Xindanwei | 新单位 A new way of working | 一种新的工作方式

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Lecture and film play presented by Linda Lai and Hector Rodriguez at School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong
Time: 15:00-18:00 Saturday July, 17th

Cost:free

Host:Linda Lai
“Meditations on a Minor History” Part 1 – VOICES SEEN, IMAGES HEARD

11.2009 / Hong Kong / 27m 58s / PAL / aspect ratio 3:4 / color + b/w / Stereo sound A Linda Lai video

Synopsis: A historian, also an interdisciplinary artist, engages in a self-dialogue of how to write the history of her city, Hong Kong. Drilling the disparate mines of sights and sounds, she re-examines the power and limitation of ocular epistemology, which favors visual perception as the dominant form of knowing. As she makes her way through the scanty and homogenous visual documents available, she re-imagines a city that has a precarious history of holding onto its look or preserving its architectural integrity at the interest of real estate development. In response, she re-constructs a visual essay that is also a collage of lost surfaces and shadowy fragments of existence. Her meditation leaves open the potential meanings of each of the sight-and-sound fragments that seem to have spoken to her, asking how feasible it is to access the past.

Artist’s Statement:

Voices Seen, Images Heard is a work of experimental visual historiography based on visual ethnography. I have always been an earnest image-collector – photos, newsreels, movies with real location shots, drawings, found texts and graphics. I attend especially to the less noticeable details of these found objects, and I realize there’s a lot to the ‘surfaces’ of things handed down to us from the past. I naturally find collage a powerful artistic form and strategy, and have adapted it to videography. In the process of it, one intriguing creative problem is how to embed still images in a video work; the other is what to do with available fragments that do not immediately form a rationail whole. What I have done in Voices Seen is to liberate the fragments of found sounds and images from the domination of discourses, juxtapose them with my own video diaries, to let each fragment speak and perform to us.
 Voices Seen is the first of a series meditation notes in the form of video essays on the thought process of a historian attempting to re/un-cover the lost sights and sounds of a city whose ‘appearances’ constantly ‘disappear’ by the logic of progress and development. I have been driven by a strong desire to ‘see’ and ‘hear’ for myself… What did people look like? Who walks on the street? How did they talk? What did they sound like? In the light of phenomenological thinking, I highlight the historian’s desire to gain access to, and the impossibility of sensual perceptual dwelling in the past — even in the presence of a huge archive! The irony is – a lot of the Cantonese sounds I’ve found are not comprehensible to me. I look at them and listen – much like a stranger in the midst of a foreign tongue.

BIOGRAPHY:

Linda Lai is a Ph.D. in Cinema Studies (NYU), currently Associate Professor at The City University of Hong Kong’s School of Creative Media, and Leader of Critical Intermedia Arts. She is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and founder of the new media art group The Writing Machine Collective (2004.7) and interdisciplinary art platform The Floating Projects Collective (2010.2). Her works have a strong concern for how language moderates our access to reality, subtly grounded in a feminist sensibility that integrates critical theory, film theories and auto-visual ethnography. Her digital works have been shown in the Hong Kong Art Biennial and funded exhibitions. Her videos often challenge genre boundaries and experiment with found footage, compilation, collage, image-text relations, soundscape, and micro/meta-narrativity. Her video works have been shown in Oberhausen, Barcelona, Paris, Birmingham, Hamburg, Berlin, Vienna, Athens (Ohio), Sydney, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Kuala Lumpur, New Delhi, Seoul and Hong Kong. She has developed an intimate image style that reflects her broader interest in history and cultural studies.
http://sweb.cityu.edu.hk/smllai (personal website hosted at City U, HK)

http://floatingprojectscollective (The Floating Projects Collective)

http://writingmachine-collective.net/news.html (The Writing Machine Collective)

Host:Hector Rodriguez
Generative Image Creation Method Using Optical Flow

There is a tradition of contemporary art that aims to break away from preconceived goals. The aesthetic form and order of the work no longer precede the means or techniques employed. Instead of starting out with a predefined idea of the final outcome, artistic work unfolds as the experimental exploration of a set of technical operations.

The artist starts out by choosing one or more computational procedures (algorithms) without making any assumptions about the aesthetic possibilities that those procedures might be capable of. The working process involves treating the chosen algorithm as a black box that must be opened, analyzed, and transformed.

This procedural approach requires opening the digital black box to discover unforeseen effects that can only arise through experimental exploration. The artist thus refuses to regard technology as the transparent conduit of some previously fixed intention. To use the terminology of actor-network theory, technologies now function as mediators rather than intermediaries.

Flowpoints is a series of digital works, mainly videos and prints, which exemplify an experimental and discovery-oriented method of working with media technologies. This presentation outlines the details of this method, explaining how computer science concepts can function as expressive or artistic media while keeping faith with important tendencies of contemporary art. (Rodriguez)

ARTIST’S BIOGRAPHY:
Hector Rodriguez is a digital artist and theorist. His digital animation Res Extensa received the award for best digital work in the 2004 Hong Kong Art Biennial and has been shown in India, China, Germany, and Spain. His game system CoPerspective was a finalist in the Games Meets Graphics competition of the Eurographics 2006 conference held in Vienna. His essays about film theory/history and digital art have been published in Screen, Cinema Journal, and Game Studies, and he has participated in various art and technology conferences. He was Artistic Director of the Microwave International Media Art Festival, where he has also taught workshops on Java programming and organized an exhibition on art and games. He is currently Associate Professor at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, where he teaches courses in Visual Studies, Contemporary Art, Play and Game Studies, Film Theory, Computation, and Critical Theory. He is also a member of the Writing Machine Collective in Hong Kong.

About 3S ReUnion:
An informal cross-disciplinary meeting held monthly in Shanghai by 3S Media Centre, an independent not-for-profit organization for experimentation, research and development in art, social and cultural, economical and political embedding of new media in the urban context. 3S ReUnion is established by culture/creative exchange advocate Liu Yan and new media artist Aaajiao (www.we-need-money-not-art.com), it has now rooted in the broader sense of knowledge sharing, collaborative knowledge creating and creative community building.

for more detail please check:

http://xindanwei.com
http://www.we-need-money-not-art.com/archives/tag/3s-reunion

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香港城市大学创意媒体学院Linda Lai & Hector Rodriguez影片展映及讲座
时间: 7月17日（周六）15:00—18:00
费用: 免费

《史耕、吃茶、翻舊帳》Part 1 / 第一部: 〈看得見的聲音,聽得見的形象〉
主持: Linda Lai
A Linda Lai video 黎肖嫻錄像散文

| 本事 |
一個歷史作者,也是跨界藝術家,用兩個身分進行自我對話,尋根究底,要弄清楚該如何去 書寫自家城市香港的歷史。她勘鑽零星散落的聲、影礦庫,重新檢視以視覺為憑據的知識論 -即以“看見”作為“知道”的主要來源的哲學論點 – 的威力與局限。遍閱分佈各處卻類同的搜 羅得來的視覺材料,她意圖重新想象她的香港。從市容風貌、文物保育的角度來看,這個香 港擁有著流離不穩定的歷史,在地產發展等同社會發展的邏輯下,它不斷被“毀容”再被“整 容”;若歷史要寄存於建築實體才能為人民盛載歷史記憶的話,那香港人恐怕都要失憶了。歷 史/藝術家的回應,一起步就超越了收復、重構的囹圄;她寧願往“碎片”的開發作為策落, 張開碎片的獨立性、自主性,強調影像碎片的“表層”,按其外觀的特質進行抽象拚貼,繼而 作成既展示、描繪,也說明、議論,以電影詩學為陳述軌跡的錄像散文。展示觀者面前的, 是真實存在過的‘此時此刻’,逼真,卻鬼魅婆娑。每一個碎片誘發著無窮的待發的潛在意義, 向著歷史/藝術家招手,而她,就闊然站立於現在,站在過往的邊緣,擁抱過去可觸及卻未 必能再現的狀況,策問:歷史如何參透?

| 藝術家陳述 |
〈看得見的聲音,聽得見的形象〉是一部以視覺民俗誌學為基礎的實驗性的視覺史學論的作 品。我一直是個辛勤的影像收集者,照片、新聞片、老電影中的地方實景、畫作、現成的文 字或圖像檔案,碰到的我都會收集,然後在其中尋找那些微細的小節,在明顯的主題重點以 外找出存活的證據、無聲的意義。我發現,“過去”留給我們的,雖然都是僅可在那些檔案碎 片的表層可偵索的資訊,卻無窮盡,看不完,用不盡。在眾多的美學策略當中,我覺得“拚 貼”是最貼設不過的形式,因為它在方法上強調現成物的表層,具有顛覆、玩弄的意義;而 我,就以拚貼作為錄像書寫的基本文法。在尋找香港過去的影像資料的過程中,由於找到硬 照較多,於是自然而來的難題解決就是如何把不會動的照片變為會動的影話戲。另一個同樣 吃重的問題是,現成找來的材料本身不一定連成系統,或帶任何因果邏輯關係,如何把四方 八面、指向不同的材料放進同一個敘事體?我的解決方法是,釋放眾聲片和影像碎片,讓它 們不再從屬於論述才能供人辨識,也把我個人的錄像日記混進去,讓個別的碎片給我們顯顏 色,向我們演本領。
〈看得見的聲音〉是我的影像歷史默想沈思系列的第一本,為了對過去的可索可追而無法客 觀整合重現的一種態度上的積極的確立。一個不斷整容,過往面貌消失淨盡,向來缺乏文化 物質保留的香港,成為以經驗為本的史論的一項特殊考題。出路可能在於現象學的思維方向 – 就是不能察看全景,觸及根基結構,也希望片斷地用耳聽得見,用眼看得到。她們是甚麼 模樣的?街道上有那些人在走路?他們說話的聲音是怎樣的?談的是甚麼?過去的時空無法 佔據,音容卻仍可撩動我們的感官思維;這是活動影像作兼攬的特性。我聽著找回來的三十 年代的廣東聲帶,興致勃勃,越聽就越覺得自己像外人,模不著頭腦。

主持:Hector Rodriguez
运用光流场创造图像的方法

当代艺术，其目的是打破先入为主的目标。审美形式和工作秩序已不再是之前的技术手段。艺术作品展现了一个技术组操作实验的探索而不是一个预定义的最后结果出来的想法.
艺术家开始时通过选择一个或更多的计算程序（算法）， 而不进行任何有关审美的可能性假设。工作过程包括将所选择的算法当作一个黑盒子，必须打开分析，并转化。
这一程序方法需要打开数码黑匣子发现意外的效果，只能 通过实验探索出现。艺术家从而拒绝把以前的一些固定的意图透明导管技术。若要使用演员网络理论的术语，现在的技术发挥的是中介功能，而 不是调解人。

艺术家的简历：
Hector Rodriguez是一位数字艺术家和理论家。他的数字动画Res Extensa 获得2004 年香港艺术双年展数字作品奖，并已在印度，中国，德国和西班牙展示。他的游戏系统CoPerspective是在游戏图形 进入了欧洲图形学会议在维也纳举行的2006年比赛的决赛。他对与电影理论/历史和数字艺术的论文已在屏幕，电影 杂志上发表，他参加了不同的艺术和技术会议。他是微波国际媒体艺术节的艺术知道，在那里他还教授Java 编程研讨会还举办了一次关于艺术和游戏的展览。他目前是香港城市大学创意媒体副教授，在那里他任 教于视觉艺术，当代艺术，游戏研究，电影理论，计算，批判理论课程。他也是香港写作机的集体成员。

关于三术沙龙:
三术沙龙由独立艺术管理顾问刘妍与新媒体艺术家阿角（www.we-need-money-not-art.com)共同组建。自从2007年四月起，这个 双人团队就开始在上海组织以不同背景和专业创意人员和学生为对象的跨界讨论活动，为的是能够在未来建立一个跨艺术、设计、学术以及新媒体技术领域的非营利 型独立研究开发机构，结合城市中艺术，教育，社会，文化，经济和政治的发展来进行相关新媒体技术的研发与实验。 一年之后，三术沙龙所涉及的内容已经远远超越于新媒体技术与艺术本身，它已经开始更广泛地关注更深远意义上的知识共享、开放式创新与创意社区的建立。从今 年七月起所有三术沙龙活动在“新单位”联合办公空间举行。

如有兴趣了解三术沙龙曾举办过的活动，请访问我们的网上档案：

http://xindanwei.com
http://www.we-need-money-not-art.com/archives/tag/3s-reunion

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