Italian version
Ê .art
27.03.03 Version 3, Technotopia vs. Technopocalypse.
After last year's edition, dedicated, with a fair amount of forethought, to the 'digital commons', the digital art festival named 'Version - Technotopia vs. Technopocalypse, exploring the multitudes of technology / activism / arts and culture' opens on March 26 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Keeping the same radical spirit which marked the first edition, it will once again discuss themes and techniques regarding activism and the creation of art. Among the debates there will be 'The Future History of Biotech', which will start from a hypothesis on a future ridden with fatal illnesses caused by genetically modified food, Paul Davies' suggestion to reuse computers as old as 486s and more, now doomed to obsolescence or to become a source of pollution, for controlling interactive sculptures and conferences on 'tactical media' supervised by Geert Lovink, Vacuum Cleaner and Joanne Richardson of the Subsol project. The schedule of the film shows features 'Eye of the Storm', a short films programme by Indymedia Argentina, 'SupaWhite', digital audio and video clips on racism, class struggles, globalism and popular culture by Paul Lloyd Sargent, the work 'Horror of Advertising', by Conglomco.org, an interactive video where TV ads and horror film sequences are mixed in a simulated bloodbath. There will also be a non-stop performance by Office of Fatherland Defence (OFD) and their Total Surveillance project, which will show to the visitors the recordings taken by the surveillance cameras installed in the halls. A considerable space will be dedicated to lowtech 8-bit culture, with Carbon Defense League offering their experience on musical reprogramming of Gameboys, Beige's worshop on Nintendo cartridges hacking techniques and the 2003 Cassette Jockeys (audio cassette DJs) world championship, also organized by Beige. Finally, a DVD containing a collection of independent videos and a music compilation will be presented, and the visitors will be encouraged to copy and share them freely!