Cartes Flux calls for Digital Artists and Filmmakers to participate in the selection for the festival of New Media Art. The call is for Finnish and international experimental and innovative new media art works with a fresh and unique approach. The focus is on art works which are movable and suitable for public spaces.

Deadline is May 28, 2012!

The sixth Cartes Flux takes place in October 2012 and is hosted by CARTES Centre of Art and Technology Espoo, Finland. The Festival program consists of installations, screenings, artist talks, workshops and live performances. The main festival venues are in Espoo and Helsinki.

More information:
Cartes: www.cartes-art.fi
Cartes Flux 2011: www.cartes-art.fi/flux2011

Aalto University introduces Art and Technology, a multi-disciplinary study module that is targeted to MA level students and starts in the academic year 2012‐13. It brings media art and electronic art for the first time as independent subjects to the curriculum of the university. The study module combines media artistic thinking and practice with the aesthetic and philosophical foundations of the field. Students are encouraged to cross over boundaries between technology, art and design.
Application deadline: 31 May, 2012.

Content

The emphasis is on interactive artworks that are spatial, embodied, or mobile. The course works typically utilize computers and electronics for artistic expression. Some topics to be covered are interactive installations, experimental user interfaces, wearable electronics, and ubiquitous technology. In addition to artistic projects there will be studies in media art history and the technical tools that are needed. The main language is English.

To whom?

Students from a variety of backgrounds are welcome to apply to the study module – such as various fields of art, media, technology and human sciences. All masters level degree students at Aalto University are entitled to apply, as well as exchange students, and students from other universities within the JOO agreement. If you’re uncertain if this module would suit your study profile please get in contact with the organizers (see contact info below).

The module as part of a degree

Depending on the master’s degree programme the module can be included in the degree as a personal study module (such as at Aalto University School of Science) or as a minor subject (such as at Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture). You should verify before applying how the study module can be incorporated in your degree.

Organising departments

The Art and Technology module is organized in collaboration between three departments – the departments of Art, Media, and Media Technology at Aalto University, and with coordination by Aalto Media Factory.

Scope of the study module: 20-25 ECTS
Duration:  one year
Intake: max. 10-12 students (from all Schools of Aalto University, exchange students, and from other universities within the JOO agreement)
Language: English
Application deadline: 31 May, 2012.

Application documents:  Please include the application form, a letter of motivation and extract of study record (detailed instructions on the website).

More information:
http://artandtech.aalto.fi

Vesa Kantola (lecturer, dept. Media technology)
vesa.kantola((at))aalto.fi
tel. 050 5562092

Markku Nousiainen (producer, Aalto Media Factory)
markku.nousiainen((at))aalto.fi
tel. 040 5005276

This peer-learning initiative aims to develop and study and gather knowledge on appropriate agriculture technologies, organic nutrient processing and hydroculture systems, powered with renewable energy sources.

Initiated by Mikko Laajola, activity focuses on common, recycled and scrap materials, guerilla gardening and reclaimed urban sites, as well as greenhouse and indoors technologies.

The process is open, so bring in your projects or proposals!

According to the participants and the emerging projects, there will be smaller meetings and workshops in groups. So far there are a couple of projects proposed, including: Windmill pumps for hydroponics and guerilla gardening watering systems, compost tumbler, compost tea brewing for hydroculture, vermicomposting, ‘barrelponics’ or similar modular hydroponics system and DIY-aeroponics. The knowledge learned from the projects is documented and shared online.

From 19.-20.5. We’ll lay down the basis for the workshop-series by building a hexayurt greenhouse, sourcing materials, and planning the activities for the summer.  We’ll meet at kääntöpöytä cafe at 14.00 on saturday 19th. Directions http://kaantopoyta.fi/yhteystiedot/

More info: http://muistio.tieke.fi/resagri
Discussion and planning page in facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/268650936554952/

Contact: mikko[-at-]pixelache.ac
tel.0440 261 631

* Image credit: Charlie Vinz

Heaven + Earth + Joe Davis documents the life of an artist who is driven to pursue questions that can only be answered in the space where science and art lose their individual distinction. Why would someone want to encode poetry into the eyes of a fly, fish for paramecium or send transgenic organisms into outer space? Joe Davis’ projects can seem fantastical, impossible, even ill-advised. A deeper look into his work reveals a hidden logic that is surprising and contagious – more philosophy than art.

