THE INTER-SOCIETY FOR THE ELECTRONIC ARTS
THE ISEA NEWSLETTER
#7, JULY 1992
_________________________________________________________________
Editors: Wim van der Plas, Dirk Boon (Holland)
Correspondents: Yoshiyuki Abe (Japan), Roger Malina (US), Ivan
Pope (UK),
ISEA, POB 60103, 9703 BC Groningen, The Netherlands
Tel 31-50-425254, Fax 31-75-701906, Email ISEA@RUG.NL or
A430WYNA@DIAMOND.SARA.NL
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CONTENTS
Editorial Wim van der Plas
ISEA/ASTN Meeting Wim van der Plas
Lecture by Collis Davis Wim van der Plas
Artlab2 Yoshi Abe
Piazza Virtualle Georg Muhleck
Fineart Forum: Selected Items
Calendar
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EDITORIAL
Wim van der Plas
ISEA's first Annual Reports (June 1990 - June 1992) are
completed. It includes a financial report and it will be sent to
all ISEA members this month.
Since ISEA is a society with members, and registered in Holland,
(Dutch) law requires that the members elect the board. Although
there will be ISEA meetings both at this year's Siggraph
Conference (see below) and at the Third International Symposium
on Electronic Art (november, Australia), the provisional board
(Theo Hesper and Wim van der Plas) will prepare these elections
to take place by mail. This way every member has equal influence.
All members will receive the annual report, but only full members
(including student members) have voting right. Besides the
election of the board, members are invited to speak out on
several issues. One of them is the membership fees. A proposal is
in preparation.
Candidates for the ISEA Board or members that wish to nominate
other members are invited to submit their names and a short
resume c.v. to ISEA before September 1, 1992. Candidates must
understand that members of the ISEA Board are not paid.
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ISEA/ASTN MEETING
Wim van der Plas
ISEA/ISAST MEETING AT SIGGRAPH '92
Thursday July 30, 1992, 12.00-13.3O hours
McCormick Place, Chicago, USA
For the room#, see the Siggraph Program (Birds of a Feather
meetings)
Presentations will be given on and by:
-The Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts (ISEA)
-The Thrird International Symposium on Electronic Art (TISEA)
-The Fourth International Symposium on Electronic Art (FISEA93)
-The International Society for the Arts, Science & Technology
(ISAST)
-The ART, Science & Technology Network (ASTN)
Anyone, whishing to give a short presentation, is welcome to do
so. Please, contact Roman Verostko at FISEA93@MSC.NET or at
Siggraph.
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LECTURE ON INTERACTIVE CINEMA
Wim van der Plas
TIME BASED ARTS and THE INTER-SOCIETY FOR THE ELECTRONIC ARTS
PRESENT:
ELEGBA'S STRATAGEM
an Interactive Narrative Video Project ("back talk" cinema)
Lecture on his work by Collis H. Davis, Jr.
Department of Theatre, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA
Friday August 14, 1992, 20.15 hours
Time Based Arts, Bloemgracht 121, Amsterdam, Holland
OVERVIEW
Elegba's Stratagem is an interactive fiction video work-in-
progress. It is a production which employs a personal computer
and 3 videodisc players in the presentation of a real-time,
branching narrative and its mediation by viewer "back talk,"
otherwise known as speech recognition.
TECHNOLOGY
Using current terminology, Elegba's Stratagem can be considered
as a "multimedia" system that incorporates real-time video with
overlaid graphics and text, speech recognition and touch screen
interfaces. The system is designed to edit seamlessly between the
three videodisc players such that the resulting sequences appear
to be permanently edited.
NARRATIVE CONCEPT & CONTENT
The story is about the trials and tribulation of an African-
American painter's experiences when he arrives in New York City
to make his name in the art world. It is designed to promote a
new awareness of myth as a means for restoring links to African
culture. Story characters are imbued with archetypal qualities of
various important deities, well-known for their powers,
personalities, behavior, and domains of responsibility. The
protagonist, Lazarus Wilder, encounters these characters in his
everyday life, and in the process, discovers the key to his own
paradoxical position within the Orisha universe.
