[-empyre-] Changing the guard

[Michael Arnold Mages <marnoldm@du.edu>]

Dear empyreans,

Personally, I tend to view change, great and small, with both
apprehension and excitement.  Apprehension -- knowing that something
that has been a part of my life will change, and excitement, well...
knowing that something that has been a part of my life will change.

Melinda Rackham, maker and "mother" to -empyre-, has accepted an
incredible opportunity as the Executive Director of the Australian
Network for Art and Technology ( http://www.anat.org.au ) located
in Adelaide. A longer description of ANAT follows this message, but in
short, ANAT is Australia's foremost organization and advocacy body for
artists working with science and technology. Melinda will be leaving
the -empyre- facilitation team in order to better focus on these new
responsibilities.

After working with Melinda for the past three years, I have come to
have great respect for her judgement, both aesthetic and personal.
Melinda's wit, curatorial expertise, knowledge of the field of new
media, will be missed by all of us at -empyre-.

Some particularly evocative months that Melinda hosted were:

February 2005 - To Save or Not to Save?
International preservation projects dealing with online art, discussing
issues critical to today's net.art practices..
http://lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/2005-February/date.html

July 2004 - Play with a Purpose: Politics and Art in Computer Games
Radwan Kasmiya, Kipper, Rafael Fajardo, Brody Condon, Eddo Stern, and
Peter Brinson
http://lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/2004-July/date.html

June 2003 - lab3D the Dimensional Internet
An amazing discussion, which generated material for articles by Melinda in
Cornerhouse's lab3d Reader and for the magazine Intelligent Agent.
http://lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/2003-June/date.html

June 2002 - Hypertext, Blogs and Video Blogs (vogs) Adrian Miles and Jill
Walker
Blogging and vogging... (please note the date -- three years ago [ed.])
http://lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/2002-June/date.html

January - February 2002 - Metal and Flesh Ollivier Dyens
The first month of -empyre- with 45 subscribers.
http://lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/2002-January/date.html


To quote Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Nothing great was ever achieved without
enthusiasm".  There have been more than 5,000 emails sent to -empyre- since
Melinda started the list. -empyre- is one of the premiere areas for
discussion of new media arts praxis, with nearly 1000 subscribers from all
areas of the globe.  As we continue to maintain and grow -empyre-, we know
that without Melinda's enthusiasm for intelligent conversation, the field,
and the artists, this living web would not exist.

We thank you Melinda, and wish you well in your new position at ANAT.

Best wishes,
the -empyre- administration

Christina, Jim, Michael, Tracey, Marcus




About ANAT:
http://www.anat.org.au
ANAT (Australian Network for Art and Technology) creates connections
and collaborations across art, culture, science and technology. It is
Australia's peak network and advocacy body for artists working with
science and technology, creating opportunities for innovation, research
and development both nationally and internationally.

ANAT supports emerging and established artists in the fields of new
media arts, internet, video, sound and performance to develop new work
and create national and international networks. ANAT also provides
financial support to artists through the quick response Conference and
Workshop Fund.

ANAT collaborates with a range of science, industry and arts partners
within Australia and overseas to initiate innovative opportunities such
as residencies, databases, Masterclasses and Summer Schools. Through
avenues such as forums, artist talks and Newsletter, ANAT fosters
critical debate on the synthesis between art, culture, science and
technology.



-- 
Michael Arnold Mages
mailto:marnoldm@du.edu

Digital Media Studies
University of Denver, USA
--