Why the “Pacific Rim”? And other questions answered by
ISEA 2006/ ZeroOne Festival Chair, Joel Slayton
Q. Why “Pacific Rim”?
A. The political and economic space of the Pacific Rim represents a
dynamic context for artistic and cultural experimentation. San Jose and Silicon
Valley represent and important portal to the Pacific Rim with deep historical,
cultural and economic ties. The Pacific Rim theme highlights the connections
and connnectedness of cultures and countries rimming the Pacific Ocean. We believe
that an international arts symposium and festival program need to take account
of the discourses regarding diversity, identity and place associated with the
regions and their networks.
Q. Arguably “Pacific Rim” is the most vague of the four
themes for ISEA 2006; do you hope any specifics will be achieved throughout
the events?
A. The Pacific Rim New Media Summit, a pre-event of ISEA2006, was specifically
designed to enable international collaborations. Seven 'working groups' have
been instantiated that are focusing on a creative or cultural initiative, a
research project, or policy assessment. For example, a Distributed Curatorial
project called 'Container Culture' in which new media art works from Pacific
Rim port cities are integrated into shipping containers which will arrive in
San Jose for the Festival and be put on display in a temporary exhibition. There
are projects on education, the environment mobility and urbanity, piracy, residencies/organizations
and alternatives to conventional models of new media art practice as it relates
to communities and place. The ISEA2006 Symposium will feature an extended discourse
on specialized topics through paper presentations and posters and there has
been a special call for participation for artworks in this category. we envision
the ISEA2006/ZeroOne San Jose as an opportunity to become more integrated with
activities throughout the Pacific region and to use the context of San Jose
and Silicon Valley as a catalyst for the building of interpretive bridges and
new transaction spaces.
Q. Some might say that the term or theme “Pacific Rim”
is inherently problematic, do you agree?
A. Yes. Pacific Rim is really a reference to the political and economic
space that includes many distinct countries, regions, socioeconomic frameworks,
and political identities. It is not a singularity in terms of a cultural space
of interactions. It is however a term that begs a tremendous number of questions
in terms of post-colonial assessments and characterizations. The term was selected
because it provides a platform from which the rich complexity and dynamic realities
of inter- regional relations can be discussed and debated. An important objective
of the Summit is to examine and create new transaction spaces for creativity
and innovation.
Q. What are you most looking forward to about the Pacific Rim New Media
Summit?
A. Meeting everyone and seeing what can happen when we try to focus
on outcomes.
The Pacific Rim New Media Summit takes place August 6-8, 2006.
http://isea2006.sjsu.edu/prnms.html
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