[spectre] CALL Video Vortex number 8 - Zagreb, Croatia

[Geert Lovink]

Video Vortex #8
The Politics, Cultures and Art of Online Video

The Museum of Contemporary Art
Zagreb, Croatia

May 17th-19th, 2012

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

We are pleased to announce that the 8th edition of Video Vortex will
take place at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, Croatia,
between the 17th and the 19th of May, 2012. So far Video Vortex has
taken place twice in Brussels and Amsterdam and once in Ankara,
Split and Yogyakarta. The Video Vortex network was founded in
in 2007 and deals with the cultural, political and artistics aspects of
online video. Video Vortex 8 is organized by the Kazimir Association in
Split and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb in collaboration with
the Institute of Network Cultures in Amsterdam.

The moving image and the Internet are still defining the parameters of
their mutual relationship. The conference will focus on issues
concerning changes in contemporary art and cinema as well as broader
cultural, social and technological issues.

Video Vortex 8 will consist of a conference, an exhibition, screenings
and performances. This call pertains to the conference. Artists who
will present work at the conference will also be included in the
accompanying exhibition. If you have an idea for an alternative way to
present your work on one of the themes below please let us know.
For all themes we expect up to a 500-word abstract while for artist
presentations we would like also to receive documentation via URL.

Themes:

1. Contemporary art and online video

Museums which follow and present ontemporary Art as well as Centres
for Art, Media and Technology have specific contexts in which they
present and preserve the moving image in the 21st century. Spatial
issues and exclusivity are put in relation to the constant virtual
presence of artwork. Fast changing technologies are undermining the
very sense of the preservation of the moving image in an online
context.

2. Theoretical discourses and online video.

Concepts related to the aesthetics and structure of the moving image.
Including, but not limited to, online-only production, torrent-based
original programming, YouTube-centered narrative and artwork,
community-funded cinema and scholarship in an online environment.

3. Social networks and online video in the region.

Reports on new the discourses of online video in Middle and Southeast  
Europe.

4. Techno-colonialism, surveillance and control of the distribution of
the moving image.

Shutting down or channelling online video. The possibility of stealing
the online-originating revolutions in North Africa. The technological
dominance and control of worldviews and basic human value systems. The
speed of communication and what is left to those isolated from it.

5. The perspective of online cinema.

The relationship between film and the Internet. What is happening to
independent cinema due to technical accessibility and online quality
in the making, producing and distribution of films? Do we see specific
new film forms in the online environment? The end of 35mm film. How
does digital cinema distribution work, from DCP (Digital Cinema
Package) passwords to open online video/film collections or cinematic
databases?

6. Artists talk about their own work and research in online video.

Presentations of artistic practices related to the Internet from
artists participating in the exhibition which runs concurrently with
the conference. These practices include working on the web and using
the web as a medium and using the Internet as found footage; in other
words, it is channeling the art process through Internet-based
communication. Other topics could include the Internet as a public
presentation venue for artists and discussions about curating online.

7. Technological aspects of new developments in participatory video.

The moving image on the Internet has opened itself to tagging,
telepresence and social communication. Can it still open itself
further through visual browsers and HTML5? With HTML5 authors can
script their own user interface, but there is also a way to trigger a
user interface provided by the user agent – is this a seed for a new
manner of online video communication? Does it indicate developments of
open personalization and/or the further fragmentation of users? Other
issues could include technologies of the private and the public
spheres.

Practical information:

The deadline of submission of proposals and abstracts is
20th January, 2012.
Proposals and questions should be addressed to Brian Willems:
brianwillems at gmail.com.

The conference itself is free and if possible the presenters or
institutions to which they are attached should take care of
the travel and accommodation expenses.