[deli.ci.us bookmarks] 11.12.08

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Welcome to eclectic avenue
"The festival explores the notion of urban space in a temporal and mobile way," curator St/(c)phane Bertrand said. "It's an exchange between residents and artists based on the themes of gesture, movement and infiltration into the everyday."

Anish Kapoor Opens London's New 'Gallery Without Walls' – 24 Hour Museum
t heralds what promises to be an new era for public art

Abstract Public Art Bike Rack I – Reno, NV – Bicycle Tenders on Waymarking.com
Abstract (Green) Public Art Bike Rack in downtown Reno, Nevada

MinnPost – From Our Partners: Walker Art Center: The UnConvention: unscripting the political convention
"We're working with artists who are very adept at creating powerful messages that encourage people to get involved and think differently,"

Loreto Martin: Autonomous public art workshop, Madrid
A course about unsanctioned art in public spaces: urban intervention, graffiti, postgraffiti, free muralism, creative activism, outsider public art

Controversial art shows Arpaio holding people at gunpoint
Cardboard cutout vigilantes?

Comment: 'Berkeley Big People' invites mockery
SF Chron critic Kenneth Baker on public art and whether "bad art celebrate good causes?"

Turbulence causes waves in Cardigan – WalesOnline
What is status of this Lozano-Hemmer project?

Exploding Language Public Art Project | Twin Cities Daily Planet | Minneapolis – St. Paul

Public Art in Google Street View (Good Mag)
Cybrid public art

"Bad artists copy. Great artists steal."Picasso: Art in the Public Realm
Quotations and viewpoints on the role of artists in the public domain.

3 Rivers Fest should weigh visual art role
Sobering but not saber rattling analysis.

Street Art That's Approved by the Authorities, For Once
Not sure why soemthing like this isn't part of every city infrastructure project…

“Top 5 High-tech public art masterpieces”

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The surprising thing about this CNET compilation of Top 5 “Hi-tech public art masterpieces” is that it’s a pretty good list.

Watch video.

It’s a little hard to tell, but it looks like Jim Campbell’s “light bulb grid” was the version shown in New York, but we also commissioned a new version for the recent 01SJ Biennial, 1st and San Fernando.

More pix of the amazing Moveable Type by Mark Hansen and Ben Rubin here.

More pix of The Fountain by David Small and Ben Tre here.

Also in the top 10 is Nuage Vert by HeHe (Helen Evans and Heiko Hansen), which won the 01SJ Green Prix for Environmental Art.

via weplaytech

Quiet time in Times Square

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Times Square At 44 1/2 Presented by Creative Time. Photo: Steve Dietz
Times Square At 44 1/2 Presented by Creative Time. Photo: Steve Dietz
Times Square At 44 1/2 Presented by Creative Time. Photo: Steve Dietz
Times Square At 44 1/2 Presented by Creative Time. Photo: Steve Dietz
Times Square At 44 1/2 Presented by Creative Time. Photo: Steve Dietz
Times Square At 44 1/2 Presented by Creative Time. Photo: Steve Dietz

I was in New York last weekend and made a point of going to see Gilbert & George’s 1970 video “A Portrait of the Artists as Young Men,” which Creative Time was presenting as part of its 44 1/2 program in Times Square. I was not disappointed. The dissonance between the stillness of the video, where they stare unblinkingly (pretty much) at the camera without making any kind of effort – including to be perfectly still – and the frenetic blinking of the Times Square signage around them is even eerier than seeing the video in a white cube setting.

PDPal: Julian Bleecker, Scott Paterson, Marina Zurkow

PDPal, which I commissioned while at the Walker was also presented by Creative Time as part of its 59th minute program in 2003, and the sheer scale is always impressive, but Gilbert & George’s video was memorable for more than its scale.

I suppose at some level it’s just the difference of stillness, length, and black and white, which makes it stand out and like the Richard Linklater-influenced Chuck (Schwab) ads, the effect would lose its power through over-saturation, but I enjoyed it immensely.

