Ludic Cartography. Mapping GameSpaces

CFP: Ludic Cartography. Mapping GameSpaces



Sandtable2
[Image courtesy of Sony]

CFP: Ludic Cartography. Mapping GameSpaces

Full Name/Name of Organization
Matteo Bittanti, Henry Lowood, Bonnie De Varco

Stanford University
Contact email: Matteo Bittanti at bittanti at Stanford dot edu and/or Henry Lowood at lowood at Stanford dot edu and/or bonnie de varco at devarco at cruzio. dot com

CFP categories:
Video Games, Cartography, Virtual Worlds, Game Studies, Sociology

Description
The How They Got Game Project at Stanford University is currently seeking papers that explore the connections between mapping, cartographic practices, and electronic gaming for an illustrated book that will be published in 2010. Specifically, we are interested in representations of spaces in video games through the aid of maps and mapping tools. Video games establish new topographies and new geographies that - while making obvious references to pre-existing models - create a new understanding of the world and its spaces. Our goal is to show and explain how digital spaces [i.e. video games and virtual worlds] are being mapped by a new generation of cartographers.

Topics might include:

- History and evolution of mapping in games
- Origins and evolution of strategy guides
- Uses of modern cartographic tools (e.g. Google Earth) for video games
- Uses of innovative displays for mapping/visualizing games
- Case studies of key games that use innovative cartographic solutions
- Legal issues related to cartography in gaming
- Visual display of game related information on-screen and off-screen
- The relationship between traditional (analog) and digital ludic cartography

Please send a one to two page proposal by April 25th to Matteo Bittanti at bittanti at Stanford dot edu and/or Henry Lowood at lowood at Stanford dot edu and/or bonnie de varco at devarco at cruzio. dot com.

Interdisciplinarity will be a key feature of this project. Authors are encouraged to include high-resolution images in their essays and to use pictorial material in a creative, rather than complementary, way in their essay.

Authors of papers accepted be notified by June 1, 2009. In addition to the book, we are currently evaluating various spin-offs (e.g. organizing an exhibition).

Hacker Space Festival 2009 | Call For Proposals

========================================================================
/tmp/lab announces the second Hacker Space Festival
(Paris, 26-30 June 2009)
========================================================================

Hacker Space Festival 2009 | Call For Proposals

In 2008, we organized HSF[1] on the spot, as an ad-hoc meeting for
hackerspaces-related networks, technical and artistic research emerging
from them and social questionning arising from them. This sudden
experiment proved to be a huge success, as much as on the
self-organizing level as on the participants and meetings quality, as
well as the emotionally-charged ambient, the kind of which you make
fond memories.

The 2008 edition generated a strong emulation in France, from its
historical role as the first official hack meeting there, and in Europe
with the subsequent creation of the Hacker Space Brussels[2], the
rapprochement with The Fiber in Amsterdam and the hackerspaces.org[3]
network. Initiatives of hackerspace openings in Grenoble or Lille, or
the upcoming FrHack[4] conference show an actual enthusiasm in the
French hackers community that was doomed to the "underground" not so
long ago. We salute these initiatives and their diversity!

Soon enough, we wanted to reiterate the HSF experience : however, it
was out of the question to institutionalize this temporary autonomous
zone, nor make it an ersatz of the previous edition, nor even to wrap
it into an "elite" or "underground" aura. On the opposite, we ardently
desire; and especially to explore further, in all directions some
lesser known domains (see below) et foster meeting and sharing around
experiences at the confluence of art, technology and politics.

The world financial crisis, the decay of democracy in Europe, the
obscurantism, paranoia and lack of culture presiding over legislation
(Internet and Reaction... Err... Creation Law[5][6]) seem a fertile
environment for the sensible development of new (social...) life forms.
Quick! Let's rest for a few days in jubilation and ecstasy to take a
deep breathe of freedom under the indelicate smells of the medicine
factory nearby!

For if the public space is shrinking to oblivion, where any side-step
becomes suspect, and that, from an early age (deviant behavior
detection in nursery school), where moving without a mobile phone
becomes suspect (hello you Julien Coupat[7], a French political
prisoner in France!), there's a domain that the Leviathan would have a
lot of trouble to contain, and for a reason: that of sensitivity. Even
the desperate attempts of the State to block the free and premonitory
expression of sense (hello you Demeure du Chaos![8]) cannot do anything
against a loud laughter or a knowing glance, a sensual kiss or an
explosion of colors.

Sensitivity, we could say, is what is left to a human being when she
has nothing anymore, and differenciates her from the body corporate or
the institution, that are, in essence, devoid of it. Therefore, Art
definitely remains the public space to share between humans, and only
between us. And if it the last one to share, we propose to explore it
and take it over during the upcoming edition of the Hacker Space
Festival, from the 26th to 30th of June, 2009 at Vitry sur Seine[9].

========================================================================
Keynote Speakers: Sergey Grim and Larry Fake with Eric Schmoudt
Groogle Summer of Crode, Survivor style
"VLC, I vote against you because you really fucked up when..."

========================================================================
== W A N T E D =========================================================

Focus on solutions rather than problems.

* The Final (Hardware) Frontier: Open FPGA Cores, Reverse Engineering
* Designer Religions and Creative Beliefs Systems
* WiFiDoors & WiFi System-on-Chip controllers firmware hacking,
infection & backdooring
* Telecom Core Network Equipment Reverse Engineering: MSC, STP,
Switches, ...
* Algebraic Attacks and Modern Cryptography Attacks
* Autonomous, Parasitic and Viral Drones
* Enhanced or Infected Reality Swarms
* Auto-Builders / Self-Fabrication
* Embedded OS breakins stories & recipes
* Actualization rather than mere concepts
* FPGA & ASIC hacking / backdooring
* Cloud+Privacy+Open Source: O Brave New World?
* Explosion-Proof clothing
* Radio Appz & Hackz: Mesh @ RF Layer 1-3
* Database & Privacy
* Problematic & Ethical Open Source/Content Licenses
* Institutional Relationships: Lobbying or Licking?
* Non Lethal Protection (anti-taser vests?)
* Survival in the Age of the Ministry of Immigration and National
Identity
* Mental asylum improvised visit
* Open Source Legacy Media(TM) Production Solutions (TV, Radio, Press,
DRM)
* Gas Sensors & Environmental Benchmarking
* Building Hackerspaces Without Money
* Milsatcomm hacking: Military satellites shots, broken birds in the
sky
* Other research topics on security and insecurity
* Academics and Hackers
* Organics and Fermentation
* Clean Food in Tainted Environment
* Low Impact Energy & Recycling
* Media Sandwich: layers of crap makes good food?
* Deconstructing Carla Sarkozy
* Knitting DIY Factory (jazzy, eh?)
* Signs of life among industrial wasteland
* Hallucinogenic & Computing: Can you Code on Acid?
* Mesh Networking (Wireless BattleMesh Royal!)
* Legal Sabotage: When Democracy Needs You

And anything that does not fit.

========================================================================
== P R O P O S E =======================================================

Send you contributions to HSF2009-CFP@lists.tmplab.org

+ Type of the proposal:

1. conference (45min. presentation + 10min. for questions)
2. workshop / demo (30min. à 2 heures)
3. installation / performance (music, plastic, sound, video)

Lightning talks can be proposed and organized until the last moment,
according to available space and schedule, in the form of BarCamps or
Blitz Conferences.

+ Required Information:

* Title of the presentation
* Type (see above)
* Language : French or English
* Name of speaker(s)
* Affiliation (organization / company)
* Short biography
* Abstract (5 to 10 lines)
* Topics / Keywords
* Includes a demo? YES | NO
* Release during the festival? YES | NO
* Internet connection required? YES | NO

+ Acceptable Formats

* Open Document
* PDF
* Plain Text
* RTF

+ Agenda

* beginning of proposals : now
* end of proposals : 01 May 2009
* selection notification : 07 May 2009
* publication of program : 15 May 2009

+ Evaluation criteria for proposals:

1. Innovating Topic
2. Open Technology
3. Demonstration / Live Act
4. DIY Reproducibility
5. Fun Potential

The Programming Committee resembles that of last year
See : http://hackerspace.net/committee

========================================================================
== V E N U E ===========================================================

/tmp/lab
6 Bis rue Leon Geffroy
94400 Vitry sur Seine
France

http://hackerspace.net/directions

========================================================================
== P A R T I C I P A T E ===============================================

Email : http://lists.tmplab.org/listinfo.cgi/hsf2009-talk-tmplab.org
CFPmail: HSF2009-CFP@lists.tmplab.org
IRC : irc://irc.freenode.net/frlab
Jabber : xmpp:hsf2009@space.cepheide.org?join
Wiki : http://hackerspace.net/hsf2009

========================================================================
== L I N K S ===========================================================

The CFP is available online at http://hackerspace.net/cfp

[1] http://hackerspace.net/hsf2008
[2] http://hsb.wikidot.com/
[3] http://hackerspaces.org/
[4] http://www.frhack.org/
[5] http://jaimelesautistes.fr/
[6] http://laquadrature.net/
[7] http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julien_Coupat
[8] http://www.demeureduchaos.org/
[9] http://hackerspace.net/
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english)

Digital Art and Culture 2009

Digital Art and Culture 2009

Saturday evening 12 Dec through Tuesday evening 15 Dec.

This iteration of DAC will dwell on the specificities of embodiment and cultural, social and physical location with respect to digital technologies and networked communications.

DAC09 will be structured around themes, each theme being composed of panels. DAC09 will be held in the Arts Plaza of the University of California Irvine. Simon Penny is director of DAC09.

Opening reception: Saturday evening 12Dec at Beall Center for Art and Technology.
The Beall Center will be hosting a specially curated DAC-centric Exhibition.
Conference Proper: Sunday 13Dec, Monday 14Dec, Tuesday 15Dec.

Abstract Proposal Deadline May1.
Proposals must be made within specific conference Themes.
Please visit the website for further details.


New Theme
A Space-Time of Ubiquity and Embeddedness
Theme leaders Ulrik Ekman and Mark Hansen.


Conference Accommodation
Negotiations are under way for reduced price block bookings for attendees at nearby hotels. Information will be posted at dac09.uci.edu

Artist and Computer, Ruth Leavitt (ed.), 1976

the whole book can be found here

Creative Cities - Das Versprechen der kreativen Ökonomie

http://www.thenextlayer.org/CreativeCities

SYMPOSIUM 31. März 2009

Veranstalter: ORF, Ö1 Wissenschaft
Ort: Radiokulturhaus Wien
Zeit: 14:00 - 20.00 Uhr

"Mit dem Ende des Industriezeitalters werden die „Creative Industries“

von Regierungen weltweit als wirtschaftliches Hoffnungsgebiet
beschworen. Künstlerische Kreativität soll neue Produkte und
Arbeitsplätze schaffen, und die kreative Arbeit soll nun zum Modell der
Arbeit in allen Branchen werden. Doch welche Widersprüche verbergen sich
hinter dem Versprechen der kreativen Ökonomie?

Ist "Prekarität" der Preis für das flexible und eigenverantwortliche
Arbeiten? Wie vertragen sich künstlerische Gesellschaftskritik und
wirtschaftliches Gewinnstreben? Wer profitiert vom Schutz geistigen
Eigentums? Ist der Zwang zur ökonomischen Verwertbarkeit für das
kreative Schaffen letztlich kontraproduktiv? Vor welchen
Herausforderungen steht die Gesellschaft, wenn Kreativität plötzlich ins
Zentrum wirtschaftlichen Interesses rückt?

Beim Ö1 Symposium dekonstruieren, kontextualisieren und diskutieren
internationale Expert/innen Begriffe wie Kreativität, Creative Class und
Creative Cities."

