[artinfo] The Wonderful World of irational.org, PHOENIX Halle Dortmund

[by way of Janos Sugar]

Dear Madam, dear Sir,
dear colleagues and friends,

we would like to cordially invite you to the opening of the exhibition

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF IRATIONAL.ORG
Tools, Techniques and Events 1996-2006

Daniel G. Andujar (Valencia/E), Rachel Baker (London/GB),
Kayle Brandon (Bristol/GB), Heath Bunting (Bristol/GB),
Minerva Cuevas (Mexico City/MEX), Marcus Valentine (Bristol/GB)

on Sunday, August 27, 2006, 16:00 at PHOENIX Halle Dortmund.

With addresses by:

Susanne Ackers (HMKV),
Kurt Eichler (Cultural office of the city of Dortmund),
Theda Kluth (Staatskanzlei NRW, Duesseldorf),
Dr. Inke Arns (HMKV) und Jacob Lillemose (overgaden, Copenhagen)

The team of
Hartware MedienKunstVerein
& Jacob Lillemose


-------------


THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF IRATIONAL.ORG
Tools, Techniques and Events 1996-2006

Daniel G. Andujar (Valencia/E), Rachel Baker (London/GB),
Kayle Brandon (Bristol/GB), Heath Bunting (Bristol/GB),
Minerva Cuevas (Mexico City/MEX), Marcus Valentine (Bristol/GB)

Hartware MedienKunstVerein
at PHOENIX Halle Dortmund/Germany
August 30 - October 29, 2006
Opening: Sunday, August 27, 2006, 16:00


Have you ever taken part in International Tree 
Climbing Day? Did you know that there is a 
genetically modified "superweed" resistant to 
current herbicides such as Roundup? How would you 
react to the statement "Remember, language is not 
free?" Have you ever heard of "Public Sculpture 
Climbing" or the "Tour de Fence"? All of these 
are projects that have taken form around the 
server irational.org in recent years.

On August 27, 2006, the Hartware 
MedienKunstVerein in the PHOENIX Halle Dortmund 
is opening a unique exhibition project called 
"The Wonderful World of irational.org. 
Techniques, Tools, and Events 1996 - 2006". The 
show will run from August 30 to October 29, 2006.

Irational is a loose grouping of six 
international net and media artists who came 
together around the server irational.org, founded 
by the British net artist Heath Bunting in 1996, 
going on to make decisive contribution to early 
net art from the mid-1990s onward. They include 
Daniel Garcia Andújar / Technologies to the 
People (E), Rachel Baker (GB), Kayle Brandon 
(GB), Heath Bunting (GB), Minerva Cuevas / Mejor 
Vida Corporation (MEX) and Marcus Valentine (GB).

With dry humor and minimal aesthetics, irational 
commented the Internet hype of the mid-to-late 
1990s, competing with the 
commercialization-euphoria of the new market by 
developing its own pseudo-ventures. Net art was 
immediate during this period, neither needing nor 
enjoying the safety of a mediating space or 
instance. This is why irational often hit upon 
humorless trademark attorneys, who wanted to keep 
irational from using brand names such as 7-11, 
American Express, Sainsbury's and Tesco. These 
encounters, which the exhibition documents 
extensively, were little more than a prelude to 
more recent developments in the field of 
copyright, intellectual property, and brand 
protection. Heath Bunting was the first net 
artist to retire in 1997, putting an end to his 
exclusive work on the net and turning back to 
more intensive work in public space, which the 
Internet has become such an important part of 
today. If the activities of irational during its 
"net phase" were dedicated to calling virtual 
boundaries into question, its members now 
experiment with interrogating and overcoming 
economic, political, and social boundaries in 
real space, producing a great deal of comic 
relief, among other things.

Never before have so many complex and relevant 
artworks from around irational.org been shown in 
such a comprehensive exhibition. The goal of the 
exhibition is to use the media of a large-scale 
showing, workshops, and a comprehensive 
documentation to make these artistic-activist 
pieces more accessible to a general public.

The Hartware MedienKunstVerein, which - like 
irational - is celebrating its tenth anniversary 
this year, has received significant funding 
through the Federal Cultural Foundation of 
Germany (Kulturstiftung des Bundes).

Inke Arns, Jacob Lillemose


* * *

A comprehensive accompanying program can be found at www.hmkv.de

a.o.
irational Action Weekend
September 15-17, 2006

* * *


The Wonderful World of irational.org
Tools, techniques and events 1996-2006

Daniel G. Andujar (Valencia/E), Rachel Baker (London/GB),
Kayle Brandon (Bristol/GB), Heath Bunting (Bristol/GB),
Minerva Cuevas (Mexico City/MEX), Marcus Valentine (Bristol/GB)
u.a.

A project by Hartware MedienKunstVereins
In the framework of medien_kunst_netz dortmund
at PHOENIX Halle Dortmund/Germany
August 30 - October 29, 2006
Opening: Sunday, August 27, 2006, 16:00

Exhibition curated by Inke Arns, Jacob Lillemose

irational Action Weekend curated by Francis Hunger

A catalogue will be published at the end of October 2006:
Susanne Ackers / Inke Arns / Francis Hunger / Jacob Lillemose (eds.)
The Hartware Guide to irational.org
Revolver - Archiv fuer aktuelle Kunst, Frankfurt 
am Main 2006, ISBN 3-86588-299-4

Hartware MedienKunstVerein
Guentherstrasse 65 * D-44143 Dortmund
T ++49 (0) 231 - 823 106
F ++49 (0) 231 - 882 02 40
info at hmkv.de
http://www.hmkv.de