Notes on Location of I

Art and the Internet, Joanne McNeill and Domenico Quaranta

art and internet

Location of I and I Wanted to See All the News From Today featured in the forthcoming book Art and the Internet by Joanne McNeill and Domenico Quaranta.

Art and the Internet is a much-needed visual survey of art influenced by, situated on and taking the subject of the internet over the last two and a half decades. From the early 1990s the internet has had multiple roles in art, not least in defining several new genres of practitioners, from early networked art to new forms of interactive and participatory works, but also because it is the great aggregator of all art, past and present. Art and the Internet examines the legacy of the internet on art, and, importantly, illuminates how artists and institutions are using it and why.

Black Dog Publishing, January 2014
Paperback, 240 pages, 300 b/w and colour ills, 280 x 230 mm
ISBN 9781907317989

Bridging Boundaries: Where Physical meets Virtual (2011)

Bridging Boundaries: Where Physical meets Virtual (2011)
Rhizome Curated Exhibition by fforster

As technology advances, the idea of the virtual and physical worlds being separate entities is becoming indistinct. This exhibition challenges the concepts of the two worlds and displays six pieces of art that cross these increasingly blurred boundaries.

While Chris Sugrue’s ‘Delicate Boundaries’ explores the visual aspect of crossing the boundaries, creating digital creatures that move through the computer screen becoming a part of the physical world, Aleksandar Macasev’s ‘Kontrola’ aimed to create a virus which could affect the virtual and the physical. Macasev claimed that the common denominator between a computer and a human is language, and he therefore made the linguistic Kontrola virus. Both of these artists’s works show how vague the separation of the two worlds is becoming, depicting how easy it is for something virtual to affect the physical too.

Both Tom Forkin, in ‘Body Extension’, and Martin John Callanan, in ‘Location of I’, have placed themselves into the virtual world. Through copying a part of himself onto the internet Forkin conceptually creates a body extension in the ‘other world’ he seems to straddle the line becoming both virtual and physical. Callanan also straddles the line, calling himself the ‘absolute citizen’, through uploading his physical location onto the internet continuously he has made himself a digital citizen. However through bridging this divide he has made himself vulnerable. Callanan’s piece describes not only how simple it is to cross that barrier, but the effects crossing the barrier has. Callanan seems isolated whether in a city like Dublin or desert in Morocco due to his marker being the only marker, making him seem the only citizen.

The final two pieces in the exhibition show examples of ways in which the virtual and the physical worlds interact but how influential the divide still is. In Pappenheimer’s piece ‘Breath on me’ he created an exhibition that was both online and physical. Online viewers had control of the webcams that were set up in the physical space, above each webcam was fixed a fan and in effect the online participants could ‘breath’, or fan air, at the physical visitors within the installation. Through this Pappenheimer enables communication, in the form of breath, between the two worlds. Along a similar idea, Karolina Sobecka’s piece ‘Sniff’ challenges the boundary of the two worlds through the ability for the human form to communicate with the digital animal. However the boundary is still evident due to the dog’s inability to cross through the wall it is projected onto. Although the dog still forms a relationship with the human, the divide is still apparent and tangible.

The Achive of Digital Art (Database of Virtual Art)

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Five works accessioned to The Achive of Digital Art (Database of Virtual Art) documents the rapidly evolving field of digital installation art. This complex, research-oriented overview of immersive, interactive, telematic and genetic art has been developed in cooperation with established media artists, researchers and institutions. The web-based, cost-free instrument – appropriate to the needs of process art – allows individuals to post material themselves. Compiling video documentation, technical data, interfaces, displays, and literature offers a unique answer to the needs of the field. All works can be linked with exhibiting institutions, events and bibliographical references. Over time the richly interlinked data will also serve as a predecessor for the crucial systematic preservation of this art of our time.

