Programmable Media: Open Platforms for Creativity and Collaboration

A symposium organized and presented by New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.,
hosted by Pace Digital Gallery, New York City.

PARTICIPANTS: John (Craig) Freeman, Tom Igoe, Cary Peppermint, Amit Pitaru,
Michelle Riel, Helen Thorington, and Mushon Zer-Aviv and Dan Phiffer.

Date: March 2, 2007
Time: 10 am to 3:30 pm
Venue: Multipurpose Room, 1 Pace Plaza, Pace University
Free and open to all
Registration: send an email to turbulence@turbulence.org
Contact: Helen Thorington (newradio@turbulence.org); Jillian McDonald
(jmcdonald2@pace.edu)

In July 2004 the not-for-profit media organization New Radio and Performing
Arts, Inc. began the networked_performance blog to chronicle observations
that internet based creative practice is expanding due to the ready
availability of wireless, mobile, and GPS computational devices and the
emergence of the programmable web. We observe that artists, designers and
researchers working in digitally networked and programmable environments are
increasingly making projects that are media platforms, tools and services
which are open and contingent upon participation and the contribution of
content to realize them.

The March 2nd Symposium, Programmable Media: Open Platforms for Creativity
and Collaboration, hosted by Pace University, will explore two forms of
current practice. First, the creation of original software to create tools
and services for creative and social use, such as a freely available 3-D
drawing tool and musical instrument, or a public commons meta layer
conceived as a continuous public space for collaboration. Second, the
creation of original work using the tools available within open platforms
such as Second Life and MySpace to build community and raise awareness.

SCHEDULE

10:00 - 10:45 amIntroduction: Social Coding: Tools, Platforms,
Systems

Helen Thorington: Turbulence.org, networked_performance blog
Michelle Riel: Siting this Symposium in current practice
Q&A (audience)

10:45 - 11:00 amTransition

11:00 am - 12.20 pmRoundtable 1:

Mushon Zer-Aviv + Dan Phiffer: The Social Space of the Net: ShiftSpace
Amit Pitaru: Sonic Wire Sculptor
Tom Igoe: Networked Objects: Email Clock & Air Quality Meter & others
Discussion (with moderators)
Q&A (audience)

12.20 - 2:00 pmlunch break

2:00 - 3:20 pmRoundtable 2:

Cary Peppermint: The Performative Space of the Net
John (Craig) Freeman: Participatory Installation Art in Second Life
Michelle Riel: Responsive Soft-Biological Systems
Discussion (with moderators)
Q&A (audience)

Participant Biographies:

John (Craig) Freeman is an artist and educator who uses digital technologies
to produce place-based virtual reality and site-specific public art. The
virtual reality work is made up of projected interactive environments that
lead the audience from global satellite images to immersive, user navigated
scenes on the ground. As one explores these virtual spaces, the story of the
place unfolds in a montage of nonlinear media. Freeman's work has been
exhibited internationally. He has recently introduced it into the 3-D
graphical world of Second Life. Freeman is currently an Associate Professor
of New Media at Emerson College in Boston.

Tom Igoe teaches courses in physical computing and networking, exploring
ways to allow digital technologies to sense and respond to a wider range of
human physical expression. Coming from a background in theatre, his work has
centered on physical interaction related to live performance and public
space. His current research focuses on ecologically sustainable practices in
technology development. Along with Dan O'Sullivan, he co-authored the book
"Physical Computing: Sensing and Controlling the Physical World with
Computers," which has been adopted by numerous digital art and design
programs around the world. He is working on another book on networked
objects, for O'Reilly Media, due out in 2007. Projects include a series of
networked banquet table centerpieces and musical instruments; an email
clock; and a series of interactive dioramas, created in collaboration with
M.R. Petit. He has consulted for The American Museum of the Moving Image,
EAR Studio, Diller + Scofidio Architects, Eos Orchestra, and others. He is a
contributor to MAKE magazine and a collaborator on the Arduino open source
microcontroller project. He hopes someday to work with monkeys, as well.

Cary Peppermint is a conceptual artist who works with digital technologies
and performance art. He is assistant professor of art at Colgate University
where he teaches courses in the theory and practice of digital art.
Peppermint distributes his ongoing network performances through an
independent website of information-art called "Restlessculture.net."
(http://www.restlessculture.net) The focus of Cary's work is the creative
inquiry into the cultural effects of an increasingly interconnected,
information-based global culture and the setting of information free through
accessible, searchable, database-driven new media objects and performances.
His net.art includes some of the first real-time, interactive performances
realized via CU-SEEME and early internet browser technologies. Cary's latest
works engage the concepts of wilderness, space, the American frontier, and
environmental ethics and explore how new media technologies both limit and
expand our conceptions of nature and the environment, questioning how we
live and make art with and in nature. He has curated two international
exhibitions of digitally infused eco-art, "Technorganic" and "Wilderness
Information Network." Cary exhibits internationally and has been the
recipient of numerous awards, including a Franklin Furnace Performance
Grant, Experimental Television Workshop Grant, and NYSCA's Decentralization
Grant. His work is in the collections of the Walker Art Center, Rhizome.org
at the New Museum for Contemporary Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art,
and Computer Fine Arts.

Dan Phiffer is a new media hacker from California, interested in exploring
cultural dimensions of inexpensive communications networks such as voice
telephony and the Internet. Drawing on his computer science background,
Dan's software projects seek to provide meaningful creative opportunities
through intuitive user interfaces. Dan now lives in Brooklyn, New York and
is pursuing a Masters from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program.

Amit Pitaru is an artist, designer and researcher of Human Machine
Interaction (HCI). Amit cross-palliates his work between a wide range of
fields; As an artist, he develops custom-made musical and animation
instruments, and has recently exhibited/performed at the London Design
Museum, Paris Pompidou Center, Sundance Film festival and ICC Museum in
Tokyo. Amit is also a designer with particular interest in Assistive
Technologies and Universal Design. He is currently commissioned by the
MacArthur Foundation to write a chapter for an upcoming book on his recent
work - creating toys and software that are inclusively accessible to people
with various disabilities. As an educator, Amit develops curriculums that
focus on the coupling of technology and the creative thought process. He
regularly teaches at New York University's ITP and Cooper Union's Arts
department.

Michelle Riel is associate professor of new media and chair of the
Teledramatic Arts and Technology Department at California State University
Monterey Bay. Riel collaborates with turbulence.org on the
networked_performance blog, documenting and presenting on emerging work that
is both networked and live. She is an award winning designer and NEA
commissioned net artist. Her current work, antSongs, is a responsive music
system collaborating with ants to explore issues of sustainability,
community, and globalism.

Helen Thorington is an award winning writer, sound composer and media
artist. Thorington is founder and co- director of the independent media
organization, New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc., whose projects include
the national weekly radio series, New American Radio, Turbulence.org
(1996-present), and the networked_performance blog (2004-present).
Thorington publishes and presents internationally on these projects. She is
currently teaching in the Department of Arts and New Media at Emerson
College.

Mushon Zer-Aviv was born in Israel in 1976. He has been involved in and
initiated cross-media projects in art, design, comics, animation, online
culture and media activism. Co-founder of Shual.com design studio. A teacher
at Shekar College of Design & Engineering. An active contributor to
Pixelsurgeon.com, Exego.net and Maarav.org.il online magazines. Curated BD4D
Tel-Aviv and started Upgrade! Tel-Aviv events, both series aimed at creating
and developing the Israeli new-media creative network. Mushon is currently
studying at NYU's Interactive Telecommunication Program.

Jo-Anne Green, Co-Director
New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.: http://new-radio.org
New York: 917.548.7780 . Boston: 617.522.3856
Turbulence: http://turbulence.org
New American Radio: http://somewhere.org
Networked_Performance Blog: http://turbulence.org/blog
Upgrade! Boston: http://turbulence.org/upgrade

February 2, 2007
Turbulence Commission: "Gothamberg" by Martin Wattenberg and Marek Walczak,
with Chuck Crow, Johanna Kindvall, Warren Lehrer, Christiane Paul and Vivian
Selbo.
http://turbulence.org/works/gothamberg

Everyone who has lived in an apartment has a story to tell. "Gothamberg" is
a place to read, interact and exchange stories of lives in apartment
buildings. Together, these tales of unwanted sounds and smells, lobbies and
bathrooms, laundry room gossip and unexpected favors form a single
collective building, "Gothamberg". Their experiences form the elliptical
threads of inhabitation, a mnemonic quality expressing something of the
shared nature of dwelling.

"Gothamberg" is a 2006 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.,
(aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It was made possible with
funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

BIOGRAPHIES

MARTIN WATTENBERG'S work centers on the theme of making the invisible
visible. Past projects include "The Shape of Song," "Thinking Machine,"
"history flow", the Whitney Artport's "Idea Line," and "Apartment."
Wattenberg is a researcher at IBM's Visual Communication Lab where he
creates new forms of data visualization. He is also known for the
SmartMoney.com "Map of the Market." Wattenberg holds a Ph.D. in mathematics
from U.C. Berkeley.

MAREK WALCZAK is an artist and architect who is interested in how people
participate in physical and virtual spaces. This has led to digital tools
and interactive projects such as "Apartment" which was shown at the Whitney
Museum and many venues worldwide. "Dialog Table" has recently been completed
for the Walker Art Center, it is a shared interface that replaces a keyboard
and mouse with gesture recognition technology. Current projects bridge
physical installations with user interaction, including a one block long
facade at "7 World Trade Center" that reacts to pedestrians walking beneath
it (for James Carpenter Design) and video installations that activate
physical space based on user engagement such as Third Person, recently shown
at the ICA, London.

CHUCK CROW is a financial engineer who specializes in the theory and
implementation of autonomous trading systems. He obtained a B.S. in Computer
Science with minors in Mathematics and Business Management from Johns
Hopkins University and an M.S. in Operations Research from Columbia
University. Chuck uses digitally rendered sound and raw field recordings to
create engaging soundscapes intended for controlled listening environments.
From lush layering to stark microsound, his compositional techniques include
the use of static noise, stochastic processes, and real-time web data. He
acquired a private pilot's license during the summer of 2000.

JOHANNA KINDVALL is an architect with a background in social work. She grew
up in South Sweden and is now living in New York. After her degree in social
studies she worked for seven years mostly with drug addicts and the mentally
ill. At the same time she also worked with sculpture and art installations.
For her architecture is a way to combine art with social issues. Johanna's
work is often about the relationship between spaces and people, movement and
behavior. In May 2003 Johanna got a grant from the Arts Grants Committee in
Sweden to work with Marek Walczak in New York City on spaces and digital
interaction. Currently Johanna is working for James Carpenter Design in New
York. In her spare time she is also working on the Hudson Park Project.

WARREN LEHRER is a multi-disciplinary artist, writer, designer, performer,
and educator. Over the past 25 years, he has been writing and designing
books and theatrical works that explore the music of thought and speech, the
complexity of character, the pathos and absurdity of life, and the
relationship between social structures and the individual. The form and
structure of his books attempt to capture the shape of thought and reunite
the oral and pictorial traditions of storytelling with the printed page.
Warren has published ten books including "Crossing the BLVD": strangers,
neighbors, aliens in a new America (written with Judith Sloan). With Dennis
Bernstein, he wrote the play Social Security: the basic training of Eugene
Solomon, and with Harvey Goldman, he co-wrote and co-composed a contemporary
opera, The Search for It and Other Pronouns. He has also produced two audio
CDs, and six radio documentaries for Public Radio. His plays and performance
pieces have been performed at La MaMa Experimental Theatre, the Public
Theatre, the Theatre Workshop (Scotland), the Knitting Factory, the Jewish
Museum, Independent Art at Here, the Painted Bride, etc.

CHRISTIANE PAUL is the Adjunct Curator of New Media Arts at the Whitney
Museum of American Art and the director of "Intelligent Agent", a service
organization dedicated to digital art. She has written extensively on new
media arts and her book "Digital Art" (part of the World of Art Series by
Thames & Hudson, UK) was published in July 2003. She teaches in the MFA
computer arts department at the School of Visual Arts in New York and has
lectured internationally on art and technology. At the Whitney Museum, she
curated the show "Data Dynamics" (2001), the net art selection for the 2002
Whitney Biennial, as well as the online exhibition "CODeDOC" (2002) for
artport, the Whitney Museum's online portal to Internet art for which she is
responsible. Other curatorial work includes "The Passam3eege of Mirage"
(Chelsea Art Museum, New York, 2004); "Evident Traces" (Ciberarts Festival
Bilbao, 2004); and "eVolution -- the art of living systems" (Art
Interactive, Boston, 2004).

VIVIAN SELBO has conceptualized and designed web projects for "PBS/P.O.V.",
the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the Brooklyn Academy of
Music, the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and the Museum of Modern Art, NY,
among others. From 1995 to 1998, Selbo was the interface director of
adaweb.com, now part of the Walker Art Center's Digital Arts Study
Collection. Selbo is also an adjunct professor at the School of the Visual
Arts, and New York University.

For more information about Turbulence please visit http://turbulence.org

Jo-Anne Green, Co-Director
New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.: http://new-radio.org
New York: 917.548.7780 . Boston: 617.522.3856
Turbulence: http://turbulence.org
New American Radio: http://somewhere.org
Networked_Performance Blog: http://turbulence.org/blog
Upgrade! Boston: http://turbulence.org/upgrade

UPGRADE! BOSTON: Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg + Deb Todd Wheeler
http://www.turbulence.org/upgrade/

WHEN: February 15, 7 pm
WHERE: Art Interactive, 130 Bishop Allen Drive, at the corner of Prospect
Street, Cambridge. Free parking in the lot on the corner or take the T to
Central Square and walk 1 block.

< Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg>
http://www.turbulence.org/upgrade/archives/02_15_07JPK.html

Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg is a sound artist, composer, and shape note singer
whose work explores the intersections of technology and tradition. His
output encompasses installation, music for live performance, tunebooks, web
design, audio tours, and transmission arts. Jesse's current work
investigates the history and practice of Sacred Harp singing and the
geological, social, technological, and religious history of upstate New
York. Jesse is the cofounder of the "Society for a Subliminal State" and
editor-in-chief of the Society's newsletter, "Subliminal Statements." His
work has been performed and exhibited at art and historical venues
internationally and throughout the Northeast.

<< Deb Todd Wheeler >>
http://www.turbulence.org/upgrade/archives/02_15_07DTW.html

Deb Todd Wheeler is a sculptor, inventor, and media artist. Using the
vernacular of the 19th century, a time when art and science were more
closely linked, she investigates alternative avenues for power that reflect
our growing concern with sustainability today. She is a recipient of a LEF
Contemporary Work Fund Artist grant in inter-media, a Massachusetts Cultural
Council Grant in Sculpture and Installation, and the Artist Resource Trust
Grant. She is on the Graduate Faculty of the Art Institute of Boston, and
also teaches in the 3D department at Massachusetts College of Art.

UP NEXT

<<< Eric Gordon + Show-n-Tell >>>

March 22, 2007 at 7 pm.

Upgrade! Boston (http://www.turbulence.org/upgrade/about.html) is curated by
Jo-Anne Green for Turbulence.org (http://turbulence.org) in partnership with
Art Interactive (http://artinteractive.org). It is one of 22 nodes currently
active in Upgrade! International (http://theupgrade.net), an emerging
network of autonomous nodes united by art, technology, and a commitment to
bridging cultural divides. If you would like to present your work or get
involved, please email jo@turbulence.org.

If you no longer wish to receive these notices, please reply to this email
with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.

Jo-Anne Green, Co-Director
New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.: http://new-radio.org
New York: 917.548.7780 . Boston: 617.522.3856
Turbulence: http://turbulence.org
New American Radio: http://somewhere.org
Networked_Performance Blog: http://turbulence.org/blog
Upgrade! Boston: http://turbulence.org/upgrade

January 25, 2007
"3 X 3: New Media Fix(es) on Turbulence"
Essays by Josphine Bosma, Belen Gache, and Eduardo Navas

Turbulence.org and New Media Fix (http://newmediafix.net) are pleased to
announce the publication of "3 X 3: New Media Fix(es) on Turbulence," three
texts about works from the Turbulence.org archive. The texts--published in
English, Italian and Spanish--were written and translated by members and
affiliates of New Media Fix. They include "The Body in Turbulence" by
Josephine Bosma; "Narrating with New Media: What Happened with Whatever has
Happened?" by Belen Gache; and "Turbulence: Remixes + Bonus Beats" by
Eduardo Navas. The translations are by Lucrezia Cippitelli, Francesca De
Nicolo, Raquel Herrera, and Brenda Banda Corona & Ignacio Nieto. Ludmil
Trenkov designed the PDF and HTML documents.

"3 X 3: New Media Fix(es) on Turbulence" was funded by the National
Endowment for the Arts. The essays may be read and/or downloaded at
http://www.turbulence.org/texts/nmf/ or http://newmediafix.net/Turbulence07/

BIOGRAPHIES

JOSEPHINE BOSMA (1962) is a writer and critic. She started working in the
field of new media art making radio shows, documentaries and interviews
about the topic for VPRO and Patapoe radio in 1993. She has published
interviews, reviews and texts about art and new media in various books and
magazine, both on and offline, since 1996. Her work mostly focuses on net
art, sound art and net culture. Bosma has also organized several events,
like the radio section of the tactical media festival Next5Minutes 2 (1996)
and 3 (1999), an evening about net art criticism (2001) and the newsletter
CREAM (2001/2002). She lives and works in Amsterdam.
http://houseoflaudanum.com/bosma

BELEN GACHE has a Master's Degree in Discourse Analysis with a thesis on the
argentine writer Julio Cortazar. She has published books such as Escrituras
Nomades, del libro perdido al hipertexto (Nomadic Writings, from the lost
book to hipertext) (Spain, Gijon, Trea, 2006), El ser escrito: lenguajes y
escrituras en la obra de Xul Solar (The Written Being: languages and
writings in Xul Solar's works) (Madrid, Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofia,
2002), Jorge Macchi, el destino como principal sospechoso, (Jorge Macchi,
Destiny as the Principal Suspect) (France, Centre Contemporain d