THE INTER-SOCIETY FOR THE ELECTRONIC ARTS ISEA NEWSLETTER #94 ISSN 1488-3635 #94, November-December 2003 _______________________________________________________________ * CONTENTS * * ISEA News * ISEA2004 Update by the ISEA2004 Team * Message from the ISEA Board by Nina Czegledy, Board Chair * "Berlin - After the fall" Introduction by Vali Djordjevic & Diana McCarty * "Berlin Art Scene - Stagnation And New Beginnings" by Ariane Beyn * "Electronic Culture in Berlin" by Alexandra Essl * "Electronic music and clubs in Berlin" by Atilano Gonzalez ************************************************** ISEA News by Angela Plohman, ISEA Coordinating Director ************************************************** As you may have noticed, it has been some time since our last newsletter. To our regret, we were unable to publish an ISEA Newsletter this autumn, however we are extremely pleased to make up for our absence with this latest edition, ISEA Newsletter #94, guest edited by Vali Djordjevic & Diana McCarty, with a special focus on Berlin, Germany. This issue brings you unique perspectives on the local art scenes, clubs and electronic culture, with generous contributions by Ariane Beyn, Alexandra Essl, and Atilano Gonzalez. We would like to remind all ISEA members that we are always looking for guest editors for the ISEA Newsletter. If you are interested in editing an upcoming issue of the ISEA Newsletter focused on your region, please contact ISEA HQ. All guest editors receive a complimentary one-year membership to ISEA. Happy holidays and thank you for your continued support of ISEA in 2004! -- ISEA News ISEA2006 HOST ANNOUNCED The Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts (ISEA) is extremely pleased to announce that the Thirteenth International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA2006) will be held in San Jose, California, USA. After careful evaluation of the four exceptionally strong bids received through an open call for proposals, the ISEA Board unanimously decided to accept the proposal submitted by the San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau in collaboration with the City of San Jose; San Jose State University CADRE Institute; San Jose Museum of Art; ZeroOne: The Art and Technology Network; the Tech Museum of Innovation; and Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley. Steve Dietz, former Curator of New Media at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, will act as ISEA2006 Symposium Director. More at <http://www.isea-web.org/eng/16122003.html> ISEA MEMBERSHIP 2004 We would like to announce that ISEA has a new policy of calendar-year memberships, effective immediately. We are confident that this new policy will make it easier to renew and keep track of your ISEA membership. Current members will receive renewal notices by email before the end of the year. In addition, we would like to announce the return of ISEA Associate Memberships for those unable to pay the full membership fee. And don't forget that ISEA also offers student and senior discounts. Please do not hesitate to contact ISEA HQ for more details. 2004 JOURNAL DISCOUNTS FOR ISEA MEMBERS We are pleased to announce our continued partnerships with Digital Creativity, Leonardo and Mediamatic. 2004 subscription discount forms for ISEA members, for Leonardo and Digital Creativity, are now available through ISEA HQ. ************************************************** ISEA2004 Update by the ISEA2004 Team ************************************************** Plans for ISEA2004 are progressing well. The event, to be held in Stockholm, Tallinn, Helsinki and on a ferry from 14 - 22 August, 2004, is the first time that an ISEA has been held across three countries and this has provided for a great deal of interest and a few challenges. ISEA has traditionally been programmed by an International Programming Committee (IPC). For ISEA2004, The Committee is Chaired by Tapio MŠkelŠ, the Chair for Helsinki and the overall event. The Committee comprises 41 internationally recognised leaders in their field selected in part by the local organisers and in part by the Inter-Society for Electronic Art. (See below for a full list of IPC members.) We have been delighted to received some 1,400 proposals through the two closing dates in February and September. All submissions were done via our website using a web form and stored into a database. This procedure allowed us to have the proposals reviewed by IPC members online. Proposals were assessed in the thematic areas determined for the project: Networked Experience, Wearable Experience, Wireless Experience, Histories of the New, Critical Interaction Design, Open Source and Software as Culture, Geopolitics of Media and Interfacing Sound (in collaboration with Koneisto Festival for Electronic Music and Arts <http://www.koneisto.com>). Tapio, along with the other Programme Chairs, Peter Hagdahl (Stockholm) and Mare Tralla (Tallinn), has been working over the last weeks on developing the shortlist of proposals following the IPC evaluations. Artists will