The World in 100 Years (Location of I)

The World in 100 Years
Ars Electronica Center, Linz, Austria
June 16th – September 19th 2010

“Everyone will have his own pocket telephone that will enable him to get in touch with anyone he wishes. People living in the Wireless Age will be able to go everywhere with their transceivers, which they will be able to affix wherever they like— to their hat, for instance …“
Robert Sloss: “The Wireless Century,” in: “The World in 100 Years,” Berlin, 1910

The new exhibition in the Ars Electronica Center Linz pays tribute to the creativity, courage and inventiveness of those men and women who have totally committed their energies, abilities and knowledge to a vision of the future. This exhibition surveys a 200-year time span: looking back at what people about a century ago anticipated for this day and age, and showcasing what contemporary thinkers foresee 100 years from now.

As proxies standing for all the visionaries and trailblazers who have worked on their respective „futures“ over the course of humankind‘s history, French writer, illustrator and caricaturist Albert Robida (1848–1926) and Belgian visionary Paul Otlet (1868–1944) occupy this exhibition‘s spotlight.

Bruce Herr, Katy Borner (USA), Wikipedia Visualization
Marjolin Dijkman (BE, NL), Wandering through the Future
Frederik De Wilde (BE), Hostage
Bruce Baikie (USA), Intelligent Solar Powered 3G-WiFi Broadband Access
Hans Frei (CH), Marc Böhlen (USA), Micro Public Places
Teresa Maria Buscemi (USA), electroStatic Architecture
Catherine Kramer (UK), Community Meat Lab
Ken Banks (UK), Frontline SMS
Open Sailing Crew with Cesar Harada (UK), Open Sailing
Tatsuya Narita (JP), Toaster to understand today’s weather
Doug Fritz (USA), Sajid Sadi (USA), Engaze
Brigitte Hadlich (DE), c.50p – 50. Breitengrad
Jonas Burki (CH), Sun_D
Takayuki Nakamura (JP), Wonderful World
Josh Schiller, James Tunick, Carrie Elston (USA), City of the Future
Martin John Callanan (UK), Location of I
Himanshu Khatri (IN), Aquaplay
shiftspace.org (USA). ShiftSpace
Martin Mairinger (AT), USED Clothing
Akio Kamisato, Satoshi Shibata, Takehisa Mashimo (JP), Moony

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Презентацију пројекта „Ризом града” (Location of I)

05.07.2010. у 19 часова у Mузеју науке и технике у Београду

Пројекат „Ризом града” представља естетизацију дигиталног уобличавања просторне мреже културног идентитета града Београда. Аутори и учесници пројекта истражују и приказују урбани идентитет кроз субјективно поимање структуре града. Стварањем индивидуалног осећаја простора, на одређеним културолошким пунковима у Београду, уметници трансформишу урбане пејзаже у сплет уметничких, естетских, психолошких, политичких и географских разлика и постављају их у виртуелну мапу света Google Earth. Они формирају базу података – културолошку форму као листу ставки која се реферира на одређену појаву (културолошке пунктове града Београда) без одређеног наратива.
Термин Ризом је преузет из теорије ризома, филозофа Жил Делеза и психоаналитичара Феликса Гатарија. Ризом је модел приказивања света, просторна мрежа, мноштво тачака које су у мећусобној вези, где се све може довести у везу са свим. Ризом искључује централну тачку, средиште, хијерархијску структуру и метафора је за вишезначност, ширење у простору и ширење значења.

Симбол града је сложенији симбол који пружа већу могућност изражавања тензије између геометријске рационалности и сплета људских живота. На том становишту аутори пројекта „Ризом града“ разматрају да је концепт простора утемељен у различитим врстама индивидуалних и колективних искустава. „Геометријски простор“ разликује се од друге спацијалности коју Мерло-Понти дефинише као „антрополошки простор“. Тако долазимо до појма спознајне картографије (cognitive mapping) Фредрика Џејмисона. Та когнитивна мапа не базира се на опонашању и одражавању реалности. Естетика когнитивне картографије је начин којим се друштвено спознајно уцртава индивидуални однос наспрам локалне, националне и интернационалне стварности. Такав став представља одређену врсту искуства у односу према свету, могућност властитог уписивања и сналажења артикулисањем субјективитета унутар менталне, психогеографске карте града.

