CHANEL CONTEMPORARY ART CONTAINER BY ZAHA HADID

One of the most enjoyable part of being a curator for me is the design of the space and the walk through experience. I am so amazed that there will be a soundwalk in this much anticipating monumental art project. Although I had a similar idea before but it was banned due to infringing other exhibited space.

MOBILE ART is a traveling exhibition devised as a three-dimensional film and presented in a futuristic pavilion specially created by the architect Zaha Hadid.

The creative concept of MOBILE ART is the result of an aesthetic experiment conducted over the last two years in which the values and visual language of CHANEL confronted those of some twenty contemporary artists from all geographic and generational origins.

Invited to visit Mademoiselle Chanel's Parisian apartment, rue Cambon, and the workshops where the CHANEL handbags are made, these artists were given complete freedom to create artworks inspired by the elements that create the identity of CHANEL's emblematic accessory, the quilted bag.

All means of expression currently being used in contemporary art will be represented: installation, sculpture, photography, video, sound etc...

MOBILE ART is not so much an exhibition to be visited as a landscape to wander through in a completely new way: to experience the artists' installations, visitors equipped with a MP3 player must let themselves be guided mentally and physically by a soundtrack created by the label "Soundwalk" in collaboration with each of the artists. This soundtrack mixes the original music of a diverse range of artists with voice and ambient sound effects.

MOBILE ART is above all a new form of artistic expression, an unique experience, combining architecture, art, sound creation and fashion.

For more information, please visit www.chanel-mobileart.com

VENUE:
Star Ferry Car Park – Central, Hong Kong

EXHIBITION PERIOD:
27 February – 5 April, 2008

Curating new media art ?

Recently asked by a number of people about curating art, I find the topic was raised due to the demanding need of art programming in Hong Kong and there are some very interesting perspectives raised on the topics in the "International symposium on curating new media art" in March 2006

And this discussion two years ago will be particularly interesting to my fellow academia friends.

Paul Domela opened the floor for discussions by provoking Inke with the question: Should there be a separate discipline of new media curating? Yes and no, maintained Inke true to her talk’s dialectics. Curating media art as a field doesn’t make sense because curating in any field of contemporary art is essentially the same, yet the richness of activities and formats in media art make it possible to reflect on the way technology impacts on society. Pierre-Yves also chipped in by asserting that neither is media art dead (as prompted by Trebor) nor is the museum concerned solely with dead art. It is the role of the museum to ask (and try to answer) questions about how to present and preserve media art.

Amanda McDonald Crowley raised the issue of which institutions are actually collecting new media art? Just a handful: ZKM, Karlsruhe; Ars Electornica Centre, Linz and ICC, Tokyo which is closing down its collecting programme. Charlie Gere seconded Amanda’s statement by reminiscing about his father who was a ‘Keeper’ of art in a museum, alluding to the traditional custodial role for curators in museums. Charlie also talked about his own involvement in Cache, a project for preservation of early computer art. Museums involved were Science Museum, Victoria & Albert but NOT the likes of Tate – a reminder that there are issues around the status of this practice as art.

Inke also stated that museums only present a tip of the iceberg, for example video art is one section of media art which has made it into the institution as it works primarily visually. But what about the 85% of the media art iceberg which doesn’t make it into the museum? Different institutions are perhaps necessary, smaller, working more flexibly, and focusing on temporary projects. Alongside, broadening of the appeal and impact of the small field of new media was another strategy discussed. For me this is a clear case of a deja-vu as the issue of small-scale vs. large institutions and their role in fostering visibility and status for media art practices was widely debated in the Curating New Media Seminar at the BALTIC, Gateshead five years ago.

A question from the audience suggested that this is perhaps a problem of the white cube rather than media art as such. However, we still seem to be struggling with viable models of how to mediate or curate that which is not visible. In response, Inke referred to Makrolab as a successful interface for the immaterial information sphere; in materialising the data which normally remains invisible; as a mobile research area for the activities which are going on including performative texts and communication streams from satellites.

Sarah Cook and Pierre-Yves rounded off the discussion with the observation that more and more new galleries and museums seem to have no remit to collect: including the soon to open MOMA Brussels. It may come down to individuals donating or loaning their private collections to museums, as happened for example to certain past movements in art, such as Fluxus and mail art.

I noticed that in the discussion Tokyo ICC may have closed the acquisition but the space was reopened in June 2006.

A new MBA

Design is the future of business so the California Collage of Arts decided to start this new program: MBA in Design Strategy. The first class start in Fall 2008.

The innovative MBA in Design Strategy, which will enroll its first class of students in fall 2008, unites the studies of design, finance, and organizational management in a unique curriculum aimed at providing students with tools and strategies to address today's complex and interconnected market. The program's approach encompasses performance, strategy, innovation, and the encouragement of meaningful, sustainable social change.

I think the Chinese University MA program on cultural management should start thinking about a MBA.

Education is biggest business of all.

Ecodesign in cscout

I am looking for technology that carries the green philosophy. I heard from different people that it is also a discussion among green conscious designers now. I have this clipping that is half year ago.

Ecodesign is an approach to design considering the impact of the product on the environment. Ideally this encompasses the types of materials used, manufacturing, use and disposal.

Trend Description
The Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) and co-sponsor Business Week just wrapped up the 2007 International Design Excellence Awards, recognizing international designers in categories such as Environments, Business and Industrial Products, Consumer Products, Ecodesign, Furniture, Medical & Scientific among many others. The winning designs are as impressive as they are varied. Here is a brief glimpse at just a couple of the noteworthy designs.

Other eco building reports from China
An Interview with Green Builder George Bialecki
Beijing's eco-buildings start to take shape

CREATIVE BIOTECHNOLOGY: A USER'S MANUAL -

I do not like biology but I like biotechnology. Here is my long favorite artist book commissioned by Locus+.

Biotechnology promises to impact upon virtually every aspect of our lives, and yet the methods, techniques, and practices of biotech often remain closed off from the public, making it hard to understand exactly what it is and how it will impact our broader understanding of biology, politics, and culture. Biotech Hobbyism seeks to counteract this sense of alienation and fuel this curiosity through promoting an understanding of the means, what’s and where for’s of biotech.
Having worked with Locus+ to develop a series of prototype kits, the Biotech Hobbyist kits have been transformed into a publication in the form of a 'users manual'. In keeping with the open ethos of Biotech Hobbyist, these manuals will also exist in the format of an e-book that can be freely accessed via the Web
Includes commissioned texts by Denna Jones & Heath Bunting.

Video Vortex

After looking at the Video documentation for all presentations at the Video Vortex Brussels conference on 5 October 2007 in Argo blogs, I am very excited to look at the new round of video vortex.

Tmr at Amsterdam,Video Vortex Conference opens.
Here is the introduction :


In response to the increasing potential for video to become a significant form of personal media on the Internet, this conference examines the key issues that are emerging around the independent production and distribution of online video content. What are artists and activists responses to the popularity of ‘user-generated content’ websites? Is corporate backlash imminent?

After years of talk about digital conversions and crossmedia platforms we are now witnessing the merger of the Internet and television at a pace that no one predicted. For the baby boom generation, that currently forms the film and television establishment, the media organisations and conglomerates, this unfolds as a complete nightmare. Not only because of copyright issues but increasingly due to the shift of audience to vlogging and video-sharing websites as part of the development of a broader participatory culture.

The Video Vortex conference aims to contextualize these latest developments through presenting continuities and discontinuities in the artistic, activist and mainstream perspective of the last few decades. Unlike the way online video presents itself as the latest and greatest, there are long threads to be woven into the history of visual art, cinema and documentary production. The rise of the database as the dominant form of storing and accessing cultural artifacts has a rich tradition that still needs to be explored. The conference aims to raise the following questions:

How are people utilising the potential to independently produce and distribute independent video content on the Internet?
What are the alternatives to the proprietary standards currently being developed?
What are the commercial objectives that mass media is imposing on user-generated content and video-sharing databases?
What is the underlying economics of online video in the age of unlimited uploads?
How autonomous are vloggers within the broader domain of mass media?
How are cinema, television and video art being affected by the development of a ubiquitous online video practice?
What type of aesthetic and narrative issues does the database pose for online video practice?

