Upgrade! Scotland - Lei Cox and Mel Woods, 26 September 2007 at CCA Glasgow, 5-7pm

New Media Scotland are pleased to announce that Lei Cox and Mel Woods will be presenting at the next Upgrade! Scotland.

Cox and Woods have been developing innovative work across digital and lens based media for a number of years. Their current projects and research include a new collaborative public work The Dark Room which will be installed on Cairngorm Mountain. The work uses historical and contemporary technologies in juxtaposing projections from a camera obscura with high definition digital video.

Drawing from her diverse practice one of Mel Wood's current projects is Sonic Phonic. In development
as an interactive alphabetic prototype Sonic Phonic investigates the impact of the digital fusion of image, sound and text through one of the building blocks of language and communication: the alphabet.

Having recently started work as professor in digital art at Bergen National Academy of the Arts New Media Scotland are pleased to welcome Lei Cox back to Scotland for this talk. Exploring questions of identity, geographical context and the impact of science and technology, Lei has made several works where a protagonist (sometimes performed by Cox himself) is multiplied or appears in more than one place at a time.

Wednesday 26th September CCA Glasgow
Join New Media Scotland for drinks from 5pm and expect the usual informative but informal Upgrade! atmosphere. Admission is free, but please email rsvp@mediascot.org  to make sure of a seat.

For more information about Upgrade! Scotland and the International Upgrade! network see our website on http://www.mediascot.org/upgrade/.  


Upgrade! Scotland - What next?

After two successful years of Upgrade! Scotland events New Media Scotland is thinking about ways to improve and develop. Following Lei and Mel's talk on the 26 September at CCA Glasgow, there will be an opportunity to discuss the future and format of Upgrade! Scotland.

New Media Scotland would be very grateful for your thoughts and suggestions. If you are interested in taking part in this discussion, or if you wish to share ideas for the future of Upgrade! Scotland via email, please contact Luke Collins, Programmes Associate, at luke@mediascot.org .


Welcome to New Members of the New Media Scotland Staff and Board!

New Media Scotland is pleased to welcome one more staff member and two new board members at New Media Scotland.

Kristina Johansen is their new Audience Development and Marketing Associate. Kristina recently completed her MSc in History, Theory and Display at the University of Edinburgh and has worked at a variety of arts organizations throughout the UK including The National Galleries of Scotland, Hauser & Wirth London and The Tate St Ives. Most recently at The Fruitmarket Gallery, in her role as a marketing assistant, she participated in a re-evaluation of the way in which audience was monitored and assessed. She is also a freelance arts educator and writer and continues to work on her own collaborative projects.

New Media Scotland would also like to extend their warmest welcome to their new board members Hannah Rudman and Jon Oberlander.

Hannah Rudman is an IT and digital content consultant for the cultural sector. She developed AmbITion - a change programme that utilises IT and digital developments to facilitate the longer-term sustainability of arts organisations in the North West and East regions of England. Hannah is founding Chair of Digital North, writes the 'Essential IT' column for Arts Professional, and is on the advisory board to the Women's Fund for Scotland.

Jon Oberlander became Professor of Epistemics in the University of Edinburgh in October 2005. He held an EPSRC Advanced Fellowship in the ESRC Human Communication Research Centre, before joining the lecturing staff of the School of Informatics in 1998. Jon is Director-designate of the Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance, and Director of the Informatics InSpace project, exploring the cultural significance of informatics. He has been convenor of Informatics Research Advisory Committee, and Director of its Graduate School.


What can New Media Scotland do for you?

Many New Media Scotland projects happen as a result of their ongoing dialogue with practitioners in art and technology. So get in touch to tell them about your ideas, suggestions, or just to let them know what you are up to. Give them a call or drop them a line (contact details are on our website). Or why not come to one of their events? Their programmes are open to all and they endeavour to make them as accessible as possible, however if you have any special needs or requirements it would be helpful to know in advance, so please contact them if that is the case.


Other Opportunities, Events, and News

1. MIDI Scrapyard Challenge - Glasgow - 22 September

As part of a 30 week tour of the UK, the BBC Blast Truck will be coming to BBC Scotland's new headquarters at Pacific Quay in Glasgow from the 21 - 23 September. The tour offers young people to take part in creative workshops in TV, radio, art, dance, music and film - all completely free.

The MIDI Scrapyard Challenge will be taking place on the 22nd September. Aimed at 15-19 year olds, this workshop is an intensive one day event in which participants will build instruments and special drawbots out of electronic waste and other 'junk'. The day will culminate in a 'jam' session with the instruments made during the day. The workshop is led by Jonah Brucker-Cohen and Katherine Moriwaki.

2. Masterclass in Live A/V - Call for participants - Deadline: 10 October

Cimatics, Brussels International Platform for Live A/V, presents a Masterclass Live Audiovisual Art, within the framework of the studio-program Experimental Media-art provided by the VAF (Flanders Audiovisual Fund). 12 internationally renowned and specifically chosen artists and theoreticians from within the field of Live A/V engage to conduct these workshops.

Cimatics is looking for 10 participants for these workshops and addresses young artists from within the fields of visual arts, music, media arts or performance arts. The Masterclass exists of several workshops in which the different aspects of the phenomenon Live A/V will be highlighted. The Masterclass takes place at different locations in Brussels between November 2007 and May 2008. Visit the blog http://cimatics-masterclass.blogspot.com/ for more infomation and the regulations.

3. Online Commissioning Programme - Deadline: 22 October

folly, a leading digital arts organisation working in Lancashire, Cumbria and online is working with Cumbria County Council (CCC) to develop a three year online commissioning programme exploring arts participation online.

One artist commission per year will be launched acting as imaginative, participatory, consultation tools to encourage people to reflect and share their perceptions of culture in areas of creative and geographic isolation.

Folly will act as the project manager to commission the artists and provide technical support and is calling for artists to propose new work addressing the commissioning programme objectives. folly promote the use of Free and Open Source Software and encourage artists to use FOSS.

Artist fee:£4000 (incl. VAT). Supplementary expenses of up to £100. folly welcome submissions from international artists. For more information visit the folly website at http://www.folly.co.uk/ .

4. Resilience Art Exhibition - Call for submissions - Deadline: 2 November

New Media Scotland invite artists to submit proposals for the Resilience Art Exhibition to be held at a special venue at Stockholm University in April 2008. The exhibition will take place in connection with the international science and policy conference Resilience, Adaptation and Transformation in Turbulent Times.

The Resilience Art Exhibition is a joint project of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, through Mejan Labs in Stockholm and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences through the Beijer Institute and the Stockholm Resilience Centre, in collaboration with the Resilience Alliance.

For more information visit: Mejan Labs webpage at  http://www.mejanlabs.se/article_en.asp?ID=65&KAT=RES&templ=3.