[Air-l] Institute of Network Cultures Newsletter

[geert lovink]

Institute of Network Cultures
http://www.networkcultures.org
Upcoming events

Media Archive
All audio and video documentation from our past events and conferences  
is currently available at the INC Media Archive. The November 06  
MyCreativity documentation includes Video On Demand and podcasts of all  
sessions, and a PDF version of the newspaper. Also check the archive  
for audiovisual material on Urban Screens 05, The Art and Politics of  
Netporn, Incommunicado 05 and A Decade of Webdesign, at  
http://www.networkcultures.org/archive/

New Network Theory
On June 28-30 2007, the Institute of Network Cultures, Media Studies  
(University of Amsterdam) and the Amsterdam School for Cultural  
Analysis (ASCA) will organize the New Network Theory conference.
Please see http://www.networkcultures.org/networktheory/ for the full  
program and additional information.
Registration for the conference has opened at
http://www.networkcultures.org/networktheory/index.php? 
onderdeelID=12&paginaID=73. Due to limited capacity of the venue, we  
kindly advise you to register shortly.

The New Network Theory discussion list has been set up in preparation  
of the conference. The list is meant for all those interested in the  
topic, and will possibly continue after the event in June 2007.
To subscribe to the list, go to  
http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/networktheory_listcultures.org

Network Notebook nr.1
Network Notebooks is a series of publications on recent new media  
theory. INC proudly presents: Network Notebooks nr.1 by Rosalind Gill:  
Technobohemians or the new Cybertariat? New media work in Amsterdam a  
decade after the web.
To order printed copies, please send an email to info (at)  
networkcultures.org. For more information and a freely available pdf of  
thye book, visit http:// www.networkcultures.org/networknotebooks

About the publication
Accounts of new media working draw heavily on two polarised  
stereotypes, veering between techno-utopianism on the one hand, and a  
vision of web-workers as the new ‘precariat’, victims of neoliberal  
economic policies and moves to flexibilisation and insecurity on the  
other. Heralded from both perspectives as representing the brave new  
world of work what is striking is the absence of research on new media  
workers own experiences, particularly in a European context. This  
report goes beyond the contemporary myths of new media work, to explore  
how people working in the field experience the pleasures, pressures and  
challenges of working on the web. Illustrated throughout with  
quotations from interviews, this research examines the different career  
biographies emerging for content-producers in web-based industries,  
questions the relevance of existing education and training, and  
highlights the different ways in which people manage and negotiate  
freelancing, job insecurity, and keeping up to date in a fast-moving  
field where software and expectations change rapidly.

The research is based on 35 interviews, held in Amsterdam in 2005, and  
contextually draws upon a further 60 interviews with web designers in  
London and Brighton. The interviews were carried out by Danielle van  
Diemen and Rosalind Gill.

(C)lick Me: 2nd International Netporn Festival
On Saturday June 2, Paradiso will host (C)lick Me, organized by  
Paradiso, Katrien Jacobs, Matteo Pasquinelli and the Institute of  
Network Cultures. (C)lick Me is an international manifestation where  
scholars, artists, producers and critics join to discuss the social,  
political, ethnic and artistic aspects of internet pornography. The  
event will be divided into a day program, an evening with dinner and  
screenings, and a performance night. For additional information and the  
full program, see http://www.c-lickme.nl.

Recalling RFID
September 20-21 2007, in collaboration with De Balie, Rob van  
Kranenburg and Oliver Leistert.
Seminar and workshops on the social, cultural and political  
implications of RFID (radio frequency identification). Speakers include  
people from the industry, researchers, artists, and programmers. They  
will address questions such as: What happens to privacy? How safe is a  
tag? What is the role of the designer in a smart environment? And is  
there something like RFID etiquette? More information:  
info at networkcultures.org.

Urban Screens Manchester
October 11-12 2007, in collaboration with BBC Public Space  
Broadcasting, Cornerhouse Manchester, MDDA.
The next Urban Screens Conference focuses on the development of  
non-commercial content for big urban displays such as LED, LCD, plasma  
screens, media façades and projections onto buildings. What  
characterises these huge displays as media platforms in urban space and  
which particular spatial and social situations do they create? How are  
they perceived? How does creative content flow from this? At the  
two-day international conference media experts, designers, artists,  
architects and broadcasters will present and explore the vast spectrum  
of potential content.  Conference homepage:  
http://www.manchesterurbanscreens.org.uk/

Video Vortex
On November 30 and December 1 2007 the INC, in collaboration with Seth  
Keen and Vera Tollmann, will organize the Video Vortex Conference at  
PostCS 11 in Amsterdam.
The Video Vortex conference aims to contextualize these latest  
developments through presenting continuities and discontinuities in the  
artistic, activist and mainstream perspective of the last few decades.  
Unlike the way online video presents itself as the latest and greatest,  
there are long threads to be woven into the history of visual art,  
cinema and documentary production. The rise of the database as the  
dominant form of storing and accessing cultural artifacts has a rich  
tradition that still needs to be explored.
The evening program will feature live performances under the banner of  
video slamming. We will trace the history from short film to one-minute  
videos to the first experiments with streaming media and online video,  
along with exploring the way VJs and media artists are accessing and  
using online archives.
For additional information, see  
http://www.networkcultures.org/videovortex/

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Institute of Network Cultures
Amsterdam Media Research Centre
info(at)networkcultures.org
http://www.networkcultures.org