<nettime-ann> transmediale.07 conference 'unfinish!'

[Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@transmediale.de>]

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Newsletter 20.12. 2006

transmediale.07
unfinish!
January 31 - February 4, 2007
Akademie der Kuenste
Berlin, Hanseatenweg 10

http://www.transmediale.de


Conference
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1. Conference 'Unfinish!'
2. Keynotes: Stelarc, Kroker, Kittler
3. Panel: Unfinishing Creation
4. Panel: Unfinished Cities
5. Panel: Opening and Closing, Beginning and Ending
6. Panel: The Media Landscape of Iraq
7. Panel: Whatever happened to Tactical Media?
8. Panel: Many Years of Video Art
9. Panel: Media Art Undone

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1. Conference 'Unfinish!'

The transmediale.07 conference, 'unfinish!', deals with the phenomenon of
finiteness in art, science, architecture, computer science and politics. The
digital culture of the present seems to be neither willing nor able to accept
final determination and the closure of processes. Instead processuality and
continuous and consecutive updates and versions are the credo of current
cultural practices. The conference of the transmediale.07 enters into the
discrepancy between the desire to open up solidified structures and situations,
and the curse of digital work that doesn?t come to conclusions,but only to an
iteration of preliminary versions. In this discussion terms such as ?opening?,
?closure?, and ?restart?, figure as central aspects. In seven panel discussions
and in three keynote speeches, they will be analysed and applied to
artistic and
socio-political questions.

The conference of transmediale.07 in organised in cooperation with the Federal
Agency for Civic Education.

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2. Keynotes: Stelarc, Kroker, Kittler

Keynote Stelarc (au)
Thursday, 1.2. 2007, 20.00 hrs, Akademie Hanseatenweg, Studio 1

In his lecture, the Australian artist Stelarc deals with the potential of
improving the human body and with the consequences this has for the perception
of subjectivity. Stelarc's work explores and extends the concept of the body
and its relationship with technology through human-machine interfaces. His
projects are attempts at testing the scientific 'state of the art' on the human
body. In his lecture-performance Stelarc describes how he compensates the
imperfection of his own body and equips it with technology:in the context of
the project '1/4 Scale Ear', the artist recently attached a third ear to his
forearm. The soft prosthesis was grown from human tissue. Stelarc considers the
ear prosthesis not as a sign for a physical malfunction, but rather as a symbol
for an additional feature. Thus he tries to amplify the forms and functions of
the human body and produces a human-machine-hybrid which questions the notion
of the wholeness of the body.
Moderator: Florian Roetzer (de)

Keynote Arthur Kroker (ca)
Friday, 2.2. 2007, 18.00 hrs, Akademie Hanseatenweg, Studio 1

In the 1990s Arthur Kroker was one of the most important theorists of the
emerging cyber-culture. Today he is an alert critic of global digital culture
which has moved on from the utopias of the waning 20th century. His lecture
'Changing the New World Order' analyses the resumption of seemingly closed but
unfinished stories in a society altered by global technical changes. Kroker
understands the development of technology as a global culture that also
involves political, cultural and social areas.
Moderator: Florian Roetzer (de)

Keynote Friedrich Kittler (de)
Saturday, 3.2. 2007, 18.00 hrs, Akademie Hanseatenweg, Studio 1

Kittler holds the chair for aesthetics and history of media at the Humboldt
University Berlin. In his lecture, he presents his current research concerning
theories of machine, media and music and asks for the meaning of reversibility
and infinite loop-d-loop which is being re-processed, after its execution as
long as this is not prevented by external influences. What power lies in the
knowledge that is hidden in computers and their algorithms?
Moderator: Wolfgang Coy (de)

In cooperation with the Federal Agency for Civic Education
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3. Panel: Unfinishing Creation
Thursday, 1.2. 2007, 15.00 hrs, Akademie Hanseatenweg, Studio 1

The Panel 'Unfinishing Creation' deals with the relationship between humans,
science, and the future. On the basis of artistic practices, and in conjunction
with current scientific topics, especially from the life-sciences, the panel
raises questions of openness, of continuous transformation and constant change
in present-day society. Do concepts like reversibility, time, mistakes, and
progress connect or divide artists and scientists? And do the natural sciences
offer new tools to artists and other scientists to expand their own disciplines
and to re-examine our society? Does the notion of an 'open system of life' form
a new paradigm? And which effects do the changing media and technologies have
on our cognitive structures and on the evolution of new artistic practices?
Moderator: Stefan Iglhaut (de)
Participants: Ingeborg Reichle (de), Warren Neidich (us/de)

In cooperation with the Federal Agency for Civic Education
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4. Panel: Unfinished Cities
Friday, 2.2. 2007, 15.00 hrs, Akademie Hanseatenweg, Studio 1

