[spectre] Arse Elektronika 2014: TRANS*.* / Call for submissions

[j. grenzfurthner/monochrom (das ende der nahrungskette)]

Arse Elektronika 2014
TRANS*.*

monochrom's festival on sex and tech!
October 2-5, 2014 in San Francisco, USA.

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Call for talks, performances, games, workshops, machines, systems!

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Trans is a Latin noun or prefix, meaning "across", "beyond" or "on 
the opposite side". What does that mean for sex and technology?
- Transitions, translations, transgressions, transistors & 
transducers, transactions, transmission (specifically sexually 
transmitted infections), transdermal?
- How does sex change as we age? As we grow, as we mature? And what 
about old age? Sex in nursing homes? Sex when people have lost much 
of their sense of identity with Alzheimer's Disease and the like, but 
are still horny, still sexual entities? How do pharma and biotech 
help/monetize this situation?
- Sex under drugs, sex under other altered states? Is Viagra a drug? 
At what point does a loss of cognitive function take away our ability 
to consent?
- Transnationality and sex. What about translations and transitions 
across cultures? For example: Hacking, porn, dissent in Iran? Purity 
Balls and the American obsession with virginity whatever that really means?
- How does our sex and our perception of sex change with the 
introduction of new gadgets? Who are the early (sexual) adopters? And 
what about the adapters? What about (white male) privilege and new 
gadgets? Google Glass Ceiling?
- SCOT (social construction of technology) research, such as that of 
Mackenzie and Wajcman, argues that the path of innovation and its 
social consequences are strongly, if not entirely shaped by society 
itself through the influence of culture, politics, economic 
arrangements, regulatory mechanisms and the like. So if its true that 
technology itself doesnt matter, but the social or economic system in 
which it is embedded (Langdon Winner), then what does that tell us 
about the transition from sex tech into the cultural mainstream?
- Is human sexual behavior transforming our planet? What's the sexual 
side of the anthropocene?
- Transgression and mechanophila? Is our technological society driven 
by erotogenic fixation on machinery? What about hardcore pornography 
such as Fucking Machines? Can this be seen as constituting the limit 
of current sexual biopolitics?
- Sex puppets, Real Dolls and the Uncanny Valley? A never-ending transition?
- Teagan Widmer's latest app, Refuge Restrooms, highlights the 
importance of providing safe public accommodations for trans people. 
How can apps like Widmers help with tasks that most people take for 
granted, like the ability to use the bathroom?
- Is trans* a controversial label online? How do we develop 
language-theory-activism in general? Programming languages are 
designed to be inclusive of "trans" in a broad sense for both binary 
and non-binary gender modalities. Does it have transmisogynist qualities?
- Feminists, among other critical scholars, have long argued the 
problems with the notion of the Transcendental. Focusing on the 
transcendental moves our attention away from the day-to-day struggles 
involving the material and instead replaces it with transcendent 
ideas and ideals. How is this manifested through issues of sexuality 
and technology? What can we do about it? What are the power struggles 
involved, positionalities afforded and relationships to, that 
transcendental modes of thought afford for socio-economically 
marginalized populations? Can we compare and contrast notions of 
transcendence alongside notions of immanence? What is the role of the 
body and embodiment with respect to transcendentalism? What are the 
implications of transcendental for power? Grassroots activism? 
Citizens' movements? Open source? Hacking? Can we have visions of the 
future without being transcendental?
- And, last but not least, since sex is a pretty biological thing 
(insofar as things are biological things), we want to remind of 
genetics with our theme. Genetic 
transformation/translation/transcription/transmission.

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Submit a talk, a performance, a game, a workshop, a machine, a system!
(Online form: 
<http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F1ohy1L8&h=wAQFAZ7Bw&enc=AZPLl4K6TFBNZZLA_eM2LCDAyvtyeaF6ZAHBHRlVo1O5j6oDDf2uws5a1rVh4mcnb-2qSXzwSoHGshwSnjXPWRMrENz4TooFvaeXr8XU6BxZb3AE3aPnVl-MYrDvfrBWqsUtrjRHTm1cfRHQi_y7jZzd&s=1>http://bit.ly/1ohy1L8 
)

Deadline: August 5, 2014.
Our selection will be announced August 20, 2014.

For questions, please email: office AT monochrom.at

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See you in San Transisco!

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<http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.monochrom.at%2Farse-elektronika%2F&h=mAQETg7Gt&enc=AZMVsn2tQu4wY2wa7JEi-LGRU39m4iSjGLbLIdAF-zR0O3ciuoM0BRei--E2KqbKHwcCNeEuxpHfpMxN4CidnP4M0t2je-yZz5ssMMqPyNq6mn_ZFo0b63V-Tb1gLPRRNvzYmIAJKBQywvbw0TTxFCJJ&s=1>http://www.monochrom.at/arse-elektronika/