Ars Electronica 2003 - Conferences

[iris.mayr at liwest.at]

CODE - The Language of Our Time
Code=Law, Code=Art, Code=Life
Ars Electronica 2003
September 6-11
Linz, Austria
www.aec.at/code
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Ars Electronica 2003 - 3rd Announcement: Conferences

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1. Update: CODE Symposium
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2. Update: Pixelspaces
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3. Update: Prix Ars Electronica Forum
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4. Update: Radio FRO Conference
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You are reading the third issue of the Ars Electronica 2003 newsletter,
providing information about the program of the symposia at this year's
festival, CODE - The Language of Our Time.

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1. CODE Symposium
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The several panels of the CODE Symposium being presented from September 7 to
September 11 will host detailed discussions of various aspects of the
festival theme, CODE - The Language of Our Time.

Sunday and Monday are dedicated to rather theoretical considerations; in the
following panels, the presentation of artistic ideas and projects moves to
the top of the agenda. Protagonists of a software-based mode of artistic
practice present their work and discuss how they utilize and deal with
software.

Key topics will include the role of industry standards, the emergence of
artistic trends as a consequence of program features, efforts to achieve
artistic autonomy, and the aesthetics of codes.




Sunday, September 7
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10:30 - 13:30 The Meaning of CODE

The first panel at this year's symposium is dedicated to an attempt at
defining the term CODE in a way that encompasses its artistic, legislative
and biological facets. At the same time, this will shed light on historical
aspects of CODE ranging from the book to the computer, from the codex to the
regulatory efforts of modern governments, and from classic, script-based
computer programs to evolutionary algorithms-dynamic systems that are
capable of coming up with solutions to their own problems. What do artists,
scientists and legal scholars understand CODE to be? Is it even possible to
establish a generally applicable definition of this term? This kickoff of
the CODE symposia will feature an elemental confrontation with
terminological problems and issues raised by this year's Festival.

Moderation: Gerfried Stocker

Statements: Gerfried Stocker, Friedrich Kittler, Cindy Cohn, Erkki Huhtamo,
Peter J. Bentley



15:00 - 18:00 The Art of Code

What effects is digitization having on art? What special characteristics are
displayed by code-based art? And how does this inherent, uniquely
self-determined expressive vocabulary of digital art manifest itself? What
consequences will art as code-according to Kriesche, *alone* the generative
answer to the complete permeation of *all* partial realities-have for the
ongoing development of the arts? In which direction is artists' work with
new instruments like algorithms and dynamic systems transforming the process
of artistic creativity? Or is the concentration on CODE, this focus on the
immediate basis of the technological transformation of art, proceeding along
the wrong path, and should the confrontation with media art concentrate on
social approaches-collaborative, social modes of action, the potential of
connective interfaces-without which there can be no productive and uniquely
self-determined human activity?

Moderation: Roy Ascott

Statements: Giaco Schiesser, Richard Kriesche, John Maeda, Roman Verostko,
Casey Reas




Monday, September 8
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10:30 - 13:30 Social Code

Social activity is characterized by codes-individuals make themselves
understood via language and communicate with human faces as their
"interfaces." If the new codes that have been designed and developed for
interaction with technical interfaces change our social and collective
actions or even contribute to the development of new types of social
intercourse, then how will this process be played out? Which structures are
influencing this social transformation? And to what extent does the design
of electronic devices play a role in this connection-are users of the new
technology becoming passive consumers or mature, responsible critics of
their equipment? The most far-reaching question undoubtedly arises in
connection with the current overall social situation-are network linkages
and mobility enhancing collective action or being applied to construct an
instrument of state control and social engineering?

Moderation: Derrick de Kerckhove

Statements: Howard Rheingold, Leo Findeisen, Fiona Raby, Hans Peter Schwarz



15:00 - 18:00 Collective Creativity

Language-the code of human understanding-enabled humanity to take a quantum
leap of collective intelligence. How do the new possibilities of
communication influence the exchange of ideas within and among societies?
How does software determine our collective creativity? Do computer programs
influence the way we see the world and how we think? Can there be a language
of collective intelligence? And-getting down to details-what effects will
the new Open Source and Open Standards approaches have on the further
development and progress of collective creativity?

