[spectre] Violence in Chiang Mai

Mon Mar 31 11:33:00 CEST 2003

PRESS RELEASE
Violence Online Festival v.6.0
www.newmediafest.org/violence/

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It is true. You see it.
Violence can be is really successfull.
Whether in Irak or
simply sitting before your home PC.

Just join
Version 6.0 of Violence Online Festival
www.newmediafest.org/violence/
which is launched on 31 March 2003
on occasion of the participation in
"1st New Media Art Festival Chiang Mai (Thailand)
4-15 April 2003
http://iceca.chiangmai.ac.th/events
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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summary:
Violence Online Festival is
a New Media art project
reflecting the phenomenon of "Violence",
curated, organized and created in Flash by
Agricola de Cologne, curator and media artist operating
from Cologne/Germany. As an ongoing project
Violence Online Festival is developed for being
presented in future in the framework of physical and
virtual media festivals and exhibitions.
For each event a new project version will be created
adjusted to the actual needs
including additions of new artists/works
and other changes.

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Version 6.0 of Violence Online Festival
includes some major changes and
works of following new artists:

Jo-Anne Green and Helen Thorington (USA),
Maria Tjader Knight (Finland/Belgium)

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introduction:
The human character contains both a light and a dark side, good and bad,
individually manifested. Deeply rooted is a dark-sided
element:  Violence.
In happy surroundings, it becomes hardly visible and in
less happy surroundings - either of a physical, psychological,
environmental, ideological, economic or political nature  -
nearly automatically a kind of survival
strategy with all the known consequences we see
manifested in conflicts on a small or large scale.
Violence is present anywhere, hidden or sleeping,
hesitating, waiting or in action, starting from simple
mobbing via verbalor physical attacks, the bandwidth has no end.

Nowadays, globalization, social injustice,
unemployment, increasing wealth on one side and
on the opposite increasing poverty (without mentioning some
causes) produce a climate where violence has a fertile
soil.  From the attack on 9/11 in the USA, people from
the Western civilization became painfully aware that
security of any kind is a mere illusion; not only the
internal, but also the external enemy is present anywhere.

Artists are said to be the consciousness of a nation or society
as they reflect the actual state of the psychological and physical
environment.
When this state is penetrated by violence, nobody is surprised that
violence becomes a universal subject for artistic reflection, the difference
may
only be the view on it and its perception depending on
the respective cultural background.

'Art and violence both seem to stem from the abstract: that place beyond
logic, the realm of the emotion. When they intersect we are simultaneously
repelled and attracted, frightened and excited. Historically this meeting
has been wrought with complexity, and as cultural violence in every society
increases, we are prevented by paranoia, censorship and ethical demands from
asking, and sometimes even posing, some of the most important questions
violence and art together and separately produce: how is violence
represented, and what or how much of it do we need to resist the cultivation
of fear and the encouragement of dependency? Is violence a tool, a process
or a result? When are artistic portrayals of violence justifiable? As
intellectual exercise, ritual, or spiritual enhancement? For other purposes?
Or are they never justifiable? Is violence in art an action, reaction, or
reflection? '  (quotation: festival statement).

How different the results of an artistic reflection can be is
shown through the Violence Online Festival, a New Media
online exhibition project curated and organized
as an individual event by Agricola de Cologne
including more than 150 artists from
30 countries presenting their work. It forms a
dynamic collaborative art work presenting very
individual visions and use of media.

The relevance of violence becomes visible also through
the high quality standard of  all the included works. Each
of them represents another aspect of violence - caught
in textual poetry, running as a video or embedded in an
interactive environment of a net-based art work.

In reaction to the key role (mass) media plays by displaying and even
promoting
violence, a new environment (interface) has been created for Violence
Online Festival, which houses and hosts the art works within a virtual media
company named "Violence Media Incorporated".
By dividing the company into different departments (eg.
"Violence for Happiness" , "Violence Marketing" or "Violence Broadcasting"),
it becomes clear that their meaning
has a rather ironic or sarcastic character, which gives
the embedded art works a new meaning.

While surfing through this environment, the visitor is forced to ask and
give answers,  and becomes slowly a part of this network of art through his
reflections and changes of perception.

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The list of all 270 participating artists from 40 countries
and all past and present presentations
can be found on www.newmediafest.org/violence
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Visit this dynamic exciting show.
There are optional following accesses:
direct: www.newmediafest.org/violence
but also
www.newmediafest.org and
www.a-virtual-memorial.org

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technical requirements
optimized for VGA resolution 1024x768
PC Pentium III 600 Mhz or better or comparable MAC
Soundcard, recommended 56K or 64K modem or faster,
browsers: MS Internet Explorer 5.5+ or Netscape Navigator 6.0+
Players/Plug-ins: essential the latest Flash 6,
Shockwave, Real Player, Quicktime, Cortona

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copyright:
Violence Online Festival
www.newmediafest.org
text, conception, programming, visalization
curator, organizer = Agricola de Cologne -
*copyright © 2002-2003 . All rights reserved.
*copyright © of all art works of
 the participating artists hold the authors or owners.

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Special thanks to:

Fatima Lasay -
DMF2002 Festival/University of the Philippines
http://digitalmedia.upd.edu.ph/
Nisar Keshvani
editor-in-chief,
fineArt forum = art + technology netnews
http://www.fineartforum.org

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contacts:
Press
press at newmediafest.org
Violence Online Festival
violence at newmediafest.org

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