Wigged.net's Mid-June E-Newsletter

WIGGED.NET JUNE 2002 E-NEWSLETTER–VOL. 2 ISSUE 12

Wigged.net (http://www.wigged.net) is an evolving Webzine focused on
bringing innovative short videos, animations and interactive works
over the Internet. Our mission is to be a showcase, distribution and
promotion center for pioneering artists via the World Wide Web.

For information on advertising in Wigged.net's E- Newsletter or on
Wigged.net, please contact [email protected].

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INDEX

+Call for Works
+Shows & Performances
+ Kudos
+Reflections on Utopia: Sarawut Chutiwongpeti's Work in Perspective.
+Publicity Opportunity

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CALL FOR WORKS

Seeking innovative and experimental video, animation and net art.
Please visit http://www.wigged.net and go to the "submit media" page
to fill out our on-line registration form and send requested
materials.

DEADLINE: July 15, 2002 for Wigged's September-December, 2002 issue.


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SHOWS & PERFORMANCES

NIGHT VISION
Curated by Joy Garnett
June 14 - July 20, 2002

White Columns
320 West 13th Street (entrance on Horatio Street)
NYC 10014, USA


Night Vision presents artists who are influenced by technologies
developed by the military, government intelligence agencies, and NASA
for use in research, surveillance and combat. The title of the
exhibition is taken from the high-tech optical apparatus used in
nocturnal military operations, whose green glow has become familiar
to television viewers. Some of the artists in this exhibition co-opt
these technological advancements while others examine public
perception of them as revealed by film, television and news media in
order to explore the various murky implications surrounding their
uses.

Participating artists:
Jordan Crandall | Christoph Draeger | Joy Garnett | Adam Hurwitz |
Bill Jones + Ben Neill | John Klima |Joseph Nechvatal | Jonathan
Podwil | Radical Software Group

Thursday June 27th, 2002, 7-10pm
BEN NEILL + BILL JONES LIVE PERFORMANCE
Ben Neill and his mutantrumpet will play music from his forthcoming
album "Automotive" along with midi-video performance by collaborator
Bill Jones.

Wednesday July 17th, 2002 7-9pm
ARTIST PANEL + OPEN DISCUSSION
Night Vision artists and writer Tim Griffin will present their work
and ideas touched upon in the exhibition.


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GenTerra,
A project by Critical Art Ensemble and Beatriz da Costa

The New Museum of Contemporary Art, 583 Broadway, NYC
Thursday, June 20, 2002, 6.30-8.00.pm


GenTerra is a performance by Critical Art Ensemble and Carnegie Mellon
University Robotic Art Researcher Beatriz da Costa. Posing as a company
dealing with transgenics - the isolation of one or more genes from one or
more organisms to create another, new organism - GenTerra highlights the
complex relationship between for-profit ventures and the ethical
considerations involved in transgenics research and product development.
GenTerra is a participatory 'theater' made up of a lab tent, four computer
station displaying the company's CD-Rom, and a "bacteria release machine."

This event will take place on the first floor gallery and is free with
Museum admission. ($3 on Thursdays from 6-8pm)

GenTerra is planned in conjunction with Open_Source_Art_Hack on view through
June 30, 2002 in the New Museum's Zenith Media Lounge. For more information
about the exhibition, please visit http://www.newmuseum.org .

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Prints + Chips

bitforms
529 west 20th
New York, NY 10011
212 366 6939

June 20 - July 27 2002
Opening reception Saturday, June 22, 2002 6-8
Guest Curator: Michele Thursz

"Prints + Chips" is realized as a unit of styles being presented by
artists using gaming systems, communication platforms. Each work
reveals the relationship between production and object specificity.
As a dialogue Prints + Chips looks at the temporality of mediums and
the fluidity of the concepts as objects being realized by artist
using computer or electronic mediums.

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KUDOS

GRANT APPROVED TO RESEARCH COMPUTER ARTS IN BRITAIN FROM 1950S TO 1980

A team of outstanding researchers, including fAf's Executive Editor
Paul Brown, Dr Charlie Gere from the School of History of Art, Film
and Visual Media at Birkbeck, University of London, and George
Mallen, the co-founder of the Computer Arts Society, has been awarded
over half million US dollar by UK's Arts and Humanities Research
Board, to research, document, contextualise and archive the history
of the computer arts in Britain from the 1950s to 1980. This piece of
exciting news features in the June issue of fAf
(http://www.fineartforum.org).


