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Leonardo Electronic Almanac                 Volume 9, No. 4
                                            April, 2001
Molly Hankwitz, Guest Editor
Patrick Maun,   Gallery Editor/Curator
Craig Arko,     Coordinating Editor
Michael Punt,   LDR Editor-in Chief
Roger Malina,   LDR Executive Editor

Editorial Advisory Board:
Roy Ascott, Michael Naimark, Simon Penny, Greg Garvey,
Joan Truckenbrod

                         ISSN #1071-4391
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                          |  CONTENTS  |
                          |____________|

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INTRODUCTION

<  This Issue  >
                                  Molly Hankwitz

FEATURE ARTICLES

<  Audience Architectures, Extended Bodies and Virtual Interactive
   Puppetry (VIP): Towards a Portable Software for Empowering
   Performance Interactions >
                                  by Lizbeth Goodman
                                     Stefan Kueppers

<  Recognizing the Poetry of Variables in the Digital Ecology  >
                                  by Richard Loveless

<  Digital Putty, Tactile Navigation  >
                                  by Stefan Kueppers
                                     Will McLean
                                     Andrew Whiting
                                  
<  Identity, Poetry, Memory, Nature  >
                                  by Vibeke Sorensen


ANNOUNCEMENTS

<  Announcing: Complex Systems and Art; ...and Sports...  >
<  Living in Mixed Realities  >
<  Sonic Circuits IX  >
<  Call for materials for the Frank J Malina Archives  >
<  OLATS News  >

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
LEA WORLD WIDE WEB ACCESS
LEA PUBLISHING & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

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                           ________________
                          |                |
                          |  INTRODUCTION  |
                          |________________|

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<  This Issue  >
                                  Molly Hankwitz, Guest Editor


Leonardo Electronic Almanac
Volume 9, Number 4
Introduction

This issue of Leonardo Electronic Almanac presents exceptional
research for creative and responsive technologies in performance,
architecture, environments, tactile learning and the body. Challenged
by the ideas of R. Buckminster Fuller's unfinished programs, the
potentials of interactive architecture and performance interaction
this issue is focused on poetic and communicative demands of
technology's ubiquitous presence in human life and our prospective
abilities to bring these creative tools and spaces into public use.

The papers introduced here were first delivered at the Banff Centre's
conference 'Living Architecture' (September 2000) created by Sara
Diamond.

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                    _______________________
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                   |  FEATURE ARTICLES    |
                   |______________________|

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<  Audience Architectures, Extended Bodies and Virtual Interactive
   Puppetry (VIP): Towards a Portable Software for Empowering
   Performance Interactions >
                                  by Lizbeth Goodman
                                     Stefan Kueppers


Dr Lizbeth Goodman, Director
The Institute for New Media Performance Research School of Performing
 Arts
The University of Surrey Guildford GU2 7XH
Tel: 01483 876502
Fax: 01483 876501
Email:
<l.l.goodman@surrey.ac.uk> (academic)
<lizbethln@aol.com> (global)
<lizbeth@stuckontheweb.com> (productions)
URL: <http://www.surrey.ac.uk/SPA/I.N.M.P.R.>

Abstract:

Lizbeth Goodman wrote and presented a session at the Banff Living
Architectures event based on her ongoing work on the Extended Body
research project of the INMPR, and demonstrated some new ideas arising
from work in progress on a virtual puppetry project developing >from
that larger area of research. Stefan Kueppers of UCL's VR Centre
co-designed the animations for the VIP project and directed the
technical aspects of the presentation. This team has since taken the
work further and begun a more extended investigation into the area of
virtual puppetry, in collaboration with Jakob Segen of Bell Labs and
with the Forkbeard Fantasy and Theatre Musem/Victoria and Albert
Museums of London.
  
As a contribution to the investigation in a shared space and time (the
Living Architectures Conference in Banff in late 2000), this
presentation seeks to disrupt the notion of a body performing in time
and space.


... [Content omitted: Ed.] ...

[Ed. note: the complete content of this article is available at the
LEA website: <http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-journals/LEA/>.]

