LEA April '05: RE: Searching Our Origins

*sincere apologies for cross-posting*

Leonardo Electronic Almanac: April 2005
ISSN#1071-4391
art | science | technology - a definitive voice since 1993
http://lea.mit.edu

LEA’s April issue is the first in a two-part special that explores the theme: RE: Searching Our Origins. Guest Editors Paul Brown and Catherine Mason are at the helm, and in their editorial, introduce the notion of digital computing and the associated theories of cybernetics, logic and formal systems/linguistics.

As their piece progresses, they reflect how "it is refreshing at this dawn of a new millennium to discover a renewed interest in the 'lost' histories of the late modern and especially those exploring the interdisciplinary collaborations of the mid to late 20th century."

The overwhelming response meant that the material had to be significantly culled, and here they've shortlisted five of those essays.

To start, Jennifer Gabrys talks about how technological failure is central to the logic of innovation, and through the consideration of how failure emerges at this moment in art and technology, suggests that the program of failure potentially reveals more about the drive of the automated machine than its recognized successes.

Following that, Rodrigo Alonso takes us through the early years of art and technology in Argentina.

In *Movements And Passages: The Legacy of Net Art*, Elisa Giaccardi explores net art as a form of thought and practice. The paper stresses how a transdisciplinary analysis of the aesthetical patterns characterizing net art as a "trans-genre" can lead beyond the entrapment of self-referential criticism and allow an understanding and promotion of the legacy of net art in a broader cultural context.

Then Riccardo Dal Farra takes us through a lyrical journey to "discover a world of sound that had been partially hidden, if not completely lost", and explains how recently, two actions to preserve, document and disseminate 50 years of Latin American electroacoustic music were realized: Extensive research focusing on the composers and their work in this field, and a musical archive.

Finally, Kristine Ploug and Petri Raappana delve into the latter's digital artwork *Timeline [Who writes the history?]*, which is a reaction to the ways of the media today, and addresses questions concerning economic gains, media reform, and the role of the Internet.
From LEA's archives, One From the Vault resurrects Simon Penny's *Critical Issues in Electronic Media* and Paul Hertz's *Culture, Democracy and Computer Media*, which were both first published in LEA in April 1995.

Leonardo Reviews has Michael Punt paying tribute to one of the more active members of the panel, Stefaan Van Ryssen, who has returned six reviews this time round, all of which are featured here. Four of these are audio offerings: *Tara's Room: Two Meditations On Transition And Change*, *Electrotheraphy*, *Frequency, Altitude and Time* and *Middle of the Moment*; while the remaining two are publications: *Invisible Cities, A Metaphorical Complex Adaptive System*, a daunting and entertaining mixture of a respectful remake of Italo Calvino's masterpiece; and *Style In The Technical And Tectonic Arts; Or, Practical Aesthetics*, which Van Ryssen proclaims a "magnificent translation, a beautiful book and the result of a bold and adventurous editorial enterprise."

In ISAST News, we welcome Meredith Tromble to the Leonardo Advisory Board, and continue our series on the *The Pacific Rim New Media Summit: A Pre-Symposium to ISEA2006*, with statements from two of the working group chairs

Finally, with Bytes (featuring announcements and calls for papers), find out more about LEA's upcoming special on Wild Nature and Digital Life and how you can contribute.

************************************************************************

LEA Information and URLs
——————————————-
Receive your FREE subscription to the Leonardo Electronic Almanac e-mail digest at http://mitpress.mit.edu/lea/e-mail – just provide your email address, name, and password, and check off that you'd like to be added to the Leonardo Electronic Almanac monthly e-mail list to keep on top of the latest news in the Leonardo community.

How to advertise in LEA?
http://mitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo/isast/placeads.html#LEAads

For a paid subscription (to become an ISAST member and access archives dating back to 1993): http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=4&tid'&mode=p

The Leonardo Educators Initiative
——————————————————-
The Leonardo Abstracts Service (LABS) is a comprehensive database of abstracts of PhD, Masters and MFA theses in the emerging intersection between art, science and technology. Thesis Abstract Submittal form at http://leonardolabs.pomona.edu

LEA also maintains a discussion list open only to faculty in the field. Faculty wishing to join this list should submit their details @ http://mitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/LEA/faculty.html

What is LEA?
———————-
For over a decade, the Leonardo Electronic Almanac (LEA) has thrived as an international peer-reviewed electronic journal and web archive, covering the interaction of the arts, sciences and technology. LEA emphasizes rapid publication of recent work and critical discussion on topics of current excitement. Many contributors are younger scholars and artists, and there is a slant towards shorter, less academic texts.

Contents include Leonardo Reviews, edited by Michael Punt, Leonardo Research Abstracts of recent Ph.D. and Masters theses, curated Galleries of current new media artwork, and special issues on topics ranging from Artists and Scientists in Times of War, to Zero Gravity Art, to the History of New Media.

Copyright© 1993 - 2005: The Leonardo Electronic Almanac is published by Leonardo / International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (ISAST) in association with the MIT Press. All rights reserved.

Comments

, nisar keshvani

*sincere apologies for cross-posting*

Leonardo Electronic Almanac: April 2005
ISSN#1071-4391
art | science | technology - a definitive voice since 1993
http://lea.mit.edu
Subject: LEA March '05: RE: Searching Our Origins

LEA's April issue is the first in a two-part special that explores
the theme: RE: Searching Our Origins. Guest Editors Paul Brown and
Catherine Mason are at the helm, and in their editorial, introduce
the notion of digital computing and the associated theories of
cybernetics, logic and formal systems/linguistics.

As their piece progresses, they reflect how "it is refreshing at
this dawn of a new millennium to discover a renewed interest in
the 'lost' histories of the late modern and especially those
exploring the interdisciplinary collaborations of the mid to late
20th century."

The overwhelming response meant that the material had to be
significantly culled, and here they've shortlisted five of those
essays.

To start, Jennifer Gabrys talks about how technological failure is
central to the logic of innovation, and through the consideration
of how failure emerges at this moment in art and technology,
suggests that the program of failure potentially reveals more
about the drive of the automated machine than its recognized
successes.

Following that, Rodrigo Alonso takes us through the early years of
art and technology in Argentina.

In *Movements And Passages: The Legacy of Net Art*, Elisa
Giaccardi explores net art as a form of thought and practice. The
paper stresses how a transdisciplinary analysis of the aesthetical
patterns characterizing net art as a "trans-genre" can lead beyond
the entrapment of self-referential criticism and allow an
understanding and promotion of the legacy of net art in a broader
cultural context.

Then Riccardo Dal Farra takes us through a lyrical journey to
"discover a world of sound that had been partially hidden, if not
completely lost", and explains how recently, two actions to
preserve, document and disseminate 50 years of Latin American
electroacoustic music were realized: Extensive research focusing
on the composers and their work in this field, and a musical
archive.

Finally, Kristine Ploug and Petri Raappana delve into the latter's
digital artwork *Timeline [Who writes the history?]*, which is a
reaction to the ways of the media today, and addresses questions
concerning economic gains, media reform, and the role of the
Internet.
From LEA's archives, One From the Vault resurrects Simon Penny's
*Critical Issues in Electronic Media* and Paul Hertz's *Culture,
Democracy and Computer Media*, which were both first published in
LEA in April 1995.

Leonardo Reviews has Michael Punt paying tribute to one of the
more active members of the panel, Stefaan Van Ryssen, who has
returned six reviews this time round, all of which are featured
here. Four of these are audio offerings: *Tara's Room: Two
Meditations On Transition And Change*, *Electrotheraphy*,
*Frequency, Altitude and Time* and *Middle of the Moment*; while
the remaining two are publications: *Invisible Cities, A
Metaphorical Complex Adaptive System*, a daunting and entertaining
mixture of a respectful remake of Italo Calvino's masterpiece; and
*Style In The Technical And Tectonic Arts; Or, Practical
Aesthetics*, which Van Ryssen proclaims a "magnificent
translation, a beautiful book and the result of a bold and
adventurous editorial enterprise."
In ISAST News, we welcome Meredith Tromble to the Leonardo
Advisory Board, and continue our series on the *The Pacific Rim
New Media Summit: A Pre-Symposium to ISEA2006*, with statements
from two of the working group chairs

Finally, with Bytes (featuring announcements and calls for
papers), find out more about LEA's upcoming special on Wild Nature
and Digital Life and how you can contribute.

************************************************************************

LEA Information and URLs
——————————————-
Receive your FREE subscription to the Leonardo Electronic Almanac
e-mail digest at http://mitpress.mit.edu/lea/e-mail – just
provide your email address, name, and password, and check off that
you'd like to be added to the Leonardo Electronic Almanac monthly
e-mail list to keep on top of the latest news in the Leonardo
community.

How to advertise in LEA?
http://mitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo/isast/placeads.html#LEAads

For a paid subscription (to become an ISAST member and access
archives dating back to 1993):
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=4&tid=27&mode=p

The Leonardo Educators Initiative
——————————————————-
The Leonardo Abstracts Service (LABS) is a comprehensive database
of abstracts of PhD, Masters and MFA theses in the emerging
intersection between art, science and technology. Thesis Abstract
Submittal form at http://leonardolabs.pomona.edu

LEA also maintains a discussion list open only to faculty in the
field. Faculty wishing to join this list should submit their
details @ http://mitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/LEA/faculty.html

What is LEA?
———————-
For over a decade, the Leonardo Electronic Almanac (LEA) has
thrived as an international peer-reviewed electronic journal and
web archive, covering the interaction of the arts, sciences and
technology. LEA emphasizes rapid publication of recent work and
critical discussion on topics of current excitement. Many
contributors are younger scholars and artists, and there is a
slant towards shorter, less academic texts.

Contents include Leonardo Reviews, edited by Michael Punt,
Leonardo Research Abstracts of recent Ph.D. and Masters theses,
curated Galleries of current new media artwork, and special issues
on topics ranging from Artists and Scientists in Times of War, to
Zero Gravity Art, to the History of New Media.

Copyright