THE INTER-SOCIETY FOR THE ELECTRONIC ARTS ISEA NEWSLETTER ISSN1488-3635 #79 August - September 2000 PART II _______________________________________________________________ * CONTENTS * * Editorial * ISEA News * News from Members * Article * _______________________________________________________________ *Une version francaise est disponible. Contacter le secretariat pour l'obtenir* ************************** EDITORIAL ************************** After an exciting week at Siggraph, the ISEA team is now preparing for the whirlwind ride that fall promises to bring. In this edition of the Newsletter we present to you the latest news from ISEA2000 and update you on the ISEA presence at Siggraph 2000. Once again this year, Siggraph was a place to meet with all those who make up the Inter-Society. With the precious help of Cynthia Beth Rubin, Wim van der Plas and Thecla Schiphorst (ISEA Board Members) we organized an informal ISEA reunion. This gathering brought together friends and members of the Inter-Society making it possible to assess the present situation of ISEA, discuss upcoming projects and present the ISEA2000 Symposium. For this, we were happy to have among us Maurice Benayoun and Philippe Codognet, the former is a member of the steering committee the latter a member of the international programming committee for ISEA2000. They updated us on the latest developments of the symposium while promising an event-filled week in the heart of Paris. Art3000, the organizers for the event, are happy to announce very minimal registration fees - making it possible for a greater number of people to attend. The preliminary program schedule will be out mid-September. We strongly encourage you to communicate with the organizers and subscribe to their mailing lists. You will find in the following pages an article by Cynthia Beth Rubin outlining the participation of ISEA members at the Siggraph Gallery, news about our members and the jobs and calls section. This is an abridged version of the Newsletter. A special 'Board Elections' issue comprising of nominee presentations and a voting ballot will be out shortly. The new Board will be unveiled during ISEA2000 in Paris. These elections are a unique chance for members to be heard and express their wishes and preoccupations about the evolution of our organization. We encourage you to participate in the vote to ensure the election of a Board that reflects our membership. More to come... Natalie Melançon ISEA-HQ ************************** ISEA NEWS ************************** ISEA2000 UPDATE 10TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ELECTRONIC ART December 7-10, 2000 Paris, France www.art3000.com After Helsinki, Rotterdam, Chicago, and Liverpool, the tenth edition of the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA) will be held in France in December of 2000, uniting participants from over 30 countries. Under the theme of Revelation, ISEA 2000 will explore the effects of the technological revolution on art and its impact on society through new forms of representation, such digital imaging, multimedia, the virtual, interactive installations and networks. ISEA 2000 will focus on the transformations and the challenges that exist in the visual arts, the performing arts, music, imaging, architecture and design, while highlighting how these new tools generate artistic expression intrinsic to digital culture. ISEA 2000 includes: * An International Symposium at the Forum des Images from December 7th to the 10th which will bring together over 2000 artists, educators, researchers and industry experts. * A series of artistic events organised by various groups in and around Paris, including : Batofar, Bibliotheque nationale de France, the Canadian Cultural Centre, Centre d'art d'Ivry (CREDAC), Centre Georges Pompidou, Centre National de la Danse, CICV Pierre Schaeffer, Divan du Monde, Espace Landowski (Boulogne), Institut Goethe, Institut Finlandais, IRCAM, Project Cafe MK2, Universite Paris 8-CIREN, Web Bar, les Nuits Savoureuses (Belfort), Monaco Danse Forum, De Visu (Brest), Mix Move (Paris), ACROE (Grenoble), Intersenses (Marseille). ISEA2000 is organised by ART3000 in collaboration with ISEA/Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts, with the support and collaboration of the Ministere de la Culture et de la Communication (DDAT, DAP, DAI, CNC, DMDTS, DRAC IDF), the Conseil Regional IDF, and with the help of public and private partners such as: Forum des images, Delegation Generale du Quebec... ISEA2000 is sponsored by Paris 2000, la Mission pour la celebration de l'An 2000 and the Council of Europe. For more information visit www.art3000.com USEFUL INFORMATION: ISEA2000 REGISTRATION FEES Registration gives complete access to the Symposium (conferences, panels, workshops, poster-sessions, screenings and concerts at the Forum des Images) as well as discounts for all associated events. FULL-PRICE : - 400 FRF - 4 day package - 150 FRF - 1 day pass DISCOUNT PRICE (ISEA members, Students, Unemployed...) : - 300 FRF - 4 day package - 100 FRF - 1 day pass GROUPS (minimum 10 people) : - 10% discount on full or discount price. USEFUL ADDRESSES A pre-program for ISEA2000 will be available in mid-September. At this time you will also be able to access the official ISEA2000 