Andrew Neumann performs live electronic music during his piece Paradigm For Vanilla Extract

Many-a-new media-curious-viewer-and-mediamaker-converged at Axiom on Thursday April 22 and Thursday April 29 for Experimental Moving Images from the ATNE Community, and for What If? 60×60x60.
April 22, Experimental Moving Images from the ATNE Community was highlighted by a live performance of electonic music by Andrew Neumann, that accompanied the visual portion of his new work Paradigm For Vanilla Extract. In 2010, silent movies accompanied by live performance;  a new paradigm for new media? The program was alive with original, independent experimental work, and friendly networking followed this screening. Nice work ATNEers!

Ken Steen (center) gives the audience the what's-up with What-If? As Gene Gort (right) assembles the random pairings of audio and video for the night's program.

And,  on April 29 attendees’ new media curiosity was piqued when they arrived at Axiom.  They were asked to pick two numbers, which were incorporated into Media artist Gene Gort’s and composer/sound artist Ken Steen’s experiment in audio and video called What If? 60×60x60. The project uses 60 video clips and 60 sound compositions that are 60 seconds in duration each. Contributors of the clips were selected from a call to New England mediamakers, many of whom were in attendance. The random number pairs determined the evening’s program of 60 works.  What If? 60×60x60 investigates the serendipitous relationship of sound and moving image in terms of coincidence, shifting context and potential meanings that result. More info at http://www.nmnmne.org. Gene Gort, Ken Steen and mediamakers  discussed the experimental project,  and the merriment of of the mediamakers ensued at the festival party!

What If? 60x60x60

A big THANKYOU from Axiom and ATNE to all participants and attendees for an excellent set of events (including the 29th Annual Black Maria Film and Video Festival, Astrodime Transit Authority’s INtransit V6; Scientific American, Experimental Moving Images from the ATNE Community, and for What If? 60×60x60.) in the New Media Curious Experimental Moving Images Festival!

Tuesday, May 11 at 8 pm

Art Technology New England and the Goethe-Institut Boston have partnered to present a very special lecture and discussion led by Wolf Lieser, Founding Director of Berlin’s Digital Art Museum [DAM]. Lieser founded the Digital Art Museum Project [DAM] in 1998, which in 2000 became the first online museum. He then opened [DAM] Berlin Gallery 2003 to serve as a physical compliment to the online museum.

The lecture and following discussion are co-presented by Art Technology New England (ATNE) and the Goethe-Institut Boston and will be held on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 8:00 pm at the Goethe-Institut. Lieser will give a short art-historical background of digital art in its present situation. Lieser’s view is that the computer is changing the world of contemporary art to a larger degree than any other medium has before. He believes that nearly all artists use a computer to create and/or develop their art, and that new media also provides fresh conceptual and aesthetic possibilities. He will then introduce the [DAM] project; a unique approach to education in new media with a focus on marketing and selling to a new public.

Following the approximately 30 minute lecture, George Fifield, Director of the Boston Cyberarts Festival, will lead a discussion tying back into the local scene. As Greater Boston is a center of digital art, Lieser and Fifield will discuss the impact of institutions like the New Television Workshop at WGBH and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Wolf Lieser’s new book Digital Art will be available for purchase at the event.

Wolf Lieser, originally an artist himself working with Photography, began very early to manage an artist friend. In 1998 he founded the Digital Art Museum [DAM] – Project, which became the first online museum in 2000. Lieser worked with Colville Place Gallery, London’s first gallery dedicated to Digital Art (1999-2002) before moving to Berlin to open the [DAM]Berlin gallery in 2003. [DAM] launched the d.velop digital art award [ddaa], a biannual lifetime-award for pioneers in Digital Media, in 2005. 2009 saw the publication of his book Digital Art in six languages. Lieser gives lectures internationally as part of conferences or symposia e.g. University Sorbonne, Paris; Kunsthalle Bremen; Sonic Acts, Amsterdam; University Bournemouth; Academy of Science, Berlin.

Volume 6 of Astrodime Transit Authority's INtransit Scientific American/La America Científica

On Thursday April 15 a crowd of curious scientists, artists and people generally curious about the New Media Curious Experimental Moving Images Festival gathered at Axiom.

