Composing Creative Freedom

Every picture, however complex and resonant it may be, can be broken down into discrete components. In the world of digital imaging we call the smallest of these components a pixel. By all counts, pixels are increasingly inundating our lives, but the pictures they are drawing may be far from ideal. In fact, so long as the commercial interests of multinational corporations dictate the production and uses of creative software, we inhabit a picture that is not our own. Recognizing the power of Open Source software to add bold strokes to the current composition, the Bergen Centre for Electronic Arts (BEK) in Norway organizes Piksel, an event which is both a festival and a workshop, and which gathers artists and developers working with Open Source audiovisual software tools from around the world for exchanges and discussions. This year's event, Piksel05, will take place in Bergen between October 16-23 and the main focus will be an exhibition in collaboration with Hordaland Kunstsenter (also in Norway), as well as the release of Piksel LiveCD, containing software used and developed at the event. Artists are invited to submit their work online by August 15. - Ophra Wolf