[rohrpost] transmediale.01 newsletter #3b - Conference 9 Feb: Distribution &Participation

[Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@transmediale.de>]

transmediale.01  - international media art festival berlin
DIY [ do it yourself ! ]
4 - 11 February 2001


The transmediale.01 includes a two-day conference about the DIY theme,
focusing on Software (8 February) and Net-based Forms of Distribution and
Participation (9 February). On both days, there will be simultaneous
English-German translation in the hall, and a live-stream online.


* New Forms of Distribution - Sharing and Dealing Artistic Products on the Net

Friday, 9.2.2001, 14.30 - 18.00 h

The Internet has opened up diverse possibilities of collaboratively making
artistic products and presenting them to a global audience. The
unrestricted access to free software on the net encourages process-oriented
production and challenges users to conduct their own artistic experiments
on their home computers. Growing individual skills in handling new media
are a direct consequence of this development.

At the same time, however, ever-more powerful computers, faster
transmission rates and new data-compression techniques are increasingly
transforming the net into an entertainment medium that, aside from the
active procedures of searching for and downloading files, allows its users
to be passive listeners and viewers. While the peer-to-peer swapping of
digital data seems ideal from the viewpoint of the home computer, the 'old'
distribution industry denounces the practice as one it would like to see
criminalized.

Autonomous Internet marketplaces and formats that might be able to replace
the classical forms of trading are proving slow to emerge. Just as the
e-book has so far failed to succeed, micropayment on the net remains a
rarity.

For artists, the ability to distribute a piece of work - whether music,
video or a flash animation - over Internet platforms primarily means
direct, fast access to a target group. To date, however, there is a lack of
instruments and models that would enable artists to operate independently
of the traditional value chains.

The panel is made up of artists and net distributors who present their work
and discuss the following questions:
What does current Internet-based art production look like? What new
artistic formats have emerged and which of these are appropriate for net
distribution? Do niches or functioning models exist that make the
production of artistic content profitable? Who are the actual 'users' or,
more accurately, 'benificiaries' of such models - i.e. who earns money
through the content produced by the creative workers? How significant are
notions like 'author' and 'copyright' in the digital age? Do new
distribution channels automatically stimulate cultural diversity?

Featuring:

Mark Amerika (US)
Media artist and critic, columnist with 'Amerika Online', web-publishing
expert, demands a more business-oriented attitude on the part of online
artists.
http://www.altx.com/who.is.mark.amerika.html

Monika Halkort (A/D)
Programme Manager of 'WebfreeTV' explains why the do-it-yourself channel
'My TV' failed, and presents alternatives.
http://webfreetv.com

Hugh Hancock (UK)
Pioneer of 'Machinima' animated films that are made with hacked software
distributed over the net.
http://www.strangecompany.org
http://www.machinima.com

Laurent Kaestli (F/CH)
Marketing and E-Commerce expert, presents the concept of "Streaming Art
GmbH", a company for global exhibition and distribution of electronic art

Oleg Nikulin and Victor Davydov (RUS)
of Studio U-7TV, an Internet short-film production and distribution
company, talk about the U7 distribution model and the special features of
works produced for streaming over the net.
http://www.u7tv.e-burg.ru

Enno E. Peter (D)
Key Account Manager and host of the award-winning online literature project
'tage-bau' and expert on the history of literature distribution over the
net.
http://www.tage-bau.de/
http://www.berlinerzimmer.de/

Kindly supported by Filmboard Berlin-Brandenburg.




* Net-based Participation - Media Competence and Models of Interaction on
the Net

Friday, 9.2.2001, 20.30 - 22.30 h


The Internet is increasingly viewed as a participatory medium in which
interactivity is limited not only to 'click and buy' but also functions as
a production system. On the one hand there is a constant growth in new
platforms for actual interactive models, on the other hand the Net is also
increasingly seen, particularly in connection with greater bandwidths, as a
passive entertainment medium that offers highly compressed film streams.
There are signs that in the future the functionality of the Internet will
continue to split up and that an abundance of hybrid formats will develop.

The concept of the Internet as a production system is in particular being
pushed forward by creative people and artists who no longer use the Net
just as a distribution medium but, in addition, employ internet technology
to generate artistic products on the basis of collaboration, participation
and global access.
With many of these projects the basic idea is both the stimulation of the
natural creativity of the individual and a political objective which relies
on the idea of the Internet as a democratic medium.
The call to DIY that these projects imply increasingly presupposes the
user's engagement with the new technology, requires his involvement and
fosters media competence in a very direct way.

In this panel artistic projects and interaction models are presented that
extend beyond the usual degree of production in virtual space and actually
intervene in real structures such as the urban realm or social and economic
processes. The following questions will be addressed: What does
interactivity mean in contrast to the concepts interpassivity and
participation? Is the idea of the Internet as a medium that promotes
democracy an illusion or reality? To what extent can artistic interventions
also be starting points for a longer-term change in the view of society?

Featuring:

Robert Pfaller (A)
Media philosopher, coined the concept "interpassivity" for delegated medial
consumption and passivity

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (MEX/CAN)
Media artist and curator who is presenting the award-winning work
"Vectorial Elevation" and his other Net-based projects
www.alzado.net
www.lozano-hemmer.com

Superflex (DK)
Group of artists who view the Net as an interaction platform and a
democratic medium. Projects: "Superchannel"  -  Internet TV and "Wolfsburg
2" / "Karlskrona 2" - virtual city models
www.superflex.dk

Christian Hübler, Knowbotic Research (A/D/CH)
Knowbotic Research developed, amongst others, the art project "connective
force attack" that is based on collaboration between online users.
http://h---h.de/

Daniel G. Andújar, Technologies To The People (E)
Media artist who, with the project "Phoney " that is nominated for the
award, confronts the user ith the thrills and dangers of Internet
insecurity.
www.irational.org/tttp



English/German simultaneous translation.
Tickets: 1 panel DM 20 (red. DM 15), both panels DM 35 (red. DM 25)
Reservations at: info@transmediale.de



The festival website is still under construction. However, an ACCREDITATION
FORM is already available on http://www.transmediale.de

PRESS: please, contact presse@transmediale.de


The NEXT NEWSLETTER will be published on 12 January and will contain
information about the transmediale.01 video screening programmes.


Best regards,

the transmediale team

_______________________________________

transmediale.01
DIY [do it yourself!]
4 - 11 february 2001
international media art festival berlin

klosterstr. 68-70
10179 berlin
germany
fon +49 30 2472 1907
fax +49 30 2472 1909
info@transmediale.de
www.transmediale.de
...........................................................................
Member of the European Coordination of Film Festivals E.E.I.G.
...........................................................................



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