[spectre] Wireless Cultures - final announcement and programme

[honor]

Hi all,

Just wanted to remind you all about a half-day seminar we are staging at=20
Tate Modern tomorrow called Wireless Cultures.
The event features input from radio artist and pioneer Tetsuo Kogawa,=20
(Japan), cultural theorist Micz Flor (Germany) artist and filmmaker Pete=20
Gomes (UK), and Simon Worthington of Mute Magazine (UK).

If you're in London, do come along - otherwise tune into the webcast:=20
http://www.tate.org.uk/audiovideo/live.htm

Greetings

Honor Harger



ANNOUNCEMENT


WIRELESS CULTURES

A seminar / mini-conference at Tate Modern, London, UK


TIMES AND DATES
Saturday 1 February, 14:00 - 18:30 GMT


LOCATION
Starr Auditorium, Level 2 Tate Modern Bankside, London, UK


TICKETS
Tickets UK=A310 (UK=A35 concessions)
Call: +44 020 7887 8888


WEBCAST
Wireless Cultures is being filmed and presented live on the Tate website,=20
as part of Tate's Webcasting Programme. To find out more, visit:=20
http://www.tate.org.uk/audiovideo/live.htm


ABOUT THE EVENT

This half-day seminar explores the use of wireless communication in=20
artistic and social contexts, through presentations and comments by:

- Tetsuo Kogawa - radio pioneer [Japan]
- Micz Flor - cultural theorist [Germany]
- Pete Gomes - artist / filmmaker [UK]
- Simon Worthington - Mute magazine [UK]
- Sean Dodson  Guardian journalist, [UK]
- Nancy Proctor  Antenna Audio [UK].

Wireless Cultures aims to create a historical context for examining=20
community artist-run wireless internet networks.  It will draw out=20
connections between the kinds of social networks which are emerging around=
=20
wireless internet activities, and social networks which have historically=20
developed around free radio and micro-radio.

Three key activities have informed the development of this event:

-	Tetsuo Kogawa's work with the Mini-FM movement in Tokyo in the 1980s=20
<http://anarchy.k2.tku.ac.jp/radio/micro/index.html>
-	The growth of wireless internet networks in London, stimulated by the=20
work of Consume <http://consume.net>, Free2Air <http://www.free2air.org>,=20
East-end-net <http://www.free2air.org/section/eastendnet> and other groups
-	Tate Modern=92s Multimedia Tour=20
<http://www.tate.org.uk/home/news/multimediamoderntour.htm> which used a=20
location sensitive wireless network and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)=
=20
to deliver educational content within the galleries

These very different projects provide distinct ways of thinking about how=20
wireless technology using the radio band, can be utilised by creative=20
practitioners to create new forms of interaction and communication.

CONTEXT

Artists have experimented with wireless forms of communication for most of=
=20
the past century.  Since the invention of radio by Nikola Tesla and=20
Guglielmo Marconi, artists have utilised the radio spectrum as a medium for=
=20
creative intervention and experimentation.

In his 1932 essay, The Radio as an Apparatus of Communication, Bertolt=20
Brecht wrote about the radical potential of radio to become a system of=20
open communication, a method to "let the listener speak as well as hear".=20
The free radio movement and cultural experiments with Mini-FM and pirate=20
radio attempted to explore the potential of radio as a communicative medium.

In the 1980s a number of small radio stations in Tokyo used very=20
low-powered FM transmitters to broadcast to FM listeners over a small=20
geographical area.  To expand the broadcast area, some stations set up=20
receiver / transmitter relays.  A transmitter would broadcast a few hundred=
=20
metres in any direction.  It's signal would be received by an FM receiver,=
=20
and then rebroadcast for an additional few hundred metres via another FM=20
transmitter.  And so on.  This nodal / molecular way of broadcasting=20
enables a relatively large area to be covered using a 'daisy-chained' relay=
=20
of small transmitter/receiver modules.  In this way community radio could=20
be created by small groups of artists, musicians, DJs and activists, who=20
used these transmitter-receiver modules to create operational radio=20
stations.  The upsurge of this form of radio is often referred to as the=20
Mini-FM movement.
Despite these and other important cultural experiments, regulations and=20
licensing laws associated with the radio spectrum have ensured that the=20
means to transmit radio has remained by and large in the hands of the few.

