Luke Robert Mason - Digital Portfolio 2012/05

LUKEROBERTMASON Researcher in Technology & Cyberculture!

Director of Virtual Futures! ! 
 @LukeRobertMason! ! email@lukerobertmason.co.uk!

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PERFORMANCEART 2011!

1. ESS [re]Code, University of Warwick (February 2011) Online Documentation: http://virtualfutures.co.uk/archive/papers/coding-consciousness-ess-recode!

2010!

1. ‘State Your Date’, Live Art Speed Date, Fierce Festival Interrobang 2, Birmingham (25 September 2010)!

ESS [re]Code, 2011

ESS [re]Code, 2011

ESS [re]Code, 2011

ESS [re]Code – Qlab Programming

Coding Consciousness: Transhuman Aesthetics in Performance, Teleplace (17th November 2010)

Coding Consciousness: Transhuman Aesthetics in Performance, Teleplace (17th November 2010)

ESS [re]Code, Work-in-Progress

'State Your Date’ Fierce Festival LIVE ART SPEED DATE presented by Stoke Newington International Airport 25 Sept 2010 [Photo: Briony Campbell]!

‘State Your Date’ Fierce Festival - Rehearsal

"Homo-Cyberneticus" 2010 (Video Art Promo Photo)

CONFERENCEORGANISATION 1. Virtual Futures 2011, University of Warwick (18-19 June 2011)!

The University of Warwick’s Virtual Futures conferences occurred in 1994, 1995 and 1996. Dan O’Hara , the original VF organiser, highlighted the mission of VF: “Much of the publicity we did beforehand was […] letting people know that what was going to happen was not just a dry academic conference but some kind of chaotic freak show.” The mid-90s national press embraced the hysteria with articles about “cyber-seers” and the “futurists” converging on Warwick for one mad weekend of argument, academia and virtual reality.!

The revival of the conference in 2011 served as part of a wider research project to discover what was predicted, what was unpredictable and what technologies were overlooked – but have now become part of everyday life.!

When Virtual Futures returned to campus on the 18-19 June 2011, it aimed to reconnect Warwick with one of the most important intellectual and cultural developments of our times – the technological extension of the human condition. ! !

This event enabled the attendees to not only to reflect on lessons learned in the last fifteen years but, more importantly, explore new grounds and discover the potential held by advancements in society, art, politics and new technology which could conceivably 'Ctrl', 'Alt'[er], 'Enter' and perhaps even 'Delete' our bodies over the next 15.!

An array of world renowned speakers and artists including Stelarc, Dr. Dan O'Hara, Dr. Rachel Armstrong, Dr. Richard Barbrook and James Flint, returned to the University of Warwick, 16 years after appearing at VF 95.

Professor Steve Fuller, Professor Andy Miah and Mark Fisher questioned how we will move forward in our evolution at a time of ever improving technology and WMG's own Professor Alan Chalmers and Professor Jeremy Wyatt shared the latest innovations in digital technology. All of the Virtual Futures talks listed and more have been documented and made available via the Warwick Knowledge Centre.!

The revival of Virtual Futures attempted to reclaim a critical framework within which to analyse the web, the convergence of information technology and innovation's impact on the understanding of what it means to be human. The organisers from each decade, Dr. Dan O'Hara and Luke Robert Mason, are now working towards a publication that will analyse the epistemology of the ‘cyber-' prefix charting it’s various usage in disciplines such as art, philosophy and culture.!

CONFERENCEPRESENTATIONS 2012!

1. Augmented Reality Event 2012, Santa Clara Convention Centre (09 May 2012)!

2. TEDxDelMar, University of California San Diego (29 April 2012)!

3. Being Human in an Information Age, University of Warwick (16 March 2012)!

4. LSEsuAMP Annual Conference, London School of Economics (06 March 2012)!

5. Future Human: Transparent Life, The Book Club, Shoreditch London (08 February 2012)!

6. TEDx Warwick 2012 (Homegrown Ideas Event), University of Warwick (30 January 2012)! !

2011!

1. Society for Existential Analysis: The Permeation of Technology in Everyday Life, Wellcome Trust, London (19 November 2011)!

2. Multipack Presents: Responsive Web Design, Birmingham Science Park Aston (12 November 2011)!

3. Humanity Plus UK: Beyond Human - Rethinking the Technological Extension of the Human Condition, London (08 October 2011)!

4. International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA), Sabanci University (17 September 2011)!

5. British Conference of Undergraduate Research, University of Central Lancashire (19 April 2011)!

6. Humanity Plus UK: Making a Human Difference, Conway Hall, London (29 January 2011)! !

2010!

1. Coding Consciousness: Transhuman Aesthetics in Performance, Teleplace (17th November 2010)!

Augmented Reality Event 2012, Santa Clara Convention Centre (09 May 2012)

TEDxDelMar, University of California San Diego (29 April 2012)

Future Human: Transparent Life, The Book Club, Shoreditch London (08 February 2012)

IATL Student as Producer Showcase (Photos by Peter Marsh at ashmorevisuals)

TEDxWarwick – Homegrown Ideas

PRESS&MEDIA 1. Guardian UK, How bots are taking over the world by Dan O’Hara and Luke Robert Mason. Guardian UK, Comment is Free (30 March 2012) http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/30/how-bots-are-taking-over-the-world!

2. theMachineStarts.com, Understanding the Robotic Infosphere by Luke Robert Mason (20 January 2012) http://www.themachinestarts.com/read/82!

3. BBC Click (World Service Radio), Interview with Dr. Rachel Armstrong on Virtual Futures (14 June 2011) http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00h4vs8/Click_14_06_2011/ !