CONFERENCES

The 15 minutes presentations are organised within the WJ-S multi-screen environment, transformed for the occasion into a space for reflection and investigation. The online browsing through a selection of emblematic websites, chosen by the speakers, takes place simultaneously on 3 big screens.
The speakers are physically present or participate in the event through a video conference program.

WJ-SPOTS is a series of public conferences where participants (artists, critics, thinkers, inventors, researchers, curators, organisers and producers of cultural events) are invited to look back on 15 years of artistic creation on the internet.

WJ-SPOTS is a series of live conferences with a simultaneous online surf on a selection of URLs on 3 big screens.

WJ-SPOTS in an event that is webcast on the Internet, the online audience can interact with the participants on a live chat.

The events

WJ-SPOTS BERLIN

Thursday 4 February 2010 20:00-23:30

Betahaus
Prinzessinnenstraße 19-20
D-10969 Berlin
Germany

///////////////////////////// WAVE Opus 1 Programme The WAVE - Opus 1

Wave is part of Transmediale.10 Satellites

04.02.2010, 8pm till late

Betahaus : Prinzessinnenstraße 19-20, 10969 Berlin
http://www.betahaus.de
Live webstreaming : www.sidebysidestudio.net

WAVE Berlin Panel Discussion 8-10pm
« Innovative Artistic and Economic Practices »
with I-Wei li, Christine Kriegerowski, Claudia Burbaum, Ela Kagel, Eva Emenlauer-Blömers, Matthias Reichelt, Mike Stubbs, Tonia Welter.

WJ-SPOTS Berlin 10 PM to midnight
« 15 Years of Artistic Creation on the Internet »
with Anne Roquigny, I-Wei Li, Pierre Bongiovanni, Helen Thorington, Marie Petit, Maria Ptqk, Per Platou, Hans Bernhard, Isabelle Arvers, Anne Laforet.

Relais Culture Europe Production, SideBySide Studio Coordination, with Transmediale / Sklunk / Arscenic Support

///////////////////////////// WAVE Berlin Panel Discussion

Fluctuations in the economy have become similar to global climate warnings: nobody knows exactly what will happen tomorrow, or whether the future will be bleak or bright. Uncertainty seems to become the only certain rule.

Throughout the early 20th century, art was the forerunner of social, political and technological upheaval. Art at the time foresees (but not always understands) in advance what would happen. Now, artistic activity seems too be carried away by the whirlwind of uncertainty.

The democratic ideal has never seemed so fragile. To a very large extend, it remains to be a total utopia. The modesty of political ambitions, the widespread practice of mafia, the rise of nationalist and religious sect, continuation of poverty, distraught middle-class, all these elements are destroying day after day the ideals of brotherhood, equality, and liberty.

Modern communication technology and the digital economy have overwhelmed all social practices, either cultural or economical but we still have great difficulty understanding the reality. We still continue to struggle with positive outlook and engage in critical changes into the future.

In this context, it is possible to imagine new relationships between money, politics, and artistic creation?
How will we identify new approaches, especially critical approaches in a time of crisis?

Panelists:

I-Wei Li - artist, artistic director of SideBySide Studio
Christine Kriegerowski - visual artist, curator, NGBK
Claudia Burbaum - curator, NGBK
Ela Kagel - program curator of Transmediale, initiator of the Free Culture Incubator
Eva Emenlauer-Blömers - Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Technologie und Frauen
Mathias Reichelt - cultural journalist, curator and editor
Mike Stubbs - director and CEO of FACT, Liverpool, Professor of Liverpool
John Moores University
Tonia Welter - co-Funder and director of betahaus

///////////////////////////// WJ-Spots Berlin

Anne Roquigny, French media arts curator http://www.roquigny.info will follow her series of interviews in Berlin of outstanding figures of the internet community who share their reflections of 15 years of Internet history. The interviews are conducted inside the WJ-S (webjay) http://www.wj-s.orgt multi-screen environment, transformed into a space for thought and investigation. Live online browsing into a selection of emblematic websites, chosen by the speakers, take place simultaneously on 3 big screens. Real time surfing magnifies and augments thought presentation, offering multiple points of view while the participants comment and analyze, from an artistic perspective, how the Internet has been progressively taken over as a space of artistic creation, from its beginning until now.

http://www.wj-s.org/WJ-SPOTS-1-15-years-of-internet

Live internet browsing :

Isabelle Arvers (FR), curator, art critic / http://www.isabelle-arvers.com
Anne Laforet (FR) researcher and critic / http://www.sakasama.net

Live webcast : www.sidebysidestudio.net

Interviewees:

I-Wei (TW/CA/DE), artist, curator / http://www.sidebysidestudio.net/?lang=en
Pierre Bongiovanni (FR), artist, curator / http://www.bongiovanni.info
Helen Thorington (US), writer and sound artist and co-director Turbulence / http://www.turbulence.org
Marie Petit (FR), author, theater director / http://www.chambrebleue.eu
Maria Ptqk (ES), critic, curator / http://ptqkblogzine.blogspot.com
Per Platou (NO), artist, curator /http://www.perplatou.net
Hans Bernhard (CH), artist / http://www.ubermorgen.com

MCD « Musiques et Cultures Digitales Magazine » (http://www.digitalmcd.com )
special bilingual paper editions of WJ-SPOTS with the interviews and the bookmarks.
Videos of WJ-SPOTS events are published on line on Digitalart platform (http://www.digitalarti.com)

http://www.transmediale.de/en/betahaus-wave-opus-1-en

http://www.sidebysidestudio.net/spip.php?article41

Special thanx to : Quentin Drouet, Thomas Pigache & Gael Duongvandang.