Tag: art

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Art & Culture

Do you want a beautiful city?

Photo by Matthew Blackett
Photo by Matthew Blackett

At the end of my talk at Manchester Urban Screens, I proposed a call to action, asking people to “get out their pencils” and write to their local politicians to ensure that art and culture becomes a priority in public space, and that billboard operators are compelled to give over space and time to artists and local communities.

I couldn’t be more delighted, then, with the marvellous Beautiful City initiative in Toronto. The Beautifulcity.ca Alliance is made up of 42 organizations, who are collectively proposing the BCBF (Beautiful City Billboard Fee), which “…will hold billboard advertisers accountable for their impact on public space via a charge on each billboard (tax or fee – to be determined by staff), with revenues dedicated to art in the public sphere.”

The possibility of this happening is real! A bill proposing this will go before Toronto city councillors soon. What can you do to support it?

  • Sign and circulate the petition at http://www.beautifulcity.ca.
  • Join their Facebook group.
  • Attend the International Youth Week Beautifulcity.ca Town Hall, tonight, Tues May 5, City Hall, Committee Rm 2, 6:30-9 pm.
Categories
Art & Culture

Call for entries – transmediale 2010

tm09_harwood_tantalum21
I’m delighted to be on the jury for the transmediale Award 2010.

transmediale presents and pursues the advancement of artistic positions reflecting on the socio-cultural, political and creative impact of new technologies, network practices and digital innovation. As a festival aiming to define the contours of contemporary digital culture, it seeks out artistic practices that not only respond to scientific or technical developments, but that shape the way in which we think about and experience the technologies which impact virtually all aspects of our daily lives. As such, transmediale understands media technologies as cultural and aesthetic techniques that need to be embraced in order to comprehend, critique, and shape global societies.

The full call for entries is here, and the deadline is the 31st July.

The image depicts the wonderful work Tantalum Memorial, by Graham Harwood, Richard Wright, and Matsuko Yokokoji. This work won the transmediale Award in 2009. The work “is a memorial to the more than 3 million people who have perished in the complex wars that have gone on in the Congo since 1998, often referred to as the ‘Coltan Wars’. The ore coltan is used as the raw material for the metal tantalum, which is an essential component of mobile phones and computers. Therefore tantalum is coveted by dozens of international mining industries and local warring groups, and is nowadays more valuable than gold. Built of electromagnetic ‘Strowger’ telephone switches, invented in 1938, and connected to a computer, the installation serves not only as a memorial, but functions also as a center of a social telephone network that is used by Congolese immigrants living in the UK.”

Categories
Art & Culture My Projects Technology

This happened Edinburgh #2

Hop, by Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino (tinker.it)
Hop, by Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino (tinker.it)

On May 4, the second This happened Edinburgh event will take place, in our swanky new digs at the Voodoo Rooms. The speakers are great: Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino, Jen Southern, Andrew Spitz, and Ben Dembroski.

The event sold out in under an hour! However, we’ll soon be posting videos of the talks, from this event and from the previous event, so stay tuned. If you want to follow all the This happened Edinburgh news, become a fan on Facebook, use the #thedi hashtag on twitter, or just keep an eye on the This happened website.

Categories
Art & Culture My Lectures Technology

Extra Ears and Transhuman Dance Recitals

stelarc

I’m really pleased to be chairing a panel that will be exploring what our physical selves could be in the future at the upcoming Edinburgh Science Festival. Entitled “Bodies of the Future“, the panel will examine exactly that, but also the other issues around how technology shapes our relationship with the physical environment and the multifaceted identities we create.

Panelists Stelarc (Brunel University), Martyn Ware (the Illustrious Company), Andrew Shoben (Greyworld), and Dr Jonathan Freeman (Goldsmiths, University of London) will explore the shifting boundaries between the technologically adapted body, concepts of self, and senses of place.

While we’re touching on the subject, I can’t resist embedding this piece by video artist Jeremy Bailey. “Transhuman Dance Recital #1” humourously raises some of the questions around popular conceptions of transhumanism, that I’m certain we’ll also explore on the panel — among many other issues.

Panel details: “Bodies of the Future”: Stelarc, Martyn Ware, Andrew Shoben, Dr Jonathan Freeman, Chaired by Michelle Kasprzak. Edinburgh Science Festival, Wed Apr 15, 2009, at 19:00. Book tickets here. Presented by PEACH – Presence research in action, and supported by Edinburgh Napier University. Stelarc’s Ear PORTRAIT taken by nina sellars, originally uploaded by k0re.