Organizational Subscriptions to qualifying institutions in poor<br />or excluded communities. Please visit <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/info/org.php">http://rhizome.org/info/org.php</a> for<br />more information or contact Kevin McGarry at Kevin@Rhizome.org or Lauren<br />Cornell at LaurenCornell@Rhizome.org<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />1.<br /><br />Date: 5.23.05<br />From: Lauren Cornell <laurencornell@rhizome.org><br />Subject: New Membership Policy<br /><br />Hi,<br /><br />I am pleased to announce the launch of our new membership policy. Every<br />individual Member should be receiving a dedicated email about this shortly,<br />but I would also like to bring attention to the new policy on the list to<br />get your thoughts and feedback.<br /><br />This change was prompted by a reconsideration of our current membership<br />system. When we enacted a $5 membership requirement in January 2003, we<br />thought that such a policy would balance our need for a stable revenue<br />source with our mission to serve new media arts communities around the<br />world. However, having reviewed Rhizome's usage and subscription statistics,<br />we concluded that our membership policy was stifling wide-scale<br />participation in our online programs. We have rethought and restructured our<br />membership policy to make Rhizome more inclusive, relevant, and open.<br /><br />Under our new policy, anyone, regardless of whether they have donated to<br />Rhizome or not, will be able to post or access Rhizome content from the last<br />year simply by signing up. It¹s completely free to sign up - all you have to<br />do is register an email address and password.<br /><br />Artworks and texts that are *more than one year old* will reside in the<br />Rhizome Archives. Only Rhizome Members will be able to access the Archives.<br />Members will also be able to maintain a Member Page in the Community<br />Directory, create Member-Curated Exhibits, and use special features such as<br />Advanced Search. In the coming months, we will roll out innovative features<br />to keep our membership program dynamic and worthwhile.<br /><br />All current Members will retain their membership status under the new<br />policy. When your membership expires, you will still be able to subscribe<br />to Rhizome lists and browse the site. But, in order to retain member<br />benefits, you will be asked to renew your membership at an annual level of<br />$25. I hope you will consider continuing your membership at this level.<br />Rhizome is just as reliant on our base of Members for financial support now<br />as ever before. <br /><br />In announcing our new membership, I would also like to acknowledge the<br />vision and work of the Rhizome staff, Francis Hwang, Kevin McGarry and<br />particularly former Executive Director Rachel Greene, who initiated and<br />developed the plans for this new policy.<br /><br />We feel confident that everyone involved with Rhizome will benefit from our<br />expanded availability, and we hope you agree.<br /><br />Thanks for reading this, and thank you for sticking with us as we try to<br />find the best system to support our programs and organization.<br />Yours,<br />Lauren Cornell<br />Executive Director<br />Rhizome.org <br /><br />+ + +<br /><br /> <br />Rhizome.org is a not-for-profit 501©(3) organization. For U.S. taxpayers,<br />contributions to Rhizome are tax-deductible, minus the value of any goods or<br />services received, to the extent allowed by law.<br />– <br />Lauren Cornell<br />Executive Director, Rhizome.org<br />New Museum of Contemporary Art<br />210 Eleventh Ave, NYC, NY 10001<br /><br />tel. 212.219.1222 X 208<br />fax. 212.431.5328<br />ema. laurencornell@rhizome.org<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />2. <br /><br />Date: 5.25.05<br />From: Kevin McGarry <kevin@rhizome.org><br />Subject: City/Observer, curated from the Rhizome ArtBase by Yukie Kamiya,<br />opens at Rhizome.org!<br />Rhizome.org Announces Fourth ArtBase Exhibition<br />FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br />Wednesday, May 25, 2005<br /><br />CONTACT <br />Kevin McGarry, Rhizome.org<br />Phone: 212.219.1288 X220<br />Email: kevin@rhizome.org<br />NEW YORK, NY?Rhizome.org is pleased to announce the opening of<br />City/Observer, curated by Yukie Kamiya, Associate Curator at the New Museum<br />of Contemporary Art in New York. City/Observer is the fourth online<br />exhibition of works curated from the Rhizome ArtBase, an archive of over<br />1500 new media artworks established in 1999.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition/city/">http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition/city/</a><br /><br /> <br /><br />City/Observer presents projects by a group of international artists, AUDC<br />(US), Heman Chong (Singapore), Katrin Sigurdardottir (Iceland), the<br />collaboration of Aisling O¹Beirn (Ireland) and Marjetica Potrc (Slovenia),<br />and Koki Tanaka (Japan), who take the cities they live and work in as the<br />subjects of their art practice. Rather than interrogating ³the city² as an<br />ideological construct or manifestation, these artists organize their<br />subjective experiences as residents to reveal the distinct, yet connected,<br />characters of their surrounding structures, societies and situations?and<br />articulate some effects of making art in a global world.<br /><br /> <br />Three of the artists?-Chong, Sigurdardottir, and Tanaka?-included in<br />City/Observer have never before situated their work on the Internet. Their<br />offline practices have been transposed to the Web as an experiment initiated<br />by Kamiya, who remarked that, ³it was fascinating to see how the artists<br />approached the Internet as a unique, limitless place, and how these projects<br />grounded in experiences of physical cities interfaced with a foreign,<br />virtual terrain.² Kevin McGarry, Content Coordinator for Rhizome.org<br />commented that, ³City/Observer is not only several of the artists¹ but also<br />Kamiya¹s first time staging an exhibition on the Internet. Through this<br />exhibition she has successfully framed the Web as a site that is informed by<br />unique urbanisms and politics, which at times mirror, overlap and confront<br />those of physical territories.²<br />+ + +<br /><br />Rhizome Exhibitions is a program begun in November 2004, which invites<br />international artists, curators, and writers to curate online exhibitions<br />from works in the ArtBase.<br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition">http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition</a><br /><br />+ + +<br /><br />Member-curated Exhibits is a companion program also launched in November<br />2004, which allows Rhizome members to curate and interlink their own online<br />exhibits from works in the ArtBase, using a web-based curating tool. Links<br />to member-curated exhibits are interspersed throughout rhizome.org via<br />member pages and included artworks.<br /> <br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/art/member-curated/">http://rhizome.org/art/member-curated/</a><br /><br /> <br />For more information please contact:<br />Kevin McGarry, Rhizome.org<br />Phone: 212.219.1288 X220<br />Email: kevin@rhizome.org<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />3.<br /><br />Date: 5.27.05<br />From: Annie Abrahams <aabrahams@bram.org><br />Subject: Why rock?+"Yes", no. release+10 onlone selections<br /><br />Together with Clément Charmet we made the webshow "Why rock?" for<br />turbulence.org <a rel="nofollow" href="http://turbulence.org/curators/rock/rock.htm">http://turbulence.org/curators/rock/rock.htm</a> The show<br />presents sound works by net artists with real or supposed rock<br />affinities. Alan Sondheim and Frédéric Madre both wrote a text for the<br />show. We also made a special french version of the show for panoplie.org<br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.panoplie.org/rock">http://www.panoplie.org/rock</a><br /><br />Together with Jan de Weille we released a 4 tracks EP : "Yes", no. on<br />Tomtipunkrecords <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tomtipunkrecords.net/index_ttr.php?Releases">http://www.tomtipunkrecords.net/index_ttr.php?Releases</a><br /><br />I selected 10 sites for netartreview's new monthly feature: ::NET.TEN::<br />\\Online Selections// <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.netartreview.net/monthly/0505.1.html">http://www.netartreview.net/monthly/0505.1.html</a><br />Please have a look.<br />Annie Abrahams<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />Rhizome.org 2005 Net Art Commissions<br /><br />The Rhizome Commissioning Program makes financial support available to<br />artists for the creation of innovative new media art work via panel-awarded<br />commissions.<br /><br />For the 2005 Rhizome Commissions, seven artists were selected to create<br />artworks relating to the theme of Games:<br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/commissions/2005.rhiz">http://rhizome.org/commissions/2005.rhiz</a><br /><br />The Rhizome Commissioning Program is made possible by generous support from<br />the Greenwall Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation<br />for the Visual Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />4. <br /><br />Date: 5.22.05<br />From: Kenneth Jones <kennethleejones@comcast.net><br />Subject: Digital Arts/Interactive Media 1 Year Appointment-Harford Community<br />College, Bel Air Maryland<br /><br />DATE OF NOTICE:<br />March 29, 2005<br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.harford.edu/Department/HumanRes/JobsFolder/Art_VisualComm_Faculty">http://www.harford.edu/Department/HumanRes/JobsFolder/Art_VisualComm_Faculty</a><br />_TermAppt.htm<br />RESPONSIBILITIES:<br />This is a ten-month position scheduled to begin August 15, 2005 (subject to<br />available funding).  The instructor will be responsible for teaching a<br />variety of art and visual communication courses, including computer<br />graphics, multimedia, animation, design for the web, and possibly 2D<br />design, 3D design, and/or color theory.  Duties include, but are not<br />limited to:  developing and/or revising curriculum as appropriate, advising<br />students, supervision of the MAC Lab, and other duties as assigned.<br /><br />REQUIREMENTS:<br />Master of Fine Arts degree in Digital Arts, New Media, Graphic Design or<br />related discipline and college-level teaching experience required.  An<br />equivalent combination of education and professional experience may be<br />considered.  Mastery of print, multimedia and web publishing applications,<br />interactive media, and digital imaging curricula including, but not limited<br />to, Photoshop, Illustrator, QuarkXPress, Director, Flash, Dreamweaver,<br />After Effects, and Final Cut Pro is essential.  Proficiency with 2D<br />animation and/or 3D Modeling and Animation preferred.  Additional skills<br />necessary require a demonstrated expertise of print and web page design,<br />typography, digital imaging, multimedia authoring, and digital video. <br />Knowledge in the history of digital media and electronic culture is<br />preferred.  Professional level knowledge of Macintosh OS X and software<br />and hardware troubleshooting, some knowledge of networking and network file<br />management are required skills.<br /><br />ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:<br />Submit 20 examples of your work and 10-20 examples of your students' work<br />(slides, CD, DVD, or URL).  If you would like your submissions returned to<br />you, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope.  Include a cover<br />letter or statement outlining how each qualification listed above is met,<br />resume or curriculum vitae, and copies of graduate transcripts (official<br />transcripts will be required if appointed to the position).<br /><br />TO APPLY (choose one of the following options):<br />Download and print the EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION from our website<br />www.harford.edu (Adobe Acrobat Reader required), call the HCC Job Line at<br />410-836-4202 (toll-free 877-239-2636), OR send an e-mail request (include<br />name, address, & position of interest) to agillesp@harford.edu or<br />vstaley@harford.edu.<br />RESUMES ARE ENCOURAGED BUT WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED<br />IN LIEU OF AN EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION.<br />« Only candidates receiving further consideration will be contacted. «<br /><br />For best consideration, the completed application materials,<br />signed in all areas, should be returned<br />by May 30, 2005 to:<br />Human Resources<br />Harford Community College<br />401 Thomas Run Road<br />Bel Air, Maryland 21015-1698<br />« Incomplete applications will not be accepted or reviewed. «<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />5.<br /><br />Date: 5.24.05<br />From: Kevin McGarry <kevin@rhizome.org><br />Subject: FW: [NEW-MEDIA-CURATING] Job: Peterborough Digital Arts Curator<br /><br /> —— Forwarded Message<br /> From: Beryl Graham <beryl.graham@SUNDERLAND.AC.UK><br /> Reply-To: Beryl Graham <beryl.graham@SUNDERLAND.AC.UK><br /> Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 14:05:27 +0100<br /> To: NEW-MEDIA-CURATING@JISCMAIL.AC.UK<br /> Subject: [NEW-MEDIA-CURATING] Job: Peterborough Digital Arts Curator<br /><br />Peterborough Digital Arts Curator<br /><br />Salary   <br /><br /> £20,295 - £21,654 pa<br /><br /> Reference   <br /><br /> PCC C3115<br /><br /> Location   <br /><br /> Peterborough<br /><br /> Hours   <br /><br /> 37 hours per week<br /><br /> Closing Date   <br /><br /> 14 June 2005<br /> set your inspiration free<br /><br /> Does the idea of creativity, experimentation and exciting development<br />appeal to you? Yes? Then read on.