Monolake Live Surround is a project by Robert Henke that started in 2009. Together with visual artist Tarik Barri, the research looks into the possibilities of multi-channel surround systems in a club/concert environment. For the occassion of his new album, Henke pushes the boundaries of live cinema with this new show, creating a unique atmosphere.

Catch Monolake Live Surround next week in Fabric, London.

Keywords: live cinema, surround

This week we have been captured by the simple smile of this happy man, a little break from our busy London lives into the life of Johnny Barnes, happy day!

Timo Arnall who is creative director at BERG has created a short film experimenting with footage from machine-vision. Using footage from many sources, he explores the aesthetics of robotic vision that is mostly being used for traffic exercises and face recognition. The result is an interesting film with a pixelated theme and saturated colours. For us it opens questions about surveillance, privacy and of course robots.

Note from the author:
“This is a short film, an experiment in machine-vision footage. It uses found-footage from computer vision research to explore how machines are making sense of the world. As robots begin to inhabit the world alongside us, how do they see and gather meaning from our streets, cities, media and from us? Machines have a tiny, fractional view of our environment, that sometimes echoes our own human vision and often doesn’t.”

Find Timo’s website: http://www.elasticspace.com/

Read more about the film in BERG’s blog.

A video documentary that was commissioned by MU and was shot on location during STRP Festival 2011 and the Playful Post Digital Culture symposium. Timeless focuses on questions of identity and experience, time and place in a post-digital era. This video opens questions that sparkle our brain.

‘The digital settles in as background. We remember less and query more. Our identity play would be considered schizophrenic in the last century. We have more friends than ever before yet know new frontiers of isolation. The quantification of our experience haunts us in the form of a persistent history. And we are distracted more than we ever knew possible. These circumstances are paradoxically a description of the near future and a diagnosis of the current state of affairs. The truly timeless is redefined – it has transcended that which is classic; it has become that which is never finished.’

Interviews (in order of appearance)

Bernhard Herrmann herrmann-lehrmittel.de
Rafaël Rozendaal newrafael.com
Bruce Sterling en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Sterling
Peter Kirn pkirn.com
Jorien Kemerink foodlabeindhoven.com
Markus Kayser markuskayser.com
Elske van der Putten heyheyhey.nl
Vivian van Gaal strp.nl
Toby Barnes about.me/tobybarnes
Mary Flanagan maryflanagan.com

Keywords:
#timeless
#postdigital
#identity

The session is open to everyone, join us at The Ben Pimlott building, Goldsmiths College, Lewisham Way New Cross, London SE14 6NW.

The pick of this week supports the free and open internet. We join the protest against SOPA & PIPA, two U.S. bills that threaten online security and freedom of expresion. Watch the video to learn more about the Internet censorship bills (SOPA/IPA)

#OPENWEB

An exciting opportunity to contribute to the future of Alpha-ville, a fast-growing digital culture organisation.

Alpha-ville is a non-profit organisation that explores the intersection between arts, technology and society. Its main activity is Alpha-ville Festival, an annual event that has been running since 2009.

The 2011 edition attracted 5,000 live attendees and offered education, debate and participation through concerts, screenings, talks, workshops, open labs, symposium, interactive installations, online activities and urban interventions.

With a team of 2 full time members, 10 part time staff alongside a volunteer team of 40 people, Alpha-ville Festival has built a reputation for delivering a programme that is thought-provoking and innovative, covering a wide variety of fields. Alpha-ville has become a catalyst for digital innovation in London and a fast developing organisation with significant potential for the future.

We are now calling out for Non Executive Advisory Board Members to contribute to future development, continued excellence in digital culture and long term sustainability.

The Board meets every quarter. Agreements normally run for a period of one year and are unpaid. Suitable candidates must have a keen interest in digital culture and new technologies.

We are looking for specific areas of expertise in one or more of:

- business & financial management
- event fundraising and sponsorship
- marketing
- internet & technology
- voluntary sector
- new media
- digital social innovation

Responsibilities:

- attend 4 meetings per year (1 every quarter)
- be available for a maximum of 4 yearly calls/skype from staff seeking advice
- contribute your expertise and thinking to the current and future work of Alpha-ville
- act as evangelist/ambassadors
- provide advise on business planning
- assist in monitoring goals
- review financial plans and annual reports

In return:

- Alpha-ville provides dinner and drinks at each Board meeting
- get involved in a highly challenging environment
- contribute to the development of a start-up creative enterprise
- networking opportunities & potential to meet new partners, customers, collaborators and friends
- get new perspectives and ideas
- VIP package: free entrance to all Alpha-ville events + 1 guest including: private launches, festival opening and closing events

Deadline for applications: Friday 3rd February 2012. Interviews will be held during the week beginning Monday 13th February. New members will participate in the meeting at the end of Feb 2012.

Please apply by CV and covering letter to carmen@alpha-ville.co.uk, explaining how you have the essential skills and experience and why you would like to be part of the Alpha-ville Festival Advisory Board.

by Michael Rigley

Information technology has become a ubiquitous presence. By visualizing the processes that underlie our interactions with this technology we can trace what happens to the information we feed into the network.

A fascinating data visualisation animation that illustrates how personal data is used in the web. We live in the era of information technology. Our digital identities are stored and used in the web by different third parties, but how much do we know about this? how could we gradually own more our own identities?

Keywords: information technology, motion graphics, datavisualisation, digital identity

Michael Rigley is a graphic designer based in California, USA.

@ManBartlett

@alphavillefest

@v_and_a