Alpha-ville 2011 - International Festival of Post-Digital Culture share

Theme: “Zeitgeist, from digital to post-digital”Dates: 22nd-25th September 2011Venues: Netil House, the V&A, Rich Mix, Vortex Jazz Club, Space Studios, Whitechapel Gallery, XOYO, Hearn Street Warehouse, the streets of Hackney and online.

Image: The Golden Age, by Paul Nicholls

“The idea that digital is something new and transformative is now quite old. So the question for most creatives is not about going digital – it’s about making it feel less digital, about making participation and interaction feel post-digital; making the tech less techy. We see this reflected back in the freshest creative and cultural work and Alpha-ville is probably where you see that most vividly in this country.” Tom Uglow, Director of Creative Labs at Google.

The 2011 edition provides an online and live platform to explore, test and disseminate new ideas, emerging trends, collaborations and groundbreaking works. Running from 22-25 September the programme presents social media and interactive art, open labs, meet-ups, talks, workshops and screenings alongside with live music, visual performances and parties.

Taking place alongside the London Design Festival, the 2011 edition enables a network of satellite events spreading across different London boroughs and links with other European cities such as Madrid (Twin Gallery) and Brussels & The Hague (Todays Art). Selected venues include Netil House, Rich Mix, Space Studios, Vortex Jazz Club, XOYO, Hearn Street Warehouse and Whitechapel Gallery. The festival programme also connects east and west London thorough a link with the V&A Digital Design Weekend.

Gathering artists, creative coders, new media technologists, designers, architects, professionals, musicians, researchers and academics, some of the key names are: Tom Uglow (Google Creative Labs), Marius Watz, Filip Visnjic (Creative Applications), Man Bartlett, Daito Manabe, Moritz Stefaner, Keiichi Matsuda, James Alliban, Pantha Du Prince, Matthew Dear, Jon Hopkins, Jacaszek and Kangding Ray.

“The digital revolution is over” Negroponte for WIRED, 1998

This year’s programme addresses the transition from a digital to a post-digital culture, that looks beneath technology at how human behaviours such as collaboration, participation and interaction have redefined the creative practice and society itself, and at how the physical boundaries between reality and online are being blurred.

Alpha-ville incorporates the first London Symposium on Post-digital Culture, festival director Estela Oliva comments, “this year we are joining the discourse about a post-digital age. The festival and more specifically the symposium will provide a forum to exchange knowledge and inspire discussions about the future of digital culture.”

Four interconnecting strands run through the format of the festival: Innovation, Live, Screening and Exchange, offering a range of activities that aim to unlock people’s creativity.

Innovation: Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th September Netil House, V&A and the streets of Hackney

Dynamic environments featuring works created with new media through participation, collaboration and interaction. It will features data visualisation, social media and kinect based art, digital fabrication, augmented reality, html5 experiments, open frameworks and more.

Live: Thursday 22nd – Sunday 25th XOYO, Rich Mix and Hearn Street Warehouse Presenting a selection of live electronic music, sound experiments and audio-visual performances. Over 20 musicians and visual artists presenting purely live shows.

Screening: Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th Vortex Jazz Club and Netil House A showcase of the latest digital film-making trends including short film, animation and documentaries. Screenings curated by Alpha-ville and guest curators including Athens Video Art Festival, Unit 15’s Bartlett School of Architecture and Paul Purgas.

Exchange: Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th Rich Mix & Space Studios A series of events and a one-day symposium bringing together thinkers, professionals and creatives from the technology, design, media and cultural sectors. The first Alpha-ville Symposium covers a series of topics such us the humanisation of digital technologies, augmented reality and the use of public spaces, digital innovation in arts and culture, the future of the web and more

For more info, festival and tickets visit: www.alpha-ville.co.uk
@alphavillefest on twitter For press info please contact: press@alpha-ville.co.uk
Priscilla Granozio, pg@alpha-ville.co.uk Lisa Baker, lb@alpha-ville.co.uk

PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS

Alpha-ville commissions “Cell” by James Alliban and Keiichi Matsuda

As identity becomes a broadcasted commodity, our constructed personae enmesh and define us. cell is an interactive installation that exposes our virtual reflections, luminous clones that replicate the body movement of visitors to the space. Personal data mined from internet profiles is randomly tagged onto these bodies, revealing the second self while simultaneously allowing us escape from it. “Networked Cities” by Fabian Neuhaus, UCL Centre for Advanced Spacial Analysis. Animated real-time data visualisation piece based on the geo-located tweets collected for 4 different European cities: London, Brussels, The Hague and Ljubljana. The aim is to analyse how users behave when they connect to social media and how the activity is distributed in the locations.

Post-digital Culture Symposium Speakers Filip Visnjic – Architect, Lecturer and Founder of Creative Applications Network.Net Tom Uglow – Director of Creative Labs Europe, Google Bill Thompson – Technology Writer at BBC Katy Beale, Katy- Beale director at Caper & lead producer at Culture Hack Drew Hemment – Director & Founder of Future Everything Keiichi Matsuda -Designer and Film-maker Patrick Hussey – Digital Manager at Arts & Business Ronald Carpentier – VP Marketing & Operations, Layar/SticktuMortiz Stefaner – Information Designer More to be confirmed soon.

Art & Innovation Daito Manabe, JP Aaron Koblin, US (Google), selection of works Moritz Sefaner, DE, ‘Better life index’ Man Bartlett, US, installation & performance Marius Watz, NO, digital fabrication webinar Jeroen Holthuis, NL, ‘Bitquid’ Sean Rogg, UK, ‘Wonderful little creatures’ Martin Fuchs & peter Bichsel, CH, ‘Written Images’ Hackney Hear V4 Lab, exploring and creating reactive/interactive projects using vvvv language.

Soundcloud Clinic, hand-on insights into co-creation and sharing music and audio. V4 Lab, exploring and creating reactive/interactive projects using vvvv language.Plus outdoor interactive installations in the Borough of Hackney by blablabLAB (ES) Live music and audio-visual Matthew Dear (DJ – Set – Ghostly/ Spectral)Pantha Du Prince, Rough Trade, DE (Live) Jennifer Cardini, Kompakt, DE Jon Hopkins, Live AV, Domino Records, UK (Live AV)

Kangding Ray, Live AV, Raster Noton, DE (Live AV) Jacasezk, Gosthly, PL (Live) Svarte Greiner, Miasmah, NO (Live AV) Anstam (50Weapons/Modeselektion, DE) Live Illum Sphere, Tectonic, UK (Live AV) Truss, Perc Trax, UK (Live) Max Cooper, UK, Traum Schallplatten (Live) Emptyset, Tectonic, UK (Live AV, London Premiere). The project investigates the sonic potential of experimental bass driven music, reflecting upon the legacy of dub, techno and sound system culture whilst integrating aspects of feedback and minimalism.

Emptyset have recently debuted their live AV show at Mutek festival in Canada and their Alpha-ville show will be a special collaboration with designers Clayton Welham and Sam WIlliams.

Screening Press Pause Play, a documentary about the hopes and fears of the digital culture. Premiered at SXSW, this documentary contains interviews with some of the world’s most influential creators such us Moby and Apparat. Unit 15 Bartlett School of Architecture Showcase Selected works of students from one of the most cutting edge design units at Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL). Nobody Here programme curated by Paul Purgas.

Alpha-ville International moving image competition with panelist from Arts Electronica, Warp Films, Little White Lies and Hackney Film Festival. Alpha-ville Screening Programme Alpha-ville online cinema free at Mubi.com