SidebySide Studio : Criticality / Network / Exchange about Value and Crisis

Schizophrenia Taiwan 2.0 Opening | Transmediale 2014 afterglow Official Partner Exhibition | 24.01.2014, 19h - midnight |.CHB

I-WEI LI — 2014-01-23T01:40:25Z

Schizophrenia Taiwan 2.0
January 24 – February 2, 2014
Opening: January 24, 2014, 7 pm – midnight
Collegium Hungaricum Berlin (.CHB)
Dorotheenstraße 12, 10117 Berlin

Opening Hours
Monday – Friday, 10 am – 7 pm
Saturday + Sunday, 2 – 7 pm

Special opening hours
January 24: 10 am – midnight, Media Façade from 6 pm – midnight
January 29 – 31: 10 am – midnight, Media Façade from 5 pm – midnight

Free Admission
The exhibition will be accompanied by an extended events program taking place at .CHB, for more program details: http://www.schizotaiwan.net/Transme...

SideBySide Studio Newsletter 7

I-WEI LI — 2012-03-30T14:11:57Z

Good day from Berlin, Cuba, Andresy and Disney,
Here are the news I would like to share with you in spring 2012:

Kunst Apotheke Salon Session 14: Independent Publishing, 05.05.2012, Berlin, Germany
MAC / SAN in Havanna Biennale, May 2012, San Agustin, Cuba
Creativity and Territory Symposium / Colloque Créativité et territoires, 22.06.2012, Andresy, France
Bambi Hunter - Critical research on Walt Disney
Digibap – VIP: The End of a Great Ambition / la fin d'une belle ambition

Kunst Apotheke Salon Session 14: Independent Publishing
05.05.2012, Alte Finanzamt, Berlin (TBC)

The next Kunst Apotheke Salon will explore the challenges within independent publishing and facilitate the collaborations within chain of independent distribution. The panel will include self-publishing writers, independent publishers, bookstores, and media. This session will also be part of Unendliche festival and mark the launch of Kombinat Literatur Berlin platform.

The goal of KAS is to facilitate critical exchange among cultural workers, in particular to widen strategies to sustain creative practices. For more information about Kunst Apotheke Salon, please visit here

MAC / SAN in Havanna Biennale, May 2012
MAC / SAN (Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de San Agustin) is a Franco-German-Cuban platform that will be launched at the Havana Biennial in May 2012. MAC/ SAN is developed to strengthen and diversify networks on the geographical Europe-Caribbean axis while developing collaborations on the America and the Caribbean axis. The project is an intercultural cooperation focusing on the artistic impact on sustainable development and renewal of economic and political systems implemented on the territory of San Agustin.

MAC / SAN is initiated by the artists Candelario, Erik Göngrich (Germany), Stefan Shankland (France - Switzerland) and Commissioner Aurelie Sampeur (Cuba-France - Germany). In the new development perspective, MAC / SAN wishes to consolidate its recent association with curator Catherine Sicot (France-Canada) and initiate a new commissioner with the I-Wei Li (Germany-Canada-Taiwan) to:

- - reflect on alternative curatorial approaches,
  - offer new territories to apply alternative models,
  - explore funding models contributing to the growth of local economies

Creativity and Territory Symposium / Colloque Créativité et territoires
22.06.2012, Andresy, France

The symposium examines art and nature in relation to the major developments of Greater Paris and river la Seine with support from ville d'Andrésy, Maison Laurentine, Institut Charles Cros, Centre d'histoire culturelles Sociétés contemporaines (Versailles), Maison des Scienses de l'Homme Paris Nord

With following presenters:

- - Alain Chaneaux, directeur de la Culture, Ville Andrésy
  - Pierre Bongiovanni, Maison Laurentine
  - Sylvie Dallet, Institut Charles Cros
  - Jacky Deneuil, plate forme créativités et territoires
  - Pedro Marzoratti, artiste
  - Rémi Caritey, écrivain
  - I-Wei Li, curatrice (Berlin)
  - Nicolas Bralet, musicien

Bambi Hunter - Critical research on Walt Disney
Simulacrum of innocent childhood and simulacrum of modern savage are two sides of the same story. Disney is a caricature of childhood, so is game hunting as a caricature of wild adventure.

