Call for entries - deadline 4th March 2004

THE SUBMISSON IS OVER. Total works submitted: 259

Deadline extended till 10 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time (13:00 Moscow Time ) Thursday 4th March.

Submissions for the following three themes are welcomed in all media.

  1. "Art from the Machine: gleams of the inhuman" Works created completely or mostly by a machine or an Artificial Intelligence system.
    more about this category
  2. "Artists Against Machinic Standards" Breaking, destroying, hacking, unexpected (non-utilitarian?) usage of customary programs as an art experiment.
    more about this category
  3. "Full-Screen Robovision" Moving image works (experimental/scientific imaging, audiovisual code, short films, animation and VJ mixes) illustrating "the world as 'seen' by the machines.
    more about this category
Recommended submission formats:
Participants are encouraged to link their own webpage documenting their entry (URL link such as www.mywebspace.net/machinista_submission/). Machinista isn't a web design competition so these files can be as simple as required and include text, images, sound, software and any other supporting media you feel is needed.
Submissions based on Open Source browsers or unusual plug-ins should include appropriate viewing instructions from standard Mac/ PC browsers. If you don't have your own webspace email us your work (2Mb max) and we'll send you a link to our server which you will include in your submission.
Category 1:
ART FROM THE MACHINE "Gleams of the Inhuman"
THEME:
We are looking for art systems that are able to demonstrate some traces of self-awareness. These must not be systems whose world-view is identical to the artist who created it, but rather systems which are able to respond to and process their environments on their own terms. The artist becomes a client rather than administrator of the system, introducing interesting questions concerning authorship, ownership and intentionality. The artwork becomes responsible for its own representation, perhaps constructing its own emergent "life tasks".
These systems are not limited by genre, and so can be online or offline, installation, proposal, networked, robotic, performance, sound, software, etc.
Category supervisors:
James Coupe (UK) >>
Roman Arefiev (KZ) >>

Category 2:
ARTISTS AGAINST MACHINIC STANDARDS
THEME:
"Breaking, destroying, hacking, unexpected (non-intentional?) usage of customary programs as an art experiment."
We are looking for creative, mechanical, technological or computing practices that challenges our expectations through, or results from, unusual, imaginative and unexpected uses of technology. We are interested in work that does not solely rely on the functionality of the machine or code - that is, work that can function (or dis-function) as a generative symbolic system.

We expect to receive works that adjust, de-construct, modify, destroy or create software or hardware as part of a process of experimentation for artistic or social purposes. We would like to see conceptually and technically strong work with aims such as: deconstruction of meaning, reversion of practice, hacking of the system.

We consider that polemics of artists towards machinic standards raise aesthetic, political and social issues. Thus, we welcome work that is socially, politically and/or environmentally conscious. Also, work that addresses cultural and aesthetic concepts of software and technology, and challenges the current status quo [whether this refers to established software, established governments or established art forums].

Last but not least, we welcome work that expands itself in forms and practices beyond hardware, allowing for overlappings between virtual and physical, art and life to occur. This could also be work that aims at creating or supporting social spaces through networked communication, free media initiatives and sharing.

We will accept all types of current manifestations of computer and software art e.g. screen-based work, installation, performance, both on and off line. We are very open to collaborative creation/destruction.

The call is open to all software artists, programmers, artists, computer geeks, net workers, hackers and other creative individuals/groups/communities.

Category supervisors:
Maria X (UK) >>
Rustam Sabirov (RU) >>

Category 3:
FULL SCREEN ROBOVISION "The world as seen by the machines"
THEME:
We are looking for short video works (10 min. max) with or without sounds to fit the following genres:
  1. Short films, animation and VJ mixes representing "the world as 'seen' by the machines". These may contain machines, robots, cyborgs , mechanical/ electronic junk as their main character or provide an alternative viewpoint on human-machine interaction. (Works containing spoken words should include English subtitles).
  2. Artworks featuring "audio-visual code" : abstract or symbol based motion graphics representing the machine's internal data flow or translation of environmental monitoring. We are particularly interested in video material created by AI, A-life and emergent systems.
  3. Science labs projects:
    - images produced from unusual sensors (radar, microscope, thermal imaging etc..) , visual data representation and experimental image capture devices.
    - documentation of original robots and mechanical devices.
  4. CAD and graphic design visualisation experiments using 3D and enhanced video imaging as the computer's "understanding" of its surroundings.
  5. Documentation of video performances proposing original human/machine interaction, new control interfaces, VJ tools, automated visualisers and mutated hardware. Also enter demos for prospective performance commissions at the final event.

Category 3 only: video files
If your entry isn't available as a download, you can:

SORRY THE DEADLINE FOR POSTAL SUBMISSIONS HAS NOW CLOSED,
please make your own arrangements to digitise and electronically submit your work

Category supervisors:
David Bernard (UK) >>
Vadim Epstein (RU) >>


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