The closing session on Saturday evening will explore the way VJs and media artists are accessing and using online archives. Under the banner of Video Slamming, this evening is all about the new ways of watching, using, and playing with moving images, such as scratching, sampling, mixing, (meta)tagging and recommending.

Emerging Technnology Conference

March 3-6, 2008
San Diego
I am always fascinated by Oreily conference. Web 2.0, Where 2.0, Emerging Technology and the term web 2.0 came from these conference. The man behind some of these is Brady Forrest
Heard that 2008 Etech conference will have a very good art show/ fair accompaning the convention, the art fair will be organised by Brady, Kati London and Regine of WMMNA. I expect very good stuff, recommended.
Register before Jan. 14 and save $300

NEW/OLD ROUTES -A Selection of Video Art From Central Asia

Participating Artists: Abilsait Atabekov, Erbolsin Meldibekov and Alexandr Ugay from Kazakhstan, Veaceslav Ahunov, Serghei Ticina from Uzbekistan, Ulan Djaparov, Gulnara Kasmalieva & Muratbek Djumaliev from Kyrgyzstan

Curated by Stefan Rusu

Opening: January 11th, 2008, Friday 18:30
Exhibition dates: January 12th - 20th, 2008 (11:00 - 18:00)
Lecture: January 14, 11 am
Venue: BizArt Art Center

4/f, Bldg 7, 50 Moganshan Road, 200060 Shanghai

Tel: 86 21 62775358

www.biz-art.com, www.arthub.org.cn

Li Xuehui: xuehui@biz-art.com

Alexia Dehaene: guanchaoqun@yahoo.com.cn

New/Old Routes is an exhibition and publication that explores the nomad specificity of the Islamic states after the collapse of Soviet Union. An overview of the present situation of the Central Asian context by an external viewer becomes imperative; this visual material compiled by a guest curator creates a retrospective look at the internal and evolving processes of the socio-political and cultural background.

Overlapping networks and the relationship between the archaic-nomadic and the present-day post-industrial traditions provide a synthetic equation and an extraordinary cultural load. The re-use of tradition in these artists' practices become the necessary tool for articulation of contemporary art discourse to establish the nods of resistance against inertia, apathy and historical amnesia.

The project's first edition that took place in Croatia, Poland, and Germany promoted the positions of Asian artists and enabled cultural exchange between the contemporary art practitioners from Europe and Central Asia. The project's current version as presented in Shanghai, China at BizArt Center intends to open up the process of cultural exchange between China and Central Asia and show a number of diverse positions on the Asian identity, with a special focus on video production from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

About the Curator:

Stefan Rusu is artist and freelance curator based in Chisinau, Moldova currently he is the projects coordinator at the Center for Contemporary Art/Chisinau. In 2005/2006 he attended the Curatorial Training Program at Shtichting De Appel from Amsterdam where he co-curated Mercury in Retrograde ( www.mercuryinretrograde.com)

About ArtHub
ArtHub Foundation not-for-profit organization that supports contemporary art creation
in China and the rest of Asia
New/Old Routes is organized as part of the Bizart/Arthub's Prince Claus Fund-the Netherlands Network Partners 2008-2010.

Situated Technologies Pamphlet 3: Situated Advocacy

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Situated Technologies Pamphlet 3: Situated Advocacy
http://situatedtechnologies.net/?q=node/76

Deadline for abstracts: February 15, 2008

The Situated Technologies Pamphlet Series invites submissions for its
upcoming volume on "Situated Advocacy."

Advocacy is the act of arguing on behalf of a particular issue, idea or person, and addresses issues including self-advocacy, environmental protection, the rights of women, youth and minorities, social justice, the re-structured digital divide and political reform. How might Situated Technologies be mobilized toward changing and/or influencing social or political policies, practices, and beliefs? What new forms of advocacy are enabled by contemporary location-based or context-aware media and information systems? How might they lend tactical support to the process of managing
information flows and disseminating strategic knowledge that influences individual behavior or opinion, corporate conduct or public policy and law?

