New Media Scotland announces DRIFT

DRIFT – New Media Scotland's major new initiative for sound and radio
art - launched on the 27th February to coincide with the opening of
Dialogues 2004, one of several live events in Scotland which reflect
widespread international interest in sound art and experimental music.
DRIFT is an exploration of sound art and experimental music featuring
radio broadcasts, moving image, publications, and live events. DRIFT is
a platform for artists from Scotland and beyond, a gateway to these
emerging cultural forms.

Visit the DRIFT web site to find out more:
http://www.mediascot.org/drift

For the launch, the DRIFT team streamed live audio through the weekend
from Dialogues 2004 at Edinburgh's Bongo Club. Highlights included a
night of Audio Perversion, featuring heavy hitters from Scotland's
electronic music scene teamed up with SiLENCiO's Cabaret; and SKIN,
featuring Mark Summers' viola da gamba with live electronics and four
specially commissioned works, using state of the art computer
technology to deconstruct an 18th century musical instrument. For those
who couldn't attend the Dialogues festival or listen to the live
stream, the DRIFT team bring you extensive highlights from the
Edinburgh event. We are streaming performances by a selection of
artists from the first two nights: Audio Perversion and Skin. You can
listen to compositions, re-mixes and voice works by the following
artists: Hannes Raffeseder, Penelope Pornstar, SNAIL, Joe Public, DJ
Daniel, SiLENCiO Babes, Han-Earl Park and Esprit, Pukey Vs. Cap'n K,
Triangle Head, Two Brothers and Me, Mark Summers.

The stream from Dialogues 2004 is just one of many activities taking
place over the next year as part of DRIFT. New Media Scotland is
pleased to announce the results of the DRIFT open submission selection.
In 2003 New Media Scotland sent out an open call for artists and
musicians worldwide to participate in DRIFT. 200 artists responded,
sending sound works and proposals grouped in 4 separate categories,
details follow.

Resonant Cities – a series of radio programmes curated by Robert H.
King which explore the sonic identity of our surrounding space. How we
listen and how aware we are of the seemingly 'ugly noise' around us is
at the heart of the wealth of works selected. From Glasgow to the
Dominican Republic and from Berlin to Mexico City, sonic explorers have
engaged with the fragmented noise of the city soundscape: the streets,
people and snatches of conversation, traffic, obtrusive music,
communication intrusions: mobile phones – radio traffic, city wildlife
and the general clutter of everyday life. Resonant Cities features work
by 44 artists including Lorenza Lucchi Basili, John Levack Drever,
Alistair MacDonald, Pippa Murphy, Ed Osborn, Pete Stollery, plus others
from around the globe.

DRIFT Radio Art Commission – Mark Vernon will produce a new radio art
work for broadcast both online and on-air, via audio streaming and FM
transmission. 'Evelyn's Request: Radio in Film' will examine how radio
has been portrayed in another medium. A work uniquely for radio in
which radio is both the medium and the content, the programme plays
with distinctions between fictional and factual radio whilst exploring
the portrayal of radio, Disc Jockeys, radio phone-ins, pirates and
Shock Jocks in popular cinema.

DRIFT Moving Image Programme – a touring video programme curated by
Iliyana Nedkova. Short films and videos by UK based artists, which take
as their starting point sound art or experimental music. Following the
success of New Media Scotland touring programmes such as Desktop Icons,
the DRIFT Moving Image programme will launch in August 2004 and tour to
venues in Scotland, the UK and internationally.

DRIFT Radio Programmes - a platform for artists ideas - one-off events,
regular shows, experimental sound projects, radio art work for
broadcast both online and on-air. Programmes confirmed so far include:
'Box 30/70' by Sam Auinger & Bruce Odland, urban soundscapes produced
using a length of pipe and a shipping container to 'tune' the sounds of
each location; and 'Velvet Honey' by Barry Burns, a helter skelter
narrative of life in the city.

Artworks selected from the open call are only part of the story. A
number of DRIFT projects are currently in progress, to be showcased
later in the year. For more information on DRIFT activities, updates
and news visit the DRIFT web site at http://www.mediascot.org/drift

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New Media Scotland is a national agency enabling cultural activities
shaped by new technologies. Supported by the Scottish Arts Council.

DRIFT is a year long project in partnership with cultural organisations
across Scotland and beyond. DRIFT is supported by the Scottish Arts
Council; Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science and Technology;
Liverpool School of Art & Design, Liverpool John Moores University;
Community Media Association.

For further details please contact:

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New Media Scotland
P.O. Box 23434, Edinburgh EH7 5SZ
Tel. +44 131 477 3774
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http://www.mediascot.org
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