RHIZOME DIGEST: 8.14.05

discussion

Posted Aug. 13 2005 20:00

RHIZOME DIGEST: 8.14.05

RHIZOME DIGEST: August 14, 2005 Content: +note+ 1. Lauren Cornell: Rhizome Announces Marisa S. Olson as Editor and Curator at Large 2. Marisa S. Olson: Rhizome Announces Marisa S. Olson as Editor and Curator at Large +opportunity+ 3. michelle: Faculty Opportunity at CSU Monterey Bay, CA 4. Kenneth Jones: Adjunct Faculty for Interactive Design + 2D Computer Animation:::::Harford Community College, Bel Air, MD 5. Steve Dietz: Theme: Transvergence - Call for Participation ISEA2006 6. Marisa S. Olson: CFP: CAA New Media Caucus Panel on Autonomy & Relationality +work+ 7. Marisa S. Olson: blog art (w/ abe linkoln) +commissioned for Rhizome.org+ 8. Jonah Brucker-Cohen: Report From SIGGRAPH 2005 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 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. Date: 8.12.05 From: Lauren Cornell <laurencornell@rhizome.org> Subject: Rhizome Announces Marisa S. Olson as Editor and Curator at Large FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Rhizome.org Announces Marisa S. Olson as Editor and Curator at Large NEW YORK, NY, August 12, 2005 - Rhizome.org, a leading online resource for new media art, announced today that Marisa S. Olson will be the new Editor and Curator at Large effective August 15th. As Editor, Olson will manage Rhizome¹s two publications, Net Art News and the Rhizome Digest; she will also develop special editorial projects and oversee the content published on Rhizome¹s front page. In her role as Curator at Large, a new position created specifically for her, Olson will promote new media art on Rhizome¹s behalf in diverse contexts throughout the country and internationally. She will also be responsible for growing Rhizome¹s online archive, the ArtBase; coordinating the Guest Curator program; and organizing public programs and gallery exhibitions that further Rhizome¹s mission of supporting the ³creation, presentation, discussion and preservation of contemporary art that uses new technologies in significant ways.² Olson brings excellent editorial and curatorial experience as well as an expansive knowledge of new media art to bear on the position. She previously worked as Associate Director of SF Camerawork, Curator at Zero:One, and Director of Media Arts at GenArtSF. As an Independent Curator, she has organized important programs at festivals and venues internationally, including the Getty Museum, the upcoming Performa Biennial, and SFMOMA, where she was co-founder and Editor of SMAC!, the quarterly journal of the SF Media Arts Council. Olson has written extensively on new media art for magazines, academic journals, and exhibition catalogues ³Marisa brings a tremendous amount of experience and energy to the organization,² said Lauren Cornell, Rhizome¹s Executive Director. ³I am thrilled to have her on board and in the position to direct Rhizome¹s critical voice.² Olson added, ³the organization has been an important part of my life since I became a member in the mid-nineties. While they prepare to celebrate their tenth anniversary, it¹s my honor to join Rhizome¹s staff, board, and my fellow members in further contributing to the important field of media art.² Olson is also an actively exhibiting and performing artist who is a PhD candidate at UC Berkeley. ³Marisa is very active and well-respected in the field, and has over the years demonstrated a deep commitment to the Rhizome community in particular,² said Cornell. ³The fact that she is based primarily in San Francisco and also very connected to artists, writers and venues internationally will help confirm Rhizome¹s presence on the West Coast and abroad.² ### About Rhizome.org Rhizome.org is an online platform for the global new media art community. Our programs support the creation, presentation, discussion and preservation of contemporary art that uses new technologies in significant ways. We foster innovation and inclusiveness in everything we do. CONTACT: Lauren Cornell Executive Director Rhizome.org 210 11th Avenue, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10001 Email: laurencornell@rhizome.org Tel: (212) 219-1288 x208 Fax: 212.431.5328 URL: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org">http://rhizome.org</a> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 2. Date: 8.14.05 From: Marisa S. Olson <marisaso@gmail.com> Subject: Rhizome Announces Marisa S. Olson as Editor and Curator at Large Dear Rhizome Raw members, I am thrilled to have accepted the post of Editor and Curator-at-Large for Rhizome. It is an honor to be following in the footsteps of such esteemed colleagues as Alex Galloway, Rachel Greene, and Kevin McGarry, and I hope to live up to their good examples. As you may know, I've been a member of the Rhizome community for several years and I have grown, learned, and become so inspired by the conversations we've had online and through my relationships with Rhizome staff members, past and present. As Editor, I don't really seek to rock the boat as far as list-based discussions go. I've always admired Rhizome's largely self-governed, organic