[spectre] (fwd) Video Vortex #8, 17-19 May 2012, Zagreb

[Andreas Broeckmann]

Video Vortex #8 The Politics, Cultures and Art of Online Video

Video Vortex #8 will be held May 17th-19th, 2012 in the The Museum of 
Contemporary Art Zagreb, Croatia

http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/videovortex/


[sorry, we're late: deadline WAS 20 january...]


Call for contributions

We are pleased to announce that the 8th edition of Video Vortex will 
take place at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, Croatia, between 
the 17th and the 19th of May, 2012. So far Video Vortex has
taken place twice in Brussels and Amsterdam and once in Ankara, Split 
and Yogyakarta. The Video Vortex network was founded in in 2007 and 
deals with the cultural, political and artistics aspects of online 
video. Video Vortex 8 is organized by the Kazimir Association in Split 
and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb in collaboration with the 
Institute of Network Cultures in Amsterdam.

The moving image and the Internet are still defining the parameters of 
their mutual relationship. The conference will focus on issues 
concerning changes in contemporary art and cinema as well as broader 
cultural, social and technological issues.

Video Vortex 8 will consist of a conference, an exhibition, screenings 
and performances. This call pertains to the conference. Artists who will 
present work at the conference will also be included in the accompanying 
exhibition. If you have an idea for an alternative way to present your 
work on one of the themes below please let us know. For all themes we 
expect up to a 500-word abstract while for artist presentations we would 
like also to receive documentation via URL.

     Themes:

1. Contemporary art and online video

Museums which follow and present ontemporary Art as well as Centres for 
Art, Media and Technology have specific contexts in which they present 
and preserve the moving image in the 21st century. Spatial issues and 
exclusivity are put in relation to the constant virtual presence of 
artwork. Fast changing technologies are undermining the very sense of 
the preservation of the moving image in an online
context.

2. Theoretical discourses and online video.

Concepts related to the aesthetics and structure of the moving image. 
Including, but not limited to, online-only production, torrent-based 
original programming, YouTube-centered narrative and artwork, 
community-funded cinema and scholarship in an online environment.

3. Social networks and online video in the region.

Reports on new the discourses of online video in Middle and Southeast 
Europe.

4. Techno-colonialism, surveillance and control of the distribution of
the moving image.

Shutting down or channelling online video. The possibility of stealing 
the online-originating revolutions in North Africa. The technological 
dominance and control of worldviews and basic human value systems. The
speed of communication and what is left to those isolated from it.

5. The perspective of online cinema.

The relationship between film and the Internet. What is happening to 
independent cinema due to technical accessibility and online quality in 
the making, producing and distribution of films? Do we see specific
new film forms in the online environment? The end of 35mm film. How does 
digital cinema distribution work, from DCP (Digital Cinema Package) 
passwords to open online video/film collections or cinematic databases?

6. Artists talk about their own work and research in online video.

Presentations of artistic practices related to the Internet from artists 
participating in the exhibition which runs concurrently with the 
conference. These practices include working on the web and using the web 
as a medium and using the Internet as found footage; in other words, it 
is channeling the art process through Internet-based communication. 
Other topics could include the Internet as a public presentation venue 
for artists and discussions about curating online.

7. Technological aspects of new developments in participatory video.

The moving image on the Internet has opened itself to tagging, 
telepresence and social communication. Can it still open itself further 
through visual browsers and HTML5? With HTML5 authors can script their 
own user interface, but there is also a way to trigger a user interface 
provided by the user agent – is this a seed for a new manner of online 
video communication? Does it indicate developments of open 
personalization and/or the further fragmentation of users? Other issues 
could include technologies of the private and the public spheres.

     Practical information:

The deadline of submission of proposals and abstracts is 20th January, 2012.
Proposals and questions should be addressed to Brian 
Willems:brianwillems at gmail.com.

The conference itself is free and if possible the presenters or 
institutions to which they are attached should take care of the travel 
and accommodation expenses.