Учесници пројекта су уметници:

Matrin John Callanan,
Аleš Vaupotič,
Narvika Bovcon,
Franciska Wicke,
Дејан Грба,
Jадранко Баришић,
Тијана Шушница,
Чланови DigitGroup-a:
Драгана Грбић,
Горан Рубил,
Милан Ђурић,
Милош Ђурић.

Lab for Culture: At Home in Europe overview

WHAT IS THE MAIN IDEA OF THE PROJECT AND WHO IS THE TARGET GROUP?

“The project invites selected artists to think about what it means to be European and what it means to have a particular nationality in the light of the shifting boundaries within Europe. Daily more and more European people decide to live in other European countries. With a shifting concept of nationalities it becomes increasingly important to consider what it means to be European.” (At Home in Europe Project)

Established through the process of differentiation toward the other, it has been reshaped in relation to changes in the environment, i.e. social, political, cultural or economic changes etc. The process of differentiation and identity transformations in the individual or collective sphere, on national or European levels, were depicted as artworks that formed the programme “At Home in Europe”.

WHAT DOES THE PROJECT INCLUDE?

Designed to meet the current need for mobility, to enable cross border connectivity and empower professional and cultural exchange, the “At Home in Europe” programme was developed using four main activities:

  • Production residencies for artists (took place during January to July 2007)
  • Selection of the films for the screening programme in the Big M (February 2007)
  • The Big M European tour: screening at a mobile venue (May to September 2007)
  • The publication and DVD, which sum up the outcomes of the project

The activities were followed or preceded by four working meetings of the coorganisers, each of which took place in one of four participating countries.

Residencies

Four artists, selected for their reflection on the project theme and the creative use of new technologies, spent three months in one of four participating organisations (InterSpace –Anya Lewin, UK; RIXC- Martin John Callanan, UK; BEK – Kriss Salmanis, Latvia; ISIS –Borjana Ventzislavova, Bulgaria).

Dislocated from their countries of origin/residence, they were in the position to quickly grasp the new environment and to give feedback to a framework question: “What is culturally European and what is culturally national when viewed from within Europe but outside a national experience.” Digital artworks, done in the form of video/sound/internet/or interactive art, are also available through blogs as a document of the work-in-progress.

To stimulate exchange of ideas and interaction with local communities, each artist had an opportunity to present her/his work, and to do a workshop for young people.

Big M

Co-curated screening programme in the Big M, focused on moving image culture. This project consisted of 16 short video works selected by the coorganisers on the basis of the international call. The video works thematised the notion of “European Identity” by posing the question “Can we ever really be At Home in Europe?”. They tracked the phenomenon of moving through different identities in the melting pot of contemporary Europe. The digests of the films are encompassed in pdf “Leaflet_at_home_in Europe” (see attached document).

Big M Tour

The Big M European screening tour was shown at festivals and public sites in Sofia, Stockholm, Bergen, Riga, Newcastle Upon Tyne, and Berwick upon Tweed during May-September 2007. Designed as inflatable structures equipped for presentation of video and digital media, The Big M provided a sight that blended different artistic surveys in the one cross cultural narrative. This attractive mobile venue brought an air of moving image festivity to the city squares across Europe tempting an audience to come inside, experience its content, and reflect on “What it means to be European?”.

“In Sofia we had on average each day around 1,000 people visiting the venue and a great deal of local press, television and radio coverage.” (Sharon Bailey, Co Director ISIS Arts)

Publication and DVD

The publication and DVD summarise the results of the project. The book (written in the four languages of the partners) includes essays on the project process, on the artists’ works, and on the issue of European identity. DVD includes media-based artworks that were part of the “At Home in Europe” programme.

WHAT IS THE REASON FOR THE COLLABORATION WITH EACH PARTNER?