be notified of the results in early January and the highlights programme for the event will be launched in February 2004. We have now secured a ferry which will be entirely dedicated to ISEA2004 participants for three days of travel and programming. We are very excited about this adventure. Details will be announced in January. Keep your eye out on the ISEA2004 web site for updates. And make sure you book your ferry tickets early! Sales will start in February! Best regards for the Festive Season and a good start to the New Year! The ISEA2004 team http://www.isea2004.net ISEA2004 International Programming Committee Networked Experience: Peter Hagdahl (Chair), Geert Lovink, Steve Dietz, Cecilia Andersson, Rejane Spitz, Irina Aristarkhova, Christiane Paul Wearable Experience: Mare Tralla (Chair), Sabine Seymour, Iliyana Nedkova, Lisa Moren, Andrew Chetty Wireless Experience: Tapio Makela (Chair), Machiko Kusahara, Gunalan Nadarajan, Matt Locke, Eunhye Chung, Nalini Kotamraju Histories of the New: Tapio Makela (Chair), Maria Ferndandez, Erkki Huhtamo, Andres Burbano, Naomi Matsunaga, Ana Peraica Interfacing Sound: Tapio Makela (Chair), Chris Csikszentmih‡lyi, Rasa Smite, Michael Century, Norie Neumark Open Source and software as culture: Graham Harwood (Chair), Anne Nigten, Juha Huuskonen, Miller Puckette, Ryszard W. Kluszczynski Critical Interaction Design: Minna Tarkka (Chair), Sara Ilstedt Hjelm, Natalie Jeremijenko, Paul Dourish, Greg Garvey Geopolitics of Media: Mare Tralla (Chair), Eric Kluitenberg, Fatima Lasay, Nancy Adajania, Artur Matuck ************************************************** Message from the ISEA Board by Nina Czegledy, ISEA Board Chair ************************************************** This note is posted from Helsinki, where preparations for ISEA2004 are advanced. In addition to the strong bids for future symposia, it is a source of pride that 1400 completed submissions (in all categories) have been received for next summer. The shortlist of accepted submissions is now being finalized, results to be posted soon. We sincerely hope for a large crowd of participants in all three cities, where museums, galleries, conference venues, organizations, academics, artists and the general public are getting ready to receive us. I hope to see you all on the ISEA ferry boat next summer! Congratulations to the San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau and collaborating organizations for the strong and successful bid for ISEA2006. Sincere thanks are due to the short listed applicants for their efforts and impressive submissions. On behalf of the ISEA Board, I would like to wish you all a Happy Holiday Season and New Year. - Nina Czegledy ISEA Board Chair ************************************************** Berlin - After the fall Introduction by Vali Djordjevic & Diana McCarty ************************************************** The city of Berlin [1] has an illustrious past, full of social and economic upheavals, extreme political changes, and wars - all of which have marked the urban landscape. The boom and bust cycles with their monumental destruction and rebuilding projects are well known. In recent years, much of Berlin's attention and economic resources were devoted to reunification; massive projects like the reconstruction of Potsdamer Platz, and the renovation of Mitte & Prenzlauer Berg took place primarily in the East. Prior to the political changes of the late 80's, both East and West Berlin had active cultural scenes. In the West, an eclectic youth developed an alternative lifestyle of squatted houses, bars and arts spaces. Few had financial worries as relocating from other cities had economic benefits. Districts like Kreuzberg saw squatters living among a large Turkish and Kurdish population. In the East, a thriving underground Punk scene and living room poetry readings were part of the cultural life. After the political changes, the city was transformed once more. Cheap rents, government subsidies and open minds gave rise to a city rich in cultural capital. Part fact, part fiction, the Berlin of the late 80's and early 90's did offer many people the chance to realize dreams. Nowadays, the situation is quite different. On the square in front of the Hackescher Markt station there are often groups of students gathering around mobile blackboards or pillars with maps of far away countries. Some of them hand out leaflets to the passers-by protesting against the city council plans to cut down university budgets. The German capital can't afford education for its young people anymore. But these are not the only public services to be cut down; the prices for public pools tripled during the last two years, child-care fees will double next year, public parks are not maintained due to a lack of funds. Berlin is in a crisis. 