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ADVERTISEMENT

Evolving Traditions: Artists Working in New Media
Video Documentary. 2002. (Color, 56:35)
Directed and produced by Seth Thompson.

Profiles four internationally recognized artists who have
incorporated current computer technology into their work to enhance
their artistic visions. Artists addressed are: Mark Amerika,
Tennessee Rice Dixon, Toni Dove, and Troika Ranch.

The documentary is currently distributed by Wigged Productions and is
available for $29.95 (includes S/H) at
http://www.wigged.net/evolvingtraditions/ .

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WIGGED NEWS ARTICLE


Reflections on Utopia: Sarawut Chutiwongpeti's Work in Perspective.
By Seth Thompson

Two years have passed, since Sarawut Chutiwongpeti's Utopia 1997 came
to my attention. At first, I was intrigued by the aesthetics of the
piece and did not realize the implicit foresight that the work would
have in the upcoming years. Due to a chain of events two years ago,
I had placed the article on the backburner.

Recently, Chutiwongpeti contacted me in regard to the status of the
article. This exchange began a dialogue with him that spurred me to
look once again at his work and to reexamine his ideas in a June 2002
timeframe. With such events as the September 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks on the United States' financial and political capitols;
inflated conflicts between Palestine and Israel; and now threats of
suicide bombers and anthrax have crept into the United States
landscape, I realize how Chutiwongpeti's work foreshadowed these
events.

The installation presents the viewer with ideas of more than just
gorgeous lights and lines within an environment. Pieces of broken
glass lay on the floor; dates of long ago events accompanied by
different geographical locales such as Iran and other texts are
scattered throughout the room; video monitors lay on the floor
presenting "man's" great accomplishments; and missile crater relics
are encapsulated in this environmental sculpture. Utopia 1997 is not
a depiction of Eden, but rather envelopes remnants of chaos and
danger of a society past. It is a cautionary sign to be wary amidst
superficial peace and beauty.

The piece reminds me of Thomas Cole's 1836 painting The Course of
Empire: Desolation which can be found at the New York Historical
Society. The final piece in a series of five, the painting
illustrates the aftermath of a society once great–destroyed by
warfare, overindulgence and greed. Nature is now overtaking the
architectural artifacts of the once great society–slowly returning
the urban landscape to its natural beauty. In Chutiwongpeti's
installation Utopia 1997, sounds of nature are all that remain except
for audio artifacts from the media that reminds the viewer of what
once was.

Chutiwongpeti writes,

"The contradictory side of utopia is full of pessimism. Man's quest
to conquer distant galaxies, endless search for territories and
colonies reflect this inner instinct for power, aggrandizement, and
control. The imbalance of power between those who control and those
under control has contributed to this order and dilemma.

In the era of confusion and distortion values of aesthetics and
common sense have been greatly transformed. At the end of the
century we are facing the crisis of world civilization."

It is my fear that Chutiwongpeti is right–that we live in a world
that is becoming increasingly chaotic and inhumane. I ask myself,
"Why are we killing each other in the name of religion? Isn't
spirituality and religion's mission to provide us with a structure
for peaceful living?" The beautiful facade of Utopia 1997 is evident
at first glance but as we look closer we begin to see some possible
disturbing artifacts of our future's past.

Born in Thailand, Sarawut Chutiwongpeti is a young artist who has
already received international acclaim. He can be reached at
[email protected] . His website is:
http://artists.banff.org/sarawut/


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PUBLICITY OPPORTUNITY

We are looking to promote your upcoming exhibitions and new releases.
If you would like for us to promote your work either through our
newsletter or Wigged.net webzine, please send your press releases to:

Seth Thompson
Wigged Productions
418 Woodland Ave.
Akron, OH 44302

or you may e-mail press releases to [email protected]. No file
attachments will be accepted. If you have images that you would like
to include, please send them via snail mail to the above address.



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