[spectre] PROGRAM OF VERSION>02 FESTIVAL,CHICAGO

[geert]

PROGRAM OF VERSION>02 FESTIVAL,CHICAGO
Digital Arts Convergence

General site: http://www.versionfest.org.
Related topics where everyone can contribute online:
http://www.versionfest.org/index.php
Festival info: http://www.versionfest.org/festival.php

April 18-=AD20, 2002
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Presented by MCA, Select Media, and OVT
Concert tickets $10 in advance, $13 at the door
3-day pass to all films, panels, and installations $10

For tickets, call 312.397.4010 or visit www.mcachicago.org

D=E9tournement in The Digital Commons

Version>02 is a Chicago-based convergence on radical digital culture
featuring multimedia artists, electronic media activists, dissident
filmmakers and critical thinkers from around the world commenting on the
digital commons.

The digital commons is a metaphor for the public space that we use to
communicate and distribute ideas, where we share tools and resources, and
influences. It is a place for commerce, art and the transmission of
knowledge. This commons requires a dialogue about intellectual property, =
the
balance between civil liberties and security, freedom of speech and priva=
cy,
issues of access, and the creative use of tools. Some herald the internet
and the global communications infrastructure as a protected space that
allows creativity and innovation to flourish. Others argue that that our
civil liberties are at risk and we are entering a society more perfectly
monitored and filtered than any in history.

When analyzing the digital commons we decided to direct our "tour" to foc=
us
on the forces that are challenging the social and cultural entities seeki=
ng
to dominate it. These artists, collectives and temporary coalitions of
programmers, designers and activists are expanding the creative and tacti=
cal
uses of technology and digital media, creating dialogues and strategies f=
or
expansion and the maintenance of our public space and communications.

We have the means of production. It is up to us to create the means of
distribution, spaces, tools, networks, coalitions, and media and expand
the diverse cultural and social movements that resist the
enclosure of our commons.

As we enter our first iteration of  Version>02 we welcome all participant=
s:

The following is our three day schedule of events;

///// THEATRE PROGRAM /////////
Thursday - Saturday, April 18, 19, 20

[ THURSDAY 1pm ]
"The Work of Art in the Age of Convergence"
As digital media becomes more fully integrated into our daily existence, =
the
art of our times reflects this. This panel reviews the work of several
artists working with the tools of our times and the impact their choice o=
f
of mediums has on the dialogue that their work creates. In the modern era=
,
the development of artistic methods such as photography and film were see=
n
as a break from the tradition of ritual and personal revelation to one of
multiple views and political understanding. What then is the impact of th=
is
post-mechanical era of convergence on the work of art?

Participants include:

Eduardo Kac
(http://www.ekac.org/)
A pioneer of telecommunications art in the pre-Web '80s, Eduardo Kac emer=
ged
in the early '90s with his radical telepresence and biotelematic works. H=
is
visionary combination of robotics and networking explores the fluidity of
subject positions in the post-digital world.

Yoshie Suzuki
Yoshie Suzuki (b. Japan) is a video artist who lives and works in the Uni=
ted
States. She is known for French kissing strangers in public space for her
video. Selected Recent Exhibition: European Media Art Festival(2002,
Germany), Impakt(2001, the Netherlands)

John White Cerasulo
John White Cerasulo is an emerging Chicago artist whose works were recent=
ly
featured in Tirana Biennale at Deitch Projects, Brooklyn, NY. He is the
featured 12x12 artist at the MCA in April with a work entitled "Complete =
+
Verified".

Miltos Manetas
(http://www.manetas.com/)
Miltos Manetas is an artist, writer and curator who splits his time betwe=
en
New York and Los Angeles. He is the founder of www.electronicorphanage.co=
m
and recently created www.whitneybiennial.com.


[ THURSDAY 3pm ]
"Who's the Tool?"
Theater
Power dynamics in the contemporary human/computer interaction. Computers
straddle the boundaries of medium, tool, even venue. But in the last fift=
een
years, critical discussion has fallen off as the art community rushed to
expound on the computer's "interactive" promise. The rise of Macromedia (=
tm)
with it's associated products - Director, Shockwave, Flash - propagated a
decline in analysis of what is "actually" happening when creating art wit=
h
computers. Where does an artist's process begin and a software corporatio=
n's
end? Can the term "computer art" exist as something other than a poorly
buzzed word which died in the late 80's?