Four partner organisations cooperated in this one-year project, all of them with the same professional orientation (working in the field of media arts), but from countries with different socio-political and cultural backgrounds (e.g. UK – established EU member; Latvia – recent EU member; Bulgaria – entered EU in January 2007; and Norway – decided against EU membership). This diversity provided a start up for transnational settings, but assured the variety of cross cultural approaches to the theme. International calls for artists were widely distributed.

HOW IS THE PROJECT FINANCED?

The project “At Home in Europe” was funded by the European Commission, Culture 2000 Fund, and Arts Council England.

Instituto Sergio Motta, Fórum A&T, Entrevista com Susan Collins

A artista e professora britânica Susan Collins é uma das palestrantes do Fórum Internacional A&T_Perspectivas Críticas em Arte e Tecnologia. Collins é uma das principais artistas da Inglaterra a trabalhar em novas mídias. É diretora do The Slade School of Fine Art, University College, Londres. Seus trabalhos se dão no espaço público, galerias de arte e espaços on-line. Suas obras mais recentes empregam técnicas de transmissão e networking para explorar o papel da ilusão e da crença na construção de interpretações da cultura digital. No dia 3 dezembro, ela apresenta a palestra Perspectivas críticas da produção britânica, onde mostrará as principais tendências da mídia-arte no Reino Unido. Em uma breve entrevista, a artista nos fala de seu trabalho e da relação entre vigilância, tempo e espaço:

Em seus trabalhos mais recentes, você utiliza como forma de construção as técnicas de transmissão, networking e real-time para representar a ilusão e a crença nas tecnologias. Como você interpreta a influência dos meios digitais na relação entre tempo e espaço?

A palavra digital está ligada a uma idéia de conectividade instantânea ou ao “always on”. Uma coisa que venho explorando em meu trabalho é justamente o oposto dessa impressão. Trabalho algo que pode ser descrito como slow time, que tem uma relação conceitual mais próxima ao movimento slow food. Isso significa que o “tempo” se torna um elemento material tangível em sua própria evidência, que se dará pelo processo de transmissão. A compressão dos dados durante a transmissão introduz artefatos próprios. No entanto, o método que desenvolvi, de transmitir um pixel por segundo para construir uma imagem durante o período de 24 horas, também nos oferece uma nova relação visual entre o tempo e o espaço. Um exemplo é o trabalho Glenlandia (2005), onde há a captura da imagem “arco” da Lua, enquanto essa passa pelo céu durante o entardecer. O acontecimento das mídias locativas (bem como o advento do Google Maps) também alterou nossa relação com o espaço pelo uso do GPS, como no caso do artista britânico Martin John Callanan, que em seu trabalho Location of I (2007-09), pedia ao público que o localizasse em qualquer lugar do mundo dentro de um espaço de 1m.

Seus trabalhos também exploram indiretamente a questão da vigilância na cultura digital. Como você analisa essa tendência cada vez mais crescente de uma vigilância dentro da cultura digital e sua relação com as artes?

Vigiar ou observar é algo central para mim dentro de minha produção artística. Isso é algo que tanto as ciências quanto as artes têm em comum: revelar as verdades ou modos de ver através da observação ou escrutínio. Há alguns anos, colaborei com a arquiteta Sarah Wigglesworth no projeto Classroom of the future, uma aula de ciências para crianças do primário. Uma das características fundamentais das aulas era a de usar ferramentas de vigilância, cada vez mais presentes nos mercado, e criar um sistema de observação e registro da natureza e sua evolução no tempo. Vigiar não é novidade para os artistas e nem apareceu com o surgimento das Webcams. Um exemplo é o trabalho Empire (1964), de Andy Warhol, que foi apropriado por Wolfgang Staehle em Empire24/7 (1999)

Como você avalia a altual produção artística britânica? Quais são as características específicas dessa produção?