50 billion Euros in debt, no other city in Germany is as broke as the capital. Berlin is, in many instances, not your typical western capital. With an unemployment rate of 17.3 percent (that is nearly 300.000 people), it clearly belongs to the eastern part of Germany. The average unemployment rate in the country is about 10 percent or about 4 million people, but these numbers are not distributed evenly: in the former western republics, only 8 percent are without work compared to more than 17 percent in the former east [1]. In Berlin you can add a corrupt political class and and the accompanying bank scandal [2]. The result is a bankrupt city. So the spending power is low. It is not as easy as it was to find a job that would pay the bills and still allow spare time to make culture ƒ… be it digital or analogue. Things looked good in the middle of the nineties. Hundreds of small companies set up shop and wanted to get rich fast, selling their knowledge. Information seemed to be a valuable good. Then came the fall, like everywhere else. For Berlin, it was worse as there was no traditional economy to compensate for it. The rents are still cheap and in some areas, even falling. In the adjoining districts of Berlin-Mitte (Center) many small artists and designer groups are renting shops for low rent and can organize exhibitions and events. But the glamour is gone. It is difficult to make art if you have to worry about paying the rent. Berlin has to take care that it won't lose the last capital it still has ƒ… the people. Of course, there are plenty of events in Berlin. Large scale international events like the Berlinale garner media attention and attract large audiences to see the films or go star searching at Potsdamer Platz. The Berlin Biennial fills Mitte art galleries and institutions to bursting with artists and art fans. Then there is the Berlin Art Fair, which keeps up its attempt to make an impact on the international art scene. Popkomm, a large music fair, formerly based in Cologne is also moving to Berlin. Smaller events like Urban Drift, markeB and the club transmediale offer more intimate venues for local and international works in music, architecture and electronic culture. For the new media crowd the main event of the year is the transmediale festival [3]. This year it flies under the banner "Fly Utopia" and intends to examine "the power of utopian ideas in an age dominated by the dreams, horrors and frustrations of science and technology." Antonio Negri as the keynote speaker surely will add to this motto and attract a diverse audience. Transmediale's now not so new location is the former Congress Hall [4]. Since 2000, it takes place in this extraordinary location reminiscent of an alien spaceship coming directly from the pulp novels of the 40s and 50s. Built in 1957 by the American architect Hugh Stubbins, it was a gift from the American government to the city of west-Berlin, sending a signal about the American intention to spread its ideas of freedom and democracy in the world. For the building to be seen in east Berlin ƒ… the Wall just a few hundred meters away - an artificial mound was erected. After the building collapsed in the beginning of the 80s, burying a journalist and inspiring the name of the German post-Punk band Einst—ššende Neubauten, it was reconstructed and now accommodates the House of World Cultures, dedicated to the task to bring international arts and culture to Germany. In spite of the economic woes, Berlin is still a thriving city where theater, poetry, literature and even opera find an audience. The following texts provide an overview of what the local art scenes, clubs and electronic culture have to offer. URLs: [1] http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/bauen/wanderungen/index_en.shtml [2] http://www.arbeitsamt.de/hst/services/statistik/berlin/index.html [german] [3] http://www.berliner-bankenskandal.de/ [german] [4] http://www.transmediale.de/ [5] http://www.hkw.de/ ** Vali Djordjevic and Diana McCarty live and work in Berlin. They are active on the fringes of art and media. Djordjevic is free lance journalist and member of mikro.org. McCarty is a freelance producer and member of bootlab.org. ************************************************** Berlin Art Scene - Stagnation And New Beginnings Ariane Beyn ************************************************** Looking back at last year, it is difficult to say which art events best deserve the label 'highlight'. Instead, stagnation or defeat seems to have dominated the general situation in Berlin; due to energy consuming struggles of survival or to surfeit is sometimes hard to tell. A recent example was the foreseeable run down of Berlin's art fair [6], which was founded in the early recuperation of the art market in 1996, despite Berlin's much-discussed lack of solvent art collectors. Subsequently, bad management, the city going bankrupt with a corrupt property deal, and, after failed attempts to pull forces together, a limited willingness of many Berlin-based galleries to collaborate, left this year's fair further away than ever from its ambitious initial concept: to stake a claim on the potential of Berlin's attractive 'young and experimental art scene' and on the networks of the galleries to win international galleries, collectors, and