The Rhizome Digest merged into the Rhizome News in November 2008. These pages serve as an archive for 6-years worth of discussions and happenings from when the Digest was simply a plain-text, weekly email.

Subject: RHIZOME DIGEST: 8.14.05
From: digest@rhizome.org (RHIZOME)
Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 23:36:25 -0700
Reply-to: digest@rhizome.org
Sender: owner-digest@rhizome.org
RHIZOME DIGEST: August 14, 2005

Content:

+note+
1. Lauren Cornell: Rhizome Announces Marisa S. Olson as Editor and Curator
at Large
2. Marisa S. Olson: Rhizome Announces Marisa S. Olson as Editor and Curator
at Large

+opportunity+
3. michelle: Faculty Opportunity at CSU Monterey Bay, CA
4. Kenneth Jones: Adjunct Faculty for Interactive Design + 2D Computer
Animation:::::Harford Community College, Bel Air, MD
5. Steve Dietz: Theme: Transvergence - Call for Participation ISEA2006
6. Marisa S. Olson: CFP: CAA New Media Caucus Panel on Autonomy &
Relationality

+work+
7. Marisa S. Olson: blog art (w/ abe linkoln)

+commissioned for Rhizome.org+
8. Jonah Brucker-Cohen: Report From SIGGRAPH 2005

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Rhizome is now offering Organizational Subscriptions, group memberships
that can be purchased at the institutional level. These subscriptions allow
participants at institutions to access Rhizome's services without
having to purchase individual memberships. For a discounted rate, students
or faculty at universities or visitors to art centers can have access to
Rhizome?s archives of art and text as well as guides and educational tools
to make navigation of this content easy. Rhizome is also offering
subsidized Organizational Subscriptions to qualifying institutions in poor
or excluded communities. Please visit http://rhizome.org/info/org.php for
more information or contact Lauren Cornell at LaurenCornell AT Rhizome.org

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1.

Date: 8.12.05
From: Lauren Cornell <laurencornell AT rhizome.org>
Subject: Rhizome Announces Marisa S. Olson as Editor and Curator at Large

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Rhizome.org Announces Marisa S. Olson as Editor and Curator at Large

NEW YORK, NY, August 12, 2005 - Rhizome.org, a leading online resource for
new media art, announced today that Marisa S. Olson will be the new Editor
and Curator at Large effective August 15th.

As Editor, Olson will manage Rhizome¹s two publications, Net Art News and
the Rhizome Digest; she will also develop special editorial projects and
oversee the content published on Rhizome¹s front page. In her role as
Curator at Large, a new position created specifically for her, Olson will
promote new media art on Rhizome¹s behalf in diverse contexts throughout the
country and internationally. She will also be responsible for growing
Rhizome¹s online archive, the ArtBase; coordinating the Guest Curator
program; and organizing public programs and gallery exhibitions that further
Rhizome¹s mission of supporting the ³creation, presentation, discussion and
preservation of contemporary art that uses new technologies in significant
ways.²

Olson brings excellent editorial and curatorial experience as well as an
expansive knowledge of new media art to bear on the position. She previously
worked as Associate Director of SF Camerawork, Curator at Zero:One, and
Director of Media Arts at GenArtSF. As an Independent Curator, she has
organized important programs at festivals and venues internationally,
including the Getty Museum, the upcoming Performa Biennial, and SFMOMA,
where she was co-founder and Editor of SMAC!, the quarterly journal of the
SF Media Arts Council. Olson has written extensively on new media art for
magazines, academic journals, and exhibition catalogues

³Marisa brings a tremendous amount of experience and energy to the
organization,² said Lauren Cornell, Rhizome¹s Executive Director. ³I am
thrilled to have her on board and in the position to direct Rhizome¹s
critical voice.² Olson added, ³the organization has been an important part
of my life since I became a member in the mid-nineties. While they prepare
to celebrate their tenth anniversary, it¹s my honor to join Rhizome¹s staff,
board, and my fellow members in further contributing to the important field
of media art.²

Olson is also an actively exhibiting and performing artist who is a PhD
candidate at UC Berkeley. ³Marisa is very active and well-respected in the
field, and has over the years demonstrated a deep commitment to the Rhizome
community in particular,² said Cornell. ³The fact that she is based
primarily in San Francisco and also very connected to artists, writers and
venues internationally will help confirm Rhizome¹s presence on the West
Coast and abroad.²


###

About Rhizome.org

Rhizome.org is an online platform for the global new media art community.
Our programs support the creation, presentation, discussion and preservation
of contemporary art that uses new technologies in significant ways. We
foster innovation and inclusiveness in everything we do.