Working with hundreds of hours of footage shot over ten years from around the world, archival footage, photographs and interviews from respected scientists and artists, Heaven + Earth + Joe Davis not only answers these questions, but illuminates why these questions are important now, at this moment in human history.

The Finnish Society of Bioart invites to the first screening of Peter Sasowsky´s documentation about the artists Joe Davis:

Heaven + Earth + Joe Davis (2011) (1h 25 min)
Time: 18.5.2012, 19:00h
Free entrance
Place: Kaapelitehdas Tallberginkatu 1 C 23
00180 Helsinki Stair C, 4th Floor

For Camp Pixelache demo-stalls Demoteket is planning to make a Finnish version of their underground library established in both Denmark and Sweden. Demoteket is based on works by local artists – so please bring your own works along! Music, zines, books, software, drawings – anything goes!

They can be found at the Demo Stalls (2nd floor corridor) at Camp Pixelache on Saturday 12.5. from 12.30-20.00

Demoteket is an underground library integrated into 6 of the public libraries in Copenhagen, Denmark. Each library has a Demoteket shelving unit – built by different Do It Yourself artists from Copenhagen. This shelving unit provides a platform for the local underground movement in all its forms. Whether you’ve made a few bedroom drawings or have set up an indie record company, you can hand in your work to Demoteket. Others will then be able to borrow it on the same lines as Stig Larsson or any other mainstream material. As an artist you will no longer need a record or publishing deal in order to reach an audience. And anybody curious enough to make it down the local library will have a direct ticket to what’s going on on the underground cultural scene – from dubplates to zines, from poetry to art films, from street art to stencils. You might even be able to find just the right person to do the art work for your next short film…

The internet has already provided a platform for the democratisation of cultural distribution – at least in its digital form. Demoteket complements this tendency by creating a platform for art in its more tactile and unique forms. A unique cut of a dubplate folded into a homemade silk print cover does have a different sound and charm than most youtube-soundfiles can compete with… In Copenhagen these unique productions have now landed at the age-old bastion of free culture: the public libraries.

Amid the current technological and social changes, does television hold the kind of relevance it once did? To coincide with the UK digital switch over, the Finnish Institute in London is pleased to present a new publication about community, media and art. TV LIKE US brings together artists, researchers and technologists working with community TV in Finland, Britain and Ireland.

The texts show that the thing called ‘television’ still holds a potent grip on our collective imaginations and that community TV is fast becoming a key player in the changing broadcasting landscape. Community television builds citizenship, tells stories and gives people a voice through DIY participation. From artist TV to open media platforms, TV LIKE US presents cases, methods and ideas behind this lively, local TV culture.

The first launch, to be held as part of Camp Pixelache in Helsinki, focuses on artist TV. There will be a discussion moderated by the editor of the book, Hanna Harris, the programme director of art and culture at the Finnish Institute in London. Taking part in the discussion will be the artist duo Somewhere (Karen Guthrie and Nina Pope), curator Sarah Cook, director of the new media centre m-cult Minna Tarkka, and artists and gallerists Arttu Merimaa and Miina Hujala.

TV LIKE US is a part of Reaktio, the Finnish Institute’s new publication series. The books in the series focus on critical contemporary issues, they pose questions and offer commentary. The books encourage debate and provoke action; they are books to think with and books to act on.

TV LIKE US – book launch and discussion on artist and community TV in Finland and in Britain

TIME: Saturday 12 May 3.30–4.30 pm (as a part of Pixelache Festival)
ADDRESS: Arbis, Dagmarinkatu 3
SPACE: Seminaarihuone, Ground Floor

Free entrance!

Tribunal 12 Helsinki 12.5. on koko päivän kestävä tapahtuma, joka ottaa kantaa Euroopan ihmisoikeusrikkomuksiin pakolaisia, turvapaikanhakijoita ja siirtolaisia kohtaan. Tapahtumassa nähdään suorana lähetyksenä Tukholman Kulturhusetissa ja Sergelin torilla järjestettävä näytösluontoinen oikeusistunto TRIBUNAL 12. Sen tuomareina toimii eri alojen kansainvälisesti tunnustettuja asiantuntijoita, kuten kirjailijoita Nawal el Saadawista ja Nuruddin Farahista Henning Mankelliin. Päivän aikana käsitellään muun muassa rajakontrollia, vastaanottoprosesseja, paperittomuutta, käännytyksiä ja säilöönottoa.

Yleisöllä on mahdollisuus seurata Tukholman tapahtumia Iso Roobertinkatu 4:ssä sijaitsevassa katutason liiketilassa. Lähetysten välille on rakennettu runsas ohjelma, joka koostuu kansalaisjärjestöjen puheenvuoroista ja aiheeseen liittyvistä taideteoksista. Teatterista kiinnostuneella yleisöllä on poikkeuksellinen tilaisuus nähdä Kansallisteatterin Kiertuenäyttämön Paperisilta, liikkeeseen pohjaava teatteriesitys, joka on kiertänyt kaikki Suomen vastaanottokeskukset. Kansalaisjärjestöjen näkökulmaa valottaa esimerkiksi ihmisoikeusaktivisti Oksana Tshelyshevan puheenvuoro pakolaisvakoilusta, jota useat eri kansalaisjärjestöt ovat viime aikoina vaatineet kriminalisoitavaksi.

Tribunal 12 Helsinki levittäytyy myös Iso Roobertinkadulle, missä on esillä taiteilija Kristiina Tuuran teos Pata, Sandaali ja Virkattu teltta. Telttakangas on koottu sadoista tilkuista, joita ovat tehneet pakolaisnaiset ympäri maailman. Teos on alun perin ollut esillä osana Turun kulttuuripääkaupunkivuoden ohjelmaa 2011.

Ohjelma:

10.30-11.00 Video Afaryan -taideprojektista Iranista, Kalle Hamm ja Dzamil Kamanger

11.00-12.30  Suora lähetys Tukholmasta, Rajakontrolli, asiantuntijoina professorit Jacquline Bhabha ja Leanne Weber.

12.30-13.00 Puheenvuoro: Ida Simes, Suomen PEN,  Writers in Prison – Suomen komitean puheenjohtaja

13.00-13.20 Turvapaikanhakijan puheenvuoro

13.20-13.30 Puheenvuoro: Timo Kallio, Kirjailija- ja taiteilijayhdistys Kiila ry:n puheenjohtaja

13.30-15.00 Suora lähetys Tukholmasta, Turvapaikkaprosessi, asiantuntijoina professorit Matthew Gibney ja Gregor Noll

15.00-16.00 Kansallisteatterin Kiertuenäyttämön liikkeeseen pohjaava teatteriesitys Paperisilta, näyttelijä Jussi Lehtonen, tanssija Nina Hyvärinen ja muusikko Mikko Perkola

16.00-16.15 Youth as Refugees -yhteisötaideprojektin videoteoksia, Pekka Niskanen, Anna Knappe, Timo Piikkilä, Jaana Ristola

16.15-16.30 Pata, Sandaalit ja Virkattu teltta -teoskokonaisuuden esittely, Jari Kivistö, Annika Raittinen

16.30-18.00 Suora lähetys Tukholmasta, Paperittomat siirtolaiset, asiantuntijoina Professori Bridget Anderson ja Tohtori Henry Ascher.

18.00-18.05 Katja Tähjän paperittomista kertovan e-kirjan trailer

18.05-18.30 Puheenvuoro: Sosiologi ja aktivisti Mervi Leppäkorpi, Paperittomat Suomessa

18.30-19.00 Puheenvuoro: Ihmisoikeusaktivisti Oksana Tshelysheva, FINROSFORUM

19.00-20.30  Suora lähetys Tukholmasta, Säilöönotto ja käännytykset, asiantuntijoina professori Nicholas de Genova ja Liz Fekete

20.30-20.45 Puheenvuoro: Markus Himanen Vapaa liikkuvuus -verkosto, Käännytysten ja säilöönoton vastainen toiminta

20.45-21.00  Puheenvuoro: Asianajaja Juha-Pekka Hippi, Seta ry:n hallituksen jäsen, Seksuaali- ja sukupuolivähemmistöt turvapaikanhakijoina Suomessa