They came to watch Volume 6 of Astrodime Transit Authority’s INtransit Scientific American/La America Científica .This curated video journal looks at the history and representation of “American” science within and without the United States, using as a metaphorical framework, the magazine Scientific American. It begins by exploring the magazine’s history and uses this as a metaphor to examine the concept behind the “Scientific American” from cultural, regional, global, and historical perspectives. It also explores the idea of “invention” and “innovation” in the United States from multiple historical points of view.

Maria Papi's AliciaS en la Madriguerra Part 1

The edgy, energetic,  documentary portions of the program included field interviews with Cape Cod Ecologists about frog populations, and the exploration of a historic meteorological facility in Bogotá‎ Colombia. Evocative experimental video and animation work emerged between documentary segments. Twist of Fate by Karen Aqua used expressive drawings of microscopic biological processes to illustrate a battle with cancer. And Maria Papí’s AliciaS en la Madriguerra Part 1 was  a metaphoric short showing a young woman trapped behind volumes of text books.

The AstroDime Transit Authority is a Think-Tank and public service organization that considers issues of transportation, communication and world and intergalactic citizenship. They are specifically interested in issues of race, class, gender and culture as reflected in art and technoscience. Get more info about AstroDime Transit Authority projects, including info about the upcoming screening of La America Científica in Mexico City!

The event was part of the New Media Curious Experimental Moving Images Festival, taking place every Thursday in April at Axiom Center for New and Experimental Media. Join us Thursday April 22 for Experimental Moving Images from the ATNE Community and Thursday April 29 for 60×60x60 What if? (and for the Festival Party! ).

Joseph Farbrook addresses the audience

On Tuesday, March 9th, eight artists from the current exhibition “Collision 15:findings”, organized by William Tremblay and Yuri Stone, and which runs through March 27th, spoke about their work at Axiom. Works discussed range from an antique glass head with an internal video screen of thoughts, to a 9′ tall unfurling mechanical fiddlehead, to a digital print that displays its own code.

I am always amazed by these artists; they come to the Collision Collective from the engineering and computer science worlds, and use their (seemingly unlimited!) knowledge and skill sets to create works of art that are at the same time unbelievably crafted and unbelievably thought-provoking.

John Goodman explains his timekeeper

Joseph Farbrook spoke about the baffling concept of “locating oneself” inside the body- where DO we live? Is it in our head, or, as one talk attendee suggested, behind our left toe?

John Goodman has figured out a gear ratio that moves a sundial type apparatus in perfect motion with the turning of our blue planet, but in order to have it displayed in a gallery setting, he upped the speed to create perceptible movement. Was this necessary- do we need to SEE something moving in order to believe that it works?

Georgina Lewis and Ben Bray both touch on issues of clandestine government operations. On the idiosyncrasies of covert operations involving prisoner transport, and how we are secretly surveilled and analyzed.

Ben Bray's "Extraordinary Renditions"

Chris Fitch and Mark stock both blow my mind: these guys have no problem with algorithms that define natural processes- the unfolding of a fern on a spring walk through the woods and the path that fluids take become jumping off points for their artwork.

Rob Gonsalves questions our ideas of abstract expressionism (can anyone  paint in this genre following a standard set of rules?) and Dave Gordon makes us chuckle as we are surprised by whale song and video of fish seemingly swimming in our toilet (no cameras involved!) – and while we may crack a smile, we might just have more to ponder as we close that restroom door…

If you haven’t seen this show yet, you’re in for a treat. And bring your brain, whether its located in your cranium or, behind that little, left toe.

More info at www.axiomart.org

click here to see festival poster

Festival Schedule

All screenings at 730 pm, Axiom Center for New and Experimental Media
Tickets $10, $8 ATNE Members
Limited tickets available at the door buy advance tickets at

http://newmediacuriousfest.eventbrite.com/

Thursday April 8 The 29th Annual Black Maria Film and Video Festival
Since 1981, the annual Black Maria Film and Video Festival which takes it’s name from that of the world’s first motion picture studio built by Thomas Edison in 1893, has been an international juried competition and award tour, has been fulfilling its mission to advocate, exhibit and reward cutting edge works from independent film and videomakers. The festival is known for its national public exhibition program, which features a variety of bold contemporary works drawn from the annual collection of 50 or more award winning films and videos. The program will include work by Roslindale filmmaker Katherine Ramey. More about the Black Maria can be found at http://www.blackmariafilmfestival.org/