sensibility and it's not my intention to change those things that I've always loved about it. My effort, in steering the Digest and Net Art News publications, and continuing to participate in Raw dialogue, is to continue promoting the ideas, projects, and events in which the Rhizome community is involved. Rhizome's always been a great place to exchange thoughts, opportunities, and announcements, and all of us at Rhizome are committed to furthering your ability to do so. It is amazing to think that Rhizome is approaching its tenth anniversary! One of the most exciting things to me, personally, about coming on board, is that Rhizome not only has a great past but also a great future. I know this sounds like PR mumbo jumbo, but the vision, energy, and ambition that Lauren and Francis have for enhancing Rhizome is palpable and contagious. Working with them is going to be such a treat! We all know that Rhizome's members are a huge part of what make it such a viable, thriving resource and as I begin settling in to this position, I hope to have more direct communication with each of you. I'd like to welcome your feedback on the ways in which you would like to see Rhizome grow, and your suggestions for how you might be involved in that growth. Until then, I look forward to our continued chats on Raw. All the best, Marisa + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 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. Date: 8.10.05 From: michelle <michelle_riel@csumb.edu> Subject: Faculty Opportunity at CSU Monterey Bay, CA The Department of Teledramatic Arts and Technology within the College of Science Media Arts and Technology at California State University Monterey Bay invites application for two tenure track faculty positions. Successful candidates will be forward thinking, transmedia educators and practitioners. One with primary emphasis in new media practice and theory and one with primary emphasis in digital video and media practice. Both with a strong background in the application of new digital technologies to innovative narrative praxis. See full job description for New Media here: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://mocha.csumb.edu/uhr/jobs/job_announce.jsp?job_number=FAC2005-0093&req">http://mocha.csumb.edu/uhr/jobs/job_announce.jsp?job_number=FAC2005-0093&req</a> _id=000431 See full job description for Digital Video here: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://mocha.csumb.edu/uhr/jobs/job_announce.jsp?job_number=FAC2005-0093&req">http://mocha.csumb.edu/uhr/jobs/job_announce.jsp?job_number=FAC2005-0093&req</a> _id=000430 Application review begins September 23. Please direct inquiries to Rob Weiher, Rob_Weiher@csumb.edu, 831.582.3743. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 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: 8.12.05 From: Kenneth Jones <kennethleejones@comcast.net> Subject: Adjunct Faculty for Interactive Design + 2D Computer Animation:::::Harford Community College, Bel Air, MD Adjunct Faculty Needed Harford Community College Bel Air, Maryland <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.harford.edu">http://www.harford.edu</a> 30 minutes North of Baltimore 60 minutes South of Philadelphia The Visual Communications/Digital Arts Program of the Visual, Performing + Applied Arts Division is seeking adjunct faculty to teach the following courses this semester. Semester starts September 8, 2005 through December 15, 2005 Both classes run on Thursdays, once per week for a 15 week. Classes are taught in the new Joppa Arts Complex in Mac labs using current software. Submit current CV to Dean, Paul Labe at plabe@harford.edu Please call Dean, Paul Labe at 410-836-4326 for more information. ________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ART 232 INTERACTIVE DESIGN This course is designed to expand the students¹ knowledge, skills and aesthetics in the use of digital media. Through a series of lectures, demonstrations, visual/communication problem-solving projects and critiques, students will learn to plan, design and communicate using interactive media. Emphasis is placed on the processes and techniques for creating intuitive and aesthetically engaging graphical user interfaces. Two lecture and two laboratory hours per week. Prerequisites: ART 101 and ART 103 or permission of instructor. Course fee. - Software to be listed in schedule of classes 40704 01 15 Weeks 6:00 - 9:50 PM Thur. Joppa Hall, Rm. 003 ART 230 2D COMPUTER ANIMATION This course expands the students¹ knowledge, skills and aesthetics in the use of digital media. Through a series of lectures, demonstrations, visual/conceptual problem-solving projects and critiques, students learn the principles and techniques for creating 2-D computer animations. Topics include vector-graphic animation, bit-mapped animation, and the use of montage, collage, motion and transformations as forms of expression. Two lecture and two laboratory hours per week. Prerequisites: ART 101 and ART 120 or permission of instructor. Course fee. - Software to be listed in schedule of classes 40703 01 15 Weeks 12:45 - 4:35 PM Thur. Joppa Hall, Rm. 003 