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Movies On The Go

Rhizome | Wed Mar 1st, 2006 8 a.m.

Following the trajectory established by photography, film and video have become our most relied upon methods for documenting the visible world, from TV news to home videos. Of course, the reliance on photographic truth--which is really just an index of visible light on a reactive surface--is now being displaced by more abstract and mathematical forms of depicting 'reality,' like global positioning systems. And just as photographic reality was toyed with from the early days of the medium--see Hippolyte Bayard's 1840 photo of his own 'death,' for example--contemporary artists are challenging the new truth tools. 'Surreal Scania,' a new work by the Swedish team of Anders Weberg and Robert Willim, fuses a series of lush and seductive video montages with geocoded data to examine 'how aura and attraction are connected to different places.' All of the videos are available for download, as are corresponding sets of data that can be used to 'locate' the video's geography in 'real' space and on Google Earth. For those with portable video players, you can take a clip with you and compare it to the 'real' N 55 37.501/E 013 02.215. - Ryan Griffis

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TRANSMEDIA :29:59 - March

Marjan van Mourik | Wed Mar 1st, 2006 9:48 a.m.

TRANSMEDIA :29:59
+media art in public urban space+
http://www.year01.com/transmedia2959

March 1 - 31, 2006:
29th minute: Myfanwy Ashmore - 'Mario Trilogy'
59th minute: Kate Armstrong + Michael Tippet - 'Grafik Dynamo'
Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto

Year Zero One is pleased to present TRANSMEDIA :29:59, a year long=20=20
exhibition on the pedestrian level video billboard at Yonge-Dundas=20=20
Square in downtown Toronto. Launched August 1st 2005, TRANSMEDIA :=20
29:59 features one minute video works 24/7 every half hour on the=20=20
29th and 59th minutes.

Featured for the month of March is Myfanwy Ashmore's 'Mario Trilogy'=20=20
and Kate Armstrong + Michael Tippet's 'Grafik Dynamo'.

Myfanwy Ashmore's Mario Trilogy is three hacked versions of the=20=20
original Super Mario Brothers video games dumped to single channel=20=20
video output for Transmedia :29:59. 'Mario Trilogy' is part of the=20=20
'CONTROLLER: Artists Crack the Game Code' exhibition at InterAccess=20=20
Electronic Media Arts Centre from February 24 - March 25, 2006.

Kate Armstrong + Michael Tippet=92s Grafik Dynamo is a net.art work=20=20
that loads live images from blogs and news sources on the web into a=20=20
live action comic strip. The work is currently using a feed from=20=20
LiveJournal. The images are accompanied by narrative fragments that=20=20
are dynamically loaded into speech and thought bubbles and randomly=20=20
displayed. The work takes an experimental approach to open ended=20=20
narrative, positing a new hybrid between the flow of data animating=20=20
the work and the formal perameter that comprises its structure.

TRANSMEDIA :29:59 is curated by Michael Alstad + Michelle Kasprzak

Year Zero One gratefully acknowledges the Ontario Arts Council,Yonge-=20
Dundas Square and Clearchannel ...

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Originally posted on Rhizome.org Raw by Rhizome

Inner Force

Marisa Olson | Thu Mar 2nd, 2006 2:02 a.m.

Shu-Min Lin's work Inner Force applies to the practice of the wu-wei principle of Taoism, which means "action without competitive or selfish goals".

A pool of water is projected on the floor. Participants have to compete to fill its surface with lotus flowers or to catch as many of the carp swimming in the water as possible. Electroencephalogram probes are attached to the viewers' heads to measure the alpha wave activity of the brain. Forcing things does not work, the more peaceful the posture and the mind, the more successful the effort.

Reminded me of two "calm" projects i've tried recently:

- To experience Wave UFO, by Mariko Mori Wave UFO, viewers are outfitted with electrodes, which gather brainwave data. This information is transformed into visual imagery and projected onto the screen. The forms change shape and color in response to three types of brainwaves. Alpha (blue) waves indicate wakeful relaxation, Beta (pink) waves indicate alertness or agitation, and Theta (yellow) waves indicate a dreamlike state.

