ICA Update

Hello all,
Things are moving along for each of our grant recipients! All five Fast Forward students have been in touch with their mentors about their progress and are posting updates to their blogs (here's one example). A week ago we had a screening of the students' rough cuts in the ICA theater, providing them with the chance to critique each other's work in the space where their final pieces will be shown at our public screening on May 30. Most of the students are still in the editing phase and getting feedback from their mentors to help move them along. More to come in the next few weeks!

Here are a couple of stills:
From Annalise's film, "Aquafinito," a documentary that looks at the debate surrounding bottled water.




From Cory's narrative film, "Daydreamers."

freeDimensional/CIAC Time Capsule Project Update

The project is running along smoothly this month. The students have chosen growth as their subject matter. They want to show how much they have learned and achieved since starting school in the United States.

We've gotten the fantastic photographer Matilde Damele to work with the students. They're working to showcase their life including, family, friends, neighborhood and of course school. The photos will be set for the time capsule along with a audio interview done with a Podcast Workshop run by Tianna Kennedy of free103point9.org.

I look forward to next month when I will be able to put in some photos and maybe some audio on this blog.

Arthur

Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose

After weeks of exploring the surrounding community of Downtown San Jose with digital SLRs, our 7 - 9th grade students have begun putting their photographs together on a timeline in Adobe Premier in order to create a multimedia slide show display of their work. The project will include pictures that they find the most representative of their community and pay the most attention to the stylistic properties of photography, as well as music, text, and vocal narration explaining why it is that they took these pictures and how it demonstrates the San Jose community in order to present a digital youth perspective on the Silicon Valley.

With our older students, grades 10 - 12, we have spent time refreshing everyones mind on the technical aspects of photography and have begun spreading out into our neighborhood. Children's Discovery Museum is located in an interesting and unique place in the city: to the Northeast lies the financial district, made up of many of Silicon Valley's high tech companies as well as restaurants and entertainment; to the south and west are low economic inner-city neighborhoods; and in every direction is the city's homeless population. Over the years, this combination has inspired many students in our program to investigate these idiosyncrasies of poverty amidst affluence, and for Zer01 our youth are doing the same thing with an artistic lens.

So far...

Hello everyone, here's some news from Skopje.

As I mentioned before, we are pass the formal workshop, and in a period of creating works, discussing ideas, progress, changing directions. Here is a short description of what we have been doing in the past period.

The process was split into official and non-official meetings, and so far we have finished the official (educative) ones, now we are only catching up with the participants and the works they are creating.

The first official meeting was held on March 6, where we went through the idea of the project, we discussed the situation in our city, the way young artists are working, how they are (under) represented, the process of creation and how it is influenced either by social conditions or some programming software. We discussed about the way of work we will choose, and we agreed to have a couple of educative sessions, where the participants will go through the basics of the programming language Processing*and consider doing their final works as generative artworks.

Nevertheless, we met again before the workshop in order to go through some major points in the digital arts history. We found this to be informative, as well as inspiring for the participants, since some of them haven’t had the chance to earn that kind of education. We discussed the way digital arts were developing, the role of the artist and the technology, the equipment, software, hardware, the mediation and influences…

In order to better understand the function of Processing, we discussed the physical environment, and how most of the design/animation/flash/graphic editing programs tend to reproduce the same conditions and parameters from the nature, and how Processing is different in that matter. The discussion was about better understanding of the application as a mediator in the process of creating a work of art.

Finally, one of the past weekends was dedicated to work in classroom

We went through some basics in contemporary art, especially works that have been created as an environment, as a result of some interaction…

Participants were taught the basics of Processing, and shown how to manipulate the environment it offers and creates. They were also shown how they can use different materials as resources in their work with this tool (internet data, images, sounds). These two days of work were a period when they were able to assess if Processing is the right language for them to use in their work, and some of them decided they will do so, others decided they will use other applications and tools with keeping in mind what they have learned from the principles of Processing and Generative art.

So far, we are meeting separately with whoever needs discussion, exchange of opinions on what they are doing at the moment. We have arranged to meet up all together again this week, and check out on the progress. By now, everyone should have an idea they are working on and developing. I should also have some drafts soon, and will post them here for you. They will probably be in various formats, but I will look to have the basic motifs and ideas represented. In the meantime, we are also discussing all questions and ideas on our blog, and first results are to come in a couple of days.

Also, I have to say that all of your projects look great and looks like you’re all having a good time working. We are all learning from you a lot!