Some dare to hunt the real deer but who dares to kill Bambi?

Since 2008, SideBySide Studio has focused its research on Walt Disney, the ultimate pop culture producer. We don't aim to kill the Bambi but we want to understand the expansion and consequences Disney's soft fascism. We welcome anyone who likes to join us for this adventure.

Digibap – VIP: The End of a Great Ambition / la fin d'une belle ambition
Please scroll down for French version
At the request of A.M.I. (Aide aux Musiques Innovatrices), Marseille, I conceptualized the project Digibap to work on artistic activism and cultural innovation in the crisis time with 12 interdisciplineary ‘VIP's (artist, activist, and researcher) from Brazil, PACA Euro region, West and Central Africa. After the first ‘VIP' session in Rio de Janeiro in December 2011, noticing the incompetence and lack of preparation from the A.M.I. team, I decided to cease all my collaborations with this ‘institution'. For details, please read ‘Why I leave?'

The irony is to see that A.M.I. continued to appropriate my text and use the fundamental concepts that I designed for its own propaganda (both without giving any credits to my authorship).

A.M.I.'s innovation is Canada Dry and its advertising slogan could be:

"A.M.I. looks like innovation, it's as exciting as innovation … but it is not the real innovation."

À la demande de L' A.M.I. association de Marseille, j'ai conceptualisé le projet Digibap ("travailler sur l'activisme artistique et l'innovation culturelle en période de crise") avec 12 "VIP" (artistes, activistes et chercheurs) originaires du Brésil, d'Afrique et d'Europe.

Après la première «VIP» session de Rio de Janeiro en Décembre 2011, compte tenu de l'incompétence et du manque de préparation de l'équipe de l'AMI, j'ai décidé de cesser toute collaboration avec cette «institution». Pour plus de détails, lire: «Pourquoi je pars?"

L'ironie, c'est de voir que A.M.I. continue à s'approprier mes textes et utilise les concepts fondamentaux que j'ai conçu pour sa propre propagande (sans me créditer explicitement d'ailleurs).

A.M.I. est le Canada Dry de l'innovation et son slogan publicitaire pourrait être:

"A.M.I. ressemble à de l'innovation, c'est aussi excitant que de l'innovation ... mais ce n'est pas de l'innovation."

SideBySide Studio Newsletter 6

I-WEI LI — 2011-09-27T21:06:36Z

Greetings from Istanbul, Vallée de l'Aube et de l'Aujon, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Taipei, Bamako, Rio de Janerio, Dakar and Marseille,

Recently artist R. asked me: “Why do you use ‘we' instead of ‘I' when you talk about your work? It's better for your career if you keep the credit to yourself.”

From Me to We, literally speaking, the letter M is replaced by the letter W. I notice W is like turning M upside down

Working and thinking with others means to share and overcome differences. In the process, one needs to put into other's shoes which might feel like being turned upside down but empathy and openness are absolutely necessary.

In the time of crisis, sharing with others is not a gesture of charity. It is necessary for survival.

Newsletter content:

Open call for DigiBAP VIP (Very Important Person for Values, Innovation, and Perspective), Brazil, West and Central Africa, and Euroregion Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA), Rhône-Alpes, Piemont, Ligurie and Val d'Aoste
Critical Perspectives on Economies of Art Today, ISEA 2011, Istanbul
d'abord les forêts… / opus 2, Vallée de l'Aube et de l'Aujon
藝術,科技,自然與社群實踐, Kaohsiung, Taipei
"Do it yourself"-‐ Fablab ? quels enjeux en Afrique ?, Pixelini, Bamako
Borders, Risk and Friendship – analysis of Lucas Bambozzi's video work

Open call for "VIP" - Very Important Person for Values, Innovation, and Perspective

An A.M.I production, supported by Region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Institut Français.
In parntership with Alliances Françaises of Brazil and Kër Thiossane (Dakar)
Under the artistic direction of I-Wei Li (SideBySide Studio)

“VIP” is for artists (multi-media, cyber, sound, video, visual, environmental or performance), who are not afraid to dream in the crisis time.
“VIP” is for activists (community-based, urbanists, hackers, open source developers) who are willing to think globally and act locally.
“VIP” is for researchers (artificiel intelligence, cognitive science, interactive robotic, biological or genetic engineering, citizenship journalism) who want to share cross-disciplinary conversations.
“VIP” is for the local inhabitants in Brazil, francophone Africa, and EU region (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Piémont et Ligurie).