Como em todo país, há um amplo espectro de práticas que torna difícil generalizar. No entanto, o que distingue a produção britânica da última década em diante é o crescimento do mercado da arte, que levou a uma maior visibilidade para aqueles que trabalham com formas menos comerciais de produção artística. Em termos de artistas trabalhando com novas mídias, existem aqueles que estão satisfeitos ao trabalhar em ambientes de pesquisas mais experimentais e especializados (há um crescente interesse por projetos em sci-arts); ao mesmo tempo, os artistas pertencentes ao mainstream passaram a incorporar as tecnologias emergentes do cotidiano, o que resultou em um ambiente mais eclético e menos mediumspecific. Minha apresentação Perspectivas críticas da produção britânica, durante o Fórum Internacional Arte e Tecnologia, será voltada para estes trabalhos que incorporaram o digital ou encontraram novas maneiras de materializar o digital para galerias ou espaços físicos. Isso será exemplificado tanto no trabalho de artistas consolidados nas novas mídias como naqueles que não se vêem trabalhando explicitamente dentro do domínio digital.

[web archive]

Migrating Reality

Location of I text published in Migrating Reality

Migrating Reality
ISBN 978-9955-834-01-4

Electronic and digital systems generate completely new forms of migration. In the creative arts, new phenomena related to migration and the synergies of disparate systems are emerging. Artistic products evolve from traditional forms into hybrid digital forms. Analog products are being digitized; data spaces are trans-located from one data storage system to another; existing sounds, images, and texts are remixed and fused into new datasets.

The book is based on international conference and exhibition Migrating Reality which took place on April 4-5, 2008 in Galerie der Künste, Berlin, Germany, and on material submitted to the online magazine balsas.cc. As with the conference, the exhibition, and the on-line projects, the book is an overview of the migration topic from various perspectives, not excluding the use of a variety of languages. For example, we offer the reader an interview with Žilvinas Lilas “Bastymasis man būtų daug priimtinesnis žodis” conducted by Vytautas Michelkevičius in Lithuanian and the text “Kulturtransfer in der Frühen Neuzeit – eine andere Realität der Migration” by Philipp Zitzlsperger – an essay on migration from a historians perspective. The ideas presented textually in the book shift back and forth from essays and articles to projects and back to essays. The territories shift from social space to virtual space and eventually land us back in a realm of physical, political, economical, and historical reality.

Publisher
KHM – Kunsthochschule für Medien
>top РVerein zur F̦rderung kultureller Praxis e.V.
VÅ¡Ä® Mene / Balsas.cc
www.migrating-reality.com | info@migrating-reality.com

Editorial board
Mindaugas Gapševičius, John Hopkins, Žilvinas Lilas, Vytautas Michelkevičius

Location of I on course curriculum at Penn State University

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Art 211 provides art students with an introduction to the critical study of new media and digital art works and to the cultural and social issues that influence how audiences perceive, interact with, and are influenced by them. The development of students’ critical thinking through class, activities, discussions, and course projects is given particular emphasis.

The content of Art 211 focuses primarily on the conventions, language, aesthetics, and history employed by artists in the creation of new media/digital art. The course also considers the cultural implications that new media/digital art works and practices have for contemporary society and the culture of the United States.

http://www.personal.psu.edu/jlh18/art211_online/projects/module3.html

Location of I – technical update

Location of I has now been live for 18 months; updating every minute of everyday.

The original devices have faded and died. Being replaced by a new smartphone: less than half the thickness of the original, also has a built-in GPS receiver; which was only a promise last year.

The Watchful Eye – Surveillance in the World Around Us

Logan Turner included Location of I in The Watchful Eye:

This collection of art works focuses on the theme of surveillance/being watched. More and more these days, our governments know where we are, what we’re doing, and sometimes even what we’re planning to do. As curator, I feel that being under nearly constant watch is a violation of our right to privacy, and therefore I have brought together these art works to show both the irony of and scariness of being under a microscope.