CONTACT:
Lauren Cornell
Executive Director
Rhizome.org
210 11th Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10001

Email: laurencornell AT rhizome.org
Tel: (212) 219-1288 x208
Fax: 212.431.5328

URL: http://rhizome.org

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2.

Date: 8.14.05
From: Marisa S. Olson <marisaso AT gmail.com>
Subject: Rhizome Announces Marisa S. Olson as Editor and Curator at Large

Dear Rhizome Raw members,

I am thrilled to have accepted the post of Editor and Curator-at-Large
for Rhizome. It is an honor to be following in the footsteps of such
esteemed colleagues as Alex Galloway, Rachel Greene, and Kevin
McGarry, and I hope to live up to their good examples.

As you may know, I've been a member of the Rhizome community for
several years and I have grown, learned, and become so inspired by the
conversations we've had online and through my relationships with
Rhizome staff members, past and present.

As Editor, I don't really seek to rock the boat as far as list-based
discussions go. I've always admired Rhizome's largely self-governed,
organic sensibility and it's not my intention to change those things
that I've always loved about it. My effort, in steering the Digest and
Net Art News publications, and continuing to participate in Raw
dialogue, is to continue promoting the ideas, projects, and events in
which the Rhizome community is involved. Rhizome's always been a great
place to exchange thoughts, opportunities, and announcements, and all
of us at Rhizome are committed to furthering your ability to do so.

It is amazing to think that Rhizome is approaching its tenth
anniversary! One of the most exciting things to me, personally, about
coming on board, is that Rhizome not only has a great past but also a
great future. I know this sounds like PR mumbo jumbo, but the vision,
energy, and ambition that Lauren and Francis have for enhancing
Rhizome is palpable and contagious. Working with them is going to be
such a treat!

We all know that Rhizome's members are a huge part of what make it
such a viable, thriving resource and as I begin settling in to this
position, I hope to have more direct communication with each of you.
I'd like to welcome your feedback on the ways in which you would like
to see Rhizome grow, and your suggestions for how you might be
involved in that growth. Until then, I look forward to our continued
chats on Raw.

All the best,
Marisa

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Rhizome ArtBase Exhibitions

http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition/

Visit the fourth ArtBase Exhibition "City/Observer," curated by
Yukie Kamiya of the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and designed
by T.Whid of MTAA.

http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition/city/

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3.

Date: 8.10.05
From: michelle <michelle_riel AT csumb.edu>
Subject: Faculty Opportunity at CSU Monterey Bay, CA

The Department of Teledramatic Arts and Technology within the College of
Science Media Arts and Technology at California State University Monterey
Bay invites application for two tenure track faculty positions.

Successful candidates will be forward thinking, transmedia educators and
practitioners. One with primary emphasis in new media practice and theory
and one with primary emphasis in digital video and media practice. Both
with a strong background in the application of new digital technologies to
innovative narrative praxis.

See full job description for New Media here:
http://mocha.csumb.edu/uhr/jobs/job_announce.jsp?job_number=FAC2005-0093&req
_id=000431

See full job description for Digital Video here:
http://mocha.csumb.edu/uhr/jobs/job_announce.jsp?job_number=FAC2005-0093&req
_id=000430

Application review begins September 23.

Please direct inquiries to Rob Weiher, Rob_Weiher AT csumb.edu, 831.582.3743.

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Rhizome.org 2005-2006 Net Art Commissions

The Rhizome Commissioning Program makes financial support available to
artists for the creation of innovative new media art work via panel-awarded
commissions.

For the 2005-2006 Rhizome Commissions, eleven artists/groups were selected
to create original works of net art.

http://rhizome.org/commissions/

The Rhizome Commissions Program is made possible by support from the
Jerome Foundation in celebration of the Jerome Hill Centennial, the
Greenwall Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and
the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional support has
been provided by members of the Rhizome community.

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4.

