THE INTER-SOCIETY FOR THE ELECTRONIC ARTS ISEA NEWSLETTER #86 ISSN1488-3635 #86 March - April 2002 _______________________________________________________________ * CONTENTS * * ISEA2002 Progress Report * In praise of Australia * ISEA2002 Orai ArTv * In separate attachment: * Conferences/Symposia/Workshops/Festivals * Exhibitions * Jobs * Calls * Lists/URLs/Newsletters * **************************************************************************************** ******************************* ISEA2002 Progress Report by Kiyofumi Motoyama ******************************* report on proposals for ISEA2002 proposals for artworks, from the following countries (received at the 1st deadline: November 30) USA UK JAPAN GERMANY CANADA ISRAEL AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA ESTONIA FRANCE POLAND DENMARK CZECH REPUBLIC Proposals received by presentation format exhibition performances electronic theater concerts ------------- 2nd deadline: February 28 [presentation format / proposals] papers/21 panels/2 round tables/2 posters/4 workshops/2 tutorials/1 exhibition/41 performance/6 electronic theater/8 concerts/3 We just had the second deadline on Feb. 28. 2002. So far, we received more than 400 proposals for total by Feb.28. We are getting ready for judging process right now. However, we decided to extend the deadline for papers/panels/round tables/posters/institutional presentations/workshops/tutorials. We will still receive delivered packages of proposals for the above categories until March 20th. Notifications of acceptance will be mailed in May 2002. The city of Nagoya and other public governments will support our official programs, symposium , publications,ISEA2002 Official Exhibition, including remodeling two warehouses in the Nagoya port area as the venue. Images of the warehouse are available from archives of our Mediaselect exhibition on the following websites: http://www.artport.city.nagoya.jp/mediaselect/index.html or http://vision.mdg.human.nagoya-u.ac.jp/mediaselect/ Because of our current economic situation in Japan, we are still making efforts to find other private sponsors for other programs. The program committee is organizing the keynote lecture and symposium with the theme "Orai." University galleries and art galleries in the area are planning to have related exhibitions. We also plan to offer sightseeing excursions to traditional cultural sites of Japan, club events, cultural exchange programs and so on. Our support committee is working on organizing support volunteers including Asian language speakers for foreign participants during the symposium. They will also translate and organize information about possible local private support programs. The publicity committee will work on multilingual invitation letters of ISEA2002 symposium, especially for underrepresented areas. We are looking forward to see you in Japan for ISEA2002 NAGOYA ************************ In praise of Australia by Nina Czegledy ************************ According to well established rumours, the third ISEA in 1992 in Sydney is credited as a major contributing factor to the rapid development of electronic and digital arts in Australia. Today Australian artists, theorists and interdisciplinary scientists play a leading role in the area of art, science and technology as Julianne Pierce, director of Anat observed in the latest edition of the Anat Newsletter. In the month of February as a guest of Anat, I have traveled across the continent and was impressed both by new initiatives and ongoing projects. This subjective report of my travels and recent explorations traces some aspects of Australian digital culture. References, including URLs are listed at the end of the text. My journey began with participation in the Solar Circuit residency/workshop in TASMANIA. The Wild2002 exhibition, connected to Solar, showcased at the Tasmanian Museum an impressive range of international artists, including David Rokeby, Nigel Helyer, Ken Gregory, Melinda Rackham, Andrew Burrell, Martin Welch and others. Wild2002 -as one of the first large exhibitions of this nature in Tasmania- presented a landmark exhibition. Solar Circuit was built on the Polar residency traditions of Lapland and was coordinated by Antoanetta Ivanovna, Sophea Lerner and Andrew Burrell in collaboration with local institutions and organizations in Hobart. The residency brought 35 international artists to the Southern Hemisphere. Workshops, presentations, screenings and performances were organized daily. In a public presentation, Tapio Makela and myself promoted ISEA2002 and ISEA2004 encouraging all to submit applications and participate in the symposia. Judging by the incoming correspondence the encouragement has been successful. In early February, the whole group moved by ferry to Maria Island. This former penitentiary (today a national park) with absolutely limited amount of electricity and no phone, became the unlikely but very happy site of our residency. Narratives and images of the Maria Island adventure (including the kangaroos, snakes and gray geese) will -in due course- be visible to all on the website. In MELBOURNE, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image hosted me. ACMI is poised to move into the brand new and very impressive Federation Square complex, located in the middle of the city. The Centre is promoted as Australia's premier