Content Keywords: Gambiarra, improvised solution, artistic intervention, material re-appropriation, reflective transformation, specific necessity, immediate reasoning, momentary circumstance, meta-recycling, logiciels libres, sustainable consumption, creative activism.

Through the 8 day open-lab-module, we gather “VIP”s in the same place, providing various technological resources, food and board, and full liberty to experiment and create around the clock 24-7. Our lab is mobile with artists from three continents. Participants are entitled to symbolic honorary and travel expenses will be covered.

The final objective of these exchanges is to present innovative artworks with social significance during "Marseille-Provence 2013, European Capital for Culture" in the frame of MIMI Festival. To be our “VIP”, please follow our application guideline.

Do you want the first- hand experience of South America, Africa, and Europe?

Do you want to expand your network in Brazil, Senegal, and France through local connections?

Are you ready to take risks?

With all the crisis around the world, do you believe art can still form a new position or even create a new vision?

Are you tired of thinking and working alone?

Are you open to new ideas and critical feedback?

Can you work with others?

Are you ready to share your competence with others?

Are you flexible enough to adapt new challenging working conditions?

Do you have good sense of humour?

Are you available through 02-10.12.2011, 21-31.01.2012, and March 2012 (to be confirmed)?

Are you born or based in Brazil, francophone Africa, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA), Rhône-Alpes, Piemont Val D'Aoste and Ligurie regions in Europe?

Are you fluent in Portuguese (Brazil), French, Italian, or English?

Are you over 18?

Do you have a valid passport till 2013?

If your answer is YES, this open call is for you!

The application is available in English, French, and Portugese. For more details, please visit Project 4: Digibap - Open Call for 'VIP' - Very Important Person for Value, Innovation, and Perspective

Critical Perspectives on Economies of Art Today, ISEA 2011, Istanbul
Welcome to ARTOUT - the first artist escort service in the history of art! by I-Wei Li and Anton Koslov Mayr
Workers of the Future at the Frontier of a Pivotal Work: Innovation at Work by Marie Michele Cron
Laborers of Love/LOL: Behind the Scenes by Stephanie Rothenberg and Jeff Crouse
Digital Art and Culture After Industry? by Soeren Bro Pold
Ten years AFTER by Franck Ancel

The panel took place on 16.09 at Sabanci Center, here are some of the comments and questions from the audience:
“If your artist escort made baby with your client, will you also charge commission?”
“After our debate, it seems we cannot escape from the capitalist model, what is the future of art?”
The irony you use for your project is successful
“We want to provocate a debate in this panel, I am glad we have chosen your project, it's the right choice.” ISEA2011 program committee

d'abord les forêts… / opus 2, Vallée de l'Aube et de l'Aujon
03.07 - 25.09.2011
La Maison de Laurentine, Vallée de l'Aube et de l'Aujon, France

Concerning the relationship and territory between humanity, animalism, domesticity, monstrosity, and normality. This manifestation features over 120 artists from 20 nationalities.
SideBySide Studio invited following artists for Le Parcours artistique des vallées de l'Aube et de l'Aujon and L'Exposition Invisible.

Etienne Allaix, France (photography)
Felipe Barros, Brazil, (video)
Alberto Lastreto, Uruguay, (video)
Anton Koslov Mayr, Russia, (photography)
Reretan Pavavaljung, Taiwan (installation)
Nitjan Takivalit, Taiwan, (sculpture)

For more information, visit La Maison de Laurentine

藝術,科技,自然與社群實踐, Kaohsiung, Taipei
27.09.2011, 16:30-18h
(NKNU) Graduate Institute of Interdisciplinary Art / 跨領域藝術研究所

28.09.2011, 18:20 - 21h
國立台灣大學建築與城鄉研究所

I will give 2 lectures on Art, Technology, Nature in relation to community based practices. The talk will focus on D'abord les forets.. Opus 2 festival. In addition, I will visit different artist residencies and cultural institutions in Hong Kong and Taiwan to further the Asian emerging and aboriginal artist exchanges.

