Tuesday 19th August 2008 - news begins to circulate about James
Powderly's detention in Beijing. Since text messages reading "detained since 3am" and "there's 8 of us here, we're all OK", nothing has been heard from them.
James, co-founder of Graffiti Research Lab (GRL) was detained by
Chinese Authorities while preparing an intervention in support of the
Students for a Free Tibet protest. His current whereabouts remain
unknown.
GRL visited Adelaide during the Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts earlier
this year, thanks to Carclew Youth Arts & ANAT's emerging technologies (et) lab, to present the GRL Masterclass - http://grl.anat.org.au/.
Using an updated version of the L.A.S.E.R. Tag system enjoyed by
participants of the lab, general public and even Police officers in
Adelaide, James had planned to "project the message 'Free Tibet' and
additional messages that would have been three-stories high" said
colleague Nathan Dorjeee.
Reports state James and his associates were detained before they were able to use the stencil, although a 'Free Tibet' banner was later
displayed briefly by five other American artists before they too were
detained.
"James has always been dedicated to providing tools for free speech,"
Ms. Michelle Kempner (James' wife) said in an interview with the New
York Times, and later commenting on what can be done to help she
stated, "the best thing is to get attention...just spread the word. We
need to make sure they release them."
Unsurprisingly the blogging community and independent media sources have been rife discussing the issue. Public declarations of "what the hell was he thinking" through to "I'm sure he knew full well what the risks were....all signs suggest the goal was to draw maximum attention to the nature of Chinese repression" suggest that whatever his original intentions he has certainly encouraged debate. Clearly, anyone who can run a class entitled 'Internetfamo.us' at Parsons New School for Design knows a thing or two about utilising today's online social networks.
Meanwhile in Adelaide, the GRL legacy lives on. An innocent
intervention made by lab participants changing the white light of the
North Terrace National War Memorial to a red glow is now to be adopted across the city. Celebrating the 90th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice to end World War I, a number of prominent Adelaide landmarks will be illuminated in poppy red between November 4th and Remembrance Day. Sites will include selected trees and prominent points of the CBD and of course the original GRL-branded War Memorial. ANAT are very proud and excited to see artist interventions being adopted by the wider community.
ANAT supports and encourages the safe and quick release of James and co-detainees.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
tuned citizens
reflections on tuned city and das kleine field recordings festival...
http://kleine-frf.blogspot.com/2008/08/4th-of-july-tuned-citizens.html
http://kleine-frf.blogspot.com/2008/08/4th-of-july-tuned-citizens.html
Friday, July 25, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
video ID-i/o
short clip of gig at wriezener bahnhoff in berlin as part of the tuned city festival (and das kleine field recordings festival)
with morry photographing in tha background
with morry photographing in tha background
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
motion media
just recieved notice that my paper has been accepted into the Media in Motion Symposium run by DOCAM. The symposium will be in Montreal from October 29 2008.
Abstract
Recontextualisation of technology in contemporary life from objects of fascination to everyday tools has likewise been reflected in current art practices. The past decade has seen memory institutions grapple with and overcome momentous shifts towards increasingly techno-centric modes of creative and intellectual production and output. In the library, archive and academic communities, the response has predominantly focussed on web archiving and digitisation practices for large-scale digital repositories with accompanying online delivery mechanisms. When faced with the overwhelming task of tackling complex born-digital objects – those that assume hybrid forms, employing multiple file formats, contain a combination of custom-designed and constructed software, hardware and wetware – with resultant installations, performances or wearables (interactive or otherwise), momentum rapidly decreases. Tendencies suggest the library community shies away while museums return to traditional documentation practices. Thus far, support for media art in general has largely been situated in the gallery and museum domain, positioned outside of the traditional library sphere. Contributions from both library and museum archival practices are essential for a holistic approach to preservation and sustained access, ensuring longevity of media artworks. When faced with developing systems for archiving a collection of weird and wonderful media artworks, what models and standards are available for managing both the artwork its associated metadata? Navigating through the seemingly endless list of acronyms that include MANS, METS, PREMIS and OAIS, what can be utilised to keep both the work and metadata alive?
Each collection brings along its own idiosyncrasies, so identifying potential assets and issues for preservation models is a necessity. With ‘the only constant is change’ as a basic premise, how do we handle existing materials while maintaining awareness of and the flexibility to manage emerging future forms? While no single specific solution is attainable, presented is a range of considerations intended to stimulate dialogue in this emerging field.
For more info see: www.docam.ca/en
Abstract
Recontextualisation of technology in contemporary life from objects of fascination to everyday tools has likewise been reflected in current art practices. The past decade has seen memory institutions grapple with and overcome momentous shifts towards increasingly techno-centric modes of creative and intellectual production and output. In the library, archive and academic communities, the response has predominantly focussed on web archiving and digitisation practices for large-scale digital repositories with accompanying online delivery mechanisms. When faced with the overwhelming task of tackling complex born-digital objects – those that assume hybrid forms, employing multiple file formats, contain a combination of custom-designed and constructed software, hardware and wetware – with resultant installations, performances or wearables (interactive or otherwise), momentum rapidly decreases. Tendencies suggest the library community shies away while museums return to traditional documentation practices. Thus far, support for media art in general has largely been situated in the gallery and museum domain, positioned outside of the traditional library sphere. Contributions from both library and museum archival practices are essential for a holistic approach to preservation and sustained access, ensuring longevity of media artworks. When faced with developing systems for archiving a collection of weird and wonderful media artworks, what models and standards are available for managing both the artwork its associated metadata? Navigating through the seemingly endless list of acronyms that include MANS, METS, PREMIS and OAIS, what can be utilised to keep both the work and metadata alive?
Each collection brings along its own idiosyncrasies, so identifying potential assets and issues for preservation models is a necessity. With ‘the only constant is change’ as a basic premise, how do we handle existing materials while maintaining awareness of and the flexibility to manage emerging future forms? While no single specific solution is attainable, presented is a range of considerations intended to stimulate dialogue in this emerging field.
For more info see: www.docam.ca/en
Thursday, June 26, 2008
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