Mediamatic.net Blog

anyMeta 4.12.5 - Atom module 0.3.2 2010-03-21T04:57:11+01:00 http://www.mediamatic.net/feed/atom/18907/en Mediamatic.net Blog http://www.mediamatic.net/id/139155 2010-03-08T01:42:28+01:00 ElectroSmog saves the planet with txt only. International Festival for Sustainable Immobility

Two weeks before the first installment of Electrosmog will happen, it is still very hard to find a nice picture on their website. Mediamatic loves txt but these people are really stretching it! The new festival is avoiding physical travel by a strong use of media and multi–geography. We are curious whether these good intentions will meet good attendance. At the moment they still seem to be in the way of the clear and attractive communications that are so well used by the competition.

This events is heading for a frontal collision with all the rules that make up a good festival. It feels more like an academical conference on second life. Without the sex that is. Anyway: a highly laudable and interesting experiment. I'll try to not watch it from home but go to the Balie in Amstedam, still hoping to meet some new people over a beer and maybe dance a bit:-) For a full list of participating orgs, see their web site. Further text quoted from <a href="http://www.electrosmogfestival.net">the Electrosmog website</a> The ElectroSmog festival is a critique of the worldwide explosion of mobility, and an exploration of the new forms of connectedness with others offered to us by network and communication technologies. The question is if these new forms of connectedness can help us to develop a viable new lifestyle less determined by speed and constant mobility, which is both ecologically and socially more sustainable. <h3>Bringing together a broad coalition</h3> The ElectroSmog festival brings together a broad coalition of designers, environmentalists, urban and spatial planners, technologists, artists, theorists, and engaged and concerned citizens, to explore and ‘design’ sustainable immobility. <h3>Zero travel</h3> ElectroSmog is a truly international festival, with everything you might expect: international debates and discussions, performances, art projects, exhibits, site specific projects, screenings, a design competition, and more. ElectroSmog stakes its claim for a radical break with the current systems of hyper-mobility not simply by discussing the issue, but by actually implementing it. <h3>A few basic ground rules apply for all the festival events listed there:</h3> • No presenter will travel beyond their local or regional boundaries to participate in this event. • All festival events will always take place in at least two locations connected in real-time. • A crucial dimension of the festival will be its on-line presence, where audiences from basically anywhere with an internet connection can follow events on-line, join in discussions and debates, visit virtual theatres in metaverses such as second life, and contribute to the program. <h3>Going beyond the broadband enclaves</h3> ElectroSmog acknowledges from the start that bandwidth is not equally distributed across and within societies. Therefore remote connection to lower bandwidth spaces, do-it-yourself telematics, and information technologies for the majority world will be central concerns the festival will address. <h3>Thematic discussions, presentations and connected debates</h3> The ElectroSmog festival-program is organised around a series of interlocking thematic programs, connected discussions and debates all transmitted live over the internet. Themes covered by these events include: • Global views on the crisis of mobility • Witnessed Presence • Hyper-mobility and the urban condition • City & regional branding debate • e-mobility versus immobility • Designing for (im)mobility • Public media art projects and sustainability • Energy and information • ElectroSmog is Good for You! • Food and global mobility • Deep local and remote technologies Willem Velthoven http://www.mediamatic.net/id/874 ARTEFACT event 1 http://www.mediamatic.net/id/138570 2010-03-05T11:31:41+01:00 'You get better of limits' Interview with singer/songwriter Nive Nielsen

The young and ambitious singer/songwriter Nive Nielsen gave a acoustic performance at the Bardot Final Saturday the 27th of February 2010, without her band. 'It requires something else when you play on your own.'

At the Bardot Final, Saturday the 27th of February, the young singer and songwriter Nive Nielsen gave a performance on her own. With her calm, but intimate session she made a big impression on the audience. After her performance she had time for a short interview. Nive Nielsen is from Nuuk, Greenland, and a rising star in the global alternative folkscene. She is based in Montreal, Canada, because she performs a lot in Canada and in the United States with her band The Deer Children. She is a fulltime-singer since summer 2009 and travels a lot with her band to perform songs from her debutalbum ‘Nive Sings’, which is released worldwide this year. How is it to perform all alone and without your band? ‘I started on my own, so I feel comfortable with it. But it’s more fun to be with other people. It requires something else when you play on your own. It’s more challenging. It’s harder to hide mistakes. But it’s good practice. I am just a beginner and you get better of limits.’ What did you do before you became a fulltime musician? ‘I did a bachelor in political science and a master in visual anthropology. I also worked for t.v. and did some acting.’ What are your songs about? You said one song deals with suïcide ‘Yes, one song derived from suïcide, because of the many suïcides in Greenland. There are a lot of teenagers killing themselves. I encourage them in the song to be stronger. Suïcide is a problem that natives in the whole world have in common. Why do they do it? I think that private problems are not spoken out and there are too many problems. For example Eskimo’s tend to get less for jobs. It’s a cliché subject, but it doesn’t dissapear like that.’ What about your song “Coffeeboy”? ‘“Coffeeboy” is about a relationship. How really important things become normal and small things become bigger than they need to be. You’re taking for granted what you have together. I am also teasing my boyfriend in the song a little. Some people take it very serious, other laugh at it. I know people who think it’s about feminism, but it isn’t meant like that. I don’t have a big control on my songs, they come on their own. When they come I have to quickly record them. After that I have to relearn the song.’ www.myspace.com/nivenielsen Thomas van Lier http://www.mediamatic.net/id/101108 ARTICLE text 1 http://www.mediamatic.net/id/138537 2010-03-09T16:29:06+01:00 Noordjes kinderplaneet en Overal Vincent winnen DOEN Pitch

