Vague Terrain 15: .microsound

The latest of edition of Vague Terrain is dedicated to celebrating the tenth anniversary of the .microsound community. Guest curated by the American composer Kim Cascone, the issue provides a range of commentary and context on “sub-atomic” musical aesthetics and a window into this globally distributed community of electronic musicians. In Cascone’s own words .microsound is a fertile middle ground between “the ivory tower of sterile academia” and “the seizure-inducing din of the dance club”. For those unacquainted with this zone of musical production, this collection of work provides a perfect introduction. Continue reading

Street pianos are appearing in cities across the world. Located in skate parks, industrial estates, laundrettes, precincts, bus shelters and train stations, outside pubs and football grounds, the pianos are for any member of the public to enjoy and claim ownership of.

This summer 30 pianos will appear in London and London City. Who plays them and how long they remain is up to each community. The pianos act as sculptural, musical, blank canvases that become a reflection of the communities they are embedded in. Many pianos are personalised and decorated. You can find maps of the locations in London and London City at: http://www.streetpianos.com/london2009/ Continue reading

FIGMENT 2009 is looking for artists, performers, sculptors, musicians, dancers, builders, bringers, and do’ers… Submissions are now open!

FIGMENT is a free, annual celebration of participatory art and culture where everything is possible. As America and New York come to grips with economic recession, a free participatory arts event is more important than ever.

FIGMENT 2009 will be held from June 12 – 14th on Governors Island, and will also be hosting two season-long projects on the island: an interactive sculpture exhibit and an artistic mini-golf course.

FIGMENT is an opportunity for artists to share their work, and our only condition for you to submit your art is that you understand and accept the spirit of FIGMENT. Continue reading

ULTRA-RED: Raven Row Sessions in Spitalfields, London seeks applicants for Sessions: Saturdays 4, 18 April, 2, 16 and 30 May 2009; and a Concluding Public Event: 11 June 2009, 18:00PM.

What is the sound of community organising? A five-session practice-based workshop on activism and sound art open to UK-based artists, social movement activists, community organisers, and students. The artist activist collective Ultra-red will present a workshop in five daylong sessions at Raven Row, a new contemporary art exhibition centre in Spitalfields, London. The workshop introduces participants to the art of sound and learning from what we hear in the methods and politics of community organising. Continue reading

NEXUSradio is a celebration of radio’s legacy, the evolution of communication technology, and a reaction to the current state of commercial media. The exhibition explores highly intimate auditory experiences, the radio signal’s idiosyncratic nature and radio’s own rich history through a two-month broadcast of participatory community based free-form radio. NEXUSradio is a platform for artists to investigate radio’s potential as a medium and art making space through live performance, transmission and direct interaction with audience members.

NEXUS/foundation for today’s art has transformed its gallery space into a low powered radio station for two months. NEXUS has invited artists, musicians, performers, djs, activists, poets, scholars, local community groups and other members of the public to use the radio broadcast during gallery hours. The broadcast can be heard in Philadelphia at 1650 AM. Continue reading

Dear Friends,

Mark Amerika says: “Turbulence is a permanent part of the digital art and electronic literature curriculum I have developed at the University of Colorado and a major component of our special topics courses too. The students who pass through our media arts program are amazed at everything Turbulence has achieved over the years. A common response is something like “I had no idea artists made work like this.” And then, with a little more direction, they too begin making networked art projects. To us, Turbulence is one of the most important cultural institutions on the planet! (Helen) and Jo have single (double)-handedly played a huge role in making it possible for higher arts educators like myself to successfully teach the networked arts.”

We know for a fact that many of you use our resources to teach digital art and new media. And many others have written to tell us how great an impact we’ve had on their careers. Please, show us how much we matter by making a donation right now. Continue reading

Resonating Bodies-Bumble Domicile :: Conceived by Sarah Peebles, others :: A Co-Presentation between InterAccess and New Adventures in Sound Art :: through July 27, 2008 :: *new* Gallery, 906 Queen West, Toronto, Canada.

Resonating Bodies is a series of mixed media installations and community outreach projects, which focus on the biodiversity of pollinators indigenous to the ecosystems of the Greater Toronto Area. Conceived by Sarah Peebles with Rob King, Rob Cruickshank and Anne Barros, the installations illuminate aspects of local biodiversity, such as bumblebee colonies and their foraging activities, ultraviolet bee vision, and pollinator / plant co-evolution. Some of these projects feature colour-coded DNA barcodes, a new technique for species identification pioneered by Canadian researchers. Continue reading

abertura2 - Realtime audiovisual performances, presentations, discussions and workshops :: July 20, 2008 :: O Seculo, Centro de Arte Avancada, Rua do Seculo, n. 80, Lisbon, Portugal.

abertura is a one-day event which presents VJing and realtime audiovisual performances, presentations, discussions and workshops, by national and international artists. In its second edition, abertura2, the theme of which is Communities, Collectives and Collaboration, in which theory can be developed in conjunction with technology (last year’s “abertura 2007″ theme), we will explore a variety of approaches people use to work together in the making of “live performance”, and its related expression and dissemination. The event has a strong experimental component and this second edition brings to Portugal a large international palette of people and work.

From Peter Kirn at createdigitalmusic.com: “8-bit and robots and odd Max and Reaktor patches and custom visual software and visualizations of data packets and sound made from plants and mutant trumpets and gloves for DJing and laptop music – we’ve got quite a lineup here in New York this week.

Friday night, a live audiovisual lineup from the worlds of createdigitalmusic.com / createdigitalmotion.com invades the HOPE conference, aka Hackers on Planet Earth, the three day-long convergence of tech hacking. $10, open to all, 11-2a Friday July 18 at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York. It’s a live digital, technological variety show in a doomed NYC landmark hotel with an audience of famous and infamous hackers. (Think Kevin Mitnick and MythBusters’ Adam Savage and Steven Levy, all in one place.)

Facebook event page; also on Going.com”

More media and preview videos can be seen at Create Digital Music. 

FIGMENT :: Governor’s Island :: June 27, 28, 29, 2008 :: Ferries run from The Battery Maritime Building located adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry in Lower Manhattan. Admission and ferry to the island are free. Find a schedule here.

There will be a fundraiser on Saturday night, 6 pm to midnight, at Castle Clinton in Battery Park ($10 donation). Everyone is invited!

FIGMENT is a celebration of creative culture from June 27-29, 2008 on Governors Island in New York Harbor. It provides an open forum for artists, helps build a creative community, and fosters participatory and public art. Continue reading