居民在面對作品時僅僅是被動的觀眾?
藝術只是一個擴充我們休閒情趣的特殊存在嗎?
而自然之於藝術又能提供什麼創作能量?

''自然與森林藝術節(D'abord les forets.. Opus 2)於香檳區及勃艮地交界處,將法國中北部一個偏遠老化的農村做為美學實驗的基地, 在即將成立的Frorêt de Feuillus en Plaine國家公園裡,試圖回應這些課題:探討土地,自然,社群與藝術之間的關係,並涉及在地資源的整合,傳統狩獵文化的議題。由六位國際獨立策展人, 邀請120件來自五大洲的作品裝置及藝文演出,涵蓋視覺,表演,音樂,電影,多媒體及表演活動等多元創作領域,除了主題展外, 還規劃:森林裡看不見的展覽(L'EXPOSITION INVISIBLE); 戶外音樂會與居民傳家珍寶募集( LES TRÉSORS DES HABITANTS DES VALLÉES DE L'AUBE ET DE L'AUJON ), 連結了農舍,豬眷,穀倉,車庫,河道,花園,森林,農田,教堂,修院及洗衣坊等多處公共/私人空間,擴展至週圍15個鄉鎮社區和國家森林公園預定地裡不同性格的場域。同時積極串聯起週邊農家與當地藝匠,提供外地藝術家的駐地創作,透過住宿接待與工坊共用,試圖觸發藝術家和在地居民的直接對話,刺激彼此專業與地方資源的交流,開創一種新的社會實踐。

"Do it yourself"-‐ Fablab ? quels enjeux en Afrique ? Pixelini, Bamako
06.10.2011
Palais de la Culture, Bamako.

Benjamin Cadon - Labomédia Orléans
I-Wei Li - SideBySide Studio
Etudiants, informaticiens, électroniciens, passionnés multimédias
Artistes, designers
Artisans locaux

I will present the upcoming DigiBAP project with the focus on the Gambiaharra conceptual research.

Alors que les Fablabs, Hacklabs explosent en Europe, la notion de « Faites le vous même », de bricolage de bidouilage, de rècupèration et de dèbrouille n'est elle pas naturellement dèveloppè par les artisans et les populations en Afrique ? Quels sont les enjeux sociaux, éthiques et économiques pour des Fablab à ce jour encore très rares sur le continent africain ?
Lors de la dernière du festival Afropixel à Dakar, en collaboration avec la FING et avec le soutien de l'Organisation Internationale de La Francophonie, des participants d'Afrique de l'Ouest et d'Amerique du Sud échangèrent sur des projets "faites le vous même" visant à fabriquer des objets et des outils à quelque pour cents de leur valeur habituelle.
A l'occasion de cette édition Pixelini à Bamako, des artistes, amateurs, bidouilleurs, passionnés de multimédias ... poursuivront la réflexion sur la culture du Matériel Libre, du Faites-‐Le-‐Vous-‐ Mêmes

(DIY) sur les intérêts et spécificités pour des projets de "Coopératives du futur" regroupant informaticiens, designers et artistes en Afrique ? Une ballade sera organisée par le collectif Yeta sur le marché des forgerons de Bamako.

Borders, Risk and Friend – analysis of Lucas Bambozzi's video work
Border, Risk, and Friend is an analysis of 3 video works by Brazilian artist, Lucas Bambozzi:

I Have No Words, experimental video, 22', 1999
Do Outro Lado Do Rio, documentary, 88', 2004
The Day Sao Paulo Stopped, short film, 8', 2009

The review will be included in Bambozzi's retrospective exhibition, o espaço entre nós e os outros catalogue. published by LLA, Mexico. To read Border, Risk, and Friend online, please click here.

