urban multimedia festival in france *******

integer at www.god-emil.dk integer at www.god-emil.dk
Thu Nov 18 16:36:41 CET 1999





l!f4rm at cicv.fr ekr!t

hi
This mail to inform you that a new tech-art festival is born:
it's called 'nuits savoureuses' and will take place in the
east of france, a city called Belfort from 17 to 26 dec.1999.
check this: www.nuits-savoureuses.net  online the 11-16-99 ( we hope so)

it owns a 'net-art' section where you are linked, because your work
moves us.
let me know if informations concerning you are incomplete, or false.
let me know if you want fewer details to appear upon your linkz
let others know, if you got their directions, that they are linked here.
we plan to use that server for an online reference upon net-art after
the festival, so please submit Urls you would like to be presented, that
way helps us a lot, and spares time

By the way, we will do live broadcast of all events during the festival,
and we would like
you to participate online. We offer you direct access to the audience
(by public giant screen) for your acts, or wired-performances online.
let us know!






you can check this: www.cicv.fr, this is our introduction
CICV Pierre Schaeffer

1
        - The CICV is a centre for art and creation with an
international vocation,
placing questions of image, sound, media and networks at the heart of
its
activity. It is too vast for us to pretend, by ourselves, to be able to
explain fully... but at the same time, it is very precise and induces a
terrain on which artists, scientists and philosophers have a critical
role
to play, if we do not wish for them to be forced to weather (as is
already
largely the case) market and fashion fluctuations.

2
The founding role in artistic and cultural creation and experimentation.

        - The Residences of Creation
The residences allow artists to experiment, produce or learn. Artists,
utilising New Technologies for Information and Communication (NTIC),
discover at the CICV a wide range of facilities, from which they are
able to
obtain an idea of technical potentialities, and to grasp the training
required for further development of one or other field. The residence of
creation is a privileged moment (quality of welcome and surroundings,
performance of technical facilities, and availability of the team of
professionals), allowing artists to hone their points of view and to
marry
their competencies with other creative teams.

The Residence of Creation fits into a global dynamic which implies a
"before", a "during" and an "after".
The "before" corresponds to preliminary contacts centred on the nature
of
the artistic project, the manner in which it fits into the general
movement
of ideas and works, the expertise of human means, and techniques to be
adopted for its completion.
The "during" applies to the residence itself. Cut into several stays or
punctual, from a few days to several weeks, it takes the form in all
cases
of a close working relationship with the team (administrative, technical
or
artistic) as well as with the other artistic projects in the development
stage. The residence is, at the same time, a moment of intense
concentration
on the project and of confrontation with other artists present.
The "after" implies a follow-up in terms of diffusion (festivals and
diverse
events allowing the work to be seen by the public).


        - Experimentation
It is now understood that in the realms of NTIC, artists take the form
of
experimenters. They must be given a chance (through liberties, financing
and
perspectives) to exercise their talent, to deploy their critical spirit,
to
confront their visions and to participate in social debate.
Whether it be through the choice of technical tools (in which they
contribute to a continued progress beyond the applications conceived by
the
designers, developers and manufacturers) or their utilisation (which
they
explore independently of the "protocols" generally allowed), the artists
represent a powerful factor of innovation and creativity.
Their role goes way beyond that of "dressing" or "wrapping", of
decorating
or "soul supplementing": it is considered as a critical viewpoint that
they
have on the media, thus encouraging a clear approval (or rejection) of
these
technologies by the citizens.

Facilitating access by artists to the potentialities of NTIC thus
represents
an essential stake.

        - The fields of operation of the CICV:
The technical base of the CICV, while neither being perfect, nor
complete,
allows one to work on an ensemble of procedures concerning the treatment
of
images, sound and networks. The difficulty that remains lies in the
reduction of artificial barriers between the different platforms and to
privilege projects implying a broader integration of the different tools
for
the purpose of joint projects.

        - Audiovisual creation:

The boom in digital technologies has profoundly shaken the procedures of
recording, editing and broadcasting. Artists are able to proceed with
styles
of visual exploration never possible until now. The range of expression
has
been considerably enriched, even though the results, in aesthetic terms,
and
the "senses" often remain  problematical.

        - The plastic arts:

The domains of painting and sculpture were first shuddered by the
arrival of
photography, and following this, by moving images. The arrival of
electronic
images, computers and networks has accelerated the explosion of these
traditional artistic practices. The current lack of critical
intellectual
productions on these developments and on the works themselves deprives
us of
having points of reference which would allow us to better understand the
stakes of current developments with regard to the entire history of art
and
civilisations. A radical change of paradigms for some, simple effects of
fashion for others. For other still, a natural and logical evolution.
This
massive shake-up of the Contemporary Art world, under the effect of NTIC
will no doubt have major repercussions on the art market, already "in a
spin", as well as on the nature of what is taught in art schools.

        - Live performance:

Artists who "perform live" integrate an increasing quantity of new
technologies into their "scenic machinery". This is a logical step
forward
for arts which are essentially based on scenic, magical, illusory and
"trompe l'oeil" effects. Somewhat fouled by cinema, television and
multi-media, the stage finds itself confronted with new challenges with
the
arrival of virtual actors, dancers and musicians blended into the
dramatist's play alongside "real" actors, dancers and musicians.
Theatre,
dance and opera have become the natural settings for experimentation and
new
writings.

Moreover, it could in fact be that the settings of live performances,
being
the only places conserving the requirement of an assembled group in one
place, and at one given time, to share an "unparalleled sensitive
experience" become the centre of artistic experimentation with NTIC's.

        - Music:

Alongside the classic range of instruments, a set of new tools is
constantly
expanding. Ahead of times in comparison to other artistic domains,
musicians
have integrated and experimented with digital technologies, going as far
as
imagining the programmes and machines they needed to explore new worlds
of
sound. In these domains, co-operation between composers and computer
scientists are already well established and have allowed the perfection
of
tools that are now used in all realms of artistic creation.

        - Virtual Environments in immersion:

The "Stars" of specialised artistic events of these past years,
so-called
works of "Virtual Reality" or, by a strange audacity of language
"Augmented
Reality", appear to be "levelling off" a little... either because the
works
in question do not have enough inherent potential in order to
"re-enchant"
people, or perhaps more likely that these prototypes fit more into the
category of "transitory experiments". The machinery used remains
extremely
complex, fragile and expensive. This being said, the new ideas proposed
by
artists investing their efforts into virtual environments "in immersion"
are
still rich in promise and development.


        - Interactive environments without immersion:

This appears to be a major growth area. Their interest is in
facilitating
attempts of synthesis between "installations", classical "environments"
of
Contemporary Art, and current scientific research on man/machine
interactivity. The particularity of this research lies in the new-found
"problematical" situation regarding the body of the spectator and the
social
space at the heart of the artistic process.

        - Artistic performances and on-line actions:

The electronic networks have been rapidly invaded by diverse artistic
communities:
- firstly, for their potential for virtual conversations, with
discussion
forums, for their capacity to disseminate new ideas and bring together
groups of players around centres of common interest;
- secondly, as tools for the promotion of their research and work, in
the
form of specialised web sites;
- thirdly, and increasingly, as stamping grounds for experimentation in
the
place of "real", "classic" places, such as galleries and museums. The
"net",
as a gallery, as we know, has become a place where ferocious economic
interests clash. Here, as elsewhere, artists have a critical
contribution to
be made. Artists intervene in the networks, not as simple consumers or
spectators, but as veritable operators installing their works in this
gallery, where new artistic situations are proposed allowing creators
who
are geographically very distant to participate in a common work or
event.

        - Advertising, communication and design:
The frontiers between "pure" art and the world of advertising,
communication
and design are becoming more and more hazy as many artists pass without
a
problem from one to the other. Creativity and innovation are actively
deployed, in particular in the different categories of multimedia, as
its
development is occurring through a blending of technical, creative,
legal
and financial competencies.

        - Hypertext creations on-line
Far from being threatened by the development of "on-line" communication,
writing and language is opening up to new artistic and cultural
experimentation concerning, at the same time, the authors and the
readers.

3
The international dimension of activities
- Questions concerning the development of innovation and research are
raised
on an international level. This reality was taken into account from the
outset of the CICV, whether it concern programming or the composition of
the
new association. It constitutes a decisive factor in terms of networking
competencies, energies and projects. In this sense, the animation and
valorisation represented by the network of members of the new
association
constitutes a priority for the team at the Centre.

- The CICV regularly participates in professional meetings and
international
conferences in Europe and America (Austria, Canada, the United States,
Greece, Finland, etc.), undertakes study and expertise missions at the
request of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (the latest were to Peru and
China
in 1999), the Council of Europe, UNESCO, and is currently also playing
host
to a number of foreign missions. The CICV has thus made close ties with
the
artists and institutions of countries visited and delegations received.


- Training and Accompaniment Activities
The CICV is an approved training centre. Our activities in this field
take
on several forms:
        - Long and specialised training: the "Nursery" for Young       
Entrepreneurs
        - Accompaniment: training "in the field".

- The Nursery for Young Entrepreneurs
Prefigured with the aid of the ADAPT programme of the Franche Comté
regional
council, this training programme has already allowed the accompaniment
of 12
young people in multimedia careers, and as a result, all have found work
heading new projects.
The second promotion (6 persons) began in September 1999, and the third
promotion (6 persons) begins in January 2000.

This singular training is characterised by added contributions of a
technical, management and cultural nature, as well as a heightened
awareness
of artistic creation.
- Short Training sessions for specific publics. This type of training is
taken-on "on demand". It concerns publics coming from homogeneous
sectors
(local authorities, professional associations, special cultural events,
etc.)
- Accompaniment: Since its inception, the CICV has been accompanying
young
people for training of different periods, wishing to receive global,
personalised training in all areas: administrative, legal, production,
audiovisual editing, 3D simulation and internet. Around ten young people
are
involved in this way each year.

- The Learning Environment
The debates that accompany the development of digital arts raise a
number of
questions related to the legal environment, production strategies, the
distribution of works, critical accompaniment, particularities of
processes
and to the "cross-breeding" of competencies.
In this maze of questions, we privilege four axes of thought:
- the relationship between digital creation and live performance, which
implies experimenting with new forms of scenography and cinematography;
- "the art of the network", or in other words, the processes of creation
which are not restricted to producing all current art forms on the net,
but
which experiment with the particularities of the net as a "space", as a
"flow", as a "gesture";
- the support for creation and experimentation in the fields of digital
arts, implying a rethinking of the nature of structures to be put into
place, the analysis of their objectives, their modes of operation, their
involvement in the dynamics of local development, their relationship
with
the economic world, and finally, the way in which the different
structures
involved may work in tandem;
- the pursuit, with all the players concerned, of studies on the
evolution
of author's rights;
- the participation in group reflection on ethics and ecology of new
media.

- The CICV team
The CICV team (25 persons) essentially composed of management, is
centred on
three interdependent poles of interest:
- the "administrative" side, bringing together all the competencies
required
for the running of the centre, the management of personnel, and the
fiscal
and legal landscapes;
- the "technical" side, bringing together competencies allowing the
development of the use of video, sound, multimedia, network and
software;
- the "relationship" side, bringing together competencies and
facilitating
the development of local, national or international partnerships, both
in
the private and public sectors, to promote the initiatives and
productions
of the Centre, to conceive and organise external events, both
specialised
(seminars, conferences, research groups), and general public (festivals,
school and association interventions).




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