cyberoid@milton.u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) (03/08/91)
IN CYBERSPACE 11-13 April 1991 Munich, Germany An event arranged by the Culture Board of the City of Munich in cooperation with the German Museum (Munich) and the Siemens Culture Program. Concept and organization by Florian Rotzer and Peter Weibel. It is obvious that the further development of digital media is heading toward a compound of interconnected technologies, which aesthetically equals what could be termed a multimedial or hypermedial, all-embracing piece of art. In this, it will be decisive that the man-machine interface is actually interactive, so that it integrates the conventional "spectator" sitting in front of a screen, picture, or stage, etc., as actor in the digitally generated scene -- and so makes possible a communication between the person and a programmed environment or between human beings, among themselves, in real time. The three dimensional, artificial, i.e., computer generated reality (cyberspace, virtual reality) has the new quality of creating a virtual symbiosis between a materialized reality, e.g., the body of a person with its activities and sensoric capacities, and a simulated reality: an architecture to walk about in. To create it is both a technical and an aesthetic problem, whatever the purpose might be, because a sensoric environment must be built up in which one can orientate oneself as usual and enter it as a free actor who may be surprised in dramatic scenes. The computer-generated world converts to a sphere of personal experience looked at from one's own perspective and controlled, e.g., by gestures, the position of the body, or by the voice. So in this technology, no recognizable interfaces exist for the user, anymore. As in the real world, the person moves his or her body to enter a different scene or to grasp an object. From the perspective proposed here, the primary proposition of a symposium looking into the future cannot be present works of the electronic and digital technology. But above all, a theoretical platform has to be worked out, to master the aesthetic problems and challenges approaching us. For the presentation of developments made possible by the technology of cyberspace, important preliminary work has been done at the symposium, "Ars Electronica 1990"; and so it is possible now to join on this. To inform about the present state and the possible developments of computer generated reality and discuss the aesthetic and artistic perspectives of this growing up technology, artists, scientists, and technicians are invited. Speakers ======== Scott Fisher, Telepresence Research, USA Kunst im Cyberspace Mark Bolas, Fake Space Lab, USA Zum Software Design von virtuellen Welten Otto E. Rossler, Institut fur Physik und Theoretische Chemie an der Universitat Tubingen, Germany Ist unsere Welt eine virtuelle Realitat? Erich Kiefer, KI-Wissenschaftler mit Kunststudium, Germany Vom intelligenten CAD-System zum intelligenten VR-System Jurgen Brickman, Prof.f.Physikalische Chemie an der TH Darmstadt und Computerkunstler Der Umgang mit virtuellen Szenarian ohne Bezug zur Realitat Frank Popper, Kunsttheoretiker, France Genealogie und Perspektiven der High-Tech Art Peter Weibel, Bob O'Kane, Institut fur Neue Medien an der Stadeschule Frankfurt, Germany Das tangible Bild. The Endo-Approach to Electronics Jonathan Waldern, W Industries, England Y. Iwata, Tsukuba University, Japan Peter Schroder, Thinking Machines, USA Myron C. Krueger, Artificial Reality, USA Die Kunst der kunstlichen Wirklichkeit David Zeltzer, MIT Media Lab, USA Vorstellung des virtuellen Umweltsystems des Medie Lab am MIT Robert Jacobson, Human Interface Technology Lab, Washington Technology Center, USA Die Potentiale der Cyberspace-Technologie fur die Mensch- Computer Interaktion und die Kommunikation zwischen Menschen Johannes Birringer, Professor fur Performance Praxis, Northwestern University, USA Videokunst, Performance, Aktivismus: Intervention in die Hyperrealitat John G. Eyles, University of North Carolina, USA Virtuelle Welten an der Universitat von North Carolina Mitsuairo Takemura, Niaon University, Japan Kulturelles Interface im Cyberspace Louis Bec, ComputerKunstler, France Fur eine Hypozoologie, Eine Asthetik der virtuellen Erzeugung kunstlichen Lebens Vilem Flusser, Philosoph, France Topologisches Denken statt geographischem Handeln Fred Forrest, Medienkunstler, France Die mediale Metapher als Reprasentation einer virtuellen Realitat Edmond Couchot, ComputerKunstler, France Zwischen dem Realen und dem Virtuellen: eine Asthetik der Hybridation Ann Lasko-Harvill, VPL Research, USA Selbstdarstellung und Identitat in der virtuellen Realitat For more information, contact: Prof. Peter Weibel Director of the Institute for New Media at the Staatl.Honsch.f.Bild.Kunste Hanauer Landstrasse 204 D-6000 Frankfurt am Main Germany Tel: (49) (69) 44 50 36 Fax: (49) (69) 43 92 01 [Sorry for the German titles, but my translations would be harder to deal with than the originals! -- Bob Jacobson]