<br /><br /> Peterborough Digital Art Gallery is based in the city centre and holds<br />regular new media exhibitions, residencies and supporting programmes<br />which promote, inform and encourage understanding of and participation<br />in new media/digital arts.<br /><br /> We are seeking an inspired individual with experience of curating new<br />media/digital arts.<br /><br /> Since its launch in April 2003 Peterborough Digital Arts has worked<br />with and exhibited many artists that include Diane Maclean, Simon<br />Poulter and Fred Drummond. We have also partnered such diverse<br />galleries as the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre in Canada and Royal Pump<br />Rooms Leamington Spa.<br /><br /> Peterborough Digital Arts has produced Sequences , currently touring<br />venues throughout the UK. Our partner arts organisations include PVA<br />Medialab, Film and Video Umbrella and Arts Council England, East.<br /><br /> This is a full time position. Reporting to the Media Development<br />Coordinator you will be generating an exciting and innovative<br />programme. You will possess the skills to convey your passion of new<br />media to a range of diverse audiences.<br /><br /> Working within the Arts Team, you will be developing programming<br />ideas, commissioning artists and delivering across a range of<br />exhibition platforms.<br /> Job packs and application forms can be downloaded from<br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://peterborough.jobsgopublic.com/">http://peterborough.jobsgopublic.com/</a> or by emailing<br />jobs@peterborough.gov.uk. To request a pack to be posted, please<br />telephone: (01733) 742644, 742645, (24 hour Answerphone) quoting job<br />reference above.<br /><br /> Please return completed applications to: Recruitment Team, Human<br />Resources, Peterborough City Council, Bayard Place, Broadway,<br />Peterborough PE1 1FF or email them to the address shown above.<br /> Peterborough City Council is strongly committed to taking a lead role<br />in the elimination of discrimination and the promotion of equality in<br />employment and welcomes job applications from all parts of the<br />community. The city council's equal opportunities policy is based on<br />the principle that people are not discriminated against on the basis of<br />race, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, age, gender, sexual<br />orientation, disability or marital status.<br />——————————————————————-<br /><br />Beryl Graham, Professor of New Media Art<br />School of Arts, Design, Media and Culture, University of Sunderland<br />Tel: +44 191 515 2896 beryl.graham@sunderland.ac.uk<br /><br />CRUMB web resource for new media art curators<br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.crumbweb.org">http://www.crumbweb.org</a><br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />Support Rhizome: buy a hosting plan from BroadSpire<br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/hosting/">http://rhizome.org/hosting/</a><br /><br />Reliable, robust hosting plans from $65 per year.<br /><br />Purchasing hosting from BroadSpire contributes directly to Rhizome's fiscal<br />well-being, so think about about the new Bundle pack, or any other plan,<br />today!<br /><br />About BroadSpire<br /><br />BroadSpire is a mid-size commercial web hosting provider. After conducting a<br />thorough review of the web hosting industry, we selected BroadSpire as our<br />partner because they offer the right combination of affordable plans (prices<br />start at $14.95 per month), dependable customer support, and a full range of<br />services. We have been working with BroadSpire since June 2002, and have<br />been very impressed with the quality of their service.<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />6.<br /><br />Date: 5.28.05<br />From: Brooke Singer <brooke@bsing.net><br />Subject: Job: New Media Tech @ SUNY Purchase<br /><br />We are looking for a New Media Tech at SUNY Purchase. To find out about the<br />program, please visit<br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.purchase.edu/academics/interdisc/new_media.asp">http://www.purchase.edu/academics/interdisc/new_media.asp</a>. Feel free to<br />contact me with any questions. Please circulate.<br /><br />Sincerely, Brooke Singer<br />brooke@bsing.net<br /><br />Job Description and Application Information:<br /><br />New Media Computer Technician - $40k deadline: July 1, 2005. Position to be<br />filled by August 15th 2005<br /><br /> <br /><br />Purchase College/State University of New York seeks to hire an experienced<br />computer technician to serve the New Media Program.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Requirements: The successful applicant will have at least a bachelor's<br />degree, solid computer skills, including experience in video post-production<br />and server administration, and the ability to communicate and work with<br />faculty, student and technical staff.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Primary duties expected of the successful applicant include:<br /><br /> <br /><br />1. Maintain, administer, backup and supervise:<br /><br /> <br /><br />A 24 seat PC computer lab Adobe CS, Macromedia Flash and Dreamweaver, Java,<br />MIDI and more<br /><br /> <br /><br />A 12 seat PC video editing/3D computer lab.<br /><br /> <br /><br />A Cross platform research lab of 4 workstations running appropriate software<br />for student and faculty projects<br /><br /> <br /><br />Web servers used for class and program support.<br /><br /> <br /><br />2. Consult with the department faculty and participate in the planning,<br />designing and equipping of the new digital media facilities as well as<br />develop long range resource upgrade strategies.<br /><br /> <br /><br />3. Work collaboratively with faculty and staff to devise and support the<br />successful implementation of technology in the classroom, including managing<br />the allocation of server space.<br /><br /> <br /><br />4. Identify, train and supervise College Lab Assistants and student<br />assistants appointed to the areas and facilities, which utilize computers<br />and digital technology systems.<br /><br /> <br /><br />5. Help plan and then manage anticipated new technologies. Future<br />capabilities could include running streaming audio and video and supporting<br />peer-to-peer applications.<br /><br /> <br /><br />6. In addition to above technical responsibilities, the person would be<br />available during specified hours to help students with video post-production<br />and senior projects as well as mentor student technical workers.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Secondary duties include working with the Natural Sciences Computer Engineer<br />on joint networking and computing efforts.<br /><br /> <br /><br />As the facilities evolve, there is a requirement as well as opportunity for<br />continual learning and professional growth.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Send a letter describing qualifications and experience with a current<br />résumé and names of three references to:<br />Barbara Gianoplus<br /><br />c/o New Media Tech Support<br /><br />Human Resources Office<br /><br />Purchase College<br /><br />Purchase, NY 10577<br /><br />human.resources@purchase.edu<br /><br /> <br />Women and minority applicants are encouraged to apply.<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />Rhizome ArtBase Exhibitions<br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition/">http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition/</a><br /><br />Visit the fourth ArtBase Exhibition "City/Observer," curated by<br />Yukie Kamiya of the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and designed<br />by T.Whid of MTAA.<br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition/city/">http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition/city/</a><br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />7.<br /><br />Date: 5.29.05<br />From: Helen Varley Jamieson <helen@creative-catalyst.com><br />Subject: How re:mote am I?<br /><br />How remote am I?<br /><br />What does it mean to be remote in an electronic art world? This was<br />one of the questions posed by re:mote (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.remote.org.nz">http://www.remote.org.nz</a>), a<br />gathering of digital artists and theorists in Auckland, Aotearoa (the<br />Maori name for New Zealand) on 19 March 2005. Held in a<br />geographically remote country, the event was an opportunity for local<br />wired artists to meet face-to-face as well as an invitation to ponder<br />the meaning of "remote" in the 21st century.<br /><br />Re:mote was an event by and for artists, organised by r a d i o q u a<br />l i a (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.radioqualia.va.com.au/">http://www.radioqualia.va.com.au/</a>) and ((ethermap<br />(<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ethermap.org/">http://www.ethermap.org/</a>). The first in a series of one-day<br />experimental festivals, it was run "on the smell of an oily rag" (as<br />we say here) and made possible in part by Adam Hyde's residency at<br />the University of Waikato. Questions posed by the organisers<br />included: are there 'centres' and 'peripheries' within a world<br />increasingly bridged, criss-crossed and mapped by digital<br />technologies? Can technologically mediated communication ever be a<br />substitute for face-to-face dialogue? Is geographical isolation a<br />factor in contemporary art production? Is remote a relative concept?<br /><br />Fourteen presentations from new media art practitioners and theorists<br />in Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand were squeezed into eight<br />hours and ranged from a cosy midnight feast in Finland to a glimpse<br />of the expansive Antarctic wilderness, and from musings on<br />information from outer space to the virtual escape of a death row<br />prisoner. Various methods were employed to connect remote (as opposed<br />to re:mote) participants with those at the Auckland venue - the Elam<br />School of Fine Arts lecture theatre. A live MP3 audio stream enabled<br />the off-site audience to hear everything from the venue, and they<br />could communicate through a text chat which was also used to convey<br />an impression of what they couldn't see. QuickTime, Skype, IRC,<br />iChatAV, iVisit and the Palace were among the applications used in<br />different presentations.<br /><br />The international speakers were scheduled first to accommodate their<br />time zones, with Steve Kovats and Graham Smith from Rotterdam kicking<br />things off. Visible via web cam, their presentation nicely<br />illustrated their discussion on how telecommunication transforms the<br />concept of distance from space to time. They were in the dark of<br />Friday night, while we in Auckland were well into a sunny Saturday.<br />Also still in Friday night and dressed in her best pyjamas, Sophea<br />Lerner (an Australian new media theorist and artist currently<br />studying in Helsinki) tucked into a midnight feast while elaborating<br />on the promises and assumptions of remote communication. She proposed<br />that the most interesting thing about a remote location is not the<br />remoteness, but the location. This contrasted with the previous<br />presentation's focus on time as the distancing element rather than<br />space or location. Any location, whether it's the heart of a teeming<br />metropolis or an empty beach in southern Aotearoa, can be remote when<br />you're outside it, rendering it exotic, intriguing and desirable.<br />It's the differences, rather than distances, that make a "remote"<br />location interesting - and the unexpected similarities.<br /><br />Lerner also addressed the concept of peripherality and how one can<br />experience being peripheral in many different places, depending on<br />one's perspective of the "centre". Finland may appear peripheral to<br />Europe, but from the New Zealand perspective it's almost in the<br />middle of that centre. Contemporary politics place Europe and North<br />America in the centre, but as the power balance shifts that centre<br />may relocate to Asia or even cyberspace. Today's technologies release<br />us from the geographical definition of centre, creating globally<br />dispersed "peripheral centres" and "central peripheries". Technology<br />has penetrated even the periphery of Antarctica, as shown by Phil<br />Dadson's presentation about his recent artist's residency there. A<br />looping video of his shadow crunching across the endless white<br />landscape, broken only by the bones of some unfortunate beast,<br />removed not only all sense of place but also time. The simple act of<br />filming his shadow on the ice placed Dadson at the centre of a<br />peripheral environment.<br /><br />Japanese radio pioneer and artist Tetsuo Kogawa spoke about<br />technology and the body and gave a history of Mini FM, a project<br />which aimed to tactically deregulate the Japanese airwaves by<br />teaching people how to create and broadcast from their own free radio<br />stations. During the 1970s and 80s, Kogawa held radio parties in<br />Tokyo apartments where he taught people to build transmitters,<br />broadcasting from the domestic periphery to the centre of the<br />airwaves. Footage from these events reveal the political act of<br />taking ones own space on the airwaves as also entertaining and<br />community-building. His goal was to use radio technology not as a<br />substitute for face-to-face communication but as a means to bring<br />people together and to propose political and social alternatives.<br />During re:mote, Kogawa also gave an audio performance and the<br />following day led a mini FM transmitter building workshop.<br /><br />Pre-recorded appearances were made by New Zealander Sally Jane<br />Norman, who has lived in Europe since the 1970s, and Zina Kaye from<br />Australia, who discussed her project "The Line Ahead", which gathers<br />data from airports to create LED signs in a gallery. Sally Jane<br />Norman began with pre-internet architectures of performance, asking<br />how physical gesture can invest digital space, and described the<br />remote manipulation of space probes as "advanced puppeteering".<br />Achieving physicality within digital spaces alters the concept of<br />remoteness; how remote am I if, from Aotearoa/New Zealand, I can<br />physically move an object on the moon? Both air and space travel<br />create bridges between centres and peripheries, destroying the<br />relative remoteness of New Zealand in the space of a few hours and<br />offering instead the greater remoteness of outer space.<br /><br />The trials and tribulations of remote collaboration were addressed by<br />a number of presenters including myself, Zina Kaye and Trudy Lane.<br />Zina had encountered some difficulties in working with technicians<br />located elsewhere, while Trudy's ongoing collaboration with mi2 in<br />Zagreb (on the online magazine ART-e-FACT) works smoothly. Physically<br />meeting your remote collaborators may make some things easier, but<br />it's also possible to work successfully without meeting, as<br />demonstrated by Avatar Body Collision. This work was presented by<br />Leena Saarinen (in Finland), Vicki Smith (in NZ's South Island) and<br />myself at the venue. Our greatest difficulty is in finding times when<br />the four of us can be online together for rehearsals, but the<br />advantages are many. We taste each others' geographical and social<br />locations and are telematically transported from our peripheral homes<br />to the centres of arts festivals and conferences. Returning to one of<br />the questions posed by re:mote - Can technologically mediated<br />communication ever be a substitute for face-to-face dialogue? -<br />during four years of artistic collaboration, Leena Saarinen and I<br />have never met, so technologically mediated communication is an<br />excellent and necessary substitute for face-to-face. Our "remote"<br />relationship is as real and valuable as if we had met, so how remote<br />are we?<br /><br />The variety of local presentations given during the afternoon<br />illustrated the diversity of concepts of "remote": a web site about a<br />fictional nation state; universal nomadism and the generic city;<br />"glocalisation"; and a multi-locational artistic picnic were among<br />the projects discussed (for more information on all presentations see<br />www.remote.org.nz). While these presenters were all New Zealanders<br />living in New Zealand, their presentations had connections all over<br />the globe - Lithuania, Croatia, Amsterdam, the USA. As an artist in<br />the electronic world, living in an isolated location doesn't mean<br />that your work must be of that location. There will always be some<br />degree of local perspective, but sources and context are often<br />global; this combination of local and global is "glocalisation".<br /><br />Live improvised audio performances were given by Tennis (London) in<br />the morning, and at the end of the day by Tetsuo Kogawa, Adam Hyde<br />and Adam Willetts. Tennis (Ben Edwards and Doug Benford) performed<br />with a web cam showing them seated at their computers. As our<br />off-site audience could only hear the audio stream, I provided them<br />with a commentary of what we could see on the screen in the IRC chat.<br />This created another level to the performance, and an extrapolation<br />of remoteness: I was interpreting and relaying my visual observation<br />of an audio performance back to a twice-removed audience, some of<br />whom were in the same country as the performers and on the other side<br />of the world from me. For the Auckland audience in the same room as<br />me, I and my commentary became a part of the performance as well -<br />yet the performers themselves were not aware of this. Thus at least<br />three different performances were taking place: the audio performance<br />given by Tennis; the sound, text and images experienced in the venue<br />in Auckland; and the online version, consisting of sound and text.<br />Reading the chat log several weeks after the event, the remoteness<br />doubles again - comments on now unheard sounds and descriptions of<br />vanished images are like shadows cast by an invisible body. This<br />fascinating unplanned metamorphosis was a result of the event and our<br />various layers of remotenesses. A briefer but related "performance"<br />had occurred earlier in the day when Adam Hyde and James Stevens were<br />speaking over Skype, but James had left his computer speakers on,<br />generating an echo loop that took on an unstoppable life of its own.<br /><br />My personal experience of re:mote was bound up with the technologies,<br />both in my presentation (using the Palace and iVisit) and in my role<br />at the keyboard as a "chat wrangler", delivering commentary to the<br />off-site audience. The off-site audience's responses to my<br />descriptions of the visuals and the audio stream they were hearing<br />are preserved in the chat log and offer a surreal perspective on the<br />day. Once again, re:mote was answering its own questions, as the chat<br />substituted face-to-face communication reasonably effectively and<br />rolled our individual peripheries into the centre.<br /><br />As someone who communicates and collaborates remotely on a daily<br />basis, I always value the opportunity to work and collaborate in the<br />same physical space with others. Creating such gatherings in far off<br />places like Aotearoa/New Zealand is especially important, as<br />sometimes we're so busy worrying about what's going on in the rest of<br />the world that we overlook the wealth of activity happening locally.<br />How remote are we when we know what our colleagues in New York,<br />Amsterdam or Belgrade are doing but we don't know what's going on in<br />Dunedin or Wanganui? Our perceived remoteness is embedded in the<br />identity of the people of this small, distant and relatively<br />insignificant country, and fuels a need to be a part of the wider<br />world to counter this feeling of isolation. Yet one of the ideas that<br />came through strongly during re:mote was the possibility to feel<br />peripheral in any situation, and the individual relativity of a<br />myriad of centres and peripheries which are now becoming bridged,<br />mapped and interconnected by digital technologies.<br /><br />Congratulations and thanks to Adam Hyde, Honor Harger, Adam Willetts<br />and Zita Joyce for making re:mote happen; it was an intense,<br />enjoyable and thought-provoking day. The second re:mote has just<br />taken place, in Regina, Canada - unfortunately I was "remote" in the<br />sense of being offline while on holiday so I was unable to attend,<br />but I'm told it went well. Documentation of both events should soon<br />be online at www.remote.org.nz, and I'm looking forward to re:mote 3.<br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.remote.org.nz">http://www.remote.org.nz</a><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.soilmedia.org/remote/">http://www.soilmedia.org/remote/</a><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.radioqualia.va.com.au/">http://www.radioqualia.va.com.au/</a><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ethermap.org/">http://www.ethermap.org/</a><br /><br />– <br />____________________________________________________________<br /><br />helen varley jamieson: creative catalyst<br />helen@creative-catalyst.com<br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.creative-catalyst.com">http://www.creative-catalyst.com</a><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.avatarbodycollision.org">http://www.avatarbodycollision.org</a><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.writerfind.com/hjamieson.htm">http://www.writerfind.com/hjamieson.htm</a><br />____________________________________________________________<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />Rhizome.org is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization and an affiliate of<br />the New Museum of Contemporary Art.<br /><br />Rhizome Digest is supported by grants from The Charles Engelhard<br />Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for<br />the Visual Arts, and with public funds from the New York State Council<br />on the Arts, a state agency.<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />Rhizome Digest is filtered by Kevin McGarry (kevin@rhizome.org). ISSN:<br />1525-9110. Volume 10, number 22. Article submissions to list@rhizome.org<br />are encouraged. Submissions should relate to the theme of new media art<br />and be less than 1500 words. For information on advertising in Rhizome<br />Digest, please contact info@rhizome.org.<br /><br />To unsubscribe from this list, visit <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/subscribe">http://rhizome.org/subscribe</a>.<br />Subscribers to Rhizome Digest are subject to the terms set out in the<br />Member Agreement available online at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/info/29.php">http://rhizome.org/info/29.php</a>.<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />
