Hi all,

I'll be participating on the panel New Media Archives, New Intelligent Ambiances at ISEA 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey this Thursday, September 15th. I'll be speaking on my work overhauling the ArtBase and Rhizome's archival practices. I'll also be presenting Ben Fino-Radin's paper Digital Preservation Practices and the Rhizome ArtBase.

As well, staff writer Ceci Moss will be presenting a paper entitled “Viral Not Virus: Alan Liu’s “Viral Aesthetics” Reconsidered” at The Matter with Media, Saturday, 17 September. That same day, she'll also perform a sound composition using recordings of the human voice found on the web during the conference as part of the performance panel, Soundwwwalk.

If you're in Istanbul, be sure to checkout our panels and say hello.

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I'm pleased to introduce the Rhizome Staff Blog. This will be the channel for the Rhizome staff to communicate what's going on here at Rhizome HQ. We'll be posting about updates on the website, such as new features and scheduled maintenance, and what each staff member is up to, including current projects and research interests.

http://rhizome.org/staffblog/

So on that note, I'm pleased to make two announcements:

1) A new, much needed "about" page for the ArtBase
We've been working hard behind the scenes to turn the ArtBase into the leading archive of digital art, and we want to provide more context about the ArtBase as a whole. The About page contains information on our mission, our philosophy, our archival process, and links to documents written about the ArtBase and archiving digital art.

http://rhizome.org/artbase/about/

2) Beta no more!
The new site has been running pretty smoothly for a while now, and I feel like we're safe to remove the Beta label from the site. Thanks to everyone who has provided feedback and help so far. Onward and upward!

We'll be posting new entries to the Staff Blog about once a week, and you can expect to hear from all of us in due time.

 

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Dear Rhizome Community,

As you may have noticed, Rhizome.org re-launched this week and I’m truly thrilled to share the new website with you firsthand.

We didn’t just re-design the website; we re-built it entirely from the ground up and reverse-engineered fifteen years of content—a massive task that unfolded just under two full years. Our goal for the new website was three-fold: First, we felt it was a priority to upgrade Rhizome’s archive of art—the ArtBase—and make it a better platform for participating artists, as well as curators, students, and everyone who wants to learn about this field. Second, we wanted to improve the overall website, by making it more rich, dynamic and browseable, especially our community-centered sections such as “Announce” and “Discuss”. Finally, we wanted to adjust our membership policy, shifting it away from granting access (now, all art works in the ArtBase are free to view) and onto advanced features. Developing the site was a major undertaking, and involved late nights and weekends on the part of a small team for nearly a year.

I’d like to highlight a few significant new features to you:

§ The ArtBase now allows artists to represent their work in much greater detail, thanks to a more elaborate metadata schema, greater storage possibilities, and the ability to upload bigger and better images.

§ We created more and better ways for our community to interact with ArtBase works, like leaving comments, "favorite-ing" works, curating them into exhibitions, and sharing them online via other platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

§ Last, we upgraded all sections of the site, from portfolios, to discussion, to announcement. We took in feedback we got from you, and tried to make each better.

We did it for you, Rhizome’s community, and we really hope ...

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Now that everyone is out of business cards and has had enough time to check in to their locative media apps, I think we can begin to make sense of the social and technological deluge that was the South by Southwest Interactive festival. After being deep in a web development hole for the past few months, what I took away from the conference was a rejuvenation of critical, big-picture questioning, a reminder of just how drastically technology is contouring contemporary society and culture and that, ultimately, it is still in our hands to determine the overall shape of things to come. Although a late arrival and scheduling conflicts prevented me from hearing everyone I'd have liked to have heard (Douglas Rushkoff, Gary Vaynerchuk, among many others), I was able to take in most of the keynote speakers and the panels whose subject had some impact or connection to the arts (which were few). Here is a synopsis of the projects, presentations, and people that resonated with me the most.

This Saturday, NYC Resistor hosts "Art, Design, and the Arduino: a lineage." Works include a lineage of variations, modifications and relations to the Arduino microcontroller by the following artists:

Hc Gilje
Aaron Koblin
Laura Greig
Hernando Barragán
Edith Kollath
Jan Borchers & René Bohne
Becky Stern
Oscar G. Torres & Jackoon
Raphael Abrams
Joe Saavedra

This show is curated by Alicia Gibb, based on the work of her master’s thesis

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Fri Oct 19, 2012 00:00

New York, New York
United States of America

Rhizome seeks a motivated and passionate part-time technologist to maintain and develop the Rhizome website, databases, and servers (20 hours a week, salaried). The Senior Developer will oversee all aspects of the site and work closely with the rest of the Rhizome team to develop and implement site and tech related projects.

Rhizome is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to contemporary art and digital culture, based within the iconic New Museum of Contemporary Art in SoHo, NYC. Founded in 1996, Rhizome's programs, many of which happen online, support artists working at the furthest reaches of technological experimentation as well as those responding to the broader aesthetic and political implications of new tools and media.

Through open platforms for exchange and collaboration, our website serves to encourage and expand the communities around these practices. Our programs include commissioning, editorial initiatives, exhibitions, and preservation. For more information about Rhizome, visit:

http://rhizome.org/

Alongside a highly engaged staff, an active community, and a Board of Trustees comprised of leaders in both art and technology (The New Museum, Kickstarter, Gdgt, Google), this is an exciting opportunity to lead on Rhizome's technology infrastructure and contribute significantly to its overall mission.

Responsibilities:

+ Managing all aspects of Rhizome’s website and servers.
+ Working closely with the Digital Conservator on the ArtBase, Rhizome’s online archive of digital art.
+ Help position Rhizome within various technology communities online, at conferences, and events.
+ Making informed technical/strategic recommendations to the Executive Director, Program Director and Senior Editor on site related tasks and projects.
+ Developing and assisting with special projects online and off.

Requirements:

The position requires strong technical knowledge and experience with:

+ Linux servers (Redhat, Ubuntu)
+ Python/Django, PHP, Javascript,HTML,CSS
+ Server softwares (Apache, Nginx, uWsgi)
+ Version control with git
+ MySQL and CouchDB databases
+ Experience working on medium- to large-scale websites (preferred)

Plus:

+ A deep engagement with online culture and emerging technologies
+ The ability to lead, communicate and work well within a team
+ Demonstrated interest in contemporary art (preferred)

Application:

To apply, send a resume, cover letter and links to code samples, projects and/or github account, to nick.hasty@rhizome.org

Tue Jan 04, 2011 13:25

Rhizome Technology Assistant intern

Reporting to Rhizome's Director of Technology, the Technology Assistant position helps with the wide variety of tasks needed to maintain and develop the Rhizome site. This is an ideal position for a candidate seeking to hone their professional skills in programming, IT and web development while working in an environment focused on arts and digital culture. This position requires 8-16 hours of work per week. Our office is located at the New Museum of Contemporary Art. Course Credit can be arranged for students. Previous holders of this position have moved on to positions in museums and startups.

QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must have some experience in web development or programming. The position requires strong knowledge of HTML and CSS, and familiarity with a dynamic language like Python/PHP/Ruby, MySQL Databases, and Javascript, as well as experience with Unix based operating systems. Familiarity with contemporary art is also desirable.

To apply, submit a resume/cv along with a brief cover letter outlining your goals, previous experience, and interests to nick.hasty@rhizome.org. Please contact nick.hasty@rhizome.org for more information.