Programm

Beginn: 14.00 Uhr

Moderation: Ina Zwerger und Armin Medosch
Begrüßung: N.N., BMUKK

Creative Labour & Proletarian Playtime in the European City
Richard Barbrook, Westminster University, London

Kunstarbeit – eine pragmatische Analyse
Diedrich Diederichsen, Kulturwissenschafter, Berlin / Wien

Publikumsgespräch und Pause

Freie Kultur und die Folgen der kreativen Politik -
Am Beispiel der Niederlande
Geert Lovink, Institute of Network Culture, Amsterdam

Vom Kruppstahl zu den Creative Industries – Am Beispiel Dortmund
Inke Arns, HMKV, Hartware Medienkunst, Dortmund

Publikumsgespräch

Images of Economy: KulturproduzentInnen und geistiges Eigentum
Jaime Stapleton, Associate Research Fellow, Birkbeck, University of London

Pause

Künstlerische Interventionen
Marlies Pöschl /cre-activity check;
Djana Covic & Fahim Amir / from live models
tagr.tv

Wirtschaftliche und subjektive Verarmung im Neoliberalismus. Eine Kritik der Creative Industries
Maurizio Lazzarato, Soziologe und Philosoph, Paris
übersetzt von Stefan Nowotny

Diskussion
Vom Versprechen der kreativen Ökonomie: Fantasma oder Paradigmenwechsel?
Mit Andreas Spiegl, Vizerektor der Akademie der Bildenden Künste
Monika Mokre, Politikwissenschafterin (FOKUS)
Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, Geschäftsführer von departure
Stefan Leitner-Sidl, Gründer der Schraubenfabrik
Walter Gröbchen, Labelbetreiber
Marion von Osten, Künstlerin

Konzept und Moderation: Ina Zwerger und Armin Medosch

Positions in flux: On the changing role of the artist and institution in the networked society

Friday, May 8th, 2009
Organised by Netherlands Media Art Institute (NIMk), Amsterdam
Symposium venue: Trouw Amsterdam Wibautstraat 131, Amsterdam www.trouwamsterdam.nl

The symposium 'Positions in flux: On the changing role of the artist and
institution in the networked society' will center on some of the major
parameters for the current and future development of contemporary 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 what comes ahead and how to respond to these changes on an
artistic or institutional level. 'Positions in flux' will provide a
platform and “thinkspace” for artists, cultural workers, theoreticians
and a broader public to envision the future in our field and to provide
us with the necessary information to make choices for a meaningful and
sustainable development of society and culture.

The symposium will be streamed from the symposium venue, Trouw
Amsterdam. Online audiences will have the opportunity to participate in
the debate in the live discussion forum. The results of the debate and
its main contributions are reviewed and published online on the new
Media Art Platform. www.mediaartplatform.org

Speakers and panels
Please note that speakers and times are subject to change.

9:00 – 10:00 Registration
9:45 Welcome and Introduction
by Heiner Holtappels, director of NIMk and Susanne Jaschko, the
symposium's curator
10.30 – 12.30 Panel 1: Art goes politics
In this session we will discuss the potential of art to contribute to
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? What
does it take to successfully implement and conduct projects in zones of
crisis? How far do these projects benefit from the dubious attention of
the mass media?

Hans Bernhard (AT), artist, UBERMORGEN.COM http://www.ubermorgen.com
Wafaa Bilal, artist (IQ/US)http://www.wafaabilal.com
Knowbotic Research, artist group (DE/CH), artist in residence at NIMk 2008/2009 http://www.krcf.org
Moderated by Chris Keulemans, writer and journalist (NL) (tbc)
http://roadtrip.submarinechannel.com/content/view.jsp?mapid=5986&itemid=4897&menu=true

12.30 – 13.30 Lunch break
13.30 – 15.30 Panel 2: New territories and cultures of the digital
This panel will look at the geographical shift that media culture
currently undergoes and that will shape the future of this field. In the
past, Europe, North America and Japan were at the forefront of digital
production, design, art and technological research. Now that digital
technologies become available at lower prices and spread more widely on
the globe, new digital communities flourish. This panel looks
specifically at new initiatives and bottom-up organisations in other
parts of the world such as East Europe, the Middle East, Africa and
South America, trying to understand what characterizes these
initiatives. In how far do local and national cultures shape digital
culture? Do these initiatives share common experiences and challenges,
or is there no common ground to be found? Which kind of art arises from
these new nodes on the digital map? How can we support the growth and
establishment of these organisations?