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 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. Date: 8.13.05 From: Steve Dietz <mediachef@gmail.com> Subject: Theme: Transvergence - Call for Participation ISEA2006 CALL FOR PARTICIPATION ISEA2006THEME: TRANSVERGENCE<a rel="nofollow" href="http://isea2006.sjsu.edu/transvergence/index.htmlDeadline">http://isea2006.sjsu.edu/transvergence/index.htmlDeadline</a> October 3, 2006\ This is an invitation by the ISEA2006 Symposium and ZeroOne San Jose:A Global Festival of Art on the Edge to groups and individuals tosubmit proposals for exhibition of interactive art work and projectsreflecting on the thematic of the transvergence. Creative interplay of disciplines to catalyze artistic, scientific,and social innovation is evidenced by decades of multi-/ pluri-,inter-, and trans-disciplinary discourse and practice. Emphasis on thedynamics subtending this interplay has led to the notion oftransvergence, a term coined by Marcos Novak which overridesdiscipline-bound issues and demands, and serves as the focus of thepresent call. Proposals are sought that address but are not limited tothemes outlined below, challenging the boundaries of disciplines andconventional (art) institutional discourse, and indicating creativestrategies for overriding them. Proposals may consist of art projects,residencies, workshops, standalone conference papers, or groupconference sessions. "While convergence and divergence are allied to epistemologies ofcontinuity, transvergence is epistemologically closer to logics ofincompleteness, to complexity, chaos, and catastrophe theories,dynamical systems, emergence, and artificial life. While convergenceand divergence contain the hidden assumption that the true, in eithera cultural or an objective sense, is a continuous land-mass,transvergence recognizes true statements to be islands in an alienarchipelago, sometimes only accessible by leaps, flights, and voyageson vessels of artifice. "Central to transvergence is speciation. We want to draw proposalsthat constitute new species of effort and expression and that bothenact and reflect on our construction of new species of culturalreality – not by being merely novel mutations within known areas, butby boldly challenging known areas and yet being potentially viable tothe point of becoming autonomous entities – not dancing aboutarchitecture or architecture about dancing, for instance, but dancingarchitecture… or, better still, something else, as yet alien andunnamable, but alive and growing."–Marcos Novak ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS OFFERINGSETTINGS FOR TRANSVERGENCE Transvergence is conditioned by exodus and invention. New idioms ofexpression do not happen in isolation. Although creativity is aresource that works best when shared, there is no clear form ofrevenue or infrastructure for the practices of collaboration thatcharacterize transvergence. Collaboration in this context does notarise from democratically disseminated, proportionally allocatedproperty, but from the permanent re-appropriation of shared resources,and resultant re-territorialization of production, creation andartefacts. The models of the think-tank, media lab and research centrehave shown their limits since the 80s and 90s, as have tactical mediaactivism tied to the logic of events, and NGOs facing the donorsystem's arduous accountability requirements; university research isoften encumbered by best-practice driven managerial culture, and"creative industries" clusters are subject to economies of scale anduneven divisions of labour. As a technics of expression immanent tomedia of communication, transvergence requires settings thatinstantiate structures of possibility. Such settings might derive frommodels offered by ecologies, fields and membranes, and from theemergent institutional forms of organized networks, whose constantconfiguring of relations between actors, information, practices,interests and socio-technical systems corresponds to the logic oftransvergence. ISEA seeks new visions of organizational and participatory models asstructures of possibility for transvergent practice. TRANSVERGENT ETHICS AND REDEFINTIONS OF ART Institutions which purportedly back new art practices are not alwaysthe bravest when it comes to work which challenges basic assumptionsabout what art is, what the artist is, what the relationship betweenartwork and audience might be, and what the outcome of an artworkmight be. Counter intuitively, business corporations can be muchquicker to support radically new ways for artist, artwork and audienceto speak to each other: every time a viewer/player engages with aninteractive creation, a kind of commerce occurs - a series oftransactions, a litany of offers and purchases. Similarly,organizations devoted to healthcare, social well-being and politicalactivism may more readily recognize exchanges that privilege thecontingent yet compelling "we", and the urgency of the encounter. Artand cultural institutions remain reluctant to take on these new formsbecause they destabilize old views of the artist as a person making aproposition about the world and of the audience as consumer/interpreter of this proposition, whereas transvergent work instatesaudiences as key f/actors in communication processes. This implies ashift in but not necessary the demise of - the artist's role, and achange in the nature of artworks, formulated as public experimentsraising questions as much to do with ethics, as with aesthetics andpoetics. ISEA encourages proposals querying the role and relevance of art inpublic arenas that are being redefined by interactive, inclusiveambitions and tools BIO-TECH-BIOINFO-BIOART-ECOART Over the past 20 years, biotechnology has revolutionized thepharmaceutical and agricultural industries, and the fields of animaland human medicine. Biotechnology implementations direct areas such asfood production and consumption, global trade agreements, human andanimal reproduction, environmental concerns as well as biosecurity andbiodefense. The Human Genome Project and stem cell research havestimulated the merging of computational research with areas of thelife sciences. Disciplines such as bioinformatics and ecoinformaticscurrently enjoy broad public attention and funding. Although artistshave long been engaged with depictions of "nature", BioArt, whichincludes the use of biological matters as part of artistic productionand context creation, and EcoArt, where artists attempt to influencethe ecologies in which we live, are relatively young areas demandingnew exploratory and creative strategies. ISEA is interested in projects engaging with the materials and broaderecology of life sciences, rather than simply their symbolicrepresentation. TECHNOZOOSEMIOTICS AS AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL PLATFORM & PLAYGROUND Technozoosemiotics is the study of signs elaborated by all natural orartificial living species to communicate in intra- or extra-specificways (zoe = life). Humans and their more-or-less intelligent artefactsignore the quality and singularity of information elaborated andemitted through the myriad channels and networks which traverseterrestrial, celestial, marine and intergalactic spaces. As art formsmigrate from institutional sanctuaries to other areas of experience the everyday, public, intimate/private, the biosphere, the universe they must tune to the diverse communications that animate thetechnozoosphere. This means inventing interfaces that favourinteractions of like and unlike kinds of intelligence, and emergenceof new species of conversational agents. It means creatingepistemological platforms and playgrounds for the transduction andtranslation of codes that open up novel ways of thinking and domainsof knowledge. ISEA is soliciting art that extends beyond human-centred design, toquestions of living systems and new species of cultural reality. TRANSVERGENCE CALL COMMITTEE: Chair, Sally Jane Norman, Louis Bec, Andy Cameron, Beatriz da Costa,Bojana Kunst, Maja Kuzmanovic, Anne Nigten, Marcos Novak, Ned Rossiter Timeframe:Announcement August 1, 2005Submissions due October 3, 2005Jurying due December 1, 2005Accepted proposals announced December 15, 2005 <a rel="nofollow" href="http://isea2006.sjsu.edu/transvergence/index.htmlIf">http://isea2006.sjsu.edu/transvergence/index.htmlIf</a> you have questions contacttransvergence@yproductions.comSign up for the ISEA2006 mailing list:<a rel="nofollow" href="http://cadre.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/isea2006">http://cadre.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/isea2006</a> – Steve DietzDirector, ZeroOne: The NetworkDirector, ISEA2006 Symposium +ZeroOne San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge<a rel="nofollow" href="http://isea2006.sjsu.edu">http://isea2006.sjsu.edu</a> : August 5-13, 2006stevedietz[at]yproductions[dot]com<a rel="nofollow" href="http://isea2006.sjsu.edu/index.html">http://isea2006.sjsu.edu/index.html</a> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 6. Date: 8.14.05 From: Marisa S. Olson <marisaso@gmail.com> Subject: CFP: CAA New Media Caucus Panel on Autonomy & Relationality please forward widely… CALL FOR PAPERS The New Media Caucus panel at the College Art Association's 93rd annual conference Panel title:"From database and place to bio-tech and bots: Relationality vs autonomy in media art" Conference Dates: February 22-25, 2006 Boston, MassachusettsDEADLINE: Proposals must be e-mailed to<marisaso(at)gmail(dot)com> by Friday, September 16, 2005. NOTE: Panelists are NOT REQUIRED to be members of CAA. Panel Chair:Marisa S. Olson, Artist; Editor and Curator at Large,Rhizome.org; UC Berkeley, Rhetoric/Film Studies. Panel Description: Two predominant theories have emerged in the discourse surrounding newmedia: autonomy and relationality. On the outset, these notions seemto contradict each other. The theory of autonomy focuses attention onthe discrete elements involved: individual pieces of information,individual artists or viewers, and separate components/artworks.Relationality puts the emphasis on interconnectedness: data, artwork,artists, and viewers are inextricably intertwined, without a singlepredominant object or viewpoint and no fixed, absolute form. While these theories may seem to be contradictory, contemporary mediaart relies on a notion of autonomy and, yet, suggests that noinformation is autonomous?while discrete variables exist, nothing canbe separate and complete in itself. The same is true of therelationships between viewers, artists, and their work constructed inthe context of media art. While the topics of autonomy andrelationality have long lineages in art history, this panel willdiscuss their contemporary status from the perspective of media artpractice and theory. Papers can address a range of topics including but not limited to:hacktivism and parasitic media, appropriation/sampling/remixing, opensource theory and culture, locational media, biotechnology, videogames, narrative, net art, software art, networked performance, video,sound art, and VJ/DJ practice. Consideration will be given to more"traditional" academic papers as well as artist talks that introduceartistic work and practices that contribute to the discussion ofautonomy and relationality in media art. PROPOSAL FORMAT:Please email the following to <marisaso(at)gmail(dot)com> by Friday,September 16, 2005: * Proposed paper title* An abstract of 300-500 words* A note on presentational format: will you present a "traditional"paper, will you emphasize visual materials, and what?ifany?audio/visual equipment will you need? (Please minimize.)* Confirmation of ability to attend the CAA conference, Feb 22-25,2006, in Boston* A current CV with full contact information + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 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. Date: 8.10.05 From: Marisa S. Olson <marisaso@gmail.com> Subject: blog art (w/ abe linkoln) <a rel="nofollow" href="http://blog-art.blogspot.com/">http://blog-art.blogspot.com/</a> A new project on which Abe Linkoln and I are working. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 8. Date: 8.08.05 From: Jonah Brucker-Cohen <jonah@coin-operated.com> Subject: Report From SIGGRAPH 2005 Report from SIGGRAPH 2005 Los Angeles, CA July 31-Aug 4, 2005 by Jonah Brucker-Cohen (jonah_at_coin-operated.com) In the heat of the LA summer, SIGGRAPH 2005 opened its doors to 50,000+ computer graphics technologists, animators, musicians, artists, geeks, curators, and digital media professionals. This year's Art gallery and emerging tech sections featured hundreds of projects that aimed to showcase the "future" of computer graphics and interaction. Since I was active in this year's conference, I didn't get a chance to visit every presentation or try every demo, but here is a report from the projects and talks that I saw. This year's main event was the keynote address by acclaimed filmmaker and special effects innovator, George Lucas. Widely considered as the "father of digital cinema", Lucas proclaimed himself as a storyteller before anything else. In order to realize the worlds he envisioned he turned to computers as an enabling technology. He calmly stated that he was "not a computer person" and had "no idea what SIGGRAPH people do." He referenced Akira Kurosawa as a filmmaker who triumphs in creating an illusion that fantasy worlds exist and proclaimed the secret to this as "immaculate reality." Lucas's humble moment was when he admitted to the audience, "I don't know how you do this stuff, but it allows me to tell a story so I'm happy you're doing it." On the ground floor of the convention center was the SIGGRAPH Art Gallery: "Threading Time", which featured a wide range of interactive and other digital artworks from artists around the world. On the wall in a red frame was Boredom Research's "Ornamental Bug Garden" a small, animated screen-based ecosystem that reacted as visitors approached. Also interactive was Camille Utterback's "Untitled 5: External Measures Series", a collage of painterly shapes and images that animated according to visitors movements tracked from overhead. On the opposite was John Gerrard's "Watchful Portrait", a 3D portrait that followed the sun's ascent and descent. On the other side of the wall Gerrard's "Saddening Portrait" was another 3D figure who's face gradually saddened over a 100-year period. Perry Hoberman's "Art Under Contract" consisted of a large metal case on the wall with a small, motor controlled shutter door. After each visitor clicked the "agree" button of a simple contract, the door would open exposing the art, but then suddenly shut after the viewing time was over. This project was a good example of a piece of media art controlling its viewing audience. In the "Emerging Technologies" section, projects ranged from new types of interactive displays to tactile control mechanisms for interacting with the screen to more artistic uses of technology. The highlight of the show was Japanese artist Toshio Iwai's (in collaboration with Yamaha) "Tenori-On" a physical interface that allows people to create musical compositions visually by pressing on a dense array of lighted buttons. The instrument's simple, yet elegant output was a nice reminder that the increasing complexity of digital interfaces often clouds basic creativity. Other interesting creative projects included "Exhale: Breath Between Bodies" a series of networked skirts that collected the breath of the wearers and transmitted the data to fans in corresponding skirts. Upstairs from the keynote, art galleries, and other lecture rooms, the Guerrilla Studio was a place where visitors to the event could create projects from various different media. I co-ran a workshop there with Katherine Moriwaki called "DIY Wearable Challenge", co-hosted by the Ludica Gaming Atelier, where we invited conference attendees to create simple wearable projects in a few hours from basic electronics and sensors. The best creations made their way to the cyber fashion show, hosted later on at the event. This type of dynamic creativity was evident in other areas of the studio where visitors could create board games, 3D prints of designs, and even on-the spot motion capture animations. As the conference continued, I managed to attend a few of the panels and presentations. The ISEA 2006 meeting was an organizational meeting and open forum for the upcoming ISEA symposium and media art event in San Jose at the end of 2006. The panel featured curator Steve Dietz, Cynthia Beth Rubin, Peter Anders and others involved with the conference's organization and curation. In addition to speaking about the ISEA event, the panel was also meant to launch "01 San Jose", a new, US based bi-annual media arts festival to take place in San Jose. The prospect of a larger festival occurring in northern California is nice evidence that there is still money left in Silicon Valley. Moving into West Hall B, the "Extreme Fashion" special session included speakers working with fashion and technology from varied disciplines. International Fashion Machines (IFM) founder Maggie Orth began with a presentation about the definition of extreme fashion and how the true fashion technology object includes input, processing and some type of display mechanism. She gave the example of the "Voltaic Jacket" which includes solar panels on its back to harness power to charge portable data devices worn on the body. Orth saw the main roadblocks to wearable technology as 1) No standards of wash ability 2.) Little commercial activity and 3.) lack of good display materials. Professor Thad Starner of Georgia Tech spoke about his "Free Digiter", proximity sensing device can detect simple movements of its wearer and be mapped to control functions such as volume levels on car and portable MP3 players. Dr. Jenny Tillotson spoke about her "Second Skin Dress" which attempts to "create a personal scent bubble around the wearer". This would help to prevent bad moods and add an emotional quality to everyday experience. Elise Co of Minty Monkey showed some of her current work including the "Lumiloop" bracelet that illuminates based on patterns created by its wearer and the UFOS shoes that light up according to specified movements. "Your outfit shouldn't be the technology, this is something that could go with the rest of your stuff" explained Co. Also on the panel was Katherine Moriwaki who spoke about her PHD work into "Social Fashioning" and several of her projects that monitor the environment and attempt to create social relationships between people occupying similar spaces. This session ended as the "SIGGRAPH Cyber Fashion" show began. The show, hosted by wearable tech artist and enthusiast, Isa Gordon of Psymbiote, featured a collection of wearables that resembled everything from a post-Tron utopia to a trip to the Sharper Image. Every model on the floor had a piece of electroluminescent glow wire as standard garb. Some of the highlights included Luisa Paraguai Donati's "Vestis: Affective Bodies" a full body suit with tubes surrounding the wearer that expanded and contracted as personal body space and "comfort zone" was infringed upon. Similarly, Simona Brusa Pasque's "Beauty and the Beast" is a pair of plexiglass shoes that include a stun gun embedded in the toe of one, and an alarm system in the other activated by wearer stamping their feet. Overall there was an interesting mix of clothing that reacted to outside stimuli and those that protected its wearer. As SIGGRPH 2005 came to a close, the conference seemed to be stuck in a continual challenge between how to smoothly integrate the corporate graphics world into the fringe artistic spectrum. This was evident with the chaotic scene at the Cyber Fashion show and the low level of artistic input into the Electronic Theater. The panels seemed more dense with artistic input this year, but the separation between disciplines seemed more evident as crossover participation waned. Perhaps if the new ZeroOne conference in San Jose is successful it will draw the artistic spectrum away from SIGGRAPH and let it regain focus back onto the graphics industry. I guess time will have to be the instigator in that debate. — Jonah Brucker-Cohen (jonah_at_coin-operated.com) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 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 Kevin McGarry (kevin@rhizome.org). ISSN: 1525-9110. Volume 10, number 32. 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. 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