Moderation: Derrick de Kerckhove

Statements: Pierre Lévy, Florian Cramer, John Warnock, Marc Canter, James
McCartney

please find more details online:
http://www.aec.at/de/festival/programm/row.asp?area=10&iProjectID=11992




Tuesday, September 9
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10:30 - 13:30 Tangible Code

Interaction cannot be equated per se with the process of programming, though
this holds true only in connection with the current practice of interaction
that, in most cases, only represents a more of less complex process of
selection. But what will future interaction look like-a form of interaction
that goes beyond the process of selecting one option from among several?
And, accordingly, how will the process of programming be defined in the
future? The essence of programming could then be more than a linear,
predetermined approach; it could well become more of an interactive,
real-time process! Will such a new conceptualization create a code that is
both realizable and at the same time accessible for the purpose of
manipulation and reconfiguration-a sort of real-time compiling?

Moderation: Hiroshi Ishii

Statements: Hiroshi Ishii, Joachim Sauter, Oliver Fritz, Scott DeLahunta,
Jonathan Norton

please find more details online:
http://www.aec.at/de/festival/programm/project.asp?area=10&iProjectID=11993




Wednesday, September 10
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10:30 - 13:30 Software & Art I.

This session is dedicated to artists' relation to software. The discussion
will investigate some of the preconditions upon which artistic work with
software-and even software itself-are based. What motivates artists to work
with software; when and for what purposes do they utilize computer programs
in their work? What outstanding characteristics are displayed by software as
an instrument of artistic creativity; what makes this material unique and in
what respect is its makeup similar or identical to that of other materials?
Based on how things look today, what are the prospects (new areas of
utilization) for the artistic use of code in the future?

Moderation: Casey Reas

Statements: Lia, Laurent Mignonnau Golan Levin / Zachary Lieberman, Alex
Galloway, Ben Fry, Christa Sommerer, James McCartney, Sebastian Oschatz




Thursday, September 11
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10:30 - 13:30 Software & Art II.

The consideration of software as an art form evidently raises a number of
questions: can any software be considered art and, if not, where do we draw
the line between software as art and software as a "mere" commercial product
? To what extent is the identity of so-called "new media art" or digital art
defined by its nature as art based on code? What are the aesthetics of
software art and how can they be assessed by traditional art-immanent
criteria (or should they be at all)?

Moderation: Christiane Paul

Statements: Christiane Paul, Alexei Shulgin, Olga Goriunova, Christian
Hübler, Andreas Broeckmann, Alex McLean, Amy Alexander

please find more details online:
http://www.aec.at/de/festival/programm/row.asp?area=10&iProjectID=11994





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2. Pixelspaces
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Monday, September 8 and Tuesday, September 9
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18:00 - 20:30 Pixelspaces-DAMPF

The Ars Electronica Futurelab Symposium entitled *Pixelspaces-Sensory
Environments - Immaterial Interfaces* will concentrate on an area of
emphasis of the Futurelab's recent work and, at the same time, a field in
which the traditional arts have been increasingly converging on media art.
Over the course of the conference, participants will examine the extent to
which traditional artistic institutions (such as those involved with musical
theater and dance) are signaling a readiness to take into account the
development of media art, or the extent to which they are even in a position
to do so. This symposium together with Klaus Obermaier's "Dance and Media
Performance Fusion" (DAMPF), an interdisciplinary project dealing with the
stage as a sensory environment, will constitute a forum in which the theory
and practice of the convergence of media art and dance will be consummated
in artistic and technical practice.

please find more details online:
http://www.aec.at/de/festival/programm/project.asp?area=10&iProjectID=12080




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3. PRIX ARS ELECTRONICA FORUM
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The Prix Ars Electronica Forum will feature speeches and presentations by
and discussions with Prix Ars Electronica 2003 prizewinners and jurors.

