RHIZOME DIGEST: 10.31.03

discussion

Posted Oct. 30 2003 19:00

RHIZOME DIGEST: 10.31.03

RHIZOME DIGEST: October 31, 2003 Content: +announcement+ 1. Renato Posapiani: Nike scores own goal +opportunity+ 2. Scadhr Savannah College of Art and Design: Job Opening – Professor of Game Development 3. Sal Randolph: Creative Commons Moving Image Contest +work+ 4. Giselle Beiguelman: wireless teleintervention 5. Francis Hwang: request for comments: Stillman 6. JoseLuisBrea: The Conquest Of Ubiquity 7. Tamara Lai: Web_of_lies +feature+ 8. Jonah Brucker-Cohen: Report from E-Culture Fair + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 1. Date: 10.29.03 From: Renato Posapiani (propaganda@0100101110101101.org) Subject: Nike scores own goal October 28, 2003 PRESS RELEASE BY PUBLIC NETBASE Nike scores own goal Preliminary Court Decision in Favor of International Art Project The international sportswear company Nike is trying to get the installation "Nike Ground – Rethinking space", created by the renowned artists group 0100101110101101.ORG, banned by court. Meanwhile the Commercial Court of Vienna has taken a first crucial decision. Quite apart from the fact that this is an attempt to ban a work of art, the Commercial Court has rejected Nike's plea for a provisional injunction on formal grounds. The decision was based on the fact that the law suit against Public Netbase was filed by Nike International. This company has its principal office not in Austria, but in the USA and therefore would have been required to pay a deposit covering the cost of litigation in case of a ruling in favor of Public Netbase. Public Netbase's attorney, Mag. Michael Pilz, who consistently underlined the artistic nature of the installation, pointed out the formal defect in his response to the plaint. "This is a major step ahead for the project", declared Konrad Becker, director of Public Netbase. The law suit with Nike will now enter its next round. Moreover, the installation remained on Karlsplatz until its official takedown on 28 October. "The Court's decision motivates us to protect the freedom of art against the ruthlessness of corporations with even more determination in the future", Becker concluded. According to 0100101110101101.ORG spokesman Ted Pikul "Nike is a perfect subject for a work of art. The Swoosh is probably the most viewable brand on earth, more than any political or religious symbol. Now these giants are loosing control over their own brands, which in the hands of pop culture are turning into boomerangs". CONTACTS: Public Netbase <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.t0.or.at">http://www.t0.or.at</a> office@t0.or.at 0100101110101101.ORG: HTTP://0100101110101101.ORG Nikeground@0100101110101101.ORG NIKEGROUND: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nikeground.com">http://www.nikeground.com</a> info@nikeground.com + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 2. Date: 10.27.03 From: Scadhr Savannah College of Art and Design (scadhr@scad.edu) Subject: Job Opening – Professor of Game Development Professor of Game Development The Savannah College of Art and Design seeks candidates for a full-time faculty position in the school of Film and Digital Media for Spring 2004. Qualified candidates will have an M.F.A., or M.S., or undergraduate degree with extensive recognized industry experience. A strong portfolio that reflects a high degree of knowledge in game design and development is required. Experience with one or more shipping game titles is preferred but not required. College-level teaching experience is preferred but not required. Candidates should have a minimum of 3 years experience in the Game industry. Candidates should be able to teach Cg programming and Game ?Modding?. Ability to teach character design and modeling, environment design and familiarity with game prototyping tools and methods would be an advantage. We give preference to those candidates with experience teaching coursework through the web. ABOUT THE COLLEGE: The Savannah College of Art and Design, located in historic Savannah, Georgia, USA, is a private, non-profit college that exists to prepare talented students for careers in the visual and performing arts, design, building arts, and art and architecture. The college offers twenty-two areas of study and awards bachelor and master?s degrees. A low student/faculty ratio is maintained at the college, with small classes taught by caring, dedicated faculty who hold terminal degrees and/or other outstanding credentials. TO APPLY: Interested candidates should send cover letter, resume, samples of work, official transcripts and three reference letters to: Human Resources, Savannah College of Art and Design, P.O. Box 3146, Savannah, GA 31402-3146, or fax to 912-525-5222, or e-mail to scadhr@scad.edu. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. AA/EOE. Please visit our web site at www.scad.edu. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 3. Date: 10.30.03 From: Sal Randolph (stfr@earthlink.net) Subject: Creative Commons Moving Image Contest Creative Commons Moving Image Contest <a rel="nofollow" href="http://creativecommons.org/contest/">http://creativecommons.org/contest/</a> Create, or mash-up, a moving image that explains Creative Commons mission, using your favorite moving image authoring tool, such as Flash, iMovie, or Final Cut Pro. Entries can contain video, animated images, text, and audio. We welcome and encourage the use of other people's work, provided that you have permission or the work is Creative Commons-licensed or public domain. The entry should be 2 minutes or less. All entries must be licensed under a Creative Commons license of your choosing by time of entry. Top prizes include a computer, DV Camera, and an iPod. Deadline for entries is December 31st 2003. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://creativecommons.org/contest/">http://creativecommons.org/contest/</a> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 4. Date: 10.26.03 From: Giselle Beiguelman (gb@desvirtual.com) Subject: wireless teleintervention Hi, I would like to invite you to help me test some features of Poétrica teleintervention which allows to anyone post messages to 3 electronic billboards located in downtown Sao Paulo. You can post your messages by the web and by SMS. Poétrica is operating since Oct. 14 and we did not have any problems with Brazilian mobile phones. All contributors are receiving an alert by SMS or by e-mail (it depends on the way they submit their messages), but we are not sure if it will work abroad (the SMS alert) because of some limitations of our system. So, we really need your posts in order to study and solve the problems. The numbers are: GSM: +555181128808 CDMA: +555196542600 More info: www.poetrica.net Tks, gb + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 5. Date: 10.27.03 From: Francis Hwang (francis@rhizome.org) Subject: request for comments: Stillman I'd appreciate people's input on my newest net-art project. It's called Stillman, and it's at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://stillman.to/">http://stillman.to/</a> . It's sort of an homage to Paul Auster's "City of Glass", combined with the accidental linking dynamic of a Wiki. I wanted to create a textual space where people can vaguely track the movements of others by seeing where they've added texts themselves. Like some of my other stuff, it's much more semantic than visual … As a writer it's a direction I like, though it can make for some crummy screenshots. F. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 6. Date: 10.28.03 From: JoseLuisBrea (jlb@rhizome.org) Subject: The Conquest Of Ubiquity Award/Awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (MCYT) /**/The Conquest Of Ubiquity (intro) José Luis Brea Although the apparent aim of "the conquest of ubiquity" is to sketch a brief "history of net.art", we do not set out to do this from the immanent perspective of a more or less recent and consolidated artistic form or genre, but rather from the perspective of what is represented and implied by its emergence in the context of the transformation of symbolic practices taking place in contemporary societies. Thus the emphasis and the "key points" of this account will not be focussed either on narrative development, or on formal "finds", or even on those critical articulations that have been most influential to date on the effective development of the net.art "form" as such. But rather on those realizations which best reveal the generic process of transformation of the "economy of artistic practices" that is taking place at the present moment, and which (in our view) "act as symptoms", coming to light in net.art. Our brief ?history of net.art", then, is guided by the conviction that what will prove to have been most important in its early development (during these first ten years of existence), will be the extent to which this new type of communication practice will have anticipated -and brought to centre stage- the major upheavals occurring with regard to visual economy and symbolic production within our societies. In this context, two very specific qualities of ?resistance? proper to net.art are of the greatest interest for us: one, its inaccessibility to economies of trade and goods (and hence its potential for developping in directions hostile to the establishment of markets within its ambit); two, its unsuitability for conventional strategies of exhibition, which are ultimately of a "spatial" nature. These qualities enable it to exercise a strong resistance to the settled economy of art (an economy of commerce and collection, supplemented by public instruments of exhibition and patrimony), chiefly by virtue of the ubiquitous and infinitely reproducible character of its productions (justifying our choice of title for this exhibition, in honour of the prophetic intuition of Paul Valéry). Given such a character, the productions of net.art foster the deepening of the transitional situation affecting artistic practices: the shift from a trade economy to a distribution one. It would seem that the two most telling "moments" in the history of net.art in relation to the