April 10, 2007
Maxwell City: an artistic investigation into the electromagnetic urban environment
call for workshop participation
Maxwell City: an artistic investigation into the electromagnetic urban environment :: Two consecutive workshops: Workshop I: Wednesday 9th of May - Saturday 12th of May; Workshop II: Wednesday 30th of May - Saturday 2nd of June :: Where: Atelier Nord Lakkegata 55D N-0817 Oslo :: Directors: Erich Berger and Martin Howse; Guests: Armin Medosch, Honor Hager :: Participation is free of charge :: Application deadline: Friday 13th of April :: Send applications with CV and motivation to sense[at]anart.no
In 1864 the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell presented a set of mathematical equations to the Royal Society. These equations which are now known as Maxwell.s equations describe the behaviour of electric and magnetic fields and their interaction with matter - electromagnetism. Maxwell showed that his equations predict waves of oscillating electric and magnetic fields that travel through empty space - electromagnetic waves.
Almost 150 years later, the practical applications of Maxwell's mathematics are deeply and indispensably entwined with our everyday lives. Radio, Television, Mobile phones or wireless networks, all are based on wireless data and information transmission utilizing electromagnetic radiation as a medium. Every wire, cable and electrical device leaks electromagnetic waves during operation. The electromagnetic spectrum which is the range of all possible electromagnetic radiation is a hotly fought over private, commercial and political territory.
Every city with its uncountable electric facilities, devices, senders and receivers has an unknown and invisible man-made twin; the Maxwell City. It is an alien kind of architecture and landscape composed from the electromagnetic emissions of its substantial sibling; a truly spectral double resonating across bodies, vehicles and an architecture of embedded conduction.
Maxwell City is an artistic investigation into electromagnetic substance within the city of Oslo and its surroundings. Naturally these investigations will happen in the city itself, including possible originating artworks, situations or interventions. Short lectures, presentations and discussions within the group will provide the workshops with the necessary theoretical and practical background. Maxwell City is interested in both the theory and praxis of electromagnetic waves, politics of technology and the electromagnetic spectrum, electromagnetic waves as artistic material, artistic strategies in the urban environment, invisible and alternate realities and how to make these perceptible.
Participating artists do not need to have practical or theoretical knowledge about the electromagnetic spectrum. They need to bring a keen interest to work as a group with unusual artistic material within the urban environment. As the workshops build upon each other it is preferable to participate in both workshops.
Further information about the workshop, the content, the directors and guests is available at: http://anart.no/projects/maxwell-city/
Posted by jo at April 10, 2007 08:55 AM
