Hz #20

Hz #20
www.hz-journal.org

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THE MOBILE AUGMENTED SOUNDSCAPE: DEFINING AN EMERGED GENRE
by MICHAEL FILIMOWICZ
This article surveys past practices of designed systems that have addressed the creative production of soundscape, the 'positive' vector of soundscape activity relative to the 'negative' critique of noise, annoyance and environmental degradation. Identifying thirty such systems ranging from research prototypes to commercial platforms to mobile apps to artworks, this paper proposes the term Mobile Augmented Soundscape as an umbrella category to summarize and crystallize a tradition of practice that can inform and guide new configurations through the development of wearable technologies.

RESONANCES: THE SOUND OF PERFORMANCE
by JOHANNES BIRRINGER
This essay reflects the role of sound and listening in dance-theatre, music theatre and live art by taking a closer look at an influential recent publication, Composed Theatre. Aesthetics, Practices, Processes (2012), edited by Matthias Rebstock and David Roesner. Drawing attention to current experiments in multi-media performance and the dissemination of particular techniques of embodiment (cf. Min Tanaka's 'body weather' practice and its focus on listening to the environment), the author then offers a detailed critique of the compositional and performative strategies, and especially the processual devising of sound, that are featured in the book on composed theatre.

COMPUTER ART AND THE THEORY OF COMPUTATION
by JIM ANDREWS
The theory of computation is concerned with the limits and nature of what is possible in computing. It is a useful theory to artists whose medium is computing; it helps them understand how far/near the horizons of digital art are. It is philosophically profound and links the work of Godel, Turing, and the synthesis of philosophy, logic, and mathematics. Familiarity with the theory of computation should be an important part of any significant philosophy of computer art.

CEREBRAL AUGMENTATION: THE GENERATIVE COMPUTER ARTIST AS CYBORG
by LAURENCE COUNIHAN
In this essay the metaphor of the cyborg - which currently exists as a powerful symbol for human-machine interaction in our digital society - is used to analyse the practice of generative computer art, which according to Philip Galanter is: "any art practice where the artist uses a system, such as a set of natural language rules, a computer program, a machine, or other procedural invention, which is set into motion with some degree of autonomy contributing to or resulting in a completed work of art."

HERE ON EARTH
by ADAM ROTHSTEIN
Cyborg theory was supposed to allow human bodies to become more harmonious with the extremes of outer space. But a side effect was that it made us more harmonious with human life on this planet. Aspects of high-fidelity audiophile sound were born from the same research attempting to prepare humans for zero-gravity, and while today we do not all carry nuclear oxygen-exchangers inside of us, urban life is inseparable from a pair of headphones.

THE PIRATE CINEMA: A GENERATIVE SELF PORTRAIT
by MATTEO CREMONESI
By analyzing the work "The Pirate Cinema" by artist Nicolas Maigret - a live streaming of file sharing activities on networks using the BitTorrent protocol - this article addresses some important issue such as the visual representation of the peer-to-peer systems and the schizophrenic yet hyper-controlled and surveilled way we access contents and data on the internet.

DARWIKINISM: BETWEEN TROLLISM AND ERROR
by EMILIO VAVARELLA
Technology has changed the way we read, write and learn. For example, eBooks have changed the publishing industry and grammar check technology silently shapes our writing, while in the field of digital humanities researchers are constantly developing new theories and tools that will shape the future of education. In this ever-changing panorama, 'anarchic trollism' collides with Wikipedia's 'positivistic darwikinism': the two different philosophies that will be contextualized and briefly analyzed in the following article.

HANDLING DIGITAL ART
by GARY SVENSSON
The digital scene has brought about a change in many people's relation to social phenomena as well as building conventions surrounding contemporary art. The text attempts to establish a background for digital art scene and examine some of the various attitudes and practices involved curators may have regarding quality assessment and selection criteria.

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Hz is published by Fylkingen in Stockholm. Established in 1933, Fylkingen has through the years made major contributions to introducing yet-to-be-established art forms in Sweden. For more information, please visit: http://www.hz-journal.org/n4/hultberg.html