Date: 8.12.05
From: Kenneth Jones <kennethleejones AT comcast.net>
Subject: Adjunct Faculty for Interactive Design + 2D Computer
Animation:::::Harford Community College, Bel Air, MD

Adjunct Faculty Needed
Harford Community College
Bel Air, Maryland
http://www.harford.edu

30 minutes North of Baltimore
60 minutes South of Philadelphia

The Visual Communications/Digital Arts Program of the Visual,
Performing + Applied Arts Division is seeking
adjunct faculty to teach the following courses this semester. Semester
starts September 8, 2005 through December 15, 2005

Both classes run on Thursdays, once per week for a 15 week. Classes
are taught in the new Joppa Arts Complex in Mac labs using current
software.
Submit current CV to Dean, Paul Labe at plabe AT harford.edu
Please call Dean, Paul Labe at 410-836-4326 for more information.

________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________


ART 232 INTERACTIVE DESIGN
This course is designed to expand the students¹ knowledge, skills and
aesthetics in the use of digital media. Through a series of lectures,
demonstrations, visual/communication problem-solving projects and
critiques, students will learn to plan, design and communicate using
interactive media. Emphasis is placed on the processes and techniques
for creating intuitive and aesthetically engaging graphical user
interfaces. Two lecture and two laboratory hours per week.
Prerequisites: ART 101 and ART 103 or permission of instructor. Course
fee.
- Software to be listed in schedule of classes
40704 01 15 Weeks 6:00 - 9:50 PM Thur. Joppa Hall, Rm.
003


ART 230 2D COMPUTER ANIMATION
This course expands the students¹ knowledge, skills and aesthetics in
the use of digital media. Through a series of lectures, demonstrations,
visual/conceptual problem-solving projects and critiques, students
learn the principles and techniques for creating 2-D computer
animations. Topics include vector-graphic animation, bit-mapped
animation, and the use of montage, collage, motion and transformations
as forms of expression. Two lecture and two laboratory hours per week.
Prerequisites: ART 101 and ART 120 or permission of instructor. Course
fee.
- Software to be listed in schedule of classes

40703 01 15 Weeks 12:45 - 4:35 PM Thur. Joppa Hall, Rm. 003

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Support Rhizome: buy a hosting plan from BroadSpire

http://rhizome.org/hosting/

Reliable, robust hosting plans from $65 per year.

Purchasing hosting from BroadSpire contributes directly to Rhizome's fiscal
well-being, so think about about the new Bundle pack, or any other plan,
today!

About BroadSpire

BroadSpire is a mid-size commercial web hosting provider. After conducting a
thorough review of the web hosting industry, we selected BroadSpire as our
partner because they offer the right combination of affordable plans (prices
start at $14.95 per month), dependable customer support, and a full range of
services. We have been working with BroadSpire since June 2002, and have
been very impressed with the quality of their service.

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5.

Date: 8.13.05
From: Steve Dietz <mediachef AT gmail.com>
Subject: Theme: Transvergence - Call for Participation ISEA2006

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION ISEA2006THEME:
TRANSVERGENCEhttp://isea2006.sjsu.edu/transvergence/index.htmlDeadline
October 3, 2006\

This is an invitation by the ISEA2006 Symposium and ZeroOne San Jose:A
Global Festival of Art on the Edge to groups and individuals tosubmit
proposals for exhibition of interactive art work and projectsreflecting on
the thematic of the transvergence.
Creative interplay of disciplines to catalyze artistic, scientific,and
social innovation is evidenced by decades of multi-/ pluri-,inter-, and
trans-disciplinary discourse and practice. Emphasis on thedynamics
subtending this interplay has led to the notion oftransvergence, a term
coined by Marcos Novak which overridesdiscipline-bound issues and demands,
and serves as the focus of thepresent call. Proposals are sought that
address but are not limited tothemes outlined below, challenging the
boundaries of disciplines andconventional (art) institutional discourse, and
indicating creativestrategies for overriding them. Proposals may consist of
art projects,residencies, workshops, standalone conference papers, or
groupconference sessions. "While convergence and divergence are allied
to epistemologies ofcontinuity, transvergence is epistemologically closer to
logics ofincompleteness, to complexity, chaos, and catastrophe
theories,dynamical systems, emergence, and artificial life. While
convergenceand divergence contain the hidden assumption that the true, in
eithera cultural or an objective sense, is a continuous
land-mass,transvergence recognizes true statements to be islands in an
alienarchipelago, sometimes only accessible by leaps, flights, and voyageson
vessels of artifice.