ABOUT COLLIS DAVIS
Collis Davis is assistant professor at the Ohio State Universi-
ty's Department of Theatre. He was born in 1942 in Virginia. He
completed the Master of Fine Arts program at the New York
University's Graduate Institute of Motion Picture and Television
Production.
Davis worked as an independent film and videomaker for over a
decade and from 1980 onwards, he was a teacher in photography and
film at three institutions in the New York area. In 1982 he
completed a documentary on the Haitian boat people called "Voyage
of Dreams." This tape pioneered in its extensive use of computer
graphic editorial illustration and animation.
In addition to his work in film and video, Davis' photographic
work has been published in journals such as "Downbeat" and books
such as Leonard Feather's "A Passion for Jazz" and Deborah
Willis' "BLACK PHOTOGRAPHER 1940-88".
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ARTLAB
Yoshi Abe
ARTLAB2 - Systems for a new regenerative environment
from 17(Fri) to 26(Sun) July 11am - 8pm
at New Pier Hall (1-11-1 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Participants:
Gerald van der Kaap(Amsterdam)
Mission Invisible (New collaboration of Japanese artists)
supported by Ministry of Welfare, Health and Cultural Affairs,the
Netherlands and Japan-Netherlands Institute.
ARTLAB was established in April 1991 by Canon Inc. as a new form
of cultural support. It aims to push back the frontiers of art
and technology by applying Canon's digital image processing
technology for artistic purposes. ARTLAB organizes original and
public exhibitions, publishes the NEn Journal (New Environment),
organizes NEn Research (workshops and lectures) and provides
financial and equipment support for art projects.
for further information, contact
ARTLAB
5F, Roppongi DK Building
7-18-23 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 106 Japan
tel 81-3-5410-3611
fax 81-3-5410-3615
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PIAZZA VIRTUALE
Georg Muhleck
The Documenta in Kassel is the world's most important showcase of
contemporary art. The Ninth Documenta (June 13 - September 20,
1992) invited Van Gogh TV to present a special project:
PIAZZA VIRTUALE - AN INTERACTIVE TV PROGRAM.
Everybody can join in and become part of this on-going TV-
artwork. Television has become an integral part in a multimedia
environment. A new computer controlled user interface has been
designed for Piazza Virtuale. You can participate by telephone,
computer and modem, via fax or picture phone. Your home tv screen
becomes a virtual window to public place, to Piazza Virtuale.
For information:
Van Gogh TV Kassel
Postfach 101909
W-3500 Kassel, Germany
Tel 49-561-169-33/62/84, Fax 49-561-16910, Mailbox: 49-561-16960
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Selected items from Fineart Forum, Volume 6 #7.
The Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts contributes to Fineart
Forum and republishes the items on electronic art on behalf of
its members.
FAF is published by the International Society for Art, Science
and Technology on behalf of The Art, Science and Technology
Network.
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CALL FOR COMPOSITIONS
Noel B. Zahler
CALL FOR COMPOSITIONS AND PAPERS: Fourth Symposium on the
Arts and Technology
The Connecticut College Center for Arts and Technology, in
conjunction with the departments of Music, Studio Art, Art
History, Dance, Theater, English, Mathematics/Computer Science,
Physics, Physical Education, Psychology, and Linguistics is
pleased to announce the fourth symposium on The Arts and
Technology, 4-6 March 1993. The Symposium will consist of paper
sessions, panel discussions, an art exhibition, and concerts of
music, mixed media works, video, dance and experimental theatre.
Selected papers will be published by Connecticut College Press as
Proceedings and will be available at the symposium.
Papers:
A detailed two page abstract including audio-visual requirements
should be sent to the address below no later than 15 September
1992. Approved abstracts will be notified by 15 November 1992.
Finished papers must be submitted in camera-ready form by 15
January, 1993. The Symposium encourages research presentations
and demonstrations in all areas of the arts and technology but is
particularly interested in receiving papers concerned with
Interactivity, Virtual Reality, Cognition and the Arts,
Applications in Video and Film, Experimental Theater, The
Compositional Process and the Speculative Use of Technology in
Education. Other topics should include but are not limited to
acoustics, artificial intelligence, psycho-acoustics, vision and
imaging.
