Public Sculpture, Canada/Ukraine, 2009, 6min

New software I developed while at the Shargorod residency in the Ukraine (Jeremy Bailey). Public Sculpture casts an ironic glance towards both the socialist practice of public hero worship and contemporary debates around the subject (Marcel Schwierin).

Eine neue Software, die ich während eines Aufenthalts in der Shargorod Residency in der Ukraine entwickelt habe (Jeremy Bailey). Public Sculpture ironisiert sowohl die sozialistische Praxis der öffentlichen Heldenverehrung, wie auch die zeitgenössische Auseinandersetzung damit (Marcel Schwierin).

Jeremy Bailey (Toronto, 1979) is a new media, video and performance artist, whose work is often confidently self-deprecating in offering hilarious parodies of new media vocabularies (Marisa Olson, Rhizome). His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and festivals internationally. Recent projects have included performances for FACT, the Tate Liverpool and the New Museum in New York. He received his MFA in Art Media Studies from Syracuse University in 2006. His work can be acquired through Vtape and Pari Nadimi Gallery in Toronto. - http://www.jeremybailey.net

 Bjørn Melhus: I'm Not the Enemy, Germany 2011, 13 min

Home is a place of comfort, security and peace. In the world of a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder suffering war veteran however, such notions become perverted. The home becomes alien and family members come to encapsulate the demons the veteran has to fight. Appropriating dialogues from Hollywood films that deal with the legacy of the Vietnam War and implanting them in quiet German suburbs, I'm not the Enemy looks at ways a society engaged in war deals with the guilt of problematic returns. In a society with little interest in the faraway (Afghan) war that is fought in its name, can the war veteran ever to find any degree of acceptance? I'm Not the Enemy won several awards, including German Short Film Gold Award.

Das Zuhause ist ein Ort der Gemütlichkeit, der Sicherheit und der Ruhe. In der Welt eines an post-traumatischen Belastungsstörungen leidenden Kriegsveteranen wird diese Ansicht allerdings umgekehrt. Das Zuhause wird plötzlich fremd und Familienangehörige werden auf einmal zu den Dämonen, die der Veteran bekämpfen muss. Der Film macht sich Dialoge aus Hollywood Filmen zunutze, bei denen es um die Altlast des Vietnamkrieges geht, und fügt sie in stille deutsche Vorstädte ein. I'm not the Enemy beleuchtet wie Gesellschaften, die an Kriegen beteiligt sind, mit der Schuld der problematischer Rückkehr zurechtkommen. I'm Not the Enemy wurde mehrfach ausgezeichnet, unter anderem mit dem Deutschen Kurzfilmpreis in Gold.

Bjørn Melhus, born 1966, is a German-Norwegian media artist. In his work he has developed a singular position, expanding the possibilities for a critical reception of cinema and television. His practice of fragmentation, destruction, and reconstitution of well-known figures, topics, and strategies of the mass media does not only open up not a network of new interpretations and critical commentaries, but also defines the relationship of mass media and viewer anew. Bjoern Melhus works as a video artist for more than 15 years and is represented in some of the major private and public collections in the world, from Germany, the USA, Italy, Spain, etc. ? www.melhus.de

Out (Tse) is a highly disturbing mixture of documentary and exorcistic horror film made by the radical American-Isreali artist Roee Rosen. The key scene depicts a sadomasochism session, where a chained young woman is beaten on her behind. Instead of verbalising her pain, soon statements of the right-wing Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman can be heard out of her mouth. Just like the saying of hard-core films: should not be presented to any minor nor to anyone who doesn't wish to see it. Out was awarded in Venice and Oberhausen.

Out (Tse) ist eine höchst verstörende Mischung aus Dokumentarfilm und exorzistischem Horrormovie des amerikanisch-israelischen Künstlers Roee Rosen. Die zentrale Szene besteht aus einer Sado-Maso-Session, bei der eine gefesselte junge Frau Hiebe auf ihr Hinterteil bezieht. Statt des anfänglichen Schmerzes stoßen bald wörtliche Bekundungen des rechten israelischen Außenministers Avigdor Lieberman aus ihrem Mund. Wie heißt es beim Hardcore-Film: Should not be presented to any minor nor to anyone who doesn?t wish to see it. Out wurde in Venedig und Oberhausen ausgezeichnet.

Out (Tse) est un mélange hautement perturbant entre un documentaire et un film d'horreur version exorciste realisé par l'artiste israëlo-américain Roee Rosen. La scène charnière du film présente une session sadomaso dans laquelle une jeune femme enchaînée se fait battre. Au lieu de verbaliser sa peine, ce sont les déclarations de l'ancien ministre israëlien de droite Avigdor Lieberman qui s'échappent de sa bouche. Out a été recompense à Venise et à Oberhausen. 

Roee Rosen is an Israeli-American artist, filmmaker and writer. Rosen's work explores identity and the notions of evil, specifically addressing the Jewish people's collective memory and the power of creativity in extreme situations of life and death. Through video, painting and  narrative, Rosen's humor can be thought of as at once self-deprecating and incendiary. He heads the advanced visual arts program at Ha'Midrasha Art College. 

RIP in Pieces America, Dominic Gagnon, Kanada 2009, 21 min Version. 

Ein found-footage Video aus zensierten YouTube Clips.

 "Als unangemessen melden". Der unscheinbare Button, der unter jedem YouTube Video mit einer Fahne symbolisiert wird, markiert die Grenzen der Freiheit im Internet. Einmal von anonymen Nutzern geflaggt, ist das Video, nach Prüfung durch das ebenfalls anonyme YouTube-Team, schnell und für immer verschwunden. In diesen Prozess schaltet sich Dominic Gagnon ein. Er 'rettet' die geflaggten Videos vor ihrer Löschung und collagiert sie zu einer dunklen Mythologie des amerikanischen Survivalismus. Hier kommen Menschen zu Wort, die dem Staat aufs Tiefste misstrauen, die ihre Mitbürger warnen und sich bewaffnen. So entsteht ein unklares Bild. Während sich die Protagonisten vor dem allmächtigen amerikanischen Staat fürchten, weiß der Betrachter nicht so recht, was in dieser hier am bedrohlichsten ist: Die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, die Verschwörungstheorien ihrer bis an die Zähne bewaffneten Kritiker oder die anonyme Zensurmacht der netzbeherrschenden Konzerne. Nicht nur das Originalmaterial der militanten Amerikakritiker verschwand spurlos von YouTube, auch Dominic Gagnon konnte RIP in Pieces America nicht hochladen, ohne dass es umgehend geflaggt und entfernt wurde. Jetzt hat die Arbeit auf ARTE creative ihr vituelles Exil gefunden. Während RIP in Pieces America (transmediale.10) überwiegend Männer zu Wort kommen ließ, widmet sich Gagnons neueste Arbeit Pieces and Love All to Hell fast ausschließlich weiblichen Protagonistinnen. Letztere zeigen wir auf der aktuellen transmediale 2012 als Installation.

RIP in Pieces America, Dominic Gagnon, Canada 2009, 21 min version.

A found-footage video made out of censored YouTube clips.

"Flag as inapproriate". This unconspicuous button with a flag icon appears underneath every single YouTube video we watch marking the limits of our freedom in the Internet. Once flagged by anonymous users, after being checked by the also anonymous YouTube team, a video quickly disappears forever. In exactly this process, Dominic Gagnon intervenes. He 'saves' the flagged videos before they are deleted and adds them to a dark and mythological collage of American survivalism. People have their say, who deeply mistrust the government, who warn their fellow citizens, and who arm themselves visibly. An unclear image emerges. While the protagonists are scared of the almighty American government, the viewer is irritated what to find the most threatening in this video: the United States of America, the critics armed to the teeth with conspiracy theories, or the anonymous censorship power of the companies which control the web. Not only did the original material vanish without trace from YouTube, but Dominic Gagnon couldn't upload RIP in Pieces America without it being flagged and removed either. Fortunately, the work has now found virtual exile on ARTE creative. The protagonists of RIP in Pieces America, presented at transmediale.10, are mostly male, wheras in Gagnon's recent work Pieces and Love All to Hell they are mainly female. Pieces... is presented as an installation at transmediale 2012.

Dominic Gagnon (born in Rimouski, 1974) is an inventor, director, installer and active performer. He considers cinema as a technique for measuring the immeasurable or as a discipline of chaos. Since 1996, he has made public presentations of moving images, has invented machines and concepts, performs sound works, built facilities and creates performances in various galleries, festivals and biennials around the world. To carry out his projects, Gagnon has conducted research about the decline of economies, terror, violence and identity crisis among boys, the international adoption systems, information disorder and homelessness, Sado-Masochism and fetishism in popular culture and the family in the era of mega-entertainment. He lives in Québec.

DE Das found-footage Video Good Boy - Bad Boy (de 2011, 3:14) des anonymen Kollektivs Neozoon verfolgt den Umgang mit dem vielleicht beliebtesten YouTube-Motiv, dem dressierten Haustier. Was zunächst ganz allerliebst daherkommt ("Good Boy"), verwandelt sich bald in demütigende Strafexzesse gegenüber der ausgelieferten Kreatur ("Bad Boy"). Die scheinbare Harmonie des Zusammenlebens ist - zumindest aus der Perspektive der Haustiere - ein inkompatibles System. - Marcel Schwierin

EN In the found-footage video Good Boy - Bad Boy, the anonymous collective Neozoon examines what may be the most popular YouTube subject of all: the trained pet. Once again, what seems perfectly lovely at first glance ("Good Boy") soon mutates into the degradingly excessive punishments that the poor creatures, which are completely at the mercy of their owners, are forced to endure ("Bad Boy"). From the perspective of the pets this apparent harmonious living could be seen as an in/compatible system. - Marcel Schwierin

Neozoon was founded 2008 as an artist group from Berlin and Paris. Their main focus for action and experimentation is the public sphere: in the streets of big cities, on the Internet and in public institutions. The collective addresses the role of animals, dead and alive, and their relationship to humans in a western urban surrounding. See more videos of the collective on http://www.neozoon.org

FR "Good Boy - Bad Boy" du collectif Neozoon est un found-footage de films tournés par des particuliers et ayant pour sujet le dressage d'animaux domestiques, l'un des plus populaires sur YouTube. Ce qui au premier abord peut être perçu comme attendrissant (Good Boy) se révèle être le fruit d'une série de punitions excessives et dégradantes auxquelles sont soumis ces animaux, totalement livrés à la merci de leur maitre (Bad Boy).
Ce semblant d'harmonie peut être perçu - dans la perspective de l'animal de compagnie - comme la résultante d'une incompatibilité systémique.
Neozoon a été fondé en 2008 par des artistes résidant à Berlin et Paris. Leurs actions et performances se tiennent principalement dans le domaine public : dans les rues des grandes villes, sur le web et dans des institutions publiques. Le collectif s'intéresse au rôle de l'animal, qu'il soit vivant ou mort, et son rapport aux humains dans un environnement urbain.

Heath Bunting (UK) opened his "Identity Bureau" in the Open Zone of transmediale.11. Here, he sold off-the-shelf natural persons he has created and also advised on how to use or make one's own Identity. Usually, his customers are artists and art lovers. This time, a young graphic designer from Venezuela came to his stall to inquire about a new identity that will allow him to travel freely in Europe. He says he loves European culture and is inspired by it, but finds it difficult to stay in Europe and go from one place to another for visa issues.

The idea behind the project is that "our identity is constructed as human beings that can possess one or more natural persons and control one or more artificial persons. The higher up in the class system the better the access to status variety." In this chance meeting at transmediale.11 that is documented here, it also touched the issue of a certain national identity giving you better or worse access to cultural and other global recources.

Heath Bunting has worked with performance, intervention, pirate radio, fax/mail art and BBS systems before becoming an active participant in the explosion of the Internet. In 1996, Bunting set-up the server irational.org , a system for irrational information and products for the roaming and displaced.

Transmediale Open Web Booksprint

Adam Hyde is the founder of FLOSS Manuals, an organisation focused on increasing the quantity and quality of free documentation about free software. He also helped develop a special printing software for this called Booki. He also developed a method called book sprint, in which a certain number of people collectively write a book within a few days. This years the Open Web Booksprint took place 10 days before the festival. The topic was the Open Web and it was the second in a series of transmediale booksprints. Here, Adam Hyde introduces his method, demonstrates the making of a book and talks about the Open Web.

February 5th, the winners of the awards, were announced. They went to Indonesian artist collective HONF for their project Intelligent Bacteria ? Saccaromyces cerevisiae, to Jordan Crandall for his essay and lecture-performance GATHERINGS 1: EVENT, AGENCY, AND PROGRAM and to Evan Roth for Graffiti Analysis / Graffiti Markup Language.

The latter won the brand new Open Web Award, introduced by Mark Surman, Executive director of the Mozilla foundation, and Stephen Kovats, the parting artistic director of transmediale. Kovats introduces the winners in this little clip.

Special live performance by Stephen Kovats, artistic director tramsmediale.11, recorded during the festival on saturday 5 February 2011. Big thanks to Dennis Pauls for camera.

Kicking off the Marshall McLuhan Centennial transmediale presents one of the Canadian media philosopher's most radical yet relatively under-explored works, COUNTERBLAST.

On the occasion of the 'McLuhan in Europe 2011' network initiative, with the kind permission of The Estate of Corinne McLuhan and in collaboration with the Gingko Press (Hamburg) transmediale publish a special hardcover 'limited edition' facsimile of the original 1954 'COUNTERBLAST'. Featuring an introduction by McLuhan biographer Terrence Gordon and an afterword by literary scholar Elena Lamberti this exclusive edition will be available only via transmediale!

>> To reserve a copy, mail publications@transmediale.de

McLuhan in Europe 2011 is an initiative of transmediale in collaboration with the Marshall McLuhan Salon / Embassy of Canada Berlin, Gingko Press, and RIM.

Links:

Counterblast 1954

McLuhan2011

Beyond/McLuhan2011

Day 4 performance night Kolgen/Manabe

With impressions and fragments of:

Performance Night #2: INJECT, Herman Kolgen INJECT is a modular performance in Video HD format and multichannel audio.

Performance Night #2: FACE VISUALIZER, Daito Manabe with special guest Ei Wada

Manabe uses the 'face instrument' as part of an exciting live show. The result is a kind of 'face instrument' in which his face is moved artificially in synch with music through electroshocks produced with the Max/MSP programming platform.

performance-night-2

Presented in joint collaboration between transmediale and CTM.

Day 3: Start of #tm11 conference BODY:RESPONSE

With impressions of a live performance by Ei Wada Braun Tube Jazz Band and and soundbytes of the BODY: RESPONSE keynote conversation "Digital Liveness? Realtime, Desire and Socialbility". Participants: Philip Auslander (us), Eric Kluitenberg (nl), Mushon Zer Aviv (il), Moderation: Drew Hemment (uk).

The conference is still running till sunday 6 February.

commentary:

Stephen Kovats - artistic director

Conference Body:Response
Digital Liveness

Vote for the Open Web Award 2011! Everybody can participate!
Open Web Award Nominees are:
thimbl / Dmytri Kleiner / Telekommunisten
Booki / Adam Hyde
Graffiti Analysis / Graffiti Markup Language (GML)

To choose the final winner the nominated works are available on Drumbeat for a public vote and community feedback. In order to leave your vote and comment on the project please register as a user on the Mozilla Drumbeat platform where the projects are being hosted. Doing this requires only a few simple steps. The vote closes on 4 February 2011.

We encourage everybody to check out each project and engage their authors in a creative and critical exchange in the run-up to the festival!
The open web is out there, and is yours to build!

transmediale in collaboration with Mozilla Drumbeat have announced the creation of the new Open Web Award 2011 a special third platform for radical, creative and innovative art works and projects.

Open Web Award
Drumbeat

Day 2 of transmediale.11

With impressions and fragments of:

Workshop

interACTicons by Ursula Endlicher

Artist talk

Spatial Sound Sculpture by Christopher Warnow and Daniel Franke

Labor Berlin 4

Secrets Trilogy by Reynold Reynolds

Audio-visual performance

das eigenwilligste Radrennen der Welt by TOUR de VINYL

www.transmediale.de

www.transmediale.de/content/interacticons

www.transmediale.de/content/spatial-sound-sculpture-christopher-warnow-daniel-franke-1

www.transmediale.de/content/labor-berlin-4-secrets-trilogy

Impressions of the opening night of transmediale.11.

Start your 'RESPONSE:ABILITY', here and now....! With introductory words by transmediale artistic director Stephen Kovats, fragments of opening performance DUST by Herman Kolgen and Angel_F by Derrick de Kerckhove, the first non-human digital personality on stage at transmediale opening.

We hope you like these impressions and why not visit transmediale in Berlin? The festival is running till sunday 6th of february.

http://www.transmediale.de/festival/all

http://www.transmediale.de/content/opening-ceremony-tm11

http://www.transmediale.de/content/dust

http://www.transmediale.de/content/bacteria-orchestra

http://www.transmediale.de/content/dust

http://www.transmediale.de/content/braun-tube-jazz-band-0

The film & video programme of transmediale.11 addresses the processual history around this universal outpouring of visual culture. Confirmed so far are at least 58 moving image works from 18 countries that will be shown in eleven curated screening programmes. Marcel Schwierin, transmediale.11 Film & Video Curator, gives a few insights and explains what a "Fernsehstube" is.

On Friday 28 Januaray, ARTE TV-magazine Kurzschluss will show a feature about Marcel and the transmediale film and video programme.

transmediale/SyncExistence

Or the fermentation process is the medium. Award nominees The House Of Natural Fiber (HONF) is a new media art laboratory run since 1999 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The collective implements an open-community methodology, which is concerned with the needs of cross-collaborative actions to technological development, and its practical use in daily life.

At the end of the festival, Sun 6 Feb, the bacteria orchestra will perform for you. This one-time change starts at 20:30.

Links:

The House Of Natural Fiber

Intelligent Bacteria

Bacteria Orcestra

Transmediale Award