Proceedings of the 16th International Symposium on Electronic Art
Imprint
Proceedings of the 16th International Symposium on Electronic Art ISEA2010 RUHR This publication appears on the occasion of the ISEA2010 RUHR, 16th International Symposium on Electronic Art, 20-29 August 2010. Editors: Judith Funke, Stefan Riekeles, Andreas Broeckmann, Hartware MedienKunstVerein Assistant editor: Özcan Süzer Layout: Franziska Tippmann Design: labor b designbüro, Ruhrgebiet, www.laborb.de Print and production: Druckverlag Kettler GmbH, Dortmund Font: Helvetica LT Std Paper: Munken Print White 80 g/qm Print run: 800 Printed in Germany. © 2010 Individual Authors, Hartware MedienKunstVerein & Revolver All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. Individual authors of papers and presentations are solely responsible for all materials submitted for the publication. All opinions expressed in the book are of the authors and do not reflect those of the editors. Photo credits: Unless stated otherwise, all images © by the artists.
Revolver Publishing Immanuelkirchstr. 12 D – 10405 Berlin Tel.: +49 (0)30 616 092 36 Fax: +49 (0)30 616 092 38 info@revolver-publishing.com www.revolver-books.com ISBN 978-3-86895-103-5
ISEA2010 RUHR Programme Committee
Artistic Director ISEA2010 RUHR: Andreas Broeckmann Programme Director ISEA2010 RUHR: Stefan Riekeles Programme Board: Söke Dinkla, Duisburg Stefan Hilterhaus, PACT Zollverein Inke Arns, HMKV Marie-Luise Angerer, KHM Köln International Reviewing Committee: Ralph Ammer, Inke Arns, Clarisse Bardiot, Dusan Barok, Giselle Beiguelman, Tim Boykett, Tegan Bristow, Paul Brown, Jonah Brucker-Cohen, Renate Buschmann, Danny Butt, Rejane Cantoni, Venzha Christ, Lucrezia Cippitelli, Heather Corcoran, Geoff Cox, Nina Czegledy, David d’Heilly, Alberto De Campo, Boris Debackere, Eva DeGroote, Aditya Dev Sood, Sara Diamond, Söke Dinkla, Christo Doherty, Daphne Dragona, Timothy Druckrey, Ismail Farouk, Monika Fleischmann, Golo Foellmer, José Luis García Nava, Sue Gollifer, Beryl Graham, Dietrich Hahne, Kathy Rae Huffman, Margarete Jahrmann, Susanne Jaschko, Radwan Kasmiya, Till Kniola, Rob La Frenais, Thomas Lamarre, Deborah Lawler-Dormer, Miguel Leal, Zilvinas Lilas, Joern Loviscach, Alessandro Ludovico, Victoria Lynn, Tapio Mäkelä, Atteqa Malik, Daito Manabe, Aymeric Mansoux, José Carlos Mariátegui, Takashi Matsumoto, Amanda McDonald Crowley, Christina McPhee, Thomas Munz, Hiroko Myokam, Thomas Neuhaus, Sabine Niederer, Anne Nigten, Andrea Polli, Per Platou, Ivan Puig, Julian Richter, Marc Ries, Axel Roch, Georg Russegger, Warren Sack, Christopher Salter, Holger Schulze, Pamela C. Scorzin, Pavel Sedlak, Xin Wei Sha, Yukiko Shikata, Ivar Smedstad, Adam Somlai-Fischer, Brett Stalbaum, Felix Stalder, Wolfgang Strauss, Mike Stubbs, Dominika Szope, Georg Tremmel, Dot Tuer, Michel van Dartel, Lucas van der Velden, Ampat Varghese, Marion Walton, Hiroshi Yoshioka
International Advisory Board: Susanne Ackers, Medienwerk NRW, HMKV, Dortmund Alex Adriaansens, V2_Organisation, Rotterdam Tania Aedo, Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico Marie-Luise Angerer, Kunsthochschule für Medien, Köln Bassam El Baroni, Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum ACAF, Alexandria Andreas Broeckmann, Artistic Director, ISEA2010 RUHR Alberto de Campo, Universität der Künste, Berlin Dooeun Choi, Nabi Art Center, Seoul Florian Cramer, Piet Zwart Institut, W. de Koning Academie, Rotterdam Sara Diamond, Ontario College of Art and Design OCAD, Toronto Söke Dinkla, Cultural Capital Office Duisburg RUHR.2010 Christo Doherty, Wits School of Arts, Johannesburg Timothy Druckrey, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore Dieter Gorny, RUHR.2010, Essen Sabine Himmelsbach, Edith Russ Haus für Medienkunst, Oldenburg Amanda McDonald Crowley, Eyebeam, New York Tapio Mäkelä, m-cult, Helsinki, University of Salford, Manchester José Carlos Mariátegui, Alta Tecnologia Andina, Lima Kurt Mehnert, Folkwang Hochschule, Essen Gunalan Nadarajan, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore Julianne Pierce, ISEA Foundation, Brighton Melinda Rackham, ex Australian Network of Art and Technology ANAT, Adelaide Julian Richter, Forsythe Company, Frankfurt Annette Schindler, plug.in, Basel Florian Schneider, Kein.Org, München Pavel Sedlak, CIANT, Prague Yukiko Shikata, Inter-Communication Center ICC, Tokyo Ivar Smedstad, Atelier Nord, Oslo Rasa Smite, RIXC, Riga Adam Somlai-Fischer, Kitchen, Budapest Floor van Spaendonck, Virtueel Platform, Amsterdam Ingrid Stoppa-Sehlbach, Staatskanzlei NRW, Düsseldorf
