2. INTELLIGENT AGENT NEWS
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Intelligent Agent is a quarterly print magazine
on interactive media in arts and education. The
current issue (vol. 2 no. 2) is available
in bookstores throughout the US.
Selections from the articles featured in the
magazine are available at the Intelligent Agent
website: http://www.intelligent-agent.com
If you're interested in subscribing to the
Intelligent Agent print magazine, please check
out the information at the end of this newsletter.
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While working on the next issue of INTELLIGENT AGENT,
we still try to make time for keeping track of the
developing projects of the magazine's contributors
and featured artists.
The current issue of Intelligent Agent (2.2)
includes an introduction to OMNIZONE, a website
project organized by Plexus and focusing on
mapping perspectives of digital culture. The
OMNIZONE website was introduced at Thundergulch's
video wall on May 26 and will finally be launched
in mid-June (http://plexus.org/omnizone). Several
of the participating artists presented their
projects and proved that OMNIZONE is a site to
watch out for.
Among the works included are "Trash Collector"
by Maciej Wisneiwski (who has become an expert
in the field of webpage recycling), Sawad Brook's
"Monument" and Noah Wardrip-Fruin's take on agent
software that helps you grieve with the vanished
pages leaving you with nothing but an error
message.
On June 3, Location One, a not-for-profit
organization devoted to the recognition of
innovative contemporary artists, presented
"Reconnaissance I," a multimedia event combining
music, sound, dance, and performance elements
with video and robotics, as well as computer
and Internet technology. "Reconnaissance I"
was the first New York-Tokyo teleconference
collaboration presented by Location One. A live
Butoh dance performance (accompanied by Elliot
Sharp's music) was broadcast over the Internet
in a virtual environment set up by Floating Point
Unit. The walls of "Studio 601" -- where the event
took place -- were illuminated by the virtual Butoh
dance environment, projections by The Poool,
Jae Sil Byun et al., and scenes from Adrianne Wortzel's
multimedia play "Sayonara Diorama" (based on Wortzel's
"Globe Theater Archives" published in Intelligent
Agent vol. 2 no.1), which premiered at Lehman College, NY,
in March. One of Wortzel's robots mingled with the
audience and recorded/projected the events all evening.
The windows opened by the multiple projections and the
"real" windows framing a view of the Hudson river and
lower Manhattan, made Studio 601 the ideal space for
exchanging views on multimedia art.
Location One, which has affiliated spaces in Zurich,
Naples, Marseilles and Barcelona, plans to open a
permanent exhibition space in New York soon.
Christiane Paul
3. REVIEWS (WEB)
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Featured in vol. 2 no. 2 of INTELLIGENT AGENT
"An artists kit for survival"
http://www.melig.co.il/questions/
"An artists kit for survival," compiled by
Shoshana Cohen, focuses on the constituents
determining the survival of the artistically
fittest. The kit provides a framework of data
relevant to the current situation and survival
of the artist. The organizational structure
covers basic elements of story-telling--who,
what, how, where/when and why--and leads into
a network of visual/textual elements and diagrams
that offer models for describing the complex
interelationship between content, context, media,
interaction etc. The decisively analytical
approach may not provide for a kit of practical
tools but it visualizes the network of complexity
any artistic enterprise is embedded in.
"Conversation with Angels"
http://ampcom.kaapeli.fi
Another multi-user Internet project allowing
real-time chat between users in a virtual world
is "Conversations with Angels" by AMPCOM (Andy Best
and Merja Puustinen). "Conversations" uses
VRML 2.0 together with Sony's Community Place
plugin for Netscape, and visitors can pick or
change their avatar to interact with other people.
What distinguishes the project from other "chat
worlds" is the fact that users encounter robot
characters that inhabit the 3D spaces permanently.
The robot personalities who are based on real
people and experiences are not your average angels
and have the potential to put an interesting twist
on the conversations. Among the characters are a
serial killer, a redneck survivalist, a single
mother and a lesbian princess-angels of the "real"
virtual world.
"Flame War"
http://www.artswire.org/~jmalloy/flamewar.html
Linking territory and human behavior, Judy
Malloy's "Flame War" offers a completely different
take on exploring our psyche. As Malloy points out,
the movement west and appropriation of territory
in 19th century America wasn't exactly characterized
by the politeness of human behavior; in the constant
struggle for existence, barroom brawls, shootouts,
holdups, hangings and massacres were commonplace.
No wonder "netiquette" has become such a
much-discussed topic in the exploration and
appropriation of Internet territory in the late
20th century. "Flame War" makes its contribution
to netiquette by providing an outlet for our anger
and frustration: visitors to the site are allowed
to post their verbal "flames," which will appear
on the battleground of the browser window (warning:
there may be flames that are so potent that they
will burn up on reentry and won't be seen again).
Flames are organized according to addressees,
such as Uncle Sam, the Boss, or Bill Gates.
If the number of flames that certain people
receive is an indication of how much virtual
territory they hold, the outcome of the war
seems to be business as usual: a major amount
of flames goes to Bill Gates.
