Escape/hatch Tactical Media workshop, June 11-20

escape/hatch: what about free communication?

A tactical media workshop with Arzu Ozkal and Patrick Lichty in collaboration with Burak Arıkan
June 11-20, 2010
cura bodrum residency, Bodrum, Turkey

Open Call for Participation

In the post-millennial Internet, free communication is increasingly difficult, as is free critical discourse on global scales.  What are the issues that are arising with the coming of international firewalls to free speech from increasingly oppressive border policies to electronic practices like “The Great Firewall of China”, which restricts political information from its residents? How can open dialogues on labor, human rights, freedom of speech, and global sustainability be maintained in a world in which the dreams of utopian free communication are being crushed by governments and corporations? How can we devise strategies to create spaces for free critical intervention?

Artists, writers, performers, engineers, designers, activists, squatters, videographers and more are invited to participate in the tactical media workshop at cura bodrum residency during June 11 to 20, 2010 in Bodrum, Turkey.

The workshop led by Arzu Ozkal and Patrick Lichty will introduce interventionist media art practices addressing contemporary issues in the public sphere. Burak Arıkan will introduce network mapping processes and tools. These will be done through a series of readings, discussions, activities, and labs. The goal is to understand and intervene in the symbolic order through various tactics and media, and to synthesize viable critical projects for creation at the workshop or after.

Application

Potential participants are asked to offer a short letter of intent and samples of work (media, text, documentation, articles) relating to the applicant’s interest in the workshop. People of all disciplines are invited to apply, as the discussion of all aspects of critical intervention (social, cultural, creative, technical, political, legal) are part of this event. The workshop will be facilitated in English.

While modest accommodations and some communal meals will be provided for the workshop participants, they will be required to cover travel costs to Bodrum and meal expenses.






Please send letter of intent and work samples by May 16th to the e-mail addresses listed below (CC all, please):

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

The invited participants will be announced by May 20th, 2010.

BIOS:

ARZU Ozkal
http://www.contrary.info

Arzu Ozkal is a Turkish-born artist who explores the concept of the
body and its relation to social political discourses through
videos, public interventions and performances.
Currently, she serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at
Oberlin College, where she teaches, organizes events, and
contributes to curriculum development in the Media Arts Department.
Ozkal’s work has been exhibited broadly in exhibitions and festivals across the US and in many countries including Germany, Spain, France, Russia, and Turkey.

PATRICK Lichty
Http://www.voyd.com

Patrick Lichty (b.1962)  is a technologically-based conceptual artist, writer, independent curator, animator for the activist group, The Yes Men, and Executive Editor of Intelligent Agent Magazine. He began showing technological media art in 1989, and deals with works and writing that explore the social relations between us and media. Venues in which Lichty has been involved with solo and collaborative works include the Whitney & Turin Biennials, Maribor Triennial, Performa Performance Biennial, Ars Electronica, and the International Symposium on the Electronic Arts (ISEA).
He is also an Assistant Professor of Interactive Arts & Media at Columbia College Chicago.

BURAK Arıkan
http://burak-arikan.com
http://dugumkume.org

Burak Arıkan is an artist based in New York and Istanbul. His work confronts issues ranging from politics and economics to cultural sustainability in networked environments. His systems have been featured in online and onsite exhibitions in the form of prints, animation, software, and installations.
Arıkan has presented his work internationally at institutions including Museum of Modern Art (New York), Neuberger Museum of Art (New York), Venice Biennale (Venice), Ars Electronica (Linz), Sonar (Barcelona), DEMF (Detroit) and at independent venues such as Art Interactive (Cambridge), Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin), Hafriyat (Istanbul), Club Phazon (Tokyo), FilmWinter (Stuttgart), Turbulence (online), Upgrade! International (online). He has lectured and did workshops at institutions including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rhode Island School of Design, New York University Interactive Telecommunications Program, Istanbul Technical University, Bogazici Universtiy, Sabanci University, and Istanbul Bilgi University.

About cura bodrum:
http://www.curabodrumresidency.net/

cura bodrum residency is a self-organized initiative that hosts cultural producers for residencies, workshops, and conferences. It is located on the Aegean coast and aims to propose productive and critical uses for the touristic infrastructure off-season. In 2008 and 2009, we hosted one-month residencies, which aimed at bringing people from different backgrounds to reflect on issues of local relevance such as tourism, urbanization and migration. In 2010, cura bodrum will be hosting short and intensive workshops and welcomes proposals.