NEoN MINI SYMPOSIUM

Prof. Sarah Kenderdine, Prof. James Newman, and exhibiting artists

DISCOVERY POINT & RRS DISCOVERY
Riverside Drive
DD1 4XA

The Mini Symposium offers an opportunity for artists, academics, critics, theorists and practitioners to reflect on the current state of digital and new media art, and the wider theme of the festival. Refreshments and lunch are provided, see below to book your ticket.

Keynote speakers:

Prof. Sarah Kenderdine researches at the forefront of interactive and immersive experiences for museums and galleries. In widely exhibited installation works, she has amalgamated cultural heritage with new media art practice. She is considered a pioneer in the field of digital heritage, digital humanities and big data visualisation.

Prof. James Newman researches, writes about, talks about, and, perhaps most importantly, plays videogames. He has written widely on aspects of videogames and gaming cultures, and his book Best Before: videogames, supersession and obsolescence is the first book dealing with the issues and challenges of game preservation.

Artists/Researchers:

Nicky Bird (UK) and Stuart Jeffrey worked together on the project Heritage Site, on display in the exhibition “Media Archaeology: Excavations” in West Ward Works. Nicky Bird works as an artist, investigating the contemporary relevance of found photographs, the hidden histories of archives and specific sites. Stuart Jeffrey works at the School of Simulation and Visualisation in Glasgow, considering the use of new technologies to create records, analyse, interpret, re-interpret and represent many forms of heritage.

Dr Alice Watterson is a part of the 3DVisLab at DJCAD, developing engaging and dynamic methods for storytelling, visualisation and research of architectural sites. She is an archaeologist specializing in illustration and digital survey currently exploring the use of digital reconstruction as an interpretive tool. Drop by Mary Slessor Square during the week to see the 3DVisLab’s latest work in action.

Elke Reinhuber is a media artist and researcher. Her work deals with different strategies of visualisation and presentation, and explores alternative layers of the here and now with immersive environments and expanded photography. You can see her work, Standard Video, in the exhibition “Media Archaeology: Excavations” at West Ward Works.

Patrick Lichty (USA/UAE) is an animator, media artist, curator, and theorist exploring how media shape our perception of reality as well as the borders between the digital and the material. He is best known for his work with the virtual reality performance art group Second Front, and the animator of the activist group, The Yes Men. His work, Slow Scan Television (A Media Archaeology) is also included in the “Media Archaeology: Excavations” exhibition at West Ward Works.

The Mini Symposium is chaired by Professor Sarah Cook, sometimes new media art historian, a curator with NEoN Digital Arts, Dundee Fellow at DJCAD, and editor of INFORMATION (Documents of Contemporary Art), who will collate the closing remarks with responses from the audience and participants.

With thanks to Emilie Reed for organising and to The Canadian High Commission to the UK for their support.

image: Professor Sarah Kenderdine with a high-resolution detail from one of China’s Dunhuang Caves. Photo: Quentin Jones.