Crankthesteza.org is a new brisbane Net / independent label in Brisbane. I am looking for the unusual, usual, weird and bizarre forms of music. Check it out and drop us your tracks on the drop box..

We also hire P.A's and production gear with a community approach. Will soon have a production library and memberships are coming soon.

Drop by and have a look.. any feedback would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks Stoicdee

peas :)

I went along to the Engage Media - Sydney screening in May 2009 and saw four Indonesian community-based films. It was amazing to hear of some of the collectives and community work going on there. Engage Media work tirelessly in documenting projects across Asia Pacific and have a large video library of films. Regular screenings are held to share the films with people in other communities. I asked Andy from Engage Media what the organisation was all about :

video @ http://aliak.blip.tv/file/2127156

Squat Space was born from the energy of artists and activists of the Broadway Squats.

The organisers cleared out an old locksmith shop and launched a dynamic art and event space in December 2000. The gallery played host to political film screenings, free dinners, durational performances, experimental sound nights, site-specific installations...

SquatSpace opposed the standard "pay-as-you-show" system used by many high-rent artist-run-galleries in Sydney. Exhibiting was free, with artists usually becoming involved in the life of the squatting community in some way.

NUCA - the Network of Un-Collectable Artists - is a nation-wide affiliation connecting those who gravitate towards ephemeral projects, participatory experiences, illegal art actions, and activities that oddify everyday life. Some members make unwieldy installation projects, while others alter billboards, project images in abandoned spaces at night, or exchange ideas rather than objects. Some simply make dead ugly paintings that would never sell.

Because such artworks are often fiendishly tricky to document, they seldom grace the columns of "recognised" publications. NUCA is building a publicity machine of its own, so artists may exchange essential info about their activities, collaborate on new projects, and connect with Uncollectable others.

cicada is a collection of artists who work with landscape - urban, natural, constructed and imagined... a combination of results occur, including site-specific installations, performances and interactive pieces... cicada also make other bits of sound+image works for theatre, dance and performance projects... and occational urban gifts of unexpected enlightenment...

Cicada projects have included :
* Mob - an installation exploring the crowd as a discrete organism.
* Saltmilk and other wonders - work resulting from a residency in the West Australian wheat town of Kellerberrin.
* Amensal - an interactive street level installation, a purely negative urban symbiosis.
* Re_Squared - an immersive outdoor audio visual performance celebrating moments of discovered beauty in the city.

visit http://www.cicada.tv for more details

Non profit underground music entity DEMUS, is proud to announce...

FRIDAY 28th NOV 2008
Blue Velvet - 60 Smith Street Collingwood
8pm Start - $8 at Door

Live music performances by:

SAROPHONY
http://www.myspace.com/sarcophony
Melbourne based Industrial Metal producer is releasing his new CD "TV is Bad For You" on the night, featuring remixes from local and international artists, and rare tracks.

DJ SARCO vc DJCMYTH
Will be playing sets of local music, tracks from the Sarcophony release and a dark range of other goodies.

DJ INFECTIOUS UNEASE
http://www.infectiousuneaseradio.com
Need we introduce the wide ranging Noir tastes of the founder of Infectious Unease Radio?

MxDxM
http://www.kostar8.com
http://www.myspace.com/kostarproductions
MxDxM (aka K.O. StaR) specializes in creating Underground Electronic Metal Dance Music. MxDxM's approach is based on simplicity and minimalism.

