Archives at Argos and you tube video selcted by INC

image taken from one of Ken Jacobs' Nervous Magic Lantern Performances

With the first edition of the bi-annual event OPEN ARCHIVE #1, Argos opens its collections, revealing the multiple correlations latent in the numerous audio-visual works comprising its archive. A series of curated programmes and specially grouped thematic sections highlight the new acquisitions and works selected by an international jury. A lively, diverse series of conferences, lectures, performances and screenings completes the project aiming to activate some of the key issues in audiovisual culture today. The long list of international guests includes Tony Conrad, Ken Jacobs, Eliane Radigue, Lev Manovich, Laura Mulvey, Keith Sanborn, Charles Curtis, David Toop, Steve Reinke, Philippe-Alain Michaud, among many others.

Parallely to OPEN ARCHIVE #1, Argos will continue its extra muros activities with a series of international events featuring works and artists from the Argos collections. In October and November the Ecran d'Art series at Cinéma Arenberg will bring to Brussels the work of Japanese artist Naomi Kawase and British avant-garde filmmaker John Smith. Another legendary avant-garde filmmaker, Kenneth Anger, will be the subject of a full retrospective programme and international seminar taking place in November at the Film Museum.



VIDEO VORTEX : RESPONSES TO YOUTUBE
Conference
Fri 05.10.2007 11:00 - 19:00

Over the past years the moving image has claimed an increasingly prominent place on the Internet. Thanks to a wide range of technologies and web applications it has become possible, not only to record and distribute video, but to edit and remix it on-line as well. With this world of possibilities within reach of a multitude of social actors, the potential of video as a personal means of expression has arrived at a totally new dimension. How is this potential being used? How do artists and activists react to the popularity of YouTube and other 'user-generated-content' websites? What is the impact of the availability of massive on-line images and sound databases on aesthetics and narrativity? How is Cinema, as an art form and experience, influenced by the development of widely spreading internet practices? What does YouTube tell us about the state of art in visual culture? And how does the participation culture of video-sharing and vlogging reach some degree of autonomy and diversity, escaping the laws of the mass media and the strong grip of media conglomerates?

This Video Vortex conference is the first in a series of international events, aimed at critical research and reflection surrounding the production and distribution of on-line video content, at the instigation of the Institute of Network Cultures (INC).

Johan Grimonprez, Peter Horvath, Lev Manovich, Ana Kronschnabl & Tomas Rawlings, Adrian Miles, Simon Ruschmeyer, Keith Sanborn, Peter Westenberg

moderated by Geert Lovink
Co-production with Institute of Network Cultures

20:30 VIDEO VORTEX screenings: the Conference will be followed by a selection of exceptional, witty and provoking Internet videos, compiled for the occassion by international and local guests.