ryan griffis
Since 2002
Works in United States of America

ARTBASE (3)
PORTFOLIO (1)
BIO
Ryan Griffis currently teaches new media art at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He often works under the name Temporary Travel Office and collaborates with many other writers, artists, activists and interesting people in the Midwest Radical Culture Corridor.
The Temporary Travel Office produces a variety of services relating to tourism and technology aimed at exploring the non-rational connections existing between public and private spaces. The Travel Office has operated in a variety of locations, including Missouri, Chicago, Southern California and Norway.

Is MySpace a Place?


Networked Performance pointed me toward an interview (download in PDF)with Networked Publics speaker Henry Jenkins and Networked Publics friend danah boyd about Myspace. The site, popular with teenagers, has become increasingly controversial as parents and the press raise concerns about the openness of information on the site and the vulnerability this supposedly poses to predators (Henry points out that only .1% of abductions are by strangers) and the behavior of teens towards each other (certainly nothing new, only now in persistent form). In another essay on Identity Production in Networked Culture, danah suggests that Myspace is popular not only because the technology makes new forms of interaction possible, but because older hang-outs such as the mall and the convenience store are prohibiting teens from congregating and roller rinks and burger joints are disappearing.

This begs the question, is Myspace media or is it space? Architecture theorists have long had this thorn in their side. "This will kill that," wrote Victor Hugo with respect to the book and the building. In the early 1990s, concern about a dwindling public culture and the character of late twentieth century urban space led us to investigate Jürgen Habermas's idea of the public sphere. But the public sphere, for Habermas is a forum, something that, for the most part, emerges in media and in the institutions of the state:

The bourgeois public sphere may be conceived above all as the sphere of private people come together as a public; they soon claimed the public sphere regulated from above against the public authorities themselves, to engage them in a debate over the general rules governing relations in the basically privatized but publicly relevant sphere of commodity exchange and social labor. The medium of this political confrontation was peculiar and without historical precedent: people's ...

READ ON »


SWITCH: Issue 22



Carlos Castellanos:

HI everyone. Just wanted to announce the new issue of SWITCH:

SWITCH : The online New Media Art Journal of the CADRE Laboratory for
New Media at San Jose State University

http://switch.sjsu.edu switch@cadre.sjsu.edu

SWITCH Journal is proud to announce the launch of Issue 22: A Special
Preview Edition to ISEA 2006/ ZeroOne San Jose.

As San Jose State University and the CADRE Laboratory are serving as
the academic host for the ZeroOne San Jose /ISEA 2006 Symposium,
SWITCH has dedicated itself to serving as an official media
correspondent of the Festival and Symposium. SWITCH has focused the
past three issues of publication prior to ZeroOne San Jose/ISEA2006
on publishing content reflecting on the themes of the symposium. Our
editorial staff has interviewed and reported on artists, theorists,
and practitioners interested in the intersections of Art & Technology
as related to the themes of ZeroOne San Jose/ ISEA 2006. While some
of those featured in SWITCH are part of the festival and symposium,
others provide a complimentary perspective.

Issue 22 focuses on the intersections of CADRE and ZeroOne San Jose/
ISEA 2006. Over the past year, students at the CADRE Laboratory for
New Media have been working intensely with artists on two different
residency projects for the festival – “Social Networking” with Antoni
Muntadas and the City as Interface Residency, “Karaoke Ice” with
Nancy Nowacek, Marina Zurkow & Katie Salen. Carlos Castellanos,
James Morgan, Aaron Siegel, all give us a sneak preview of their
projects which will be featured at the ISEA 2006 exhibition. Alumni
Sheila Malone introduces ex_XX:: post position, an exhibition
celebrating the 20th anniversary of the CADRE Institute that will run
as a parallel exhibition to ZeroOne San Jose/ ISEA 2006. LeE
Montgomery provides a preview of NPR (Neighborhood Public Radio)
presence at ...

READ ON »


Art & Mapping



The North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) has released a special issue of their journal, Cartographic Perspectives:
Art and Mapping Issue 53, Winter 2006 Edited by Denis Wood and and John Krygier Price: $25
The issue includes articles by kanarinka, Denis Wood, Dalia Varanka and John Krygier, and an extensive catalogue of map artists compiled by Denis Wood.

READ ON »


[-empyre-] Liquid Narrative for June 2006


Christina McPhee:

hi all, I am not sure we got this message out to Rhizome!

Please join our guests this month, Dene Grigar (US), Jim Barrett
(AU/SE), Lucio Santaella (BR), and Sergio Basbaum (BR) , with
moderator Marcus Bastos (BR), for a spirited discussion of "Liquid
Narratives" ----- digital media story telling with a dash, perhaps,
of 'aura' .

Here's the intro from Marcus:

The topic of June at the - empyre - mailing list will be Liquid Narratives. The concept of 'liquid narrative' is interesting in that it allows to think about the unfoldings of contemporary languages beyond tech achievements, by relating user controlled applications with formats such as the essay (as described by Adorno in "Der Essay als Form", The essay as a form) and procedures related to the figure of the narrator (as described by Benjamin in his writings about Nikolai Leskov). Both authors are accute critics of modern culture, but a lot of his ideas can be expanded towards contemporary culture. As a matter of fact, one of the main concerns in Benjamin's essay is a description of how the rise of modernism happens on account of an increasing nprivilege of information over knowledge, which is even more intense nowadays. To understand this proposal, it is important to remember how Benjamin distinguishes between an oral oriented knowledge, that results from 'an experience that goes from person to person' and is sometimes anonymous, from the information and authoritative oriented print culture. One of the aspects of this discussion is how contemporary networked culture rescues this 'person to person' dimension, given the distributed and non-authoritative procedures that technologies such as the GPS, mobile phones and others stimulate.

READ ON »


state of the planet infographics


stateoftheplanet.jpg
a small collection of beautiful information graphics documenting the current state of the planet.
see also gapminder & 3d data globe.
[seedmagazine.com]

READ ON »



Discussions (909) Opportunities (8) Events (16) Jobs (0)
DISCUSSION

Re: Oregon Terrorists


Oregon (despite many "progressive" legal/legislative aspects) has been one of a handful of states to actively pursue, via manipulating existing laws, environmentalist groups involved in direct action. Using isolated actions of those claiming ELF affiliation, the Portland police and FBI have been monitoring "terrorist" organizations like the Oregon Natural Resources Council and others.
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/press/2001/freedom/ecoterrorism.htm
http://www.counterpunch.org/mercier1031.html
ryan

DISCUSSION

(no subject)


From: Philip M. Napoli pnapoli@fordham.edu

Call for Participation

Media Diversity: Meaning, Metrics and the Public
Interest

Meeting Sponsored by the Ford Foundation

August, 2003

Submission Deadline: June 15, 2003

The Federal Communications Commission is in the midst
of its biennial review of media ownership regulations.
Existing rules limiting television and radio station
ownership, as well as cross-ownership of newspapers
and broadcast stations, are under consideration for
possible relaxation or elimination. Congress requires
the FCC to repeat this process every two years and
eliminate any regulations that no longer serve the
public interest.

One of the key issues underlying the ownership
proceeding is if, or to what extent, the current
structure of our media system effectively promotes the
diversity of sources, outlets, and viewpoints
essential to an informed public and a robust
"marketplace of ideas." Another issue is whether our
media system provides sufficient content and services
that address the needs and interests of local
communities (i.e., "localism"). These diversity and
localism principles are long-standing guideposts for
determining the extent to which our media effectively
serve the public interest.

Efforts to answer the questions of whether the media
environment is sufficiently diverse, or effectively
serves local interests and concerns, face the
challenge of producing objective and reliable
empirical evidence. The courts have frequently
demanded such evidence and the FCC has often struggled
to provide it. Objective and reliable systems of
measuring diversity and localism in media markets
could play an important role not only in media
policymaking, but also in any efforts to assess the
performance of various sectors of our media system.

The Ford Foundation seeks to foster a dialogue on this
subject that incorporates the input and opinions of a
diverse array of interested stakeholders. The
Foundation's Knowledge, Creativity, and Freedom
program is therefore sponsoring a one-day meeting on
the subject of diversity and localism measurement for
media policymaking and assessing media performance.

The Ford Foundation invites scholars, advocates,
activists, and media and policy professionals engaged
in developing concepts, methods, or data relevant to
this issue area to submit a short letter which lays
out your interest in participating in a conversation
about policies affecting media & diversity. These
letters should not exceed 1,000 words, and they should
include a brief biographical sketch (no more than 500
words please) as an attachment. Authors of accepted
letters will be invited to participate in a meeting
during summer 2003 at the Foundation. Viewpoints and
papers presented at the meeting will be included in a
report to be issued by the Ford Foundation.

Proposal Guidelines:

n Letters should not exceed 1,000 words in length.

n Include a 500-word biographical sketch of author(s).

n Submission deadline: June 15, 2003.

n Acceptance notification: July 15, 2003

Proposals should be sent electronically (Word or
WordPerfect format) or via surface mail to:

Becky Lentz, Program Officer for Media Policy and
Technology & Margaret Wilkerson, Director, Media, Arts
and Culture Unit Media, Arts and Culture Unit
Knowledge, Creativity & Freedom Program Ford
Foundation 320 E. 43rd Street New York, NY 10017

Attn: Media & Diversity

For e-mail submissions, please send to
b.lentz@fordfound.org <mailto:b.lentz@fordfound.org
<mailto:b.lentz@fordfound.org> > (email subject line
should read: Proposal for participation: Media &
Diversity)

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com

DISCUSSION

FWD: makrolab PR


Press Release

MAKROLAB

During the 50th Venice Biennale Aurora Fonda's
activity as Director of the Cultural Centre of
Slovenia continues in its unusual way by offering

MAKROLAB

an autonomous space of communication and research as
well as a habitation unit capable of supporting the
concentrated work of eight persons in
isolation/insulation for up to 120 days. A real
laboratory, Makrolab is equipped to hold artists,
scientists and strategic operators of the media world,
who are supplied with instruments and means for a
common progressive independent work that develops
wide-ranging research in the field of
telecommunications, climate and migration. The
location where the initiative is based is also
unusual: Campalto Island in the Venetian lagoon.

From the beginning of June through to the end of
September, it will be possible to visit the Makrolab
laboratory in full swing, thanks to a ferry service
that goes to the island from the Biennale site of the
Giardini. This service makes it possible for all those
interested to take part directly in the research
activities and experiments and, naturally, the results
that emerge.

Makrolab, started in 1994 by Marko Peljhan, and
realised for the first time as part of Documenta X at
Kassel in 1997, draws on the collaboration of people
from many different studies and disciplines. It is
expected to end in 2007, when the structure will be
placed permanently in the Antarctic. From then on
Makrolab will be managed by a trans-national
foundation. The project has already been a feature at
Venice, in June 1999 at the Querini Stampalia
Foundation and, in February 2001, at the Peggy
Guggenheim Foundation as part of the Guggenheim public
project.

In its three themes (telecommunications, migration and
climatic systems) Makrolab has identified a real
resource to understand how our planet works on a
social, technological and natural level, and how it
develops through methods and systems of art, where it
finds the notion of liberty, and of science which
offer the possibility to progress and reflect.

It should be stressed that Makrolab is a social
experiment and is run by the non-profit association of
Slovenian artists Zavod Projekt Atol. The project is
financed by governments, international organisations
and societies, and by individuals. After Venice it
will be installed in Israel, South Africa, Nunavut
Territory in Canada, Japan, Russia and finally the
Antarctic (2007) where it will be used as a permanent
and independent artistic-scientific station for
research in the areas of primary interest to the
project.

Makrolab is equipped with systems which allow the most
comfortable working conditions, despite limitations in
space. It has five sections: the working section,
kitchen, storage area, rest area and hygiene area. It
draws its energy from wind and sun and possesses a
system of filters to obtain and recycle drinking
water; what's more, it's capable of recycling most of
its waste and has a small hydroponic vegetable garden.
In the near future perma-cultivations will be
installed, which should supplement the nutritional
necessities of the team. For extreme conditions the
laboratory also has a system to control the internal
atmosphere.

Makrolab operates an equal opportunities policy and is
open to anyone. The present team can be contacted with
proposals, suggestions etc., on makrolab@libero.it The
majority of results are available to the public
on the Internet or other research engines.

Makrolab is part of the 50th International Biennale of
Art in collaboration with the Comune di Venezia,
Assessorato alle Politiche Sociali, Regione Veneto,
Interreg III Phare CBS Italia/Slovenia, The Slovenian
Ministry of Culture, The City of Ljubljana, Mobitel
d.d. Ljubljana, The City of Nova Gorica and the rx:tx
Foundation, and the University of California at Santa
Barbara (UCSB).

Press Office

Roberta Lombardo Hurstel
8bis, rue de l'Argonne - 75019 Paris
tel. +33 1 53 26 04 26 - fax +33 1 53 30 00 26
Castello, 5064/b - 30122 Venezia
tel. +39 041 52 87 721 - mob. +33 6 10 56 42 51
email: hurstel.roberta@wanadoo.fr

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com

DISCUSSION

"total ownership experience"


Still a bit vague, but headed in the right direction.
The art industry is ripe for automation, but it will
take years to achieve in a consistent, reliable
fashion, and it will require more than the Walker's
participation. Governmental standards and corporate
funders working together to automate functions across
institutions will be essential. Otherwise, we will end
up with galleries of automation that reduce cost and
complexity, but only within narrow bands of
aesthetics."
modified from:
http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2913601,00.html

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com