Thursday April 15 INtransit V.6: Scientific American
INtransit is a twice yearly curated video journal of art and technoscience produced by media arts collective AstroDime Transit Authority. This edition looks at the history and representation of “American” science within and without the United States, using as a metaphorical framework, the magazine Scientific American. What is a scientific American? Artists and scientists examine this question through the lens of their disciplines. Astrodime Transit Authority will introduce the event and take audience questions.http://www.astrodime.org

Thursday April 22 Experimental Moving Images from the Art Technology New England Community
ATNE, a program of Boston Cyberarts, launched in 2009 is a quickly growing consortium of people working at the intersection of technology and the arts. Members of the free ATNE portal were informed of a call for work with a deadline of March 22 2010. Short work in any genre including narrative, non-narrative, documentary, experimental, that challenges obvious conventions of the medium makes up the program. More info and call for entries see arttechne.ning.com . More info about ATNE is at http://www.atne.org.

Thursday April 29 What If? 60×60x60
Media artist Gene Gort and composer/sound artist Ken Steen of New Media New Music New England bring us an audience participatory experiment in audio and video called What If? 60×60x60.  The project uses 60 video clips and 60 sound compositions that are 60 seconds in duration each. Contributors of the clips were selected from a call to New England mediamakers. During the event, audience members select one number each from a video and audio designated list. These selections will determine the evening’s program of 60 works, resulting in a 60 minute screening. What If? 60×60x60  investigates the serendipitous relationship of sound and moving image in terms of coincidence, shifting context and potential meanings that result. More info at http://www.nmnmne.org Gene Gort, Ken Steen and Boston mediamakers will discuss the experimental project following the screening.

MCC Adams Fund Award Ceremony, Pictured are the BRA's Carole Walton, Heidi Kayser, George Fifield, MCC's Anita Walker, Meri Jenkins, Christina Hogan

On February 9th, George Fifield and I attended an awards ceremony/announcement forum for projects funded through the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Adams Art Program. In 2004, Massachusetts Legislature created the Adams Arts Program, which funds projects that create jobs and income, revitalize downtowns, and draw cultural tourists.

From the MCC website:

“Adams-funded projects leverage the assets of the creative sector – artists, cultural organizations, and arts-related businesses – inherent in Massachusetts’ communities to generate real income. ”

The Boston Cyberarts Festival is cited, as an example of these type of projects, on the home page of the Adams Fund website.

This year’s MCC Adams Arts Awards Ceremony was held at the State House, so that Massachusetts legislators could be present, and both talk to and with constituents funded through the Adams Program. Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, Boston Cyberarts’ local representative, gave emphatic remarks on the pride she takes in representing the non-profit cultural activities in her district, and also cited Boston Cyberarts as a big contributor to the cultural excellence of the Jamaica Plain/Roxbury area.

It was inspiring for me to witness direct support come from the mouths of people I never really think about, those high-ups whose names appear on ballots and with whom I never have any personal connection. These are the people who make state funding for the arts possible. It was evident that they are pleased with the cultural community throughout Massachusetts, and will continue to fight for funding for all kinds of arts and cultural programming.

Examples of types of funded projects and people I saw include Transcultural Exchange and the ever-talented Mary Sherman, Carole Walton at the BRA, organizing the upcoming Powering Up Conference, Catherine Peterson at ArtsBoston.org, and projects like the Cambridge Science Festival and the ArtsUnion program of the Somerville Arts Council. I felt in great company, the energy in the room was terrific, and we all left to get back to that grind- yet, with a bit of money, and a lot of support.

Conversations at Art Loves Science

Ten persevering people descended at Axiom this past Tuesday, the eve before the “snow emergency” that never happened, for Art Loves Science, Round 2- ATNE’s version of the speed-dating phenomenon!

After Round 1, which happened last fall, we at ATNE decided that, if we built it, people would come, so we planned for Round 2, and made this session a bit more structured and specific.  Participants, (after filling their wine glasses of course) were asked to introduce themselves to the group and give a bit of background on what brought them to speed-date, and where they consider themselves to fit in the art and or science world.

On the wall, on an obligatory “giant post-it” were a list of ice-breaking conversation starters for daters. They ran the gamut from “what’s your wish list for equipment/media or software?” to “do you think artists are scientists and vice versa, can they help each other and how so?”

We then had about an hour and a half of six minute conversations with one another, complete with iPhone timer giving the “half-time” alert and a strict “SWITCH” command at the end of six short (or long, depending on your conversation partner I suppose!) minutes.

More intense conversing...

At the end of it all, we took a wine break, and came into a circle to talk about issues, “aha moments” and potential “dates” that were made. ATNE Program manager Sarah Rushford, and myself, had been eavesdropping on conversations throughout the evening, and so read a list of interesting and funny tidbits overheard. The prize for the evening, a dvd issue of Aspect Magazine, was given to Eric, a phd student from MIT’s Media Lab, for his use of the word “tinkerability.”

What made this evening so interesting and special was the varied people who braved the impending non-storm to talk about art and science. Selected backgrounds ranged from a materials scientist, two international relations grad students, a few computer science guys, a writer, a dancer, a performance artist, a musician, a media lab PHD candidate – amongst others.

Several ideas came out of  this evening as well that ATNE will take under strong consideration: organizing a skill-share for artists and scientists, hosting collaborator-finding networking sessions, and holding more structured events for feedback on ideas and projects outside of an academic setting, for both artists and scientists/technologists. So, all in all, a fun event, and the only complaint I heard was “well, I thought this would be a place to pick up girls, but I was sorely disappointed, and yet pleasantly surprised.”

Stay tuned for Art Loves Science, Round 3- you never, know, maybe you’ll find a date.

Jeffrey Jacobson's Presentation on Virtual Reality at Axiom on Feb 2 2010

Jeffrey Jacobson's Presentation on Virtual Reality at Axiom on Feb 2 2010

Jeffrey Jacobson spoke to a full house at Axiom about the history and current state of virtual reality research and production, and gave a demonstration of his own Virtual Reality Project “Cave UT” www.publicvr.org on February 2, 2010.

December 12 2009 Spark; A Gala celebration was such a success! It was an extraordinary gathering of the most innovative people in art and technology. And, it enabled us to move forward and grow in the new year! ATNE wants to thank everyone who attended and helped make Spark happen. See  more photos on ATNE’s Flickr photostream!

Tuesday, May 11 at 8 pm

Art Technology New England and the Goethe-Institut Boston have partnered to present a very special lecture and discussion led by Wolf Lieser, Founding Director of Berlin’s Digital Art Museum [DAM]. Lieser founded the Digital Art Museum Project [DAM] in 1998, which in 2000 became the first online museum. He then opened [DAM] Berlin Gallery 2003 to serve as a physical compliment to the online museum.

The lecture and following discussion are co-presented by Art Technology New England (ATNE) and the Goethe-Institut Boston and will be held on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 8:00 pm at the Goethe-Institut. Lieser will give a short art-historical background of digital art in its present situation. Lieser’s view is that the computer is changing the world of contemporary art to a larger degree than any other medium has before. He believes that nearly all artists use a computer to create and/or develop their art, and that new media also provides fresh conceptual and aesthetic possibilities. He will then introduce the [DAM] project; a unique approach to education in new media with a focus on marketing and selling to a new public.

Following the approximately 30 minute lecture, George Fifield, Director of the Boston Cyberarts Festival, will lead a discussion tying back into the local scene. As Greater Boston is a center of digital art, Lieser and Fifield will discuss the impact of institutions like the New Television Workshop at WGBH and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Wolf Lieser’s new book Digital Art will be available for purchase at the event.

Wolf Lieser, originally an artist himself working with Photography, began very early to manage an artist friend. In 1998 he founded the Digital Art Museum [DAM] – Project, which became the first online museum in 2000. Lieser worked with Colville Place Gallery, London’s first gallery dedicated to Digital Art (1999-2002) before moving to Berlin to open the [DAM]Berlin gallery in 2003. [DAM] launched the d.velop digital art award [ddaa], a biannual lifetime-award for pioneers in Digital Media, in 2005. 2009 saw the publication of his book Digital Art in six languages. Lieser gives lectures internationally as part of conferences or symposia e.g. University Sorbonne, Paris; Kunsthalle Bremen; Sonic Acts, Amsterdam; University Bournemouth; Academy of Science, Berlin.