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.
Last November I took part in NaVloPoMo - videoblog posting month. it was a lot of fun and was a good way to remember to do something creative in between working. I know a lot of people can't help but be creative all the time, but I find sometimes I get so tired from work that I become passive and tend to watch more than do. so this was a good reminder to get into the habit.
in 2008, Semanal is happening - similar to NaVloPoMo but posting one video a week instead of one each day. this is much more manageable for me at least as I can usually make one on the weekend. the hardest part then becomes finding time to watch everyone else's videos!
http://semanal.ning.com/ is the Semanal site - a worpress blog is also being setup (I'll post the link here also once available). usually people post their videos to their usual video hosting site (eg blip.tv, youtube, archive.org etc) and their blog if they have one, and also post a link / embedded version to the Semanal site. this time you can post to the wordpress site blog also, which will have an RSS feed so you can easily watch the other contributors videos (or watch them directly on the blog site as I tend to do)
I'd love to see more Australian videos there from friends and creative people I know / know of! they can be any type of videos - personal, talking to the camera, gig videos, shows, interviews, arty & experimental, generative, computer generated, Second Life video - whatever you'd like to do. there's a mixture of beginners and more established video producers, so everyone is welcome. sometimes someone picks a theme and people use that, other times they do what they like. you can use your phone camera, happy snap portable camera, webcam, HD / professional camera, or even do remixes of archive.org or other existing footage - whatever suits you. it's a good way to practice different techniques and see what is in the imagination of others too, and even just a good way to learn a new skill such as web video and/or software / video editing techniques. the community for the project is great too - very supportive!
from http://semanal.ning.com/ :
"Every week in 2008, we're posting videos. 52 videos by the end of the year. Post on your blog, on Seesmic, Facebook, YouTube, whatever, wherever and however. You can do anything you want. As long as it moves."
Rupert explains the term Semanal chosen for the project : "Semanal is Spanish and Portuguese for 'weekly'. And I think it has a nice echo of the English word Seminal, defined here as:
"Highly influential in an original way; constituting or providing a basis for further development: a seminal idea in the creation of a new theory."
and at Wikipedia as: "a work from which other works grow... an intellectual or artistic achievement whose ideas and techniques have been adopted or responded to in later works by other people"
Electrofringe 2007 programme is now online. This is one of my favourite festivals, and it takes place annually in Newcastle, north of Sydney, Australia. During the festival Newcastle comes alive with creatives from all parts of Australia and overseas. The umbrella festival is called This is Not Art. Last year's festival was really hands on, which made it extra fun. This year looks set to keep your creative juices flowing also, with sessions such as Physical Computing : 1, Radio Locus Workshops such as Build your own Radio, Mulchwerk, a Dorkshop Sense & Control, a Homemade Instruments workshop Gestural Control & Feedback plus heaps more. The electrofringe website has the full program and a day by day listing of each workshop / panel session / project presentation / gig and happening. The other bonus to the festival is stopping to chat with friends and strangers about the festival and projects everyone has been working on over the year. Some documentation from previous years festivals is on this site, or check out the previous years festivals links on the electrofringe site.
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 :
The Academy of Electronic Arts is a learning, sharing, mentoring, networking, benchmarking and empowering institution that evolves continuously to inclusively address *all* e-Creative Practices & Practitioners, whether already existing or as yet inconceivable, whether professional or not, and whether formally recognized as Art forms and Artists or not so, on a public-benefit basis into the future.
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.
traditionally the children fly kites leading up to independance day (15/08) but I've been seeing them in Delhi since April. nice to watch in the afternoons if you're out and about. the kids get up on the roof of their apartment block and fly small hanky sized kites whilst dodging the power lines. I haven't been able to get a good shot but this one will remind me of them in the meantime.
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.
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Urban Stories: A Collection of Graphic Essays on Mumbai Posting 6 Please view updates,pics and works in progress at http://mumbai-urbanstories.blogspot.com/
THE project is taking shape.. and so far, learnt a lot about the city, good and bad. Most of the last week or so, its been either the rain or the riots in Mumbai, so just been stuck at home. With regards to graphic design, its been satisfying to actually have the time to work and experiment.. To try and break cliches, playing with colours and forms.
