[spectre] AV Festival 06 - 2 - 12 March - programme available

[honor]

Dear Spectres,

I hope this email finds you all well.

Please find below the programme announcement for LifeLife - AV Festival 06 in the North East of England.

The AV Festival is a new bi-annual international festival of digital art, moving image, music and new media.  The next festival takes place 2 - 12 March 2006 and features new work by Ryoji Ikeda (Japan), Ken Rinaldo (USA), Michael Nyman (UK), Critical Art Ensemble (USA), Andy Gracie (UK), Anthony McCall (UK), Gina Czarnecki (Australia/UK) and many others.

I have included an announcement about the festival below. 
The full programme can be downloaded from the AV website: http://www.avfest.co.uk/

I would be delighted if some of you would consider attending the festival.  I would be honoured to welcome  you here in the North East of England, and would be very happy to design an itinerary for anyone of you who wished to attend.  Please do not hesitate to let me know if you want more information about the festival. 

Sincere apologies for cross-posting!

Very best wishes

Honor Harger


Director
LifeLife - AV Festival 06
Email: honor at avfest.co.uk 
http://www.avfest.co.uk



LIFE LIKE - AV FESTIVAL 06 - ANNOUNCEMENT

2 - 12 March 2006
NewcastleGateshead, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, UK
http://www.avfest.co.uk/


The AV Festival is a new bi-annual international festival of digital art, moving image, music and new media which takes place in the North East of England. The second AV festival will take place
across three cities of NewcastleGateshead, Sunderland, Middlesbrough from 2 - 12 March 2006. 
AV Festival 06 forms part of NewcastleGateshead Initiative's world-class festivals and events programme. 

Under the rubric Life Like, the festival will explore the interplay between technological and biological life as explored by artists.  The festival goes beyond a mere technological exploration of life. We are interested not just in the way that silicon circuits manifest simulations of life, or imitations of intelligence, but in the way that biological life itself has been manufactured and mutated inside laboratories.  Our festival explores the way that biotechnology, genetic engineering and cloning have swiftly and radically altered the way we imagine life.  In the biotechnical age, artists are making laboratories their new studios, fashioning artworks from the very fabric of life.

LifeLife - AV Festival 06 presents over 90 new commissions, exhibitions, screenings, concerts, workshops and events, including:

-     a newly commissioned concert work by Ryoji Ikeda (3 March)
-     a new concert by Michael Nyman
-     outdoor projection works by Gina Czarnecki, Claire Davies & Marius Watz
-     newly commissioned exhibitions including The Autotelematic Spider Bots by Ken Rinaldo, Swell by Anthony McCall & autoinducer Ph-1 by Andy Gracie & Brian Lee Yung Rowe
-     premiere of Marching Plague - the new work by Critical Art Ensemble
-     an exhibition by the Tissue Culture & Art Project & a tissue enginneering workshop, lead by Oron Catts
-     performances by Carsten Nicolai, D-Fuse, Cathode & many others
-     a radio station broadcasting from a boat - Celestial Radio by Neil Bromwich & Zoe Walker
-     a 2 day international symposium


___AV.06 : thematics

The theme of AV Festival 06 is Life. The festival will explore the interplay between digital and biological life as explored by audiovisual practitioners from all disciplines. 

In an increasingly technologised society, we find ourselves surrounded by, and immersed in, virtual and artificial worlds. Evolutionary computational techniques and genetic algorithms correlate the processes of the computer with the processes we observe in biology. Digital technology has allowed for entire environments to be modelled within the computer. The internet has created a culture, where societies of users can inhabit these synthetic environments. Games, online communities and immersive interactive environments have become worlds within worlds. 

At the same time, genetic engineering is allowing for the creation of synthetic biological worlds, which are constructed in the laboratory. Biotechnology raises passions, hopes, fears and fascinations. On the cutting edge of science and ethics, it offers many promises, but prompts anxiety also. Fields such as stem cell research, genetic modification and reproductive cloning intrigue and perturb us, provoking questions about the status of life itself. 

The North East of England has become a bioresearch centre of international repute, with scientists at the Centre for Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics at the University of Newcastle engaged in human embryonic stem cell research, and medical researchers at the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough working on reproductive treatments for patients. The often troubling ethical and political implications of this work are considered and communicated by organisations such as the Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Centre (PEALs) and the Centre for Life. 