exhibition and discussion centre for screen-based arts, showcasing all forms of the moving image including video, television, film, digital multimedia and online experiences. Alessio Cavallaro, the extremely busy producer and curator of New Media projects at ACMI showed me the town and organized Cross-Circuits. This international new media artists forum, with the participation of Mark Amerika, internet performer, artists and writer, who presented on "re:source" and myself - was moderated by Adrian Miles. We had a large audience and a good Q&A session at the end. SYDNEY was the next stop on this tightly scheduled tour. This buzzing and beautiful city is well known for its diverse activities, however my short time there was mainly restricted to present at Artspace, one of the most interesting venues for regularly programming a wide range of events. There was some time left to talk with several friends who live and work in new media in Sydney including my hosts Zina Kay and Mr. Snow (http://laudanum.net) with whom I discussed in some detail their unique art and consultancy practice. BRISBANE. Two years ago, I had the good fortune to work within the framework of the Alchemy master classes at the Powerhouse in Brisbane. The intriguingly renovated industrial building (built in 1926) opened its doors with festivities in the spring of 2000 and presented a long list of exhibitions, performances, concerts and conferences ever since. In addition to cultural activities the excellent riverside cafe&restaurant is a favoured watering hole for many Brisbanites. In Brisbane, Kim Machan director of the remarkable Maap organization, hosted me. Starting in 1998 MAAP has showcased four festivals, "Excess" the latest multimedia event was presented online and at the Brisbane Powerhouse in October 2001. Kim is planning the next fest, which might take place in China is her plans are successful. I have visited IMA The Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane, which has moved recently to its current elegant quarters. In addition to a regular exhibition program, IMA produces an impressive array of publications yearly. The elegantly renovated building includes a modern theater space and in addition to IMA serves as a home for several organizations focused on performing arts. PERTH. COMING UP! - The first Biennale of Electronic Arts in Perth (BEAP) under the direction of Paul Thomas is scheduled for the summer of 2002. The Fourth CAiiA conference takes place at the same time in Perth. These events and the connected conferences and exhibitions will be of great interest to digital artists, educators and theorists. Symbiotica, the most unique bio-art initiative by Oron Catts, Ionat Zurr and Guy Ben-Ary, is part of the University of Western Australia. In addition to ongoing research Symbiotica offers for the first time a course in bio art and also accepts visiting research fellows. Oron has shown me around in the new and excellently equipped Department of Biology and Anatomy where Symbiotica is located. The in-depth collaborative work of this group is very impressive, the latest results will be shown this August at the BEAP festival. ADELAIDE. Adelaide is built on the land of the Kauma nation and in early March at the opening night of the Adelaide Festival of Arts, respects were paid both to Kauma people and to the ceremonies performed by indigenous people from across the globe. While the list of festival concerts, films, workshops, theater, exhibitions and conferences is endless, I would like to highlight the conVerge events. The conVerge "where art and science meet" exhibition of installations presented in the Art Gallery of South Australia, included an impressive array of Australian artists, presenting the work of Nigel Helyer, Patricia Piccinini, Justine Cooper, Ionat Zurr&Oron Catts and Martin Welch among others. The conVerge symposium ( March 3-4, 2002), organized within the framework of the Adelaide Festival of Arts, explored relationships between the arts and sciences in the context of sustainable futures. The symposium complementing the exhibition at the Art Gallery, presented topics ranging from bioeconomics to knowledge systems and ecology. Adelaide is also home of ANAT the Australian Network for Art and Technology. Beyond my gratitude for generously supporting my tour, I have been impressed for years with ANAT: the range of events they are supporting, their informative newsletters, projects, workshops and conferences. Visiting the office and meeting the officers in person confirmed my earlier opinions. This is a tiny bird's eye view of the Australian mediascape, however it will hopefully serve as an encouragement for other to explore country's culture in greater detail. References Adelaide Adelaide Festival of Arts www.adelaidefestival.org.au *conVerge: where art and science meet March 1-April 28 *art exhibition, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide March 2-3, *symposium, Masonic Hall, Adelaide Anat, Australian Network for Art and Technology www.anat.org.au Membership based organization. Promoting and organizing new media events, interdisciplinary projects between art, science and technology, exhibitions, workshops, conferences, residencies and publishing online and hardcopy newsletters. Brisbane Powerhouse www.brisbanepowerhouse.org Institute of Modern Art IMA www.ima.org.au MAAP www.maap.org.au