Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 18:12:46 +0200
From: Lars Gustav Midboe <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Electrohype conference - looking for additional lecturers.

Dear list.

Finally we managed to raise the money to organize a conference
connected to the upcoming Electrohype 2002 exhibition here in Malmo,
Sweden.

We have invited several artists that will give lectures on the topic
"software and art,- software as art" and are now looking for
additional lecturers with theory/critic background.

The conference will be held October 24 and 25. The exhibition will
run for five days in two venues Malmo Konsthall and Carolinahallen
and present works by sixteen artists.

Enclosed is an intro text for the conference. The complete list of
participating artists, at the conference, will soon bee published at
our web site http://www.electrohype.org/

So please feel free to contact us if you are interested to
participate in the conference or if you would like to recommend a
person. Comments on the text are also welcome.

We are organizing Electrohype on a tight budget but we can offer,
travel and hotel and a honorarium of 250 Euro ( 2500 SEK)


-- TEXT --

Electrohype is organizing a two day conference which will focus on
software, software as an artistic tool and software as art. The
conference will present a panel consisting of artists and theorists
and will be a combination of presentations and continuous discussion.
We will invite artists who write their own software, artists working
close to programmers and theorists that closely follows the
development in computer based art.

Background

We are currently in the midst of an accelerated technological
evolution. The artists role as an analyst and critic is therefore
more important now than ever. Not only as an interpreter but also as
a counterweight to the endless stream of technological innovations
invading our private and public space.

Throughout the history of art there are many examples of artists
using new technology in unexpected ways, this also applies to the
transformation or shift from analogue to digital communication.
Computer based art represents a new experimental art form combining
the modernistic idea of enlightenment combined with the postmodern
deconstructive skepticism.

In the artistic work process software as a tool is just as important
as the computer. These days its presence is taken for granted but
many of us actually have very limited knowledge about software.
System and image processing software is regarded as standard
components and are given little thought,- as long as they work
properly. The software is reduced to a basic tool or an invisible
engine running out of a box placed discreetly out of sight.

Since the introduction of economically available personal computers
in the middle of the eighties many artists started using the computer
as a tool to reconstruct reality and our societies constant flow of
information. Other artists started looking inwards, focusing on and
exploring the internal and external processes run by the interplay
between hardware and software.

Most software used by artists today was originally intended for
commercial production, a fact that has been and still is a two-edged
sword. On the one side developers have continuously provided new,
better and cheaper software. On the not so bright side are the
limitations and the presence of standard software elements that often
can be noticed in the finished work of art. A direct consequence of
this is a noticeable tendency where several artists are moving away
from the standard packages and start creating their own software.
Others are doing hard modifications on existing software transforming
it to the tools they need. But software is no longer just a question
of tools. There are also artists creating new software with the
intention that the software itself will be the final art object.
Whatever the approach or intention the artist has toward software
generates an endless field of questions and problems. We will
therefore dedicate these two days to focusing on the various aspects
of software and simultaneously let the subject provide us with an
angel of approach to look at the present status of computer based art.


To give the conference a clear direction we have raised the following
questions:

What are the possibilities and limitations related to standard
software as an artistic tool?

How does the transition between artist and software and between
software and audience affect the artistic content?

What does the process of creating artistic software look like? What
lies in the future for the development of software as an art object?

Can software art change our self-perception in relationship to the
interplay between hardware, software and computer networks?

-- END TEXT --

If you encounter problems with this mail address please notify me at

[log in to unmask]

Lars Gustav Midboe

[log in to unmask]

www.electrohype.org

-- int -

  Electrohype office +46 40 780 20 mobil/tel:+ 46 705 198817

-- swe -

  Electrohypes kansli 040 - 78020 mobil/tel:+ 0705 198817