Violence Online Festival - New Media show curated by Agricola de Cologne

VIOLENCE - online festival and exhibition

Version 1.1

Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE 02 - 2 September 2002
A Virtual Memorial www.a-virtual-memorial.org
NewMediaArtProjectNetwork Festivals www.newmediafest.org
Violence Online Festival
***********************************

contents:
headline
summary
introduction
featured artists
all participants
technical requirements
copyright
***********************************

headline:
During September 2002,
A Virtual Memorial www.a-virtual-memorial.org is the host of
Violence Online Festival
www.newmediafest.org
on occasion of 1st return of 9/11 terrorist attack in USA 2001.
***********************************

summary:
The Violence Online Festival is
curated, organized and created in Flash by
Agricola de Cologne, curator and media artist operating
from Cologne/Germany, and is focused
on digital and New Media art.
In September 2002, A Virtual Memorial www.a-virtual-memorial.org
is host and partner of Violence Online Festival.

***********************************

introduction:
The human character contains both a light and a dark side, good and bad,
individually manifested. Deeply rooted is a dark-sided
element: Violence.
In happy surroundings, it becomes hardly visible and in
less happy surroundings - either of a physical, psychological,
environmental, ideological, economic or political nature -
nearly automatically a kind of survival
strategy with all the known consequences we see
manifested in conflicts on a small or large scale.
Violence is present anywhere, hidden or sleeping,
hesitating, waiting or in action, starting from simple
mobbing via verbalor physical attacks, the bandwidth has no end.

Nowadays, globalization, social injustice,
unemployment, increasing wealth on one side and
on the opposite increasing poverty (without mentioning some
causes) produce a climate where violence has a fertile
soil. From the attack on 9/11 in the USA, people from
the Western civilization became painfully aware that
security of any kind is a mere illusion; not only the
internal, but also the external enemy is present anywhere.

Artists are said to be the consciousness of a nation or society
as they reflect the actual state of the psychological and physical
environment.
When this state is penetrated by violence, nobody is surprised that
violence becomes a universal subject for artistic reflection, the difference
may
only be the view on it and its perception depending on
the respective cultural background.

'Art and violence both seem to stem from the abstract: that place beyond
logic, the realm of the emotion. When they intersect we are simultaneously
repelled and attracted, frightened and excited. Historically this meeting
has been wrought with complexity, and as cultural violence in every society
increases, we are prevented by paranoia, censorship and ethical demands from
asking, and sometimes even posing, some of the most important questions
violence and art together and separately produce: how is violence
represented, and what or how much of it do we need to resist the cultivation
of fear and the encouragement of dependency? Is violence a tool, a process
or a result? When are artistic portrayals of violence justifiable? As
intellectual exercise, ritual, or spiritual enhancement? For other purposes?
Or are they never justifiable? Is violence in art an action, reaction, or
reflection? ' (quotation: CESTA festival statement).

How different the results of an artistic reflection can be is
shown through the Violence Online Festival, a New Media
online exhibition project curated and organized
as an individual event by Agricola de Cologne
including more than 150 artists from
30 countries presenting their work. It forms a
dynamic collaborative art work presenting very
individual visions and use of media.

The relevance of violence becomes visible also through
the high quality standard of all the included works. Each
of them represents another aspect of violence - caught
in textual poetry, running as a video or embedded in an
interactive environment of a net-based art work.

In reaction to the key role (mass) media plays by displaying and even
promoting
violence, a new environment (interface) has been created for Violence
Online Festival, which houses and hosts the art works within a virtual media
company named "Violence Media Incorporated".
By dividing the company into different departments (eg.
"Violence for Happiness" , "Violence Marketing" or "Violence Broadcasting"),
it becomes clear that their meaning
has a rather ironic or sarcastic character, which gives
the embedded art works a new meaning.

While surfing through this environment, the visitor is forced to ask and
give answers, and becomes slowly a part of this network of art through his
reflections and changes of perception.

**************************************
During September, each week another 10 artists will be featured:

Featured Artists of the first week:
Mike Salmond, Raquel Partnoy - Alicia Partnoy - Ruth Irupe-Sanabria,
Francesca da Rimini, Babel, Fran Ilich, Igor Ulanowsky, Nancy Jane Moore,
III III III.com,
Giacomo Picca, Brody Condon

**************************************
Visit this exciting show either from
www.a-virtual-memorial.org
or www.newmediafest.org

**************************************
technical requirements
optimized for VGA resolution 1024x768
PC Pentium III 600 Mhz or better or comparable MAC
Soundcard, recommended 56K or 64K modem or faster,
browsers: MS Internet Explorer 5.5+ or Netscape Navigator 6.0+
Players/Plug-ins: essential the latest Flash 6,
Shockwave, Real Player, Quicktime

***************************************
copyright:
Violence Online Festival
www.newmediafest.org
text, conception, programming, visalization
curator, organizer = Agricola de Cologne - copyright © 2002 . All rights
reserved.
copyright © of all art works of
the participating artists hold the authors or owners.

NewMediaArtProjectNetwork - the experimental platform
for the arts in Intenet is founded and created by
Agricola de Cologne.
copyright © 2000-2002 by Agricola de Cologne. All rights reserved.