non-profit organization promoting innovative art and technology in Australia and the Pacific region. Arterial, www.arterial.org.au Art in the public interest Hobart The WILD New Media Project www.wild2002.com February 1-February 12, 2002 *Exhibition of Installations Bond Store,Tasmanian Museum&Art Gallery February 11, 2002 *Cyber symphony for the Tasmanian Devil. Web cast session with Main in Cyberspace, Montreal, Canada February 13, 2002 *Net Radio Broadcast featuring Funda_mental (Austria) Solar Circuit Residency February 2-11, 2002 *Maria Island Melbourne Australian Centre for the Moving Image www. acmi.net.au *From mid 2002, presenting all forms of the moving image: film, video, television, film, digital multimedia &online work. Perth July 31-September 15, 2002 Biennale of Electronic Arts, Perth conferencens August 2- September 15, 2002 www.beap.org *Exhibitions at the John Curtin Gallery/Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts. *Consciousness Reframed. The Fourth International CAiiA-STAR Researche Conference at the John Curtin Gallery. *The Aesthetics of Care, the research and application of living biological systems into a new art practice, presented by SymbioticA and the Institute of Advanced Studies University of Western Australia. *Teaching in the Digital Domain (Forum for Electronic Arts Research). Paul Thomas, Director, Biennale of Electronic Arts, Perth SymbioticA Oron Catts, Ionat Zurr, Guy Ben-Ary Department of Anatomy and Human Biology University of Western Australia www.symbiotica.uwa.edu.au PICA, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts Ltd. www.pica.org.au Sydney Artspace www.artspace.org.au A contemorary visual artspace&critical theory, performance art, conceptual&experimental practices, publications, video& sound art, artists studios. *********** Orai ArTv *********** ISEA2002 multicast webart event An Amersfoort (Holland) based foundation called <LINK> is preparing a multicast/web art project on the occasion of ISEA2002 [Orai]. The project comprises three mutually-reinforcing components. <LINK> aims at taking webcasting a step further, towards a new medium/artform known as ArTv. <LINK> invites participation in this project, and has so far received responses from over 70 artists worldwide. The three components of the project are: -a 3 x 24h. multicast of the complete symposium, including all parallel sessions, exhibition tour, special events etc. All sessions will be archived and accessable after the webcasting. -a web gallery of international web art, exhibited in a structured format. During special sessions several unique art projects will be added 'live' from different parts of the world. -a very special interface that aims at creating the sense of physical presence. With this project <LINK> hopes to link the culturally diverse, international art community to the lucky ones that actually attend ISEA2002 in Nagoya. The participation <LINK> seeks is: -actual participation in the live webcast at the symposium site in Japan (camera, mixing, good ideas, technical, etc) -contributions to the web art gallery in as many art disciplines as possible, including the traditional, the interdisciplinary and the still undefined artforms. -plans for 'live' contributions from different places in the world. We aim this to be as multi cultural and multi disciplinary as possible. There must, however, be a clear relation to the theme of ISEA2002: 'Orai'. This should not be too difficult*). Potential contributers must be prepared for testing several times before the symposium takes place. <LINK> stresses that although it is raising the funds necessary for organizing this project, it will not be able to financially sponsor any of the contributants. <LINK> will, however, help your own fund-raising by writing letters of recommendation etc. as necessary. Send your responses asap to w.vanderplas@icim.org *)'ORAI' is a Japanese word, meaning comings and goings, communication and contact, as well as streets and traffic. About 200 years ago a book titled 'Nagoya Orai' was compiled and published in Nagoya and it was used as a kind of textbook for teaching and writing. Through arguments around art and its interdisciplinary studies, ISEA2002 Nagoya [Orai] hopes to provide an opportunity to create a new text in this electronically networked society. (source: www.isea.jp) **************************************************************************************** In the attachment to this Newsletter: * Conferences/Symposia/Workshops/Festivals * Exhibitions * Jobs * Calls * Lists/URLs/Newsletters * **************************************************************************************** Contributors: Kiyofumi Motoyama, Nina Czegledy, Wim van der Plas Editor: Madris Duric (ISEA HQ) ISEA Board Members: Nina Czegledy, Kathy Rae Huffman, Cynthia Beth Rubin, Peter Anders, Atau Tanaka, Wim van der Plas, Marina Grzinic, Niranjan Rajah. ISEA-HQ: Madris Duric, Milo Pationiott ISEA LISTSERV: To subscribe, send a message to: listproc@uqam.ca, no subject, with the following message in the body of the email: "subscribe ISEA-forum first name last name" ISEA: Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts POB 512, 3800 AM Amersfoort, Netherlands Phone ++31-33-4228915 Fax ++31-33-4228933 isea@isea.qc.ca * http://www.isea.qc.ca ============================================end of newsletter, part 1