Planned participants include:

Paul B. Davis
( http://www.post-data.org/ )
Paul B. Davis is a composer and obsolete media artist who also occasional=
ly
sells out to Corporate America. He Founded The 8-Bit Construction Set and
Beige Programming Ensemble with Cory Arcangel, Joseph Beuckman, and Josep=
h
Bonn in 1999. Graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 2000,
where he studied Electronic Music and Harpsichord Performance. He is
currently curating the BEIGE 2002 World Cassette Jockey Championships.

Cory Arcangel
Cory Arcangel is a classical guitarist and 8-bit computer artist. Founded
"Insectiside", a Buffalo New York punk group in 1989 with sister Jamie.
Member of "the slowes", Earworm UK recording artist. Founded The 8-Bit
Construction Set and Beige Programming Ensemble with Paul Davis, Joseph
Beuckman, and Joseph Bonn in 1999. Graduated from the Oberlin Conservator=
y
of Music in 2000, studied Electronic Music, classical guitar, and compute=
r
programming. Has received grants from New Radio and Performing Arts, and =
the
New York State Council on the Arts. Teaches high-school and middle school
students the fundamentals of computer computation at Harvestworks Digital
Media and Eyebeam Atelier in Manhattan. Currently developing a networked =
art
project / home entertainment center for the Radical Software Group's
Carnivore project.

Dragan Espenschied
( http://a-blast.org/~drx/ )
Founded Home Computer Folk Duo "Bodenstandig 2000" in 1995 together with
Bernhard Kirsch. Released debut album on Rephlex Records London 1999, sho=
ws
around the globe. Worked from 1998-2000 in Fraunhofer VR Lab Stuttgart.
Together with Alvar Freude finished art school 2001 with internationally
awarded experiment on internet censorship. Today home computer musician,
teacher at Merz Akademie and modestly engaged in information freedom
activism with odem.org.

John Dekam
( http://vidvox.net/ ) ( http://node.net/ /
http://www.revisionhistory.org/ )
Johnny deKam makes media recycling tools. He creates generative art softw=
are
that is released as free 'standalones', used for performances and
installations and for creating content in his own studio. Some of these a=
pps
have evolved into 'commercial' software releases and sold to a variety of
cultural producers worldwide. A strategy often employed by deKam is the
autonmous sampling and processing of preexisting archives or broadcasts.

Rob Ray
Rob Ray began his mechatronic arts career in 1991 by combining creative
computer programming and television circuit bending activities to create
live audience/performer interactions designed to spill peoples beer.

Rob is currently the owner/curator of the Deadtech arts concern in Chicag=
o.
Deadtech, founded in 1999, focuses exclusively on exhibiting mechatronic,
robotic, and interactive sound/video installations and performance. Deadt=
ech
has presented work from all continents including such artists as Norman
White, K.K. Null, Beige, and the Seemen.

Rob also currently exhibits work internationally and has recently
participated in Partrick Lichty's acclaimed "(re)distributions: PDA and I=
A
art as cultural intervention" with his "Graffiti Method" manifesto. "Make
Big Dreams Happen," the output of this manifesto, was realized at "POTSHO=
TS:
Recent Performance Installation and Video Art" curated by Louise McKissic=
k
at Artemisia Gallery in Chicago, and as a guest of Seven Three Split gall=
ery
participating in the "BRATWURST" exhibit at Vox Populi, Philadelphia.

Rob will be showing his new work at Seven Three Split in April/May.

[ THURSDAY 6 pm ] =AD Jam the Box Negativland Films Mark Hosler presents =
this
collective=B9s latest works of experimental music, audio, and collage. A =
Q&A
will follow.

[ THURSDAY 8 pm ]- Animal Charm, Scott Gibbons, Davy Force!, Matt Daly, a=
nd
OVT Visuals in live performance

[ THURSDAY 10:30 pm ] - Information War: The Hactivists A feature film on
contemporary activism, starring today=B9s anticapitalist "Internet warrio=
rs"
who fight for social change. Also, shorts from PAL.

[ THURSDAY  12 am]  - Chicago Underground Film Festival Shorts Program:
Control

[FRIDAY., Apr. 19 ]

[ FRIDAY 1pm ]
Version>Control
Theater
This panel looks at the ever delicate balance between security and freedo=
m,
in the digital commons with the architects, the cause champions and
monkey-wrenchers from both sides of the digital divide.

