Artist Animal by Steve Baker, University of Minnesota Press:

Artist Animal examines the work of contemporary artists who directly confront questions of animal life, treating animals not aesthetically or symbolically but rather as beings who actively share the world with humanity. Featuring full-color examples of their art, it situates artists within the wider project of thinking beyond the human, asserting art’s power to open new ways of thinking about animals.

Animals have always been compelling subjects for artists, but the rise of animal advocacy and posthumanist thought has prompted a reconsideration of the relationship between artist and animal. Continue reading

Radius 25: Cultural Morphing by Klaus Filip / Nicolaj Kirisits / et al. :: May 20-21, 2012; 8:00 am CST (to coincide with the 2012 Chicago NATO Summit).

Cultural Morphing is an experiment in creating a multi-perspective image of reality from the simultaneous experience of a geographic line by the individual expression of a perceived personal reality. Twelve invited artists traveled by train from Vienna to Shanghai, and selected stops along the route served as their workspace where they would meticulously work out an project that outlined various aspects of cultural transition experienced on the journey. Stopovers at Ulan-Ude, Ulan Bator, Beijing and Shanghai were used to exhibit the works that were created en route. Continue reading

Making large volunteer-driven projects sustainable. Lessons learned from Drupal by Dries Buytaert, original creator and project lead of Drupal :: May 29, 2012; 12:30 pm :: Berkman Center, 23 Everett Street, second floor, Cambridge, MA (RSVP required) + webcast live.

In this talk, Dries shares his experiences on how he grew the Drupal community from just one person to over 800,000 members over the past 10 years. Today, the Drupal community is one of the largest and most active Open Source projects in the world, powering 1 out of 50 websites in the world. The concept of major projects growing out of a volunteer, community-based model is not new to the world. Volunteer networks and communities exist in many shapes and sizes. Continue reading

Indeterminate Hikes+ BASECAMP.EXE by ecoarttech :: June 1-3, 2012 :: 319 Scholes, Bushwick Open Studios, Brooklyn, New York.

Leila and Cary of ecoarttech invite you to join us for a wilderness excursion through Bushwick’s pristine industrial landscape! Visit our BASECAMP.EXE installation at 319 Scholes to prepare psychically for an Indeterminate Hike through Brooklyn’s urban wilds. With our new Indeterminate Hikes+ app, we will be leading impromptu hikes throughout the weekend of Bushwick Open Studios, departing from 319 Scholes, as well as scheduled hikes at the following times: Continue reading

["Wifi Camera," Sjölén, Haque, Somolai-Fischer, 2006] From Picture This — Reinventing The Camera As A Social And Anti-Technological Object by Jonah Brucker-Cohen, The Creators Project:

[...] “Examining the invisible proliferation of wireless networks that are permeating every location we inhabit comes another type of camera that takes images of the signals themselves. The “Wifi-Camera” (2010) by Bengt Sjölén, Adam Somlai Fischer, and Usman Haque is a camera that takes photos of locations that contain wireless transmissions in the way that a traditional camera captures spaces illuminated by visible light. The camera is meant to reveal all of the electromagnetic space that our mobile and portable devices create daily. From their description: “Radio waves at wifi’s wavelength behave similar to light in that they are reflected off almost all solid objects to varying degrees, just as when we see colors we see the light from a light source being reflected off an object into our eyes.” This effect is achieved by pointing a wireless antenna and measuring the signal strength throughout a viewing period to create an overall image…”

In this Medea Talk, Jeannette Ginslov discusses the developmental stages of the AffeXity project, the interdependence of the collaborators, the relational and dynamic formation of technical and human intervention, the encounters of the carnal and the digital, the dialogic and temporal scaffolding of encounters of techne and the hands that attempt to capture affect. Read more here.

ACT 5 IS NOW LIVE! Turbulence Commission: We Ping Good Things To Life: An Interactive Networked Installation In 5 Acts by Ephraim & Sadie Hatfield:

We Ping Good Things To Life is an ever evolving and expanding interactive networked installation that brings together elements of Toy Theater, Vaudeville performance, Surrealism, and consumer culture. Users can activate dozens of store-bought, found, and donated objects to create a unique performance, alone or with others, via the live streaming video feed.

Inspired by the work of friend and artist Jarvis Rockwell, Act 1: Remember When We Used to Have Fun? explores the hidden lives of toys. Continue reading

[Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Points in Space, 1986*] Motion, Curated by Ceci Moss and Tim Steer :: May 17 - June 23, 2012 :: Seventeen, 17 Kingsland Road, London. Continue reading

Screengrab: New Media Arts Award :: Call For Artists — Deadline: July 2, 2012.

The 2012 Screengrab New Media Arts Award and associated exhibition is looking for challenging creative works by media arts practitioners working in screen based media to submit works on the theme of Control.

The contemporary media milieu would suggest an evolving devolution of the traditional notion of the “society of control”. The boundaries of enclosures and spaces are no longer the rigid and defined perimeters they once were. The browser, the mobile camera/ screen are new enabling simulations the user can exploit to navigate alternative pathways, to experience new modes of expression and to participate in global cultural exchange. Continue reading

Jennifer and Kevin Mccoy: Index :: until October 13, 2012 :: EMPAC, 110 8th Street, Troy, New York.

Index is an EMPAC-commissioned public art installation by Rensselaer Arts alumni Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, which consists of multiple sculptures filmed via small, live cameras. The resulting video projection, as well as the models, will appear throughout our public spaces during an extended residency with the artists.

Inspired by a J.G. Ballard short story called The Index, in which an alphabetized list of people and places are turned into an implied, overarching narrative, the McCoys’ list spans the 1960s to today, referencing globalization, technology, mass migrations, and war. Continue reading