SideBySide Studio Newsletter 5

I-WEI LI — 2011-01-26T22:06:37Z

Very warm greetings from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Berlin, and Marseille,

Many people asked me about my impressions of South America for the past 2 month, in short, ‘Paradoxes, Gambiarra, and Vast.'
To give few examples, Sao Paulo has Prestes Maia, the largest squatted high-rise building in South America. Meanwhile, the city also faces the highest helicopter traffic control in the world. One can also find a Disney version of contemporary art and botanical center in Brazil at Inhotim.

Gambiarra means make do with everyday creativity, to solve problems with limited or no resources. Check out the Eloisa Cartonera community bookmaking project in Buenos Aires. Also Cao Guimarãe's INMERSIÓN SENSORIA exhibition at Subte, Montevideo.

There are many other contacts and networks such as Continente, BijaRi, and Vivo Arte who have generously shared their knowledge and resources, these heart warming exchanges not only opened my mind but definitely my heart. I am happy to share these contacts with cultural workers who want to expand their projects in South America.

Content:

Creative Incubator Workshop, Rio de Janiero
Between Windows Open Call, Berlin
d'abord les forêts… / opus 2, La Maison de Laurentine, July – October 2011
Breath in Crisis Time Book Project, September, 2011
Kunst Apotheke Salon Session13 – Porno for Women, Berlin, March 2011
Potlatch Professional Meetings, A.M.I., Marseille, 16-25 March, 2011

Creative Incubator Workshop, Rio de Janiero
Creative Incubator workshop was first conducted last November in Rio de Janiero, within 2 weeks, we launched Access online platform for different local community projects. The platform is developed with SPIP open source software by Arscenic.tv and SideBySide Studio, it works best with Safari or Firefox.

There are 3 important features about this platform:

Community platform - it has the capacity to host hundreds or thousands of users.
User friendly interface for multi-media publications – instead of having separate accounts with YouTube, Vimeo, MySpace, or Flicker, users can publish video, audio, image, and text all in one channel without worrying about the file format.
User = content provider = content owner – each user has full autonomy with the copyright, see creative common features on the platform.

Worth noting about the workshop exercise, Secret Place, where participants imagined crisis narrative in relation to a real physical space in Rio. One group proposed the possibility of revolution in different favelas, and in less than 1 week, the war between the police and Nacro dealers broke out and deserted the streets in Rio. When I watched this news on tv, it's like I already knew about it 1 week in advance...

We posted participants' feedback and more workshop information here, http://access.arscenic.tv/media/creative-incubator-workshop/
This first experimentation opened many possibilities for partner institutions and participants, we are excited to share the technology and strategies for international artistic and social collectives for thinking and working together.
Special thanks to A.M.I., Alliance Française, Oï Futoro, Oï Kabum, Vincent Deblock, Darine Ameyed, Anne Roquigny, Baruch Gottlieb, Kyd Campbell, Pierre Bongiovanni, Quentin Drouet, Maria ptqk, Ela Kagel for working together on this workshop.

Between Windows Open Call, Berlin
Jose Luis Borges talked about a red fish swims backwards so the water will not get into its eyes in El libro de los seres imaginarios (The Book of Imaginary Beings), this red fish pops up whenever I am confronted with differences in thinking.
Between Windows attempts to initiate dialogues about and around Latin America through time-based media to see if we can swim backwards together. This 3 day program will be scheduled in the summer 2011 in Berlin. Videos, book-objects, lectures, and other artistic experiments will be accepted by visual artists born or based in Latin America.

d'abord les forêts… / opus 2, La Maison de Laurentine, July – October 2011
Concerning the relationship and territory between humanity, animalism, domesticity, monstrosity, and normality. This manifestation will feature over 120 artists from 20 nationalities and take place around Parc National des Forêts de Feuillus, France.
SideBySide Studio is a curating special program focusing on Taiwanese and Latin American Artists for Le Parcours artistique des vallées de l'Aube et de l'Aujon and L'Exposition Invisible program. For more information, visit La Maison de Laurentine

Breath in Crisis Time Book Project
Wikileaks and recent revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt tell us a clear message - the world has already changed and it continues to change fast. The word ‘crisis' means danger and opportunity at the same time. Together with 5 other international editors, La Maison de Laurentine and SideBySide Studio are preparing a series of book dealing with strategies and creativities in crisis time. The first edition will launch in September during ISEA 2011 in Istanbul. We welcome worldwide inputs.