*************************************************************

<  Recognizing the Poetry of Variables in the Digital Ecology  >
                                  by Richard Loveless

Richard Loveless
Arizona State University and University of Surrey
Email: <loveless@asu.edu>
URL:  <http://www.public.asu.edu/~warren/>

In July of 1991, Loveless became the first Director of the Institute
for Studies in the Arts for the College of Fine Arts at Arizona State
University. The ISA is a premiere trans-disciplinary arts research
institute that has funded over 200 creative projects during his
nine-year tenure as founding director. Research spans the visual arts,
music, theatre, dance and telecommunications with emphasis on
innovation and collaboration within the arts and outward to other
disciplines. Collaborations involve scholars in Architecture,
Engineering, Anthropology, Archeology, Geology, Medicine, Political
Science, solid-state Science, Computer Science, Cell Biology and
Education. The emphasis is on challenging the artist to engage digital
media technologies in creative ways to extend their reach into wider
spheres of scholarly influence in the coming century. In July 2000,
Loveless retired from ASU and was re-appointed Professor Emeritus for
the College of Fine Arts where he convenes two interdisciplinary
graduate seminars annually on Creation and Collaboration in the
Digital Reality. He also serves as Visiting Senior Lecturer/Research
Fellow for the Institute for New Media Research, University of Surrey,
the United Kingdom. Through the appointment at Surrey and his private
consulting firm Global Connections: Consulting Services in Art and
Technology he consults with five art and technology institutes in the
European Union.

Abstract

In this paper Loveless explores Buckminister Fuller’s notion that man
has been given the capability to alter and accelerate the evolutionary
transformation of the physical environment and thereby induce other
men to subconsciously alter their ecological patterning. In support of
these ideas, Loveless describes two research projects; one by
architects Scott Murff and Terry Surjan titled "Evolutionary
Dwellings," and the other, "Smoke and Mirrors," by Philip M. Jones,
Ralph Lemon and Katherine Milton. These projects were funded by the
Institute for Studies in the Arts at Arizona State University, where
Loveless was the founding Director.


... [Content omitted: Ed.] ...

[Ed. note: the complete content of this article is available at the
LEA website: <http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-journals/LEA/>.]

*************************************************************

<  Digital Putty, Tactile Navigation  >
                                  by Stefan Kueppers
                                     Will McLean
                                     Andrew Whiting
           
Stefan Kueppers MArch. Dip.Arch. Researcher
VR CENTRE
THE BARTLETT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
1-19 Torrington Place - Gower Street - London W1CE 6BT
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7679 1811
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7813 2843
URL: <http://www.vr.ucl.ac.uk>

Stefan Kueppers is an architect and researcher in the VRCentre at the
Bartlett Postgraduate School, University College London working on
collaborative virtual environments.He studies spatial behavior
patterns in shared physical and virtual environments. His interests
lie in the generative aspects of hybrid intelligent information
environments, their application in group interaction and augmented VR
technology. He is considering the role of knowledge management systems
of spatial use patterns and their impact on designing real and virtual
environments. He has worked on a wide range of building projects and
has also been managing IT-systems for design support in practise and
academia.

Digital Putty, Tactile Navigation

Authors: Stefan Kueppers (UCL)
Will McLean (UCL/ U.Westminster)
Andrew Whiting (Pringle Brandon Architects)

Abstract

Digital Putty is a model for a conversational interface to encourage
learning and dialogue between users and their environments through
experimentation, play and exchange. The aim is to create a new design
tools that are linked to specific sets of virtual environments. These
devices are designed to create a more stimulating dialogue between
abstract exploration within virtual worlds and possible ranges of
actions in the real world generating a broader frame for navigational
experimentation.


... [Content omitted: Ed.] ...

[Ed. note: the complete content of this article is available at the
LEA website: <http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-journals/LEA/>.]

*************************************************************

<  Identity, Poetry, Memory, Nature  >
                                  by Vibeke Sorensen

Vibeke Sorensen,
Artist and Professor
Division of Animation and Digital Arts
School of Cinema-Television
University of Southern California
September 23, 2000
Email: <vibeke@usc.edu>
URL: <http://visualmusic.org/text/MMdoc.htm>

Abstract

The author discusses her recent work in digital art in relation to her
background and identity, focusing on multi-disciplinarity and
multiculturalism. She reviews her thoughts on the poetic and
transformative qualities of digital media, and discusses liquid
architecture, visual music, and her recent collaborative multi-modal
works, Lemma 1 and Lemma 2 of the Global Visual Music Project. She
also reviews her interactive architectural installations, Morocco
Memory II and Sanctuary, which explore relationships between personal
and cultural memories, and incorporate smell and touch in interacting
with the works, and in creating new forms of dynamic, physical-digital
narrative.


... [Content omitted: Ed.] ...

[Ed. note: the complete content of this article is available at the
LEA website: <http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-journals/LEA/>.]

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                           _________________
                          |                 |
                          |  OPPORTUNITIES  |
                          |_________________|

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No new Opportunities this issue.