Planned participants include:

Doug Powers
Civic Net

Saskia Sassen
Saskia Sassen is Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago and
Centennial Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics. She is t=
he
author of several books, including The Mobility of Labor and Capital (198=
8),
The Global City (1991 and 2001), Globalization and Its Discontents (1998)=
,
Guests and Aliens (1999), and the forthcoming Denationalization: Economy =
and
Polity in a Global Digital Age (Princeton University Press 2003). Sassen =
is
an authority on worldwide migration and a leading scholar on urban
experiences in an era of transnationalization. Her work has been central =
to
emerging discourses of globalization, especially regarding cities,
technology, women, and minorities. As Chair of the newly formed Informati=
on
Technology, International Cooperation and Global Security Committee of th=
e
Social Science Research Council, Sassen will continue to foster a critica=
l
dialogue on what governance, accountability and citizenship mean in a
digital age.

ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union Cyber-Liberties initiative has been a
leading force in ensuring that rights of citizens are protected in the
growing digital networks.

Jim Costanzo
Jim is an artist based in New York City whose work has been exhibited in =
the
US and in Europe. His most recent work has taken the form of multimedia
installations which combines these various forms of media with objects an=
d
text. Jim is also a charter member of the artist=D5s collective REPOhisto=
ry.
The collective creates site=D0specific public art works based on issues o=
f
race, gender and class and sexuality. They have received numerous grants =
to
created site=D0specific public art projects in New York City, Atlanta and
Houston.

FBI
The Man.

[ FRIDAY 3pm ]

Naked Apprehensions of Technology
Theater
What are the politics and phenomenology inherent in the ideas constructed
around utopia and "newness" and how do these ideologies affect the domina=
nt
modes of deployment? In interogating the discourses around creative
technology, this panel will address the mapping of boundaries between
technic and technology as well as question the intersections and
complications surrounding the histories of (new)media.

Planned participants include:

Katherine Behar
Independent theorist and curator ( http://katherinebehar.com /
www.spareroomchicago.org )
Katherine Behar is an installation and video artist and digital theorist
whose work uses appropriated net technologies in conjunction with duratio=
nal
performance and sculptural costumery. Locating materiality in the virtual
and vice versa, Ms. Behar's current work focuses on the formative
experiences of bodies on/at graphical interfaces with technology. Ms. Beh=
ar
lives and works in Chicago where she is a founding member and curator at =
the
Spareroom, a cooperative interdisciplinary arts space in Chicago's Wicker
Park.

Steve Dietz
Walker Art Center ( http://www.adaweb.walkerart.org, ) (
http://www.walkerart.org/gallery9/dietz/ )
Steve Dietz is curator of new media at the Walker Art Center, where he
founded the New Media Initiatives department. He programs Walker's online
Gally 9, which commissions artist projects, presents exhibitions, includi=
ng
Beyond Interface (1998), Art Entertainment Network (2000), and Telematic
Connections (2001), and maintains a digital arts study collection, includ=
ing
such pioneering works as the website ada'web. He was formerly the head of
publications and new media initiatives at the Smithsonian's National Muse=
um
of American Art and also co-innitiated the collaborative projects
ArtsConnectEd, an educational site, and mnartists.org, an open site for
Minnesota-based artists.

Tiffany Holmes
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago ( http://www.artic.edu/~tholme=
s/
)
Tiffany Holmes is a multimedia artist whose work explores the relationshi=
p
between digital technology and culture with an emphasis on technologies o=
f
seeing. Her most recent work was exhibited at the J. Paul Getty Museum an=
d
at Interaction 2001 in Japan. She is currently an Assistant Professor of =
Art
and Technology at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she
teaches courses in interactivity and the history and theory of electronic
media.

Dan Sandin
University of Illinois at Chicago ( http://www.evl.uic.edu )
Dan Sandin is co-director of the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL=
)
and professor emeritus in the School of Art and Design at the University =
of
Illinois at Chicago (UIC). His early interest in real-time computer
graphics/video image processing and interactive computing environments
motivated his pioneering work in video synthesizers and continues to
influence his research interests. As co-director of EVL, He also is
receiving recognition, along with EVL co-director Tom DeFanti, for
conceiving the CAVE virtual reality theater in 1991.

Moderator: Jon Cates
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago ( http://www.artic.edu/~jcates=
, )
( http://www.joncates.com )
Jon Cates teaches in the Department of Film/Video/New Media at The School=
 of
the Art Institute of Chicago. He is engaged in developing innovative
curriculum that addresses emerging media formats, networked arts practice=
,
and various theorizations and contemporary histories of digital arts
culture.

[ FRIDAY 6 pm -] E-[d]entity, Part 1: "More about Games" Video Data Bank
presents a program on how the cyber environment affects, expands, confuse=
s,
and involves female identity in works created over the last two decades.
http://ww.vdb.org

[ FRIDAY 8 pm ]- Hexstatic (Ninja Tune)
Direct from the UK in an all-new audiovisual show!  A very sensitive devi=
ce
will  open.

[ FRIDAY 10:30 pm ]- E-[d]entity, Part 2: "Even More about Identities" Th=
e
Video Data Bank program continues (see 6 pm) with films ranging in subjec=
t
matter from female hackers to the invasion of technology as it relates to
the human immune system. http://ww.vdb.org

[ FRIDAY 12 am ] - The Aesthetic Underground A m=E9lange of digital anima=
tion
and film shorts

[SATURDAY Apr. 20 ]

[ SATURDAY 1pm ]

Alt.Media Presented by Columbia College
Theater
An overview of the media cartel structure in major media distribution
outlets. Participants discuss their strategies for confronting or designi=
ng
alternatives to the monopoly media organizations.

Planned participants include:

Stephen Marshall
( http://www.Guerrillanews.com )
Stephen is a Award-winning Sundance Film Festival filmmaker and founder o=
f
Guerrilla News Network, an alternative media website.

Sander Hicks
( http://www.softskullpress.com )
Sander Hicks founded Soft Skull Press in 1992 and has published
ground-breaking literature, poetry and political science, including work =
by
Upski Wimsatt, Michael Stipe, Sparrow, Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, Eileen
Myles, Cynthia Hopkins and Dennis Cooper.

Rachel Rinaldo
Indy Newsreel, Chicago.
Rachel is a graduate student in sociology, a writer, and video maker. She=
 is
a founder of Indymedia Newsreel, a monthly alternative news program
featuring segments by video activists and film/video producers affiliated
with the worldwide network of Independent Media Centers.

Paul Dechene and Dave Niddrie
Adbusters: The Media Foundation, Canada ( http://www.adbusters.org )
The Media Foundation is a global network of artists, activists, writers,
pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the
new social activist movement of the information age. Our aim is to topple
existing power structures and forge a major shift in the way we will live=
 in
the 21st century.

J Cookson
J Cookson is a media activist and filmmaker from Chicago. An editor of
various documentaries and short films that focus on cultural subversion a=
nd
social and political commentary, J is a nomadic activist that has
participated in Indy media video projects, co-founded film collectives an=
d
produces tactical media initiatives.

Scott Reeder
( http://www.ZeroTv.com )

Eric Galatas
Galatas co-created the first ongoing national TV series dedicated to
grassroots activism in the U.S. Indymedia Newsreel is currently screened
monthly in over 30 cities across the US, Canada, England and Australia,
streamed on the internet, and broadcast via satellite television and on
community cable stations. Following the September 11th attacks, Galatas
created Free Speech TV's first original prime time series, World In Crisi=
s.

Prudence Browne
Prudence Browne is the Coordinator of Drop-In programs at the Broadway
Armory in Uptown. Prudence was born and raised in Port of Spain, Trinidad
and Washington Heights NYC. For the last nine years, Prudence has been
working with young people to build and implement curriculum that infuses =
the
art-making process with agencies for social
change.Http://www.street-level.org

Moderator: Ed Marszewski ( http://www.lumpen.com )

[ SATURDAY 3 pm]  - Creative Technology as Weaponry Copresented with Noma=
ds
& Homesteaders of The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, this panel
examines how we transmit our knowledge of media and the position of the n=
ew
media artist/curator in culture and society, with Critical Art Ensemble,
Beth Coleman, Katie Salen, Jackie Soohen, and Art Jones.

[ SATURDAY 6 pm ] - We Interrupt this Broadcast - Short films by Doug
Lussenhop, GNN, Cell Media, Dave Foss, and others. Curated by PAL.

