So, I came up with the idea of the Open Publishing Fest in response to a few things:
- Coko couldn’t put on realspace events due to the virus
- the sector is depressed (emotionally)
So I figured we could do something a little bigger than our usual events and one that is deliberately designed to be a bit more fun and lighter. The event is very de-centralised, features musicians, some drag queen performances, mindfulness workshops, along with readings from books, fireside chats and various discussions. The original concept doc is here – https://openpublishingfest.org/paper.html
I think its going to be pretty interesting.
As it happens, this is a continuation of a long line of events I’ve put on. Starting way back when I was a little kiwi, lost for something to do and failing university, I put on an event the local radio station – Contact89FM. The event was called ‘The Deep Fried Orgasmic Ambience Gig’. It was a fund raiser and it was an amazing success. I think here I learned the basics of events – how to organise but not put yourself in the middle of it all, how to leverage upwards, organising venues, curating etc…
After this I later landed the job of Station Manager for Contact89FM and I put on a HEAP of events. Many years or organising events for the community. Many many years of long periods of sleepness nights while setting up venues, picking over art, logistics etc etc etc
After that I didn’t do too many events until net.congestion
The festival was held in Amsterdam in October 2000. Net.congestion was an intensive three-day celebration and critique of the new cultures that have arisen from all forms of micro-, narrow- and broad- casting via the internet, now collectively known as streaming media.
The event covered most of the interesting ground of the time for streaming media, from the transformation of issues surrounding intellectual property to the uses of streaming as a mobilisation tool for global resistance through to the more rarefied questions of aesthetics and how narratives are transformed when embedded in networks. The overwhelming experience of many visitors to Net.congestion was a sense of tools, networks and sensibilities being re-purposed, returning us, again and again, to a primary experience of the net as a social space.
Net.congestion occurred just months before dot.com bubble burst, exploding the ‘new economy’ and ‘the long boom’ with its fantasies of a world in which the economic laws of gravity had been repealed. There is no doubt that if the same event were to be held now, the atmosphere would be markedly different. It is not that Net.congestion was an industry event which depended on the hype for its existence, as the very title indicates that we mixed a healthy dose of skepticism with our festivities. But none of us, however critical, can entirely escape the zeitgeist and there is no doubt that in those brief heady days Warhol’s aphorism was re-written; we could all dream of becoming billionaires, if only for 15 minutes. A strange historical phase when (particularly for anyone involved in streaming media) the normally fixed boundaries between business, art, technology, science fantasy and just plain bullshit temporarily blurred to create a moment of unique cultural hysteria. In that sense our timing was perfect.
After that I did some stuff but most notable was an event called re:mote… a series of remote events around the world…starting with an event in Auckland
re:mote
re:mote: auckland was the first in a series of one-day experimental festivals, bringing together new media art practitioners and theorists from Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand to discuss the theme of remoteness and technology.re:mote: auckland featured on-site, online and pre-recorded presentations analysing the way that digital technologies can augment collaborations across geographical and cultural distance. Artists and commentators from London, Newcastle, Helsinki, Rotterdam and Sydney gave presentations of their work via live video stream to an audience in Auckland. Presenters from around New Zealand also attended in person to share their work. re:mote is to be an ongoing series of events, which will take place at locations around the world. re:mote: auckland was the global premiere of this series.
re:mote explores questions like: what does it mean to be remote in an electronic art world? Are there ‘centres’ and ‘peripheries’ within a world increasingly bridged, criss-crossed and mapped by digital technologies? Can technologically mediated communication ever substitute for face-to-face dialogue? Is geographical isolation a factor in contemporary art production? Is remote a relative concept?
The keynote presentation was from Japanese artist, radio pioneer, and lecturer, Tetsuo Kogawa, who travelled to Auckland especially to present at re:mote, on the topic of technology and the body. He also performed with and demonstrated micro fm transmission.
re:mote: auckland took place on Saturday March 19, 2005, from 10am to 7pm at the Elam School of Fine Arts lecture theatre.
and including at least one other event in Regina, Canada:
re:mote regina is an experimental symposium and international net-based festival that links new media practitioners and theorists from diverse areas through a mixture of live and online presentations.
re:mote: regina is the second in a series of one-day experimental festivals, bringing together new media art practitioners and theorists from Europe, Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand to discuss the theme of remoteness and technology.
re:mote: regina will feature on-site, online presentations analysing the way that digital technologies can augment collaborations across geographical and cultural distance. Artists and commentators from Nice, Auckland, London, Vancouver, and Toronto will presentation their work via live video stream to an audience in Regina. Local artists from Regina will also present their work. re:mote is to be an ongoing series of events, which will take place at locations around the world. re:mote: auckland was the global premiere of this series.
re:mote explores questions like: what does it mean to be remote in an electronic art world? Are there ‘centres’ and ‘peripheries’ within a world increasingly bridged, criss-crossed and mapped by digital technologies? Can technologically mediated communication ever substitute for face-to-face dialogue? Is geographical isolation a factor in contemporary art production? Is remote a relative concept?
looking back, it somehow feels like I’ve been walking a straight line…