Kunst Apotheke Salon Session 13 – Porno for Women, March 2011
Next Kunst Apotheke Salon will take place during the International Woman's week in March. Together with Ruby Russell, editor Teller Magazine, we want to investigate ‘Prono for Women', stay tuned for more details.

“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we each exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” - Permanent Food

We also want to expand the curatorial team for Kunst Apotheke Salon in 2011, contact us if you have topics or projects which need medical attention, work in progress also welcome.

Potlatch Professional Meetings, A.M.I., Marseille, 16-25 March, 2011
SideBySide Studio will give public intervention on art, technology, and innovation during Potlatch between 23-25.03.
Knowing Marseille will be the European Cultural Capital in 2013, we look forward to meet different local cultural partners to understand their vision for this project prior 23.03 in Marseille.

SideBySide Studio Newsletter 4

I-WEI LI — 2010-09-06T13:50:45Z

Hello from Berlin, Lisbon, Dortmund, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro!

This summer, besides unearthing the contemporary art scene in Lisbon, I witnessed the ISEA (International Symposium of Electronic Arts) in Dortmund. Starting this week, I will publish various interviews about ISEA on 2010LabTV

Best proposal I heard this summer: Portugal will no longer be the edge of Europe if it becomes a colony of Brazil.
Many Europeans laugh when I told them this remark, in fact, this is not really an understatement if one recognizes the economic potential and political influence in Latin America. Their response also motivates me to initiate a dialogue about the current state in Latin America in future Kunst Apotheke Salon sessions. I am looking for proposals for this topic, please forward this open call to your contacts who are interested in sharing their insights.

Content:

Kunst Apotheke Salon Special Edition: Everyone Is Chinese Tomorrow? Video documentation is now available online
Bambi Hunter, multi-meida installation, in "d'abord les forêts... / opus 1", Maison Laurentine, Aubepierre-sur-Aube.
Kunst Apotheke Salon Session 11, 24.09, Rumbalotte, Berlin.
Politique 0, 1-3.10, Espace Niemeyer, Paris.
“Creative Incubator” workshop, November, Rio de Janiero.

Kunst Apotheke Salon Special Edition: Everyone Is Chinese Tomorrow? Video documentation is now available online.
http://www.sidebysidestudio.net/spip.php?article63

Special thanks to MMX Open Art Venue e.V. and Upgrade! Berlin for their generous support. Chaos Y. Chen, Tao Wang, Vienne Chan, Pauline Doutreluingne, Edward Sanderson, and Stefan Richter for their critical input and openness to make such exchange possible.
Also Thomas Pigache, Cuini Amelio Ortiz, Eker, and Jonathan Gröger for their patience and technical support, it was really a pleasure to work with each of you.
Last but not least, Pablo M. Zerm for sharing his China media headline collection and creating this dynamic debate with me.

Bambi Hunter, multi-media installation, in “d'abord les forêts... / opus 1”, Maison Laurentine , 4.07 – 3.10, Aubepierre-sur-Aube
http://www.laurentine.net/evenement-19/exposition-2010-d-abord-les-forets/article/bambi-hunter-de-i-wei-li

Bambi, Disney symbol of innocent wildlife, is presented in front of the image of freshly killed deer. Simulacrum of innocent childhood and simulacrum of modern savage are two sides of the same story. Just as Disney is a caricature of childhood, so is hunting as a caricature of wild adventure. Some dare to hunt the real deer but who dares to kill Bambi?

Bambi symbole universel de l'innocence inventé par Disney et présenté à côté d'une image de cerf stués et éviscérés quelque part dans les fôrets d'Arc-en Barois. Simulacre de l'enfance innocente et simulacre de l'aventure sauvage contemporaine sont les deux faces d'une même histoire. Il y a des chasseurs pour tuer les cerfs mais qui oserait tuer Bambi?

Kunst Apotheke Salon Session 11, 20-23h, 24.09, Rumbalotte, Berlin.