website to consult the programme and to register for the Symposium. To keep informed, send your contact info to: isea2000@art3000.com ART3000 (to receive a more detailed program and/or to register) 156 Avenue de Verdun 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux France tel. : 33 (0)1 46 48 66 36 fax : 33 (0)1 46 48 66 59 email : isea2000@art3000.com web: www.art3000.com TOURISM OFFICE : (hotel reservations) 127, Avenue des Champs ElysZes 75008 Paris France tel. : 33 (0)1 49 52 53 34 or 33 (0)8 36 68 31 12 web : www.paris-touristoffice.com Metro : Franklin Roosevelt, ligne 1 The preliminary program will include a list of hotels offering discounts to ISEA2000 participants. FORUM DES IMAGES : (Symposium venue) Forum des halles Porte Saint Eustache 75001 Paris Metro : Chatelet, ligne 4 ************************** NEWS FROM MEMBERS ************************** PATRICIA SEARCH'S multimedia installation Ancient Voices in Cyberspace will be on view at the Amos Eno Gallery, 59 Franklin Street, New York, NY, from October 21 - November 8, 2000. Ancient Voices in Cyberspace explores the aesthetics of narrative, visual images, music, and action in aboriginal cultures as a foundation for new perspectives in human-computer interaction. The installation juxtaposes symbols, poems, and music drawn from aboriginal cultures with the limitations of human-computer interaction. For more information about the artist and the installation see www.rpi.edu/~searcp/voices.html. ********************************* NEW AND RENEWING MEMBERS ********************************* Thank you and welcome to the following new and renewing members: Ernestine Daubner, Bert Bongers, Jose-Carlos Mariategui, Margot Lovejoy, Margaret Dolinsky, Peter Anders, Will Larson, Diane Leduc, Roslyn Dauber, Alberto Gaitàn, Kia Ng, Catherine Ikam, Melinda Rackham, Madris Duric, Wolfgang Dopp,InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre/Kathleen Pirrie Adams ************************** SIGGRAPH 2000 ************************** ISEA MEMBERS AT SIGGRAPH A Report by Cynthia Beth Rubin SIGGRAPH once again provided the occasion for ISEA members and followers to network, share ideas, and hang out in a stimulating swirl of sessions, exhibitions, discussions, and parties. The cohesive, accepting nature of the Electronic Arts community was summed up by ISEA member Paul Hertz at the end of the week, when he said "there are only two places where I dance: my kitchen and SIGGRAPH". Of course he meant to include ISEA as well, where this year Paris will give us another great opportunity to hang out, dance, and share ideas. Of particular interest to independent creative minds at this year's SIGGRAPH were the artist discussions drawn from art show participants, and the several sessions on the nature of narrative and the conceptual challenges of non-linear story telling. And while some sessions on Web design stuck to the familiar questions of how to sell, it was clear from audience questions that many people are now considering the fuller potential of the web as an important part of art and culture. The presentations on VRML, organized by ISEA Board member Kathy Rae Huffman (with Karel Dudesek) and the annual 3D web round up proved that the web is changing and growing by leaps and bounds. This year's art show chair was ISEA member Diane Gromala, who coordinated an impressive show that was even discussed in the Arts section of the New York Times! Noah Wardrip-Fruin (also an ISEA member) and Diane Gromala orchestrated a number of artist presentations and discussions, including the panel "No Art Jargon!", a discussion on how artists use technology in the creative process. ISEA members who participated in the SIGGRAPH art show include the following (descriptions taken from the artists' statements). Annette Weintraub, Crossroads: This work explores the capacity of film and advertising culture to shape our sense of place. CROSSROADS examines a mythic Times Square through a series of narratives. Ellen Sandor, Art(n) Lab (with TJ McLeish and Skyboy Productions and Art(n) Lab team), Townhouse Revisited: This PHSCologram and interactive audio sculpture addresses issues of the body, public space, and touch in the architecture of virtual reality. Richard Brown, Biotica: A visceral and immersive 3D experience of evolving, responsive and abstract artificial life forms. Gestural sensing (via the MIT fish) enables the viewer to fly in the Biotica world simply using their arms. Bonnie Mitchell, Merging Identity: This work invites people from all over the world to collaborate by manipulating each other's images, adding poetry and audio to theme pages and submitting animations and video. The site has theme pages that update automatically when submissions are sent. Anna Ullich, The Siren: An image of a woman constructing an industrial form out of her hair using decorative braids and hair weaves. The physical prowess of men is fueling the regeneration of her hair that is swallowing the landscape and the men upon it. Noah Wardrip-Fruin (with A.C. Chapman, Brion Moss, Duane Whitehurst), The Impermanence Agent: This site monitors the user's web browsing, and tells stories. Images and texts from the user's browsing are combined with the stories of the Agent. In time, the stories of the Agent are