SOBRIQUET

looking for digital arts, new media & urban research projects or exhibitions in mumbai - I'm only here for 2 weekends so might not make it to any festivals. here's some I found so far - some are past projects & some are not strictly mumbai based but I came across them whilst following links for mumbai related items

:::

Comet Media & COSMOS
a non profit group working in educational communication & new media. they have festivals, projects & publications
http://www.cometmedia.org
http://groups.google.com/group/cosmos_mumbai
upcoming events
aliak.com Comet & Cosmos page

:::

Digital artists - THE WEBMUSEUM CYBERCULTURE RESEARCH LIBRARY page
http://www.lastplace.com/page177.htm

:::

CRIT
http://crit.org.in

Cross St Studios is an artist-run space, organized by young artists. It acts as a hub for networking as to nurture an emerging artist community. Cross St Studios will function as a platform for encouraging professional practices. It is an incubator for ideas that can be easily generated, executed and exhibited. Our emphasis is on creating the freedom to experiment with unconventional ideas and presenting them to a public audience.

http://www.crossstreetstudios.com

I was checking out the NZ Audio Foundation website again today and came across a link from an email on the AF-l about funding from Damian from Frey. it's an interesting argument. I think Australia is similar to New Zealand in this way, but also at a glance I think New Zealanders have the creative support advantage over the Australians, or so it seemed to me at least, as they have MANY! support organisations helping the artists. will have to do some more research to see if my assumptions are founded.

The SALA-MANCA GROUP is a group of independent Jerusalem-based artists that creates in different fields: performance, video, installation & new media since 2000. Sala-manca's works deal with poetics of translation (cultural, mediatic and social), with textual, urban and net contexts and with the tensions between low tech and high tech aesthetics, as well as social and political issues.

Salon Mazal was established in 2001, in Tel Aviv, Israel, by a group of social-environmental activists. Salon Mazal is a non-for-profit registered charity that serves as an information distribution center for social, environmental and political change The place functions as a store (including books, magazines and fair-trade products), a lending library, an artist gallery, a vegetarian bar and a community center where movie screenings, lectures, workshops and meetings take place.

The place is run in line with anarchist ideology and values, which encourage an egalitarian, non-hierarchical community. Salon Mazal is run by a group of volunteers. Consensus decision-making is used to promote the expression of individual voices within the group in daily meetings.

home of psytrance artists and parties collective Gi'iwa Productions. artists include SATTEL BATTLE (Israel), SIENIS (Sweden), NEUR0N COMPOST (Brisbane - Australia), HiREd Go0Nz (Brisbane - Australia), GHETTAFUNKT (Nth NSW - Australia), AZz / CONTRA COUP (Brisbane - Australia), DISCO TRASH / HIRED GOONS (Brisbane - Australia), REALITY PIXIE (Brisbane - Australia)

sull posted on the videoblogging maillist about crowdfunding, which is a concept becoming more popular with the rise of social sites etc on the interweb. it's an interesting concept and I'd like to try it with some Australian arts/music projects to try raise money for them to complete their projects. the havemoneywillvlog project has been successful in raising money for people to work on various videoblogging projects ranging from a documentary / series, an artistic experiment with travel organised by the contributors, a research project on sustainability, a documentation of issues on immigration and it's social impacts from a selection of people's pov, and most recently raising funds to help convert 8mm films to video to give them a new lease of life.

since upgrading to drupal 4.7, I'll be testing the chipin and ecommerce modules to see if they are of use.

it would be great to be able to help people realise their projects. I think it could also help them to practice making grant funding applications to larger organisations and government bodies. anyway, it couldn't hurt to try. if the people make pledges to support the project, then only pay for them once the full amount of money is raised then it's less risk for them. I've pledged and donated money in this way. $10 a month (or less if I decide to skip a project) is not much for me to pay - it's less than the cost of a cd and is another way to help support a project when you can't attend in person. I figure I've spent more than that on less important things, so it's one way to help give back to the community! also, as these days I don't make it to events I'd like to in person, this could be another way of supporting them without being there.

I wonder if others think this way also. it's hard to convince people to spend their hard earned cash. just as it's hard to get people to come along to gigs. an interesting experiment nonetheless. hopefully some of the projects would be able to offer something extra, an incentive if you will, to the financial contributors. drupal groups modules might be useful for this..

