It's our pleasure to announce the 3rd Upgrade! International
meeting Chain Reaction that will take place in
Skopje, Macedonia from September 11th to 14th, 2008. Growing from
the Upgrade! International community, this event takes the form
of a city-wide digital art and networked culture festival including
exhibitions, screenings, live local and streamed performances
and a program of critical and active lectures and workshops exploring
numerous facets in the field of digital art.
Chain Reaction brings together artists, curators
and art producers from more than 20 cities worldwide (Asia, Canada,
Europe, North America, South America, South Africa, New Zealand).
The artistic program shows current tendencies in the use of hardware
and software development for artistic means. The artists presented
here are the emergent creative force on the international new
media art scene. Some of the works have been part of other exhibitions
and festivals, and others have been created exclusively for this
event. One of the dominant principles that have emerged in this
collection of works is the blurring of the boundaries between
art, cultures, technology and physical surroundings. This blurring
is not about fading out; it is about illuminating and distributing
new kinds of practices. It is about multiple modes of participating,
navigating and deconstructing.
Chain Reaction explores issues of cultural development
and growth in the local region as well as within digital networks.
Exhibiting works and presentations from over 20 cities across
the world, the organizers expect this event to be a catalyst for
dialog, future collaborations and new cultural understanding.
The meeting theme Chain Reaction illustrates
the network itself, the way it works and functions, correlates
and interacts. The Upgrade!International started as a creative
spark that gradually grew into an international group of nodes
influencing each other continually through permanent communication.
The meeting gathers Upgrade! nodes into one core event in Macedonia
and will hopefully cause a positive chain reaction. Upgrade! network
gathers annually or bi-annually, each time in a different city
for a festival by artists who participated in the Upgrade! meetings
around the world.
Upgrade! Boston will contribute How Do You
Take Your Coffee?/Kakvu piješ kafu? -- a public
action in Skopje's Old Bazaar -- by Savic
Rašovic [a.k.a Pirun]
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