The phenomena of the multi-layered urban development and urbanisation are among
the main topics of the current global cultural context. While the countries of
the ?traditional? industrialisation are dealing with ?shrinking cities?, the
increasing megalopolises, particularly those in Latin America, Asia and Africa,
are in a process of immense and uncontrolled growth. The panel 'Unfinished
Cities' presents positions which consider the exuberant growth and the
insecurity which go along with it not as a form of dysfunction, but as a
potential. The image of the permanently unfinished, insecure and complex city
creates novel spatial constellations that accelerate the urban practice of
appropriation and the creation of new forms of public spheres, thus preventing
any state of closure.
Moderator: Regina Bittner (de)
Participants: AbdouMaliq Simone (za/uk), Orhan Esen (tr)

In cooperation with the Federal Agency for Civic Education
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5. Panel: Opening and Closing, Beginning and Ending
Sunday, 4.2. 2007, 14.00 hrs, Akademie Hanseatenweg, Studio 1

The panel with Byung-Chul Han and Thomas Macho deals with notions of
closing and
opening from a philosophical point of view. By means of a comparison between
occidental inwardness and far eastern openness, the speakers will trace
different traditions of eastern and western thought.
Participants: Byung-Chul Han (kr/ch), Thomas Macho (de)

In cooperation with the Federal Agency for Civic Education
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6. Panel: The Media Landscape of Iraq
Friday, 2.2. 2007, 12.00 hrs, Akademie Hanseatenweg, Studio 1

The future developments in Iraq will depend crucially on whether the question
whether a process of negotiation can be initiated between the conflicting
groups, or whether separation and isolation will continue. The function of the
media in this process is not to be underestimated. The media communicate,
comment and reflect; they form opinions and mobilise atmospheres of consent or
dissent. Since the collapse of the regime, the media landscape in Iraq has been
growing and sprawling uncontrollably in all directions, and the coverage of the
socio-political situation is as multi-layered and complex as the situation
itself. The discussion with Iraqi journalists and artists explores the role
that the media play in the development of conflicts and the tight-rope walk
between the freedom of speech and the will to survive. MICT (Media in
Cooperation & Transition) introduce the topic with a report illustrated by
video and audio material from their archives.
Moderators: Anja Wollenberger & Klaas Glenewinkel (de)
Participants: Ali Badr (iq), Ismail Zayer (iq)

In cooperation with the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation
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7. Whatever happened to Tactical Media?
Thursday, 1.2. 2007, 16.00 hrs, Akademie Hanseatenweg, Salon

Creating a collaborative culture has been the main goal of video activism,
independent practices that are based upon cooperation and networking. Can
online tools and services such as YouTube or Flickr provide new cultural
identities and open up new areas of dialogue and critique? What political role
does the Net play today as a tool for collaborative production? Is
self-sufficiency and the DIY ethos still important in the age of Web 2.0? And
what is the actual relevance of tactical media today?
Introduction and Moderation: Joanne Richardson (ro)
Participants Part 1: Baerbel Schoenafinger (de/at), Katsiaryna Herasenkava &
Pauluk Kanavalchyk (by), Anastasia Nekozakova (ru)
Participants Part 2: Petko Dourmana (bg), Fran Ilich (mx), Micz Flor (de)

In cooperation with the Federal Agency for Civic Education
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8. Panel: Many Years of Video Art - Historical Views on Art and Media
Wednesday, 31.1. 2007, 15.00 hrs, Akademie Hanseatenweg, Studio 1

In spring 2006, five German museums presented the project '40 Jahre Videokunst
in Deutschland' (40 years of video art in Germany). A substantial DVD edition
of more than 50 individual works in combination with a catalogue (Hatje Cantz
Verlag) tries to describe the field of video art in Germany since the mid
1960s. In the context of its anniversary programme, transmediale.07 presents
this DVD edition and attempts its evaluation in a broader and international
context. Therefore similar projects from other countries have also been invited
to the transmediale. The panel discussion between the producers of '40 Jahre
Videokunst' and international colleagues offers a critical debate about such
projects of documentation and overview.
Participants: Chris Hill (us), Barbara Borcic (si), Wulf Herzogenrath
(de), a.o.

In cooperation with the Goethe-Institute
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9. Panel: Media Art Undone
Saturday, 3.2. 2007, 15.00 hrs, Akademie Hanseatenweg, Studio 1

The participants of this panel discuss questions concerning the field and the
term 'Media Art'. Is it time to let go of the label 'media art' altogether, and
to strive for a re-inscription of media-based art practices into broader art
discourses? Are the definitions of media art and media cultural practices still
valid that used to justify their - positive and negative - discrimination?
Moderator: Miguel Leal (pt)
Participants: Diedrich Diederichsen (de), Inke Arns (de), Olia Lialina (ru/de),
Timothy Druckrey (us)

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transmediale.07
unfinish!
festival for art and digital culture berlin
http://www.transmediale.de
info@transmediale.de
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