In een uitverkocht Transformatorhuis is Kom je ook?4 in volle gang. De eerste spreker, Matthias Rick van Raumlaborberlin, staat nu op het podium. Na hem nog hele serie sprekers die vertellen over de meest geslaagde voorbeelden van participatie en innovatie in kunst en cultuur. Er wordt druk getwitterd, de laatste van de ruim 250 bezoekers komen binnen, Kom je ook is in volle gang. Volg het event via <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/backchannel">www.mediamatic.net/backchannel</a>. De tweets volg je met hashtag #komjeook Laatste nieuws: <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/id/138285">Noordjes Kinderplaneet</a> wint juryprijs en <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/id/137509">Overal Vincent</a> de publieksprijs <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/page/136490">(bekijk de uitgebrachte stemmen)</a> van de DOEN pitch. <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/id/138740">Lees het persbericht</a>.

- ARTICLE text 1 http://www.mediamatic.net/id/138024 2010-02-27T21:23:39+01:00 'Every time I want to renew myself' Greenlandic rapper Peand el doesn't like to repeat himself

Peand el talks about being one of the most popular rappers in Greenland: the songs, the problems and the hip hop-scene.

Peter Lyberth is a bit nervous. The Greenlandic rapper, better known under his artist name Peand el, has just flown four hours from Greenland to Copenhagen, and one hour from Copenhagen to Amsterdam. Now he is tired because he didn’t sleep in the airplane and he’s struggling with his jetlag. Peand el doesn’t look like a gangsta rapper. With his short length, his round figure and his friendly face, he looks like a man who does harm to nobody. Peand el (27) works as a teacher in a kindergarten in Nuuk, Greenland, but in his spare time he writes songs, records them and performs them. In 2005 he released his debutalbum, "Eqqissitinnga", which was very well received by the audience. For Mediamatic he made a video diary, in which he showed his life in Greenland in 15 videos. (<a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/index.php?lang=en">http://www.mediamatic.net/index.php?lang=en</a>). On Saturday the 28th of February, at the Bardot Final, he will perform some songs of his second album, “Tarrara – my shadow” (2009). In 2005 you released your first album, “Eqqissitinnga”. You must have been very proud of that ‘It’s the second best thing in my life: to make an album. Almost everybody in Greenland liked it.’ So you are a famous rapper in Greenland ‘Yes. I am the only rapper in Greenland who performed also in other countries. I have been in Denmark four times, Canada twice and right now I am in Amsterdam. And I don’t know where I am going to after this.’ What was your motivation to begin with rap? ‘In 2002 there was already a famous old rapgroup called Nuuk Posse, but I wanted to update hiphop. So I decided to create an album with a crossover of hiphop, r&b and rock. Blending different kinds of music and make it my own. That was very new in Greenland. In the second album I wanted to outdo myself. I worked with several people together, like the Greenlandic folk singer Rasmus Lyberth. It was the first time a folk singer appeared on a rap album. I also worked together with the popular band Mariina, and I am going to perform the song at the Bardot Final at Mediamatic.’ You want to continue making crossover-music in the future? ‘I am always thinking forward. On the first album I wrote about neglected subjects such as suïcide and alcoholism, so I had to think about what to do next. How can I shock the people? But not necessery with lyrics. Also with features, like the folk and pop singers on the second album. The people were crazy about it. My third album is going to be more hiphop. It’s going to suprise them anyway. The people think: it’s going to have soft-pop songs again, and a bunch of features. But no, it’s only me.’ And you want to suprise the people ‘Shock and suprise every time. When I don’t have lyrics from my heart anymore, I’ll stop rapping.’ <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/id/138065"> <img src="http://fast.mediamatic.nl/f/sjnh/image/954/138065-400-266.jpg" height="266" width="400" alt="" title="P &amp; L"/> </a><a title="Click to get a larger image - P & L - Mediamatic.net" href="/page/138065/en">P & L</a> -Taken at <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/page/130706/en">Bardot Proviant Klub</a> exhibition, from 16 January - 28 February 2010 at Mediamatic. Why do you want to suprise and to shock? ‘Just for my personal amusement. So that I can laugh: do you think I’ll do that again after I have done it? Every time I want to renew myself.’ What is most important for you in a song? The lyrics, the rhythms or the melodies? ‘I have to find a subject that no rapper ever wrote about. A good example is "Veneria", a song about venerial diseases. In the song I go the doctor and pull my pants down, while he puts a swab in my dick. You can actually hear it when I am yelling. I want to make music like Notorious B.I.G.: that you can close your eyes and can relate to the lyrics. We have got a problem with sexual diseases in Greenland, and I am just writing down my own experience. So somebody will relate to the song and laugh. People don’t want to look at themselves, that’s why they drink so much. I want to be the mirror, so people can relate to it and start talking about their problems.’ Where do all the problems in Greenland come from? ‘I have a theory: children grew up without their parents and when they were older they didn’t speak about their problems with others. My mother was neglected by her parents, that’s why she neglected me maybe. Now they drink to forget it. I like to help them, but I think that you have to help yourself first before you take my hand. Nearly three years ago we began to talk about suïcide etc. It’s not a taboo anymore.’ So what are you going to sing about on your next album? ‘I came to Nuuk to work there, but there was no place to live. I moved from place to place. Last December I moved into my girlfriends place. I have a steady life now. That’s why I don’t write a lot of lyrics anymore. Everytime I am happy I can’t write, because rap is like soul. I have to find new inspiration, that’s why for the new cd I searched for other people’s stories. When I am happy I don’t want to think about the misery in the past.’ Thomas van Lier http://www.mediamatic.net/id/101108 ARTICLE text 1 http://www.mediamatic.net/id/137728 2010-03-01T14:54:59+01:00 Zoek je financiering voor vernieuwend project? DOEN Pitchers kregen 123.000 euro subsidie

Heb jij een innovatief projectidee? Wil je slim gebruik maken van nieuwe media? Heb je een creatieve manier om nieuw publiek in contact te brengen met kunst, cultuur of erfgoed? Presenteer je idee in 2 minuten tijdens <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/komjeook">Kom je ook?4</a> op 2 maart 2010.

<h3>Voordelen:</h3> - Winnaars krijgen een gratis DOEN Clinic, om hun idee samen met experts uit te werken - Grote kans op subsidie van Stichting DOEN. Deze maand kreeg een DOEN Pitcher 123.000 euro subsidie - Feed-back en aandacht voor je idee - Gratis vrijkaart voor genomineerde pitchers Maak zelf je DOEN pitch aan via <a href="http://www.mediamatic.net/doenpitch">www.mediamatic.net/doenpitch</a>. Of leg je idee telefonisch voor aan Michel of Esther op 020 - 6389901. De deadline voor het indienen van pitch voorstellen is 1 maart 2010 om 09:00 uur. - ARTICLE text 1 http://www.mediamatic.net/id/137104 2010-02-25T09:48:04+01:00 The other side of Egypt Short conversation with Maria Golia, writer of a new history of Egyptian photography

Egyptian writer Maria Golia tells about her new book 'Photography and Egypt', a new history of Egyptian photography that she presented on Sunday the 14th of February 2010.

Maria Golia is in Amsterdam to talk about ‘Photography and Egypt’ (2009), a brand new history of Egyptian photography that is written by her. Golia researched also the images in the book. On a big screen she shows some of the most appealing of them, while telling her story about the misleading role that photography plays in the image that Western people have of Egypt. Maria Golia is a writer and longtime resident of Egypt. She was asked by Reaktion Books London to write ‘Photography and Egypt’ for their series called ‘Exposures’, which is about different aspects of photography. According to Golia it’s too general to speak of a different Egyptian and Western photographic tradition. ‘Certain factors influenced photography’s development in Egypt, like archeology and tourism. Political and economic scenarios affected photography’s use over the last 170 years. But such forces are at work everywhere in different ways. Technical innovations originating in Europe were often tested first in Egypt, since the monuments attracted so many photographers. So you find the same techniques and formats in Egypt as elsewhere, because until the early 20th century, most photographers working in Egypt were foreigners. This changed in the early 1900s especially as Egypt's nationalist movement gained more power.’ Maria Golia quotes the American writer Susan Sontag, who stated that photography acknowledges reality, but does not represent it. Golia: ‘A picture is a deliberate act: you choose what to frame and what to leave out. The viewer sees what you chose, not the whole picture.’ But then the question arises if the Western people have a false image of Egypt, caused by the famous pictures of pharaohs and pyramids. ‘I think that the interplay between photography, archeology and tourism formed an association between Egypt and the past,’ she says. ‘Then as now, people were more interested in Egypt's ancient than in its modern history. When we think of Egypt we think of pyramids, camels, temples, things that tell us little about the place or people.’ Thomas van Lier http://www.mediamatic.net/id/101108 ARTICLE text 1