curators for a small, but first-rate young fair. In 2003, the larger part of the formerly 'young', today internationally successful Berlin-based galleries dropped the "Art Forum Berlin" altogether. In this crucial situation, the fair organization showed little imagination and failed to 'strike back.' For example, by filling the gap with local art projects or project spaces. Only a few weeks after a mediocre, highly conventional program had taken over at the "Art Forum", the core of Berlin's galleries debuted on a large scale at a competing fair in London, set up by "Frieze" art magazine. Here, also the Berlin-based artists Klaus Weber, Tino Sehgal or Monica Bonvicini with B—š Friedrich, Berlin, presented works in 'statement'-booths. The notion of an "art scene" shifts with London's situation, where on a Sunday thousands pour into the New Tate to see a work by Olafur Eliasson after it was reproduced on the frontpages of most English newspapers. In Berlin, a leisure-time audience for contemporary art is only slowly growing into visibility. Newspapers never headline with contemporary art and even though awards were distributed, the media still do not consider visual artists to be pop-stars. In today's specific situation, Berlin's museums would definitely profit from a slight redefinition of their focus group towards the so-called 'art scene'. Too often, ambitious museum exhibitions of contemporary art in Berlin have left mainly one question unanswered: who exactly do the curators address with this? (lately: "Berlin-Moskau" at Martin Gropius Bau, "Face up" at Hamburger Bahnhof). But how to evaluate the inside underrated, outside often overrated quality of Berlin's art scene? All art and culture workers in Berlin, including the artists who arrive from all over the world, together form their own critical and professional audience - and this 'pool' seems to be the real potential of Berlin's art scene today. This scene can be located in commercial art galleries as well as in subcultural project spaces or in the few small, but relevant art institutions. Here, it is at work on the productive and on the receptive side, this way constantly re-setting its own standards, similar to a specialized film festival, where professionals are stuck in one place for days only to watch and discuss each other's work. Three Berlin-based art magazines attract different reader-audiences inside and outside of Berlin. The founders of the magazine "Neue Review" bank on the joint forces of a 'professional audience' when they invite artists, curators and critics to the experiment of writing reviews in couple or group authorship. Obviously this concept automatically increases the number of readers. On the other hand the art critics who recently founded the "u_spot" magazine take a risky path when they locate their peer group in Berlin but among a less informed audience. The artists who publish "starship", which has generated a number of extensive issues so far, can build on connections to the art scenes of Vienna and Cologne. The fair debacle showed the necessity to vacillate between the local experiment and a stabilizing outside, a broader international public or an art market on a larger scale. Another strategy of survival in times of limited public funding is collaborative projects and temporary coalitions, which today successfully constitute Berlin's art program to a large part. Since it has become almost impossible for institutional or independent art spaces to sustain a continuous program, everybody is busy with teaming up and sharing funding for temporary events (or very long-term projects on a small scale). Two theater related projects proved that the format of the platform still has enough experimental drive to harness the available potentials. For a "kiosk for usable knowledge" [7] on urban politics by Tulip House inc. a two-story wood construction was put up on Rosa-Luxemburg Platz. Following a concept of artist Stephen Craig, the spatial situation favored intimate dialogues between invited guests over public lectures. Documents of the events were projected or left in an archive open to the public. In October, Matthias Lilienthal's HAU-series [8] started out in three theaters - amalgamated due to financial stringency - with an "art and crime" performance art festival, recently followed by 24 hours of protest lectures by members of Berlin's battered universities. Another variable platform is "Urban Drift" [9], which was present at festivals since 1999 and launched as a panel event on architecture and urban space at Café Moskau in 2002. It now continues the discourse with exhibitions in a project space at Zoo Station. Maybe a similar concept will catch on at the German pavilion of the Venice Biennial of Architecture in 2004, curated by "Urban Drift" initiator, Francesca Ferguson. Compared to the arguments in Berlin's local art scene which accompanied the first Berlin Biennial in 1998, the 3rd Biennial [10] in February 2004 seems to draw near in complete silence. Curat
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