Open Invitation

AA family members are invited to any and all of the CRiTs. Actually, to anything at all going on here at the lab. If you're going to be in town, please give me a shout and I can let you know what we are up to while you are here.

Take a look at the October 26th entry. This is a great resource for seeing cutting-edge, elegant Flash work, as well as tutorials on how to work the magic. This site embraces computational models of doing animation, given rise to fabulous things like the creature at the October 26th page.

Been There

CRiT 1.2
(October 26)

The third installment of the CRiT took place on the 26^th of October (a good date, it seems!) We had three artists/technologists speak: Sharon Daniels and Mark Bartlett about Subtract the Sky, a large-scale Internet participation project around designing maps; and Skawennati Tricia Fragnito about Imagining Indians, a web-based piece which examines 4000 years of Native American past and future.

.art Frontiers Industry, Artists, and Partnerships
(November 2 - 4)

.art Frontiers was the first symposium convened by Ground Zero, a Silicon Valley consortium of artists, technologists and financiers to explore collaborations between the three. I’m proud to report that the Lab was seen as pioneering this area, and my presentation was very well received: I spoke on a panel called "Innovative Models for Art and Technology Centers". Please take a look at the trip report. The conference tended to revolve around one very important, very difficult question, really: how to reconcile the industrialist/financier's understanding of ROI in terms of financial capital with the artist's understanding of ROI in terms of social or cultural capital? Both camps see their type of return as necessary for a healthy, functioning culture. Both find it difficult to craft an exchange mechanism between the the two types of ROI.

Residency 1.2 : Code Zebra
(November 25 – December 4th)

On November 25^th, the Lab will begin it’s largest and most ambitious residency to date when 15 experts in digital visualization, social theory, streaming audio/video and media design descend on us to begin Code Zebra. Led by internationally-renowned artist/curator Sara Diamond from the Banff Centre for the Arts, the group will model Code Zebra, a piece of software that Diamond has concieved for visualizing chat dynamics. She hopes that a will produce visual patterns that allow users to better understand and symbolize their own position within discussions and simultaneously create audio patterns. The software utilizes reaction/diffusion phenonema, found in nature and amenable to mathematical modelling, as the basis for creating its global patterns while also allowing individuals or groups to create their own personalized patterns. The software is part of the larger Code Zebra project aimed at creating both software and live performances.

We at the Lab are looking forward to the ways in which this residency will expand and enrich our own The Map is the Territory Project. Both efforts are looking for ways in which to create a more compelling peer-to-peer, real-time communication media for the web.

CRiT 1.3
(December 4)

The fourth CRiT night will feature members of the Code Zebra residency presenting the work done during the previous week.

ISEA 2000
(December 6 - 10)

ISEA stands for the International Society of Electronica Arts, and, after Ars, is the most significant art + technology conferenence/festival of the year (see http://www.isea2000.com/an/edito.htm.) I have been invited to speak twice at this year's event, once about the Lab and once about our ActiveText/TextOrgan work.

London Tour

I will be in London from 11 December to 16 December. I have already scheduled a meeting with CellTick, and am looking for other portfolio companies to visit while there.