[ SATURDAY 8 pm ]- Tortoise members John McEntire, John Herndon and Casey
Rice with cgc (a.k.a. Chris Clepper), Jordan Benwick (Vancouver), and Rdi=
e
(Shea Ako + TJ Cathey) in a show of installations and improvisations.

[ SATURDAY 10:30 pm ]- Digital Diversions: International Experimental Vid=
eo
Co-presented by Chicago Filmmakers and Columbia College Chicago

[ SATURDAY 12 am] - Interventions in the Public Sphere Indymedia Newsreal
presents a series of works that use digital technology to critique societ=
y
or advance social change.

VERSION LAB::  WORKSHOPS, PERFORMANCES & VIDEOS
Thursday - Saturday, April 18, 19, 20
Version Lab (Kanter Educational Center - next to lower level lobby)
Participants can experience additional components of the Version>02 festi=
val
at the Version Lab, located in the MCA=B9s Kanter Meeting Center adjacent=
 to
the theater. The Version Lab is an ongoing digital arts playground for
motion graphic designers, animators, video/sound artists, and others, wit=
h
workshops, panels, performances, and more!

Thursday, April 18 - Kanter Educational Center
12 pm: Feature Film: Culture Jam
1 pm: Feature Film: Moviside Shortfilms
2:30pm: Panel: E-Literature
4 pm: Performance: An Interactive Live Reading of the Unknown
5pm: Panel: Zero TV
7pm =AD1am: Live performances by TV Pow, Metalux, Bruner and Bay, Quantaz=
elle,
Craque, Salvo Beta

Friday, April 19 - Kanter Educational Center
12 pm: Feature Film: This is What Democracy Looks Like
1:30 pm: Feature Film: An Evergreen Island
4:30 pm: Workshop: Tactical Gizmology.
7 pm: Feature Film: The Ad and The Ego
8 pm- 1 am: Live performances by PowerPoint: Introduction to Change
Management, spectronix & selina , AnjB3, and the People's Republic of
Delicious Foods & Merkaba

Saturday, April 20 - Kanter Educational Center
12 pm: Workshop: Tactical Gizmology
3:30 pm: Workshop: Institute for Applied Autonomy
5 pm: Panel: Developing a Tactical Language: Relevant Approaches to
Aesthetics and Everyday Life
7 pm: Anonymous Federated
8 pm: Fluxcore
9 pm-1 am: Live performances by Teleseen, April Noise, Art Jones,
Pal:ndrome, L=B9Altra, Pulseprogramming, and Nudge

[ THURSDAY April 18 ]

[THURSDAY 12 pm ] Culture Jam
A feature film on those who profess to be culture jammers

[THURSDAY 1 pm ] Moviside Shortfilms
Rusty Nails - Grethel & Hansel (12 mins.)
Claire Rojas - The Manipulators (2 mins.)
Steven Delisi - Minutia Park (3 mins.)
Robert Arnold - Morphology of Desire (5 mins.)
Jem Cohen - Little Flags (6 mins.)
Brett Foxwell - Buy American (6 mins.)
Doug Lussenhopp - Perfect Burger (5 mins.)
Kirsten Stoltmann - Christina Ricci (2 mins.)
Guy Madden - Heart of the World (5 mins.)
Tom Palazzolo - Venus & Adonis (15 mins.)
[ 2:30pm ] E-Literature
Panel hosted by Scott Rettberg [4 pm ] An Interactive Live Reading of the
Unknown
A Hypertext Novel

[THURSDAY 5pm ] Zero TV
A discussion plus question & answer period on filmmaking and distribution=
,
with a focus on showing the works of the Zero TV collective: Raymond Chi,
Bobby Ciraldo, Eric Lezotte and Tyson Reeder.

[THURSDAY 7 pm ] TV Pow

[THURSDAY 8pm ] Metalux

[THURSDAY 10pm ] Bruner and Bay

[THURSDAY 11pm ] Quantazelle
( http://www.wombatcombat.com/quantazelle )

[THURSDAY midnite ] Craque
( http://www.craque.net )

[THURSDAY 1am ] Salvo Beta
( http://www.salvobeta.com )

[ FRIDAY April 18 ]

[FRIDAY 12 pm ] This is What Democracy Looks Like
Feature by Big Noise Films

[FRIDAY 1:30 pm ] An Evergreen Island
Feature Film (50 minutes)

[FRIDAY 4:30pm - 7pm ] Tactical Gizmology: A workshop by Critical Art
Ensemble and Beatriz da Costa
Attention Lo-Teks, Gizmologists, and Tech Recyclers: Tactical gizmology i=
s
coming to Chicago. If you have been wondering how to use basement and
hobbyist technologies for interventionist projects, this workshop is for
you. It's an opportunity to introduce a device you have made to your fell=
ow
tactical mediaists who are looking for more tools to use, and to pickup s=
ome
suggestions, kits, and designs for your own use. Even if you have never
worked with technology before, you will be able to jump right in (after a=
ll,
that's the whole point). After the lo-tek arsenal is assembled, deploymen=
t
will follow. The content and location for the action(s) will be decided a=
t
the workshop. Wear your radical politics on your sleeve, and join us for =
a
collective gizgasm.

*** The members of Critical Art Ensemble and Beatriz da Costa are sponsor=
ed
by The School of the Art Institute's Department of Film, Video, and New
Media with additional support from the Department of Arts Administration,
Student Government, and Visiting Artists Program. Program support is
provided by the interdisciplinary area of Exhibition Studies at The Schoo=
l
of the Art Institute.

[FRIDAY 7pm ] The Ad and The Ego
Feature Film by Harold Boihem. Soundtrack and sound design by Negativland.
The Ad and the Ego is the first comprehensive documentary on the cultural
impact of advertising in America. It should be required viewing for every
consumer - which means all of us." - Neil Postman, New York University ,
author, Amusing Ourselves to Death. This excellent, funny and very
thoughtful film has an original soundtrack and sound design by Negativlan=
d.

[FRIDAY 8pm ] PowerPoint: Introduction to Change Management
Presented by Custom Sound, Penny Productions, T952637#2355, running on Je=
ff
Weeter Systems Excellerator. The only constant is change and mastering th=
at
constant is the key to attaining goals, not just the company's, but your
own, as well. PowerPoint shows you a concrete method of analysis and
application, thus, enabling you to succeed!

[FRIDAY 9pm ] spectronix & selina

[FRIDAY 10pm ] AnjB3 (with visuals by Doug Lussenhop)

[FRIDAY 11pm ] Telepoetry: Kurt Heintz and the E-Poets network

[FRIDAY 1am ] Merkaba and The People's Republic of Delicious Foods
( http://www.prdf.com )

[ SATURDAY April 20 ]

[SATURDAY 12pm ] Tactical Gizmology: A workshop by Critical Art Ensemble =
and
Beatriz da Costa pt 2

[SATURDAY 3:30 pm ] Institute for Applied Autonomy workshop
The Institute For Applied Autonomy gives a clinic on Infrared communiques.

[SATURDAY 5pm ] Developing a Tactical Language: Relevant approaches to
Aesthetics and Everyday Life
Under the rubric of tactical media, public interventions and site
specificity, various practices have developed that appear to operate outs=
ide
the typical art discourse. In fact, though their methods are obviously
inspired by artistic practice, their trajectory leaps towards other field=
s
all together. Their practice appears to be born out of a re-evaluation of
the valuable tactics of groups like Gran Fury, Group Material, Guerrilla
Girls, Paper Tiger Television, Act Up and radical politics in general . I=
n
leaving the "nest" of the art world, a new set of criteria are being
established to gauge, think about and build upon this type of work. This
language tends to distance itself from the idea of the individual "genius=
,
is concerned with issues of effectiveness and play, and attempts to dista=
nce
itself from the hermetic and generally considered, shallow, discussions o=
f
contemporary art.

In trying to get away from the static panel, a dialogue will be conducted
with practitioners in this field. This panel exists in the face of late
capital shifting towards the right, and as such, the stakes are high.
Reflecting the working methodologies of the groups represented, a field o=
f
praxis will be enacted where practical applications of theoretical models
will be put in place. Participants will discuss the language they use to
assess their projects, models for organization they find helpful and
potentials for developing an international tactical network.

Participants:

Valerie Tevere
Tevere's work is driven by discursive practices and constructions of
representation, site and the public sphere. A current work, "com_muni_por=
t",
part of a continuing collaboration with Angel Nevarez, is a portable radi=
o
broadcast unit created for low frequency pedestrian broadcasting. Tevere =
has
developed public projects in Mexico, the US, Europe, and Chile. She is
Assistant Professor of Communications at the College of Staten Island/CUN=
Y.

Steve Kurtz of Critical Art Ensemble
Steve Kurtz is a member of the artist group Critical Art Ensemble and
Assistant Professor of Art at the Carnegie Mellon University. Critical Ar=
t
Ensemble (CAE) is a collective of five new genre artists of various
specializations including computer art, film/video, photography, text art=
,
book art, and performance. Formed in 1987, CAE's focus has been on the
exploration of the intersections between art, critical theory, technology=
,
and political activism. The collective has performed and produced project=
s
for an international audience, and has written three books. Critical Art
Ensemble's new book Digital Resistance: Explorations in Tactical Media wa=
s
recently published by Autonomedia and has tremendous relevance to the iss=
ues
being discussed here (as well as all their books).

Nathan Martin of Hactivist
Hactivist is a collective of media artists, technologists, activists and
critical theorists working to explore the intersection between radical
theory, traditional activism, and technology subversion through the creat=
ion
of tactical media projects utilizing communication system technologies
primarily. As an organization, they have completed several larger scale
tactical media works including: Nintendo GameBoy reverse-engineering;
cellphone disruption; pager broadcasting; construction of their own cell
network; an interactive wireless mapping; and several experimental
interfaces. While their concentration may appear to be technology based, =
the
groups goal is to create environments and tools that promote the growth o=
f
personal autonomy by whatever means.

SubRosa
subRosa's name honors feminist pioneers in art, activism, labor, politics=
,
and science: Rosa Bonheur, Rosa Luxemburg, Rosie the Riveter, Rosa Parks,
Rosie Franklin. subRosa is a reproducible cyberfeminist cell of cultural
researchers committed to combining art, activism, and politics to explore
and critique the intersections of the new information and biotechnologies=
 in
women's bodies, lives, and work. subRosa practices a situational embodied
feminist politics nourished by conviviality, self-determination, and the
desire for affirmative alliances and coalitions. Initially, subRosa has
focused on Assisted Reproductive Technologies (or A.R.T.) because they
provide such a telling illustration of biotechnologies' gendered effects =
on
bodies. Their work questions and challenges the way in which market force=
s
drive the research, development and deployment of biotech's products and
'services.'

Trevor Paglen: Chicago artist and Experimental Geographer
Trevor Paglen's practice involves updating the classic Situationist tacti=
cs
of detournement for the information age. Capitalizing on the potential fo=
r
perceptual confusion provided by electronic media and information systems=
,
Paglen has developed media projects for city streets, internet porn users=
,
and other niche audiences.

Chicago Indy Media
Indymedia is a collective of independent media organizations and hundreds=
 of
journalists offering grassroots, non-corporate coverage. Indymedia is a
democratic media outlet for the creation of radical, accurate, and
passionate tellings of truth. Springing out of the now famous Seattle
uprising against the WTO in 1999, IndyMedia has since become the example =
of
global rhizomatic forms of alternative journalism, media, and discourse. =
The
Chicago based collective is in its second year of existence and has alrea=
dy
proven itself as a valuable tactical tool for social justice.

Moderator: Nato Thompson
Assistant Curator at MASS MoCA
Nato Thompson organizes radical spaces of becoming and writes on relevant
issues in contemporary art. Despite his recent move to North Adams,
Massachusetts, he continues to plot with his cohorts in the Department of
Space and Land Reclamation. He is currently Assistant Curator at MASS MoC=
A.

[SATURDAY 7 pm ] Anonymous Federated
( http://www.anonfed.com )

[SATURDAY 8 pm ] Fluxcore presentation
( http://www.fluxcore.org )

[SATURDAY 9:00pm ] Dekam

[SATURDAY 10:00pm ] Pal:ndrom http://www.outwardmusic.com/palndrom

[SATURDAY 10:50-11:30pm ] L'Altra www.outwardmusic.com/nudge

[SATURDAY 11:40pm-12:30am ] Nudge www.aesthetics-usa.com/bio/Laltrabio.ht=
ml
with NANODUST http://eculture.homeip.net/now.html

[SATURDAY 12:40-1:30am ] Pulseprogramming
www.aesthetics-usa.com/bio/Pulseprogrammingbio.html

AFTER VERSION STREET VERSION

STREET VERSION: Offsite event, afterhours and related events

[Thursday, April 18]
10:30pm: Another Astronaut, Graphic Havoc, (Syndicate Gallery)

[Friday, April 19]
9 pm: Magas, 8-Bit Construction Set (Empty Bottle)

Following the Beige records and MAGAS extravaganza at the Empty Bottle,
Nomads and Homesteaders will present an after hours performance featuring=
 M.
Singe and Verb of Soundlab, A Very Sensitive Device, Art Jones, and
Teleseen. Location TBA, 12AM-4AM . Friday, April 19. More info is at
http://www.a-very-sensitive-device.org.

[ Saturday, April 20 ]

[ Saturday, April 20 midnight-6am ]
A-Version Party (Square One 1561 N Milwaukee Ave )
After the action at the MCA or Beige Record'sWorld Cassette Jockey Battle=
,
kick over to Wicker Park and check the A-Version afterparty. It will run
late into the next morning. the schedule is below:

Midnght-1am Marlon Montez - Bleeps and Bloops
1-1:30am 5 Five Minute Films
1:30-2:15am Attack People
2:15-2:45am 2 10 minute films
2:45-3:30am John Gannon
3:30-4:30am Voight-Kampff
4:30-5:00am One 20 Film
5:00-6:00am John Gannon

[ Saturday, April 20 10pm ]
 2002 BEIGE World Cassette-Tape Jockey Championship (
http://www.beigerecords.com ) (Camp Gay, 2001 North Point Ave at
Armitage)World Championship Cassette DJ battle
off-site

About the CJ battle:
1962, The Netherlands: The Philips Company releases the first compact
audio-cassette tape. Made of a plastic shell approximately two inches by
three inches, it is less expensive than the company's reel-to-reel
recorders, but is poorly suited for business dictation. The cassette is
aimed at a new market: ordinary people who want to make recordings
inexpensively and are willing to sacrifice sound quality. The Philips
cassette tape is introduced to the U.S. in 1964 and is an instant hit wit=
h
teens.

1968, London, UK: Under the engineering of American audio pioneer Henry
Kloss, Dolby introduces the KLH Model 40: the first consumer-friendly
open-reel tape recorder to incorporate B-type noise reduction. Cursed wit=
h
the cumbersome open-reel format which never enjoyed wide consumer
acceptance, Dolby and his staff undertake an investigation of the
then-available cartridge tape formats and conclude that the Philips compa=
ct
cassette, which enclosed two reels within a cartridge small enough to fit
into a shirt pocket, has the greatest potential for longevity with
consumers. Believing in the potential of the Philips-type compact cassett=
e
combined with Dolby B-type noise reduction, Dolby Laboratories sets out t=
o
license Dolby B to tape recorder manufacturers worldwide.
2002, Chicago, IL: Everything changes.

The 2002 BEIGE World Cassette Jockey Championship is the biggest, most
influential, and only audio cassette-based music competition on Earth. It=
 is
the finale event of Chicago's Version>02 Festival and is open to any CJ
[cassette jockey] who registers. Prizes include a championship trophy, it=
ems
donated by event sponsors, and the knowledge of being, if you win, the be=
st
cassette jockey on the planet. The event is based heavily on the
Technics/DMC DJ Championship, with timed sets, elimination rounds, and a
judges panel. Competition is open to Cassette Tape Jockeys only. All
competitors will be judged on the following criteria: technical skills an=
d
tricks (techniques, speed, tape modifications, etc.), transitions
(consistency, smoothness), form (overall musical structure), entertainmen=
t
value (stage presence, ability to "work the crowd," etc.), and originalit=
y
(creativity, selection, etc.).
( http://www.post-data.org/cassette )
The 2002 BEIGE World Cassette-Tape Jockey Championship in association wit=
h
the Version>2 Festival

[Sunday, April 21]
A tour of Chicago's leading edge galleries and alternative spaces on Sund=
ay
afternoon. The public may also visit the spaces on their own time to view
current ideas from featured artists.

Participating spaces include:
Deadtech ( http://www.deadtech.com )
Julia Friedman ( http://www.juliafriedman.com )
Monique Meloche ( http://www.moniquemeloche.com )
Heaven Gallery
Street Level http://www.street-level.org/
Square One (saturday nite afterhours party)
Seven Three Split ( http://www.seventhreesplit.org )
Q Studios

[Sunday April 21]  Fireside Bowl: TV Sheriff, Animal Charm, OVT 9pm the
closing concert and party hosted by MP productions.