"No Soul For Sale" was printed on Tate Modern's invitation for its 10th anniversary. Perhaps we are not selling our ‘immaterial labour' (Maurizio Lazzarato) so easily yet we often treat our life as creative projects (Luc Boltanski). Chris Dercon, next director of Tate Modern, describes creative practitioners today as zambies and vampires due to the precarious working conditions we face and endless free services we are willing to offer.

When self-exploitation seems to be the norm as a survival strategy, how is it possible for us to say ‘no'?
Without existential security, what about our ability to challenge?
Has contemporary art been completely absorbed by the thought of political correctness?

Together with Maas Media, we have invited the founder of Artout – professional artist escort service and editor of Luxemburg Journal – Social Analysis and Left Practices for the discussion. In the same eveing, Artout will lunch its first e-book edition.

http://www.maasmedia.net
http://www.artout.org/
http://www.rosalux.de

Rumbalotte
MetzerStraße 9
10405, Berlin

Politique 0, 1-3.10, Espace Niemeyer, Paris.
http://incident.net/theupgrade/politique0/programme/index.php

Conferences / performances by Franco Bifo Berardi, Luc Boltanski, Roland Cayrol, Yves Citton, Ivana Dragsic, Dominic Gagnon, Sophie Gosselin and David G Bartoli, Jodi, Katharina Klotz, I-Wei Li and Pierre Bongiovanni, Matteo Lucchetti, Jean-Marc Manach, Anne Morelli, Antoni Muntadas and Marshall Reese, Fédéric Neyrat, Béatrice Rettig, Timothée Nay and Omnes Efflam, Société Réaliste, Samon Takahashi, Tzuchien Tho, UBERMORGEN, Olivier Voirol, Paul Willemsen, Wunderlitzer. Streamed on selfworld.net room#44.

Installations / screenings / workshop / documentation by Benoît Durandin and Alexandre Xanthakis, Dominic Gagnon, Harun Farocki and Andrei Ujica, Jodi, Jorge Luis Marzo and Arturo “Fito” Rodríguez, Ricardo Mbarkho, Antoni Muntadas and Marshall Reese, Société Réaliste, Le Dispositif (Pacôme Thiellement and Thomas Bertay), Samon Takahashi, UBERMORGEN, Argos selection: Charley Case, Tzu Nyen Ho, Gert Verhoeven.

Politique Zero is organized by Upgrade! Paris, MF editions and RYBN.ORG

Espace Niemeyer - French Communist Party headquarter
2, Place du Colonel Fabien - 75019 Paris
M° Colonel Fabien
Free Entrance

“Creative Incubator” workshop, November, Rio de Janiero. Invited by A.M.I., Alliance Française, and Oï Kabum, I will conduct 2 week workshop on developing critical and digital platforms in Rio de janiero for emerging artists.

SideBySide Studio Newsletter 3

I-WEI LI — 2010-06-24T12:10:28Z

Hallo from Berlin!

Special thanks to MMX Open Art Venue e.V., Upgrade! Berlin, and each panelists in Kunst Apotheke Salon Special Edition: Everyone Is Chinese Tomorrow? We had good turnout, solid discussion and lots interest and feedback, the video documentation will be posted online in near future.

Content:

1. 48 Stunden Neukölln - Message in a Bag, 25.06, Körnerpark Kreativraum, Berlin
2. Art Gets to the People! on 2010LabTV
3. Contexterin in Anti-Jargon online publication

1. 48 Stunden Neukölln - Message in a Bag, 25.06, Körnerpark Kreativraum, Berlin

The project 'Message in a bag' of ara Berlin-Madrid/Emily Pütter is an art investigation of the situations of visual artists in cities. Some of the questions are: How much art does a society need? Under what conditions do the artists live and work now? The answers are on the bags. Further we see film documentations with statements of the artists and hear poetry by A. Bueno, W. Spyra and I.Frischeisen, on Saturday 26th June, 19.30 h.

At the opening on Friday at 20:00 h, I-Wei Li will lead the discussion about the value of art today in relation to the precarious working conditions with participating artists. The discussion will be in English.