- Relax To Win, a game where victory is achieved only by out-relaxing your opponent. Electrodes on your hand measure your galvanic skin response and send the data by wireless connection to a PC or cell phone screen. I played with it at Next last November and lost. Of course.

Also (but never tested):
- The Journey to Wild Divine: players must control their heart rate and stress levels to bring responses in line with the demands of the game.
- In Brainball, players' brainwaves control a ball on a table, and the more relaxed scores a goal over the opponent.

Inner Force can be seen until August 27 as part of Ars 06, at Kiasma, Helsinki. Image from Hotlog.

Check also Shu-Min Lin other piece, Glass Ceiling.

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Originally posted on we make money not art by Rhizome

Manifesto for Networked Objects

Marisa Olson | Thu Mar 2nd, 2006 2:02 a.m.

Julian Bleecker has finally posted his "Manifesto for Networked Objects" in which he discusses "Why Things Matter". Julian elaborates on a variety of issues connected to the "Internet of Things", populated by "Blogjects" or "Spimes" that collect and disseminate information, making us eventually rather live "in" than "on" the internet.

Besides being highly recommended reading in this case, a manifesto is something that is published to incite debate about the subject. What's your take on the networked world of objects? Will things become relevant in the creation of "meaning", will they become elevated to agents with the status of "first-class citizens", even advancing "trans-species dialogue"? Or is the creation (and consumption) of relevant information exclusive to human agents (read: bloggers)?

What's for certain: it is always good for artists, designers and researchers to write a manifesto when they feel that something big is in the air. Pictured above: draft for the communist manifesto in Marx' original handwriting.

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Originally posted on we make money not art by Rhizome

1871©

Marisa Olson | Thu Mar 2nd, 2006 2:06 a.m.

  <p>Last week the Exploratorium presented <a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/reconsidered/" target="_blank">Reconsidered Material</a>. The opening night was peppered with one-night performances and material experiments by a wide range of artists. The evening held an an air of honesty as these new material configurations provoked groups of onlookers to collectively experience an evening of perceptual adventures.<br />

image provided by Mauricio Ancalmo

One particular highlight was Mauricio Ancalmo's 1871©. Within a small theater, a 16mm film projector, black leader film loop and a sewing machine mesmerized a roomful of people for little under an hour. The film loop was lead through the projector, up to a hook on the ceiling, and under the foot of the sewing machine such that the needle punctured holes into the film allowing spots of light to hit the screen as they passed by the lamp on the projector. As the sewing machine diligently deconstructed the film, it simultaneously constructed an image projected on the screen. This deconstruction invoked a sense of commitment in the audience. As the film grew weaker, the attention of the audience and the light pouring through the growing number of holes on the film intensified- a collective anticipation of the collapse of the material mounted, as this would also represent the end of an intensely engaging performance.

Mauricio Ancalmo describes his piece as, "Film loop represents cyclical time while the needle of the sewing machine punctures holes continuously deconstructing the film and simultaneously
constructing the image projected. The film becomes an artifact for this performance/sound installation that tells a similar story of dark versus light."

I am not sure if the piece has any reference to Thomas Edison

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Originally posted on Shotgun Review by Rhizome

Karl Klomp glitch

Marisa Olson | Thu Mar 2nd, 2006 3:18 a.m.

karlKlomp
srvl_77 - Karl Klomp

Karl Klomp is fascinated with what he calls 'hyperkinetic audio visuals' - this he attains through video circuit bending, video interruption, hardware interfacing and programming.

It seems much of his glitch output, and very tasteful it is too, comes via repurposing video mixers or even burning DVD's with 'impossible bitrates' for challenged DVD players to read - a great concept indeed.

Check out the stills page --where you can find some nice circuit-bent playing fields (srvl_77) and some glossy prints courtesy of a second hand video printer (Sony CVP-M1E) bought for 7,50 with extra cartridge and paper!

Karl is also one half of the VJ and live cinema performance act Totek, based in the Netherlands.

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Originally posted on dataisnature.com by Rhizome

FLOSS Redux: Notes on African Software Politics

Marisa Olson | Thu Mar 2nd, 2006 3:26 a.m.