"Last Entry: Bombay, 1st of July"
http://www.aec.at/residence/lastentry/index.html
Starting from Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando
(written in 1928), "Last Entry: Bombay, 1st of
July" creates a "virtual profile" of identity
in the networked community. The premise is
intruiging; Woolf's "Orlando" -- the biography
of a figure who travels through time and space,
centuries and cultures, switching gender and
identities -- now reads like a visionary metaphor
of the Internet. The website takes the form of a
travel log/diary/narrative montage: visitors are
invited to contribute their stories, thus involving
Orlando into their own (virtual) background and
bringing him/her into contact with others. Users
can also go to a page where they can download
images of Orlando's latest appearance in order
to change and use them in their own episode.The
interface organizes episodes in the form of the
profile of a head consisting of micro-profiles.
The web of episodes, interweaving the realities
and fictions of identity, opens up possibilities
for an elaborate game with casual encounters and
destiny (even if contributions don't necessarily
live up to the potential of the project).
"l.o.s.t."
http://www.ave.ch/echo/lost.html
Herve Graumann's "l.o.s.t." sums up the
feelings many of us experience while exploring
cyber-geography. Visitors to the site encounter
a black space and their cursors take the form
of a white circle. Moving around the circle,
one realizes that it is a kind of flashlight
which allows to explore the dark space. With
the help of the light, one discovers what
could be the scribblings on the wall left
by somebody forever lost in cyberspace,
endlessly circling -- a tiny data body that
has become indistinguishable from the writing
on the wall.
"unendlich, fast... "
http://www.thing.at/thing/shows/ende.html
Holger Friese's "unendlich, fast..." ("infinite,
almost...") is the ultimate minimalist approach
to cybergeography-an effective take on the
limitations and limitlessness of the browser
window. Visitors to the site encounter nothing
but a blue background in their browser and can
endlessly scroll down the blue color field. Infinity
captured in a window-an aesthetic dream come true.
4. ANNOUNCEMENTS & CALLS FOR PARTICIPATION
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[Call for Participation]
ALIFE VI
June 26-29, 1998
UCLA, Los Angeles, USA
The Sixth International Conference on
Artificial Life (Life and Computation:
the Boundaries are Changing) will bring
together people interested in constructing
life-like systems and exploring the
boundaries of life/non-life.
The University of California, Los Angeles,
at the Sunset Village conference center.
DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION:
June 15th, 1998
CONTACT:
URL: http://alife6.alife.org/
[Call for Questions]
CAA COMMITTEE ON
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
The College Art Association Committee on
Intellectual Property (CIP) plans to publish
a guidebook of questions and answers pertaining
to copyright issues of concern to art historians,
scholars and artists. The committee is calling
for questions to be included in this publication.
Questions may concern any aspect of copyright law
relevant to the use of the Visual Arts by scholars,
teachers and artists, including, but not limited to
international law, rights of artists, use of public
domain, publishing issues, use of World Wide Web,
distance education, multi-media, fair use and
obtaining rights and permissions.
CONTACT:
Robert Baron, chair
CAA Committee on Intellectual Property
P.O. Box 93
Larchmont, NY 10538
E-MAIL: rabaron@pipeline.com
(If responding by e-mail, kindly place
the initials CIPQA in the subject
line of your message.)
[Call for Papers and Panelists]
CREATIVITY AND CONSUMPTION
New Media Arts in Advanced Technology Culture
March 29-31, 1999
University of Luton, UK
Creativity and Consumption will explore
theoretical issues around the 'content'
and 'use' of digital technology in order
to promote a critical understanding of
new media products and the context in
which they circulate.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: September 30, 1998
CONTACT:
E-MAIL: CREATIVITY@luton.ac.uk
[Call for Papers]
GW '99 - THE 3rd GESTURE WORKSHOP
March 17-19, 1999
Gif-sur-Yvette, France
The Gesture Workshop is an interdisciplinary
event for those researching gesture-based
communication and who want to meet and
exchange ideas across disciplines.
DEADLINES:
September 12, 1998: Full paper submissions
December 11, 1998: Poster and Demo submissions
CONTACT:
Gesture Workshop '99
LIMSI - CNRS
BP133
F-91403 ORSAY cedex
FRANCE
E-MAIL:gw99@limsi.fr
URL: http://www.limsi.fr/GW99/
[Call for Artists]
INDUSTRIEPROJEKT
Art in the Industrial Zone
May/June, 1999
Kunstpflug e.V. Baitz, Germany
We plan to concentrate on a special
regional theme: the new light-industry
factory zones that have established
themselves in this area just outside
the Berlin suburbs. An exhibition will
be organized on the factory grounds
including the following artworks:
installation, performance, machines,
videos, sound-art, and light projections.
DEADLINE: End of June, 1998
CONTACT:
KUNSTPFLUG e.V.
Bahnhofstr. 47
14806 Baitz, Germany
E-MAIL: maubrey@berlin.snafu.de
[Call for Participation]
L'IMMAGINE LEGGERA
PALERMO INTERNATIONAL VIDEOART,
FILM AND MEDIA FESTIVAL
October 2-10, 1998
Palermo, Italy
International Videoart Competition
(the only one in Italy) and
International Competition for artist's
CD-Roms
DEADLINE: July 31, 1998
CONTACT:
URL: http://www.imprese.com/immagineleggera
E-MAIL: 00253aaa@mbox.infcom.it
[Call for Submissions]
MUTE MAGAZINE
NET POLITICS ISSUE
August, 1998
In collaboration with Revolting, Manchester's
temporary media lab, Mute is publishing a
special issue on NET POLITICS. Coinciding
with the themes of ISEA98 - Revolution/The
Terror - it will place contemporary debates
on the politics of information networks under
the microscope.
DEADLINE: June 18, 1998
CONTACT:
E-MAIL: mute@metamute.com
URL: http://www.yourserver.co.uk/revolting
[Call for Papers]
MARGINS OF GLOBAL CULTURE
POLYGRAPH 11
Duke University
This issue seeks to bring different
fields of research such as subaltern
studies, subcultural theory, the political
economy of globalization, and cultural
anthropology into a dialogue to develop
new perspectives on the sorts of cultural
practices affected and enabled by
globalization, as well as to potentially
develop new "working hybrids" among the
methodologies of these different fields
of study.
DEADLINE: August 1, 1998.
CONTACT:
E-MAIL: polygraph@duke.edu
URL: http://www.duke.edu/literature/pgf.html
[Call for Entries]
HIGH SPEED ART
Secession Gallery
October 15, 1998
San Francisco, California
This exhibit will not take place in a
gallery; instead it will take place
"in the streets." We hope to create
an exhibit that addresses the increasing
impact of speed (and the tools of speed)
in our lives. The art can be static or
mobile, and could relate to or include
cars, skateboards, bicycles, trains, planes,
computers, and telephones. Artists working
in all media are encouraged to apply.
Venues for projects may include, but are
not limited to: rooftops, bus advertising
space, construction barriers, and storefronts.
Artists could use signage of any kind, radio
broadcasts, sound installations, performances,
and interventions. Artists will receive stipends.
If you are interested in being considered for
this exhibit, please send:
1) documentation of recent work
2) A one-page letter describing your interest
in the show and your general approach toward
the project (not a specific proposal).
Send to:
Secession Gallery
Leona Terrace Research Center
20 Leona Terrace
San Francisco, CA 94115
DEADLINES:
June 23 - Letter of interest and
documentation of work
July 7 - Finalists selected
August 3 - Deadline for final proposal
CONTACT:
URL: http://www.sirius.com/~ps313
5. BOOKMARKS
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http://artnetweb.com/resource/new.html
The Cathedral and the Bazaar
http://sagan.earthspace.net/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/
Eric Raymond's paper about Linux that
influenced Netscape's decision to release
Communicator 5.0 as source code.
The Next Left
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/bookauth/ba980423.htm
Scott Stossel talks with philosopher
Richard Rorty about the future of political
liberalism in the U.S.
Varieties of Madness
http://www.nybooks.com/nyrev/WWWfeatdisplay.cgi?1998042317R
Joan Didion reviews the Unibomber Manifesto.
Gertrude Stein Salon
http://magzine.gurl.com/where/regulars/deadwomen/feb98/salon.html
Gert, Alice, Pabs, Paris...need we say more.
City of Boiled Beans
http://www.khosla.com/cityboiledbeans/cityboiledbeans.htm
Ashok Khosla and Susan Bodenlos discover India
while setting up a software development center
for Apple Computer.
Screen Salvation
http://www.feedmag.com/html/dialog/98.05dialog/98.05dialog_master.html
A FEED dialog on spirituality and technology
with Mitch Kapor, Jennifer Cobb, Erik Davis
and Lama Surya Das.
SMUG
http://smug.com
E-zine published by Leslie Harpold from a
tiny cupboard in New York's Hell's Kitchen.
The Robin Hood Project
http://rodent.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/rh/rhhome.stm
A database of texts, images, bibliographies,
and basic information about the Robin Hood
stories and other outlaw tales, sponsored
by the University of Rochester.
DITHERATI
http://www.ditherati.com/
Owen Thomas collects quotations of the Digerati.
Universal Currency Converter
http://www.xe.net/currency/
Performs interactive foreign exchange rate
conversion on the Internet.
Umbrella Online
http://colophon.com/umbrella
Selections from UMBRELLA -- the seminal
publication about artists books, mail
art and many other things edited and
produced by founding editor,
Judith A. Hoffberg.
If you have suggestions or contributions send them to:
murph@artnetweb.com
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We'd like to thank the following for their generous financial
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Program in Film and Video Studies
http://www.umich.edu/~umfvpgm/
ART CALENDAR
The Business Magazine for Visual Artists
http://www.artcalendar.com/
WEB MONSTER
Web and Mailing List Hosting
http://www.webmonster.net
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Digital Design
http://www.pixelyze.com/users/carmin
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