+ Submission details:
We are seeking submissions from pairs of authors, in keeping with the format of a "conversation" between two individuals or groups. Please submit a 500 word abstract and short bio for each author (150 words max) in Rich Text Format (RTF) by February 15, 2008 to editors@situatedtechnologies.net. We expect final manuscripts will range from 7500-10,000 words and will be due by May 16, 2008. Please contact us if you have questions about potential essays or the Situated Technologies Pamphlet Series in general. More information is available at http://www.situatedtechnologies.net.

+ About the Series:
The Situated Technologies Pamphlet Series consists of nine short pamphlets to be published over the next three years, exploring the implications of ubiquitous computing for architecture and urbanism:how our experience of space and the choices we make within it are affected by a range of mobile, pervasive, embedded or otherwise "situated" technologies. The series, published via print-on-demand(POD), consists of a succession of "conversations" between researchers, writers and other practitioners from architecture, art, science and technology studies, comparative media study, performance studies, and engineering.

+ Series Editors:
Omar Khan, Trebor Scholz, Mark Shepard

+ Advisory Committee:
Keller Easterling, Anne Galloway, Malcolm McCullough, Howard Rheingold

+ Publisher:
The Architectural League of New York
http://www.archleague.org

Never tired of domino

美丽新世界：当代日本视觉文化

from http://www.beautifulnewworld.info/cat/documentation/
★美丽新世界★：当代日本视觉文化
Beautiful New World: Contemporary Visual Culture from Japan
美丽新世界：当代日本视觉文化
　　　　
展览日期：2007年12月25日（周二）—　2008年1月20日（周日）
开馆时间：9:00-17:00, 周一休息
@ 广东美术馆 （广东广州市二沙岛烟雨路38号 邮编:510105）
电话: 86-(0)20-8735-1468 传真: 86-(0)20-8735-3773
网址: www.gdmoa.org
主办:
日本国际交流基金会, 中央美术学院, 长征空间, 映画廊艺术中心, 东京画廊, 广东美术馆, 广州美术学院
共同主办方: 中国对外文化集团公司
赞助支持： 日本航空、资生堂
合作:日本科学未来馆
video
(第一部分　/　Section1)
Aida Makoto　会田　誠
Exonemo　エキソニモ
Kaneuji Teppei　金氏徹平
Konoike Tomoko　鴻池朋子
Kusama Yayoi　草間彌生
Murayama Ruriko　村山留里子
Nishiyama Minako　西山美なコ
Odani Motohiko　小谷元彦
Okazaki Kyoko　岡崎京子
Paramodel　パラモデル
Sawa Hiraki　さわひらき
SHIMABUKU　島袋道浩
Takamine Tadasu　高嶺　格
Tanaka Koki　田中功起
Ujino Muneteru　宇治野宗輝
Watanabe Go　渡辺豪
Xijing Men (Ozawa Tsuyoshi, Chen Shaoxiong, Gimhongsok)　西京人（小沢剛、陈劭雄、金泓锡）
Yanagi Miwa　やなぎみわ

(第二部分　/　Section 2)
Atelier Bow-wow　アトリエ・ワン 犬吠工作室
doubleNegatives Architecture　ダブルネガティヴス　アーキテクチャー
FINAL HOME　　终极家园
Fuji Hiroshi　藤　浩志
Ryoji Ikeda　池田亮司
Oshii Mamoru　押井　守
Yokoyama Yuichi　横山裕一
National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan)　日本科学未来館
　　　　
(第三部分　/　Section 3)
Fujihata Masaki　藤幡正樹
Hatakeyama Naoya　畠山直哉
Miyajima Tatsuo　宮島達男
Miyamoto Ryuji　宮本隆司
Ohmaki Shinji　大巻伸嗣
Urasawa Naoki 　浦沢直樹
Yanobe Kenji　ヤノベケンジ
Yoneda Tomoko　米田知子　

ATHENS VIDEO ART FESTIVAL 08 - CALL FOR ENTRIES

Athens Video Art Festival is the official Greek festival for video art. It aims to the support of digital culture and the promotion of this modern and innovative form of expression, giving the artists additional motives to create, and a platform to share their artistic vision with the public. Through its three very successful previous materializations, the festival has been endorsed by national factors and media and has gained the support of a big number of artists around the globe.

Athens Video Art Festival is held once a year in April and its call for entries is open from mid October to January.

Artists may participate with works of video art, installation art and performance art.

There is no entry fee.

No restrictions apply regarding the subject. In the case of submission of video art, the length of the video should not exceed 15 minutes. The video must be submitted in DVD (PAL) or mini dv format. Artists have the right to participate with more than one works, with a maximum of four. A separate entry form must be completed for each one.

The festival is open to both Greek and foreign artists alike.

Postmark deadline: 31th January 2008.

Please visit www.athensvideoartfestival.gr for instructions on how to participate.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR, ANNOUNCES THEME: "OPEN CULTURE"

Claude Gosselin, Executive and Artistic Director of the Centre international d'art contemporain de Montréal (CIAC), is delighted to announce the appointment of Scott Burnham (Montréal/London) as Creative Director of La Biennale de Montréal 2009. The Biennale will take place throughout Montréal during May 2009 as a collaborative redefinition of a biennial, working within Burnham's theme for 2009: "Open Culture". As Scott Burnham explains:

"We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in our relationship to art and culture. In the same way that the Open Source software movement has driven technological innovation, the tools and philosophies at the heart of remix and mashup culture, Creative Commons licensing, the Free Culture movement, and the drive for open access and contribution to creative, scientific and educational intellectual property is transforming culture itself. The line between audience and artist is blurring to the point of invisibility – in its place is a democratisation of the creative process and the demystification of the artist as shaman. The 2009 Biennale de Montréal: Open Culture will be the international focal point for the exploration of this shift in culture."

Another forum for young collectors

Via
YOUNG COLLECTORS
Panel Discussion

Aperture is pleased to present a special evening dedicated to the first steps of collecting photography. Moderated by esteemed collector and dealer, William Hunt from Hasted Hunt Gallery, this panel discussion represents a great opportunity to discuss the transition from being a photography lover, to making occasional purchases of prints, to defining oneself as a “collector”. The panelists will address the typical questions asked by a fledgling collector, such as: What are the joys and pitfalls of starting to build a collection? What do you need to know? At what stage does it matter?

An eclectic group of experienced and noted photography collectors will share their experiences on how to start collection, and answer audience questions. Panelists include: David Kronn and Gael Zafrany, from Charles Schwartz, Ltd., whose activity is to preserve and create collections for both museums and private individuals; Michael Hoeh, collector and author of the Modern Art Obsession’s blog on collecting; and internationally renowned designer, Todd Oldham.

Tuesday, December 11, 6:30 p.m.

Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th floor
New York, NY
(212) 505-5555

Moveable type at NY Times Building

My all time favorite new media art work "Listening Post"(2002) has never been able to come to HK. Microwave presented only their photo documentation in 2004. I saw it finally last year at ISEA and get so moved that I almost broke out my tears.
The artist Ben Ruben and Mark H Hansen did a new project "Moveable Type" at the lobby of New York Times Building, using words from William Burrough.
Video

Cosmetics

Women in film

Look at the gaze.

Robot can cook in Shenzhen

My everyday life

Microwave Media Arts Festival on SCMP

The Microwave International New Media Arts Festival this year presents 'Luminous Echo', an exhibition which appeals to both visual and aural senses.

The theme of the festival stems from Hong Kong's obsession with light and sound, allowing users to explore a new relationship with these ubiquitous elements that have come to define our city.

The Hong Kong City Hall houses the main exhibit...
As the finale of the Microwave New Media Arts Festival, US group Graffiti Research Lab 'bombs' Hong Kong's iconic skyline with the L.A.S.E.R tag system.

Watch as a local graffiti artist attempts to paint over the Hong Kong Cultural Centre from across the harbour at 1,200 metres away.
**WARNING** Video contains possible triad-related symbols. Police may raid this video to confiscate possible gangsta material.