[Sculptor Abdulrahman Katanani is one example of the fact that Arab artists are 'already among us' (Al Jazeera)] On nettime, Prem Chandavarkar wrote:

These are some speculations that have been bouncing around in my head for some time, particularly with reference to architecture — the discipline I practice — but perhaps having wider implications: Ever since the early stages of the modernist movement (since the second half of the 19th century) artistic innovation has been underpinned by the idea of the avant-garde.

The avant-garde are (to use a term from Thomas Kuhn) paradigm shifters. Their work consists of two facets that operate simultaneously. One is a deep critique of current paradigms of cultural production. And the other is production of artistic work that demonstrates a new paradigm and a new set of possibilities. Continue reading

Articulated Cloud - Pittsburgh Childrens Museum, Pittsburgh, PA. 2004. Composed of thousands of translucent, white plastic squares that move in the wind, the artwork is intended to suggest that the building has been enveloped by a digitized cloud.

Social Cities of Tomorrow - International Conference: February 17, 2012 and Workshop: February 14-16, 2012 :: Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Our everyday lives are increasingly shaped by digital media technologies, from smart cards and intelligent GPS systems to social media and smartphones. How can we use digital media technologies to make our cities more social, rather than just more hi-tech?

This international conference brings together key thinkers and doers working in the fields of new media and urbanism. Keynote speakers such as Usman Haque, Natalie Jeremijenko will speak about the promises and challenges in this newly emerging and highly interdisciplinary field of urban design. Continue reading

December 2, 2011, to February 19, 2012, the FRAC Centre presents Gramazio & Kohler and Raffaello d’Andrea, Flight Assembled Architecture, the first installation to be built by flying machines.

In 2011, Gramazio & Kohler and Raffaello D’Andrea started to develop a pioneering approach on dynamic material formation and machine behaviour.

Belonging to the generation of young architects aiming at using the full potential of digital design and fabrication, Gramazio & Kohler joined with Raffaello D’Andrea whose work addresses ground-breaking autonomous systems design and algorithms. Continue reading

BodyControlled with Robert Henke (DE), Peter Kirn (US), Stephen Cornford (UK), Julian Oliver (NZ), João Martinho Moura (PT), Robert Mathy (AT) :: Opening and Performances: November 26, 2011; 8:00 pm :: Exhibition: November 28 - December 2, 2011 :: Lab for Electronic Arts and Performance, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 13 10178 Berlin + streamed live.

BodyControlled is a new exhibition and performance series at Lab for Electronic Arts and Performance - LEAP presenting artists who are dedicated to performance art and have explored in their work the medium of sound in electronic as well as other expressive art forms. Continue reading

Interact with Access online — part of Architecture of Fear :: November 8-25, 2011; 8:00 am - 8:00 pm (GMT +1) :: Z33 - House for Contemporary Art, PHL University College, Hasselt, Belgium.

Access (by Marie Sester) is a public art installation that applies web and surveillance technologies, allowing web users to track individuals in public spaces with a unique robotic spotlight and acoustic beam system, without people wearing any gear, exploring the ambiguities among surveillance, control, visibility and celebrity.

Architecture of Fear explores how feelings of fear pervade daily life in the contemporary media society. The cause of fear seems interchangeable and constantly fluctuating. Continue reading

Exquisite Zone by Carmin Karasic & Rolf van Gelder @ GLOW 2011 Festival :: November 5 - 12, 2011 :: Kennedyplein, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

The title, Exquisite Zone, references the 1920-30s surrealist drawing game called ‘Exquisite Corpse’, in which each collaborator adds to a collective composition.

Exquisite Zone invites nightly participants to use their smart phones to make digital marks in public space. “The idea is simple, but we’ve never seen it done real time with mobile devices, such as phones.” [See Cell Tagging by Brooke Knight] Many people can add to the ‘collaborative public drawing’. Continue reading

Augmented Structures v1.1: Acoustic Formation by Refik Anadol and Alper Derinboğaz :: until November 13, 2011 :: Yapı Kredi Cultural Centre, Istiklal Street, 161, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey. Continue reading

Riverscaping/Alles Am Fluss is an international and northeastern US public realm public art/design-build competition on the Connecticut River in Massachusetts :: Deadline: December 10, 2011.

The objective of this competition is to uncover new public realm art, architectural and environmental approaches to riverscapes at two scales: regional and intimate. Each designer/artist/team will produce an overall strategy for connecting and relating the four defined sites (and those between) while paying attention to the unique and individual characteristics of each community through site specific work. At its core, the competition asks three main questions of its designers/artists/teams: Continue reading

The Rise of Performance Architecture: Camp-Conference on Art/Urban Strategies :: September 22 - October 1, 2011 :: Grisar Park, Brussels, Todays Art Festival.

“Accepting architecture as cultural production, its performative dimension must also contribute to a critical role, that is, to architecture’s capacity to produce commentary regarding the ongoing transformations of culture and society. In this sense, the notion of architectural performance implied here feeds directly upon the tradition of performance art.” — Pedro Gadanho, “Architecture as performance”, revista Dédalo N°2, Porto, 2007 Continue reading