[artinfo] ART+COMMUNICATION: TRANS CULTURAL MAPPING

[by way of Janos Sugar]

ART+COMMUNICATION: TRANS CULTURAL MAPPING -- THE 7TH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL FOR
NEW MEDIA CULTURE
RIGA, LATVIA, SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 3 2004.
http://rixc.lv/04

The detailed programme of the event below and on the web.
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ART+COMMUNICATION: TRANS CULTURAL MAPPING
THE 7TH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL FOR NEW MEDIA CULTURE
RIGA, LATVIA, SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 3 2004.
http://rixc.lv/04
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The 7th International Art+Communication festival will take place in Riga,
Latvia, from September 30 - October 3, 2004. The festival will offer a space of
exchange for new media practitioners and grassroots activists and who are
critically exploring ideas of locality, in response to the continental European
(and global) "normalization processes". The main themes of the festival will
include the following:

- LOCAL CULTURE AND EUROPEAN NORMALIZATION - For the new media arts, the
internet has been an invaluable tool for mobilization beyond borders, and
while, as "net-workers", we may celebrate certain aspects of the integration
project, it also potentially poses a threat to local diversities.
This event is intended to shelter debates amongst grassroots activists, new
media theorists and practitioners critically engaging with ideas of locality,
in the broader context of the continental European (and global) process of
cultural and economic integration and "normalization". How does "the local"
assert itself while at the same time avoiding becoming reactionary and
fundamentalist?

- SOCIAL CARTOGRAPHY AND TACTICAL MOBILITY - The very power to "officially" map
a space equates to its domination, yet new forms of networking have raised the
possibility of a practice of collaborative cartography whereby maps are
generated and maintained from below.  This session is interested in creatively
envisioning space through using mapping as a metaphor to explore a whole range
of actor centred conversations

- LOCATIVE MEDIA - The term locative media in its most literal interpretation
marks a move from William Gibson's dislocated cyberspace to Steve Mann's
interdimensional cyborgspace; in which, a combination of wireless networking
and location-awareness, would allow for the annotation of architectonic space
with
digital media. Yet, perhaps the device is less interesting than the metaphors
it conjurs. As this session explores, locative media is, in fact, open to
multiple interpretations: as the site for old discussions about the
relationship of consciousness to place and other people; as the framework
within which to actively
engage with, critique, and shape a rapid set of technological developments; as
the context within which to explore alternative models of social, political and
economic relations; or, indeed, as a name for the ambiguous shape of a rapidly
deploying surveillance and control infrastructure.

- SPECTRUM ECOLOGY - Electromagnetic radiation is the most ubiquitous form of
intelligable noise in communication history. There have been several key
technological advances that have contributed to this flooding of the natural
spectrum including the invention of technologies for generating electricity and
radio waves. As something of a consequence of employing (these often
disregarded) portions of the spectrum to
construct "pirate" distributio networks, artists and activists have
increasingly turned a critical eye on emmisions from "official" social,
cultural, military, and physical sources politicizing the issue of spectrum
allocation. This panel looks at this radio activity and the intentions,
consequences, and technologies used to examine and manipulate radio waves.

- TCM PRESENTATIONS - Bringing together organizations from Finland, Iceland,
Slovenia, Latvia, Norway and France, the Trans-Culture Mapping network staged a
series of workshops, over the spring and summer of 2004 that sought to explore
the concept of locative media; in which a combination of site-specific
engagement, digital media, wireless networking, and location-awareness would
allow for the exploration of specific locations and cultures on the fringes of
Europe. Artists and researchers employed ideas of contextualised mapping
(cultural, temporal, acoustical, historical and spatial) to develop open source
tools for envisioning a collaborative map of Europe. These investigations into
locative media sought to raise new sets of questions, critical perspectives and
cultural practice.

ART+COMMUNICATION 7 WILL FEATURE: AN EXPOSITION OF DOCUMENTATION, INSTALLATIONS
AND ARTISTS PRESENTATIONS FROM THE TCM WORKSHOPS; "MAPPING THE SPECTRUM"
PERFORMANCES; AND A 2-DAY CONFERENCE ON "COLLABORATIVE CARTOGRAPHY".
Contact: rixc ( at ) rixc.lv

The Trans-European Cultural Mapping programme is coordinated by The Centre for
New Media Culture RIXC/Riga in collaboration with K at 2/Liepaja, TEKS/Trondheim,
LORNA/Reykjavik, ELLIPSE/Tours, Projekt Atol/Ljubljana, Locative Media Network.
The project is supported by the Culture 2000 Programme of the European Union.
The festival also is supported by Latvian Cultural Capital Foundation, Riga
City Council, French Cultural Center, AFFA, British Council in Riga, radio
NABA, daily newspaper “Diena” and magazine “Rîgas laiks”.