Defunct @ SFMOMA, 4/29-5/1

dear friends,

grace & i have been working on this for a very long time and are
thrilled to tell you about it. please join us on 4/29 to see the
excellent work & the newest issue of our zine!

best,
marisa

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DEFUNCT –>
recycled | repurposed | remixed| rehashed
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Works by the 8-Bit Construction Set, Jon Brumit,
Tommy Becker, Joshua G. Churchill, & JODI
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WHAT –>
The San Francisco Media Arts Council (SMAC) is hosting an exhibition
of artworks in DEFUNCT media, curated by Grace Hawthorne & Marisa S.
Olson.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a new issue of the SMAC! zine,
featuring essays and artwork by Bruce Sterling, MTAA, Paperrad,
Patrick Lichty, Mark Beam, and others.
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WHERE –>
The Schwab Room at SFMOMA
151 Third Street, San Francisco
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WHEN –>
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Exhibit opening and reception: 6 - 8:30 p.m.

Friday, April 30, 2004
Exhibit open to the public, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Saturday, May 1, 2004
Exhibit open to the public, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
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–> Admission is FREE, but space is limited. Advance reservations are
suggested for Thursday evening reception <– email
[email protected]
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Description –>

DEFUNCT highlights work in which artists have recycled, repurposed,
or remixed presumably "defunct" hardware, software, audio/visual
data, and representational systems. Whether one feels nostalgia at a
bygone era or anxiety over the future of machine culture's
"evolution," the work in the exhibition is provocative, engaging, and
only a little loud…

THE 8-BIT CONSTRUCTION SET (BEIGE programming ensemble) has created a
legendary DJ battle record pitting the Atari against the Commodore 64
with Detroit-techno style songs composed of the sounds from each. The
record is also the first ever use of the vinyl recording medium for
software distribution–the inside tracks are audio data which can be
dubbed to cassette tape and booted in your respective Atari or
Commodore 8-bit computers. The record was entirely programmed in 6502
assembly language.
–> http://www.beigerecords.com/products/beg-004.html

TOMMY BECKER describes "Daddy Kill," his 90 second video as "a short
film with a rhythm, repetition and tone that poetically conveys the
activities of a murderous father." The video "recycles" a found film
in which a man demonstrates to his son how leaving an object on
grass, in sunlight, will kill the grass under the object. The video
is part of Becker's "Tape Number One" project, a mutating
construction of sentimental vignettes patched together by documented
gestures, words, sounds, melodies, trivial facts and found materials.
Becker thinks of video as "a hybrid medium for personal explorations
in writing, performance, music and costume design."
–> http://www.tommybecker.com

JON BRUMIT's "mineflora" is part sculpture, part "found media
sequencer." Its materials include a timpani drum, acoustical foam,
clock radios, and a flasher, which, as the artist says, makes several
things possible, simultaneously: "1. The tentative relationship of
sounds to physical form via auto switching, 2. The rhythm of signal
loss via unique or unintentional features of discarded technology,
and 3. The residue of improvisation within chance parameters."
–> http://www.bayimproviser.com/artistdetail.asp?artist_id!1

JOSHUA G. CHURCHILL's sound-activated mixed media installation,
"Reciprocation/Retaliation," is based on the notion of 'mixed
signals', both literally and figuratively. On the floor of a darkened
room, electronic components, such as tv's and radios, are connected
to Clappers