A Virtual Memorial
www.a-virtual-memorial.org
copyright © 2000-2002 by Agricola de Cologne.
All rights reserved.
****************************************
contacts:
Press
press@newmediafest.org
Violence Online Festival
violence@newmediafest.org
A Virtual Memorial
info@a-virtual-memorial.org

***********

A Virtual Memorial News 2002/09 part I
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
www.a-virtual-memorial.org
Memorial project against the Forgetting and for Humanity -
the New Media art project by Agricola de Cologne -
is now updated in the new version of Flash (MX)
Please download the latest Flash 6.0 Player/plug-in
recommended hardware (minimum requirement)
Pentium III 800 Mhz or comparable MAC
soundcard, 56K modem - recommended DSL
**********************************

*** The Month September is entirely dedicated to the victims of terror,
on occasion of the 1st return of 9/11 terrorist attack in USA 2001***
**********************************

Table of Contents:
*News
*Features of the Month September 2002
** Featured projects
Violence Online Festival
**Artist of the Month theARTproject -
artists reflect the terrorist attack
* Report
*Call for submissions
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
*News:
1.In September " A Virtual Memorial" is featured at the
Exhition "Terror" at DRCCC (Australia) -
http://www.drccc.org.au/drccc/drccc_index.htm

2.Net based art works originating from A Virtual Memorial
participate in September 2002 in
File - Electonic Language Festival Sao Paulo (Brazil) - www.file.br.org
Asolo Art Film Festival , Asolo (Italy) www.artfilmfestival.com

**
Featured artist of the Month
'theARTproject' - artists reflect the terrorist attack on 9/11 2001
**
Featured Project of the Month
In September A Virtual Memorial is host of
'Violence Online Festival' - the New Media project reflecting 'violence'
including more than 150 artists from 30 countries

** report
Between 17 and 31 August 2002, Violence Online Festival
was presented at Violens Festival Tabor (CZ)
in cooperation between NewMediaArtProjectNetwork and CESTA Tabor (CZ).
This online project became very popular, as during 14 days installed at
Tabor, the project had more than 6500 hits and more than 2300 visitors
online.
*************************************************
*Call for submissions
The Memorial for the Victims of Terror (9/11)
is calling for new submissions for immediate inclusion,
i.e
images (jpg), sound work (.mp3), animations (.gif. .swf, dcr)
movies (.mov, .rm) and URLs.
All appropriate entries will be included.
Send your submission via email to
terrormemorial@a-virtual-memorial.org

Access via start page of www.a-virtual-memorial.org
or http://www.a-virtual-memorial.org/memorials/terror/entrance.htm
*************************************************
***Features of the Month

The Subject of the Month
"Attack - commemorating the victims of terror"

Selected Memorial Days in September

*01 September 1939 Hitler's invasion in Poland, begin of World War II
*11 September 2001 Terrorist Attack in USA
*11 September 2002 International Day of Peace
*16 September 2002 Jom Kippur
*21 September 1949 Foundation of Federal Republic of Germany

*The Features of the Month are monthly changing
collections of multimedia works and links which form in the
totality of the composition an artwork of theirown
to be created on a webpage of theirown
within the Memorial project.*
**************************************************
Features:

The Month September is entirely dedicated to the victims of terror.
"Terror and violence determine the course of history.
History is a history of the culprits, not the victims.
Not even sympathy is left to the victims."
(quoting 9/11 - The Double Method)

Terror, violence and torture are nothing exceptional, but practiced
each day at any place in the world, the world may remember
certain events or personalities representing terror, violence or torture
but the countless victims are lost and forgotten, even those of the
current day.

The 1st return of the terrorist attack on 9/11 2001 in USA
is certainly a good occasion to take time and recognize
how many victims of terror, violence and torture die each day
even close to each of us, maybe even next door,
and how many survive in despair and hopelessness.

***************************************************

Subject of the Month : Attack - Commemorating the victims of terror

Featured Artist 'theARTproject' (Nina Meledandri, USA)
artist reflect the terrorist attack of 9/11 2001

Skyscraper 1 "theARTproject" featured artist
Skyscraper 2 "Violence Online Festival" - featured project
Skyscraper 3 Memorial for the victims of terror
Skyscraper 4 9/11 terror
Skyscraper 5 State terror
Skyscraper 6 Terrorism and its roots
Skyscraper 7 Fundamentalism
Skyscraper 8 Victims of terror
Skyscraper 9 9/11 - The Double Method

** Featured project
Violence Online Festival
see press release attached as Newsletter/part II

Visit this extraordinary online exhibition on
www.a-virtual-memorial.org
or www.newmediafest.org

*****************************************
Until the next time
all the best,

Wilfried Agricola de Cologne
info@a-virtual-memorial.org
www.a-virtual-memorial.org
Memorial project against the Forgetting and for Humanity -
ongoing New Media art project by Agricola de Cologne
A short description as PDF file for free download from
http://www.a-virtual-memorial.org/downloads/pdf/pdf.htm

Updated in Flash MX. Optimized for MS IE 6.0+ and NN 6.0+, VGA 1024x768

*****************************************
A Newsletter
is a free InformationsService of
NewMediaArtProjectNetwork Public Relations
pr@nmartproject.net

NewMediaArtProjectNetwork
-the experimental platform for the arts-
www.le-musee-divisioniste.org
www.javamuseum.org
www.a-virtual-memorial.org
www.engad.org
www.agricola-de-cologne.de
www.nmartproject.net
www.newmediafest.org

copyright © 2000-2002 by AGRICOLA de Cologne
All rights reserved.

***************************************************

version 1.0 presented on Violens" Festival Tábor (Czech Republic) 17 - 31 August 2002
version 1.1 - featured project on A Virtual Memorial during September 2002
version 2.0 presented on Liberarti Festival at Liverpool Biennale (UK) October/November 2002
Computer Space 2002 Festival Sofia (Bulgaria) 18 - 21 October 2002