Recently a new form of wireless communication utilising the radio spectrum,=
=20
has emerged as a possible example of the many-to-many media that Brecht,=20
John Cage and others imagined in the 1930s.  Wireless internet=20
connectivity, using the radio band, has catalysed the emergence of mobile=20
social networks in cities all over Europe and the United States.  Driven by=
=20
a Brechtian ideal to 'mobilise the user and redraft him/her as a producer',=
=20
small grass roots groups are attempting to sever artists' reliance on large=
=20
centrally provided telecommunications structures, and create a new form of=
=20
communicative mobility.

Wireless internet networks are starting to rapidly blossom in locations all=
=20
over London, informed by the work of groups such as Consume and=20
East-end-net. These groups act as hubs for research and data-sharing=20
regarding methods to distribute wireless connectivity for cultural and=20
not-for-profit use.  The focus of these groups is on =01=91localising=92 the=
=20
global medium of the internet, connecting neighbourhoods together in local=
=20
area networks, using hundreds of radio antenna and wireless hubs. Many of=20
the resulting neighbourhood networks operate using similair principals to=20
the mini FM networks of the 1980s.  Wireless internet technology uses the=20
radio band to send data signals between transmitting units (a wireless=20
router/antenna) and receiving units (computers equipped with 802.11b=20
cards).  Networks are created in small community areas by utilising=20
clusters of interconnecting 'nodes', which often have a dual=20
transmitter/receiver role.

The formal similarity between the kind of free radio practiced by certain=20
Mini-FM stations during the 1980s, and more contemporary social urban=20
wireless networks, presages further resonances between the two=20
systems.  Wireless Cultures will aim to draw out these connections.

PROGRAMME


14:00 - 14:05=09
Welcome and introduction
Honor Harger, Tate Modern
=09
14:05 - 14:30=09
Radio vs Wireless
Micz Flor will present a brief sketch of the history of radio and radio=20
art, exploring selected creative and subversive interventions. Starting=20
just a few years before radio was invented, he will lead through some of=20
the main objectives of radio practice today, to arrive at the entrance of=20
the afternoon session: wireless technology.
=09
14:30 - 15:10=09
The Phenomenology of Wireless Technologies
Tetsuo Kogawa will undertake a performance-lecture in which he will=20
construct a series of Mini FM transmitters on stage and perform with them=20
using them as 'radio theramins'.  He will also consider the historical=20
context of the Mini-FM movement in Japan.
=09
15:10 - 16:00=09
Panel discussion, with audience intervention
Tetsuo Kogawa and Sean Dodson.  Chair: Micz Flor
=09
16:00 - 16:30=09
Break
Tea and coffee
=09
16:30 - 17:00=09
FreeNetworks East
Simon Worthington will give a presentation about building community=20
wireless networks in the East End of London
=09
17:00 - 17:30=09
Wireless Intermedia and the birth of Terraportals
Pete Gomes will give a presentation which explores his past work with=20
wireless systems and discuss future explorations of invisible architectures.
=09
17:30 - 17:50=09
Sensing Location: Wireless in the Gallery
Nancy Proctor will give an introduction to the location-sensitive wireless=
=20
technology used to create Tate Modern=92s multimedia gallery tour
=09
17:50 - 18:30=09
Panel discussion, with audience intervention
Simon Worthington, Pete Gomes, and Nancy Proctor. Chair: Micz Flor


ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS

Tetsuo Kogawa [Japan]
Tetsuo Kogawa is a radio practitioner, teacher and artist.  He introduced=20
free radio to Japan through his work with the Mini-FM movement in Tokyo in=
=20
the 1980s. He will refer to this work in his performance-lecture at=20
Wireless Cultures.  Kogawa is widely known for his blend of criticism,=20
performance and activism. He has written over 30 books on media culture,=20
film, the city and urban space, and micro politics. Most recently he has=20
combined the experimental and pirate aesthetics of the Mini-FM movement=20
with internet streamed media.  He  studyied philosophy at Sophia and Waseda=
=20
Universities, and taught at Wako University for 17 years.  He is currently=
=20
Professor of Communication Studies at Tokyo Keizai University's Department=
=20
of Communications.
Website: http://anarchy.k2.tku.ac.jp

Micz Flor [Germany]
Micz Flor is a cultural producer and media developer based in Berlin.  He=20
produces the political online magazine fluter for the Bundeszentrale f=FCr=
=20
politische Bildung, and also works as a developer and training consultant=20
at the Center for Advanced Media in Prague, where he initialised Campware,=
=20
a software system for online publishing. Flor has an active interest in how=
=20
radio can be used to network communities, and has produced two=20
documentaries on this topic: Scattered Frequencies : Radio Networking in=20
Nepal [2002] and Reaching Everyone [2001] about an independent radio=20
network in Indonesia. Flor has worked on cultural events and symposia all=20
around Europe, including the Hybrid WorkSpace, a collaboration between=20
documenta x and the Berlin Biennial, in Kassel in 1997 and the sound and=20
radio exhibition One Bit Louder in Video Positive 2000 in Liverpool.
Website: http://mi.cz/

Sean Dodson [UK]
Sean Dodson is a journalist for The Guardian.  He has written about radio,=
=20
and now writes about digital culture and the internet.  He was one of the=20
first journalists to cover wireless technology in the UK, and his article,=
=20
Surfing as free as a cloud profiled new cultural groups working with=20
wireless internet networks in the East End of London.  He also teaches=20
journalism at the University of Greenwich in London, and is writing a book=
=20
about virtual worlds.

Simon Worthington [UK]
Simon Worthington is the co-editor and founder of Mute magazine and=20
Metamute.com. He has been active in promoting the use of DIY wireless=20
technologies in the East End of London. He instigated the You Are Here=20
wireless porject for Mute, and contributes to the East-end-net network. He=
=20
has organised many events and practical workshops on the technology=20
required for establishing wireless networks.
He completed his BA Fine Art [Hons] Painting degree at the Slade School of=
=20
Art [University College London] in 1992, where he ran an open contributions=
=20
magazine called Mute. In 1991, his interest in the creative applications of=
=20
technology led him to attend CalArts in Los Angeles, where he decided to=20
relaunch Mute as a critical quarterly.  Mute have staged two events=20
exploring the critical context of technology at Tate Modern.
Website: http://www.metamute.com | http://youarehere.metamute.com

Pete Gomes [UK]
Pete Gomes is a film maker and artist who works across all forms of=20
celluloid, digital media and the internet, ranging from drama to expanded=20
cinema. His work has been screened extensively in the UK and at=20
International film and media festivals.   His recent projects at the=20
Architectural Association in London have explored how wireless intermedia=20
shapes and effects urban space. This work included a wireless performance=20
called Work, Place., and early wireless signal mapping on pavements, which=
=20
came to be known as 'warchalking'.  He held a New Technologies Research=20
Post at the ICA in London in 1996-98.  In 2002 he collaborated with Michael=
=20
Nyman, who scored music for his film Mapping,  shown at Gimpel Fils.  He=20
has a forthcoming screening of films as of part Mies Van Der Rohe=20
exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, and his two recent collaborations=20
with Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, which will tour the UK in March,=20
having premiered at Dance Umbrella in 2002.  He is writing and directing=20
his first feature length film 4ps, a non linear narrative film, exploring=20
psychological archetypes, which is conceived to be delivered across=20
multiple platforms.
His presentation at Wireless Cultures is dedicated to Miles Treers,=20
musician, artist, coder, and inhabitant of backspace (1964-2002)
Website: http://www.mutantfilm.com

Nancy Proctor [UK]
Nancy Proctor is the new product development manager at Antenna Audio. Her=
=20
work is focused on wireless interactive guide systems, technologies to=20
provide disabled access, and audio-visual solutions for the web. In 2002=20
she worked with Tate on the development of the Tate Multimedia Tour - a=20
pilot project which used a location sensitive wireless network and Personal=
=20
Digital Assistants (PDAs) to deliver an in-gallery guided tour of Tate=20
Modern's Still Life/Object/Real Life gallery displays. The project won the=
=20
award for Technical Innovation at the 2002 BAFTA Interactive Entertainment=
=20
Awards.  Proctor's background is in designing digital publishing solutions=
=20
for the arts. She was the founder and director of New Art online gallery=20
and TheGalleryChannel.com. She has also worked as a curator and critic, and=
=20
holds an MA and PhD in art history from Leeds University.
Website: http://www.antennaaudio.com


TECHNICAL TERMS

Wireless: The term wireless refers to telecommunication in which=20
electromagnetic waves (rather than some form of wire) carry the signal over=
=20
part or all of the communication path. The first wireless transmitters went=
=20
on the air in the early 20th century using radiotelegraphy (Morse code).=20
Later, as modulation made it possible to transmit voices and music via=20
wireless, the medium came to be called "radio." With the advent of=20
television, fax, data communication, and the effective use of a larger=20
portion of the spectrum, the term "wireless" has been resurrected.

Rf (Radio Frequency): Any frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum=20
associated with radio wave propagation. When an RF current is supplied to=20
an antenna, an electromagnetic field is created that then is able to=20
propagate through space. Many wireless technologies are based on RF field=20
propagation. These frequencies make up part of the electromagnetic=20
radiation spectrum: Ultra-low frequency (ULF) 0 - 3 Hz; Extremely low=20
frequency (ELF) 3Hz - 3kHz; Very low frequency (VLF) 3kHz - 30kHz; Low=20
frequency (LF) 30kHz - 300kHz; Medium frequency (MF) 300kHz - 3MHz; High=20
frequency (HF) 3MHz - 30MHz; Very high frequency (VHF) 30MHz - 300MHz;=20
Ultra-high frequency (UHF) 300MHz - 3GHz; Super high frequency (SHF) 3GHz -=
=20
30GHz; Extremely high frequency (EHF) 30GHz - 300GHz.

802.11: refers to a family of specifications developed by the IEEE=20
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) for wireless=20
technology. 802.11 specifies an over-the-air interface between a wireless=20
client and a base station or between two wireless clients. 802.11b provides=
=20
11 Mbps transmission.  It allows for wireless functionality comparable to=20
Ethernet.

Wi-Fi is short for wireless fidelity and is another name for 802.11b.

Footprint: generally used to describe the operating area of a wireless=
 system.

GPS (Global Positioning System): A network of satellites that allows=20
low-powered, mobile receivers to calculate position with great accuracy. If=
=20
fleets want to track vehicles with GPS, they need a complementary two-way=20
wireless service to send that location data to a dispatch system.

PDA (Personal Digital Assistant): Any portable computing device that=20
provides data storage for applications such as address books, data bases,=20
and scheduling. When equipped with a wireless modem, PDAs can also be used=
=20
for paging, messaging, electronic mail, and other mobile information=20
communications.


MORE INFORMATION

For more on this event, see: http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/eventseducation/
or contact:
Honor Harger, Webcasting Curator, Interpretation & Education, Tate Modern
Email: honor.harger@tate.org.uk
PH: (44) 020 7401 5066


For more information about Tate or getting tickets for the event: Tate Box=
=20
Office
Email: tate.ticketing@tate.org.uk
PH: (44) 020 7887 8888
URL: http://www.tate.org.uk