Positions in flux: artists and institutions in the networked society

Positions in flux: artists and institutions in the networked society
Friday May 8th, 2009

Organized by:
Netherlands Media Art Institute
Keizersgracht 264
1016 EV Amsterdam
The Netherlands

www.nimk.nl

Symposium location:
Trouw Amsterdam
Wibautstraat 131
1091 GL Amsterdam

The Netherlands Media Art Institute announces the one-day symposium Positions in flux: On the changing role of the artist and institution in the networked society. The symposium will center on some of the major parameters for the current and future development of contemporary media art. In particular it will reflect on the aspect of cultural sustainability of art projects, art and technology initiatives and art curating.

Positions in flux will give floor to international artists, theoreticians, critics, cultural producers and aims to initiate a truly critical debate. The symposium is designed for a broad audience working in the field of contemporary culture and art, with a desire to understand the future and how to respond to these changes on an artistic or institutional level. The symposium takes the form of three interlinked panels.

Art goes politics
Can art contribute to the solution of global and local problems such as religious conflicts, environmental or social crisis? Or is art constrained to raising awareness only? Should art become an agency for political and social affairs at all? How to successfully implement and conduct art projects in zones of crisis?

New territories and cultures of the digital
This panel looks in particular at young art initiatives and media art production in East Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America. Which specific local situations shape these initiatives? And do they share common experiences, challenges and strategies? What kind of art arises from these new nodes on the digital map?

Open Source – A scheme for production and curating?
The open source movement is driven by the idea of collective, process-based, sustainable production of software. Can this scheme be applied to the production of artworks or exhibitions even? Is there a new role model for both the artist and the curator in the future? Which (economic) value does expertise have in open source production?

Speakers (selection)
● Hans Bernhard (at), artist, UEBERMORGEN.COM
● Bronac Ferran (uk), researcher, consultant and founding member of bricolabs
● Marcos Garcia (es), director of Interactivos, Medialab Prado, Madrid
● Jaromil (it/nl), artist, hacker and founder of dyne.org, researcher Netherlands Media Art Institute
● Susanne Jaschko (de/nl), chief curator Netherlands Media Art Institute
● Rob van Kranenburg (nl), thinker and author The Internet of Things
● Joasia Krysa (pl/uk), curator and founder KURATOR.ORG
● Nat Muller (nl), curator and critic
● Marcus Neustetter (za), artist and co-founder of The Trinity Session and the Southern African New Media Art Network
● Adam Somlai-Fischer (hu), architect and programme director of Kitchen Budapest
● Yvonne Wilhelm/Christian Hübler (de/ch), artists, Knowbotic Research

The symposium will be streamed from the symposium venue, Trouw Amsterdam. Online audiences can participate in the debate in the live discussion forum.

The symposium is part of the Here we are – There we go programme at the Netherlands Media Art Institute, May 8th – 10th, 2009 which takes place on the occasion of the Institute’s 30th anniversary. Here we are – There we go celebrates the Institute’s achievements in these thirty years and plans for the future with an exciting open house weekend of artist talks, workshops, performances, installations, tours and a party.

Please check www.nimk.nl for details and updates on the programme.
Please contact info@nimk.nl for inquiries and symposium reservations.

Here we are – There we go is made possible with the kind support of the Mondriaan Foundation and the Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst.