Sunday News

Just a quick update, then we'll start with more drawings on Monday again. Tonight was the second Upgrade! Milwaukee and the presentations were great. Nadav Assor showed some things close to my heart: digital camouflage, and layered video. His work looks really interesting because of the performative nature of the way in which the works become realized. Maria Bolivar also presented but I'm at a loss for a link right now. I was in school with her for a bit and her presentation was about her MA installation that brought issues surrounding her involvement and remembrances of the National Strike in her native Venezuela. This work was really interesting when I saw it last Spring.

In other news: just got notice I'll be included in the festival Pixilerations [v.6] in Providence, Rhode Island this coming Fall. I'm excited about this one because the general topic has to do with the current economic climate. My recent work, "gridworks2000-anim09" will be screened (also recently screened at Terminal in TN, Crosstalk in Budapest and soon to be in FILE in Sao Paulo). This work was created as a way to remember and recreate a series of work that I created while working in information visualization at Master-List2000. Although I am not at liberty to disclose the nature of my involvement with that organization, I can say that I was "laid-off" some time ago. Part of our severance agreement was that I destroy all copies of work created for them and allow them to own the only true copies but still retaining the rights to reproduce anything that I cared to from memory only. As a side note, (and still within my rights to disclose) I was never made entirely aware of the nature of the information that I analyzed for them. Anyway, I'm glad to see that the video is going to be seen more. And, since I'll pick back up the drawings tomorrow morning, its worth mentioning that the drawings posted here are a part of the same body of work described above. gridworks2000 is a subcategory of the Gridworks Collection Project Archive and takes on a few different forms most of which are first posted and made visible here.

Upgrade Milwaukee

My friend Maria will be presenting! Here's the info:

For more information: http://digiwaukee.net/upgrade/

Upgrade! Milwaukee presents Nadav Assor and Maria Bolivar!
Sunday July 12, 7 - 9 PM
MOCT, 240 E Pittsburgh Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53204

Please come to the second Upgrade! Milwaukee, featuring Nadav Assor (Israel) and Maria Bolivar (Venezuela)!

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On Nadav Assor (also a founding member of Upgrade! Tel Aviv):
“I am greatly interested in theories and explorations of urban architectural, emotional and ideological sub-structures. One tactic I use in exposing and reshaping the structures around me is digitization, in the sense of reduction to a primal, reconfigurable matter. The transformed digital matter is recast into its original context, physically manipulated in an ongoing live process that ranges from the absurd to the violent. The outcome often presents various transgressions or inversions of the technological, socio-political structures that served as a starting point. Many of the mechanisms inherent in my work require palpable, physical effort or struggle to manipulate, thus exposing the constant friction between body and media. I do not want my devices to ‘run smoothly’.
My work has been shown in Berlin, Chicago, and in many Israeli venues, including several showings at the Israeli Center for Digital Art, the C.Sides International electronic media festival, the Laptopia festival, the Center for Contemporary Art in Tel-Aviv, The Haifa and Bat Yam Museums and more. I have received a 2006 Leumi (the Israeli national bank) award for excellence in the arts.
I am currently pursuing my MFA with full fellowship in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.”

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Maria Bolivar was born in Caracas, Venezuela. She was significantly influenced by her father, Cesar Bolivar, who is a well-known film director in Latin America. After attending the most important design academy in Venezuela: El Instituto de Diseño de Caracas, Maria spent three years as a professional designer. Due to the violence and her involvement in the 2002 National Strike in Venezuela, Maria was forced to come to Milwaukee in where she received her BFA in communication design from the Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) in 2006. Maria is currently pursuing a Master’s of Fine Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee with an intermedia focus.

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Upgrade! Milwaukee is a regular gathering of digital creatives - artists, musicians, performers, writers, curators and the public - that fosters dialogue and creates opportunities for collaboration within the local new media community. It features 1-3 guest speakers at each event, held at a rotating venue: informal, free, and open to all. We welcome suggestions for speakers, panels or gatherings. Upgrade! Milwaukee will continue to grow as a local node within the global Upgrade! International (UI) network.

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Upgrade! is an international, emerging network of autonomous nodes united by art, technology, and a commitment to bridging cultural divides. Its decentralized, non-hierarchical structure ensures that Upgrade! (i) operates according to local interests and their available resources; and (ii) reflects current creative engagement with cutting edge technologies. While individual nodes present new media projects, engage in informal critique, and foster dialogue and collaboration between individual artists, Upgrade! International functions as an online, global network that gathers in different cities to meet one another, showcase local art, and work on the agenda for the following year. There are currently over 30 nodes in UI, across North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Second Life.