2009 APRIL / VOL.2
2009, WHAT IS YOUR IDEA ON MEDIA ART? Part.2
EXHIBITION INFO. in Seoul
COVERSTORY
tag.1
2009, WHAT IS YOUR IDEA ON MEDIA ART? part.2
Media Art Database & Online Archive AliceOn
AliceOnPaper VOL.2
Following the last issue, the first cover
This second part is made up by
story of AliceOn, “2009, What’s Your Idea
the surveys of overseas curators
on Media Art?”, is going to survey the
below.
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overseas trend of media art through the curators’ responds from all around the Nina Colosi
Andreas Broeckmann
_Director of ‘The Project Room’, Chelsea Art Museum
_Director of ISEA 2010 Ruhr.
AliceOn has made a plan to examine which
: Nina Colosi is a planner of ‘The Project
: Andreas Broeckmann, a director of
process of media art is going on and
Room’ for new media art and performing
ISEA 2010, is planning media art events,
which problems media art is faced at. This
art at Chelsea Art Museum. She is also a
lectures and exhibitions in Germany. He
cover story is important to know the posi-
founder and a creative director of Stream-
worked as a curator of the 5th Seoul Inter-
tion of contemporary media art and expect
ing Museum.
national Media Art Biennale in 2008.
The Project Room http://theprojectroom.org/
http://www.mikro.in-berlin.de /
world.
the future media art more or less through the answers from curators who work in the internal and external field of media art.
ISEA 2010: http://www.isea2010ruhr.org/
Domenico Quranta _Independent Curator, Madrid Arco Artfair 2009
Gerfried Stocker
: Domenico Quranta is now active in the
_Artistic Director, Ars Electronica Center
field of Media & Technology. He has
: Gerfried Stocker, a famous director of Ars
planned ‘Expanded Box’ in Madrid Arco
Electronica in Australia, is well known for
Artfair 2009.
his good lectures on virtuality and reality.
http://www.domenicoquaranta.net/english.html
He is very interested in the problems of space and body which media expand. http://www.aec.at / 80+1 A Journey Around the World: http://www.80plus1.org
AliceOn Coverstory TAG.1
Nina Colosi Curator The Project Room for New Media and Performing Arts at Chelsea Art Museum
Founder / Creative Director Streaming Museum
On January 29, 2008 we launched the
programs. Collectors are a key element
Streaming Museum which presents multi-
to supporting the artists and the future of
media exhibitions in cyberspace and pub-
the medium.
lic spaces on 7 continents. It is produced
Statistics prove that the experience of, or
and broadcast in NYC in collaboration
participation in the arts provide a valu-
with international arts professionals. In
able contribution to the quality of life and
recognition of Nam June Paik’s ideas in
economic vitality of every culture, and in
the 1970s about the ‘information super-
addition to the traditional museum and
highway”, we opened the museum with
concert hall, technology makes it possible
an exhibition of Paik’s Good Morning Mr.
for more people to experience artworks in
Orwell which was viewed simultaneously
public spaces or on their computers and
throughout the Museum’s global network
handheld devices.
of public locations. Now in its second year, the museum will expand in many ways including the exhibition and commissioning of work created for its cross-reality platform, for and with the medium.
Q2.
Q3.
What was the core of media art projects you (or
In 2009, at this moment, what do you think
your institute) have (has) done so far?
of the present of media art? And what is the next phase of media art in near future you are
NC
expecting? (Where media art should be moved forward?)
In 2003 I initiated The Project Room for New Media and Performing Arts at Chelsea Art Museum in New York and have presented over 400 international multi-media artists in exhibitions, public programs, lab projects and workshops. The program is an incubator of new ideas, showcasing groundbreaking concepts in all art mediums, and the intersection of the arts through technology. (Schedules/info here - http://www.theprojectroom. org & http://chelseaartmuseum.org)
NC The present situation and future of new media art requires finding solutions to the issues of preservation, which is being addressed by many professionals and organizations. Also, the collection and appreciation of new media art, recognizing its place in the context of art history, can be promoted through public educational
Media Art Database & Online Archive AliceOn
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AliceOnPaper VOL.2
to do with the medium. Finally, both the
Nova Gorica (Slovenia) in December 2008,
media art scene and the media art label
was an exploration of the relationship that
are acting like birdcages for our pretty
technology and media in general can have
canaries (I mean, the artists) looking for
with our spiritual life, whatever we mean
freedom and for a wider platform where to
with this world. Hyperlucid, a little project
perform. They are tired to study in sepa-
I’m going to curate for the Prague Biennal
rated departments in the university, to be
in May 2009, is a selection of image based
featured in separated columns in maga-
works – digital prints, paintings, embroi-
zines, in separated areas in the museums,
dery – dealing with the “mediated reality”
in separated bookshelves in libraries.
we experience in our daily life through videogames, TV, the Web and other inter-
Q2. What was the core of media art projects you (or
Domenico Quaranta
your institute) have (has) done so far?
Independent Curator DQ As an independent curator, I’m particularly interested in projects based on a strong Q1. Now, what is the media art you are thinking of?
content than on a particular approach to the medium. I’m quite tired of all that
DQ In recent years, media art has experienced a serious crisis. This crisis is, on one side, a growth crisis: the events related to media art spread all around the world, the community grew more and more and in the end stopped thinking about itself in terms of community. On the other side, and more importantly, this crisis is an identity crisis: since all art is now related, in some way or another, with the digital medium, it’s increasingly difficult for media art to identify its own specificity; what’ s clear is that this identity has little
low-brow, hi-tech media art that fills up most festivals. I like art that comments upon the techno-social environment we live in, that embodies and questions digital culture adopting both “new” and “traditional” media and addressing different communities: the art audience, the web surfers, the people walking in the streets and not interested in art. While curating the Expanded Box for ARCO 2009 in Madrid I kept the spectrum as open as possible, in the exhibitions I curated in the last months I tried to make this approach visible. For God’s Sake!, the exhibition I organized for the Pixxelpoint festival in
faces. In both the cases, I focus on digital culture rather than on media art.
AliceOn Coverstory TAG.1
Andreas Broeckmann Director, ISEA 2010 Ruhr
Q1. Now, what is the media art you are thinking of?
AB The term ‘media art’ is not as clear any more as it used to be. Ten years ago, we
making that relates to the history of paint-
Jose, Helsinki, and Nagoya. Each time it
ing more than to the history of experimen-
happens, the local organizers give it a
tal video art; here, the fact that something
different spin, and of course the festival
is done ‘in video’ does not necessarily
also tries to accommodate new develop-
help us to fully understand the artwork.
ments in the relations of art, science, and
This is an effect of digital media becoming
technology. It is thus also an opportunity
a normalised (artistic) medium. - There is
for taking stock, seeing where we are, and
a type of art that reflects about the social
how different people around us conceive
construction and the cultural meaning of
of the field that we are in - a very dynamic
media in a more narrow sense - whether
and open process through which we are
in terms of the mass media, or personal-
continuously re-negotiating our cultural
ized digital media; maybe it makes sense
map. At the same time, the festival is also
to use the term ‘media art’ for this type
a big public event that presents artworks
of work. But personally I think that there
and debates to a wider public. At the mo-
is so much confusion about what consti-
ment, for instance, there is a lot of debate
tutes ‘media art’, that it might be better
about the relation between art and the
to try and not use the term for a while;
creative industries, whether they are the
if we have to describe what we mean in
same, or similar but different, or com-
other words, maybe we will be able to
pletely unrelated. In ISEA2010 RUHR, this
find a new description of what it is we are
will be an important issue, and I hope that
interested in.
we can turn the festival into a celebration
used it to describe artworks that were
of art, and a celebration of cultural reflec-
made using electronic and digital tech-
Q4.
nologies; often, but not always, these
What is you next media art project now your
artworks would reflect on the impact
are working on?