Compositions:
Works for instruments and tape or tape alone are being solicited
at this time. Available instruments are: flute (doubling on
piccolo), oboe, clarinet (doubling on bass clarinet), bassoon,
trumpet, horn, trombone, percussion (two players), piano, and
strings (2,1,1,1).
Works should not exceed 15 minutes in length and should be
submitted with accompanying score, where appropriate, before 15
September 1992. We are especially interested in receiving a
number of interactive performance compositions and video works.
Dance compositions are also encouraged, as are, experimental
theatre works using "new technology."
Tapes for selection purposes should be on cassette, or 1/2 inch
VHS. Tapes for performance should be 15 i.p.s. stereo or
quadrophonic, or DAT. Video works should be 3/4 inch Umatic or
1/2 inch VHS. A self addressed, preposted envelope should be
included for the return of materials within the U.S.A. Foreign
materials will be returned at our expense.
Send, before 15 September 1992 to:
Dr. Noel Zahler, Co-director
Center for Arts and Technology
Box 5632
Connecticut College
270 Mohegan Avenue
New London, Connecticut 06320-4196
Internet: nbzah@mvax.cc.conncoll.edu
BITNET: nbzah@conncoll
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VRA SATELLITE MEETING PROGRAM FOR BERLIN
James Bower
Plans have now been finalized for the Visual Resources
Association Satellite Meeting, to be held July 15-16, 1992, in
conjunction with the 28th International Congress of the History
of Art in Berlin.
The overall Congress theme of "Artistic Exchange" will be carried
through the two-day VRA Satellite Meeting, as the following
program shows.
Wednesday, July 15 - "The Image in Artistic Exchange"
International Congress Center, Berlin, Germany
9:30am - 4:30pm
Keynote Presentation: "Second Hand Images: The Role of
Surrogates in Artistic and Cultural Exchange"
Speaker: Helene E. Roberts, Fine Arts Library, Harvard
University
Panel 1: "19th-Century Photography as a Tool for Artistic
Exchange"
Panel 2: "The Digitized Artwork: European Initiatives" Speakers
will present European collaborative projects to capture,
document, and transmit visual documentation of artworks.
Panel 3: "Computer Applications in Visual Resources Collections:
The Role of Periodicals" This panel will assess the
effectiveness of current and future channels for disseminating
information about automation in visual resources collections --
how well are our own needs for "artistic exchange" being met?
Thursday, July 16 - "Automated Resources for Visual
Collections: Presentations"
International Congress Center, Berlin, Germany
10:00am - 5:30pm
Day 2 of the VRA Satellite Meeting consists of a day-long forum
on automated tools for art-historical research and their use in
visual resources collections.
The official opening of the 28th CIHA Congress will follow the
VRA meetings on Wednesday, July 15; Congress sessions are
scheduled for July 16-17 and July 19-20, with July 18 reserved
for excursions and tours. All meetings, including the VRA
Satellite Meeting, will take place at the Internationales
Congress Centrum in western Berlin.
Information on the Congress is available from:
the Kongressburo,
Kunsthistorisches Institut der Freien Universitat,
Morgenstrasse 2-3,
1000 Berlin 45, Germany;
tel. 49-30-77303-116; fax 49-30-77303-110.
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SIGGRAPH 93 ART SHOW
Simon Penny
MACHINE CULTURE; the Virtual Frontier.
The Siggraph93 Artshow departs from tradition. It will be
curated, small, and be exclusively interactive timebased and/or
virtual. It will present works that are exemplary from BOTH
technical and contemporary aesthetic viewpoints. Call for
participation will be available at Siggraph 92 Chicago, and
should be available at info93@siggraph.org. Also the call will
be published in several media arts journals internationally.
Enquiries regarding proposals, etc will be answered at
s93artshow@siggraph.org ONLY after Sept 1 1992. Proposals for
critical essays are also invited.
Simon Penny, Siggraph93 artshow chair
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BOOK
Cliff Pickover
A NEW BOOK BY CLIFFORD PICKOVER: MAZES FOR THE MIND: COMPUTERS
AND THE UNEXPECTED
Hardcover, color. 470 illustrations.