Introduction This volume provides a documentation of the ISEA2010 RUHR Conference Programme, organised within the 16th International Symposium on Electronic Art in the German Ruhr region from 20-29 August 2010. It is the result of an extensive and complex process involving the cooperation and effort of hundreds of contributors – a process which we believe is worthy of a short recapitulation. The contributions to the ISEA2010 RUHR Conference programme have been selected from a total of 1052 proposals. About a fourth of them were paper submissions and proposals for conference panels, and in addition to these, many authors from other categories (exhibition, performance, film and internet projects), whose projects could not be realised in the festival programme, have been selected on the Reviewing Committee's recommendation to be invited for artist presentations in the conference framework. Submissions to the Call for Proposals came from 58 countries, the largest proportion being German contributions, followed by large numbers of projects from the U.S. and Great Britain, Canada and France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, Austria, Italy, Brazil and Japan. The submission and peer reviewing process as well as the final paper submission for publication was carried out via a custom-made online platform. On this platform each of the proposals has been reviewed by at least two members of the International Reviewing Committee, which included 88 experts from various media art related fields, of 29 different nationalities. The evaluation of the committee's ratings and comments resulted in the selection of 156 proposals, which were then grouped into the thematic conference panels constituting the ISEA2010 Conference, complemented by a keynote programme and several panels, roundtables and workshops realised with cooperating institutions. All confirmed conference speakers – academic researchers as well as the invited artists – have been offered the possibility to contribute texts on their presentations, and as a result this volume assembles papers by an impressive number of 236 authors and co-authors from over 40 countries. While the length of the individual contributions had to be limited due to the large number of papers, we believe that the resulting compilation does
justice to the abundant diversity of topics and interests covered in the conference. The two "research themes" that were originally proposed as a rough guideline for submissions to the Call for Proposals have been richly responded to, so that both "Sounds" and "Ecologies" remain two important focal points of the conference. However, the conference covers a range of topics that goes far beyond those themes. The following pages include contributions on recent research in the fields of media art theory and history, discussions of the relation of body and media and of preservation strategies for media art, presentations on new developments in visual art and code art, reflections on social media and the role of the digital user, on public spaces and geographies, and much more. The papers in this volume follow the chronological order of the conference. Please refer to the index at the end of the volume to find the papers of specific authors. The editorial team has made only very marginal changes to the submitted texts, and the responsibility for the content lies solely with the individual authors. We hope that this collection will serve as a valuable repository to conference participants as well as to those who could not join us for ISEA2010 RUHR. Our sincere thanks go to the authors and all other persons involved, without whom the production of this volume would not have been possible.
