Digimag Journal 75 / Spring 2017
Digital Identities, Self Narratives
Call for Papers
Deadline: 7 May 2017
Identity is becoming a fluid concept, encompassing different domains of the self. How are identities affected by technology and digital tools? What is the role of art in shaping this notion? The Digimag Journal is back with a new international call for papers from its independent publishing house Digicult Editions
With this call Digicult addresses research contributions on the mentioned topic, especially from individuals active in the artistic and academic fields.
An abstract of 200 words and a full essay of max 5000 words, as well as interviews (1000 to 2000 words), event or book reviews, should be sent
to: journal@digicult.it
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One of the most interesting aspects of our relationship with technology is the way we relate to other people and create new identity narratives through it. Internet, social networks and p2p tools have amplified this phenomenon, enabling the ramification of larger networks built around individuals. As a consequence, personal narratives are linked to virtual (and real) dimensions of social, economic and artistic fields. Digital identity becomes, therefore, the individual unit of a larger digital culture environment.
This subject has been widely studied in Streaming Egos, the pioneering international project by Goethe Institut (http://blog.goethe.de/streamingegos/) which involved five different European countries through the production of an online platform, some critical texts, a convention, commissioned artworks and a final catalogue. The aim of the project was to study how Internet, social networks and, more in general, technologies are modelling the way we relate to others and to the external world, both conceived not simply as biological systems, but also as virtual entities telling their own stories.
“Who am I?” is a primordial existential question, with different connotations depending on the context (social, political or cultural). “Who do I want (or: do I have) to be?” is questioning the very basis of economy, ethics, theology and politics, especially in its collective meaning “Who are we?”
The act of transforming and reinventing the concept of ourselves and, consequently, the idea of community is at the very basis of identity explorations in the digital era. Identity becomes a fluid concept, encompassing different domains of the self. How are identities affected by technology and digital tools? What is the role of art in shaping this notion?
When interacting with other people on the Net, individuals reflect more and more on themselves, carefully choosing contents (whether personal or not) to be shared (and seen by others). This leads to a self-discourse redefining the notions of identity, repetition and difference.
The call includes, but is not limited to, the following themes:
- Technology and Existence (Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Bio-engineering, Robotics...)
- Posthumanism / Post-Anthropocentrism / Identity and the Anthropocene
- Queer identities / Feminisms
- Transpecies Narratives and the Animal
- Surveillance Culture / Collective Identity / Communities and Networks
- Transnational Narratives / Race and Migration
TECHNICAL DETAILS
With this call Digicult addresses research contributions on the mentioned topic, especially from individuals active in the artistic and academic fields (curators, critics, hackers, fabbers, creative producers, lab managers, activists, designers, theorists, independent and academic writers, scholars, artists, etc.)
An abstract of 200 words and a full essay of max 5000 words, as well as interviews (1000 to 2000 words), event and book reviews, should be sent
to: journal@digicult.it
a) Deadline for submission of full article for consideration: 7 May 2017
b) 5 to 10 images at 72 dpi resolution, 700 pixels width
c) Correct captions for images
d) Please, follow the guidelines here: http://www.digicult.it/wp-content/public/Guidelines.pdf
If you wish to send us inquiries and proposals on a special topic to be featured in the next issues, please, contact: journal@digicult.it
We look forward to hearing from you!
Silvia Bertolotti, Marco Mancuso and the Digicult Editorial Board
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DIGIMAG JOURNAL
http://www.digicult.it/digimag-journal/
Established in 2005, Digicult is one of the main international platforms investigating the impact of digital technologies and applied sciences on art, design and contemporary culture. Digicult is an independent editorial project that reaches more than 100,000 online users on a monthly basis. Relying on a wide Network of professionals, cultural operators and institutions, it daily publishes news, calls, interviews, reviews and essays. Its independent digital publishing house – Digicult Editions – also distributes and publishes books and the Digimag Journal. Digicult curates exhibitions, workshops, round tables and meetings, and develops tools for digital publishing and online media communication strategies through the Digicult Agency. It partnered with some of the main international new media art festivals and is part of The Leonardo Affiliate Program. Digicult is founded and directed by Marco Mancuso.
Digimag Journal is an interdisciplinary online publication seeking high-standard articles and reviews that focus on the impact of the last technological and scientific developments on art, design, communication and creativity. Following the former Digimag Magazine, Digimag Journal is a meta-publication that mixes readers and audiences, and mirrors the ever-changing society in which we are living.
Digimag was born as a monthly magazine, and published 72 issues in over 7 years. It provided readers with comprehensive accounts of the latest advancements in the international digital art scene and culture. The magazine Digimag evolved year after year, issue after issue, morphing into a hybrid instrument able to reflect the complexity of contemporary artistic and cultural production. It quickly became a cultural tool for academics, researchers, students, artists, designers, geeks and practitioners connected to the main international media centers, universities, contemporary art galleries, digital art festivals and hacktivist networks. Since 2012, it has become a Journal, based on international call for papers on given subjects: it produced the issue 73 / Autumn 2012 and the issue 74 / Winter 2013.
The growing recognition of Digimag significant contribution to contemporary cultural debate over the years led it to be included in major international academic Archives, Networks and institutions, including MIT WorldCat, Schweizerisches Institut für Kunstwissenschaft SIK-ISEA, Zürich, Switzerland.
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DIGICULT EDITIONS
https://issuu.com/digicultlibrary
Digicult Editions is the publishing initiative of the Digicult project, whose goal is to be active in the publication of the Digimag Journal, but also theoretical books and essays commissioned to international authors, university theses and dissertations of special interest, publications edited in collaboration with other national and international publishers, conference proceedings and class materials connected to educational activities, as well as peer-reviewed publications with institutional partners.
Digicult Editions produces 4 different book series: Networks (Internet, Networks, IT), (h)activism (social and political impact of technologies), Arts and Sounds (more strictly visual and/or sound art), Rhizomes (genres’ intersection) and Digital narratives (new narrative formats: literature, gaming etc).
Digicult Editions uses all the tools of a contemporary digital publishing service: print on demand (POD) via Peecho, Epub and Mobi formats. It also permits to join all the previews on the Digicult Library on Issuuhttps://issuu.com/home/publisher). All contents by Digicult Editions are circulating under CC Licences: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0.