BySoenke Zehle

The info-technological development of Africa is providing a critical laboratory for testing the utilitarian and egalitarian claims of the FLOSS community. The question of whether to adopt a free or proprietary route quickly expands beyond the immediate consideration of set up costs. Soenke Zehle considers how FLOSS fares in the competition to be the fittest 'tropical' technology, assesses different visions of continent-wide development, and examines FLOSS's own ambiguous economics

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Originally posted on Mute magazine - Culture and politics after the net - CULTURE AND POLITICS AFTER THE NET by Rhizome

Movies On The Go

Marisa Olson | Thu Mar 2nd, 2006 3:29 a.m.

Following the trajectory established by photography, film and video have become our most relied upon methods for documenting the visible world, from TV news to home videos. Of course, the reliance on photographic truth--which is really just an index of visible light on a reactive surface--is now being displaced by more abstract and mathematical forms of depicting 'reality,' like global positioning systems. And just as photographic reality was toyed with from the early days of the medium--see Hippolyte Bayard's 1840 photo of his own 'death,' for example--contemporary artists are challenging the new truth tools. 'Surreal Scania,' a new work by the Swedish team of Anders Weberg and Robert Willim, fuses a series of lush and seductive video montages with geocoded data to examine 'how aura and attraction are connected to different places.' All of the videos are available for download, as are corresponding sets of data that can be used to 'locate' the video's geography in 'real' space and on Google Earth. For those with portable video players, you can take a clip with you and compare it to the 'real' N 55 37.501/E 013 02.215. - Ryan Griffis

http://www.surrealscania.se/

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Originally posted on Rhizome News by Rhizome

Music Boxes, Reimagined as Animated Installation Art

Marisa Olson | Thu Mar 2nd, 2006 3:33 a.m.

Motion graphics and animation are everywhere you look, but an installation last week reached out to audiences with a simple device: old music boxes. Visitors to the elegant 18th-Century Norfolk House Music Round found several music boxes atop a table with projected visuals. Turn the crank, and varied scenes produced in Flash responded to the sounds. From the photos, it looks like it was a big hit:

Plink-Plonk

This project comes to us via one of its creators, our friend Chris O'Shea, interactive designer, musician, and now at ubercool UK design firm AllofUs. He's done some great work with his blog Pixelsumo, if you haven't seen it in a while. (Video soon, says Chris.)

.

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Originally posted on createdigitalmusic.com by editor@createdigitalmusic.com

LABS call for thesis abstracts - next deadline March 30th

Marisa Olson | Thu Mar 2nd, 2006 4:03 a.m.

Kathleen Quillian:

Leonardo Abstracts Service (LABS) Next submission deadline: 30 March 2006

Leonardo Abstracts Service (LABS), consisting of the English LABS database and Spanish LABS database, is a comprehensive collection of Ph.D., Masters and MFA thesis abstracts on topics in the emerging intersection between art, science and technology. Individuals receiving advanced degrees in the arts (visual, sound, performance, text), computer sciences, the sciences and/or technology that in some way investigate philosophical, historical or critical applications of science or technology to the arts are invited to submit abstracts of their theses for consideration.

The English LABS and Spanish LABS international peer review panels review abstracts for inclusion in their respective databases. The databases include only approved and filed thesis abstracts. Abstracts of theses filed in prior years may also be submitted for inclusion.

In addition to publication in the databases, a selection of abstracts chosen by the panels for their special relevance will be published quarterly in Leonardo Electronic Almanac (LEA), and authors of abstracts most highly ranked by the panel will also be invited to submit an article for publication consideration in the journal Leonardo.

Thesis Abstract submittal forms for English language abstracts can be found at http://leonardolabs.pomona.edu

Thesis Abstract submittal forms for Spanish language abstracts can be found at http://www.uoc.edu/artnodes/leonardolabs

For more information about LABS visit: http://www.leonardo.info/isast/journal/calls/labsprojectcall.html

The LABS project is part of the Leonardo Educators and Students program http://www.leonardo.info/isast/educators.html

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Originally posted on Rhizome.org Raw by Kathleen Quillian