[spectre] e-culture fair, Amsterdam, Oct 2003

[Andreas Broeckmann]

Press release 1- June


e-culture fair

23 & 24 October  2003

Amsterdam

Research & Development: the latest trends in the world of new media
Companies, universities and research institutes all over the world
are continuously developing new technological applications to add
beauty, value and comfort to our lives. Most of the time we don't
know about such applications until they become products in the market
place. In the field of culture as well research is being done into
new ways of working, communicating, learning and playing. As the
Dutch government recognizes the importance of new media for art and
design, the Netherlands have become a testing field for ground
breaking projects. However, these developments remain mostly
invisible to the general public. This is now about to change: the
e-culture fair is a large-scale international event, showcasing the
state-of-the-art in the field of new media. The projects presented
are not just from one domain, but come from the cultural domain, from
industry, science and education. No less than 45 projects are
presented - each of them exciting combinations of installations,
performances and presentations - illustrating how our world may be
changed, and even improved. In order to really engage the visitors in
this spectacular world, the emphasis will be on hands-on experiences:
all prototypes can be tested by the visitors. The e-culture fair
takes place on 23 and 24 October at De Balie, Melkweg and Paradiso,
in Amsterdam.

What is there to see?
The part we play ourselves when we use new media runs like a thread
through the e-culture fair.
This is expressed in three separate zones:

In the first zone, My-mode, the visitor's own role is very direct.
Starting point for this zone is the wish to bring technology as close
to the body as possible and even to integrate it into the body. This
development makes clothing function like a second skin. In fashion
victims fashion is deployed to denounce social problems. Young
designers from the Interaction Design Institute IVREA (Italy) have
designed a fashion line that indicates "electronic pollution" by
changing colour patterns in the fabric. If you are sitting in a busy
outdoor café and everyone starts using their cell phones all at once,
you will be warned about this electronic pollution by a pattern of
mould that slowly spreads out all over your clothes.

In the second zone, Toys4us, we meet our fellow man. People are
initially often focused on themselves but at the same time they crave
social interaction. So what could be nicer than to be able to make
music together with others simply by looking good? Together with the
Dutch Studio for Electronic Music (STEIM), the Danish-English
designer Kristina Andersen developed the project ensemble, in which
she applies sensors to second-hand clothes from our grandmother's
days. These sensors trigger electronic sounds, in response to your
own movements and those of others. In this way an electronic
composition is produced in collaboration.

The third zone, finally, Mobile Home, deals with how to connect with
people who are not physically present. People who are separated from
their partner by distance, for instance, can forget about this for a
while in RemoteHome. In collaboration with Smart Studio / Interactive
Institute in Stockholm and Textiles Futures / Central Saint Martins
in London the German architect Tobi Schneidler has developed the
"remotely shared home". Via the Internet two homes are connected. In
the one home some lonely person wriggles in a chair, and the occupant
of the other home is forced into a different posture by the
corresponding movements of the arm and foot rests of his or her
chair. In this way, architecture and interior become tactile and
sensory means of communication that help bridge the distance.


How, what and when?
The e-culture fair takes place on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 October,
2003, at three locations around the Leidseplein in Amsterdam: De
Balie, Melkweg, and Paradiso.
For more information please visit www.e-culturefair.nl (from July 1 on)

This second edition of the e-culture fair will also feature a
conference  for specialists from the field.


Virtueel Platform
The e-culture fair organizer, Virtueel Platform, is a network for
collaboration and policy in the fields of new media and contemporary
culture. It consists of a number of media labs in Amsterdam and
Rotterdam who, each from their own angle, conduct research that is
based on the developments in new media. Through their collaboration
in the Virtueel Platform, the discipline of "new media" has firmly
established itself. The e-culture fair is a unique event in the sense
that these media labs are now sharing their knowledge and experience
with a large audience. The network consists of De Balie, Doors of
Perception, Netherlands Media Art Institute, Montevideo/ Time Based
Arts, Paradiso, STEIM, Submarine, V2_Organisation and the Waag
Society / society for old and new media.


The e-culture fair is financially supported by the Ministerie van
OC&W, HGIS-Cultuur , Mondriaan Stichting, Amsterdam Fonds voor de
Kunst, VSB Fonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Pauwhof Fonds.

memo to the editors:
For additional information and visual material please contact Renate
Schepen, Communications Manager for e-culture fair , tel.: +31 (0)20-
6273758, e-mail: renate at virtueelplatform.nl
Images can also be downloaded: www.e-culturefair.nl/presspass (from July 1 on)