a n n o u n c e m e n t

Call for Papers, Presentations and Performances

(re)Actor: The First International Conference on Digital Live Art
September 11, 2006
The Octagon @ Queen Mary, University of London
London, England, UK

In cooperation with HCI 2006: ENGAGE
The 20th British HCI Group conference in co-operation with ACM
11 September - 15 September 2006
Deadline for 2-page proposals May 26, 2006

Digital Live Art is the intersection of human-computer interaction (HCI), live art and
computing. This conference seeks to bring together practitioners and academics from
the varying worlds of live art, computing and human-computer interaction for a lively
debate and event which will explore this emerging field. Our specific context focuses
on club cultures as a living context for digital live arts practices. Our expected
outcomes are to create a community of digital live artists and to present strategies for
designing, developing and evaluating Digital Live Art. Such an event provides an
opportunity to open up conversations between digital art and live performance and will
allow us to explore how it is used to increase our understanding of human-computer
interaction in general.

The notion of Digital Live Art is that of a hybrid art form which focuses on presence and
presupposes the digital as a way of making live engagements. Our particular interest is
in exploring the relationship that develops between performers, participants and
observers within playful contexts and how Digital Live Art may move people to
performative interaction and communal engagement.

THE CONFERENCE
The conference will include both day time presentations and evening ambient after
party. The daytime event will include a keynote panel with Charles Kriel, Philip
Auslander, and Jon Dovey. Charles Kriel http://www.kriel.tv/djvjinfo.htm is broadly
regarded as one of the world's leading VJs. He VJs regularly for the likes of Pete Tong,
Fatboy Slim, DJ Tiesto, Darren Emerson and Sasha and was recently appointed a
Senior Lecturer at London Metropolitan University. His pioneering work includes the
world's first nationally telecast VJ mix to the UK. Philip Auslander's http://
www.lcc.gatech.edu/~auslander/ primary discipline is Performance Studies. He has
written on aesthetic and cultural performances as diverse as theatre, performance art,
music, stand-up comedy, and courtroom procedures. His specific interests include
performance theory, the relationship of performance to media and technology, and
intellectual property. He is the author of four books and editor or co-editor of two
collections. He is currently completing a book project entitled Performing Glam Rock:
Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music. In addition to his work on performance,
Auslander contributes art criticism regularly to Art Forum, Art Papers, and PAJ. Jon
Dovey http://www.republicof.net/ spent the first 15 years of his working life in video
production, working through the early years of Channel Four as a researcher, editor
and eventually as Producer. He worked principally in documentary and experimental
video, co founding original scratch artists Gorilla Tapes in 1984. His video projects
gained international distribution and recognition and have now taken their place in the
documented histories of UK Video Art. He also maintains a creative practice as
research; as Executive Producer on a number of documentary Film & TV projects, in
interactive media production and gallery installations. His current production research
centres on rePublicof an experiment in digital cabaret working at the intersection of
dance music and art practice. His forthcoming publication is titled Game Cultures.
The schedule includes peer-reviewed paper presentations, interactive installations
and performances, a cross-disciplinary discussion forum and an ambient after-party.
The conference and evening event will take place in the Octagon at Queen Mary,
University London - the recently refurbished library which was originally built in 1888
and was modeled on the Reading Room of the British Library (now the British
Museum) and was formerly contained within the famous East End People's Palace.
http://www.octagon-venue.com/

WHO SHOULD BE ATTENDING?
We are seeking to bring together both working practitioners and academics from the
active world of live art and computing, particularly (but not limited to):
- Performers: Live artists, digital artists, DJs, VJs, sonic artists, dancers, actors,
magicians
- Participants: Computer scientists, technicians, club goers, designers, new media
practitioners, decorators
- Observers: Cultural theorists, ethnographers, street scientists, her/historians
- Orchestrators: Curators, directors, writers, producers, events organisers, club &
festival owners/managers and promoters.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
We are seeking to create a dynamic, interactive experience for our delegates. We are
soliciting two-page proposals for both the formal daytime conference and the
interactive evening event. To this end your contribution can be made in the following
ways:
- 15 minute paper presentation
- interactive demonstration/presentation of practice
- performance/installation
- DJ/VJ performance
You should indicate on your proposal whether your contribution is best suited to the
more formal daytime proceedings or to the after-party which will be taking place that
evening.

TOPICS OF INTEREST

Proposals are solicited in all areas of Digital Live Art, including but not limited to:
- Creative clubbing and the playful arena
- Space, body, machine
- Inputs and outputs