Currently, each graphic essay is a stand alone piece.. covering a range of topics from sexuality to urban identities to architecture.. (stil workin on them..)What needs to be done is linking them up, making them part of a cohesive whole with text and classification (temporal aspect). That should take shape once all the pieces are ready.. Looking at about 18-20 pieces right now, some are very detailed, some not so detailed.. with the post modern view especially evident in the text/ typo on each piece.. I see the final presentation also as something that one can experiment with..work creatively with..
Though for a project like this, reseach has been very specific to each piece..nevertheless have learnt a lot about the city..mainly photography and print media reserach have been key.
Hope to upload finished pieces in the near future..and get feedback to further refine each graphic essay.
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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.
practices what they call ‘conceptual engineering’ in order to transform subjectivities by re-combinations of online textual content, in order to arrive at an open sourceinspired treatment of ideas drawn from activism, afrofuturism, and neuropolitics
Indymedia Brazil
Banda Paralela
designer & programmers collectives
BatukaÁao
martial art/dance groups
LSD Disco
alternative/experimental or 'home made' music labels
Radio Muda
free radio station
Autolabs
laboratorial prototypes for media literacy, technological experimentation and creativity created with the help of local communities
based on 'tactical' concepts
use cheap DIY media made accessible by the digital revolution
enabling independent media production (by individuals or collectives) using free software/open source operating systems
are centres of orientation, documentation and self-education with free and open access to anyone who wants to come and work/play/create in them
knowledge is accessed and shared through human mediation, collective work and creative participation
Sarai: the New Media Initiative - a space for research, practice and conversation about the contemporary media and urban constellations. Sarai is based in New Delhi, India. In 1999, the members of Raqs Media Collective were invited to participate in the development of a strategy for the public broadcasting of documentary films in India, a discussion which led to the foundation of the Public Service Broadcasting Trust, still the main engine of documentary film production and viewership in India. More significantly for Raqs's own work, this thinking took them into the new debates about knowledge, culture and technology that had become prominent with the rise of the Internet, and led to a search for new forms of production and dissemination of knowledge and cultural material. In 2001 Raqs co-founded Sarai at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. The word sarai, or caravansarai, common to many Central Asian and Indian languages, refers to the shelters for travellers, sometimes large and extravagant, that traditionally dotted the cities and highways of that part of the world, facilitating travel and commerce but also enabling the exchange of stories and ideas. Serving the function, variously, of research centre, publishing house, cafe, conference centre, cinema, software laboratory and studio for digital art and design, Sarai is striking for its networked structure. Through its institutional partnerships, the research fellowships it provides each year, its residencies for visiting artists, researchers and programmers, multiple email lists, and many informal collaborations, Sarai has developed a large network that allows it to accumulate a vast range of knowledge and opinion from across the world and to make it available in many forms, places and languages. "Cybermohalla", the network of media laboratories established by Sarai in slum areas of Delhi, has led to a particularly impressive collaboration between members of Sarai and groups of young writers, artists and thinkers from these areas; while collaborations with programmers have led to "OPUS", an online experiment in artistic production inspired by the working practices of the free software movement.
Raqs Media Collective is a group of three media practitioners - Jeebesh Bagchi (New Delhi, 1965), Monica Narula (New Delhi, 1969) and Shuddhabrata Sengupta (New Delhi, 1968) - based in New Delhi. Raqs is best known for its contribution to contemporary art, and has presented work at most of the major international shows, from Documenta to the Venice Biennale; but the collective is active in an unusually wide range of domains, and it is perhaps this breadth that gives their work its originality and scope.
Electrofringe 2007 programme is now online. This is one of my favourite festivals, and it takes place annually in Newcastle, north of Sydney, Australia. During the festival Newcastle comes alive with creatives from all parts of Australia and overseas. The umbrella festival is called 
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