Journal: Germaine Koh

Gilbert & George also reminded me of another favorite work, “Journal,” by Germaine Koh, which I commissioned for the Cleveland Ingenuity Fest in 2007. She wrote a daily 40 word “diary” on a LED news ticker in downtown Cleveland for a month – each day, the cumulative entries would be displayed hourly. Something about inserting her private tribulations into the latest stock news and international crises was equally compelling, even if one didn’t know her or the characters in her life (apologies for the dirty window through which this was recorded).


Germaine Koh, Journal from Steve Dietz on Vimeo.

Urban Screens

Where can we start an art urban screen program in the Twin Cities?

Do you know the Central Corridor?

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The Metropolitan Council is seeking community members to work with artists selected for each of the Central Corridor LRT stations. According to Met Counci’s Public Involvement page:

Community members are needed for the Station Art Committee. Please read the Station Art Committee Charter (pdf) prior to applying. Applications must be submitted via email no later than November 14th, 2008. If you are having any problems submitting your application or have questions, please contact Jessica Hill at jessica.hill@metc.state.mn.us or (651) 602-1840.

Station Art Committees

  • West Bank
  • East Bank
  • Stadium Village
  • 29th Avenue
  • Westgate/Raymond
  • Fairview
  • Snelling
  • Lexington
  • Dale
  • Rice
  • Capitol East/10th
  • 4th and Cedar
  • Union Depot

via MinnPost

Mainstreet meltdown

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ligorano/reese, Main Street Meltdown

On October 29, 2008, the 79th anniversary of Black Tuesday, the stock market crash that caused the Great Depression in 1929, artists Ligorano/Reese will meltdown the “Economy.”

In a new, time-based event, called Main Street Meltdown the artists will install the word “Economy,” carved in ice, in Foley Square, using the New York Supreme Court as a back drop.

The event begins on Wednesday, October 29th at 9 AM and will last 24 hours.

Northern Lights co-presented ligorano/reese’s earlier frozen Cassandra warning, The State of Things, which spelled out the word Democracy, during the Republican National Convention as part of the UnConvention.


Interview with bystander at The State of Things from LigoranoReese on Vimeo.

If the Shua fits…

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Shua Group test

“If you’re near Federal Hill [in Baltimore] on Sunday afternoon, and 200 people simultaneously drop to their knees and begin crawling on the ground, you might think that you’re witnessing a mass, public-spirited search for a lost contact lens.

“You’d be completely wrong, but also kind of right. Public Moves Federal Hill has nothing to do with locating a tinted disc roughly the size of a fingernail. But the community art project has everything to do with seeing the world from a sharper, more focused point of view.

“‘Hopefully, this will encourage both the people participating and accidental observers to open their senses to what’s happening around us,’ says Joshua Bisset, 34, who is organizing the event with his wife, Laura Quattrocchi.

“‘That’s really one of the purposes of art. If I’m in a gallery looking at a painting, and then go outside, I’m flooded with details about my surroundings that I hadn’t noticed before. If people see this work, and a day later, see a kid scrambling down Federal Hill, they might look at it in a new way. One of our goals is to show how everyday movement is inherently aesthetic and can be transformed into art.'”

via Baltimore Sun
Public Moves Federal Hill
Shua Group

Compare Shua’s intervention to Francis Alys’ When Faith Moves Mountains (2002).

Francis Alys, When Faith Moves Mountains

“On April 11, 2002, five hundred volunteers were supplied with shovels and asked to form a single line at the foot of a giant sand dune in Ventanilla, an area outside Lima. This human comb pushed a certain quantity of sand a certain distance, thereby moving a sixteen-hundred-foot-long sand dune about four inches from its original position.”

via Artforum

It also reminds me of one of my favorite public performances, Frozen Grand Central by Improv Everywhere.

Not a flash in the pan

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Atlanta’s take on Nuit Blanche.

“If you head out to Castleberry Hill the evening of Oct. 24, beware: You may get mobbed. A nomadic band of paparazzi photographers may accost you, detonate flashbulbs in your face, stick microphones at you and then turn suddenly to swarm the next unsuspecting noncelebrity.

“If you’re fortunate enough to be caught in the melee, then you’ve stumbled into “Paparazzi Flash Mob,” a work of guerilla street theater by artist Trey Burns. The piece is one of more than 40 art projects that comprise Le Flash, an evening of light-based public and performance art that aims to engulf Castleberry Hill all Friday night and leave its impression on the neighborhood for days, and perhaps years, to come.”

via Cinque Hicks

Continuous City

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Since 2002, world-renowned Builders Association has presented a series of remarkable theatrical experiences that tell the story of our increasingly urban and globalized world: Aladeen (2002-2005), Super Vision (2005-2006), and now Continuous City, which is showing at the Walker Art Center this Thursday through Saturday, October 23-25. The Walker is offering special discounted tickets to Friday’s performance. Get them while you can.

From Philip Bither, William and Nadine McGuire Senior Curator, Performing Arts, Walker Art Center:

Dear friend,

The Walker is proud to present the Builders Association’s Continuous City this Thursday-Saturday, October 23-25 at 8 pm. I hope you can join us to see this Walker-commissioned new work. As a friend of the Walker and the arts community, we would like to extend you and your staff $15 tickets to the Friday, October 24 performance. To redeem this offer, please contact the Walker box office at 612.375.7600 and mention “friend”. This a show that I think you will like very much, fascinating both as a very strong piece of theater and as a commentary on how technology is altering our lives.

Like past Builders Association productions, Continuous City is stunningly beautifully and technically advanced. However, with this piece they have achieved a series of interweaving stories and a narrative arc that, in power, humor and humanity, match the company’s conceptual and technical prowess. The company has been in residence with the Walker for the past week continuing to work on the show and it is looking fantastic. After the Walker, it will go on to BAM’s Next Wave Festival in New York, as well as touring stops across Europe and in Asia.

Below is more information on the show and a link to a major feature on the piece that appeared in the Star Tribune this past weekend.

The Builders Association
Continuous City
Thursday-Saturday, October 23-25, 8 pm
McGuire Theater, Walker Art Center
612.375.7600
walkerart.org/tickets

“The Builders Association is itself an innovator in multimedia theater, using video, animation, sampled sounds, and god-knows-what sorts of computerized gizmos to produce gorgeous illusions.”—Village Voice

See the future of theater today. New York City–based wizards the Builders Association (Aladeen, Super Vision), with fingers firmly pressed to the pulse of today’s changing world, weave an engrossing fable about ways that constant connectivity alters our sense of distance and intimacy. A globe-hopping father and his homebound daughter, whose lives are transformed by digital speed and failing cell phones, and the other intriguing characters who populate this story are propelled by leading-edge computer animation, electronic music, and live performance.

A participatory Web site (www.continuouscity.org) and local filming of key scenes further conflate the global and the local, the mediated and the real.

Commissioned by the Walker Art Center.

Read last Sunday’s Star Tribune article on Continuous City here.

Warm Regards,
Philip
Philip Bither
William and Nadine McGuire Senior Curator, Performing Arts
Walker Art Center

Check out Cluster

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Cluster

“Cluster is an open network situated at the intersection of city, design and innovation; where creativity is the drive for change.

“Cluster gives voice to the potential of innovation, peripherical and central visions, and global outlooks. It is a place where architects, designers, artists, curators, critics and everyone can exchange and confront opinions. The aim is to encourage debate and active participation, the promotion of cultural events and support for creative expression in different disciplines. Current events, journalistic information and music, but above all critical reflections make the fabric of Cluster.”

These projects are smokin’!

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Memory Cloud, Trafalgar Square

“Animating the built environment through conversation”

is the great tagline for the project Memory Cloud by Minimaforms, which was just presented at Trafalgar Square in London.

According to the website

“Memory Cloud is based on smoke signals – one of the oldest forms of visual communication, for three nights the public will be invited to participate by sending text messages that will be grafted onto plumes of smoke. Fusing ancient and contemporary forms of communication, Memory Cloud creates a dynamic hybrid space that will project personal statements as part of an evolving text, animating the built environment through conversation.”

via Public Art Goes Up In Smoke


In 1999, Germaine Koh presented Prayers, an “ntervention with computer, electronic circuitry and fog machine,” at the Ottawa Art Gallery.

“Throughout the day, a computer interface captures all the keystrokes typed on another computer within the same building. In real time, it translates this raw data to Morse code and broadcasts into the surrounding atmosphere as Morse-encoded smoke signals (longer and shorter puffs of smoke from a standard fog machine) through a vent or other opening in the building. More and less active at various times of the day and its output more and less visible under varying conditions, the apparatus is a kind of exhaust system for the machine of daily industry. At the same time, it relates today’s electronic communications to previous revolutions in technology and communications: telegraph, binary languages, steam power, smoke signals. Everyday hopes and fleeting desires, channelled through the implements of daily work, are briefly given form as they are dispersed into the world at large, on the wing of a prayer.”

Also this past week, Ali Momeni and Robin Mandel presented Smoke and Hot Air at the Almost Cinema Festival in Vooruit, Gent.

“Smoke and hot air animates my response to the relentless threats against Iran by a myriad of more fortunate countries in recent years. Sentences that include ‘attack Iran’ are scavanged from Google News and spoken using a text-to-speech synthesizer. The voice is then picked up by a microphone, analyzed, and translated into rhythmically corresponding smoke rings from a quartet of smoke ring makers.”
Ali Momeni

video here

Gratitude Guerilla Action

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Krista Kelley Walsh, a 2008 Art(ists) on the Verge recipient, is organizing a Gratitude Guerilla Action Sunday Oct 19th Phalen Park, St. Paul 10-5.

Gratitude Guerilla is a public art action currently done in City Parks and walking paths in St. Paul Mn…. because there is so much to be thankful for and when we are aware of our appreciation we are more likely to take care of what we have.

The Interactive City in Detroit and Milwaukee

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This week, two lectures/panels related to the “interactive city.”

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Future of Creative Expression for Cities

A panel at the Creative Cities Summit 2.0
http://creativecitiessummit.com/c/agenda/
http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Northern-Lights/41442276136#/event.php?eid=34584795828

Time: 1:30pm – 2:45pm
Location: Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center

Creative practitioners are drawn to places with ecologies that can sustain and invigorate what they do. Creative and cultural activity can revitalize neighborhoods, allow residents to re-imagine the place they live, and shape a new identity for a place in the face of competition for talent, investment, and recognition. The Future of Creative Expression for Cites will explore the value and impact that practitioners working across the fields of art, design, architecture, urban planning and new technology are making on cities now and will discuss the implications for the future. Join our group of panelists as they share examples, inspiration and insights from their work and participate in the debate.

Moderator:
Cezanne Charles, Director of Creative Industries, ArtServe Michigan

Featuring:
Monica Ponce de Leon, Dean of the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Steve Dietz, Artistic Director of ZER01 San Jose, CA
Lewis Biggs, Chief Executive of Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK

Thursday, October 16

The City As Interactive Installation

http://tylerstefanich.com/clients/northernlights/2008/10/the-city-as-interactive-installation/
http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Northern-Lights/41442276136#/event.php?eid=28913384207

Time: 6:15pm – 8:00pm
Location: Milwaukee Art Museum

The exhibition Act/React at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Oct. 4 – Jan. 11, is one of the most significant exhibitions of the art of the interactive installation within the white cube of the museum. With the rise and convergence of mobile computing, ubiquitous Internet access, and locative services such as global positioning systems, many artists are working to make the urban environment itself a space of action and reaction.

Steve Dietz, artistic director of the 01SJ Biennial in San Jose, California, and executive director of Northern Lights, will discuss the burgeoning practice of interactive art in the public sphere, from urban scale installations to ephemeral interventions. He will explore how such practices can change the relationship of a city’s citizenry to its built environment.

Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Arts

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2009 Call for Artists

Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art 2009
Doug Geers & Ali Momeni, Artistic Directors
J. Anthony Allen, Producer
James P Hunglemann, Nightlife Curator

Call for Works

University of Minnesota West Bank Arts Quarter
In partnership with the American Composers Forum
Announces

2009 Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art
West Bank Arts Quarter, University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus

Minneapolis, MN February 17 – February 22

Call for Artists, Composers, and Presenters

Submission Deadline: 11:59pm PST, October 31, 2008 (postmarked)

The University of Minnesota West Bank Arts Quarter and Collaborative Arts Program (COLA) are proud to present the 2009 Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Arts, February 17-22. The festival will be held on the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota (USA) and neighboring Minneapolis performing arts venues, and will feature numerous guest artists to be announced.

Now in its seventh year, the Spark Festival showcases the groundbreaking works of music, art, theater, and dance that feature use of new technologies. Last year’s festival included innovative works by over one hundred international composers and artists, including featured guest artists Paul Demarinis, Graffiti Research Lab, Iancu Dumitrescu, and Richard Devine. Leading scholars and technology specialists also presented lectures and panels relating to new technology and creativity. Audiences for the concerts, installations, and lectures last year totaled approximately 4,000 people and garnered multiple articles and reviews in local and national media.

Spark invites submissions of art, dance, theater, and music works incorporating new media, including electroacoustic concert music, experimental electronica, theatrical and dance works, installations, kinetic sculpture, artbots, video, and other non-traditional genres. Although Spark does not force submissions to adhere to a annual theme, we are especially interested this year to feature wearable and mobile technologies, and events will include the first Spark Fashion Show.

Spark also invites submission of scholarly lectures and panel proposals on topics of Collaborative Arts, Interactivity, Cognition, Compositional and Artistic Process, Social and Ethical Issues in the Arts, Art, Music, Video, Film, Animation, Theater, Dance, Innovative Use of Technology in Education, Scientific Visualization, Virtual Reality, intermedia composition, performance, human-computer interaction, software/hardware development, aesthetics, and history and all topics related to the creation of new media art and music. For Spark 2009, we are particularly interested in lectures about wearable and mobile technologies, but submissions on any of the above topics are welcome. All accepted papers will be published as part of the Spark proceedings. Please see http://www.spark.cla.umn.edu/media.html for PDF copies of the Spark 2006, 2007, and 2008 proceedings and program.

Dance/Theater Submissions

Dance/Theater works will be accepted in two categories:

1. Staged works: A number of theatrical and dance works incorporating new technologies will be programmed at Spark 2009. Submissions must be short works (up to fifteen minutes; excerpts from longer pieces are acceptable). We especially encourage submission of works that have minimal set and lighting requirements, so that they may be integrated into programs with music and video works. At least one Spark performance will happen in a dance theater with video projection and an Internet 2 connection, but most will happen on “concert” stages. Please include performance venue and technical requirements with submissions.

2. Guerilla-style works: Spark is very interested in alternative performances that take place outside traditional venues, especially work that could engage passers-by on the University of Minnesota campus or outside other performance venues. Among the many possibilities, we are particularly interested in wearable and mobile technologies, as well as live-video works to be projected onto buildings in the West Bank Arts Quarter.

NOTE that if any dance/theater piece has a wearable/mobile technology component that could also be part of the Spark Fashion Show, we encourage applicants to submit it in both categories and mention in their submission that this is being done.

Visual Art Works

Submissions will be accepted in four categories:

1. Wearable Technology/Intelligent Fashion: Spark is very interested this year to showcase computerization of clothing and related wearable and mobile art/instruments. We will hold our first-ever Spark Fashion Show, which will combine a runway-type presentation of works with a session of short talks giving more details on the technologies and designs.

2. Installations and gallery works: A number of installation and gallery exhibitions will be mounted in various spaces on the UMN campus, including the Weisman Art Museum, the Regis Center for Art, and possibly at performance venues. Please include technical and space requirements with submission. Installations may be physical objects, video and/or sound projections, or combinations thereof. Artists will likely be required to provide at least some, and possibly all, of the necessary technology to mount installations.