Until we read again, greetings from Macedonia,

Ivana
and the LINE Initiative and Movement team.

---

* Processing is a programming language and integrated development environment (IDE) built for the electronic arts and visual design communities", which aims to teach the basics of computer programming in a visual context, and to serve as the foundation for electronic sketchbooks

Digital Photo and Music at the Guggenheim

Hi—it’s Rachel from the Guggenheim.

The first half of our project is done! Which means that the real challenge begins now.

Last week, photographers and musicians put the finishing touches on their work, and handed over their pieces to their partners from the other class. This week, everyone listened to or looked at their partner's work, and started to plan their responses. Since the final products will be audio slide shows, the musicians must now create pieces that complement the photographs of their partners, while the photographers will interpret sound with their cameras (and maybe some Photoshop manipulation).

To make this even more complicated, the two classes come to the museum on different days, and therefore the partners have not yet met in person. They are communicating via letters (just like Kandinsky and Schoenberg did 100 years ago). The advantage to this arrangement is that it gives the artists a chance to reflect on their processes, and explain their ideas in writing to their peers.

We’ve put up an in-progress class website with all work done to date, so that the participants can revisit their partners’ work whenever they want. Have a look! (Files are large, so they might take a moment to download!)

-Rachel

EYe fOR DEsign

Plans are underway in the Digital Studio @ UCR CMP to print our media murals large format through SPARC Murals, a non-profit arts center in Los Angeles famous for wall art over the last 30 years. We will do a day trip from Riverside into LA, 60 miles away, to oversee the work. Each student mural will be printed on canvas 20” high and 60” inches wide. The four artists featured here are Michele Hernandez, Oscar Cisneros, Matt Halcon, and Guadalupe Ortega. As you can see, each finds a way to incorporate a bit of photography, graphics, drawing, and text. (www.digitalstudio.ucr.edu)

www.sparcmurals.org/

Exploring lowriders in San José, California, USA

photo credits: diego cihuacoatl gomez

We are a group of teens working with MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana
(http://www.maclaarte.org/about.html) to create digital narratives on low-riders. Low-riders
are one of the many cultural icons of San José, California, USA, particularly of the Chicano
culture. We're interested in a few topics about low-riders: their culture and their influence
on other cultures, low-rider diversity of expression, and how sex and technology intersect
in low-rider culture. For a primer on low-rider culture, please visit:
(http://www.acfnewsource.org/art/low_riders.html).

Let's introduce ourselves...

My name is Melina Alexa Ramirez. I’m a senior at DCP (Downtown College Prep) right now
in San José, but I'm planning to go to Santa Clara University to learn more about art and culture
and do some of the things I want to do before I die :)
For this project I want to explore the aspect of lowrider culture where the cars are presented
as women's bodies or how pinups are painted on or model with the cars. Really, I want to explore
the relationship between sex and technology, and how that's applied to lowriders because I notice
this kind of sexual pride and admiration when presented.

my name is diego cihuacoatl gomez and i was born and raised in san jose ca.
i have a huge family made up of cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents that
spread through california and into baja. i looooooove basketball; watchin it and playin it.
i write poetry and short stories for a hobby. i attend downtown college prep in san josé and
i'm a junior. that's it.
i'm interested in lowrider cars because it’s something Chicanos have
made completely their own. it’s a reflection on two cultures... a hybrid.
and also the cars are just plain beautiful!
they’re " butterflies with transmitions" I once heard someone say.

My name is Aranttza Sauza. I'm 17 years old and I go to Del Mar High. I live
in the west of San José and I love to eat, listen to music, and make new friends.
I would also love to travel and take pictures of what I saw on the other side of the world.
Well, I'm really happy and glad that I'm participating in this project, I love the idea of lowriders.
I have worked at MACLA taking pictures of lowriders, so it's going to be really interesting.

Hot Sun Foundation Youth Film Workshop

On April 5, 2008, Hot Sun Foundation held a unique event---bringing together 30 Kenyan film professionals with eleven youth from Kibera for a scriptwriting workshop facilitated by Mary Beth Fielder, University of Southern California, Senior Lecturer at the School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, California, USA. Ms Fielder has written and directed a number of award winning films and was the adviser for the 2007 Emmy award winning short film KIBERA KID, written and directed by Nathan Collett.

Eleven youth from Kibera, Nairobi's largest slum, were chosen from 50 participants at a previous six day filmmaking workshop held March 24-29, 2008 at the Kenya Film Commission. Stephen Oloo, 19 years old, a participant in the workshop commented, "[It has] opened our eyes to see the power of stories in transforming lives and using film to change our future and destiny."

The eleven youth from Kibera interacted with Kenya film industry professionals during the scriptwriting workshop at the Kenya Film Commission. The workshop offered an exceptional opportunity for film industry professionals to further hone their skills working with Ms. Fielder and at the same time being role models for the eleven youth from Kibera, with the possibility of taking them on board as interns in forthcoming projects.

Hot Sun Foundation's goal is to build a core of talented and trained youth in Kibera to develop a global first -- a feature length dramatic film made in an African slum. Fielder recently joined the KIBERA KID feature film project as a co-producer.

Project Walkway Day3

In our third session we traced the decision maker circuit board onto the heels of our platforms. The other girls and I then cut around the traces to make a cavity to put our boards inside. After that was done we then made our alarms, provided by Norene who brought the alarm kits. We cut out our piping that would later be shrunk by this pipe shrinker. This was done so that the wires of the alarms and the batteries would stick together. Later the alarms were tested and they worked pretty loud and well.

Project Walkway Day3

In our third session we traced the decision maker circuit board onto the heels of our platforms. The other girls and I then cut around the traces to make a cavity to put our boards inside. After that was done we then made our alarms, provided by Norene who brought the alarm kits. We cut out our piping that would later be shrunk by this pipe shrinker. This was done so that the wires of the alarms and the batteries would stick together. Later the alarms were tested and they worked pretty loud and well.

Project Walkway Day2

In our second session with project walkway we worked with rubber. Before that, Yael Kanarek, a resident at Eyebeam, came in and talked about the work she had done with rubber and how it was handy. The class later took their words of rubber, which were cut out by the laser cutter, and stapled them to the soles of their sneakers/shoes. They walked on paper and left foot print messages. Students also started designing their project walkway shoes.





For more images check out our flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/projectwalkway

Welcome to Project Walkway

Project Walkway is a collaboration between Norene Leddy and Eyebeam, whose Girls- Eye View (GEV) program was developed to get girls involved in technology. Project Walkway is a workshop in which young women chosen thorough the GEV program will create custom hacks for existing footwear. Through the workshop they will learn prototyping skills, basic electronics and presentation skills. Working in a supportive, female-centered environment they will be encouraged to ask questions and get comfortable developing their own ideas.

The 6-week program will start with lectures and discussions about the significance of shoes in society. Shoes have always been closely linked with identity and social status, key issues for adolescent girls, from the chopines of 16th century Venice, to Manolo Blahnik stilettos, to the The Aphrodite Project: Platforms, which opens the conversation to issues of sex, sex work, the role of contemporary artists in society, police protection and personal safety.

After this, students will start work on the design and functionality of their own shoe projects, developing hacks based on their individual experiences and needs. We will work beyond aesthetic concerns, investigating issues of personal safety and utility – what would be helpful for young women today who navigate the streets of New York City. Research will be accompanied by sketching, brainstorming and debate until two final designs are created, with functionality dictated by the students. Hacks will range from simple to complex, from hidden compartments to LEDs and alarm systems.

The GEV participants will also meet and work alongside two of Eyebeam’s current Research & Development Fellows, Ayah Bdeir and Jessica Banks, highly skilled female engineers whose work as artists and designers operates in concert with the project. The participating Eyebeam Fellows will discuss their practice with regards to developing physical computing projects related to issues of cultural and feminine identity, and support the design and fabrication process of the GEV shoes.

The program will end with a runway show and book launch of Sabine Seymour's Fashionable Technology: The Intersection of Design, Fashion, Science and Technology, on May 22. Girls Eye View: Project Walkway begins March 27 and runs Thursdays through May 8.

Public Projection Image. Urban Outsiders

Hello From Urban Outsiders, Nottingham

Hi there to everyone in ZER01. My name is Theresa and I am a digital artist working with City Arts, an innovative participatory arts organisation based in Nottingham. www.city-arts.org.uk

We are very excited about our public digital art project 'Urban Outsiders' and especially honoured to be part of such a wonderfully diverse global community.

Urban Outsiders asks: All people are meant to be the benefactors but wild animals and plants are the least considered when property developers and government officials decide upon a cities design. Using digital technology, how can we reveal and re-present this hidden, wild community, and transform the streets they are excluded from?