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                           _________________
                          |                 |
                          |  ANNOUNCEMENTS  |
                          |_________________|

=============================================================
<  Announcing: Complex Systems and Art; ...and Sports...  >

Title: Complex Systems in Life and Art (a one-day program)

Date: Friday, June 8, 2001

Location: Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM

The ways that art describes/manifests the world around us and our
internal worlds are interwoven with the new insights from the study of
complex systems. Understanding art as a language, the historical
development of art, and the creative process itself are all key areas
in which art and complex systems have a common ground. Artists have
also become engaged with the rich dynamic pattern forming and
generative models characteristic of many studies in complex systems.
In this one-day program, we will introduce the basic concepts of
complex systems that are being developed today, consider their
relevance to everyday life, and explore the artistic concepts and
expressions that are being brought to light by these exciting
developments. For further information and registration (subsidized by
SFAI to be $20 for students, $80 for artists/faculty, $200 for
corporate) see: <http://necsi.org/education/sfai.html>.


Title: Complex Systems and Sports (a two day conference)

Date: Friday and Saturday, September 14-15, 2001

Location: Ultramar Express, Barcelona, Spain 

The complex nature of sports can be readily recognized. Nevertheless,
the theory, practice and research methods commonly applied to sports
are based upon classical conceptual frameworks. The recent
developments in complex systems concepts and methods that are being
applied to diverse sciences offer a possibility of studying sports
from a different perspective. This perspective can capture more
closely the nature of sports. This meeting, with contributions from
internationally recognized researchers, will serve as a forum for the
exchange of ideas between professionals interested in Physical
Activity and Sport Sciences for the development of a new theoretical,
practical and research paradigm. For further information, see
<http://www.inefc.es/barcelona/complex.htm>.

*************************************************************
<  Living in Mixed Realities  >

cast01
Email: <cast01@netzspannung.org>
URL: <http://netzspannung.org/cast01>

We invite you to participate in the cast01 conference on intersections
of artistic, cultural, technological and scientific issues of:

LIVING IN MIXED REALITIES 

cast01 Conference on Communication of Art, Science and Technology
September 21-22, 2001 / GMD - Schloss Birlinghoven, Sankt Augustin /
Bonn, Germany

cast01 invites submissions of innovative research, media art practise
and theory. We are looking for ground breaking media art and inspiring
research projects on topics like: Semantic Web, Mixed Reality,
Advanced Interfaces and Future Media Spaces that symbolise the
influence of information technology on patterns of life and work in a
networked society.

Proposed contributions (english or german) may be in the form of
research papers or artistic presentations as well as blueprints and
posters of developing concepts. Researchers, artists, theorists,
practitioners and entrepreneurs are encouraged to submit
interdisciplinary projects and critical reflections on the merging of
the virtual and the real.

Topics:
*  Agents and Narrative Intelligence 
*  Artistic Productions / Mixed Reality Architecture
*  Awareness, Memory Space and Knowledge Discovery
*  Cultural Archives 
*  Distributed Systems and Parallel Architectures for the Web 
*  Hypermedia Formats (XML, VRML, MPEG-4, MPEG-7) 
*  Interactive TV 
*  Mixed Reality Environments 
*  Performative Interfaces 
*  Tracking, Tracing, Vision Systems 

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: May 31, 2001
Notification of acceptance: June 30, 2001 
Camera-ready papers: July 15, 2001 
Early registration deadline: July 31, 2001 (reduced price) 

PROCEEDINGS: Accepted papers and blueprints will be published in the
Conference proceedings. A special issue of netzspannung.org journal of
Art, Design and Innovation Research will be published with cast01
conference best papers.

BEST PAPER AWARD: The best paper, artistic presentation, blueprint /
poster and student presentation will be honored with the cast01 award. 

cast01 is organised by netzspannung.org and by the GMD - German
National Research Center for Information Technology. It is supported
by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (bmb+f) and
by the European Commission. It is hosted by MARS Exploratory Media
Lab: <http://imk.gmd.de/mars>.

*************************************************************
<  Sonic Circuits IX  >

Sonic Circuits IX International Festival of Electronic Music
URL: <www.SonicCircuits.com>

Connect with the circuit:

Composers:

* Be on a CD of tape-works, broadcast around the world;
* Have your score realized by new performers;
* Have your video art seen across the US and abroad;

Performers: 
* Be on a roster and receive invitations to perform live;

Presenters: 
* Produce your own festival eventÑour DIY kit will facilitate your
  programming.

Just send in your electronic musical work (if you plugged something in
to make it, it qualifies Ñ style no object). Selected works will be
promoted to venues and radio stations for one year. Over 230 composers
and artists have been programmed since 1993.

Sonic Circuits, now in its ninth year, is a festival with a
difference; it comprises a caravan of curated works which travels the
world to form the basis for a multitude of events throughout the
season. Any musical works or acts which involve electronic technology
(e.g., works for electro-acoustic tape, live performance with
electronics, video art, new media art, sound art...) may be submitted
for program consideration. The 20-30 selected works are offered to
more than 70 venues across the globe and, in addition, the CD of tape
works is sent to numerous radio stations.

Entries are curated in four categories: Tape: Works intended for tape
(CDR) alone are produced on a run of 1,000 CDs. These are used for
playback at live events, for promotion to radio stations, and are
available worldwide on the innova label; Video: Works for video
(VHS-NTSC) with a strong sound component are compiled and sent to each
venue for projection during live events; Score: Works for instrument
and tape that can be realized from a score. Samples are sent out on
demo tapes so venues with local performers interested in learning the
piece can request performance materials; Live Acts: Works performed by
their creators. Samples and contact info are sent out so venues can
invite you to perform.

Detailed information, all program notes and bios are available from
<www.SonicCircuits.com>.

If you have any kind of performing space, Sonic Circuits is designed
to facilitate your programming the latest in electronic art. Simply
request the no-obligation DIY kit and we will send you the materials
for a program framework which you are welcome to supplement with
locally-produced material. Schools, theaters, lofts, galleries, bars,
construction sites, and courtyards have all been home to
presentations. Minimum requirements: PA system, playback equipment
(video projector and lighting are desireable). Pre-recorded material
will be sent to you in October and you can then check out the work
samples on the web: mix it up with local/student work or live
performers and you have a show. The Sonic Circuits season begins in
November and continues throughout the year. Schedule your event at
your convenience.

Submissions
Please submit one work for:
* Audio (CDR, DAT) or video tape (NTSC format only);
* Work for live performer with electronics; or
* A sample of your own live performance.

Entries will be reviewed by a panel of artists, technically
knowledgeable and familiar with a range of new-media issues and
musical styles.

Eligibility

Open to all artists worldwide. American Composers Forum membership is
not required at the time of application but you are welcome to join,
and selected artists are expected to become members.

Selection Criteria

* Artistic quality of the work.  Sonic Circuits seeks to encourage
  experimental and innovative uses of the particular medium;
* Technical quality of the work.  Skillful use of technology will be
  favored;
* Appropriateness of duration and format. Programming considerations
  often favor works less than 15 minutes duration, but longer works
  will be considered.
* Preference will be given to works that have not yet had wide
  exposure. Inclusion on the Sonic Circuits roster does not
  guarantee every work will be performed.

Postmark Deadline

* July 1, 2001

*************************************************************
<  Call for materials for the Frank J Malina Archives  >

Jocelyne Rotily, Curator
174 Bis, rue Jean Mermoz
13008 Marseilles. France.
Email: <jocelyne.Rotily@wanadoo.fr>
URL: <http://www.olats.org/pionniers/malina/malina.shtml>

Thanks to a grant from the French Ministry of Culture, a web site
dedicated to the work of Frank Malina, the founding editor of
Leonardo, has been opened. Details follow.

We are interested in locating any archival materials, correspondence
and other texts which are relevant to this archive.

We are also interested in any documentation and correspondence
relevant to the first decade of Leonardo from 1965 to 1975.

If you have access to any such archival materials, we would be
interested in hearing from in order to obtain copies that can be
incorporated into the Frank J Malina Archives or can be made available
on line in the Frank J Malina web site.

A Web Site Dedicated to Frank Joseph Malina's Achievements in the Arts
 and Sciences is Presented On-Line:

URL: <http://www.olats.org/pionniers/malina/malina.shtml>

OLATS/LEONARDO (with the financial support of the Ministry of French
Culture) is pleased to announce the creation of a web site dedicated
Frank Malina: Kinetic artist, research engineeer and scientist, and
founding editor of Leonardo.

This web site has been designed to bring to the fore the many facets
of Frank J. Malina's personality, and show the innovative quality of
his accomplishments both in the astronautics and the development of
kinetic arts. It provides a Êgreat variety of material (some of them
have never been published) of scientific and artistic nature. ÊAmong
them are:

- An illustrated biography referring to the most important episodes of
Malina's life: his childhood in Czechoslovakia; his departure for the
United States where, after entering GALCIT, he gained an international
fame with the development of WAC Corporal, the first operational
American high altitude rocket. Other information can be found about
his career at the Unesco (Paris), the troubles he endured during the
MacCarthy's years, and his many activities in the art world as a
kinetic artist and as the founding editor of Leonardo.

- A Êvirtual gallery dedicated to Frank Malina's artwork: with a
selection of 50 works, the exhibition is an overview of the artist's
contribution to op'art, and kinetic art. Comments by Frank Malina
himself give a deeper insight into the artist's process of creation.

- Bibliographical data including: works by and on Frank Malina.

- An un- published monograph on Frank J. Malina by Frank Popper:
Frank Malina, Artist and Scientist : Works from 1936 to 1963

Frank Popper's monograph on Frank Joseph MALINA is now published in
OLATS. In this monograph, ÊFrank J. Malina is defined as a highly
original artist who operated some Ç radical innovations È in the
domain of kinetic art.

- A conversation of Frank J. Malina with the artists Gorin, Xavier De
La Salle, and Cesar Domela. Significant matters are discussed such as:
art and the expression of spirituality, contemporary architecture and
its evolution towards "the biological development of structures,"
representational art versus abstract art, etc.

- A whole section untitled "Testimonies and Memories" which is a body
of texts written by personalities who were part of Frank Malina's
life; it includes: A Homage to Frank Malina by his son Roger F. Malina
as well as a "portrait" of Frank Malina -artist and scientist - by the
art historian Pauline Koffler.

- And there is more to discover at the following address:
<http://www.olats.org/pionniers/malina/malina.shtml>.

*************************************************************
<  OLATS News  >

Pioneers & Pathbreakers: notice about John & James Whitney
by Philippe Langlois
<http://www.olats.org/pionniers/pp/whitney/whitney.shtml>

Between special effects and VJ, the electronic culture is now
diffusing everywhere. Time has come for this notice about the Whitney
brothers, who renewed the visual language, the relationship between
sound and images and created amazing technical devices to serve their
art.

Pioneers & Pathbreakers: notice about Oskar Fishinger
by Philippe Langlois
<http://www.olats.org/pionniers/pp/fischinger/fischinger.shtml>

In 2000, we celebrated the hundred anniversary of the birth of Oskar
Fishinger. This artist, still relatively unknown by mainstream
audience, is one of the key master of visual music, a true pioneer in
the field of animation techniques.


New on Virtual Africa
<http://www.olats.org/africa/nouveautes.shtml>

Within the "Spirit and Power of Water" Project:
 * "Portraits of the Himba " by Karin Retief
 * Iba Ndiaye, an artist of Senegalese origin, who is presenting today a
   series of paintings untitled "Paysages du Sahel."
 * Elisabeth Piotelat, French engineer et member of the SETI (Search
   for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence), " Le Reflet des Žtoiles a la
   surface du point de l'eau"
 * Jonathan Zilberg, an American anthropologist, "Shona Sculpture and
   Shona Culture: The Water Spirit"
 * Bob Gluck, American composer, pianist and educator; music piece
   "Jonah Under the Sea" (1997)
 * Cynthia Rubin, American electronic artist, interactive piece
   "Jonah's Memories"
 * "I Have a Drum", an interactive installation imagined by Philippe
   Monvaillier.
 * The "Natural Order of Things" by Colette Gaiter 

In the "Arts and Sciences" Section: Jean Pierre Rossie's presentation
of his recent book: "Toys, Culture and Society. An Anthropological
Approach with Reference to North Africa and Sahara."


4 - Lawsuit against Leonardo still pending
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo/isast/lawsuit.html>

The lawsuit by Transasia against the non profit arts group Leonardo
has not yet been resolved and will not come to trial until late April
2001. The matter continues to consume large amounts of our energy and
resources.

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  ___________________
 |  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS  |
 |___________________|

=============================================================

LEA and Leonardo/ISAST gratefully acknowledges Al Smith and The Malina
Trust for their support of Leonardo Electronic Almanac.
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The LEA Word Wide Web site contains the LEA archives, including all
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Publications, Opportunities and Announcements. It is accessible using
the following URL: <http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-journals/LEA/>
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Editorial Address:

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Tel: (612) 362-9390
Fax: (612) 362-0097
Email: <lea@mitpress.mit.edu>
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Copyright (2001), Leonardo, the International Society for the Arts,
Sciences and Technology

All Rights Reserved.

Leonardo Electronic Almanac is published by:

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Reposting of this journal is prohibited without permission of
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_____________________________________________________________
<  Ordering Information  >

Leonardo Electronic Almanac is free to Leonardo/ISAST members and to
subscribers to the journal Leonardo for the 2001 subscription year.
The rate for Non-Leonardo individual subscribers is $35.00, and for
Non-Leonardo institutional subscribers the rate is $50.00. All
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Individuals and institutions interested in advertising in Leonardo
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<  End of Leonardo Electronic Almanac 9(4)  >
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