3. Video: Experimental video works will be screened at multiple Spark events. Although there is no strict limit of duration, pieces of twelve minutes or less are encouraged. Please submit on DVD (NTSC) or DVD data disk in mpg, mov, or avi file format. Videos featuring digital music compositions (two-channel or Dolby 5.1) are welcome, but should be submitted as music videos and will be judged separately from non-music-centric works.

4. Guerilla-style works: See #2 in Dance/Theater, above.

Music Submissions

Music submissions will be accepted in seven categories:

1. Concert Hall works: Interactive works for acoustic instruments and electroacoustics (performance forces are available, TBA) and electroacoustic works with and without performers. Performance venues will accommodate 2-8 channel works and works with video. Although there is no strict limit of duration, pieces of fifteen minutes or less are strongly encouraged. This year, Spark encourages submissions of works for electronics with one of the following solo instruments: trumpet, tenor (voice), percussion (marimba especially), or violin. Additionally, the Renegade Ensemble, a local ensemble consisting of 2 percussion, 2 piano, clarinet (Bb, bass, etc), mezzo-soprano, cello and flute will perform several works. Other instruments and ensembles are possible. And, as always, bringing one’s own performer(s) is highly encouraged.

Note: Although some “tape music” will be programmed, Spark generally favors works with live performers or other visual component. Some accepted “tape” works may be choreographed. Please indicate if you do not wish to be considered for this.

2. Pub/Club works (aka Spark Nightlife): Experimental electronic performances in a “club-style” venue. Performers of various styles will be considered, including those influenced by IDM, hip-hop, glitch, jazz, etc. Selected performers will be given sets of 15-45 minutes. Performance venue will accommodate stereo sound and video. Please note that this venue is literally a pub–It will be a loud place. If your work requires a quiet atmosphere, please submit under the Concert Hall or Ambient Room category.

3. Ambient Room works (aka Nightlife/Ambient): Experimental electronic performances in a coffeehouse or club lounge venue. Works of any aesthetic approach are welcome, but ought to be “quiet” music. Please note that this venue will be a public establishment, not a concert hall, and thus listeners may converse during performances.

4. Installations: [See “Art Works” above]

5. Music with video [See “Art Works” above for general parameters, but also note that this year we ask submitters to specify whether the work is a video piece or a music video piece and these will be judged by separate juries.] Music with Video may also be submitted in either the Nightlife category or Nightlife/Ambient category.

6. Special Submission Category: “Homemade” instruments showcase. We encourage submission of proposals for short (15 minute) talk/performances to explain and demonstrate custom-made instruments. These presentations will happen in lieu of one or more daytime concerts. If the instrument is an item of clothing or otherwise mobile, please consider submitting under the Spark Fashion category (above).

7. Guerilla-style works/performances: See #2 in Dance/Theater, above.

Papers/Talks/Panels

Technical papers, lecture/demonstrations, panels, and workshop submissions that deal with topics relating to creating arts and music with new technology are encouraged, including discussions of ideas and technology related to works submitted for performance at Spark 2009, as well as topics of Collaborative Arts, Interactivity, Aesthetics, History, Cognition, Compositional and Artistic Process, Innovative Use of Technology in Education, Social and Ethical Issues in the Arts, Art, Music, Video, Film, Animation, Theater, Dance, Scientific Visualization, Virtual Reality, Intermedia Composition, Performance, Human- Computer interaction, Software/Hardware Development. For Spark 2009, we are particularly interested in papers discussing custom-made instruments and wearable/mobile creations; but submissions on other topics are welcome. All accepted authors must attend to present their lectures.

Submissions should consist of a 1-2 page abstract with bibliography. Where appropriate, camera-ready papers will be due on December 10, 2008.

