[spectre] New Reviews on Furtherfield August 31st 2008.

[marc garrett]

New Reviews on Furtherfield August 31st 2008.

Review of FILE SAO PAULO 2008 Festival
by Giles Askham.

Meditation for Avatars
Work by Ute Hoerner and Mathias Antlfinger.
Review by Les Loncharich

WORLDWIDEWEGG by Jaygo Bloom
Review by Ashley Wong

Ovu and Aphrodite at Mobilefest
Review by Paulo Hartmann.

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬>

Review of FILE SAO PAULO 2008 Festival by Giles Askham.

FILE Sao Paulo, Electronic Language International Festival, which took 
place in Brazil this August is subtitled Two Thousand and Eight Million 
Pixels. A heading that references the vast resolutions made possible by 
the 4K digital projection systems that were used to show cinematic work 
at the festival this year, and forming one of the main themes of the 
show. Other categories set up in an impressively produced catalogue that 
accompanied the show included; installations, game art, media art and 
performance. Works under these categories were exhibited alongside 
games, and the projects of commercial exhibitors to produce an 
energetic, rag-tag collection; that was constantly bursting out of the 
curatorial confines that these groupings defined.

Featuring:
Memories - Anaisa Franco
Full Body Games - Jonah Warren and Steven Sanborn
Levelhead - Julian Oliver
The Scalable City - Sheldon Brown
L.A.S.E.R[/i] Tag - Graffiti Research Lab
http://www.furtherfield.org/displayreview.php?review_id=315

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬>

Review of Meditation for Avatars by Les Loncharich
Work by Ute Hoerner and Mathias Antlfinger.

The project Meditation for Avatars by Ute Hoerner and Mathias 
Antlfinger, enlists personal computers to make spiritual projections. 
Participants in this project donate processing time on personal 
computers; the computers process mantras and send them through the 
Internet. A mantra is a repeated chanted sound that is used to focus 
one's concentration during meditation. Personal computers are used 
because if there is one thing computers are good at, it's undeviating 
repetition. The goal of the project, which the creators describe as an 
"artistic experiment", is to raise the spiritual consciousness of those 
donating processor time...
http://www.furtherfield.org/displayreview.php?review_id=313

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬>

Review by Ashley Wong
WORLDWIDEWEGG by Jaygo Bloom

The World Wide Wegg is a quirky project that utilizes the frenetic 
activities of chickens to create a rather unusual breakfast experience. 
It is a simple gesture that enlivens interactions between a world of 
chickens and the stark white walls of a contemporary art space. Eggs, 
toast and disco are everything you need to get the day started. From the 
daily activities of egg-laying in the Gorgie City Farm in Edinburgh to a 
mechanical toaster at the Centre of Contemporary Arts in Glasglow, the 
World Wide Wegg relays the biological production of the rural to the 
commonplace production of toast in the urban. Through the vast 
communication portal known as the Internet, each egg layed in realtime 
at the farm triggers a toaster to produce a piece of toast for visitors 
at the gallery. An upbeat iTunes playlist controlled by the chickens is 
used to help jump start the day.
http://www.furtherfield.org/displayreview.php?review_id=312

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬>

Ovu and Aphrodite at Mobilefest
Review by Paulo Hartmann.

Featured:
Norene Leddy
Bauer Kathryn

Mobilefest has always had this wide angle view for mobile and wireless 
technologies, but to our surprise examples, where the cellphone or a 
hand-held device is not obvious, caught the attention and the affection 
of the visitors.
With a tran-sdisplinary approach we have been asking this question - How 
can mobile technology contribute to democracy, culture, art, ecology, 
peace, education, health and the third sector? Two projects have 
definitely answered these questions in most aspects, causing a frenesi 
in terms of visitor's acceptance and multi-interest: Ovu and The 
Aphrodite Project.
http://www.furtherfield.org/displayreview.php?review_id=314

If you are interested in either having a net art or media art project, 
exhibition reviewed, or wish if you to become a reviewer - please 
contact marc.garrett at furtherfield.org