Digicult Last Publications & Digicult Editions

Digicult last publications:

Ars Electronica Prix 2013: Golden Nica
Nicolas Bernier: between frequencies and dichotomies
By Donata Marletta

Nicolas Bernier is one of the most interesting and sophisticated artists in the contemporary scenario. His piece frequencies(a) has been awarded 2 days ago with the prestigious Golden Nica for the “Digital Musics and Sound Art” section by the Ars Electronica Festival (http://www.aec.at/prix/gewinner/). Nicolas is a sound artist working with digital and mechanical tools. Dichotomies seem to best describe his artistic production: digital/organic, tradition/experimentation, cerebral/sensual, mechanical/electronic. His artistic creations and collaborations range widely; he’s also member of Perte de Signal, a Montreal-based collective and media arts research centre (http://perte-de-signal.org/), and PhD candidate in sonic arts at the University of Huddersfield (UK). The Golden Nica was the occasion to interview Nicolas about his latest projects and his recent live performance of frequencies(a)  during the Elektra festival in Montreal, directed by the artist and curator Alain Thibault.

Read more: http://www.digicult.it/news/ars-electronica-prize-winners-nicolas-bernier-between-frequencies-and-dichotomies/

“Drones/Birds: Princes of Ubiquity”.
The bird metaphor as a contemporary cultural form
By Silvia Bertolotti

The Digital Now is an exhibition series exploring international current art practices in relation to the contemporary media and digital framework. Drones/Birds: princes of ubiquity, the first chapter of the series, took place in Brussels one month ago, from April 10 to April 21, 2013. On this occasion collateral events were also held: an opening concert with dj set and an artists talk organized in cooperation with ArtistTalk.eu and Transmedia. Honor Harger, director at Lighthouse, and James Bridle, artist, publisher and technologist, were invited speakers at the aforesaid symposium that was moderated by Michel van Dartel (curator at V2_ Institute for the Unstable Media). The exchange focused on the use of drone-technology from an artistic and curatorial perspective. The Drones/Birds exhibition was curated by Bram Crevits.

Read more: http://www.digicult.it/news/dronesbirds-princes-of-ubiquity-the-bird-metaphor-as-a-contemporary-cultural-form/

From the birth of artificial intelligence to the Human Brain Project
By Ludovico Ristori

In a scenario in which institutions and individuals have to fight in an increasingly harsh way to grab the (few) research funds, the recent news of the European Union to include the Human Brain Project in the FET  has outraged the “flagship projects” for the next decade. Surprise struck also for the consequent money allocation: one billion euros in ten years to create a complete simulation of the human brain through a network of supercomputers. This project has been seen as an unrealistically attainable goal, or even an ill-posed problem [ii], but this and other similar projects do not come from nowhere [iii]. They have about 50 years of history behind, collected in the discipline known as Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Read more: http://www.digicult.it/news/from-the-birth-of-artificial-intelligence-to-the-human-brain-project/

More interviews are going to come to the Ars Electronica Prix 2013/ Golden Nica winners: Quayola / Memo Akten with the work "Form" from the Computer Animation / Film / VFX category and Michel Décosterd / André Décosterd with the work "Pendulum Choir" from the Interactive Art category. Stay tuned…



Digicult Editions last publications:

Digimag Journal. Issue 74 / Winter 2013
“Uncertainty Reloaded”

Curated by: Roberta Buiani and Marco Mancuso
With contributions by: Franco Torriani, Ildiko Meny, Daphne Dragona, Marc Garrett, Maria Androulaki, Alessio Chierico, Henrique Roscoe, Markéta Dolejšová, Adam Zaretsky, Evelina Domnitch & Dmitri Gelfand, Renate Quehenberger

On December 2012, several scholars, artists and scientists with common interests in the intersection of art, science and technology gathered in Prague (Mutamorphosis, an event on mutant futures, Dec 6-8) to discuss a topic that has become increasingly important during our uncertain times: The event was entitled “Tribute to Uncertainty”.

Check the online publication: http://www.digicult.it/digimag-journal/

Have a look at the preview here: http://issuu.com/digicultlibrary/docs/digimag74

Print your copy on demand: http://www.lulu.com/shop/marco-mancuso/digimag-journal-issue-74-winter-2013/paperback/product-20968203.html

Download your copy: http://www.lulu.com/shop/marco-mancuso/digimag-journal-issue-74-winter-2013/ebook/product-20968208.html

Digicult Editions (http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/digiculteditions), is a publishing side of the Digicult online cultural platform. Digicult Editions' goal is to be active in the publication of the Digimag Journal, critical and theoretical essays commissioned to international authors, university theses of special interest, publications edited in collaboration with other national and international publishers, as well as artists' books. Digicult Editions has now 4 different book series: "Journal", focused on publishing Digimag, "Artists' Books", which edited the first book of Mauro Ceolin and Claudio Musso, "Making Peers", who is going to publish the first book of Lucrezia Cippittelli Connecting The Havana realized toghter with the Netherlands Media Art Institute and finally "Self Portrait", which will release soon 2 books collecting critical text by Paul Prudence (dataisnature.com) and Garnet Hertx (conceptlab.com/). Digicult Editions uses all digital formats and print on demand strategies to publish critical quality contents around media art, design and culture, with a cross-disciplinary and over-boundaries attitude. Digicult Editions creates accessible bridges to open publishing, free of charge releases and multi-platform digital publications. All its contents, as Digicult itself, are circulated under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons 2.5 Italy (CC BY-NC-ND 2.5) license.