Fwd: AV.06

Begin forwarded message:

> AV.06: FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT
>
> CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
>
> AV.06: the second audiovisual festival
> March 2006
> NewcastleGateshead, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, UK
> http://www.avfest.co.uk/
>
>
> Deadline for Expressions of Interest: 27 May 2005
> http://www.avfest.co.uk/interest.html
>
> The AV Festival is a new bi-annual international festival of digital
> art,
> moving image, music and new media convergence which takes place in the
> North East of England. The second AV festival - AV.06 - will take place
> across three cities in the North East of England during the first two
> weeks
> of March 2006. It will examine one of the key issues within creative
> and
> scientific practice - life.
>
> AV.06 will include internationally renowned artists, filmmakers,
> researchers, technicians and musicians as well as emerging
> practitioners.
> Concerts, performances and exhibitions will be complemented by a
> conference
> and an education programme.
>
> AV.06 will feature:
>
> - new commissions of film, digital arts, music and games
> - outdoor projects which will transform landmark public buildings
> or
> spaces
> - live performance events at the Sage Gateshead and other concert
> venues
> - a major strand of activity focussing on computer games
> - a screening programme
> - exhibitions and installations
> - an international conference
> - an education programme of workshops, seminars and lectures
> - a programme of club events and parties
> - a radio station broadcasting on-air and online
> - digital projects for the region's public transport system
>
> AV.06 is providing creative practitioners with an opportunity to
> contribute
> ideas to the programme. If you have an existing project which could
> fit the
> thematic context of the programme, or an idea for a new work, we would
> like
> to hear about it.
>
>
>
> ___AV.06 : thematics
>
> The theme of AV.06 is Life. The festival will explore the interplay
> between digital and biological life as explored by audiovisual
> practitioners from all disciplines.
>
> In an increasingly technologised society, we find ourselves surrounded
> by,
> and immersed in, virtual and artificial worlds. Evolutionary
> computational
> techniques and genetic algorithms correlate the processes of the
> computer
> with the processes we observe in biology. Digital technology has
> allowed
> for entire environments to be modelled within the computer. The
> internet
> has created a culture, where societies of users can inhabit these
> synthetic
> environments. Games, online communities and immersive interactive
> environments have become worlds within worlds.
>
> At the same time, genetic engineering is allowing for the creation of
> synthetic biological worlds, which are constructed in the laboratory.
> Biotechnology raises passions, hopes, fears and fascinations. On the
> cutting edge of science and ethics, it offers many promises, but
> prompts
> anxiety also. Fields such as stem cell research, genetic modification
> and
> reproductive cloning intrigue and perturb us, provoking questions
> about the
> status of life itself.
>
> The North East of England has become a bioresearch centre of
> international
> repute, with scientists at the Centre for Stem Cell Biology and
> Developmental Genetics at the University of Newcastle engaged in human
> embryonic stem cell research, and medical researchers at the James Cook
> Hospital in Middlesbrough working on reproductive treatments for
> patients.
> The often troubling ethical and political implications of this work are
> considered and communicated by organisations such as the Policy,
> Ethics and
> Life Sciences Research Centre (PEALs) and the Centre for Life.
>
> Artists also have a role to play in considering the changing nature of
> life. Artificial life and emergent systems have long been subjects for
> new
> media artists, exemplified by the work of Kenneth Rinaldo (USA),
> William
> Latham (UK/USA) and Jon McCormack (Australia). Now, practitioners such
> as
> the Critical Art Ensemble (USA) and Oron Catts & Ionat Zuur
> (Australia),
> are beginning to work directly with living biological systems. With
> artists and scientists alike fabricating new life-forms and ecologies,
> our
> understanding of what life is and where it can happen is shifting,
> evolving
> and mutating.
>
> AV.06 will explore and present new ways of thinking about Life. The
> festival will interrogate the boundaries of what is 'natural' and what
> is
> 'synthetic' in this context, aiming to extend and rework these
> notions. It
> will probe digital and biological 'lifeforms' and 'living systems',
> and ask
> such questions as: what do these 'creations' look, sound and feel like?
> What is it like to 'inhabit' these systems? Who are the demiurges of
> the
> artificial age?
>
> Areas which may inform the exploration of Life within AV.06 include
> (but
> are not restricted to):
>
> - bioscience and biotechnology
> - artificial life
> - evolutionary computation and genetic algorithms
> - technologically mediated ecosystems, ecologies and environments
> - virtual or networked spaces as social 'living' environments
> - life processes as tools for discovery and learning
> - evolutionary approaches to narrative within film
> - algorithmic techniques within music composition and audio
> environments
> - philosophical and ethical explorations of the boundaries of
> nature
>
> AV.06 will also include a major strand on gaming, which will explore,
> as
> part of its focus, the way that multi-player games, are increasingly
> evolving into highly complex social "living" environments
>
>
>
> ___AV.06: submissions
>
> AV will be commissioning new works especially for the festival, as
> well as
> presenting creative work which has already been produced. AV is now
> calling for expressions of interest from artists, filmmakers,
> musicians,
> DJs, VJs, designers, games developers, theorists, technologists,
> scientists, philosophers and others interested in this field.
>
> You are invited to submit a short proposal for:
>
> - a new work which you would like to make specifically for the
> festival
> - an existing project which you would like to present at the
> festival
>
> The Application Form and Guidelines document are available on the AV
> website:
> http://www.avfest.co.uk/interest.html
>
> Expressions of Interest must be sent via email.
>
> Please include: "expression of interest: AV.06" in the subject line.
>
> Examples of work can be sent via post, if necessary, as per the
> Guidelines
> on the website.
>
> DEADLINE: 27 MAY 2005
>
> Email proposals to:
>
> [email protected]
>
>
> ___AV: the story so far
>
> The first AV Festival was held in Newcastle, Middlesbrough and
> Sunderland,
> 8 - 22 November 2003, organised by the Tyneside Cinema, Middlesbrough
> Council, the University of Teesside and Sunderland City Council.
> The festival delivered over one hundred events across three towns in
> two
> weeks, and included performances by the Cinematic Orchestra, DJ Food,
> Tina
> Frank and General Magic, screenings of Matthew Barney's Cremaster
> Cycle, a
> Mike Figgis film retrospective, onedotzero screenings and a lively
> programme of workshops and lectures. Over 35 new works were
> commissioned,
> including new pieces by filmmaker, Richard Fenwick and The Light
> Surgeons.
>
> AV.03 proved to be one of the biggest new media, digital arts and
> digital
> music festival in the UK, and is the only festival event to occur in
> each
> major population centre in the North East region. The AV.03 website is
> archived at: http://www.avfest.co.uk/new/index4.html
>
>
> ___AV: collaborators
>
> AV brings together some of the most creative people and organisations
> in
> the region. The North-East's top universities have joined forces with
> three City Councils and an independent cinema with an eye firmly on the
> future. AV is in partnership with:
> - Middlesbrough Council <http://www.middlesbrough.gov.uk> and their
> Arts Development team
> - Sunderland City Council <http://www.sunderland.gov.uk> and their
> Arts
> Development team
> - Tyneside Cinema <http://www.tynecine.org/>, the key independent
> cinema in the North East region.
> - University of Teesside <http://www.tees.ac.uk/>, an important
> centre
> for teaching, learning and research, based in Middlesbrough.
> AV is also working with the Sage Gateshead
> <http://www.thesagegateshead.com/>, a new home for music that is
> bringing
> about a widespread and lasting enrichment of music in the North of
> England,
> as well CultureLab at the University of Newcastle
> <http://www.ncl.ac.uk/niassh/culturelab/> and the University of
> Sunderland.
>
>
> ___AV: supporters
>
> The development of the AV festival is supported by:
> - The Arts Council of England
> - Codeworks
> - Newcastle City Council
> - Northern Film and Media
> - Northern Rock Foundation
> - UK Film Council
> http://www.avfest.co.uk/support.html
>
>
> ___AV.06: contacts
>
> Honor Harger
> Consultant Director
>
> AV Festival
> c/-Tyneside Cinema
> 10 Pilgrim Street
> Newcastle Upon Tyne
> NE1 6QG
> UK
>
> Tel: +44 (0)191 2328289, ext 112
> Email: [email protected]
> http://www.avfest.co.uk/contact.html