The WAVE - Opus 1 :: February 4, 2010; 8:00 .m :: betahaus, Prinzessinnenstraße 19-20, 10969 Berlin :: live webstreaming here.

WAVE Berlin Panel Discussion 8-10pm: « Innovative Artistic and Economic Practices » with I-Wei li, Christine Kriegerowski, Claudia Burbaum, Ela Kagel, Eva Emenlauer-Blömers, Matthias Reichelt, Mike Stubbs, Tonia Welter.

WJ-SPOTS Berlin 10 PM to midnight: « 15 Years of Artistic Creation on the Internet » with Anne Roquigny, I-Wei Li, Pierre Bongiovanni, Helen Thorington, Marie Petit, Maria Ptqk, Per Platou, Hans Bernhard, Isabelle Arvers, Anne Laforet.

WAVE Berlin Panel Discussion: Fluctuations in the economy have become similar to global climate warnings: nobody knows exactly what will happen tomorrow, or whether the future will be bleak or bright. Uncertainty seems to become the only certain rule.

Throughout the early 20th century, art was the forerunner of social, political and technological upheaval. Art at the time foresees (but not always understands) in advance what would happen. Now, artistic activity seems too be carried away by the whirlwind of uncertainty.

The democratic ideal has never seemed so fragile. To a very large extend, it remains to be a total utopia. The modesty of political ambitions, the widespread practice of mafia, the rise of nationalist and religious sect, continuation of poverty, distraught middle-class, all these elements are destroying day after day the ideals of brotherhood, equality, and liberty.

Modern communication technology and the digital economy have overwhelmed all social practices, either cultural or economical but we still have great difficulty understanding the reality. We still continue to struggle with positive outlook and engage in critical changes into the future.

In this context, it is possible to imagine new relationships between money, politics, and artistic creation? How will we identify new approaches, especially critical approaches in a time of crisis?

Panelists: I-Wei Li - artist, artistic director of SideBySide Studio; Christine Kriegerowski - visual artist, curator, NGBK; Claudia Burbaum - curator, NGBK; Ela Kagel - program curator of Transmediale, initiator of the Free Culture Incubator; Eva Emenlauer-Blömers - Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Technologie und Frauen; Mathias Reichelt - cultural journalist, curator and editor;
Mike Stubbs - director and CEO of FACT, Liverpool, Professor of Liverpool John Moores University; Tonia Welter - co-Funder and director of betahaus

WJ-Spots Berlin
Anne Roquigny, French media arts curator will follow her series of interviews in Berlin of outstanding figures of the internet community who share their reflections of 15 years of Internet history. The interviews are conducted inside the WJ-S (webjay) multi-screen environment, transformed into a space for thought and investigation. Live online browsing into a selection of emblematic websites, chosen by the speakers, take place simultaneously on 3 big screens. Real time surfing magnifies and augments thought presentation, offering multiple points of view while the participants comment and analyze, from an artistic perspective, how the Internet has been progressively taken over as a space of artistic creation, from its beginning until now.

MCD « Musiques et Cultures Digitales Magazine » (http://www.digitalmcd.com ) regularly launches special bilingual paper editions of WJ-SPOTS with the interviews and the bookmarks. Videos of WJ-SPOTS events are also published on line on Digitalart platform (http://www.digitalarti.com)

WJ-SPOTS-1-15-years-of-internet:

Interviews by Anne Roquigny Media arts curator / www.roquigny.info: http://www.roquigny.info; Live internet browsing : Isabelle Arvers (FR), curator, art critic / http://www.isabelle-arvers.com & Anne Laforet (FR) researcher and critic / http://www.sakasama/net

Interviewees:
I-Wei (TW/CA/DE), artist, curator / http://www.sidebysidestudio.net/?lang=en; Pierre Bongiovanni (FR), artist, curator / http://www.bongiovanni.info; Helen Thorington (US), writer and sound artist and co-director Turbulence / http://www.turbulence.org; Marie Petit (FR), author, theater director / http://www.chambrebleue.eu; Maria Ptqk (ES), critic, curator / http://ptqkblogzine.blogia.com; Per Platou (NO), artist, curator / http://www.perplatou.net; Hans Bernhard (CH), artist / http://www.ubermorgen.com