Institution-Market-Art are marked precisely by an evaluation of that situation of change-over. Documenta X -which emphatically underlined this gradual shift of art economies towards regimes dissolved in the general, diffuse economy of an expanded system of the technical image- was a high spot, a moment of maximum valuation (reflecting the euphoria of the art-system at the birth of net.art). At the opposite extreme, the recent closure of the New Media programme at the Walker Art Center encapsulates the crisis, in the form of retreat on the part of institutions. This moment corresponds to the acknowledgement of a hopeless misfit between the economies proper to the existing Art-Institution and the nascent new practice, at a moment of retrenchment and growing structural conservatism within the Art-Institution, which doubtless perceives all too clearly the dangers to itself in the establishment of new regimes and new forms of practice. We regard both these moments euphoria and disappointment, success and failure -as indications on exactly the same level of the fundamental incompatibility between two public regimes that cannot be mixed (like oil and water) however much they coexist in time, in a time (ours) that we must necessarily, therefore, recognise as a period of transition and conflict. In a sense, then, our short "history of net.art" aspires principally to stand as a "conflictual prehistory" of a new regime of global relationship with the practices of symbolic production developed in the context of the visual realm, in anticipation of the new regime that has not yet arrived and taken root. And its arrival, if it does arrive (something we do not doubt; at least, upon which we confidently lay our bets) will oblige us to reappraise net.art from that retrospective point of view. Its achievements will be recognised as an untimely prefiguration of something that was still coming, as a projected anticipation of a future that was, at the time, still a mere possibility. This would mean that we, today, should perceive net.art as a kind of an inverted "déjà vu", containing a memory of the future in the present -a present which is still current, in which we can weigh up, at this precise moment of the bankruptcy of incautious dreams, what is at stake. And the stakes are not inconsiderable. The Conquest of Ubiquity www.ubiquid.net/eng + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 7. Date: 10.30.03 From: Tamara Lai (tamara.lai@skynet.be) Subject: Web_of_lies Web_of_lies (Tiss=E9 de mensonges) Interactive shocked movies (click, click & click…) <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.imal.org/tamara_lai/web_of_lies/index.html">http://www.imal.org/tamara_lai/web_of_lies/index.html</a> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 8. Date: 10.31.03 From: Jonah Brucker-Cohen (jonah@coin-operated.com) Subject: Report from E-Culture Fair Report from E-Culture Fair <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.eculturefair.nl">http://www.eculturefair.nl</a> October 23-24, 2003 Paradiso, DeBalie, Melkweg Amsterdam, The Netherlands By Jonah Brucker-Cohen (jonah@coin-operated.com) Although adding the letter "e" to words like "culture" might seem a bit too 90s, the 2nd E-Culture Fair (first was in 2000) lived up to its name as a comprehensive showcase of over 50 projects, experiences, and performances that combined the virtual and physical. The fair, which took place in Amsterdam, was spread over several venues into three distinct categories including "My-Mode" (wearable technology and fashion), "Mobile Home" (networks at home and dispersed in urban settings), and "Toys4Us" (gaming and playful interfaces). This fair's theme centered on "Research and Development" in new media and took a hands-on approach to showing work with an eclectic mixture of live demos and events. Despite the potential brain overload, I managed to tour most of the venues and even sit in on several project presentations. Walking into the newly renovated Paradiso theatre, My-Mode resembled a hybrid fashion show turned trade fair. The setup consisted of a wide range of fashion tech hybrids that emphasized the integration of technology on the body in everything from fabric design to reactive clothing. Taking a playful approach to adverse weather conditions was Elise Co's "Puddle Jumper", a raincoat with electro-luminescent panels that lit up when water fell on the coat. Also on display was International Fashion Machines' "Electric Plaid", a panel of interwoven conductive thread and silk-screened thermochromic inks that slowly changed colors when electricity was applied to the thread. This demoed solid technological know-how, but less interesting implementation other than some sewn light switches and pretty wall mounts. On the more practical side was "Inside/Outside", a series of networked handbags that measure localized pollution (smoke, audio, exhaust, etc=8A) and connect to each other over an ad-hoc (or spontaneous) network to exchange data and aggregate a diary of exposure levels over time. Focusing on biometric feedback was Sompit Moi Fusakul's "Interactive Ornaments: Emotions in Motions" which measured the wearer's heart rate and transposed this result on kinetic and illuminated jewelry. Also included was Jenny Tillotson's "Smart Second Skin", a dress that emits odors depending on biometric feedback from the wearer. I got really close and out came a Whiskey smell which means that either I remind people of drinking or the day was getting too long. Despite the wide array of perspectives presented in MyMode, there seems to be a continual emphasis on cause and effect relationships with wearable technology. Something happens in the environment, space or activity the wearer is engaged and the clothing or device acts as a display or highlights these actions. The next step might be to look at reciprocal relationships between the object and the wearer where each plays a crucial role in each other's development and output over time. Is it possible to create objects and clothing that are not only aware of their inhabitants, but also of each other? Spread over DeBalie and Melkweg venues, the "Mobile Home" theme displayed projects that featured fixed technologies for interacting in both public and private space. Victor Vina and Hector Serrano's "NetObjects", were a quirky collection of networked household objects including an umbrella that relays weather reports and a koo-koo clock that displays headlines from rightist and leftist newspapers. Another experiment in connected familiar spaces, the "Remote Home" featured networked furniture in each building, where sitting on a couch would trigger a linked couch to boot off the person sitting in the other space. Despite the playful interplay with the furniture, questions arose as to the importance of transposing identity as well as presence across distance? If you are unsure that the ambient display is outputting the movements of your significant other, does that cause more anxiety than reassurance? Escaping the confines of indoor space, wireless-based projects seemed to pervade the fair. Delivering mobile wireless hotspots was Shu Lea Chang's "RICHAIR", featuring three wired up roller skate girls carrying mobile 802.11b repeaters and mini-computers with embedded webcams for relaying network connections and images across town. There was also an emphasis on the social impact of technology through Doors East's "Mapping Mobile Phone Usage Among Auto Rickshaw Drivers", a project examining the changes mobile technology has had in Bangalore, India for taxi drivers. The main implementation would be to create a mobile phone booth by integrating a pay system into cell phones integrated into the rickshaws. Finally, Marc Tuters' "Geograffiti" project envisions a future of collaborative cartography based on localized information exchange where public 'digital' space is annotated with graffiti. Moving onto the playful side of technology, the "Toys4Us" exhibit looked at everything from collaborative DJ scratching and virtual puppetry to public installations of shared stories. Marcus Kirsch's "Rashomon" pit video capture with Street Fighter gaming where visitors' kicking and punching moves were captured and imported as game characters into a two-player fighting match. Also integrating public input was Merel Mirage's "Holy", a networked vending machine with an embedded LCD screen that allowed visitors to www.holy.nl to author animations and send them to the display. Also STEIM showed up with some impressive MIDI instruments and sound experiences including a pair of headphones with tilt sensors that sped up beats-per-minute on the audio depending on how fast you shook your head. After two full days of demos and talks, questions arose as to the cyclical nature of information and interface design. On one hand there is a trend to build interfaces that encourage social interaction, but there's also a tendency to create experiences that discourage chance occurrences by highlighting personal experience. There should be a way to balance experiential design so that it not only allows for collaboration but also maintains an ambient presence that blends seamlessly into everyday activity. This was evident in some of the projects at the fair, but most had trouble escaping their categorization. Nevertheless, events like the E-Culture Fair are great for encouraging cross-pollination of research and practice along with showcasing the current state of the field. By emphasizing interactivity and the participatory nature of projects, the event had a distinct science fair-like atmosphere. This approach succeeded in presenting not only the latest gadgets and whimsical interfaces to come, but also the experience of participating in this landscape. -Jonah Brucker-Cohen + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 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 Feisal Ahmad (feisal@rhizome.org). ISSN: 1525-9110. Volume 8, number 44. 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>. Please invite your friends to visit Rhizome.org on Fridays, when the site is open to members and non-members alike. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +