[spectre] DEAF03_OPEN TERRITORIES PROGRAM

[stephen kovats]

V2_/DEAF03: Subject: Open Territories

(this e-mail is in English only, as all presentations and events will be in
English. Please excuse cross postings!)

DEAF is an interdisciplinary biennale in the field of art, technology and
society. The festival presents, and reflects on the current state of affair=
s
in electronic art and serves as a forum for critical debates that explores
and develops relationships between art disciplines and science. DEAF
features  interactive installations, Internet projects, websites, cd-roms
and live  performances, seminars, workshops and an academic symposiu. In it=
s
past  editions DEAF has earned itself an international reputation.
DEAF03 will offer many activities, that are linked together by its theme
Data  Knitting. The festival focuses on the use of information as a field o=
f
research and activity for artists, designers and scientists. DEAF03 explore=
s
these issues from a social and cultural perspective and in doing so goes to
the heart of our information and knowledge based society. It specifically
explores the ways in which information is gathered, ordered and made
accessible through databases and archives.

Open Territories Program: Workspaces and Forum

Tuesday 25 February until Saturday 01 March 2003
Location: ARENA @ Pakhuis Las Palmas (first floor), Wilhelminakade 66-68
(Kop van Zuid), Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Admission: Tickets to presentations 7,--  Discount (student, cjp,
RotterdamPas, 65+) =E2=82=AC 5,-
(Open Workspace times free)


The Open Territories at the Dutch Electronic Arts Festival - DEAF03,
organized by V2_,Institute for the Unstable Media, Rotterdam, 25 February -
9 March 2003

More information can be found on the festival website http://deaf.v2.nl

Tickets and reservation: On line via http://deaf.v2.nl (Direct Payment
procedure only) or by phone (from 21 February on) +31 (0)10 750 15 15

For educational programs and/or guided tours during DEAF03 please contact
Valentijn Webbers, valentijn@v2.nl or +31 (0)10 750 15 18

OPEN TERRITORIES PROGRAM
*****************************************
Tuesday 25 February 19:00 - 20:00: Opening =E2=80=98Open Territories Workspaces=E2=80=
=99

Wednesday 26 February, 11:00 - 13:00
Open Workspace Introductions: Kingdom of Piracy - /LOG/ (GB/USA/J),
Rhizome.org (USA), Subtract the Sky (USA)

Wednesday 26 February: 14:00 - 16:00:
Project Presentations - PART 1: H.I.D.E. Human Database Emulation (Vienna,
A), The Privacy Card (Bielefeld, D), BuBL Space (Amsterdam, NL), Code Zebra
(Banff, CDN)

Wednesday 26 February, 16:00 - 18:00: Open Territories Workspaces continue

Thursday 27 February: 18:00 - 20:00: Open Territories Workspaces continue

Friday 28 February: 11:00 - 13:00
Project Presentations - PART 2, ETAWARE (Z=C3=BCrich, CH), Ars Memoria System
(Amsterdam, NL), Radiotopia (Graz, A)

Friday 28 February, 14:00 - 19:00: Open Territories Workspaces continue

Saturday 1 March: 11:00 - 14:00: Open Territories Workspaces continue

Saturday 1 March: 14:00 - 17:00:
Open Territories Workspaces Presentations: KOP/LOG/output, Substract the
Sky: Emergent Cartography, rhizome.org: Live EuropaNode Webconference w/ IR=
C
chat (irc.v2.nl)

*********************************************

GENERAL INFORMATION ON OPEN TERRITORIES @ DEAF03_ARENA

OPEN TERRITORIES @ DEAF03_ARENA offer a diverse public forum of debate and
investigation through the presentation of individual art works alongside a
series of three user interactive workspace projects engaged in public domai=
n
and data based interventions. Each project carries its own agenda and visio=
n
concerning the freedom of movement within data environments in relation to
DEAF03's Data Knitting theme and engage the visitor to explore the ever
expanding networked, wireless and cartographic data-realms tracking and
forming our communications space. In the sense that an open territory
implies the navigation and manipulation of a space devoid of the constraint=
s
of ordered data structures, the projects and presentations question the
commonly perceived notions of data collection, secure identities and
communications tracing.

The ARENA, DEAF03's presentation and event space, provides a freeform
environment for examining and discussing the festival's issues and projects=
.
Conceived and assembled by award winning Rotterdam design interventionists
Atelier van Lieshout, the ARENA, as a public forum, will be hosting the Ope=
n
Territories presentations and workspaces, as well as the Media Academy Day
and the 'Evenings of' presentations. AVL's goal of creating autonomous
spaces where a multiplicity of actions may emerge reflects the Arena's
function as DEAF's conceptually Open Territory. Seven artworks and media
projects will be given the Arena stage for the Open Territories
presentations while three specially selected international projects will
stake out individual Arena Territories as workspaces open to public
participation and interaction during the entire program.

Enter the Arena, explore the Open Territories, leave your Trace ...

Most events will be streamed live, and some, including the Academy Day and
Open Territories final presentations, will also be open for online
participation on IRCnet at irc.v2.nl. All presentations and events will be
in English. Program coordinated and moderated by Stephen Kovats
<kovats@v2.nl>

For more detailed information on the projects presented during the Open
Territories, please read the information below and/or consult
http://deaf.v2.nl

*******************************************
Open Workspace Projects

The Open Territories Workspaces are comprised of three projects that will
occupy fixed areas within the ARENA. The projects, described below, have
been selected for the manner in which they visualise, utilise or define
archival structures and data realms in ways which engage the public in an
active process of data-based investigation and intervention. The Workspaces
will make introductory and production presentations, and be open daily for
active participation between other ARENA events. (Please refer to schedule
above)

Kingdom of Piracy - /LOG/ (GB/USA/J) http://residence.aec.at/kop/
presented by Shu Lea Cheang (USA), Armin Medosch (GB), Yukiko Shikata (J)
with the participation of Todd Matsumoto and Victoria Donkersloot (Piet
Zwart Institute, Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam)

<KOP> is an online workspace exploring the free sharing of digital content =
-
often condemned as piracy - as the net's ultimate art form. A floating
kingdom adrift in the codified open source open sea, K.O.P. proposes an
installation/performance "LOG" as a "piracy" enactment of the governments'
data stealing initiatives. K.O.P. invites DEAF participants to log into V2_
's server, through which the visitors IPs will be tracked, the resulting
data being retained and mapped and further 'processed ' and 'broadcast'. A
wireless antenna network 'powers' the Open Territories into becoming a
public access network zone, taking the Arena into the public domain. KOP
encourages the public to bring their airport/lan supported laptops into the
public realm to create the Kingdom's traceable paths of data ... which will
be reprocessed and emitted as a series data interventions resonating with
random drop out , graphic transformations, patent infringements, distortion
and likely 'threatening' signals.

The Kingdom of Piracy <KOP> was originally created as an online exhibition
project in Taiwan. 14 art works and 3 writers projects were commissioned to
deal with Intellectual Property issues ranging from bio-piracy, censorship
and control of the internet to demos, games and new interfaces for
file-sharing. <KOP> is now expanding as a floating kingdom with each of its
docking stations, creating LOG for DEAF and BURN and DIVE for the media
lounge at FACT, Liverpool. <KOP> curators and collaborators will discuss th=
e
curatorial framework with regard to past and future projects, engage in
public performances and present the output of the LOG workspace.


Rhizome.org (USA) www.rhizome.org
presented by Mark Tribe (USA), Francis Hwang (USA)

This New York based nonprofit organization picks up on the idea of the
organic rhizome - a root-like stem that extends multi-directionally
underground and connects plants in a living network. Rhizome.org creates
networks and occupies media space by ceaselessly establishing "connections
between semiotic chains, organization of power, and circumstances relative
to the arts, sciences, and social struggles." Appearing at DEAF as a
tentative transatlantic appendage, Rhizome.org seeks to establish a Europea=
n
node of activity to extend its programs and support the creation,
presentation, discussion and preservation of new media art in Europe. As an
Open Territories Wokspace Rhizome.org invites the public to enter their
archival territories - ArtBase, TextBase and the not-yet-public Ephemera
Archive - as well as to discuss the emergence of such a European base of
operation.

The Rhizome.org wrap-up event at DEAF - the establishment of a Europa_node
will take place in the form of a live interactive and streamed event on
Saturday March 01 @ 15.00.


Subtract the Sky (US) www.subtractthesky.org
presented by: Sharon Daniel (USA) and Mark Bartlett (US) with Olga Trusova
(USA) and the participation of Ana Gabriela Jimenez (Piet Zwart Institute,
Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam)


SUBTRACT THE SKY provides individuals and groups with an online environment
for collective and emergent methods of mapping. Mapping is inter-subjective
communication - the visualization or representation of data and information=
.
Subtract the Sky invites participants to become cartographers, enabled with
the tools they need to produce an archive of maps that trace their own
histories and re-map their own social and political worlds. Participants
create this archive by contributing data, creating categories and
associations, and re-interpreting existing data using a multi-user image
editor and a real-time visualization of Subtract the Sky's evolving
database.

SUBTRACT THE SKY by Sharon Daniel and Mark Bartlett, with John Jacobs, Olga
Trusova, Adam Hiatt and Victor Dods. Project development has been supported=
,
in part, by the Daniel Langlois Foundation, the Banff Center for the Arts,
the France-Berkeley Fund and the University of California.

*******************************************
Open Territories Project Presentations Part 1
Wednesday, February 26, ARENA 14.00 - 16.00

H.I.D.E. Human Identity Database Emulation www.automat.at
J=C3=BCrgen Bauer, Stephan M=C3=BCller (AUTOMAT, Vienna, A)

The web-based art project H.I.D.E. addresses the current issue surrounding
the collection and storage of individual biometric characteristics. The
connection of this visual information with relation to the use of
person-based facts and figures within the growing landscape of network
abstracts are creating comprehensive, and increasingly concealed databankin=
g
systems. Via the live recording and compilation of an individual's facial
characteristics within H.I.D.E., the art group AUTOMAT simulates such
biometric signatures, each recorded visitor receiving an individual coding.

The Privacy Card www.foebud.org/texte/aktion/privacy-card
Rena Tangens, padeluun (FoeBuD Germany and German Big Brother Awards)

The Privacy Card action was an elegant hack of the biggest loyalty card in
Germany. The presentation, which highlights this event that brought
knowledge to people and fun back to resistance also includes the artists's
current prototype of a game on data collection and privacy.

BuBL Space www.bubl-space.com
Arthur Elsenaar (NL), Taco Stolk (NL)

Do you need a break from the daily mobile soap? Surround yourself with
soothing space. Simply press your pocket-size BuBL device. Release a bubble
of silence. You'll feel pleasantly isolated inside, even in a crowded place=
.
Evaporate all phone signals up to three meters around. Enjoy the silence.

CodeZebra www.codezebra.net
Sara Diamond (Banff Centre for the Arts, CDN)

CZOS is a web based visual chat that enables conversations between differen=
t
individuals and groups on the Internet. CodeZebra employs animal print
metaphors and biological camouflage - a reference to the technological
jungle in which human survival is increasingly reliant on communication
skills. Its pattern recognition function is a new way to visualize the herd=
s
that naturally converge around any prey or subject CZOS helps user/players
to link ideas, see and create relationships, and consider the emotional
qualities of a discussion. Patterns are meaningful; these show relationship=
s
between postings and measure various stylistic dynamics such as speed, word
length, and subject relatedness, frequency of posting, corrections. The
software provides a series of provocative language toys and games that can
shift the dynamics of a conversation. It can be used in conferences, on-lin=
e
chats, and live performances and as a fashion accessory. Sara Diamond, who
initiated and leads the CodeZebra project will discuss the project, show
video documentation of events and the collaboration that has led to the
current collaboration with V2 and DEAF.

******************************************
Open Territories Project Presentations Part 2
Friday, February 28, ARENA 11.00 - 13.00

ETAWARE http://etaware.ath.cx
Christian Huebler (Knowbotic Research/ HGK Z=C3=BCrich)

ETAWARE is a system for the enacting of timebased archives through:
- Groupware: the free and open modular groupware to edit and process
audiostreams of online-media-archives
- Collaborative software: ETAWARE provides a collaborative software
plattform to access audio streaming archives, and offers different modes fo=
r
the collaborative editing of these materials.
- Modular toolkit: ETAWARE consists of a set of tools/modules to access,
(non destructive) edit, annotate, share, communicate and perform
audiostreams. The toolkit offers online cartographies to collaborate on the
individual processed audiomaterials with other archive editors/users and we=
b
based publication and invitation tools to create project based communities.
- New vocabulary for interaction with archives: ETAWARE connects existing
online- archives with practices of the archive editors/users and creates a
new vocabulary for the open content processing and social knowledge exchang=
e
in online media_archives.

Ars Memoria System http://ImaginaryMuseum.org
Tjebbe van Tijen (Imaginary Museum Projects IMP, Amsterdam)

The Ars Memoria creates a framework of experiences and ideas for an
information system that ties the realm of paper information and museum like
tangible objects to the dematerialized digital world: looking for new ideas
in old things and relating old principles to the latest discoveries. It
works to enhance recall, reuse and reconfigure experiences and ideas by:
- combining objectifying knowledge systems with idiosyncrasies of personal
insights and;
- allowing associative interplay between tactile, textual, pictorial and
auditory information items;
- tracing sources up- or down-stream through a delta of connections or
drifting of arteries;
- easing the repetitive tasks of track keeping thus freeing time and energy
for discoveries and insights through a 'combinatory art' (ars combinatoria)=
.

This is an ever lasting 'work in progress' evolving from paper based filing
and organising techniques to computer based methods and combinations
thereof, over thirty years, for projects in the fields of art, action and
academia.

Radiotopia www.aec.at/radiotopia
Rupert Huber (Austria)

The idea of a landscape, of the layout of a city, played a major role in
conceptualizing the multi-layered, situational and decentralized character
of the radiotopia sound/network project. Behind every sound is an idea, a
world of words and definitions. The one big experience within radiotopia is
the PEACEFULL confrontation of all the world's sounds, audio artists,
concepts, sights and sometimes ideologies. The presentation will make
connections between project inherent concepts, their correlating
sound-language and the disregard toward this material; simply the creation
of sounds and networks for the sake of the audio landscapes it produces. Th=
e
second aspect of the presentation will address the issue of sound in space
and the influence this has on the aforementioned creation of sound material=
.