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Tuesday, September 9: Computer Animation / Visual Effects

14:30 - 15:00 Carlos Saldanha, Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox (USA)
15:00 - 15:30 Koji Yamamura, Yamamura Animations, Inc. (J)
15:30 - 16:00 Romain Segaud, Cristel Pougeoise, Supinfocom, Ono plus One (F)
Moderation: Shuzo John Shiota (J)

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Wednesday, September 10: Digital Musics

14:30 - 15:00 Florian Hecker, Mego (D / A)
15:00 - 15:30 Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratje (N)
15:30 - 16:00 Ami Yoshida, Sachiko M, Utah Kawasaki, F.M.N. Sound Factory(J)
Moderation: Naut Humon (USA)



Wednesday, September 10: Interactive Art

16:30 - 17:00 Maywa Denki, Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd. (J)
17:00 - 17:30 Margarete Jahrmann, Max Moswitzer (A)
Moderation: Stahl Stenslie (N / D)



Thursday, September 11: Net Vision / Net Excellence

14:30 - 15:00 David Crawford (S)
15:00 - 15:30 Golan Levin (USA)
15:30 - 16:00 Carlos J. Gomez de Llarena, Yury Gitman (VEN / USA)
16:30 - 17:00 James Tindall (UK)
17:00 - 17:30 Lia (A)
17:30 - 18:00 Sulake Labs (FIN)
Moderation: Steve Rogers (UK)

please find more details online:
http://www.aec.at/de/festival/programm/row.asp?area=10&iProjectID=12106




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RADIO-FRO-KONFERENZ
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Tuesday, September 9

14:00 - 18:00 Towards a Society of Control?

Digital codes define how we communicate with one another in global networks,
conduct business, obtain information and share knowledge. Nevertheless, the
increasingly widespread propagation of code raises the question of the
control of standards, and thus the control of the content that is being
disseminated. Is the EU's amendment to copyright protection-"Digital Rights
Management" (DRM), which sets up rigorous barriers against duplication-in
actuality a step in the direction of "digital restriction management"? Are
traditional "open spaces" increasingly endangered? What consequences are
digital and legal standards like DRM having for Information Society?

Die Radio Fro Conference is divided into two panels:

PANEL A: CONTAINING INFORMATION: new digital standards, changes in copyright
and their impact on freedom of information

PANEL B: DIGITAL STANDARDS AND THE PUBLIC DOMAIN: consequences and current
strategies for an independent public sphere

please find more details online:
http://www.aec.at/de/festival/programm/project.asp?area=10&iProjectID=11981



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The detailed Ars Electronica 2003 festival program is online now:
http://www.aec.at/en/festival/index.asp



The website www.aec.at/code is providing regular and detailed updates on the
festival theme, program details, news and background features as well as
information about artists, speakers and performances until the festival in
September.

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Ars Electronica 2003
Organization:
Ars Electronica Center Linz and ORF - Austrian Broadcasting Corporation,
Upper Austria Regional Studio
Co-organizers: Brucknerhaus Linz, O.K - Center for Contemporary Art

Concept & Artistic Direction: Gerfried Stocker, Christine Schöpf

Curatorial Staff: Christiane Paul, Casey Reas, Iris Mayr, Ingrid
Fischer-Schreiber

Contact:
Ars Electronica Center
Hauptstrasse 2
4040 Linz, Austria
festival at aec.at
www.aec.at/code

Sponsors of Ars Electronica 2003:
SAP AG, Gericom, Telekom Austria, Bank Austria Creditanstalt, Quelle AG,
Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Oesterreichische Brauunion, voestalpine, FESTO,
Sony DADC, Siemens AG, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Spring, Opel Guenther

Sponsors of Prix Ars Electronica 2003:
The Prix Ars Electronica 2003 is sponsored by Telekom Austria and supported
by BAWAG/P.S.K. Group, voestalpine, SONY DADC, Gericom, the City of Linz and
the Province of Upper Austria.

Additional support by Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Casinos Austria,
Poestlingberg Schloessl, Oesterreichischer Kulturservice