Lost Not Found: The Circulation of Images in Digital Visual Culture by Marisa Olson- From Words Without Pictures, this essay is a must read. "There is a strain of net art referred to among its practitioners and those who follow it as "pro surfer" work. Characterized by a copy-and-paste aesthetic that revolves around the appropriation of web-based content in simultaneous celebration and critique of the internet and contemporary digital visual culture, this work -- heavy on animated gifs, YouTube remixes, and an embrace of old-school "dirtstyle" web design aesthetics -- is beginning to find a place in the art world. But it has yet to benefit from substantial critical analysis. My aim here is to outline ways in which the work of pro surfers holds up to the vocabulary given to us by studies of photography and cinematic montage. I see this work as bearing a surface resemblance to the use of found photography while lending itself to close reading along the lines of film formalism. Ultimately, I will argue that the work of pro surfers transcends the art of found photography insofar as the act of finding is elevated to a performance in its own right, and the ways in which the images are appropriated distinguishes this practice from one of quotation by taking them out of circulation and reinscribing them with new meaning and authority."
Now is the Time- Lectures series spread over 4 months at the University of Amsterdam. Program looks promising. "Now is the Time: Art and Theory in the 21st Century is a series of seven lecture evenings dedicated to seven themes that encircle the complex arena in which the arts of the new millennium are situated. Socially engaged themes like 9/11, globalisation and the turn to religion of our contemporary society are juxtaposed with subjects that are more directly related to art, such as the return of Romanticism, the primacy of design and the status of the artwork in what is referred to as 'the postmedium condition'."
(NEW) MEDIA ART IN MUSEUMS production - keeping - presentation- International symposium organized by the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka to be held 15- 17 of October at the City Hall in Rijeka, Croatia. "The aim of the international symposium (New)Media Art in Museums is to consider status of (new)media art in museum collections, conditions of keeping, protection, modes of exhibiting and all the changes that (new) media art introduces into the everyday practice of contemporary museums. Special attention will be paid to the specifics regarding production and rights that evolve from interrelations between museum - author - agency - certified producer. By employing the main subject: What are new media? - the symposium will thematically process temporal definition, production, keeping and presenting of (new)media art, as well as artistic features and influences that new media and digital technologies exert on contemporary museum presentation practice."
