Contemporary Art World – please drop the “”s around New Media and help establish the artists of this aesthetic.

October 31st, 2012

Time and life has changed radically in the last 20 years. Most people are now vested in, and depend on, multiple forms of digital technology in their day-to-day routines. Starting a post with this argument, even sounds antiquated, as Western dependency on the digital is woven in to so many elements of life and the […]

What’s wrong with digital art? – Part 1 with Jonathan Shaughnessy

September 10th, 2012

In having been asked to lead off this discussion, the relevant issue that comes immediately to mind is a about autonomy and/or integration. Should new media be afforded a special or separate artistic status in comparison with more traditional media? Is this what artists want? If so then is the challenge for a contemporary curator to recognize distinction before integrating media arts into the fold of contemporary art and exhibitions? Doesn’t the nature of new media art itself often aim to challenge the very nature of traditional (gallery) art viewing contexts and behaviour? Isn’t it possible to accept that all contemporary art, from new media, to photography to painting are more or less different branches of one big diversely coloured tree? On the face of it I have always looked upon media arts this way, as one avenue artists have open to them for exploration. Of course particular knowledge and aptitudes are required (as they are for any artistic medium) but if the goal is to create an art object then is there really that much difference when it comes to reconciling media arts with everything else? Or do I have this all wrong? Like language laws enacted to protect the cultural fabric of a minority community within the broader mainstream, is this how those who speak in media art’s name feel with respect to the governing structures of the contemporary art world; i.e. that to make all sides compete as though the playing field is equal is to place the distinctiveness of what makes media art media art at risk?

An Interview with curator and CRUMB co-founder Sarah Cook

October 10th, 2010

What can curators of contemporary art learn from the distributed and participatory systems of new media art? Sarah Cook and Beryl Graham, co-founders of CRUMB (The Curatorial Resource for Upstart Media Bliss, www.crumbweb.org), are the authors of the recent volume Rethinking Curating: Art After New Media (MIT Press). While in residence at SAW video in […]

Yama Dou : a new Ottawa blog that is probably hipper than us . . .

August 23rd, 2010

One of the regions best monthly parties happens on Tuesdays over in Gatineau at the Petite Chicago. I rarely get out as my grown up body is slowly catching up with my more reckless mind, but I made a special trip last week for the Boy Scout Killers party as it was the launch of […]

My trip to Mutek and Artengine residency in June, Part 1 – Ross Birdwise

July 22nd, 2010

This June I flew in to Ottawa from Vancouver to visit friends and family and to perform at the Mutek festival in Montreal. I was performing with the largely Ottawa-Gatineau based electronic music group if then do, of which I am a founding member (I used to live in Ottawa). Ryan Stec, Artengine’s artistic director, had recently collaborated with if then do in the past using his skills as a VJ and video artist to develop live A/V performances with the group. For this year’s Mutek, Ryan also did live visuals, in some cases using our real-time, partially improvised audio feeds to modulate the video image he had created. Ryan also invited me to do an Artengine Residency at the M70 lab while were at Mutek, but I will save that story for my next post…

Agacés? Agissez! Les éléphants dans l’air du temps

April 21st, 2010

It is my pleasure to introduce another blogger to the Artengine team. Mireille Bourgeois is the Programmer at SAW Video, and she brings a rich and diverse curatorial perspective to the blog. Enjoy! -AD (English translation available upon request. Email mirebour@yahoo.ca) Deux  semaines passé, j’ai participé au Images Festival et au International Experimental Media Congress […]