of the work. Today, digital media have become so prevalent in our culture, and also in contemporary art, that it is not really a useful criterion any more to distinguish between one form of art and another. For example, many artists are using video and digital animation in a tradition of image-
change. You can find information about it at www.isea2010ruhr.org
that these technologies were having on society, and on the aesthetic dimensions
tion in the face of social and technological
AB I am currently preparing a major festival, ISEA2010 RUHR, the 16th International Symposium on Electronic Art, which is due to take place in Germany in August 2010. ISEA is a biannual festival that first took place in the late 1980s and that travels around the world: recent editions have taken place in Singapore, San
business(exhibition, academy) to realize consistent interrelationship between outside experts and artists. In 2005 exhibition <ArtiST PROJECT>, we examined possibilities and limits on artists and scientists working together through workshops. Based on the results, the exhibition <2050 Future Scope> in 2009 has shown themes on future society with the
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Media Art Database & Online Archive AliceOn
AliceOnPaper VOL.2
scientists’ advice on artistic works. As a
ing the values of subjectivity these are
bridges between these two spheres of real
following step, we are getting ready to set
methods which can complement the scien-
and virtual of digital and corporal. This is a
up a system to sustain cooperative work
tistic view onto our world leading to new
major task for media arts.
between scientists and artists.
ideas and better understanding. Considering the enormous impact of new digital technologies onto our cultures we
Q4. What is you next media art project now your are working on?
have to face, that we might have passed the digital revolution in its technological terms. But when it comes to the aftermath of these new aspects, possibilities and of course also threats, when it comes to the challenge of integrating this new “digital nature” into our lives than we can easy understand why the contribution of media art is such an important one. We have to
Gerfried Stocker Director, Ars Electronica
develop new cultural techniques to digest it, to design it in new ways which are appropriate to the needs of us humans.
Q1.
Q3.
Now, what is the media art you are thinking of?
In 2009, at this moment, what do you think of the present of media art? And what is the next phase of media art in near future you are
GS
expecting? (Where media art should be moved
Media art is so special, not just because of
forward?)
the extensive use of computers and digital media but because it is a particular way of
GS
thinking and working. I always thought of
The last decades have been dominated
media art as a strategy an artistic strat-
by the need to introduce the “Digital” to
egy to deal with the increasing amount of
become aware of the nature of digital – in
technology in our world. A type of investi-
technical sense but also in its cultural and
gation and research that is not based on
socio-political terms. It was very impor-
the reductionist mindset of science but on
tant to experiment with new interfaces,
a much more holistic and human-centered
to explore new devices etc. But the big
approach. Creating experience, introduc-
challenge of the next decade is to build
GS We have just finished the new Ars Electronica Center and the next big project is called 80+1. It is a global journey that will take us around the world in 80+1 days but the journey is taking place only by means of modern digital telecommunication. It will be a really exciting and also challenging project.
EXHIBITION INFO. IN SEOUL
MultiScape: Reading, Writing, Memorizing 3â&#x20AC;˘15 Art Center 2009.02.12 ~ 2009.04.14 www.315art.net
Duplicity Project-The City_ Lee June Ui (photography) Gallery K 2009.02.26 ~ 2009.03.18 www.galleryk.org
Thousands_BreaThings_ Chun Kyung Woo (mixed media) Total Museum/ Gaain Gallery 2009.03.03 ~ 2009.03.29 / 2009.03.03 ~ 2009_03.28 www.totalmuseum.org / www.gaainart.com
2009 Kumho Young Artist _Jung Yoon Suk, Kim Min Jeong, Hong Nam Kee, Lee Young Min, Kumho Museum of Art 2009.03.06 ~ 2009.04.05 www.kumhomuseum.com
A Practice of Behavior_Kwon Sun Kwan (photography) Sungkok Art Museum 2009.03.06 ~ 2009.04.05 www.sungkokmuseum.com
The First Stop on the Super Highway Nam June Paik Art Center 2009.03.07 ~ 2009.05.16 www.njpartcenter.kr
Platform 2009_Tomorrow_Bae Young Whan Artsonje Center 2F / Artsonje Round Project, Artsonje Center 1F 2009.03.07 ~ 2009.04.26 / 2009.03.07 ~ 2009.12.31 www.platformseoul.org
Kang Hong Goo (photography) Mongin Art Center 2009.03.13 ~ 2009.05.03 www.mongin.org
Christoph Rihs (photography) Young Eun Museum of Contemporary Art 2009.03.14 ~ 2009.04.05 www.youngeunmuseum.org
Art & Synesthesia Seoul Museum of Art 2009.03.18 ~ 2009.06.07 www.seoulmoa.org
International Interdisciplinary Art Festival_Festival Bo:m Arko Arts Theater and other places 2009.03.27 ~ 2009.04.12 www.festivalbom.org
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