Call for public media art for the BCEC LED Marquee

Boston Cyberarts and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority have issued a call for media art for the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center's new 80 foot LED Marquee.

Boston Cyberarts at Atlantic Wharf

Boston Cyberarts has partnered with Atlantic Wharf to provide arts programming for Boston Properties’ latest new building located on Fort Point Channel.

Look for arts exhibitions, music and dance events throughout the year at 280 and 290 Congress Street across from the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Boston.

Imagine a weekend-long party where you make stuff, learn from other coders and artists, watch nifty demos, hang out with your friends, maybe meet some of your heroes, and hear some kickass music. That's a demo party. A bunch of artists, musicians, and coders sitting in a room with their computers (sometimes escaping outside) being silly, and getting to know each other. Don't worry, you're allowed to sleep. This isn't a 48-hour LARP. No one will assassinate you. It is important to get enough rest and calories or you won't enjoy the party, and the rest of us will be very thankful if you shower at least twice during the event.

North America's only current freestanding demoparty took place for the second time from June 17-19, 2011 at Friendly Crossways Hostel and Retreat Center in Harvard, Massachusetts, 45 min west of Boston. Registration for that party opened in April 2011. Watch for the next party, coming June 2012!

http://www.atparty-demoscene.net

The Ghana ThinkTank

The Ghana Thinktank is developing the First World!

Using new media and an interactive process it re-defines the world order, flips the usual roles of international development and builds important cross- cultural relationships. Ghana Thinktank is a decade-long project now in its fifth year. They were finalists last year for the Cartier Award and have been commissioned to exhibit the work at many museums and galleries internationally including ZKM in Germany, F.A.C.T. in Liverpool, Eyebeam and Queens Museum in NYC and The Bat Yam Museum for Contemporary Art in Israel. "Third World" think tanks analyze "First World" problems and propose solutions, which we enact in the community where the problems originated – whether those solutions seem impractical or brilliant. The success or failure of the solutions is documented and sent back to the think tanks, initiating another round of dialogue and action. For exhibitions we build elaborate site specific installations that document the entire process and involve audience participants in each step.

Ghana Thinktank was founded in 2006 by John Ewing, Matey Odonkor and Christopher Robbins. Carmen Montoya joined the group in 2009.

http://ghanathinktank.org

D.I.E.T : Discipline, Interaction, Existence, Transportation

DIET is a project of Heidi Kayser, funded by New England Foundation for the Arts and sponsored by Boston Cyberarts. DIET explores the various ways that we as people situate ourselves in society. We follow cultural norms of consumerism, materialism, social boundaries, and all together take life too seriously. A series of public performances / interventions and sculptures take a look at the mechanisms that create our every day lives.

Using the web as a tool for massive collaboration, and both sound and video juxtaposed with sculpture and performance, DIET is an ongoing project that takes place in public and private space throughout the Greater Boston area.

A Dance in Sol LeWitt’s ‘Bars of Color Within Squares'

The performance of “A Dance in Sol LeWitt’s ‘Bars of Color Within Squares’” premiered at MIT’s Green Center on December 12th, 2010.

The dance performance / new media work was staged on the stunning polychrome terrazzo floor, "Bars of Colors within Squares (MIT)" (2007), by Sol Le Witt for the atrium by MIT's Green Center for Physics and buildings 4,6 & 8. The piece was both a live performance with audience situated at the elevated cross bridges and balconies on floors 2, 3 & 4 looking down from above onto the atrium floor housing the performance and video projections within the performance which revealed real-time transformations of the movements and color fields. It was a tremendously successful collaborative process with music by Phillip Glass, and 12 artist/performers in total. The performance drew over 130 attendees who occupied the upper floors of the atrium.

Concept & Direction: Nell Breyer. Artistic Collaboration: Sarah Baumert, Nell Breyer, Sarah Witt, Dejan Srhoj, Ricky Kuperman, Alissa Cardone. Performers: Sarah Baumert, Isidore Bethel, Nell Breyer, Alissa Cardone, Theodossios Issaias, Ricky Kuperman, Kate Ladenheim, Catherine Murcek, Meg Rotzel, Dejan Srhoj,Torena Webb, Sarah Witt.

Virtual Street Corners

During the Month of June, 2010, large glass storefronts in Brookline and Roxbury were transformed into live video screens, providing pedestrians of one neighborhood with a portal into the other’s world. Running 24/7, these life-size screens enabled real-time interaction between residents of Coolidge Corner and Dudley Square.

Though only 2.4 miles apart and connected by the Route 66 bus, people living in these neighborhoods rarely visit the other. Using technology developed to bridge geographical distances, Virtual Street Corners instead traverses the social boundaries that separate two important cultural and transportation hubs tha have significant historical connections.

Virtual Street Corners was created by John Ewing and received grants from Knight Foundation, NEFA and Black Rock Art Foundation.