I was thinking of using these systems to help raise money for people to work on projects - small budget amounts. maybe to do a promo cd or put on a gig or get a small book published or attend a conference & report on it etc. the donators would be given credit in the project and maybe get special previews on how the project is going. I could put the documentation on my site.

the project would get to practice applying for grants, so would need to be professional about it, have a definite timeline to work towards, and there would have to be a final outcome they could report on and document so people who donated knew their money went towards something real and was not just lost.

the system could also be used to raise money for charities, or if you can't decide on a charity, then think of the artist as your target for giving.

anyway, here's some sites useful for research about this or showing examples of currently working systems :

http://havemoneywillvlog.com/ = funding site for videoblog projects

http://crowdfunding.com/ = research blog on crowdfunding

http://www.sellaband.com/ = raise $50000 towards funding your band / your fav band's promo/album costs

http://fundavlog.com/ = pay per view / raise money for vlogs

http://fundable.org/ = raise money for any projects, payment site

http://chipin.com/ = raise money for any projects, payment site

http://www.netribution.co.uk/2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id... = article on crowdfunding for independent films

http://www.smartmobs.com/archive/2006/09/19/a_swarm_of_ange.html = a UK film being made via donations

Lost in Light project team are raising money to buy an 8mm/super 8 film to video transfer system. They accept 8mm/super 8 films submissions and transfer them to video for you for free as long as they can post them to their site & Internet Archive ( archive.org) also. This creates an archive of 8mm/super 8 films before they become lost & also helps give the films a new life and audience.

There's also videos about the project by the project team which a worth a look for more info. The project is based in the US but they are accepting submissions from overseas also.

The Have Money Will Vlog site is a site used to raise money for interesting projects such as this one (they've done some cool ones in the past). If you're interested in making a donation or submitting some film, visit the links below.

http://havemoneywillvlog.com/ = pledge site

http://lostinlight.org/ = project site

video about the project:
quicktime version = http://blip.tv/file/get/Lostinlight-Proposal448.mov
flash version = http://blip.tv/file/get/Lostinlight-Proposal865.flv
windows media version = http://blip.tv/file/get/Lostinlight-Proposal713.wmv

info from the hmwv site :

"This is a project about the 8mm film format. But 8mm is dead, you say? On the contrary! Not only is the format alive with innovation by filmmakers around the world, but hours and hours of Super 8 and regular 8mm film exist in attics and basements the world over—as home movies, educational films, works of art—that is slowly fading from the historical record.

We're here to preserve that record before these films are lost, and to make those films available for viewing by the public and for use by artists seeking new, compelling footage. Lost in Light is a project devoted to preserving, showcasing, and celebrating films created on the small-gauge 8mm film format.

To that end, we will provide free Super 8 and 8mm to video transfers to anyone who asks, in exchange for posting their video to the Lost in Light site and on the Internet Archive with their choice of Creative
Commons licenses. In addition, Lost in Light will include articles and features by members of the filmmaking and film preservation communities, video tutorials for making 8mm films, as well as creative work, all with the goal of preserving and championing this important film format.

The site will have a soft launch with some content as soon as funding is available, with a full, hard launch set for January 2007."

(I'm on the hmwv team maillist so can vouch for the project - I said I'd send out the info to some Aus/NZ/film/video lists to help out.)

subscribe to the Lost in Light newsfeed

ARTunderground: Digital Art Gallery, Archive & Interaction &
Training Facility.

ARTunderground's mandate is to experiment with the integration
of computers into the creative process of expression, and

on saturday I went along to the Raqs Media Collective exhibition called "There has Been a Change of Plan" at Gallery Nature Morte in Delhi, India. I'm currently working here on a project. I've been following Raqs' work and Sarai for quite a few years but this is the first time I've seen their work in person. it was a retrospective of work from 2002-2006. Raqs MC have exhibited/collaborated with many international exhibitions and festivals/biennales (including recently the sydney biennale I believe?) but this was the first solo exhibition in Delhi, even though they were formed in 1992 & have been exhibiting since then also.

the collective also work on various research projects and release an annual reader (Sarai Reader) - this can be viewed on their website as well as in book form (though I've only seen them here in print form so was lucky to pick them up locally!) the readers have a different topic each year which academics and researchers write submissions for to discuss and document various issues. they also run a research fellows project where students write on topics such as urban development, village life in India, media, technology, social and health issues etc.

anway, I took some photos and made a slideshow video if you would like to take a look. (some of the pics are a little blurry I'm afraid, but they give you an idea)

photos can be found @
http://flickr.com/photos/aliak_com/tags/raqsmediacollective/

video @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLI9kBjdZtk or http://blip.tv/file/62855

or embedded here :

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

another video of the India Habitat Centre here in Delhi which is a convention centre / collection of buildings where there are many galleries & conference rooms/workshops on Indian art and habitats / urban & rural development & life projects/info is at http://blip.tv/file/62578

photos @ http://flickr.com/photos/aliak_com/tags/indiahabitatcentre/

or video also embedded here :

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

this week/weekend is the CSDS Independent Fellows 2006 end of year presentations so I'm hoping to head along to that also (or part of it)

related sites in case you're interested:

http://www.raqsmediacollective.net/

http://www.sarai.net/

http://www.naturemorte.com

http://www.indiahabitat.org

PixelPress' intent is to encourage documentary photographers, writers, filmmakers, artists, human rights workers and students to explore the world in ways that take advantage of the new possibilities provided by digital media. They seek a new paradigm of journalism, one that encourages an active dialogue between the author and reader and, also, the subject.

CRIT (Collective Research Initiatives Trust) is a group of architects, scholars, technicians and artists who have worked together over the past seven years in Mumbai. Their collective was established in early 2003 with the aim of undertaking research, pedagogy and intervention on urban spaces and contemporary cultural practices in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. CRIT regards this vast urban realm as its laboratory and terrain for articulating a critical urbanism. Our understanding of urbanism is based on the recognition that everyday exchange between disciplines and across sectors is the basic condition of metropolitan environments, and that collective research is essential to transforming urban spaces and civic life.

Comet Media Foundation researches and produces communication materials on themes related to development. The subjects of this work include education, environment, health, gender issues and the history of science. Our materials bring out alternative perspectives on these themes and tell of innovations by practitioners. The group was started in 1985.

Snarl Heavy Industries is the home of music artists sub bass snarl, club night frigid, & cyclic defrost magazine.

Sadly frigid has closed it's doors forever, after being one of Sydney's most eclectic and long-running electronic music & hip hop clubs.

STEIM (the studio for electro-instrumental music) is the only independent live electronic music centre in the world that is exclusively dedicated to the performing arts. The foundation's artistic and technical departments supports an international community of performers and musicians, and a growing group of visual artists, to develop unique instruments for their work. STEIM invites these people for residencies and provides them with an artistic and technical environment in which concepts can be given concrete form. It catalyzes their ideas by providing critical feedback grounded in professional experience. These new creations are then exposed to a receptive responsive niche public at STEIM before being groomed for a larger audience.

Elefant Traks is an independent record label based in Sydney Australia that covers various genres of musical tastes revolving around hip hop and electronic production. Our goal is to showcase Australian talent to a greater audience. The label has had over 16 releases over the last five or so years and growing bigger each year.

About Subterran

Subterran is a work in progress. We are an events and music organisation based in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, S.E.Qld, primarily involved in outdoor music events with an environmental focus. Subterran aims to push the outdoor party format deeper. Our belief is that to stay true to the original intention of outdoor dance parties: earth reconnection and exploration of fringe electronic music, the culture needs to start connecting and giving back to the earth in action, not just intention, and to be able to reinvent itself to match the high pace of evolution of electronic music. Subterran is committed to pushing environmental and community intentions to the forefront, and also to showcasing exciting new music.

The Physics Room exists to act as a catalyst for the development and promotion of ideas and debate through art. It evolved out of South Island Art Projects organization in June 1996, and has been at its current site in Tuam Street since 1999.