Judith Funke Project Manager Conference Stefan Riekeles Programme Director Andreas Broeckmann Artistic Director
232 §
P 23 – Coded Cultures and Japan Media Arts Festival Panel Session
233 236
Georg Russegger (at/jp) CODED CULTURES. Exploring Creative Emergences Georg Tremmel (at/jp), Shiho Fukuhara (jp) Common Flowers / White Out. Bio-Hacking, Open-Sourcing and Exorcising GM Flowers
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P 24 – Atmospheres and Ecologies
240 242 245 247
Alex Haw (gb) Auto Atmospheres & Artificial Ecologies. Natural Architecture and Artificial Environments Anna Dumitriu (gb), Blay Whitby (gb) Cybernetic Bacteria 2.0 Andrea Polli (us) Airspace The Interface of Biodigital Communication Susan Ballard (nz) Nonorganic Life: Encounters between Frequency and Virtuality in Antarctica
250 §
P 25 – Media Spaces / Personal
251 253 254 256 259
Cym (Simone van Groenestijn) (nl) Aus Alt Mach Neu – Recycling Arts Linda Duvall (ca) Transparency of Digital Manipulation or Not. Discussion of Where Were the Mothers? Video Installation David Green (ca) Rupture Kaspar Wimberley (de) Homezone Ina Conradi (sg) Digital Imaging in Singapore – Internal External
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P 26 – Public Interventions
263 265 268 271
Owen Mundy (us) Automata: Counter-Surveillance Using Public Space Jonas Fritsch (dk), Christoph Brunner (dk) Balloons, Sweat and Technologies: Urban Interventions through Ephemeral Architectures Georg Klein (de) Don’t Call It Art! On Artistic Strategies and Political Implications of Media Art in Public Space Georg Dietzler (de) Radical Ecological Art and NO Greenwash Exhibitions
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Ina Conradi (sg) School of Art Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University Assistant Professor inaconradi@ntu.edu.sg
Digital Imaging in Singapore – Internal External The following is to present artist practice pursued through the process of research at the School of Art Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.The work delves into exploring alternative methods of artistic expression by using novel synthetic image creation technologies and their evocative possibilities. With a focus on digitally generative systems and techniques for integrated image generation, converging painting methods with digital technologies and integrating traditional art methods and materials, the emphasis is on expanding the limitations of the digital medium, abstract painting and other forms of visual imagery, striving to achieve greater creative levels. The resulted art works cover broad mode of expressions ranging from spatial imaging for large-scale built installations, to 3D stereo animation and online 3D virtual environments. New Artist Palette: Algorithm Today, sophisticated electronic techniques allow us to find unexpected formal aspects in the depths of material. Artists are selecting, highlighting, and thereby conferring form upon the formless and setting the seal of their style upon it using digital code. The newly developed artistic palette of algorithm brushes originally drew inspiration from science, nature and mystical thought. The resulting images question the primacy of representation and describe invisible forces and processes that lie behind nature and its ephemeral phenomena. The main goal was to crystallize that connection between natural arbitrary flux and spiritual existence. Following the rhythm of continuously moving, unfolding and floating geometries, an endless process of painting evolves.
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Fig. 1: ‘Natural Systems: Decomposition of Blue’, Detail, Digital Painting, 118 x 84cm Photo: Ina Conradi
Fig. 2: Public Art Proposal for Esplanade Exterior: Elixir Of Redness, 14 Panels 1100x227x200cm, size variable, tempered glass, Singapore 2009 Photo: Ina Conradi
Abstraction in Visible: Singapore Public Art Proposals Series These visual explorations transcended from the artist’s studio into an urban landscape to create new aesthetic encounters through conjuring visionary objects and familiar environments in public settings of Singapore. In visualizing art works for Singapore’s sites developed was new aesthetic, contributing to Singapore’s effort towards establishing itself as a cultural industries metropolis, a renaissance city that uses culture to re-position its international image as a global city for the arts. Contemporary painting practice is not taking advantage of integrating traditional painting methods with available digital prototyping to create high impact artworks in public spaces. Usually the outcome of digital painting is dull digital print that lacks the physical presence interest and excitement of traditional art forms. To avoid that, parallel with digital visualizations and prototyping experimenting with a wide range of numerous uncoated flexible and rigid substrates was possible with the help of specialized large format UV curable flatbed inkjet printers.