21.00- 22.00 Virtual War, Pekka Niskasen dokumenttielokuva tshetsheenipakolaisista (tuot. Illume Oy)

22.00-23.30  Suora lähetys Tukholmasta, Juryn jäsenten välinen avoin keskustelu ja lopullisen tuomion julistaminen

23.30- Musiikkia ja keskustelua

Tilaisuuteen osallistuvat muun muassa kuvataiteilijat Kalle Hamm, JP Kaljonen, Dzamil Kamanger, Anna Knappe, Riikka Kuoppala, Pekka Niskanen, Suvi Nurmi, Johanna Raekallio ja Kristiina Tuura, kouluttaja Jari Kivistö, sarjakuvataiteilija Ville Tietäväinen, valokuvaaja Katja Tähjä, sekä näyttelijä Jussi Lehtonen, tanssija Nina Hyvärinen, muusikko Mikko Perkola, toimittaja Kaisa Viita ja mediakulttuuriyhdistys M-cult. Järjestöistä mukana ovat FINROSFORUM, Suomen Pen, Kiila ry, Seta ry ja Vapaa liikkuvuus -verkosto.

Helsingin lisäksi tapahtumia järjestetään Ruotsissa, Norjassa, Tanskassa ja Englannissa.

Tapahtumaa tukee Kiila ry

Tarkat ohjelmatiedot on julkaistu Helsingin tapahtuman blogissa:

http://tribunal12helsinki.wordpress.com

Tukholman päätapahtuman nettisivut:

http://tribunal12.org

Lisätiedot:
Johanna Raekallio, jraeka@gmail.com, 040-7334409
JP Kaljonen, jp@kaljonen.com, 040-7624631

Thursday 10.5. from 18.00-19.30, at Aalto Media Factory, Hämeentie 135 A, Helsinki.

Camp Pixelache invited guest Jennifer Gabrys’ contributes to Talking Trash(lab) lecture series presenting about the material life of digital media.

Digital technologies appear to be immaterial and relatively free of resource constraints. Yet as the environmental issue of electronic waste indicates, the material effects of digital media are significant. As one of the fastest growing waste streams, e-waste quantities are generated at approximately 20-25 million tons per year to 35-40 million tons per year. This waste is hazardous, difficult to recycle, and is often processed in harmful ways, which raisesconsiderable environmental justice issues.

Click here for instruction to get to Aalto Media Factory venue.

Her book Digital Rubbish: A Natural History of Electronics, published in 2011, describes the materiality of electronics from a unique perspective, examining the multiple forms of waste that electronics create as evidence of the resources, labour, and imaginaries that are bundled into these machines. Ranging across studies of media and technology, as well as environments, geography, and creative practice, Jennifer Gabrys draws together the far-reaching material and cultural processes that enable the making and breaking of these technologies.

For the Talking Trash(lab) lecture, she will focus on how an approach to materiality as process is important not just for understanding the environmental and socio-cultural effects of digital media, but also for rethinking the material ecologies and economies of these technologies, and possible sites for creative intervention.

Jennifer Gabrys is Senior Lecturer in Design and Convener of the Masters in Design and Environment in the Department of Design, Goldsmiths, University of London. In addition to her Talking Trash(lab) lecture, Gabrys is a plenary speaker and facilitator of Camp Pixelache sub-theme ‘The art of gathering environmental data‘ on Saturday 12.5. at Arbis.

More information about Trashlab & Camp Pixelache.

* Image credit: Curtis Palmer, sourced at Wikimedia Commons.

Ptarmigan seeks creative projects from the Nordic and Baltic regions for two-month residencies in Tallinn, Estonia. These residencies are supported by the Kulturkontakt Nord Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme.

Ptarmigan is a transdisciplinary cultural platform operating in both Tallinn, Estonia and Helsinki, Finland. For three years, Ptarmigan has organised events, residencies, workshops, performances and other projects that span across various spheres of art, music, performance, humanities, and other more nebulous fields. Our focus is on event-driven cultural production that’s simultaneously inclusive and unusual.

Who is eligible

Any legal resident of the Nordic or Baltic countries, excluding Estonia. This means: Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, the Åland Islands, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania. If you are not a resident of these countries, you are not eligible for our KK Nord-funded residencies.

What we are looking for

Your residency is a project; your proposal should clearly describe what you hope to do with two months in Tallinn. We look to produce projects that excite us and occupy unique cultural space. We like to see things that are active and lively, and fit in well with what we do. At Ptarmigan, the joy is in collaboration, being together, and expanding perspectives. We’re inclined towards ideas that offer some sort of educational component, and a chance for the public to be involved, while being experimental in nature. Participation and engagement with our existing projects is also a bonus – many of our regular projects benefit from guests, and there are also opportunities to work in our partner spaces, such as Tiib in Tallinn and the Score Store Kiosk in Helsinki.

You can always take a look at our past events, projects and residencies on our websites to get a sense of what we are interested in. In general, if your project is ‘spend two months painting/sculpting/video editing/whatever to create a gallery exhibition’, we aren’t likely to select you. If you’re looking to create interactive, psychogeographic maps of Tallinn’s secrets/animals/vertical objects/whatever through a series of workshops, tours, and other interventions — now we’re listening.

What you get

If chosen, your travel to and from Tallinn will be paid for (up to €400). You will be accommodated in a small apartment within a short walking distance of the Ptarmigan project space which will be fully paid for. In addition to this you will receive a stipend of 1400€ for your two months stay, pending requirements (see below). Any living costs (food, materials, etc.) will come from this stipend. In Ptarmigan, you will be given a 21m2 room to use as a studio, if desired. (There are some limitations in what you can do with this studio, primarily sound/volume-related, but otherwise it’s yours). Ptarmigan additionally operates a small, experimental visual art space called Tiib – this space is available to use as a gallery/exhibition space if desired. You will be asked to visit Helsinki at least once to present, perform, or otherwise engage with our Finnish side – ferry travel and accommodation will be covered for this trip.

Ptarmigan is an artist-run space that is all-volunteer, and our organisers will do their best to help with your project. This includes local promotion and marketing, general local know-how (including practical information and cultural networking), and anything else we can do.

Other requirements
If you are not a legal, tax-paying resident of one of the aforementioned countries, then you are not eligible for this residency, which is funded by KK Nord only for mobility between Nordic and Baltic countries. If you have a good idea for Ptarmigan anyway but are not a resident of these countries, please don’t hesitate to propose anyway — but understand that we do not have any financial support for residencies beyond the Nordic/Baltic programme.

The residency, as required by KK Nord, is for a minimum of two months. We are generally budgeted for exactly that time, though a few extra days over is okay. If you have an idea for a longer project then please describe it in your proposal.

The stipend is broken into two monthly payments of 700€ each. This is intended to cover all living costs and materials. To receive this stipend, you must spend 85% of your stay in Tallinn (though your visit to Helsinki will not count against this).

Ptarmigan is a very social, public-focused space, and if your project does not directly engage with the public, then we ask that you will open your working space up for a few hours per week to anyone who might be interested in meeting you and seeing what you are working on. This is negotiable and primarily symbolic anyway.

How to apply, deadlines, and other administrivia

To apply for Ptarmigan’s Nordic/Baltic residency programme, please use our general-purpose proposal form, and choose “Tallinn residencies” as the “existing project”. Our application form is at  http://ptarmigan.ee/proposals/new and we prefer that you apply in English.

We will be selecting three residencies in 2012, with a minimum duration of two-months each. Please specify clearly on the proposal form when you would be most interested in coming, ex. “July-August”, “November-December”, etc.

The deadline for this year’s residency applications is 1 June. Ptarmigan will inform all applicants no later than 15 June.

For more information: tallinn@ptarmigan.ee or view this post on the Ptarmigan website.

Open Design demo stalls are exhibited at Arbis during Camp Pixelache on Saturday 12 May 12:30 – 19:00, with several interesting projects.

Helsinki Hacklab Reactionists present their Chernobyl simulator and RIXC, The Centre for New Media Culture from Latvia presents TALK TO ME, a human-plant communication interface for exploring relational aesthetics in these hybrid environments. Other demos include for example the results of Electronic Embroidery workshop held in March and Animation App, a rolling “tiny film festival” of the animations that have been made by audience during the exhibition!

Also exhibited in Arbis are the results of Suomenlinna Money Lab bank note design competition held in March.