News and Current Programme

KURATOR is working with LaAgencia (Madrid) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation on 'Art_Science_Technology in The European Union' programme to coincide with the Spanish Presidency of European Union. The programme includes an exhibition, commissions, and a publication. Exhibition 'Silicon Dreams' opens on 7 February 2010 in Tabakalera.

→ More information and list of participating artists coming soon.

After the Net is a touring exhibition project presented at: Centro del Carme, Valencia, Spain (2008), University of Plymouth, UK (2009), Tecnologico de Monterrey Toluca, Mexico (2010)). The selection of artists is updated for each venue as a new version.

→ More information and list of participating artists http://www.kurator.org/afterthenet/

Creating Insecurity, a new volume of the DATA browser series is out now!
Edited by Wolfgang Sützl & Geoff Cox and published by Autonomedia, New York (2009), the book explores extreme developments in the thought of security at the intersection of art, technology, and politics.

→ List of contributors and where to buy http://www.data-browser.net/

KURATOR and LX 2.0 are pleased to announce two Artists Commissions selected from an open call to infect the 2012 Olympics, as part of the Anti-Bodies contemporary art programme
→ → carlos katastrofsky (Austria) vir.us.exe
→ → Hetah Bunting (UK) How to Become a Member of Team GB

→ Read more http://www.kurator.org/anti-bodies

Infected Seminar 28th May 2009, Roland Levinsky Building, University of Plymouth, UK

Artists Heath Bunting and carlos katastrofsky will discuss new projects they are developing as part of a short residency with Art & Social Technologies Research, University of Plymouth. Their work results from INFECTED, an open call from KURATOR and LX 2.0//Lisboa 20 Arte Contemporanea to make new work to infect the 2012 Olympics.
The commissions are part of the ANTI-BODIES contemporary art programme which is co-ordinated by Relational with support from Arts Council England and has been granted the London 2012 Inspire mark as part of the Cultural Olympiad. glorious ninth (Kate Southworth and Patrick Simons) will also talk about their project Cultural Capital. A response to the projects and discussion will be initiated by curators from KURATOR, LX 2.0 and Relational.

→ More information Infected Seminar

KURATOR was invited to the international jury panel (Marcos Enriquez, Robert Lisek, Joasia Krysa) for ARTE 2.0 VOCENTO commission award as part of ARCO 2009 International Contemporary Art Fair in Madrid. The award went to Zagreb-based CSDVA (Center for Synergy of Digital and Visual Arts) for proposal WAAP (Web Arco Art Pool). Completed project will be presented at ARCO 2010.

→ More information Arte 2.0 Vocento

KURATOR was invited to ARCO 2009 Experts Forum 'NEW MEDIA ART BETWEEN ISOLATION AND INTEGRATION, INTER-DISCIPLINARITY AND MEDIA SPECIFICITY'. Forum was organised and chaired by curator Domenico Quaranta, with participants: Jon Ippolito and Joline Blaise, Inke Arns, Roberta Bosco, Régine Debatty, Geert Lovink, Zhang Ga, Joasia Krysa.

→ More information on Forum catalogo_foro_Ing.pdf → Forum Photo 09madrid_arco_krysa_zhang_quaranta.jpg

Kurator is currently involved in Anti-Bodies: beyond the body ideal, a contemporary art programme that explores different attitudes to the body. The overall programme is curated and co-ordinated by Zoë Shearman, Director of Relational. The project has been launched in February 2009 at Arnolfini, Bristol.

→ More information on Launch event → Launch Photo Anti_BodieslaunchArnolfiniBristol19Feb2009_2009_02_20_112938.jpg

KURATOR and LX 2.0 are commissioning two projects for Anti-Bodies: Beyond The Body-Ideal, the South West Cultural Olympiad, UK. Artists Carlos Katastrofsky and Heath Bunting have been selected from the open call which invited proposals for online commissions that respond to the idea of a 'virus' for the Olympics. The INFECTED selection panel included Zoe Shearman, Curator, Relational, Bristol, UK; Luis Silva, Curator, LX 2.0, Lisbon; and Franz Thalmair, Curator, cont3xt.net, Vienna; Joasia Krysa and Geoff Cox, Curators, KURATOR, Plymouth, UK.

The WIDMO /das GESPENST/ SPECTRE' is an exhibition of new work by Robert Lisek at Leto Gallery, Warsaw, curated by KURATOR (Joasia Krysa and Geoff Cox). The project, a result of research by the artist at the Molecular Biology Laboratory of Wroclaw University in Poland, explores the relationship between bio-molecular technology, code and issues arising from network technologies. With reference to the emerging practice of ‘biotech-art’, the artist aims to represent the self-replicating behavior of bacteria in order to draw out its wider bio-political significance.

Further Information → Images → Project Page → Catalogue Text

The fourth residency of the Curatorial Network programme is undertaken by Zagreb-based curatorial collective What, How and for Whom (WHW) and hosted by ProjectBase and Situations. Two members of WHW, Ana Devic and Sabina Sabolovic are visiting arts organisations, curatorial collectives and artist-led programmes in Bristol and Cornwall (UK), investigating the question 'What is an Organisation?' over a ten-day period in October.

Linked to the What, How and for Whom (WHW)'s residency are three seminars: Tuesday 21 October 2008, 7–9pm @ Plan 9 (Bristol), Saturday 25 October 2008, 1–5pm @ Spike Island (Bristol), and Wednesday 29 October, 5pm-7pm @ University College Falmouth.

→ Residency Autumn 2008 → Seminars Autumn 2008 → Download WHW_events.pdf

Read ISEA 2008 report and a short review of KURATOR panel in Neural: "The popular Kurator panel addressed new (open) curatorial forms, which have been enabled by social technologies. It tackled controversial issues and was able to push boundaries."
→ full report http://www.neural.it/art/2008/09/isea_2008_singapore_report.phtml
→ photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/48831443@N00/2856678063/in/set-72157607288425594/

Curating in/as Open System(s) panel, contributors: Geoff Cox (Arnolfini/KURATOR/UK), Beryl Graham (CRUMB/UK), Joasia Krysa (KURATOR/UK), Vicente Matallana (LaAgencia/Madrid/ES), Yukiko Shikata (NTT InterCommunication Center ICC/Tokyo/JP)

→ Press Release → Abstracts → Download PDF version ISEA_2008_panel.pdf

The latest issue of Vague Terrain on the theme of 'Curediting - Translational Online Work', guest edited by CONT3XT.NET, is out now.
→ http://vagueterrain.net/journal11

After The Net is a deliberately ambiguous title: implying that somehow the Net is over in terms of its utopian promises and also making a reference to the documentary film The Net by Lutz Dammbeck (2003). Like the film, the exhibition explores systems of technological control and presents works that draw attention to historical shifts of network power: from cybernetics to free and open source software, and in turn to social networking platforms.

Featuring: Caen Botto, Wayne Clements, Geoff Cox (for project.arnolfini), Lutz Dammbeck, Jeff Gompertz, Rui Guerra, Linda Hilfling, Chun Lee, Aymeric Mansoux and Marloes de Valk (GOTO10), José Antonio Orts, and artists selected from openKURATOR: Burak Arikan, Bestiario, Carlos Katastrofsky, Abe Linkoln, Jimpunk and Mrtamale, Joseph Nechvatal, Cyril de Vroom and Jos Wabeke.

→ More information Observatori 2008
→ Images After the Net
→ Review in EL PAÍS Observatori apuesta por la obra digital más experimental

For After the Net exhibition, Observatori: 9th Festival Internacional de Investigación Artística de Valenci, openKURATOR presents a selection of works from an open call: Infomania by Cyril de Vroom & Jos Wabeke (2008), Hipercontrol^3 by Bestiario (2007), Mypocket by Burak Arikan (2008), Netart for poor people by Carlos Katastrofsky (2006), Triptych.tv by Abe Linkoln, Jimpunk, Mrtamale (2008), Viral Symph0ny by Joseph Nechvatal (2007).

→ More information, jury statement and to view projects openKURATOR

KURATOR is involved in developing Curatorial Network. Current events include curatorial research residency by Basak Senova, (of NOMAD TV, Istanbul) to explore the potential of online environment and social networking tools as mechanisms for generating cultural exchange. The residency unfolds through the discussion on curatorial.net list and concludes with a public seminar on 25 April 2008, with contribution from Ute Meta Bauer, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US) and Paul O'Neill (Research Fellow at the University of West of England, Bristol UK). Events are organised and hosted by i-DAT and Plymouth Arts Centre (UK).

→ Subscribe to the List http://www.curatorial.net/go/en/read/Forum

KURATOR is contributing to Art and Social Technologies research group (AST), part of AZTEC Consortium. AST examines creative practice at the intersection of art, technology and society. It has a special interest in the production of experimental, participatory and distributed technological systems - developed and changed through social networks of users and programmers - that challenge orthodox social relations.

→ More information http://www.art-social.net

Social Hacking is a series of temporary public art commissions featuring work from The Institute for Applied Autonomy(USA), Mikro Orchestra Project (Poland), and Ludic Society (Austria/Switzerland). The event also includes the pre-launch of c6's (UK) new Dot Master project Mobility in the art market, performances by Tetine (Brazil) and Mikrokilla & Jura (Poland), workshops run by The Pirate University, and a public seminar with presentations by Saul Albert (UK) and McKenzie Wark (AUS/USA).

→ See video documentation → See stills
→ Watch short film on 'Terminal Air' installation by IAA on Current TV UK
→ Watch short film on c6's Dot Master project on Current TV UK

Curating Immateriality is the third book in the DATA browser series published by Autonomedia. It includes contributions from 0100101110101101.ORG & epidemiC, Alexander R. Galloway & Eugene Thacker, Olga Goriunova & Alexei Shulgin, Christiane Paul, Trebor Scholz, Eva Grubinger, Geoff Cox, and Tiziana Terranova.

→ To order a copy, visit http://www.data-browser.net/03/
→ Read the Leonardo review