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Fig. 3: ‘Internal External’ digitally generated still images, backlit panels UV VUTEk ® QS2000 100 sq meters, video projection, 3D computer animation; Art Installation, Post-Museum, Singapore, 2009 Photo: Ina Conradi
Internal External Drawing on the ideas of the merging of digital painting and animation Internal External aims to craft immersive, interactive and 3D animated installation using digital images, seeking innovative convergence of art and technology to transform spaces into novel experiences. Through an integrated design and fabrication practice an experimental built environment is created that enhances and celebrates the potential for social interaction through sensation and physical engagement. References I. Conradi., J. Vasudevan. (2010) Internal External. Singapore, Conradi Ina, ISBN 978-981-08-5116-3
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Index of Authors Aceti, Lanfranco (tr)
§ 113
Lanfranco Aceti works as an academic, artist and curator. He is Visiting Professor at Goldsmiths College, London; teaches Contemporary Art and Digital Culture at Sabanci University, Istanbul; and is Editor in Chief of the Leonardo Electronic Almanac (the MIT Press, Leonardo journal and ISAST). He is also the Artistic Director and Conference Chair for ISEA2011 Istanbul. Aedo, Tania (mx)
§ 322
Tania Aedo is currently the director of Laboratorio Arte Alameda. She has been active in the field of art and technology over the last fifteen years. She worked at the Multimedia Center from its opening in 1993 and directed the Center from 2005 to 2007. As part of her art practice she has developed several three-dimensional interactive simulations, as well as various multiuser environments on the Internet, exploring the idea of construction and transformation of subjectivity. Ahonen, Antti (fi)
§ 518
Antti Ahonen is a visual artist from Helsinki. He has been working as an art director for the association of experimental electronics since 2002 and is part of Pixeache festival team since 2002. He also works as a photographer shooting media-art, performance-art and theater. Albuquerque, Inês (pt)
§ 481
Inês Albuquerque is a Ph.D. student and art researcher in Art Studies, at Communication and Art Department, University of Aveiro, Portugal. The main interests of her research are the relations between art, science and technology, and the questions around the public, artist and work in contemporary art. Andersen, Christian Ulrik (dk)
§ 165
Christian Ulrik Andersen, professor at Aarhus University and chair of Digital Aesthetics Research Center, researches within the field of interface aesthetics and criticism. He mainly works with ludic aspects and the public interfaces of digital urbanity. http://person.au.dk/ en/imvcua@hum.au.dk
Ascott, Roy (gb)
§ 284
Roy Ascott is an artist and theorist whose research is invested in cybernetics, technoetics, telematics, and syncretism. He is the founding president of the Planetary Collegium, an international platform for art, technology and consciousness research, based in Plymouth University. Askham, Giles (gb)
§ 353
Giles Askham is a senior lecturer at London Metropolitan University. An artist and curator he previously founded peterborough digital arts. He now works independently and was the lead curator of the exhibition Game/Play produced in collaboration with Furtherfield. He has written and exhibited widely. Audry, Sofian (ca)
§ 469
Sofian Audry is a new media artist from Montréal, Canada. His practice mixes new technologies with the social and cognitive mechanisms of human being. His recent work focuses on electronic interventions, incorporating technological objects in the natural environment. Baalman, Marije (qc/ca)
§ 53
Marije Baalman is an artist and scientist. She studied Applied Physics in Delft and and completed her Ph.D. on Wave Field Synthesis at the TU Berlin. She works in the areas of real time audio and wireless sensor networks and performs and publishes internationally in artistic and scientific contexts. Ballard, Susan (nz)
§ 247
Dr. Susan Ballard is a writer, curator and artist. She teaches Electronic Arts at the Dunedin School of Art, New Zealand. Her recent publications examine utopia, the antipodes, sound, noise, and the contemporary politics of art in digital times. She edited The Aotearoa Digital Arts Reader in 2008.
