New Network Theory

The Institute for Network Cultures is hosting a conference on networks and theorizing networks. Since the term network gained rather a dimension of epistemology and describes as a metaphor not only telecommunication connections but also the way we "live, work and play" it is necessary to reflect on its meaning and use.

The conference New Network Theory takes place from 28-30 June 2007 at the University of Amsterdam

Media in Transition Conference

The MIT Media In Transition Conference (April 27-29) is focusing on "creativity, ownership and collaboration in the digital age." The use of contemporary media provokes an optimistic description of the user's agency and the participation in the culture industries.  This bias makes several issues explicit: Amateur culture which accompanied the mass production of consumer goods for decades, takes place on a global scale. The culture industry is extended into user communities which co-construct products by changing, modifying and innovating. Besides an entire cultural production takes place beyond the conventional channels of production and development.
But the 'socialization of production means' does not necessarily change issues of ownership and control.
The concept of participatory culture recalls how debates on technology development were nourishing a technological imaginary of the consumer's "emergence from self imposed immaturity."
In my talk I revisit concepts of participation and relate user participation to the socio-technical ecosystem wherein the cultural production emerges. (read the abstract)

MIT5: creativity, ownership and collaboration in the digital age. April 27-29, MIT.

BSA Conference

The 2007 BSA Conference evolves around the topic "Social Connections: Identities, Relationships, Technologies" (BSA). In collaboration with Bernhard Rieder, I'll present a paper on Hybrid Foam. Using Sloterdijk's metaphor of foam, we try to reflect social formations below the threshold of network and community. In Massively Multi-user Information Management Systems (MIMMS) such as Flickr and delicious we recognize social connections that are not sufficiently described with the metaphors of community, network or even the crowd (see abstract).

BSA Annual Conference 2007, Thursday, 12th - Saturday, 14th April 2007, University of East London.

What is Subversion?

SUBversionen, a conference in Germany is questioning subversive strategies. The avant-garde of artists, activists and the tactical use of media are often alleged being subversive.

I teamed with Hans Bernhard from Ubermorgen.com. whose self-acclaimed media hacking is often described as being subversive. But is the subversion of the toywar, vote-auction.com or Google Will Eat Itself overturning socio-political circumstances or are they test configurations which are exploited by the establishment efficiently.

  The problem with subversion is firstly, that it is often attribution in retrospective to artistic works. Secondly, subversion is associated with coolness, resistance and opposition to the status quo. A canon of signs developed that is shaping a picture of what is perceived as subversively. Obviously these signs are easy to incorporate into advertisement and popular culture.
Thirdly, the perception of subversion is distracting the focus from those who are efficiently using subversive strategies, such as public relation companies, advertisement, politicians, etc.

In our presentation we argue that strategies artists and activists use are often implemented into the methods of communication in the field of public relation, advertisement and politics. That way subversion is actually stabilizing the system.

Parliaments of Art

The city of Vienna is following a new approach in funding art. Artists in the field of netart will not apply for grants at a city’s department but dispose them among the community themselves. A software based voting system called Mana will be installed for delegating votes and credits within the netart community’s participants.  NetzNetz, the platform of the Viennese netartists was founded in opposition to Public Netbase that was obtaining the majority of the city’s funding for new media art projects.
The start up of the new funding model is accompanied by the conference  Parliaments of Art.
Read my contribution Making Sense of Discourse.

Read_Me Festival 04

Software Art & Cultures Conference at the 2004 Read_Me Festival in Aarhus
(22.8. – 25.8.2004)

The Read_Me Festival is connecting the theorizing of software art and cultures in a conference with hands on practice in the Dorkbot City Camp where artists and programmers are presenting their work. The festival’s main theme People doing strange things with software describes already that creative usage of software is a cultural practice. I went to Aarhus to experience the synergies of the festival’s interdisciplinary perspective and presented a paper on using technology as a cultural practice. In fact this was a new version of the paper i had presented in Bilbao in April. I added some comments on the discursive function of mods.
The activities at the festival and the camp are documented in a weblog.
A review on the conference and the festival by Peter Luining at nettime.
A review in Italian on neural.it.

Cyber Art Bilbao

The 2004 Cyber Art Conference takes place in Bilbao. Next to the conference there is also an exhibition with software art and interactive installations. Under the main theme "Challenges for an Ubiquitous Identity" the conference is reflecting the social impact of cyber culture and information and communication technologies.

Read a review by Jonah Brucker-Cohen on Rhizome.