[-empyre-] Tactical Media; this week's guests

[Timothy Murray]

Hi, all.   You might have noticed a quiet period over the weekend, 
which appears to have been the result of problems with our server at 
COFA in Sydney.  We know that one of our posts never went through, so 
Tim posted it again this morning.  If you lost posts, please feel 
free to resend.  We apologize for the disruption, but, hey, it seems 
not to have been the result of  volcanic ash (say two travelers 
currently waiting to see whether we'll be flying to Berlin on 
Wednesday...).

We want to extend our warmest thanks to our guests who so 
provocatively opened our first week's discussion of Tactical Media, 
Research, and the University.   We have beenpondering all the week 
the insightful posts by Horit Herman Peled, Arthur Kroker, Geert 
Lovink, Nick Knouf, and Rita Raley.  We hope to hear more from you 
all over the course of the next two weeks.

This week, we are pleased to be joined by Patricia Zimmermann, Marc 
Boehlen, Claudia Costa Pederson, and Sarah Cook.


Marc Boehlen (o umlaut) is Associate Professor and Director of 
Graduate Studies in the Department of Media Study at University of 
Buffalo.   Co-Founder of the Emergent Practices MFA concentration and 
of the Media-Architecture-Computing Program.  Practicing under the 
moniker REAL TECH SUPPORT, he designs and builds information 
processing systems that critically reflect on information as a 
cultural value.  Marc's work is informed by a long apprenticeship in 
the crafts (stone masonry), humanities (art history) and the 
engineering sciences (electrical engineering and robotics).  Upcoming 
and recent shows and presentations include events at the National 
University of Singapore (Singapore 2010), the Beall Center for Art 
and Technology (Irvine, USA 2010), and Jiao Tong University 
(Shanghai, China 2009). Recent publications include Micro Public 
Places (Architectural League, New York 2010) and Ambient Intelligence 
in the City (Springer, Berlin 2010).

Sarah Cook is a curator and writer based in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK 
and co-author with Beryl Graham of the book Rethinking Curating: Art 
After New Media (MIT Press). She is currently a research fellow at 
the University of Sunderland where she co-founded and co-edits CRUMB, 
the online resource for curators of new media art and teaches on the 
MA Curating course. In 2011 she will co-chair Rewire, the Fourth 
International Conference on the histories of media, science and 
technology in art with FACT in Liverpool.  Having grown up in Canada, 
Sarah has a longstanding association with The Banff Center where she 
has worked as a guest curator and researcher in residence for the 
Walter Phillips Gallery, the International Curatorial Institute and 
the New Media Institute, developing exhibitions, summits, residencies 
and publications. After completing her PhD in 2004, Sarah worked as 
adjunct curator of new media at BALTIC funded by the AHRC. In 2008 
Sarah was the inaugural curatorial fellow at Eyebeam Art and 
Technology Center in New York, where she worked with the artists in 
the labs to develop exhibitions of their work. For over ten years 
Sarah has curated and co-curated international exhibitions including 
Database Imaginary (2004), The Art Formerly Known As New Media 
(2005), Package Holiday (2005), Broadcast Yourself (2008) and 
Untethered (2008).

Claudia Costa Pederson is a HASTAC Fellow and PhD candidate in the 
History of Art and Visual Studies Department at Cornell University. 
Her interests center on exploring the intersections between play, 
creativity, critical theory, and social activism, with an emphasis on 
digital games as devices for artistic and critical inquiry.  She is 
now teaching a lab course with Nick Knouf for the Finger Lakes 
Enviornmental Film Festival on the theme of Open Space.  She has 
presented her work widely at international new media forums from ISEA 
to DAC, most recently on "Towards an Ecology of Excess," DAC 2010.

  Patricia R. Zimmermann is Shaw Foundation Professor at the Wee Kim 
Wee School of Communications at Nanyang Technological University, 
Singapore; Co-Director of the Finger Lakes Environmental Film 
Festival (FLEFF) and Professor in the Department of Cinema, 
Photography and Media Arts at Ithaca  College, Ithaca, New York, USA. 
She is the author of REEL FAMILIES: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF AMATEUR FILM 
(Indiana, 1995)  STATES OF EMERGENCY: DOCUMENTARIES, WARS, 
DEMOCRACIES (Minnesota, 2000), and coeditor of MINING THE HOME MOVIE: 
EXCAVATIONS IN HISTORIES AND MEMORIES (California, 2008). She was 
coeditor with  Erik Barnouw of THE FLAHERTY: FOUR DECADES IN THE 
CAUSE OF INDEPENDENT CINEMA (Wide Angle, 1996).  Her book on digital 
arts, PUBLIC DOMAINS: CINEMAS, HISTORIES, VISUALITIES (Temple 
University  Press, forthcoming), explores the relationship between 
historiography, political engagements and  digital art practices.

We look forward to the contributions of our new guests and to a 
lively week of commentary from the -empyre- community.

Best,

Renate and Tim


-- 
Renate Ferro and Tim Murray
Managing Moderators, -empyre- soft_skinned_space
Department of Art/ Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art, Cornell University