[Air-l] NYC Conference on War: Aesthetics, Politics, Technologies, 5/2-5/3

Gina Neff ginasue at panix.com
Mon Apr 14 10:35:08 PDT 2003



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Thundergulch, the new media initiative of the Lower Manhattan Cultural
Council in association with:

Vera List Center for Art and Politics
World Policy Institute
Computer Instruction Center

at The New School

Presents 

The Future of War: Aesthetics, Politics, Technologies

May 2-3, 2003

The New School
Swayduck Auditorium
65 Fifth Avenue, Ground Floor (at 13th Street)

What do the Department of Defense and the computer gaming industry have
in common? What kinds of strategic alliances is the Pentagon making with
Hollywood? How is the American Institute of Architects connecting with
the military's designs for a "new security environment?" Are artists
collaborating with, exposing, or resisting the military by deploying
technologies of simulation, data surveillance, tracking, and computer
vision in their work? A group of internationally renowned panelists
explore these and other questions in The Future of War: Aesthetics,
Politics, Technologies, a two-day conference that examines the
increasingly complex exchanges between the military, the entertainment
industry, the computer industry, the media and artists. What impact do
these exchanges have on war, technology and related visual cultures in
the American public sphere? The conference looks at war not simply as a
utilitarian means to an end but as a cultural process involving
particular ways of seeing, narrating, and imagining. The conference will
focus on the architectural spaces of war, the cinematic language of
Hollywood combat films, online gaming and military simulations, and the
computer and installation work of artists. Conference Schedule

Friday  May 2, 2003  2:30-9:30 pm
Presentation of New Media Works 2:30-5:30 pm
Reception 5:30-7:00 pm
The Aesthetics and Politics of Technologized Warfare    7:00-9:30 pm

Saturday  May 3, 2003  10:00 am-7:00 pm
Architecture, Violence, and Social (In)security 10:00 am-12:00 pm
War and the Cinematic Imaginary    1:00-3:00 pm
The Virtual Battlefield: Computer Gaming, Modeling, Simulations
3:30-5:30 pm Roundtable Discussion 6:00-7:00 pm

 Schedule of Events

Friday May 2, 2003

2:30-5:30 pm
Presentation of New Media Works
Audience members join conference participants and local artists for a
preview of works with informal discussion.

Participants include:
Matt Adams, artist
Alex Galloway, artist/scholar
Joy Garnett, artist/curator
Natalie Jeremijenko, techno artist/engineer
John Klima, artist
Carl Skelton, digital artist/teacher
Eddo Stern, artist/game developer
Lebbeus Woods, architect

7:00-9:30 pm
The Aesthetics and Politics of Technologized Warfare
Radar, 3-D computer graphics, tracking devices, covert data-gathering,
robots, and computer vision have become ubiquitous technologies of
warfare and play an integral role in maintaining "homeland security."
These technologies have long been a rich source of interest to artists
engaged in the subjects of surveillance, control, and military imaging.
Curators, artists, and human rights activists examine ways in which art
exposes the depersonalization of violence, and resists the erosion of
privacy and civil rights.
Panelists:
Joy Garnett, artist/curator; Natalie Jeremijenko, techno
artist/engineer, Yale University and New York University; Tom Keenan,
director, Human Rights Project, Bard College; Thomas Y. Levin,
curator/media theorist, Princeton University.

Moderator: Helen Nissenbaum, professor, Department of Culture and
Communication, New York University

Saturday May 3, 2003

10:00 am-12:00 pm
Architecture, Violence, and Social (In)security
New media artists and architects discuss the impact of violence,
political terrorism and social (in)security on architecture and public
space. Reflecting on physical and virtual spaces of war, panelists
question assumptions about architecture's physical and psychological
permanence. They will consider ways in which digital technologies limit
and enable public perception of the built environment and spatial
innovation.

Panelists:
Benjamin Bratton, cultural theorist/media architect, Southern California
Institute of Architecture; Keller Easterling, associate professor, Yale
School of Architecture; and Eyal Weizman, architect, Rafi Segal/Eyal
Weizman Architects, Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Moderator: Kadambari Baxi, architect/media designer, Martin/ Baxi
Architects

1:00-3:00 pm
War and the Cinematic Imaginary
Collaborations between Hollywood, network televsion and the Pentagon
have become commonplace. The shaping of popular culture through film and
television intertwines with political strategies for legitimizing new
modes of surveillance and criminalization. Panelists examine the causal
relationships between the business of war and show biz.
Panelists:
Matt Adams, artist, Blast Theory performance collective, Great Britain;
Allen Feldman, recurring visiting professor, Anthropology of Everyday
Life Program, Center for Humanities Studies, Ljubljana; Michael Shapiro,
political scientist, University of Hawaii.
Moderator: McKenzie Wark, author/media theorist

3:30-5:30 pm
The Virtual Battlefield: Computer Gaming, Modeling, Simulations What
role does the military-industrial complex play in the increased
virtualization and digitalization of war and weaponry? Does this new
emphasis on the virtual nature of war decrease its connection to
reality, territory and the body? An interdisciplinary panel explores the
new technologies of imitation and simulation, and the coordinated
efforts of computer programmers, artists, and the gaming industry to
advance the state of immersive military training and online recruitment.


Panelists:
James Der Derian, professor, International Relations, Watson Institute;
Peter J. Dombrowski, associate professor, Strategic Department of the
U.S. Naval War College;  and Eddo Stern, artist/game developer,
University of Southern California Graduate School of Cinema and
Television.

Moderator: J.C. Herz, principal, Joystick Nation

6:00-7:00 pm
Roundtable Discussion
Join conference participants in an informal discussion about the
questions, issues, and themes raised during panel sessions.

Moderator: Allen Feldman, recurring visiting professor, Anthropology of
Everyday Life Program, Center for Humanities Studies, Ljubljana

*Conference participants are subject to change*

Subway Directions
F to 14th Street & 6th Avenue
1/2/3/9 to 14th Street & 7th Avenue
4/5/6/L/N/Q/R/W to 14th Street-Union Square
A/C/E to 14th Street & 8th Avenue
Journal Square and Hoboken PATH trains to 14th Street & 6th Avenue

Admission is free. Registration is encouraged. Seating is first come,
first served. Register online at www.lmcc.net/futureofwar/main.html.
For more information or to register by phone call 212-219-9401 x400.

Conference Advisory Committee:
Wayne Ashley, curator, Thundergulch, the new media initiative of LMCC
James Der Derian, Watson Institute research professor of international
relations and professor of political science at the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst Sondra Farganis, director, Vera List Center for
Art and Politics, The New School Allen Feldman, recurring visiting
professor, Anthropology of Everyday Life Program, Center for Humanities
Studies, Ljubljana Joy Garnett, artist/curator Moukhtar Kocache,
director, Visual and Media Arts, LMCC Thomas Y. Levin, culture and media
theorist, professor at Princeton University Michael Randazzo, director,
Computer Instruction Center, The New School Stephen Schlesinger,
director, World Policy Institute, The New School

Funders
This conference is made possible with funding from American Express
Company, May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, and in part, with
public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New
York City Department of Cultural Affairs.




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