[spectre] DRIFT

[Chris Byrne]

New Media Scotland announces DRIFT

DRIFT – New Media Scotland's major new initiative for sound and radio 
art - launches on the 27th February to coincide with the opening of 
Dialogues 2004, one of several live events in Scotland which reflect 
widespread international interest in sound art and experimental music. 
DRIFT is an exploration of sound art and experimental music featuring 
radio broadcasts, moving image, publications, and live events. DRIFT is 
a platform for artists from Scotland and beyond, a gateway to these 
emerging cultural forms.

The DRIFT Internet portal, with graphics by award-winning designer Andy 
McGregor, goes live today. Find out more at 
http://www.mediascot.org/drift

The DRIFT team will be streaming live audio through the weekend from 
Dialogues 2004 at Edinburgh's Bongo Club. Highlights include a night of 
Audio Perversion, featuring heavy hitters from Scotland's live 
electronics music scene teamed up with SiLENCiO's Cabaret; and SKIN, 
featuring Mark Summers' viola da gamba with live electronics and four 
specially commissioned works for the festival, using state of the art 
computer technology to deconstruct an 18th century musical instrument.

The live stream from Dialogues 2004 is just one of many activities 
taking place over the next year as part of DRIFT. New Media Scotland is 
pleased to announce the results of the DRIFT open submission selection. 
In 2003 New Media Scotland sent out an open call for artists and 
musicians worldwide to participate in DRIFT. 200 artists responded, 
sending sound works and proposals grouped in 4 separate categories, 
details follow.

Resonant Cities – a series of radio programmes curated by Robert H. 
King which explore the sonic identity of our surrounding space. How we 
listen and how aware we are of the seemingly 'ugly noise' around us is 
at the heart of the wealth of works selected. From Glasgow to the 
Dominican Republic and from Berlin to Mexico City, sonic explorers have 
engaged with the fragmented noise of the city soundscape: the streets, 
people and snatches of conversation, traffic, obtrusive music, 
communication intrusions: mobile phones – radio traffic, city wildlife 
and the general clutter of everyday life. Resonant Cities features work 
by 44 artists including Lorenza Lucchi Basili, John Levack Drever, 
Alistair MacDonald, Pippa Murphy, Ed Osborn, Pete Stollery, plus others 
from around the globe.

DRIFT Radio Art Commission – Mark Vernon will produce a new radio art 
work for broadcast both online and on-air, via audio streaming and FM 
transmission. 'Evelyn's Request: Radio in Film' will examine how radio 
has been portrayed in another medium. A work uniquely for radio in 
which radio is both the medium and the content, the programme plays 
with distinctions between fictional and factual radio whilst exploring 
the portrayal of radio, Disc Jockeys, radio phone-ins, pirates and 
Shock Jocks in popular cinema.

DRIFT Moving Image Programme – a touring video programme curated by 
Iliyana Nedkova. Short films and videos by UK based artists, which take 
as their starting point sound art or experimental music. Following the 
success of New Media Scotland touring programmes such as Desktop Icons, 
the DRIFT Moving Image programme will launch in August 2004 and tour to 
venues in Scotland, the UK and internationally.

DRIFT Radio Programmes - a platform for artists ideas - one-off events, 
regular shows, experimental sound projects, radio art work for 
broadcast both online and on-air. Programmes confirmed so far include: 
'Box 30/70' by Sam Auinger & Bruce Odland, urban soundscapes produced 
using a length of pipe and a shipping container to 'tune' the sounds of 
each location; and 'Velvet Honey' by Barry Burns, a helter skelter 
narrative of life in the city.

Artworks selected from the open call are only part of the story. A 
number of DRIFT projects are currently in progress, to be showcased 
later in the year. For more information on DRIFT activities, updates 
and news visit the DRIFT web site at http://www.mediascot.org/drift

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New Media Scotland is a national agency enabling cultural activities 
shaped by new technologies. Supported by the Scottish Arts Council.

DRIFT is a year long project in partnership with cultural organisations 
across Scotland and beyond. DRIFT is supported by the Scottish Arts 
Council; Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science and Technology; 
Liverpool School of Art & Design, Liverpool John Moores University; 
Community Media Association.

For further details please contact:

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New Media Scotland
P.O. Box 23434, Edinburgh EH7 5SZ
Tel. +44 131 477 3774
info at mediascot.org
http://www.mediascot.org
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