Submission Requirements

Applicants are invited to submit one work per category in up to three categories for consideration. All applicants must complete an online submission form on the Spark Festival website and include their submission number(s) with any physical media sent via postal mail. Applicants are strongly encouraged to post submission materials to their own websites or other online media resources (e.g. YouTube, FreeSound…) and submit a URL with the online form, rather than sending via post (Spark does not accept submissions as email attachments). This will greatly help the Spark juries view submissions and make decisions in the most timely fashion. The submissions website is at http://spark.cla.umn.edu/submissions.html. The online submission system will be opened on Thursday, Oct. 9.

Music submissions for multichannel (more than stereo) speaker configuration should be submitted as a stereo mix.

Regarding music and other performance works: Performing resources will be drawn from the University of Minnesota and Twin Cities area musicians. However, Spark has only a small budget for this purpose, and availability of musicians will be taken into consideration when selecting works. Therefore applicants are encouraged to bring their own performers when possible. More information about available performers will be posted on http://www.sparkfestival.org when known.

Composers and artists whose works are selected for inclusion are strongly encouraged to attend the festival. Scholars whose papers, talks, demonstrations, or panels are accepted will be required to attend Spark to deliver their presentation.

Spark is also looking for works that fit into the “Twin Cities Showcase Concerts” that happen as the introduction to the festival. To be considered for these events, please indicate in the comments section of the online application that you are a Twin Cities artist interested in this category.

Please note that Spark requires documentation of work in order for it to be selected. Spark does not program works from proposals or descriptions of works in-progress, without exception. (For a complete music work that has not yet been premiered, a MIDI realization is acceptable.) Also note that, regretfully, Spark does not have financial resources to fund selected artists.

Technical Details

Selected works will be announced by November 30, and travel and accommodations information will be posted on http://www.sparkfestival.org by the same date. If an artist requires notification information sooner (for funding applications, for instance), s/he should email sparkfst@umn.edu to inquire about possible early notification.

Submission deadline is 11:59pm (PST), October 31 2008 (postmarked)
All submissions for Spark 2009 must be initiated via the online submissions procedure on the Spark 2009 website at http://www.sparkfestival.org. More details about Spark 2009 will posted there soon. Questions can be directed to the Spark hosts at sparkfst@umn.edu.

Materials not posted online can be mailed to:
American Composers Forum
c/o Spark Festival
332 Minnesota Street
Suite E-145
St. Paul, MN. 55101

Spark 2009 has been made possible by generous support from the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts and the American Composers Forum.

LA Freewaves: Hollywould

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“Along Hollywood Boulevard this weekend, amid the restaurants, theaters, clothing stores and clubs, you can add in one giant, virtual screening room. The upscale Lotería Grill will project on a wall a faux documentary about life in Mexico after a utopian revolution. Kayden’s Creations, a tattoo parlor-gallery, will present a live painting video. More in the mood for sex in the city? Erotic supplier Bizzy B has given over its flat screen to a piece about gender.

“Such experimental works as these make up the 11th biennial Freewaves festival of film, video and new media, opening today. Though the five-day event, dubbed “Hollywould,” involves more than a hundred works from around the world, the loose unifying theme plays off the confusion between Hollywood, the industry, and Hollywood, the ZIP Code.”

Freewaves festival turns Hollywood Boulevard into a giant screening room, Los Angeles Times

The city as interactive installation

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The exhibition Act/React at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Oct. 4 – Jan. 11, is one of the most significant exhibitions of the art of the interactive installation within the white cube of the museum. With the rise and convergence of mobile computing, ubiquitous Internet access, and locative services such as global positioning systems, many artists are working to make the urban environment itself a space of action and reaction.

On Thursday, October 16, at 6:15 pm Steve Dietz, artistic director of the 01SJ Biennial in San Jose, California, and executive director of Northern Lights, will discuss the burgeoning practice of interactive art in the public sphere, from urban scale installations to ephemeral interventions. He will explore how such practices can change the relationship of a city’s citizenry to its built environment.

Milwaukee Art Museum
700 N Art Museum Dr
Milwaukee, WI USA 53202