Bronac Ferran (UK), researcher, consultant and founding member of bricolabs http://www.boundaryobject.org
Nat Muller, independent curator and critic (NL)
Marcus Neustetter, media artist, curator and co-founder of Trinity
Session (ZA) http://www.onair.co.za/thetrinitysession/index_temp.html
Adam Somlai-Fischer, artist and architect, programme director of Kitchen Budapest(HU) http://www.kitchenbudapest.hu
Moderated by Rob van Kranenburg, thinker, networker and author (NL/BE)

15.30 – 16.00 Coffee Break

16.00 – 18.00 Panel 3: Open Source – A scheme for art production and
curating?
This session deals with the concept of open source for art production
and its presentation. The open source movement is driven by the idea of
collective, process-based, sustainable production and improvement. In
software development this strategy has already proven to be valid;
however can this model be applied to other products such as artworks or
even exhibitions? In how far does the open source model differ from
other forms of artistic collaboration? Is there a new role model for
both the artist and the curator in the future? Which (economic) value
and impact has expertise in open source production? How could
institutions and organisations respond to this trend?

Marcos Garcia, director of Interactivos, Medialab Prado (ES)http://www.medialab-prado.es
Jaromil, dyne.org and researcher at NIMk http://jaromil.dyne.org/journal/
Joasia Krysa, curator, founder of KURATOR (PL/UK) http://www.kurator.org
Moderated by Susanne Jaschko, chief curator NIMk (DE/NL)http://www.sujaschko.de

Roy Ascott retrospective, "The Syncretic Sense"

http://www.plymouthartscentre.org/art/future.html
starting: April 4th 2009
end: May 24th 2009
Plymouth


from the Plymouth Arts Center's website:

"The first UK retrospective exhibition of the pioneering cybernetic artist Roy Ascott, curated in collaboration with
i-DAT (Institute for Digital Art and Technology, University of Plymouth).

Long before email and the internet, Roy Ascott started using online computer networks as an art medium and coined the term telematic art. Since the 1960s he has been a pioneer of art, which brought together the science of cybernetics with elements of Dada, Surrealism, Fluxus and Pop Art. Parallel to his artwork, Roy Ascott is a highly acclaimed teacher and theorist of art pedagogy.

This exhibition explores the influences and rhetoric of Roy Ascott’s work, mapping the impact, history and development of technology and looking to the future of Web2 and Second life. Roy Ascott sees telematic art as the transformation of the viewer into an active participant in creating the artwork, which remains in process throughout its duration. Significantly, the content of his projects were often spiritual: staging the first planetary casting of the I Ching with an early form of network in 1982; whilst his major installation at the Ars Electronica centre in 1989 explored Gaia theory.

The exhibition also looks back at the impact of Roy Ascott’s experimental years of art education. In the 1960s Roy Ascott was the head of Groundcourse at Ealing College of Art and developed one of the most influential and unorthodox approaches to teaching foundation studies in art. The basis of the course was developed around cybernetic theories of systems of communication: the flow of information, interactive exchange, feedback, participation and systemic relationship.

Roy Ascott studied under Victor Pasmore and Richard Hamilton at King’s College, Newcastle, University of Durham. His exhibitions include Venice Biennale, Ars Electronica Linz and Biennale do Mercosul, Brazil. He was President 
of the Ontario College of Art and Dean of San Francisco Art Institute. He is President of the Planetary Collegium, an international research network based in the University of Plymouth www.planetary-collegium.net

Press enquiries: Contact Hannah Prothero
Marketing & Communications Manager
Phone: 01752 276993
Email: hannah at plymouthartscentre dot org"

"

"ARTFORUM goes CRITICALARTWARE" - jonCates (2009)

ARTFORUM March 2009

i've written a short response to the Media Art Histories approach that the current ARTFORUM takes in relation to their cover feature: "IN CONVERSATION: DARA BIRNBAUM AND CORY ARCANGEL" (an interview/discussion between (Video) artist Dara Birnbaum and (New Media) artist Cory Arcangel). the response is on my blog:

http://joncates.blogspot.com/2009/03/artforum-goes-criticalartware.html