[spectre] LEA Call: Artists and Scientists in Times of War

[oliver grau]

LEA Call for Papers: Artists and Scientists in Times of War
Guest Editor: Shirley Shor

The Leonardo Electronic Almanac (ISSN No: 1071-4391) is developing a 
special issue dealing with the phenomenon of war, and will explore 
the relationships between artists, scientists, and war in 
contemporary society.

The issue will investigate war from an interdisciplinary perspective, 
as a cultural practice of conflict that affects each and every one of 
us on a daily basis; a practice that is broader and deeper than armed 
conflict between nation states; that occurs on many levels when 
national, social, economical and cultural interests collide and which 
involves issues such as real-time media representation of facts, 
language and architecture, freedom of information and truth and power.
We are in a midst of a global digital media war where copyright 
holders fight consumers over digital music, books and movies sharing 
and duplication. A software war where open and free systems battle 
closed and proprietary ones for running the world's computer systems. 
A Man vs. Machine war in-which the world's greatest chess players 
fight for the human creative edge and self dignity against the 
superior speed and memory of computers.
We live in a time of total screening of war as a spectacle on 
television and computer screens - from live war images on news cable 
stations, war simulation video games, reality police action shows and 
US Army commercials with heavy metal music soundtracks on MTV. We are 
moving further from asking hard questions regarding the essence of 
conflict and meditated reality and from being able to establish our 
own world-view based on cross-checked information and facts.
The issue will not present a specific unified position towards 
conflict but rather it aims to reveal tendencies, to surface hidden 
agendas and issues, to reflect on multiple points of view and to open 
a wide-ranging dialog. What is the role of artists and scientists in 
this new era? Should art be completely independent of the politics of 
violence? Should science?
Guest Editor Shirley Shor and Leonardo Electronic Almanac seek papers 
discussing these and other topics that address the role and work of 
artists and scientists in times of war.

LEA encourages international artists / academics / researchers / 
students to submit their proposals for consideration. We particularly 
encourage authors outside north america and europe to send proposals 
for articles/gallery/artists statements:

Proposals should include:-

- a 150 - 300 word abstract / synopsis
- a brief bio (and prior works for reference, if necessary)
- names of collaborators (if work is produced by a team)
- any related URLs
- contact details
Deadline: 16 May 2003
Please send proposals or queries to:
Shirley Shor
shirleys at friskit.com

or
Nisar Keshvani
LEA Editor-in-Chief
lea at mitpress.mit.edu
http://mitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/LEA/

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What is LEA?
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Established in 1993, the Leonardo Electronic Almanac (ISSN No: 
1071-4391) is the electronic arm of the world's most prestigious art 
journal, Leonardo - Journal of Art, Science & Technology.

LEA is jointly produced by Leonardo, the International Society for 
the Arts, Sciences and Technology (ISAST) and published under the 
auspices of MIT Press. Leonardo Electronic Almanac (LEA), is 
Leonardo/ISAST and MIT Press' electronic journal dedicated to 
providing a forum for those who are interested in the realm of where 
art, science & technology converge.

Content
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This peer reviewed e-journal includes Profiles of Media Arts 
facilities and Projects, Profiles of artists using new media, Feature 
Articles comprised of theoretical and technical perspectives; the LEA 
Gallery exhibiting new media artwork by international artists; 
detailed information about new publications in various media; reviews 
of publications. events and exhibitions. Material is contributed by 
artists, scientists, educators and developers of new technological 
resources in the media arts.

Mission
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Since 2002, LEA formed a strategic alliance with fineArt forum - the 
Internet's longest running arts magazine. Through this partnership, 
LEA concentrates on adding new scholarship and
critical commentary to the art, science and technology field, with 
LEA subscribers benefiting from the latest news, announcements, 
events, and job/educational opportunities through
fAf's online news service.

LEA's mission is to maintain and consolidate its position as a 
leading online news and trusted information filter whilst critically 
examining arts/science & technological works catering
to the international CAST (Community of Artists, Scientist &Technologists)
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