"Central to transvergence is speciation. We want to draw proposalsthat
constitute new species of effort and expression and that bothenact and
reflect on our construction of new species of culturalreality -- not by
being merely novel mutations within known areas, butby boldly challenging
known areas and yet being potentially viable tothe point of becoming
autonomous entities -- not dancing aboutarchitecture or architecture about
dancing, for instance, but dancingarchitecture... or, better still,
something else, as yet alien andunnamable, but alive and growing."--Marcos
Novak ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS OFFERINGSETTINGS FOR TRANSVERGENCE
Transvergence is conditioned by exodus and invention. New idioms
ofexpression do not happen in isolation. Although creativity is aresource
that works best when shared, there is no clear form ofrevenue or
infrastructure for the practices of collaboration thatcharacterize
transvergence. Collaboration in this context does notarise from
democratically disseminated, proportionally allocatedproperty, but from the
permanent re-appropriation of shared resources,and resultant
re-territorialization of production, creation andartefacts. The models of
the think-tank, media lab and research centrehave shown their limits since
the 80s and 90s, as have tactical mediaactivism tied to the logic of events,
and NGOs facing the donorsystem's arduous accountability requirements;
university research isoften encumbered by best-practice driven managerial
culture, and"creative industries" clusters are subject to economies of scale
anduneven divisions of labour. As a technics of expression immanent tomedia
of communication, transvergence requires settings thatinstantiate structures
of possibility. Such settings might derive frommodels offered by ecologies,
fields and membranes, and from theemergent institutional forms of organized
networks, whose constantconfiguring of relations between actors,
information, practices,interests and socio-technical systems corresponds to
the logic oftransvergence.

ISEA seeks new visions of organizational and participatory models
asstructures of possibility for transvergent practice.
TRANSVERGENT ETHICS AND REDEFINTIONS OF ART
Institutions which purportedly back new art practices are not alwaysthe
bravest when it comes to work which challenges basic assumptionsabout what
art is, what the artist is, what the relationship betweenartwork and
audience might be, and what the outcome of an artworkmight be. Counter
intuitively, business corporations can be muchquicker to support radically
new ways for artist, artwork and audienceto speak to each other: every time
a viewer/player engages with aninteractive creation, a kind of commerce
occurs - a series oftransactions, a litany of offers and purchases.
Similarly,organizations devoted to healthcare, social well-being and
politicalactivism may more readily recognize exchanges that privilege
thecontingent yet compelling "we", and the urgency of the encounter. Artand
cultural institutions remain reluctant to take on these new formsbecause
they destabilize old views of the artist as a person making aproposition
about the world and of the audience as consumer/interpreter of this
proposition, whereas transvergent work instatesaudiences as key f/actors in
communication processes. This implies ashift in ­ but not necessary the
demise of - the artist's role, and achange in the nature of artworks,
formulated as public experimentsraising questions as much to do with ethics,
as with aesthetics andpoetics.
ISEA encourages proposals querying the role and relevance of art inpublic
arenas that are being redefined by interactive, inclusiveambitions and tools
BIO-TECH-BIOINFO-BIOART-ECOART
Over the past 20 years, biotechnology has revolutionized thepharmaceutical
and agricultural industries, and the fields of animaland human medicine.
Biotechnology implementations direct areas such asfood production and
consumption, global trade agreements, human andanimal reproduction,
environmental concerns as well as biosecurity andbiodefense. The Human
Genome Project and stem cell research havestimulated the merging of
computational research with areas of thelife sciences. Disciplines such as
bioinformatics and ecoinformaticscurrently enjoy broad public attention and
funding. Although artistshave long been engaged with depictions of "nature",
BioArt, whichincludes the use of biological matters as part of artistic
productionand context creation, and EcoArt, where artists attempt to
influencethe ecologies in which we live, are relatively young areas
demandingnew exploratory and creative strategies.
ISEA is interested in projects engaging with the materials and
broaderecology of life sciences, rather than simply their
symbolicrepresentation.

TECHNOZOOSEMIOTICS AS AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL PLATFORM & PLAYGROUND
Technozoosemiotics is the study of signs elaborated by all natural
orartificial living species to communicate in intra- or extra-specificways
(zoe = life). Humans and their more-or-less intelligent artefactsignore the
quality and singularity of information elaborated andemitted through the
myriad channels and networks which traverseterrestrial, celestial, marine
and intergalactic spaces. As art formsmigrate from institutional sanctuaries
to other areas of experience ­the everyday, public, intimate/private, the
biosphere, the universe ­they must tune to the diverse communications that
animate thetechnozoosphere. This means inventing interfaces that
favourinteractions of like and unlike kinds of intelligence, and emergenceof
new species of conversational agents. It means creatingepistemological
platforms and playgrounds for the transduction andtranslation of codes that
open up novel ways of thinking and domainsof knowledge.
ISEA is soliciting art that extends beyond human-centred design, toquestions
of living systems and new species of cultural reality.
TRANSVERGENCE CALL COMMITTEE:
Chair, Sally Jane Norman, Louis Bec, Andy Cameron, Beatriz da Costa,Bojana
Kunst, Maja Kuzmanovic, Anne Nigten, Marcos Novak, Ned Rossiter
Timeframe:Announcement August 1, 2005Submissions due October 3,
2005Jurying due December 1, 2005Accepted proposals announced December 15,
2005
http://isea2006.sjsu.edu/transvergence/index.htmlIf you have questions
contacttransvergence AT yproductions.comSign up for the ISEA2006 mailing
list:http://cadre.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/isea2006

-- Steve DietzDirector, ZeroOne: The NetworkDirector, ISEA2006 Symposium
+ZeroOne San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the
Edgehttp://isea2006.sjsu.edu : August 5-13,
2006stevedietz[at]yproductions[dot]comhttp://isea2006.sjsu.edu/index.html

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6.

Date: 8.14.05
From: Marisa S. Olson <marisaso AT gmail.com>
Subject: CFP: CAA New Media Caucus Panel on Autonomy & Relationality

please forward widely...

CALL FOR PAPERS

The New Media Caucus panel at the College Art Association's 93rd annual
conference

Panel title:"From database and place to bio-tech and bots: Relationality vs
autonomy in media art"

Conference Dates: February 22-25, 2006 Boston, MassachusettsDEADLINE:
Proposals must be e-mailed to<marisaso(at)gmail(dot)com> by Friday,
September 16, 2005.

NOTE: Panelists are NOT REQUIRED to be members of CAA.

Panel Chair:Marisa S. Olson, Artist; Editor and Curator at
Large,Rhizome.org; UC Berkeley, Rhetoric/Film Studies.

Panel Description:
Two predominant theories have emerged in the discourse surrounding newmedia:
autonomy and relationality. On the outset, these notions seemto contradict
each other. The theory of autonomy focuses attention onthe discrete elements
involved: individual pieces of information,individual artists or viewers,
and separate components/artworks.Relationality puts the emphasis on
interconnectedness: data, artwork,artists, and viewers are inextricably
intertwined, without a singlepredominant object or viewpoint and no fixed,
absolute form.

While these theories may seem to be contradictory, contemporary mediaart
relies on a notion of autonomy and, yet, suggests that noinformation is
autonomous?while discrete variables exist, nothing canbe separate and
complete in itself. The same is true of therelationships between viewers,
artists, and their work constructed inthe context of media art. While the
topics of autonomy andrelationality have long lineages in art history, this
panel willdiscuss their contemporary status from the perspective of media
artpractice and theory.

Papers can address a range of topics including but not limited to:hacktivism
and parasitic media, appropriation/sampling/remixing, opensource theory and
culture, locational media, biotechnology, videogames, narrative, net art,
software art, networked performance, video,sound art, and VJ/DJ practice.
Consideration will be given to more"traditional" academic papers as well as
artist talks that introduceartistic work and practices that contribute to
the discussion ofautonomy and relationality in media art.

PROPOSAL FORMAT:Please email the following to <marisaso(at)gmail(dot)com> by
Friday,September 16, 2005:

* Proposed paper title* An abstract of 300-500 words* A note on
presentational format: will you present a "traditional"paper, will you
emphasize visual materials, and what?ifany?audio/visual equipment will you
need? (Please minimize.)* Confirmation of ability to attend the CAA
conference, Feb 22-25,2006, in Boston* A current CV with full contact
information

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Rhizome Members can purchase the new monograph on Thomson & Craighead,
Minigraph 7, for a discounted rate: £10.80 which is 10% off £12.00 regular
price plus free p+p for single orders in UK and Europe.

thomson & craighead
Minigraph 7
Essays by Michael Archer and Julian Stallabrass
Jon Thomson and Alison Craighead ¹s extraordinarily varied, almost
unclassifiable artworks combine conceptual flair with sophisticated
technical innovation. Encompassing works for the web alongside a host of
other new media interventions, this book ? the first monographic survey of
the artists¹ work ? highlights a number of impressive installation and
internet-based pieces which use digital technology to echo the
art-historical tradition of the ready-made.

Part-supported by CARTE, University of Westminster.

Published by Film and Video Umbrella
52 Bermondsey Street London SE1 3UD
Tel: 020 7407 7755
Fax:020 7407 7766
http://www.fvumbrella.com

To order, Rhizome Members should write Lindsay Evans at Film/ Video Umbrella
directly and use the reference ³Rhizome T + C² in the subject line.

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7.

Date: 8.10.05
From: Marisa S. Olson <marisaso AT gmail.com>
Subject: blog art (w/ abe linkoln)

http://blog-art.blogspot.com/

A new project on which Abe Linkoln and I are working.

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8.

Date: 8.08.05
From: Jonah Brucker-Cohen <jonah AT coin-operated.com>
Subject: Report From SIGGRAPH 2005

Report from SIGGRAPH 2005
Los Angeles, CA
July 31-Aug 4, 2005
by Jonah Brucker-Cohen (jonah_at_coin-operated.com)

In the heat of the LA summer, SIGGRAPH 2005 opened its doors to
50,000+ computer graphics technologists, animators, musicians,
artists, geeks, curators, and digital media professionals. This
year's Art gallery and emerging tech sections featured hundreds of
projects that aimed to showcase the "future" of computer graphics and
interaction. Since I was active in this year's conference, I didn't
get a chance to visit every presentation or try every demo, but here
is a report from the projects and talks that I saw.

This year's main event was the keynote address by acclaimed filmmaker
and special effects innovator, George Lucas. Widely considered as the
"father of digital cinema", Lucas proclaimed himself as a storyteller
before anything else. In order to realize the worlds he envisioned he
turned to computers as an enabling technology. He calmly stated that
he was "not a computer person" and had "no idea what SIGGRAPH people
do." He referenced Akira Kurosawa as a filmmaker who triumphs in
creating an illusion that fantasy worlds exist and proclaimed the
secret to this as "immaculate reality." Lucas's humble moment was
when he admitted to the audience, "I don't know how you do this
stuff, but it allows me to tell a story so I'm happy you're doing it."

On the ground floor of the convention center was the SIGGRAPH Art
Gallery: "Threading Time", which featured a wide range of interactive
and other digital artworks from artists around the world. On the wall
in a red frame was Boredom Research's "Ornamental Bug Garden" a
small, animated screen-based ecosystem that reacted as visitors
approached. Also interactive was Camille Utterback's "Untitled 5:
External Measures Series", a collage of painterly shapes and images
that animated according to visitors movements tracked from overhead.
On the opposite was John Gerrard's "Watchful Portrait", a 3D portrait
that followed the sun's ascent and descent. On the other side of the
wall Gerrard's "Saddening Portrait" was another 3D figure who's face
gradually saddened over a 100-year period. Perry Hoberman's "Art
Under Contract" consisted of a large metal case on the wall with a
small, motor controlled shutter door. After each visitor clicked the
"agree" button of a simple contract, the door would open exposing the
art, but then suddenly shut after the viewing time was over. This
project was a good example of a piece of media art controlling its
viewing audience.

In the "Emerging Technologies" section, projects ranged from new
types of interactive displays to tactile control mechanisms for
interacting with the screen to more artistic uses of technology. The
highlight of the show was Japanese artist Toshio Iwai's (in
collaboration with Yamaha) "Tenori-On" a physical interface that
allows people to create musical compositions visually by pressing on
a dense array of lighted buttons. The instrument's simple, yet
elegant output was a nice reminder that the increasing complexity of
digital interfaces often clouds basic creativity. Other interesting
creative projects included "Exhale: Breath Between Bodies" a series
of networked skirts that collected the breath of the wearers and
transmitted the data to fans in corresponding skirts.

Upstairs from the keynote, art galleries, and other lecture rooms,
the Guerrilla Studio was a place where visitors to the event could
create projects from various different media. I co-ran a workshop
there with Katherine Moriwaki called "DIY Wearable Challenge",
co-hosted by the Ludica Gaming Atelier, where we invited conference
attendees to create simple wearable projects in a few hours from
basic electronics and sensors. The best creations made their way to
the cyber fashion show, hosted later on at the event. This type of
dynamic creativity was evident in other areas of the studio where
visitors could create board games, 3D prints of designs, and even
on-the spot motion capture animations.

As the conference continued, I managed to attend a few of the panels
and presentations. The ISEA 2006 meeting was an organizational
meeting and open forum for the upcoming ISEA symposium and media art
event in San Jose at the end of 2006. The panel featured curator
Steve Dietz, Cynthia Beth Rubin, Peter Anders and others involved
with the conference's organization and curation. In addition to
speaking about the ISEA event, the panel was also meant to launch "01
San Jose", a new, US based bi-annual media arts festival to take
place in San Jose. The prospect of a larger festival occurring in
northern California is nice evidence that there is still money left
in Silicon Valley.

Moving into West Hall B, the "Extreme Fashion" special session
included speakers working with fashion and technology from varied
disciplines. International Fashion Machines (IFM) founder Maggie Orth
began with a presentation about the definition of extreme fashion and
how the true fashion technology object includes input, processing and
some type of display mechanism. She gave the example of the "Voltaic
Jacket" which includes solar panels on its back to harness power to
charge portable data devices worn on the body. Orth saw the main
roadblocks to wearable technology as 1) No standards of wash ability
2.) Little commercial activity and 3.) lack of good display
materials. Professor Thad Starner of Georgia Tech spoke about his
"Free Digiter", proximity sensing device can detect simple movements
of its wearer and be mapped to control functions such as volume
levels on car and portable MP3 players. Dr. Jenny Tillotson spoke
about her "Second Skin Dress" which attempts to "create a personal
scent bubble around the wearer". This would help to prevent bad moods
and add an emotional quality to everyday experience. Elise Co of
Minty Monkey showed some of her current work including the "Lumiloop"
bracelet that illuminates based on patterns created by its wearer and
the UFOS shoes that light up according to specified movements. "Your
outfit shouldn't be the technology, this is something that could go
with the rest of your stuff" explained Co. Also on the panel was
Katherine Moriwaki who spoke about her PHD work into "Social
Fashioning" and several of her projects that monitor the environment
and attempt to create social relationships between people occupying
similar spaces.

This session ended as the "SIGGRAPH Cyber Fashion" show began. The
show, hosted by wearable tech artist and enthusiast, Isa Gordon of
Psymbiote, featured a collection of wearables that resembled
everything from a post-Tron utopia to a trip to the Sharper Image.
Every model on the floor had a piece of electroluminescent glow wire
as standard garb. Some of the highlights included Luisa Paraguai
Donati's "Vestis: Affective Bodies" a full body suit with tubes
surrounding the wearer that expanded and contracted as personal body
space and "comfort zone" was infringed upon. Similarly, Simona Brusa
Pasque's "Beauty and the Beast" is a pair of plexiglass shoes that
include a stun gun embedded in the toe of one, and an alarm system in
the other activated by wearer stamping their feet. Overall there was
an interesting mix of clothing that reacted to outside stimuli and
those that protected its wearer.

As SIGGRPH 2005 came to a close, the conference seemed to be stuck in
a continual challenge between how to smoothly integrate the corporate
graphics world into the fringe artistic spectrum. This was evident
with the chaotic scene at the Cyber Fashion show and the low level of
artistic input into the Electronic Theater. The panels seemed more
dense with artistic input this year, but the separation between
disciplines seemed more evident as crossover participation waned.
Perhaps if the new ZeroOne conference in San Jose is successful it
will draw the artistic spectrum away from SIGGRAPH and let it regain
focus back onto the graphics industry. I guess time will have to be
the instigator in that debate.

--- Jonah Brucker-Cohen (jonah_at_coin-operated.com)

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Rhizome Digest is filtered by Kevin McGarry (kevin AT rhizome.org). ISSN:
1525-9110. Volume 10, number 32. Article submissions to list AT rhizome.org
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