Zombies Ahead, Slow Down

Make Overs Ahead

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Tomorrow –  Friday, February 27th – the Year One CultureNet students are heading down to NOISE DIGITAL in Vancouver’s Yaletown to present  critiques of NOISE’s recent interactive web-commission for NOKIA: Zombie Singles.

This popular site has had heavy global traffic with people around the world eagerly zombifying themselves.  The students will get to pitch their take as to why this site is just so darn sticky to the NOISE team and speak directly to the designers.

A full Zombie report to follow after tomorrow afternoon’s adventures!

CultureNet + Rainy Season

By Aurelea Mahood

Well – okay – there’s no rain (yet), but I am wearing sweaters again.  And as soon as I am wearing a sweater, I feel more entitled to make suggestions about activities that take people indoors.  That said, here are five upcoming activities involving CultureNet students and faculty.  Come join us inside.  For more information, conact culturenet@capilanou.ca.

 1. Thurs, Oct 2: CultureNet/Creative Writing Open Mic Night

 An evening of Open Mic readings + performance by Cap U students past and present and Special Guests Roger Farr, Kim Minkus, and Reg Johanson. The stage will be open to Cap U writers, faculty, alumni and their friends.

8pm / Thurs Oct. 2 / Hoko’s Restaurant / 362 Powell Street / Vancouver

2. Fri, Oct 10: Rosalind Nashashibi’s “Bachelor Machines”

Join the Year 1 CultureNet students on a guided tour of the Rosalind Nashashibi exhibit (1pm) on Friday, October 10th at North Vancouver’s Presentation House Gallery.  This exhibits looks at  technology, gender, and identity through the screening of Nashashibi’s film work.  If you are interested in attending, please contact Aurelea Mahood.

1pm / Fri Oct 10 / Presentation House Gallery / 333 Chesterfield Ave / North Vancouver

3. Tues, Oct 21: Capilano Film Series – “Persepolis”

“Persepolis” was already well-known as the two-volume autobiography of talented graphic novelist, illustrator and children’s book author Marjane Satrapi before its much-anticipated animated adaptation won the Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.  A double-screening of this feature-length film + student work will be introduced by Aurelea Mahood (CultureNet/English) and followed by a Q/A session. See the Performing Arts Theatre for more information on tickets and directions. 

7pm / Tues Oct 21 / Capilano Performing Arts Theatre / Capilano University / North Vancouver

4. Fri, Oct 24: CultureNet/Film Centre Screening Project

The Year 1 and 2 CultureNet students will be screening a selection of Year 2 and 3 Film Centre student work in preparation for the November screening + panel event.  From 1-3pm in Birch 125, we will be screening and selecting works from 4-6 student filmmakers.  Their films will be screened at a Capilano Open House event on Wednesday, November 19th after which a panel discussion of the films will be led by the CultureNet students.  The panel will be made up of CultureNet and Film Centre students as well as an opportunity for a Q/A session.  If you are interested in the vetting process, join us Friday, October 24th.  For more information contact Aurelea Mahood.

1pm / Fri Oct 24 / Screening Project / Birch 125 / Capilano University / North Vancouver

5. Wed, Nov 19: CultureNet at the Capilano Open House

As a part of the Arts + Sciences Open House, CultureNet students will be reviewing a half dozen Capilano Film Centre student films and leading a panel discussion with the student filmmakers in attendance.  This is a great opportunity to see two programs in action and learn more about the educational opportunities at Capilano University. 

Check back in early Nov for more info on the times + room locations for this upcoming event.

Electronic Literature Conference

Stop Reading

Andrew Klobucar and I have just come back from the Electronic Literature Organization conference in Vancouver WA this past weekend where 120 artists and scholars met to present and talk about electronic literature. Hosted by Dr. Dene Grigar and Dr. John Barber from the Digital Technology and Culture program at Washington State University – Vancouver, the conference offered a dizzying sense of eletronic literature’s global vibrancy with participants from Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. As the conference organizers noted, the presentations and art works demonstrated that electronic literature (however we might define the term) is very much alive and of interest to both the pioneers and a new generation of digital remixologists. I left the conference inspired by the diversity of projects on offer and a desire to collaborate with new media artists and programmers alike.

A few of the artists that caught my attention:

Serge Bouchardon
J.R. Carpenter
Ian Hatcher
Donna Leishman
Victoria Welby

The Kutlug Ataman Exhibit and Social Space

I thought it was interesting to read about social space in the Slack and Wise Primer after attending the Kutlug Ataman exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery (http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_kutlug_ataman.html). The Ataman exhibit had two sides to it; Kuba, a collection of video clips of interviews of people from a small community outside of Istanbul, and Paradise, which involved 24 Californians giving their views on Paradise. The gallery space was actually used to divide the two Ataman projects, so to see one you had to cross physical space to get from one to another. The Kuba side was made to feel dirtier, more used, as the chairs you sat in while you watched them were all old and sort of falling apart, and the televisions were old and dilapidated as well. It was dimly lit. The Paradise exhibit was clean and bright, with plastic cubes to sit on, far more modern and what you would expect in a gallery. After reading about social space, I thought it was interesting how these changes between how the two pieces were presented effectively changed and enhanced the way a person felt about what we were watching. They were both in the same gallery, the same spaces, but the mood and feeling I got from both were completely different, and it added to the entire experience. The gallery had effectively though artificially created two completely different social spaces. The Primer is correct in pointing out that space has meaning put upon it the people using it; I had never thought about it that way.

I felt slightly conflicted by the whole show and the way the space was organized. If I had seen the two shows separately, at different galleries or different times, I would have liked them more. At the Kuba exhibit I saw some very sad stories; these men and women had been affected by brutality and poverty. When I went over to watch the Paradise exhibit, it was difficult to watch the wealthy Californians discuss their ideas about Paradise, their dreams and ideals, after watching the Kuba pieces. I wanted to listen to what the Californians had to say but found it too difficult to take them seriously as their interviews now seemed trivial. I don’t think this was Ataman’s original intention. I think he was genuinely interested in what the Californians had to say, but the outcome of showing the two exhibits at once was the portrayal of the Californians as vapid and shallow. Generally I thought that the manipulation of the two spaces, by making them feel so different, was what made it feel like a cheap comparison. The gallery did not need to rough up the Kuba side, as the people’s stories were powerful enough, and the Paradise exhibit did not need to feel as cold as it was. I like to form my own opinions based on the art itself, and I left feeling a little manipulated.

Overall, I thought these were very thought provoking exhibits and I found myself thinking about them quite a bit. I would highly recommend that people see it.

"Paradise and Kuba."

This position paper discusses the field trip CNET took on February 15th 2008. The trip was to see Kutlag Ataman’s video instillation “Paradise and Kuba.”

The instillation involved two large rooms in the Vancouver Art Gallery. One room was filled with large flat screen TVs with residents of Orange County describing their lives and how they felt about things. The other half of the instillation was a room filled with various older televisions. These televisions had all kind of people from Istanbul telling their own kinds of stories.

I enjoyed the freedom of the exhibit. You could walk around taking in as little or as much as you wanted from each of the screens. If you found something interesting you could sit and have a good listen. If not, just keep walking. This is exactly what I did. I only paid attention to what I thought was interesting from the outside, window shopping for content. I started to walk towards the exit when I thought I had experienced enough.
This is where I started to feel a bit used. I felt like I had been used as a part of the exhibit, used to prove Ataman’s point. Without even thinking about it, I spent most of my time on the Orange County side of the gallery. I guess I stayed there because it was a lot easier to watch than the other side. The TVs were big and clear, there were earphones provided and it was all in English. The Kuba side was a lot different. The room was filled with a loud mash up of what all the TVs were blaring. It made you feel like you were in a room filled with 40 people trying to talk at the same time. The TVs were small and old. No one was speaking English. Without thinking, I had stayed on one side of the art gallery because I was more comfortable and maybe a little less threatened.

I think the message of Ataman’s exhibit was Communication. It is harder to listen when there are 40 people talking at the same time. People’s stories and opinions get lost if the medium doesn’t fit the viewer. I spent all my time taking in the information from the Orange County side because that is where I was most comfortable. I could focus on what was being said because I understood the language being spoken and I could use earphones to drown out any outside noise. The Orange country room also felt more accessible. I felt like I could watch every screen if I wanted. Not the same on the other side, there must have been double the TVs in the “Kuba” area. At a glance I assumed watching each one wouldn’t be possible.
Maybe listening to how Billy Graham got his big break wasn’t as important as what was being said in “Kuba.”
Maybe this is happening everyday.
Maybe important information isn’t getting the airtime it deserves.
Maybe if we read a paper tonight instead of watching “The OC,” we might learn something about the outside world.
Maybe.