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: 2.6.08
From: list@rhizome.org (RHIZOME)
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 23:56:19 -0500
Reply-to: digest@rhizome.org
Sender: owner-digest@rhizome.org
RHIZOME DIGEST: February 6, 2008

Content:

+opportunity+
1. Ed Marszewski- Call for Participation VERSION>08 DARK MATTER
2. Rhizomer- Streaming Festival | open call for submissions | 3rd edition 2008
3. Klaus Knoll- Call for Applications: Ten Scholarships in International MFA New Media Program
4. Vagner Whitehead- Call for Artists: Contemporary Flanerie: Reconfiguring Cities
5. Sherry Hocking- Call for Proposals: Finishing Funds 2008
6. Rhizomer- Call for Entries: InLight Richmond
7. Rhizomer- Call for Proposals: Eyebeam Summer 2008 Residency

+announcement+
8. Gregory Chatonsky- Economie o
9. Eddie Shanken- Social Fabrics
10. Rhizomer- FOLLY ANNOUNCES GROUND-BREAKING DIGITAL ARTISTS HANDBOOK

+discussion+
11. Pall Thayer- DRAWING IN THE AGE OF INFORMATION // 32 Posts

+Commissioned by Rhizome+
12. Michelle Kasprzak- Review of transmediale.08 - CONSPIRE

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1.

FROM: Ed Marszewski
DATE: February 1, 2008
SUBJECT: Call for Participation VERSION>08 DARK MATTER

Version>08 DARK MATTER
April 17 - APRIL 27, 2008
Chicago, USA
Call for Participation
Deadline for submissions: FEBRUARY 25, 2008
version site:: http://www.versionfest.com

DARK MATTER
In 2008, Dark Matter is all around us. Us artists, us activists, us outlaws. All of us, we are engaged in a culture war and economic struggle against establishments in all their guises. We form communities to counter the alienation of everyday life, and the commercial and institutional structures that stifle reality. We desire another world.

And we're not alone. As artist-activist Greg Sholette says, "a hidden social production has always found its own time and space apart from hegemonies of power and the objectifying routines of work. This dark matter resistance extends well beyond conventional conflicts between labor and capital to form a murky excrescence of affects, ideas, histories, sentiments, and technologies that shift in and out of visibility like some half-submerged reef."

In 2008, we think it's time for things to shift. It's time to re-ignite dormant forces within the murky worlds of radical culture. It's time to dive.

And how? From April 17-27 (11 days), we are gathering to celebrate, identify, discuss and act on the workings of Dark Matter. Version>08: DARK MATTER will showcase emerging, progressive trends in art, politics, technology and music. We'll gather and see how our peers in the counterculture create work, spaces, tactics and strategies. We'll witness multiple possibilities for the future, and leave ready to act.

Please visit http://www.lumpen.com/V8/theme.html to see what we are looking for and submit your project.

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Rhizome Needs You!

Rhizome is currently in the midst of our annual Community Campaign. We need to raise $30,000 by midnight, December 31st in order to sustain and grow our web-based programs. We're calling upon the artists, critics, curators, scholars, scientists, and general digital culture fans in our network to achieve this goal. Now is the time to become a member (it's only $25!), renew your membership, or make a generous donation. Rhizome serves an emerging field and we rely, to no small extent, on our community for support. Your contribution will seed the development of our web-based programs, such as commissions, discussion, and digital art preservation, all of which aim to increase the visibility and vibrancy of this growing field. Helping us will help make new media art history. Please support us today!

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2.

FROM: Rhizomer
DATE: February 1, 2008
SUBJECT: Streaming Festival | open call for submissions | 3rd edition 2008


The Streaming Festival is now accepting submissions for its 3rd edition in October 2008.

Deadline for submissions is 01 September 2008.
Documentary, animation, art and narrative genres are accepted.
No entry fee for submissions.

Send submissions through postal service, or provide a website link with a preview of the submission.

The Streaming Festival is an online festival for audio visual art.
A platform for contemporary artists who can screen their works with high quality and full screen to an international audience.
The internet and streaming technologies are radically changing the developments of audio visual art. The Streaming Festival is exploring the use and possibilities of these developments. By combining high quality art and new technologies the festival wants to give an impulse to the understanding of audio visual art.

The Streaming Festival does not have financial or geographical borders. Anyone, anywhere with a decent internet connection can plug into one of the festival streams and watch top contemporary works without having to pay an entrance fee, or travel costs.
The festival broadcasts 24 hours a day.

Online submission form : http://www.streamingfestival.com/submissions/
Website : http://www.streamingfestival.com

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Theatre/Video: Assistant Professor (tenure track to begin August 2008). MFA required, Ph.D. or equivalent professional and academic experience considered. Teaching responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, courses in: acting; voice/diction; on-camera performance; directing; script analysis and script writing; digital video production and editing. Other duties may include directing Theatre/Video productions; collaborating with colleagues on other productions and activities, mentoring students with their creative processes; departmental and institutional support. Qualified applicants must submit letter of interest (include email address if applicable), vita, unofficial transcripts, evidence of teaching effectiveness, recent examples of personal work and at least three letters of reference (to be sent directly by references or confidential placement file) to: Dr. Marilyn D. Hunt, Chair, Department of Communication Studies & Theatre, Missouri Western State University, 4525 Downs Drive, St. Joseph, Missouri 64507. Deadline: December 1, 2007 or until filled. Review of applications will begin immediately.
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3.

FROM: Klaus Knoll
DATE: February 2, 2008
SUBJECT: Call for Applications: Ten Scholarships in International MFA New Media Program

TRANSART INSTITUTE announced today that ten scholarships of USD 2000 each have become available for the international MFA program. In the Transart Institute low-residency program students create their own course of study working on art and research projects off-site with the support of faculty and self-chosen artist mentors. The independent study is complemented by three intensive summer residencies where lectures, critiques, seminars, performances, exhibitions, and workshops take place on-site in Europe. The low-residency format permits continuing a professional life while participating in the program. Scholarships are given on the basis of artistic merit and financial need. All media and genres. Deadlines: Scholarships and advanced admissions: March 1, 2008, rolling admissions (space permitting): May 1, 2008.
www.transartinstitute.org

***

For further information please contact:

Julie Bush
Administrative Assistant, Transart Institute
admin AT transartinstitute.org
www.transartinstitute.org
USA: (347) 410 9905 Fax: (508) 682 2853

Transart Institute is an international MFA in New Media program for working artists to develop a sustainable creative praxis. The low-residency program consists of four semesters off-site, three summer residencies in Austria and two winter residencies in the US and Europe. It is intended to lift the boundaries between applied and fine arts, traditional and new media, artists and scholars. The innovative program focusses on content and context. Students are free to pursue work in any media art-related genre, create their own course of study and work in the genre(s) which best communicate their ideas including animation, architecture, curating, cyberart, digital and experimental media, film, gaming, graphic design, installation, painting, performance, photography, robotics, sculpture, sound, text, video, virtual reality.

Summer Residency in Linz: July 13 - August 1, 2008

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Film/Video/Theatre: Assistant Professor, (tenure-track position to begin August 2008) – dynamic individual to teach courses in progressive integrated video/film and theatre department with emerging interdisciplinary graduate program in applied media arts. Department requires innovative professional to oversee the technical production of video, film, and live production and assist in curricular development of graduate classes. Required: M.F.A. in film, video, multi-media, theatre or closely related field. Must demonstrate evidence of quality teaching/advising and commitment to undergraduate and graduate education. Applicant must have expertise with cinematography, lighting, sound and live theatrical production. Applicant must also have a working knowledge in the Macintosh environment, including the major non-linear applications utilized in post-production. Applicant will teach courses as needed but must be able to teach film, video and live technical production. Qualified applicants must submit a letter of interest including e-mail address; vita; recent examples of personal work; and at least three letters of reference (to be sent directly by references or confidential placement file) to: Dr. M. D. Hunt, Chair, Department of Communication Studies & Theatre, Missouri Western State University, 4525 Downs Drive, Murphy Hall 207, St. Joseph, Missouri 64507. Deadline: December 1, 2007 or until filled. Review of applications will begin immediately. AA/EOE.
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4.