Seeking for another space

Natsumi Oba, included Location of I in Seeking for another space

Ever since Internet has been expanded, people have started identifying themselves in this virtual world. They have created another social space in order for these identities to interact. The artists in this exhibition take elements of the physical world that users can relate to as real space, recreating the real space on the web, which is all virtual after all.

Balsas: aktualios ir medijų kultūros žurnalas

Journal on Media Culture Balsas publish Location of I and An Ethnology of Solitude:

BALSAS is an interdisciplinary journal on media culture. BALSAS started as an initiative of VILMA (Vilnius Laboratory of New Media), which goal is to introduce the media culture to Lithuania. BALSAS wears a format of new media, whereas content is created with participatory principle by participants/readers and with editorial principle by editors. BALSAS has an intention to create a digital and critical community, which develops the discourse of media culture in Lithuania.

Aerial View

Aerial View, curated by Phuong:

In the Location of I, artist Martin John Callanan gives himself up for public viewing. He enables viewers to find him at any moment in time through a use of a tracking device that pinpoints his exact location through a series of maps. This form of observation allows Callanan to be continuously accessible to everyone. He states in his artist statement that this project allows him to be both physically and virtually sought and accessible. Advances in technology has allowed people to be available and accessible at all times through various means like cell phones and Blackberrys but also allows people to be elusive if needed. Callanan says that because of the Location of I, he loses the ability to hide and thus increases his vulnerability.

Observation has always played a role in the development of art. People or things have been used as subjects of work or as bystanders in a larger piece without ever even knowing they are involved. The participation or unknowingness of people in a piece of work is an interesting aspect that I believe says a lot of how the work coveys itself. For this exhibit, the works that were selected were chosen because of their connections to the idea of being observed or watched. Observation can be done through several different means. Observation can be taken literally where another is physically watching someone or something or it could be more of a conceptual observation.

It is a part of human nature to observe. We are all fascinated by each other and by our surroundings. Whether through physical means or conceptual ideas, the actions of the world intrigues everyone in some shape or form. We all would like to know more about what we see and at times that can be impossible. Whether because of privacy or a lack of connection to learn more about what we see, observation can be unfulfilled. With the use of contemporary art and new media, the depth of observation can be widened and people can learn more about what they desire to see. This could be done in a virtual world or through means that may seem unrealistic but new media allows for an avenue for people to explore this part of their human nature.

Seeing Privates

Location of I included in a Rhizome Exhibit curated by Corey Richardson:

This exhibition features four artworks that focus on aspects of surveillance and tracking of the private and public lives of humans in the world of today and the projects were brought together to hopefully expand our consciousness concerning the increasing lack of privacy in our lives today. With the remarkable advances that technology has gone through in the past several years, the lives of people in the world today are more public and available than ever before in history. In this world of Wireless internet, cell phones, digital cameras, credit cards, and surveillance cameras, we are being observed and tracked mare than ever before. It is hard to imagine how often someone is “tracked” everyday of their life and most people don’t think about it, but just like the three artists shown in this exhibition, I hope to open some eyes and get people thinking about the privacy issues of today. So, imagine if you wanted to disappear, hide, or vanish in today’s society. You would need to eliminate ways for anyone to track or watch you, but that is completely impossible it the world of today. That would mean no credit card use, the emails, no cell phone calls, and no internet, but even then, your information and records would still available online and there would still be cameras in every store, school, and on every corner. Staying private is impossible with just simple tasks in today’s life and that’s without even getting the FBI or CIA involved. Technology has made it impossible to “hide” from the world. Just think, Google earth is available to anyone in the world and it is just the tip of the capabilities when it comes to satellite and cameras so imagine what is considered “private” to the general public but is available to governments for surveillance. There are devices being used that the general public won’t know about for another ten years and advances in technology being made everyday. We all might as well live in glass houses, because there really is no private life available anymore.

Martin John Callanan’s artwork shows that it is impossible for the artist to “hide”. His location is constantly being recorded and made available on his site. This piece helps to show the point that we can easily be tracked in today’s world.

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