Andreas Broeckmann on Sun, 18 Mar 2001 19:47:33 +0200 |
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Syndicate: DA2 update/ MOMENTUM FORUM, Bristol/UK |
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 14:57:18 +0000 To: friends@da2.org.uk From: Peter Ride <peter@da2.org.uk> DA2 presents Momentum A three day forum on digital arts practice 19, 20, 21 April 2001 at Watershed Media Centre, Bristol, UK momentum > mass & velocity, impetus & speed SUMMARY: The Momentum forum is a brainstorming event. It is three days of round table discussions that ask how change effects new media practice. How do the shifting roles of cultural producers and artists, the artistic and technological demands of changing technologies and a culture of rapid and impatient innovation impact on us? It's about the velocity of change in the new media arts world. DETAILS: As practitioners, both artists and organisers, we may come from a wide range of backgrounds and operate on different trajectories but often we are dealing with the same issues about defining and understanding arts practice. We find it increasingly important to work with, and reference, each other, often across perceived boundaries. And as such we develop a critical mass. Momentum aims to explore the collective knowledge that emerges from this mass. The Momentum forum is not a conference or seminar. It is intended as an opportunity for a small group of peers to pool their expertise and knowledge. We want to speed the cross-fertilisation of ideas and practices, and empower the networks that exist. Each day is structured around a key question and a set of premises: challenging or amending them will be a fundamental element of the group's activity. We will not be delivering formal papers but looking at case studies so that the maximum number of attendees can put their experience on the line. A tangible outcome of Momentum will be a publication in Summer 2001 which will draw on key issues of the forum. Based on this it will look at the context in which work generated by digital media organisations, like DA2, has operated over the past few years. DAY ONE > MASS & VELOCITY The question: are there distinctly new forms of arts management that are being necessitated and demonstrated by new media practice? The premise: >> Organisations and artists are developing ways of working which seek to be more appropriate to the contexts and opportunities of new technology. >> Sometimes this means moving away from conventional models of exhibition/performance and presentation towards a process based, or even research-structured activity. >> The behaviour of organisations and the reference points applied to management roles are changing, e.g. organisations are increasingly operating as agencies and brokering collaborations; the traditional role of the curator is declining in relevance and a role as 'creative producer' or 'facilitator' is increasing. >> New strategies may be devised to bring work to audiences, and to enable them to access to the process of development and experimentation, but there is not always adequate appraisal or evaluation to monitor their effectiveness. >> Artists may operate as technical facilitators as well as creative content providers, but they may also require specialist teams to work with them. Recognising, negotiating and providing for their needs presents a new set of challenges to organisers. Case studies will include: ~ Metapod ~ 'Swansong for TV' (Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie) ~ TEST ~ DA2 ~ Digital Media Resource Network ~ 'Tide' (Luke Jerram) DAY TWO > IMPETUS The question: What conditions are created by high-end innovation? The premise: >> New issues arise with projects where the use of the technology is experimental, particularly - but not exclusively - with high-end technologies. It can also apply to interface design, software creation and programming. >> In experimental work the nature of the cultural innovation might not be measured in terms of artistic content but in terms of the development of 'form' or by revealing the possibility of the technology. >> A key artist's role may be as catalyst in this process, not as content provider. >> Collaborative projects may have complex multiple objectives, and the innovations intended by artists and technologists may be compatible but not necessarily mutual, and may involve different risks, challenges and definitions of completion. >> The management of the tension between artistic and technological imperatives can be a unique challenge of the sector. Case studies will include: ~ FLIRT mobile telephony projects (RCA) ~ 'Desert Rain' (Blast Theory and Univ of Nottingham) ~ 'Code Zebra' (Sara Diamond with The Institute for New Media Performance Research) ~ WAP and text messaging projects (TEST and Laura Watts) ~ Interactive TV & VRML project (Plymouth Univ and DA2) ~ online film (Tom Flemming) ~ 'Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty' (Susan Collins) DAY THREE > SPEED The question: How do we recognise and value emergence? The premise: >> The rapid rate of technological advancement has special appeal for artists and new media practice is often contextualised by looking forward to future technological possibilities e.g. the contexts of 'emergence' and 'innovation'. >> This leads to cultural and philosophical expectations about speed and change in new media practice and artists work often helps to articulate this. >> However, a collective acknowledgement of what is new and emergent may seem to come more about from gut instinct and trend than by a definable form of analysis. >> This may itself be a necessary process but there may also be conditions or values we are applying to 'emergence' that need to be recognised. Case studies will include: ~ b.tv ~ 'Afterworld' (Simon Poulter with Watershed and DA2) ~ Sci-art projects including 'The Search for Terrestrial Intelligence' (CAiiA/ STAR) ~ TeleSpatial research (Chris Speed) [Case studies are not fixed but will be confirmed after proposals from participants] Participants fee: ?40 per day - but subsidy for low income organisations/individuals can be arranged Contact: If you are interested in participating or for more information email Peter Ride, Director of DA2 peter@da2.org.uk or Daniel Brine, event co-ordinator <danielbrine@appleonline.net> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Peter Ride, Artistic Director <peter@da2.org.uk> Rachel Drummond-Hay, Project Manager <rachel@da2.org.uk> DA2 Digital Arts Development Agency http://www.da2.org.uk DA2 is supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of England ISP sponsorship provided by City Netgates ------Syndicate mailinglist-------------------- Syndicate network for media culture and media art information and archive: http://www.v2.nl/syndicate to unsubscribe, write to <syndicate-request@aec.at> in the body of the msg: unsubscribe your@email.adress