:: Friday, April 23, 2004 ::

A work I stumbled accross the other day which I thought interesting in its presentation is CodeTalk, a full screen flash projector by Bjørn Wangen with actionscripting by Hugo Wetterberg.

The work uses "news headlines from different sources on the web" as its input, the voice of two characters, who converse in a bar initially around the topic of ordering a cognac which then rapidly degenerates into a communication breakdown with references about current affairs and a final resolve.

"A man in a bar asks for a cognac. The waitress doesn't seem to understand. The man says he wants french brandy. The waitress asks if french fries will do. This quite silly joke starts the loop, which randomly picks out words and replaces them with words from news headlines on the web. The conversation becomes more and more absurd and/or affected by the words from the headlines, and is eventually brought to an abrupt end. A mouseclick scrambles the words and the conversation starts over. Any possible meaning derived from the combinations of words is coincidental."

While there are many works out there that use information on the net as their input, they also situate themselves within the framework of the network by being physically (or virtually) framed by the browser and / or employing motifs of internet culture such as loading messages or spinning / circling / rotating icons signifying the arrival of data. CodeTalk uses none of the above. It presents itself almost as a movie, full screen and yet its obviously not a movie because the content is so current. With a fast automated internet connection no indication of connecting across a network is given so the work seems to almost magically pull this text from out of the air.

Heavily dependent on the network yet visually independent of it is what makes this piece interesting as project or experiment.

:: Garrett Lynch [+] ::
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The iMAGES FESTiVAL 2004 wraps up tomorrow night in Toronto. Celebrating its 17th year, the iMAGES FESTiVAL presents film, video, interactive,performance, and highlights the related issues of imagery and technology. If you are in the Toronto area, visit the remaining events before the festival concludes on 24 April. For those of us beyond reach, check out the two on-line projects that make up the New Media component of this year's festival: New Media Works curated by Caitlin Fisher and PAUSE, a collaboration with Montreal's MediaGaze.com.

Friday April 23 5:00 PM
Innis Town Hall
Mind the Gap: Technology in Performance Art Practice

A free panel discussion that will investigate issues related to performance art practices that include audio, video and/or digital images as part of live presentations. Performance art practices are those involving technology at a rapid rate: live video mixing, often in conjunction with audio, web-streaming and real-time digital manipulation with performance but to name a few. As technologies evolve, artists respond by incorporating newer processes into established modes. As a result there are numerous evolving methods of utilization of new technologies in performance art practices and these are altering the landscape of such variant practices.

Panelists include: Michelle Kasprzak (facilitator), Dr. Ed Slopek, Johanna Householder, Valérie Lamontagne and People Like Us

Additional events for FRIDAY 23 APRIL.

Events for SATURDAY 24 APRIL.
:: [+] ::
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2004 Webby Awards nominees netart category:

Access
http://www.accessproject.net
communimage
http://www.communimage.ch/engl
Gravity
http://art.teleportacia.org/exhibition/GRAVITY
Uncle Roy All Around You
http://www.uncleroyallaroundyou.co.uk
velvet-strike
http://www.opensorcery.net/velvet-strike


:: Peter Luining [+] ::
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Are you feeling nostalgic for some good old arcade games? How about Asteroids? Now you can play a shockwave version of Asteroids created by Jim Andrews. Asteroids 2.6 appropriates the game but instead of graphics in the shape of asteroids and spaceships, we get text in different colors. Your ship could be called "persephone" and the space rocks are terms ranging from "at the moment" to "photography becomes insubstantial." The texts are actually written by Christina McPhee and Helen Thorington.

The only criticism I have is about the sound, which consists of exclamations by people in pain or in awe; while this makes sense conceptually, in this case it is not effective in real practice, because it ends up sounding a bit "cheesy." In the end this aesthetic appears to be trying too hard.
:: Eduardo Navas [+] ::
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Readers of netartreview should be well aware of Stunned.org's, Irish Museum of Modern Art which was run from 2002 and then taken over by the real Irish Museum of Modern Art. Well you be glad to hear that all is not lost.

Firstly the site has resurfaced on the stunned website and secondly their Net Art Open is calling for works for 2004.

"As before this is an open exhibiton with no thematic constraints which is open to all artwork which is net based or has a significant net based element. All work that meets the criteria will be shown. This is an ongoing call for work with no deadlines and entries will be accepted until the end of 2004.

2004 will see a change of format, rather then a single large exhibition as in previous editions the 2004 exhibition will adopt a revolving format which will focus on up to four projects per month with an archive of all entries. The exhibition will continue until the end of 2004."

For full details please check the site.

:: Garrett Lynch [+] ::
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How far can hypertext go these days? Well, if we consider Shockwave a legitimate tool for the genre, then a long way. Anton Soderman develops text based pieces that no longer fit the usual hyperlink aethetic. Instead, his work redefines the computer screen as a space where abstract narratives depend on sound and movement. Unlike much online material created these days dependent on film language, however, Soderman's work uses the language of printed media. In many ways it is reminiscent of the early layout explorations by Mallarme, who became famous for promoting the random placement of words on the page as a way to create poems.

Soderman currently has three projects online that I strongly recommend. First is "Toward a Circulation of the Page," which as the title implies consists of a circular movement around quotes; this piece is accompanied by a smooth melody. "Waveland" is perhaps the least interesting of the three pieces. It consists of a set of words at the top spelling "land" and another set of words spelling "wave" moving from the bottom up. When the moving text hits the words at the top a sound much like the crash of waves is heard. Next is "caught released;" like "waveland" this piece presents text at the top and bottom of the screen stating, "Caught in Themes Released by Time"; the letters move at random and at different speeds, eventually deforming the sentences. If the user mouses over the top or bottom then the letters proceed to move up or down, depending on their original placement. This piece is the most visually appealing of the three, and is perhaps the most effective extention of Mallarme's aesthetic, if we want to keep him in mind as the forefather of experimental layouts.

To experience the hypertexts, log on and click on the link for "Hypertext."
:: Eduardo Navas [+] ::
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