lost. Something new, a collaboration between the user a Kathy Rae Huffman (with Karel Dudesek), VRML Art: An overview of exciting developments in the VRML Internet worlds. Any ISEA members who presented sketches, papers, or on panels are invited to continue the discussion on the ISEA Forum. Cynthia Beth Rubin is a member of ISEA's Board of Directors and Contributor to the ISEA Newsletter. ********************************** DATABASE OF VIRTUAL ART at the Department of Art History / Humboldt-University Berlin Interactive media art, telematic art and especially virtual art create entirely new forms of perception and aesthetics that enjoy a considerable response from audiences at festivals and exhibitions world wide. Nevertheless, museums failed to collect and document art of this kind systematically. Because of an informational deficit among museum, curatorial and conservational attempts are only partially supported. Consequently, long-term concepts for gathering virtual art, especially in cooperation with computer centers, do not exist at this point. Specific to the nature of digital art works is that their electronic, physical carriers become anachronistic with quick progression of technological innovation. It is not an exaggeration to say that a full decade of international media art is in danger of being lost. The growing gaps in collecting media art can only be filled again with immense effort. In order to counter the increasing complex of difficulties, and in view of the current active developments, it is necessary to make information readily available as soon as possible. The Project The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) supports an initiative of the art history department of the Humboldt-University in Berlin to build up an international archive of virtual art. A high-capacity Internet database able to accomodate large numbers of users is being developed in cooperation with the university's computer center and multimedia service. The project is officially cooperating with international institutions like CAiiA (GB), Banff Centre (Can), IAMAS (J), Paris 8 (F), ZKM (G), GMD (G) and rhizome (world). The goal of the project is to provide an overview and to document the development of media art scientifically in support of an oeuvre created by artists who are themselves actively engaged in complex international research networks. Materials that are needed for realization of the database: -video documents - concepts (sketch and text) - hardware and software configurations - installation structures - list of exhibitions (places, dates, names of works) - interviews and sound documents - biographies - bibliographies - articles from journals and newspapers - literature about work Our technical basis consists of a SUN-Server and an Oracle database Oliver Grau Assistence: Ana Ofak, Arndt Roth, Lena Bader, Anja Schmalfuss and Christian Berndt Artist that confirmed their cooperation are so far: Seiko Mikami, Charlotte Davies, Christa Sommerer/Laurent Mignonneau, Christian Moeller, Eduardo Kac, Jack Ox, Jane Prophet, Jeffrey Shaw, Jenny Holzer, Jill Scott, Joachim Sauter, Ken Goldberg, Maurice Benayoun, Michael Naimark, Monika Fleischmann/Wolfgang Strauss, Benjamin Britton, Paul Sermon, Simon G Penny, Simone Michelin, Supreme Particles (Michael Saup), Toni Dove, Paul Yuxweluptun et. al. DR. OLIVER GRAU Kunsthistorisches Seminar Humboldt University Berlin Dorotheenstr. 28; 10099 Berlin Tel: +49 (0)30 2093-4295 (direct) Tel: +49 (0)30 2093-4288 (Secr) Fax: +49 (0)30 2093-4209 Oliver.Grau@culture.hu-berlin.de www.arthist.hu-berlin.de/arthistd/mitarbli/og/og.html ************************** JOBS AND CALLS ************************** will be sent as separate email ISEA NEWSLETTER============================================ Editor: Katarina Soukup /Translation: Carina Di Menna, Natalie Melançon Contributors: Patricia Search, Cynthia Beth Rubin, Natalie Melançon ______________________________________________________ ISEA, 3530 boul. Saint-Laurent, suite 305, Montreal (QC), H2X 2V1, CANADA Tel: (514) 847-8912, Fax: (514) 847-8834 email: isea@isea.qc.ca URL: http://www.isea.qc.ca _____________________________________________________________ ISEA Board Members: Nina Czegledy, Kathy Rae Huffman, Amanda McDonald Crowley, Alain Mongeau, Cynthia Beth Rubin, Thecla Schiphorst, Atau Tanaka, Wim van der Plas ___________________________________________________________________ ISEA LISTSERV: To subscribe, send a message to: listproc@uqam.ca, no subject, with the message in the body: "subscribe ISEA-forum first name last name" ============================================ ISEA distributes a hard copy version of this Newsletter in order to keep its members, who have no access to Electronic Mail, informed. Support: La Fondation Daniel Langlois, Ministere de la culture et des communications du Quebec. ============================================end of newsletter ***************************************** Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts Inter-Societe des arts electroniques 3530, boul. Saint-Laurent, suite 305 Montreal, Quebec, CANADA H2X 2V1 tel. +1-514-847-8912 * Fax. +1-514-847-8834 isea@isea.qc.ca * http://www.isea.qc.ca ********************* ISEA2000 ************** 7.12 - 10.12, 2000 / Paris, France / www.art3000.com