The workshop participants and I will be roaming derelict sites in Nottingham earmarked for regeneration searching for the plants and creatures that have been left to benefit from the sites until the bulldozers arrive. This imagery will then form a database of imagery for developing large scale live projections onto buildings in Nottingham (see image). The workshops begin mid April.

We have recently been sorting out allot of administrative issues surrounding the project such as New Tax Year Funds and an unusually early Easter and their effects upon our time table. I thought it might be helpful to take a closer look at this end of producing youth projects by creating a little behind the scenes documentary called 'Creatively Managing Urban Outsiders'. 

Well all the best to everyone in ZER01. Until next time 

Theresa

 

UPDATE

hey all!

we finished the official part of our project (workshop and tutoring), our participants are now developing their works. some of them will make a generative art piece, some of them in a medium of their choice...

still, i wanted to post images of some of their previous work. as i said before, they are all young and they all work in various programs, media and techniques, and these images are only to illustrate a part of their interests. there will be more coming.

we would also like to see works or photos or anything visuals from the rest of you guys! some more from us coming soon. enjoy!

























here are some works by Milena. she is very interesting to us because she develops whole new worlds and characters using a very linear and limited program... paint! but check it out!





Marjan is interested in poetry, photography, large scale visual spatial works. yet, it will be interesting to see his expression in digital media. :)



Nita, you met. she is a graphic designer with very original and awfully attractive ideas. check it out


okay, thats it for now. there will be more coming soon, as we have a couple of more participants. we are all eager to see what they will come up with during the process of Consumer vs. User 2.0

talk to you soon!!!
ivana

Quick update from Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose

Hello,

Just a quick update as we move along with our project. Youth from our middle school have taken thousdans of pictures with our digital SLRs. For each picture they take, they are required to document a brief description of what the picture is and why they chose to take it. Now we are going to move into a critical discussion of their photos, both from a stylistic perspective as well as content-specific.

In our program we spend a lot of time learning about economic disparities in our city and county and spend time volunteering in community-based organization such as Sacred Heart Community Service and Emergency Housing Consortium that serve those in need. Our project for 01 will combine what they have learned through these experiences as well as the photography skills and visual arts skills they have learned so far this year.

ICA New Work Mentor Grant Program

Hello!

Some cool progress on our student new work mentor grant program...

We've created a page for our project on our wiki:Click here!

Here you can follow along the progress of each student's work as well as see the list of artist mentors who have joined up with the project.

5 ICA Fast Forward video students ultimately submitted New Work Grant proposals. These proposals were sent to the review committee and were received very well. Each student scored highly, and each student was awarded the full requested amount. (Most of them requested only enough to feed their cast and crew on long shoot days, but one needed money for a permit/security to video tape on the commuter train.)

Initially I was going to have the students find professional artists in the Boston area to act as mentors, but what I did instead was to send out a request to those that I knew, inviting them to be on a roster of artists. The students can then look through this roster and choose the person they want to work with. The mentor's role is to check in with the student weekly, following the progress of the work through the student's blog.

The students received their acceptance letters last week. They were very excited. And this week they receive their funds and communicate with their prospective mentors. They are all already in producition mode for their films, so the mentoring will take place during the editing stage.

We'll keep you posted!

-JoE Douillette
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston

The Nueva School

Hi there

We are The Nueva School, an internationally recognized progressive independent school serving gifted and talented students that emphasizes integrated studies, creative arts, and social-emotional learning; and I am Daniela Steinsapir, the teacher of the art program selected to be part of the festival.

We are developing Interactive video Art projects, where kids learn about Art, conceptual art, Interface design, video art, robotics, electronics and history of experimental art. The kids are developing projects from their own imagination, after doing extensive research on New Media Art. The projects varies from Installation video interactive projects about global warming to musical robotic sculptures. We are in the process of finishing up the building phase, to start testing the interactivity soon.

Also the Climate Cartoons class will be also part of the festival. They are making short animated films to help spread global warming message. We are working together with Climate Cartoons a non-profit organization that is looking for short, inspiring films that motivate people to "Do Something" to help fight global warming, to distribute them all around the world. In this class the kids learn the basics of animation, color theory, perspective, story telling, character development and they also do an extensive research on International cartoons. We are in the process of finishing up the animatics to soon start the animation process and the adding of sound effetcs.

We look forward to meeting you all,

Daniela