FROM: Vagner Whitehead
DATE: February 4, 2008
SUBJECT: Call for Artists: Contemporary Flanerie: Reconfiguring Cities

Contemporary Flanerie: Reconfiguring Cities

In Modernity, the Flaneur, while strolling around his streets, participated in the depiction of the changing city, playing a simultaneously active and detached role. The Flaneur and his city maintained a symbiotic relationship, where one helped (re) define the other. In view of current trends in globalization, immigration and technology (i.e., Web 2.0), one’s positioning to one location is more fluid than ever before. With such mobility, one must experience any given place as both a tourist and potential resident. With all this in mind, what role do the contemporary Flaneur and Flaneuse play? How do they reconfigure/reinscribe their urban experiences? How does flanerie in art relate to GPS systems, virtual reality, surveillance, mapping, MMPORGs, and social networking? This exhibition seeks works in all media (traditional and new), with special focus on video and computer-based art.

Contemporary Flanerie: Reconfiguring Cities will take place from March 07 to April 12, 2009. A full color catalogue and website, featuring all participating artists, will accompany this event. Pending funding, artists’ presentations will be schedule during the run of this exhibition. The Oakland University Art Gallery will insure all works exhibited and pay for return shipping (we are in the process of procuring funds for having all shipping costs covered by the gallery). Please visit www.oakland.edu/org/tergloba/ to see previous project by the curator.

Deadline: March 31, 2008 (postmarked)

Please send:

- Current resume
- Artist statement/project description (two pages maximum)*
- CD/DVD with work samples (previous and/or proposed for show)*
- Work sample description list (title, dimensions, media, year, equipment provided/needed for pieces to be shown)
- Estimate of shipping costs
- SASE if you wish to have your materials returned

*preference will be given to works already completed, or close to completion. Proposed projects must be finished by September 2008.

Mail above items to:

Oakland University
Department of Art and Art History
Att: Vagner M. Whitehead (Flanerie exhibition)
307 Wilson Hall
Rochester, MI 48309-4401

About the curator:

Brazilian artist, educator and curator Vagner Mendonca Whitehead works with time-based media. His work employs original and researched texts that reframe trans-cultural experiences and their connections to mass media and communications technology. Vagner has exhibited his work throughout the United States, abroad and online, in solo and group exhibitions and in video and film festivals. In addition to teaching and exhibiting his work, Vagner is also a contributor for the Barcelona-based magazine Art Signal.

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5.

FROM: Sherry Hocking
DATE: February 5, 2008
SUBJECT: Call for Proposals: Finishing Funds 2008

The EXPERIMENTAL TELEVISION CENTER is pleased to announce FINISHING FUNDS 2008.
FINISHING FUNDS provides media and new media artists with grants up to $2,500 to help with the completion of diverse and innovative moving-image and sonic art projects, and works for the Web and new technologies. Eligible forms include film and video as single or multiple channel presentation, computer based moving-imagery and sound works, installations and performances, interactive works and works for new technologies, DVD, multimedia and the Web. We also support new media, and interactive performance. Work must be surprising, creative and approach the various media as art forms; all genres are eligible, including experimental, narrative and documentary art works. Individual artists can apply directly to the program and do not need a sponsoring organization. Applicants must be residents of New York State; undergraduate students are not eligible. The application requires a project description, resume and support materials, including a sample of the proposed project. Selection is made by a peer review panel. About $25,000 is awarded each year. Announcement is made in early June.
The program is supported in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a public agency, and by mediaThe foundation.
Postmark Deadline: March 15, 2008
Guidelines and applications are available on the web at http://www.experimentaltvcenter.org/ in the ETC News Section and the Grants area or by mail or email.


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Organizational memberships with Rhizome

Sign your library, university or organization up for a Rhizome organizational membership! Give your community access to the largest online archives of digital art and new media art-related writing, the opportunity to organize member-curated exhibitions, participate in critical discussion, community boards, and learn about residency, educational and professional possibilities. Rhizome also offers subsidized memberships for qualifying institutions with limited access to the Internet. Please visit http://rhizome.org/info/org.php for more information or contact sales AT rhizome.org

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6.

FROM: Rhizomer
DATE: February 6, 2008
SUBJECT: Call for Entries: InLight Richmond

InLight RICHMOND - CALL FOR ENTRIES

1708 Gallery invites artists working in ALL media and disciplines to submit proposals for InLight RICHMOND. Modeled after Paris' Nuit Blanche, InLight RICHMOND is an all-night celebration of 1708 Gallery’s 30th anniversary and Richmond’s first annual light-inspired contemporary arts happening.

InLight Richmond will take place on Friday September 5 to Saturday, September 6, 2008.

The event will be a spectacle of multi-media installations and performances. Light is the theme, so all work proposed should be inspired by light in some way. Any interpretation of light is welcome, from light as medium to light as abstract idea. Interdisciplinary projects are encouraged but not required. We will consider existing work, as well as proposals for new projects.

For full description and application, please see our blog: www.inlightrichmond.blogspot.com.

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7.

FROM: Rhizomer
DATE: February 6, 2008
SUBJECT: Call for Proposals: Eyebeam Summer 2008 Residency

You've got big ideas. You're yearning to join NYC's art and tech elite. You could use a little time and money, not to mention support and inspiration, to create a visionary project. If any of these apply to you, then apply now for Eyebeam's Summer 2008 Residency cycle. Residents are granted a $5,000 stipend and 24/7 access to Eyebeam's Chelsea facility.

Eyebeam residencies support the creative research, production and presentation of initiatives querying art, technology and culture. The residency is a period of concentration and immersion in artistic investigation, daring research or production of visionary, experimental applications and projects. Past initiatives have ranged from moving image, sound and physical computing works to technical prototypes, installations and public interventions.

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Rhizome Commissions Program

In 2009, Rhizome will award seven commissions with fees ranging from $3000-$5000. This year, Rhizome has expanded our scope, formerly focused strictly on Internet-based art to encompass the broad range of practices that fall under new media art. This includes projects that creatively engage new and networked technologies to works that reflect on the impact of these tools and media in a variety of forms. With this expanded format, commissioned works can take the final form of online works, performance, video, installation or sound art. Projects can be made for the context of the gallery, the public, the web or networked devices. This year, all applicants will be reviewed by a selected jury and several awards will be granted through Rhizome's membership in an open, community vote. Proposal submission takes place online. The deadline is midnight on Monday, March 31, 2008.

To Download the Call for Proposals and Submit a Proposal, visit:
http://rhizome.org/commissions/

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8.

FROM: Gregory Chatonsky
DATE: February 3, 2008
SUBJECT: Economie o

Economie 0 is a special issue of Upgrade! Paris, dealing with the relations between
Art & Economy. Within its 48h of lectures, it gathers 500m2 of installations, 3
workshops, a "Noplacard" concert, and a publishing & documentation space.

For 48h non stop!
Friday 15 Feb. (8pm CET) to Sunday 17 Feb. (8pm CET)
Location: La Menagerie de Verre, 12-14 rue Lechevin, Paris 11
And Ars Longa, 67 avenue Parmentier, Paris 11
M° Parmentier
Free admission

The admission to all the workshops is free. Please sign in at this address:
upgrade AT incident.net.
All lectures will be streamed on http://incident.net/theupgrade/economie0/

With contributions by:
Christophe Atabekian, Crystelle Bedard, Maurice Benayoun, Hans Bernhard, Pierre
Bongiovanni, Christophe Bruno, Carl.Y, Gregory Chatonsky, Alexis Chazard, Katerina
Chryssanthopoulou, Serge Comte, Cosmin Costinas, Sylviane Diop, Disposition, Dorkbot
Paris, Benoit Durandin, la Cantine, N'Gone Fall, la Federation Culture-Multimedia,
la FING, Jean-Paul Fourmentraux, Gawlab, David Guignebert, Sohpie Gosselin, Renee
Green, Gal Kirn, laboiteblanche, Philippe Langlois, Matthieu Laurette, Geert
Lovink*, Nathalie Magnan, les editions MF, Antoine Moreau, Yann Moulier-Boutang,
Multitudes-Icones, Noplacard (Nomusic et Placard), Mathieu Perona, Annick Rivoire,
Radiolist, Vincent Robert, Cyrille Le Rolland, RYBN, Antoine Schmitt, Michael
Sellam, Societe Realiste, Marc Partouche, Syndicat Potentiel, UBERMORGEN, Nicolas
Thely, Gwenola Wagon, and other participants from elsewhere: Upgrade! Boston,
Montreal, New York, Scotland, Skopje, SL, Vancouver...

Events:
The first release of "NoPlacard" (a cross between Nomusic and Le Placard), the
inauguration of "Television Zero" on FreeTVPerso by Christophe Atabekian, and a
prototype of the Upgrade! International stream session, which allows 25 nodes of the
Upgrade Network to meet and share 48h of lectures on Giss.tv.

This special issue of Upgrade! Paris aims to question the relations between Art and
Economy: the value of the work of art; the autonomy of the practices, of the
artistic production and diffusion; the emerging alternative models; the notions of
expense and loss, with a litmus test of the idea of neutralizing the artistic
economy.

This Upgrade special issue does not follow the classical transmitter-receiver
exhibition system. It is a multiple process, a communal space for cohabitation and
interference, and a platform where various actors from the artistic, research &
science scene meet. This think-tank is a critical space, which accepts and feed on
its contradictions.

Economie 0 is a concept by Gregory Chatonsky that describes artistic and social
phenomenon, which are not outside neither inside the economy, but neutralizes it.
http://incident.net/users/gregory/wordpress/04-economie-0

*Geert Lovink will also take part in Troisieme Oeil, Sunday 17 feb 2008 (6 pm to 8
pm) at the Centre Pompidou (www.internetmonamour.fr). His lecture at Economie 0:
Sunday 17 feb (3pm to 4pm CET)

Upgrade! Paris is organised by Incident.net.
We would like to thank: The Menagerie de Verre & Ars Longa.
With founding from: The "Culture & Communication Ministry", Arcadi (Action regionale
pour la creation artistique et la diffusion en Ile-de-France), Ponzi's Parasite
360°.
With the help from: RYBN, Sklunk.net, Cela-Etant, Free, Maecia, G.I.S.S., CITU,
Mains d'Oeuvres, Actes'If Network, and Florence Brissard (Teletota)


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9.

FROM: Eddie Shanken
DATE: February 6, 2008
SUBJECT: Social Fabrics

Exhibition/Performance onsite at CAA
Adam’s Mark Hotel, Remington Room, 4th Floor
Friday, February 22, 2008, 5:30–7:00 PM

Social Fabrics: Wearable + Media + Interconnectivity is a time-based art exhibition, designed as a modified runway show, of art as wearable media and technology. Social Fabrics demonstrates convergences between individual expression and statement making on the one hand, and the phenomenology of network society on the other. Technological garments or accessories with social capabilities are presented alongside works that
critique the implications of our digital media-infused and fashion-driven lifestyles. Artworks are objects, systems, mini-performances and interactive events.

Curated by Susan Ryan and Patrick Lichty
Presented by the Leonardo Education Forum together with the Center for
Interactive Arts and Engineering, the University of Texas at Dallas, and
the College of Art + Design at Louisiana State University.

Other LEF events at CAA:

Professional Development Roundtable: Education at the Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology
Thursday, February 21, 12:30–2:00 PM
Adam's Mark Hotel, Remington Room, 4th Floor
Led by Edward Shanken, Andrea Polli, and Garnet Hertz

Leonardo Education Forum Business Meeting
Wednesday, February 20, 5:30–7:00 PM
Adam's Mark Hotel, Dallas Ballroom D3, 1st Floor

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10.


FROM: Rhizomer
DATE: February 6, 2008
SUBJECT: FOLLY ANNOUNCES GROUND-BREAKING DIGITAL ARTISTS HANDBOOK

FOLLY ANNOUNCES GROUND-BREAKING "DIGITAL ARTISTS HANDBOOK"

folly has announced the completion of the first edition of an important new project, the Digital Artists Handbook: www.digitalartistshandbook.org

The Digital Artists Handbook is a new, up to date, reliable and accessible source of information that introduces artists to different tools, resources and ways of working related to digital art. The touchstone of this new compendium is free/libre open source software(FLOSS) and technologies.

The Handbook has been edited by Marloes de Valk and Aymeric Mansoux of GOTO10, a collective of international artists and programmers.

Creative Director Kathryn Lambert said "folly are very excited to announce our Digital Artists Handbook, which we hope will be an indispensable resource for artists seeking an introduction to the world of free and open source technologies. folly strongly believe that FLOSS is an empowering, cost-effective and democratic way to introduce digital art technologies to artists".

Building on the collaborative and accumulative nature of the web, the Digital Artists Handbook will always be a work-in-progress, with new articles being commissioned on an ongoing basis, and new fields explored.

The goal of the Handbook is to be a signpost, a source of practical information and content that bridges the gap between new users and the platforms and resources that are available, but not always very accessible. The Handbook will be slowly filled with articles written by invited artists and specialists, talking about their tools and ways of working.

Kathryn Lambert said "We're especially pleased that folly has worked with a range of international artists and specialists who have shared insight into their areas of expertise".

The digital artist handbook is brought to you by folly and has developed out of ongoing consultation with artists working with technology, which has shown a need for removing the barriers for artists to use digital tools. The project is supported by Arts Council England.

You can support the Digital Artists Handbook and folly's work in general by visiting folly's donate page. 185 would pay for the writing of a new article for the Handbook by a world leader in their field, and whatever you can give will be valued. So your support - however big or small - can make a difference.

The artists and practitioners who participated in the first stage of writing the Handbook are: Kristina Andersen, Frank Barknecht, Tom Betts, Florian Cramer, Phil Chandler, Olga Goriunova, Kathryn Lambert, Olivier Laruelle, Thor Magnusson, Nicolas Maleve, Aymeric Mansoux, Iman Moradi, Jon Phillips, Tom Schouten, Marloes de Valk, Peter Westenberg, and Simon Yuill.

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11.

FROM: Pall Thayer
DATE: January 7, 2008
SUBJECT: DRAWING IN THE AGE OF INFORMATION

Holy Moly, Roz! What exactly is it that you're trying to patent here:

"This patent-pending, state-of-the-art process is created by artist, Roz Dimon."
http://dimonscapes.com/

I'm all for artists getting credit where and when it's due but attempting to patent creative processes is counter intuitive. That's aside from the fact that I don't see what's "unique" about your javascript-based image-swap. People have been doing that for ages. Again, what exactly is it about this work that is "patent-pending"?

Pall Thayer

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FOR FULL THREAD ON RHIZOME, VISIT:
http://rhizome.org/discuss/view/28155


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12.

FROM: Michelle Kasprzak
DATE: February 6, 2008
SUBJECT: Review of transmediale.08 - CONSPIRE

transmediale.08 invited attendees to "conspire", and over the course of the festival, the possibilities inherent in this invitation were thoroughly explored. From semi-secret off-site events, to the constantly idling black cars at the entrance to the main venue, to invoking the name of the mysterious Bilderberg Salon, to key works in the exhibition and topics in the conference, the many nuances of the theme presented themselves with clarity and consistency.

Some of the themes discussed in the conference were perennial – topics such as privacy, war, and fear. Other were more timely, such as web 2.0, (or 3.0 as the case may be), copyright issues, and the current political climate. The "Embedding Fear" panel launched the series of panels and was particularly timely in its expression of the irrational paranoia driving the current emphasis on security and terrorism prevention. Brian Holmes chillingly laid bare this paranoia by quoting a hawkish blog, which warned of "the ability of one man to declare war and win", and by quoting military strategist Thomas Barnett, who suggested that one aim of the American military should be to develop the ability to "find, recognize, and kill one person." To lift a phrase from Michelle Teran's presentation in the Web 3.0 panel, these quoted statements could easily be described as "ethically fragile".

Teran also noted, in her description of game theory developed by scholar Brian Massumi, that what is key is "pushing the rules without breaking them." Game play is a strong way of contextualizing the transmediale.08 theme, particularly as it pertains to conspiracy among the powerful and wealthy. The "game" of international politics and trade goes by its own rules, and while we – artists, scholars, and activists – may push the rules, breaking them interrupts "game play", and therefore has harsh consequences. Knowing the rules and streamlining one's behavior to fit snugly within them was a strategy highlighted in Naeem Mohaiemen's presentation, where he described how, when crossing borders, he smiles and says "hey how’s it going?" to border guards, wears a bright, cheerful scarf, and makes sure his iPod earphones are dangling "jauntily".

A lighter tone emerged in several other presentations, especially the inaugural Marshall McLuhan lecture at the Canadian embassy. Canadian architecture historian and critical theorist Alberto Perez-Gomez invited attendees to "conspire" by thinking critically, trusting our perceptions, and allowing imagination to triumph over plodding utilitarianism. His elegant lecture provided a counterpoint to equally legitimate but darker visions, finding hope in the words of Socrates and other philosophers that have withstood the test of time. The keynote by artist and experimental architect Einar Thorsteinn was refreshingly candid and casual, and also provided a healthy dose of hope delivered in the form of practical advice. To a roomful of seated attendees, many with laptops open, he offered evidence that nerve connections in the human brain develop as a result of physical action, and noted that it is "just not enough to push a mouse." By showing dozens of images of the physical things he has created, his presentation served to underline the point that we can be energized and advance further through acts of creation, and provided a firm endorsement for the acts of artists in their studios.

The exhibition and lounge space at the House of World Cultures hummed with activity and, again, mostly evoked a sense of warning and caution. The clusters of works made clear that whether you are in a conspiratorial pact or being conspired against, you are delivered equal measures of fear. "Symbology" by Trevor Paglen untangled the warring desires of military pride and secrecy. A framed series of patches, worn by members of the American military engaged in secret activities, illustrated the stark visual identities of these shadowy projects. One patch, white on black and bearing a large question mark in the center, was also inscribed with N.O.Y.F.B ("None Of Your F****** Business"). "PleaseSpam.Us" by Jonah Brucker-Cohen in the lounge space offered a space for users to suggest people worthy of being sent spam, along with justifications for doing so. The PleaseSpam.Us website acts as a locus for conspiring against those who have been deemed to have done wrong, and revealingly, the President of the United States is at the top of the list of potential spam recipients. "LADOMIR AB 7th SURFACE" by Marko Peljhan, meant to represent a "spatial and temporal topography of zones that define the Makrolab project", was a beautiful object consisting of glass plates inscribed with symbols, images, and text. The layering of the plates made reading the material more difficult, and this visual palimpsest effectively evoked the density, complexity, and perhaps "unknowability" of the project. "LADOMIR AB 7th SURFACE" stood out as an example of how several works in the exhibition and lounge acted almost as cryptography, presenting pieces of evidence that may be decoded by some and not others. The curatorial theme was well-served by the inclusion of these works, which emphasized the ability of all art forms, but particularly digital art, to cloak its intentions, background, and references when and if necessary.

Nowhere was the demonstration of the conference theme stronger than in the events which took place off-site. The creators of "The Moving Forest" (directed by Shu Lea Chang and Martin Howse) literally invited attendees to conspire along with them through an epic twelve hour, five act sonic performance using WiFi and mobile technology. A mysterious base was set up in the House of World Cultures, with PD patches being tweaked, equipment being distributed, and various "agents" prowling about. As part of one of the acts, participants armed with "radio guns" stormed landmarks and maneuvered through the city. As an exclusive event to transmediale.08, the Urban Media Salon acted as a platform for discussion and exchange, but fittingly operated largely under the radar. The locations for the salons, hosted in private apartments, were announced at the last minute, and guests were invited to share meals with other participants. Conversation flowed, and new bonds were formed over discussion of not only the transmediale.08 events, but also other diverse topics that emerged over the course of the evening. Sitting at the dinner table in a stranger's apartment, I experienced the strongest sense of potential for the "conspire" theme. Conspiracy in action, after all, can only happen behind closed doors, at a series of intimate gatherings scattered across the city, in locations that were learned a few hours before and scrawled on a scraps of paper, to be forgotten later.

Overall, the tone was sombre indeed, but also bubbling underneath was a call to arms: if "they" can conspire in seats of government and corporate boardrooms, we also can meet and conspire to advance our own objectives.

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Rhizome Digest is filtered by Ceci Moss (ceci.moss AT rhizome.org). ISSN: 1525-9110. Volume 13, number 6. Article submissions to list AT rhizome.org are encouraged. Submissions should relate to the theme of new media art and be less than 1500 words. For information on advertising in Rhizome Digest, please contact info AT rhizome.org.

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