 |
 |
Public Library @ WOS3, Berlin, June 10-12, 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Public Library »Wizards of OS 3 - The Future of the Digital Commons« Berlin, June 10-12, 2004 www.wizards-of-os.org/ Public Library is a mini exhibition of art that engages with information freedom and knowledge commons in a direct, unmetaphorical way. It gathers several art works and projects which critically deal with the increasing commodification of culture and propose or embody alternatives. All those works have been released in the public domain or under free licenses. Public Library is conceived as a small public space consisting of bookshelves and desks in which the works can be accessed, viewed, browsed, read and copied. As a metaphor, Public Library follows the theme of »Wizards of OS 3 - The Future of the Digital Commons«. On the other hand, the title is not metaphorical since the works can be experienced just as in a public library, as opposed to more auratic and less accessible traditional white cube shows. The participating artists and projects are: Lloyd Dunn, Photostatic/Retrofuturism (1983-2004); Dragan Espenschied & Alvar Freude, insert coin (2000/2001); Kembrew McLeod, Freedom of ExpressionTM (1998); Internationale Situationniste (1950s/1960s); Cornelia Sollfrank, copyright © 2004, cornelia sollfrank (2004); Project Gnutenberg, textz.com (since 2001), walser.php (2002); David S. Touretzky et al., Gallery of CSS descramblers, and ubermorgen.com, Injunction Generator (2001). Concept and realisation: Inke Arns, Florian Cramer ---------- Art as Anticopyright Activism Thursday, 10 June 2004, 13:00, Track 2 The panel will introduce and explain the concept of the exhibition »Public Library« which is part of WOS 3, and it will discuss the history and status quo of anticopyright art with four participating artists whose work is shown in the exhibition. Questions to be addressed are: * Why and how did the anti-copyright activism turn from a fringe to a mainstream issue in the last 20 years? * Which are the individual forms and aesthetics of anticopyright art, from Mail Art and plunderphonics audio to net art and software? * Which individual, optimistic or pessimistic conclusions do the artist draw from years or sometimes decades of questioning copyright through artistic activism? * How has digital technology and new media changed the shape of anticopyright art? * Do Internet and digital media provide perfect solutions for such art, or have their drawbacks and limitations become more apparent? * Is anticopyright artistic activism just a critical reaction to a cultural status quo, or can it shape a new culture? Mod: Florian Cramer literary scientist, Berlin Mod: Inke Arns cultural scientist, author and independent curator, mikro e.V., Berlin Lloyd Dunn Founder of the Photostatic Magazine (1983-1998) and founding member of the Tape-Beatles, Prague Alvar Freude media artist, programmer and activist for information freedom (odem.org), Stuttgart - together with Dragan Espenschied he developed the Assoziationsblaster and insert_coin (2000/2001). Cornelia Sollfrank Cyberfeminist Concept Artist, Creator of automatic Net.art generators, Co-Founder of the Cyberfeminist International and Webmaster of artwarez.org, Hamburg Sebastian Lütgert Media Artist and Activist, Creator of Rolux and textz.com Berlin Inke Arns http://www.v2.nl/~arns