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Brunton, Finn (us)
§ 369
Finn Brunton is currently a post doctoral researcher at NYU, where he works on digital technology: history, privacy, anonymity, modification and misuse. He is writing a book about spam, and working on a novel. http://finnb.net Buechley, Leah (us)
§ 82
Leah Buechley is an Assistant Professor at the MIT Media Lab where she directs the High-Low Tech research group. She is a well-known expert in the field of electronic textiles (e-textiles). She holds MS and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a BA in Physics from Skidmore College. http://web.media.mit.edu/~leah/ Burbano, Andres (co)
§ 403
Andres Burbano, originally from Colombia, is Ph.D. Candidate in Media Arts and Technology from University of California Santa Barbara. Burbano explores the interactions of science, art and technology in various capacities: as researcher, as individual artist and in collaborations. Buschmann, Renate (de)
§ 143
Since 2008 Renate Buschmann, Ph.D. in Art History, is director of the imai – inter media art institute, a foundation for video and media art located in Düsseldorf/ Germany. Prior to that she worked as a free-lance curator, lecturer and editor of several books regarding modern and contemporary art. Bustamante, Luis (co)
§ 276
Luis Bustamante lives and works in Berlin. Artist and Interaction Designer with a master of science in Digital Media. He has worked at the ZKM where he focused on his main interests: Data visualization, generative graphics, interaction with data (and people) in public spaces, video compositing. Caianiello, Tiziana (de)
§ 152
Since 2007 Tiziana Caianiello, Ph.D. in Art History, has been Gerda Henkel research fellow at the imai – inter media art institute Düsseldorf, where she has conducted the research project Konkretionen des Flüchtigen (Materializations of the Fugitive) on conservation and presentation of media art installations. Since 2009 she is working as a research associate at the ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf. Cantoni, Rejane (br)
§ 431
Rejane Cantoni was born in São Paulo; studies of Communication, Semiotics, Visualization of Information Systems and Expanded Cinema, in São Paulo and Geneva; since 1987 researches and develops immersive and interactive installations. www.rejanecantoni.com, www.cantoni-crescenti.com.br
Chavez, Mark (sg)
§ 391
Mark Chavez’ research interests are in emergent computer animation techniques including synthetic sculpture, motion and related forms in popular culture, characterization and storytelling with real-time and rendered imagery exploring visual and behavioral representation in the animated form. Chia, Marc (sg)
§ 139
Marc Chia aka One Man Nation investigates spirituality in technology through the medium of sound and performance. Currently, he is co-directing The UnifiedField experimental art space which he co-founded with Marta Moreno Muñoz and developing The Future Sounds Of Folk in collaboration with STEIM. Chon, Suk (kr)
§ 328
Suk Chon is a Ph.D. candidate in the Global School of Media, the graduate school of Soongsil University. He is majoring in media art. Claus, Jürgen (de/be)
§ 308
Jürgen Claus was Fellow and Research Affiliate at the CAVS at MIT, Cambridge, MA and professor at the Academy of Media Art Cologne. He exhibited at Electra, Paris 1983/84, ars electronica 1986, Light art from artificial light, Karlsruhe 2005/6. His work include underwater, solar art sculptures and 15 books. Colubri, Andres (ar)
§ 281
Andres Colubri is a programmer, researcher and artist. His interests range from the algorithmic modeling of complex systems to the creative use of computer code for subjective expression and experimentation. He is currently involved in the development of the android version of processing. Conradi, Ina (sg)
§ 259
Ina Conradi is Assistant Professor at the School of Art Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Merging digital painting with experimental computer animation, her current research explores expressive capabilities of digital imaging and immersive art installation. Constantini, Arcangel (mx)
§ 440
Arcangel Constantini ia a multifaceted artist and independent curator, particularly interested in obsolescence of technological constructions and ideas to redefine them in an artistic context. Hte curates the cyberlounge of Museo Tamayo, and Festival transitio MX; director of the emerging gallery ¼. www.arc-data.net Coover, Roderick (us)
§ 169
Roderick Coover makes interactive environments, and electronic poems. Titles include Unknown Territories (Unknownterritories.org), Cultures in Webs (Eastgate Systems), and Something That Happened Only Once (RLCP) among others. www.roderickcoover.com.