[Reader-list] Defunct @ SFMOMA, 4/29-5/1

[Marisa S. Olson]

dear friends,

grace & i have been working on this for a very long time and are 
thrilled to tell you about it. please join us on 4/29 to see the 
excellent work & the newest issue of our zine!

best,
marisa

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DEFUNCT -->
recycled | repurposed | remixed| rehashed
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Works by the 8-Bit Construction Set, Jon Brumit,
Tommy Becker, Joshua G. Churchill, & JODI
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WHAT -->
The San Francisco Media Arts Council (SMAC) is hosting an exhibition 
of artworks in DEFUNCT media, curated by Grace Hawthorne & Marisa S. 
Olson.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a new issue of the SMAC! zine, 
featuring essays and artwork by Bruce Sterling, MTAA, Paperrad, 
Patrick Lichty, Mark Beam, and others.
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WHERE -->
The Schwab Room at SFMOMA
151 Third Street, San Francisco
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WHEN -->
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Exhibit opening and reception: 6 - 8:30 p.m.

Friday, April 30, 2004
Exhibit open to the public, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Saturday, May 1, 2004
Exhibit open to the public, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
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--> Admission is FREE, but space is limited. Advance reservations are 
suggested for Thursday evening reception <-- email 
 mediaarts at sfmoma.org
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Description -->

DEFUNCT highlights work in which artists have recycled, repurposed, 
or remixed presumably "defunct" hardware, software, audio/visual 
data, and representational systems. Whether one feels nostalgia at a 
bygone era or anxiety over the future of machine culture's 
"evolution," the work in the exhibition is provocative, engaging, and 
only a little loud...

THE 8-BIT CONSTRUCTION SET (BEIGE programming ensemble) has created a 
legendary DJ battle record pitting the Atari against the Commodore 64 
with Detroit-techno style songs composed of the sounds from each. The 
record is also the first ever use of the vinyl recording medium for 
software distribution--the inside tracks are audio data which can be 
dubbed to cassette tape and booted in your respective Atari or 
Commodore 8-bit computers. The record was entirely programmed in 6502 
assembly language.
--> http://www.beigerecords.com/products/beg-004.html

TOMMY BECKER describes "Daddy Kill," his 90 second video as "a short 
film with a  rhythm, repetition and tone that poetically conveys the 
activities of a murderous father." The video "recycles" a found film 
in which a man demonstrates to his son how leaving an object on 
grass, in sunlight, will kill the grass under the object. The video 
is part of Becker's "Tape Number One" project, a mutating 
construction of sentimental vignettes patched together by documented 
gestures, words, sounds, melodies, trivial facts and found materials. 
Becker thinks of video as "a hybrid medium for personal explorations 
in writing, performance, music and costume design."
--> http://www.tommybecker.com

JON BRUMIT's "mineflora" is part sculpture, part "found media 
sequencer." Its materials include a timpani drum, acoustical foam, 
clock radios, and a flasher, which, as the artist says, makes several 
things possible, simultaneously:  "1. The tentative relationship of 
sounds to physical form via auto switching, 2. The rhythm of signal 
loss via unique or unintentional features of discarded technology, 
and 3. The residue of improvisation within chance parameters."
--> http://www.bayimproviser.com/artistdetail.asp?artist_id=211

JOSHUA G. CHURCHILL's sound-activated mixed media installation, 
"Reciprocation/Retaliation," is based on the notion of 'mixed 
signals', both literally and figuratively. On the floor of a darkened 
room, electronic components, such as tv's and radios, are connected 
to Clappers and arranged in a circle around a turntable. As the 
electronics become activated by surrounding sounds, they begin to 
create sounds of their own, and an unpredictable chain reaction 
occurs wherein each device turns on and off in a seemingly random 
fashion. The noise patterns, jumbled words, and flashes of light that 
emerge from the installation create an ambiguous conversation of 
light and sound in which it becomes uncertain whether the tone is 
hostile or friendly.
--> http://www.mindspring.com/~jgc/

JODI's  "All Wrongs Reversed ©1982," is a 45 minute video which 
records the action of coding, typing, and running BASIC code on a 
vintage computer. The artists say "the whole recording is almost 1:1 
live coding, so there are a lot of mistakes and slow progress." Their 
installation is conceived as an exercise in Defunct media... Their 
video is converted from the format of a DVD to the "defunct" format 
of UMATIC tape and, by special request, will be shown on the oldest 
recycled television the curators can locate.
--> http://www.jodi.org

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SMAC is a group of new media enthusiasts who produce events, 
publications and activities to enhance the experience and 
understanding of new media in the arts. SMAC's goal is to cultivate 
the incredible wealth of art and technological resources in the San 
Francisco Bay Area, fostering a closer relationship among technology 
and art communities.