Artists also have a role to play in considering the changing nature of life. Artificial life, intelligent robotics and emergent systems have long been subjects for new media artists, exemplified by the work of Ken Rinaldo (USA), Suguru Goto (Japan) and Marius Watz (Norway). Now, practitioners such as the Critical Art Ensemble (USA), Andy Gracie (UK) and Oron Catts & Ionat Zurr (Australia), are beginning to work directly with living biological systems. With artists and scientists alike fabricating new life-forms and ecologies, our understanding of what life is and where it can happen is shifting, evolving and mutating. 

LifeLife - AV Festival 06 will present the work of the above artists and many more, in over 90 exhibitions, new commissions, film screenings, concerts, workshops, symposia and other events.

The festival will interrogate the boundaries of what is 'natural' and what is 'synthetic' in this context, aiming to extend and rework these notions. It will probe digital and biological 'lifeforms' and 'living systems', and ask such questions as: what do these 'creations' look, sound and feel like? What is it like to 'inhabit' these systems? Who are the demiurges of the artificial age?


___AV.06 : programme

The programme for LifeLife - AV Festival 06 can be downloaded as a PDF document (9MB). 
The direct link is: http://www.avfest.co.uk/download/AV%20Festival%2006%20Guide.pdf

AV Commissions & Premieres include :
-     Andy Gracie & Brian Lee Yung Rowe - Autoinducer PH-1 (exhibition - Commission)
-     Anthony McCall - Swell (exhibition - co-Commission)
-     Claire Davies - Wonderland (outdoor projection- Commission)
-     Critical Art Ensemble - Marching Plague (film & panel discussion, World Premiere)
-     D-Fuse - Undercurrent (performance, World Premiere)
-     Gina Czarnecki - Spine (outdoor projection, Commission)
-     Helena Swatton - State (exhibition, World Premiere)
-     James Hutchinson - Planesong (exhibition, World Premiere)
-     Marius Watz - System C (outdoor projection,UK Premiere)
-     Michael Nyman - Orchestrating the Genome (performance, Commission)
-     Oron Catts & Ionat Zurr - The Remains of Disembodied Cuisine (exhibition, UK Premiere)
-     Richard Fenwick - Artificial Worlds & What I Know About Stem Cells (films, Commissions)
-     Ryoji Ikeda - data.matrix - working title (performance, co-Commission)
-     Suguru Goto - RoboticMusic, (exhibition & performance,UK Premiere)
-     Times Up - Sensory Circus (exhibition,UK Premiere)
-     UMAMi - Who Am I? (film performance, Commission)

Live Concerts include:
-     alva noto aka Carsten Nicolai - in First Friday, AV Opening Gala, 3 March
-     D-Fuse  - Undercurrent, 7 March
-     Cathode - in AV Closing Gala, 11 March 
-     Michael Nyman & Northern Sinfonia - Orchestrating the Genome, 5 March
-     Marius Watz - in AV Opening Gala, 3 March
-     Preamptive - in AV Opening Gala & Closing Gala, 3/11 March
-     Ryoji Ikeda - C4I &  new commission in AV Opening Gala, 3 March
-     Suguru Goto - RoboticMusic, 4 - 5 March

Symposium & Seminars & Talks include
-     Adinda van 't Klooster - at Presentations by Sound Artists, 6 March
-     alva noto (Carsten Nicolai) - Artist presentation, 4 March
-     Andy Gracie - Gallery Tour & Artist Presentation, 8 March
-     Anthony McCall - Gallery Tour & Artist Presentation, 8 March
-     Frankenstein Created Bimbo - seminar lead by Gail Nina Anderson, 4 March
-     Game Horizon: Show Some Emotion -  games seminar, 9 March
-     Kaffe Matthews - at Presentations by Sound Artists, 6 March
-     Ken Rinaldo - Gallery Tour & Artist Presentation, 8 March 
-     Making The Most of Open Source Software - seminar lead by Sneha Solanki & Dominic Smith, 8 March
-     Michael Nyman - interviewed by Dr. Tom Shakespeare, 5 March
-     Richard Fenwick - at What I Know About Stem Cells, 4 March 
-     Ryoji Ikeda - Artist presentation, 4 March
-     Steve Grand -  Café Scientifique, 6 March
-     Steve Kurtz & Steve Barnes, Critical Art Ensemble - at Marching Plague, 4 March
-     Sustaining Life, Designing Life- the AV Festival symposium, 10 - 11 March
-     Zoë Irvine - at Presentations by Sound Artists, 6 March

Workshops include
-     Build Your Own Computer Game - 5 day workshop lead by Julian Oliver, 
-     Grow Your Own Media Lab - workshops, lead by Polytechnic, Feb & March
-     Shadow Play - workshop for Families, with installation by Dan Fox, 4 - 6 March
-     Sound Art Lab - workshop for North East England artists, 6 - 9 March
-     Tissue Engineering Workshop - lead by Oron Catts, 7 - 8 March
 
Screenings include
-      Short Films
Cinematic representatations of biological and technological convergence, featuring Simon Tegala - Signal; Jemima Brown's Seven Lonely Nights; Sean Burn - Stealing Brecht; Peter Nancollis - Sciatica; Francesca Steele - Fleurs du Mal & Jane Arnfield - Humanity;  Precursor - Quietus; Pleix - E-baby; Dominic Hailstone - The Eel and many more.

-     Retrospective feature film season, including: 
Able Edwards (Graham Robertson, USA, 2004), Abre Los Ojos (Alejandro Amenábar, Spain, 1997), Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, USA, 1982), Blood (Charly Cantor, UK, 2000), Casshern (Kazuaki Kiriya, Japan, 2004), Code 46 (Michael Winterbottom UK, 2003), eXistenZ (David Cronenberg, Canada, 1999), Frankenstein (James Whale, USA, 1931), Gattaca (Andrew Niccol, NZ/USA, 1997), Gojira / Godzilla (Ishirô Honda. Japan, 1954), Incident at Loch Ness (Zak Penn, USA, 2004), Iron Giant (Brad Bird, USA, 1999), Natural City (Byung-chun Min, South Korea, 2003), S1m0ne (Andrew Niccol, USA/NZ), Seconds (John Frankenheimer, USA, 1966), Shivers (David Cronenberg, Canada, 1975), Sleeper (Woody Allen, USA, 1973), The Stepford Wives (Bryan Forbes, (USA, 1975), The Valley of Gwangi (Jim O'Connolly, USA, 1969).

For the full programme listings, download the AV Fesival Guide Book: 
 http://www.avfest.co.uk/download/AV%20Festival%2006%20Guide.pdf
Or send us an email with your address & we will post it to you.
 

___AV: the story so far

The first AV Festival was held in Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, 8 - 22 November 2003, organised by the Tyneside Cinema, Middlesbrough Council, the University of Teesside and Sunderland City Council. The festival delivered over one hundred events across three towns in two weeks, and included performances by the Cinematic Orchestra, DJ Food, Tina Frank and General Magic, screenings of Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle, a world premiere by Peter Greenaway, a Mike Figgis film retrospective, onedotzero screenings and a lively programme of workshops and lectures. Over 35 new works were commissioned, including new pieces by filmmaker, Richard Fenwick and The Light Surgeons.  AV.03 proved to be one of the biggest new media, digital arts and digital music festival in the UK, and is the only festival event to occur in each major population centre in the North East region. 


___AV: collaborators

AV is organised by:
-     Middlesbrough Council <http://www.middlesbrough.gov.uk>
-     Sunderland City Council <http://www.sunderland.gov.uk>
-     Tyneside Cinema <http://www.tynecine.org/>
-     University of Teesside <http://www.tees.ac.uk/>

AV is also working with:
The Sage Gateshead <http://www.thesagegateshead.org>
&
Forma (who produced the works by Ryoji Ikeda & Gina Czarnecki),
&
The Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Ten Feet Tall, The National Glass Centre, University of Sunderland, Middlesbrough Institute for Modern Art, Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, The Arts Catalyst, The Reg Vardy Gallery, CultureLab, CRUMB & ISIS Arts.


___AV: supporters

AV is supported by:
-    NewcastleGateshead Initiative
-    Newcastle City Council
-    Arts Council England
-    Northern Film & Media
-    UK Film Council
-    TyneWear Partnership
-    The Tees Valley Investment Fund
-    The PRS Foundation for New Music. 

AV is sponsored by CODEWORKS.



___AV: contacts

Honor Harger
Director

AV Festival
c/-Tyneside Cinema
10 Pilgrim Street
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 6QG
UK

Tel: +44 (0)191 2328289, ext 112
Email: honor at avfest.co.uk
http://www.avfest.co.uk