DASH Archives - September 2011

Hiroshi Kawano. The Philosopher at the Computer

An exhibition at ZKM | Media Museum, Project space

September 24, 2011–January 08, 2012

Opening: Fr, September 23, 2011, 6 p.m

The Japanese philosopher Hiroshi Kawano (*1925) belongs to the pioneers in the conquest of computer technology for the arts. The ZKM is now dedicating a first retrospective to his work. The exhibition comprises numerous works and documents which have never before been presented outside Japan, and draws on the rich Hiroshi Kawano Archive located at the ZKM since 2010. The retrospective emphasizes Kawano's special role in the circle of pioneers of »computer art«: he was neither artist, who discovered the computer as a new means of production and theme, nor engineer who came to art via the new machine, but a philosopher, who left his desk for the computer center to explore the logic of artistic creation through the experimental generation of pictures, poetry, sculptures and music.

As early as September 1964, Kawano published the first Designs he had calculated with the aid of the OKITAC 5090A computer at the University of Tokyo in the Japanese IBM Review. The young philosopher, who was teaching aesthetics at the Metropolitan College of Air Technology at the time, arrived at the information processing machine, the computer, by way of his critical investigations with neo-Kantianism, symbolism, semiotics and, finally, information theory and information aesthetics. Hiroshi Kawano's decision to give his archive to the ZKM was, in part, thanks to a German philosopher who gave him the decisive impulse to bring together aesthetics and computer technology, namely, Max Bense who taught in Stuttgart.

A German-English book with contributions by Hiroshi Kawano, Yoshiyuki Abe, Jungkwon Chin, Simone Gristwood, Akemi Ishijima, Jungyeon Ma and Margit Rosen will be published in conjunction with the exhibition.

The publication is made possible by the kind support of the Japan Foundation.

Curator: Margit Rosen

ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe | Lorenzstraße 19 |  D-76135 Karlsruhe | Germany | www.zkm.de

*** Apologies for crossposting ***

Preservation Of Complex Objects Symposia (POCOS)

We are pleased to announce the 2nd POCOS Symposium on Preservation of Software Art:

• 11-12 October 2011
• The Lighthouse, Glasgow, UK
• Organised by the Humanities Advanced Technology&  Information Institute (HATII) at the University of Glasgow, UK.
• Symposium Fee: Free + £10 donation for refreshments (payable at the event)

Online registration:http://www.pocos.org/index.php/registration

Preservation of software art presents challenges in many fronts, including complex interdependencies between objects; time-based and interactive properties; and diversity in the technologies and practices used for development.

This exciting two-day symposium will provide a forum for participants to discuss these challenges, review and debate the latest developments in the field, witness real-life case studies, and engage in networking activities. The symposium will  promote discussion on such topics as:

• Implications and advances in preserving software art
• Issues of ephemerality
• Significant properties for software art
• Software art as performance
• Legal and Ethical issues in collecting, curating and preserving software art
• Interpretation and Documentation

Keynote Speakers:
• Richard Rinehart - Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, USA
• Simon Biggs - Edinburgh College of Art, UK

Presenters include:
• Vicky Isley and Paul Smith - boredomresearch / NCCA, Bournemouth University, UK
• Michael Takeo Magruder - King's Visualisation Lab, King's College London, UK
• Perla Innocenti - History of Art, University of Glasgow, UK
• Leo Konstantelos - HATII, University of Glasgow, UK

The programme also includes break-out sessions for participants to discuss key topics in preservation of Software Art.

For more information, please visit the POCOS page at:http://www.pocos.org/index.php/pocos-symposia/software-art
Download the brochure at:http://pocos.org/images/pub_material/leaflet_software_art.pdf

Bookings are now open at the project website – however, space is limited so please book early. A waiting list will be maintained once the
symposium is fully booked in case of late cancellations.

We look forward to welcoming you at the event!


Preservation Of Complex Objects Symposia (POCOS) has been funded by the JISC Information Environment Programme 2009-11

-- 
Dr Leo Konstantelos
Principal Investigator, POCOS
http://www.pocos.org

11 University Gardens
University of Glasgow
Glasgow
G12 8QH

Skype: l.konstantelos
T: +44 (0)141 330 7133
E: L.Konstantelos@hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk
W: http://www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk