apologies for crossposting - last week reminder for the BTS 2018 call!

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Besides the Screen Conference 2018
Vaults, Archives, Clouds and Platforms: Archiving and Preservation in the
21st Century
King’s College, London, UK (2 - 3 July 2018)
CIAC-ISMAI, Porto, PT (5 - 6 July 2018)

Deadline for abstracts: 2nd April 2018

The 2018 Besides the Screen Conference welcomes paper, panel, artwork,
installation, and workshop proposals on the theme of archiving and
preserving audiovisual materials in the 21st century. The topic of
archiving and preservation has gained even more significance as forms and
formats of audio visual media continue to exponentially expand. Within such
a context, those working within archives, museums, libraries and a range of
cultural organisations must shoulder the seemingly impossible tasks of
sourcing, storing, maintaining and making accessible an ever-growing
catalogue of media history. Furthermore, these topics of archiving and
storage have personal resonances too as, in many instances, our personal
libraries of physical media are being migrated onto the services of ‘cloud’
storage providers. The metaphor of the cloud conjures up images of a
formless, lighter than air solution to all our storage woes. However, the
material underpinnings of cloud storage raises questions around access and
privacy, energy consumption and emerging spaces of memory.

The 2018 Besides the Screen conference is taking place in two stages, in
the cities of London and Porto. We invite abstracts for papers, workshops,
single/multi-channel artworks, audiovisual performances, installations
pieces, and/or panels that explore the following topics and we welcome
proposals across a range of media including, but not limited to: film, TV,
games, radio, music, dance, theatre, network media, immersive media, and
beyond.

• Preservation and capturing of performance-based and ‘born digital’
media
• Environmental consequences of media storage
• Media infrastructures
• Technologies of media storage, preservation, curation and archiving
• Challenges facing museums and archives
• Public performance/exhibition of archival works
• Enabling and preventing access to archival works
• Ephemera, experiential and the unarchiavable
• Immersive and experiential media (AR, VR, MR)
• Tactical archiving and global politics
• Memory structures, the storage as document and the writing of
History
• Archiving the network and the networks of archiving
• Monumental media
• Private, public, and intimate media collections
• Preservation, exhumation, and euthanasia of audiovisual content
• Cinema in the blockchain

Submissions for individual papers should include an abstract of under 250
words and a short biographical note (150 words). Pre-constituted panel and
workshop proposals should have 3 or 4 participants and provide an abstract
of under 250 words and a short biographical note (150 words) for each
presenter as well as a panel/workshop overview (300 words). Artwork,
demonstration and installation proposals should include a short
description/ synopsis (250 words), links to available documentation (videos
/ pictures), and a complete list of technical requirements. Please indicate
in the submission whether the proposal is meant for the event in London,
Porto, or both. To submit your paper, panel or workshop, please follow the
link to the submission portal at: http://besidesthescreen.com/submission/

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Besides the Screen is an international research network on the subject of
experimental audiovisual media. It aims to reconfigure the field of screen
studies by refocusing it on the seemingly secondary objects, processes, and
practices that exist within cinema. Besides the Screen also means to
promote an open and horizontal academic environment, favouring
practice-based approaches to research and artist collaborations. More info
can be found at besidesthescreen.com.