Orders received before Sept. 1, 1992: $26.36
Orders received after Sept. 1, 1992: $32.95
Publication Date: Oct 1992.
For more info: tel 1-212 674-5151, extension 626.
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COMPUTER ARTISTS SURVEY
James Strong
Currently I am conducting a survey of the views of computer
artists on a number of issues relating to computer art as part of
my studies in art and computing.
I am interested in receiving your views on the following
questions and in particular questions 1 & 2. Your online response
to these and any other related issues would be most appreciated.
1. Has the use of a computer enhanced or inhibited your creative
processes?
IF IT HAS ENHANCED YOUR ART MAKING:
In what way is the computer conducive to `Art Making'? Is it the
medium's versatility or the productive power of the software?
Does the medium enable you to do what other mediums don't?
IF IT HAS INHIBITED YOUR ART MAKING
Is it the software`s tendency to impose certain characteristics
on your work? Could you suggest any improvements to current
software to overcome this tendency. In what other ways do you
feel restricted?
2. What do you consider the computer's role to be in the
creative process? Do you, for example, consider it a tool, and
that alone, or does it also stimulate the creative process for
you?
3. Some writers/artists are suggesting that the only way that
computer art will make a significant contribution to mainstream
art will be by the unique visual and manipulative qualities that
are possible through this new medium. Hard copy computer art
work hung on a wall really doesn't `break any new ice'. Do you
agree with this, and if so, what aspect of this medium do you see
as most promising?
4. There is very little computer art being purchased by public
galleries. Do you think this is because it is too early in the
development of computer art to expect any significant works of
art in this new medium or do you think that, like most new art
movements and new media, computer art is ahead of its time and
that we cannot expect it to gain immediate and general
acceptance?
5. Where do you think computer art is heading? Computers have
had a major influence on most other aspects of life and certainly
in graphic `art' for television and the film industry. Will it
have a major impact in the `fine arts'?
SOME PERSONAL DETAILS
6. Are you a practicing computer artist?
7. Could you give some brief details of the hardware and
software systems you use and an overview of your current computer
art work?
Looking forward to receiving your response.
James Strong - james@tafe.sa.edu.au
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EVENT IN BUENOS AIRES
Monica Cosachov
Iberoamerican Cultural Capital : Buenos Aires
Five Hundred Years Anniversary of the discovery of America
A great event is planned similar to Sevilla. There will be a
project based on telecommunications with special emphasis on
their applications for aesthetic views. They will be ready to
receive messages in terms of designs, metaphors, photos, videos,
etc. They are bearing in mind all aspects related to the
specific convergences of Arts and Sciences involved: telephone,
fax, TV, modem, computers, etc. They would like to include
institutions and individuals in this fraternal network and are
asking to have data sent. In return they will send instructions.
Please contact: Monica Cosachov, Virrey Loreto 3530, 1426
Argentina,
tel: 551 4868.
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ARTS WIRE
Anna Couey
Arts Wire is pleased to announce it is now open to new users.
Arts Wire is a computer-based network designed to meet
communication needs of the arts community, especially those who
speak and act from an artists' perspective. It provides access
to news, facts, and open discussion on the social, economic,
philosophical, intellectual, and political conditions affecting
the arts and artists today.
Arts Wire is a program of the New York Foundation for the Arts.
