[spectre] Public Library @ WOS3, Berlin, June 10-12, 2004

[Inke Arns]

Public Library
»Wizards of OS 3 - The Future of the Digital Commons«
Berlin, June 10-12, 2004
www.wizards-of-os.org/

Public Library is a mini exhibition of art that engages with 
information freedom and knowledge commons in a direct, unmetaphorical 
way. It gathers several art works and projects which critically deal 
with the increasing commodification of culture and propose or embody 
alternatives. All those works have been released in the public domain 
or under free licenses.

Public Library is conceived as a small public space consisting of 
bookshelves and desks in which the works can be accessed, viewed, 
browsed, read and copied. As a metaphor, Public Library follows the 
theme of »Wizards of OS 3 - The Future of the Digital Commons«. On 
the other hand, the title is not metaphorical since the works can be 
experienced just as in a public library, as opposed to more auratic 
and less accessible traditional white cube shows.

The participating artists and projects are: Lloyd Dunn, 
Photostatic/Retrofuturism (1983-2004); Dragan Espenschied & Alvar 
Freude, insert coin (2000/2001); Kembrew McLeod, Freedom of 
ExpressionTM (1998); Internationale Situationniste (1950s/1960s); 
Cornelia Sollfrank, copyright © 2004, cornelia sollfrank (2004); 
Project Gnutenberg, textz.com (since 2001), walser.php (2002); David 
S. Touretzky et al., Gallery of CSS descramblers, and ubermorgen.com, 
Injunction Generator (2001).

Concept and realisation: Inke Arns, Florian Cramer 

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Art as Anticopyright Activism
Thursday, 10 June 2004, 13:00, Track 2

The panel will introduce and explain the concept of the exhibition 
»Public Library« which is part of WOS 3, and it will discuss the 
history and status quo of anticopyright art with four participating 
artists whose work is shown in the exhibition.

Questions to be addressed are:

* Why and how did the anti-copyright activism turn from a fringe to a 
mainstream issue in the last 20 years?
* Which are the individual forms and aesthetics of anticopyright art, 
from Mail Art and plunderphonics audio to net art and software?
* Which individual, optimistic or pessimistic conclusions do the 
artist draw from years or sometimes decades of questioning copyright 
through artistic activism?
* How has digital technology and new media changed the shape of 
anticopyright art?
* Do Internet and digital media provide perfect solutions for such 
art, or have their drawbacks and limitations become more apparent?
* Is anticopyright artistic activism just a critical reaction to a 
cultural status quo, or can it shape a new culture?

	
Mod: Florian Cramer
Literaturwissenschaftler, Berlin

Mod: Inke Arns
Kulturwissenschaftlerin, Autorin und freie Kuratorin, mikro e.V., 
Berlin

Lloyd Dunn
Gründer des Photostatic Magazine (1983-1998) und Gründungsmitglied 
der Tape-Beatles, Prag
	
Alvar Freude
Medienkünstler, Programmierer und Informationsfreiheitsaktivist 
(odem.org), Stuttgart

Zusammen mit Dragan Espenschied entwickelte er den 
Assoziationsblaster und insert_coin (2000/2001).
	
Cornelia Sollfrank
Cyberfeminist Concept Artist, Creator of automatic Net.art 
generators, Co-Founder of the Cyberfeminist International and 
Webmaster of artwarez.org, Hamburg
	
Sebastian Lütgert
Media Artist and Activist, Creator of Rolux and textz.comtextz.com, 
Berlin

Inke Arns
http://www.v2.nl/~arns