Wednesday, April 27, 2005

50 TinderTrolls see

It's raining, it's boring, the old Troll is snoring...

Much ado at Tekka's headquarters today. As you may know, genuine Trolls tend to burst when exposed to sunlight. The constant stream of rain outside our windows here the last week, affectionately sweeping our dusty Boston streets, has lured hordes of Tinderbox Trolls out from their hiding places.

"Oh, look, the editor is surfing Brevity's Flickr tool!" shouted Blipper, carefully placing a pink rose behind her ear. "I, too, want to be in a 50 People See picture!" Suddenly there was chaos. Mr. Gentle Horns, who likes to hide behind "The Power of Many" on the bookshelf, slid down the wire and lined up behind her. "Hey, take a picture of me too!" begged Miss Tall GreenEared. Mr. Shy Red suddenly got an idea, a sly smile slowly curving his lips. "What are you smiling about?" asked Miss Bunnynosed, patiently taking the spot behind him. Mr. Shy Red remained silent. "She'll just take a note of my idea" he thought to himself, trying to make himself more invisible behind Miss Tall GreenEared. The line grew and grew. "Come on, take a picture! Send us to Mr. Brevity, we want to be in 50 People See!" shouted Mr. Short&Angry from the back of the line.

But why send a picture when you can send a Tinderbox Troll? Neil Kandalgaonkar is the winner of April's Tinderbox Troll. Congratulations!

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

interactive tableaux

After a long wait, Nicolas Clauss of Flying Puppet finally introduces us to his two new pieces:

Les marcheurs (the walkers)

Linz Ars 2004

Go and have a look!

Tuesday, April 5, 2005

Signal or Noise 2k5: Creative Revolution?

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society to host "Signal or Noise 2k5: Creative Revolution?", a conference on how digital technologies are enabling new artistic genres and forms of creativity

CAMBRIDGE - Friday, April 8, The Berkman Center for Internet & Society will host "Signal or Noise 2k5: Creative Revolution?", a conference on how digital technologies enable new artistic genres, creators, and business models, and challenge existing ones. As digital technologies enable audiences to become artists and publishers, often by building off others' work, some are celebrating the popularization of the creative process -- while others are decrying theft and plagiarism.

"New technologies are making digital creativity possible for many more people than ever before. These new contributions to our culture are exciting -- but they are also challenging, because these creative works don't fit the traditional commercial model and often involve the active reuse of existing art," says John Palfrey, Executive Director of the Berkman Center. "Our traditional copyright doctrine is struggling to adapt to the digital age. How can we balance original artists' rights and interests with the interests of expanding popular creativity?"

The conference will explore the legal, ethical, cultural, and business implications of creative reuse through an exciting mix of performances, demonstrations, and panels. Artists' complex reactions to commercial, artist, and audience reuses of their works; the challenges new derivative genres present to traditional copyright doctrine; and the opportunities and complications presented by noncommercial creation and widespread free republication will all be addressed.

An eclectic group of well-known digital artists, writers, entertainment lawyers, copyright experts, and musicians will share their perspectives and experiences. Scheduled panelists and performance artists include New York Times bestselling author Matthew Pearl, copyright scholar Terry Fisher, fanfiction author Naomi Novik, David Dixon of Beatallica, Paul Marino of machinima.org, and Wendy Seltzer and John Perry Barlow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Members of the media are invited to cover this event. To obtain a press pass, please contact Amanda Michel, amichel@cyber.law.harvard.edu or (617) 495-7547.

"Signal or Noise 2k5" will be held in Ames Courtroom, Austin Hall on the Harvard Law School campus. The conference is from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. For more information, including panelists' bios, please visit: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/sn/

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School was founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development.

Tuesday, April 5, 2005

Digital Arts and Culture 2005

CALL FOR PAPERS:

Digital Arts & Cultures (DAC) Conference 2005: "Digital Experience: Design, Aesthetics, Practice"

December 1st - December 3rd, Copenhagen, Denmark

The 6th DAC conference will be held at the IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark, from December 1st to December 3rd 2005. Researchers and practitioners from all related disciplines are invited to participate in this event and to exchange ideas, theories and experiences regarding the state of the field of digital arts, cultures, aesthetics and design anno 2005.

ON THE THEME: DIGITAL EXPERIENCE

The DAC 2005 conference invites critical examinations of the field of digital arts and culture, which challenge existing paradigms. We call for papers which examine both theoretical and hands-on approaches to digital experiences and experience design. Since the inaugural DAC in 1998 much has happened, and research has matured from early investigations into the problematic nature of new media towards questions of emergent dynamics, user centered design and various forms of interactivity. At the same time, the realization has grown that users of digital media not only are active participants, but also have to be taken into account at all stages of the design and production of digital experiences How do practitioners (programmers, artists, designers etc.) cater for this kind of active and demanding user? What kinds of experiences can we create? How can these experiences inform us? How do we as academics analyse and evaluate digital experiences? DAC has always been interested in exploring the ways in which digital media do things that traditional media cannot. We believe that the focus on 'experience' in DAC 2005 will illuminate the possibilities of digital media beyond the functional possibilities of 'usability'. What are the aesthetic and cultural implications of digital design as experience?

For suggestions of more specific topics of the papers, see the website.

SUBMISSIONS

We call for submission of full papers only. It is possible to submit either a full-length paper (max. 10 pages) or a short paper (max. 4 pages). We also invite invitations for self-organised preconference workshops.

All papers will be reviewed by an independant review committee, which will provide written feedback on each paper. Submission of full paper (long & short) & workshop proposals: August 8th Submission of camera-ready papers: October 28th

CONTACT

Conference organiser, academic officer: Tasha Buch, IT University of Copenhagen (tabu@itu.dk)

Conference chair: Lisbeth Klastrup, IT University of Copenhagen (klastrup@itu.dk)

Conference chair: Susana Tosca, IT University (tosca@itu.dk, currently on maternity leave)

- we look forward to meeting you at DAC 2005!

Tuesday, April 5, 2005

skin

Call for ideas and proposals

Our skin is our vulnerable shell. It protects us and characterizes each one of us as an individual. Besides its physical attributes, our skin conveys differences between people; it takes on ancestral, historical, cultural and political implications. As time flows on, it carves more signs and meanings on our skin.

SyS wants to explore this territory from different points of view. Creative personalities will suggest artistic interpretations of the project message, thus offering their own reading of the human skin. Photography, graphic arts, the written word; a bold, abstract approach or a sober and realistic one - each contribution will be a key component of this multifaceted jigsaw puzzle. The goal is to build a well-structured picture of human skin as a concept/research object. The final work will be published in a book and distributed to selected retailers all over the world.

Artists, writers, designers and cultural producers: we are calling you! Send us your work! (Format: 1 to max. 8 pages; approx. size: 17x24 cm./6.70x9.45 in.). It can be anything from a photo or photo series/sequence, to graphic work, a story, an article or a poem.

As the book will include a DVD, please feel free to send us also multimedia content (sounds, animations, movies, etc.).

(deadline: March 31, 2005). Extended! New deadline: May 31, 2005

http://www.scan-skin.org/