For further information contact:
Anne Focke, Arts Wire Project Director
811 First Avenue #403, Seattle, WA 98104
tel: 206.343.0769
Internet: afocke@tmn.com
Anna Couey, Arts Wire Network Coordinator
463 Waller, San Francisco, CA 94117
tel: 415.255.2854
Internet: couey@tmn.com
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CALENDAR
ZAGREB 92
July 22-26
10th World Festival of Animated Films
Info: Kneza Mislava
18 41000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel 38-41-446011, 446436, 446439
Fax 38-41-443022
SIGGRAPH 92
Computer Graphics & Interactive Techniques
July 26-31, Chicago, USA
Art & Design Show: July 27-31
Electronic Theatre: July 28-31
Papers/Panels: July 29-31
Info: ACM-Siggraph 92
POB 95316, Chicago, IL 60694-5316 USA
Tel 1-312-3216830
HIROSHIMA 92
4th International Animation Festival
August 20-24
Info: Festival Office
4-17 Kako-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima 730 Japan
Tel 81-82-2450245
Fax 81-82-2450246
EUROPEAN MEDIA ART FESTIVAL
September 2-6 1992
Osnabruck Germany
Info: POB 1861, D-4500 Osnabruck, Germany
Tel 49-541-21658
Fax 49-541-28327
OTTAWA 92 INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL
September 30 - October 4
Deadline for entries: July 17, 1992
Info: Ottawa 92 Animaytion Festival
c/o Canadian Film Institute
2 Daly Ave., Ottawa, Canada K1N 6E2
Tel 1-613-2326727
Fax 1-613-2326315
FAUST 92
October 16-20, Toulouse, France
IVth International Trade Show on Creative Technologies
Secretariat:
FAUST, Mairie de Toulouse
34, rue Pargaminieres
31000 Toulouse, France
Tel 33-61-214474 & 222300
Fax 33-61-298611
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THREE DIMENSIONAL MEDIA TECHNOLOGY
November 3-5 1992, Montreal Canada
3D Film, Video & TV, Stereo Computer Graphics & Animation,
Virtual Reality, Holography, Spatial Sound Systems, 3-D Multi
Media, 3D Theory & Research
Info: 3Dmt Center Concordia University
7141 Sherbrooke Street, West Montreal, Canada H4B 1R6
Tel 1-514-8482539
Fax 1-514-8483492
Email hal@vax2.concordia.ca
THIRD INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ELECTRONIC ART
November 9-13 1992
Sydney Australia
Info: TISEA
POB A307, Sydney South NSW 2000
Australia
Tel 61-2-3605607
Fax 61-2-3602943
Email anat@peg.pegasus.oz.au
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Calls for Participation
IMAGINA
Call for Participation
Imagina, the 12th Monte Carlo International Forum on New Images.
February 17-19, 1993
Key dates:
Papers:
July 31st: deadline for reception of abstracts
November 20th: deadline for reception full papers
Virtual Gallery:
October 1st: deadline for proposistions
All proposals should be sent to:
M. Philippe Queau
INA, 4, avenue de l'Europe
F-94366 Bry-sur-Marne Cedex
France
Tel 33-1-49832714, fax: 33-1-49832582
TOPICS:
Natural models & physically-based modeling, Procedural
animation/Goal oriented animation, 3D character animation, Facial
animation, Virtual environments, Multimedia environments &
hypermedia, Visual programming languages & environments, Graphic
user interfaces, Gestural input interfacres, Emergent user
interfaces, Computer vision, Intelligent computer-aided design,
Image processing, Motion control, Special effects, Computer
assisted key-frame animation, Real time simulation/animation,
Super computer visualisation/animation, Parallel
Processing/advanced architectures in computer graphics, Cellular
automa, Genetic algorithms, HTV computer graphics, Computer
stereographics, Computer graphics for Imax/Omnimax, Interactive
computer art.
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EXHIBITION
Gary Hill: Installations
July 4 - September 13, 1992
Le Creux de l'Enfer
Vallee des Usines
63300 Thiers, France
Tel 33-73802656
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COURSE
Principles & Practice of Advanced User-Interfaces
October 12-16 Bonn, Germany
November 16-20 Rennes, France
Information:
CWI, Mr Frans Snijders
POB 4079
1009 AB Amsterdam, Holland
Tel 31-20-5924133
Fax 31-20-5924199
Email: FRANSS@CWI.NL
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ISEA distributes a hard copy version of this Newsletter in order
to keep its members, who have no access to Electronic Mail,
informed. Those members can, if they desire, get in touch with
the Email addresses mentioned in this Newsletter by contacting
ISEA.
The Inter-Society aims at joining an already existing world-wide
network of artists, scientists and their institutes, making it
easier for the institutes and individual members to share
expertise with each other. The aims of the Inter-Society are to
promote a structured approach to electronic art and to help
finance worthy electronic art projects. For membership
information contact ISEA at the address on the front page.
end of INL0792