For more information,
www.48-stunden-neukoelln.de/2010/highlights.html
www.ara-association.org

2. Art Gets to the People! on 2010LabTV
48 STUNDEN NEUKÖLLN 2010 - "Komplex650"

In this interview, Dr. Martin Steffens, director of 48 Stunden Neukölln, tells us why it makes sense to organize over 700 events in nearly 340 venues within a 48 hour period this year! From 25-27.06, Friday to Sunday (7 pm - 7 pm), everyone who comes to Neukölln in Berlin will be confronted with an array of visual arts, theatre, dance and performance art, readings, guided tours and parties held at nearly every corner.

Here are some key topics we discussed in this interview:

* Started in 1999 with only 25 venues, how did 48 Stunden Neukölln become Berlin's largest art festival today?

* More importantly, why is such non-commercial art festival significant for the district of Neukölln?

* Besides artists' studios, galleries, theaters, and public squares and streets, unusual venues such as parking lot, boat, private apartment, beer brewery, even public toilet have been used for 48 Stunden Neukölln, why and how is this possible for this festival?

* Neukölln is the most culturally diversifed district in Berlin, with over 160 countries migrants, what are the challenges 48 Stunden Neukölln face when working with such culturally diversified inhabitants?

* What is the position of 48 Stunden Neukölln when dealing with the parasitical relationship between culture and regentrification? In other words, what kind of achievements can culture gain or supply in the process of regentrification?

* What is the attitude of the local inhabitants in Neukölln towards the influx of foreigners, especially foreign artists and cultural workers?

* How is current cultural policy related to 48 Stunden Neukölln's founding strategy?

To listen to the interview, www.2010lab.tv/en/podcast/art-gets-people

3. Contexterin in Anti-Jargon online publication

Anti-Jargon is an online publication of the self-educational group 'notions-terms' of Deschooling Classroom project (o^o). Terms such as Procedure, Artistic Immunity Potentiality, Contextual Art...etc are being re-defined and discussed by contemporary cultural workers at this platform.

Contexterin = context + er + in, meaning a female person who aims to generate new context each time in her art practice. I use contexterin as my work title as a strategy to provoke other cultural workers to reflect why we create or produce art. For more details, www.antijargon.tkh-generator.net/category/eng/

SideBySide Studio Newsletter 2

I-WEI LI — 2010-05-13T15:24:39Z

Hallo from Berlin, Paris, Shanghai, and cosmos!

In April, VALU€S performance was invited by Festival Internacional de la Imagen, Manizales, Colombia. We also participated at the IETM (International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts) Spring Planeary meeting in Berlin last month.

Content:

1. Kunst Apotheke Salon Session 7, 20.05.10 at SideBySide Studio
2. What Is Your Plan C? On 2010LabTV
3. Shared Factory/ La Fabrique du commun, 26-28.05.10 at Le Centquatre, Paris
4. Everyone Is Chinese Tomorrow?, 16.06.10 at MMX Open Art Venue e.V., Berlin

1. Kunst Apotheke Salon Session 7

20.05.2010, 20h - 23h
SideBySide Studio
Wildenbruchstr 4, 12045 Berlin

In this session, we will explore the spatial and technological landscape of urban mobility. The impact of influx of international cultural workers on urban development is often coincided with gentrification, how is it possible to find other alternatives to co-exist with the local inhabitants? Also, the relationship between mobility, elasticity, and flexibility - the capability to be transplantable for work is often demanded without saying on cultural workers, how to cope with such loss as a Diaspora?

We are proud to announce the following presentations:

Urban Mobility of Cultural Workers
Camille Boichot – urban geography researcher/PhD student at Paris La Sorbonne University and Viadrina Frankfurter University – Paris/Berlin

Camille Boichot writes about urban organizations and how artists and artistic practices can contribute to change them. She concentrates her work on how to take structural and conjectural urban mobilities of the cultural workers into account and asks about the ways to represent it between an artistic an a scientific way.

MISS
Chun-chi Wang – multimedia artist/lecturer – Taipei/New York/Berlin
www.chunchiwang.de

Since 1997, Chun-chi has created virtual reality environments as an exploration into the perceptual and emotional aspects of real-time 3d technology. In 2000, she created the virtual actor, Hiakru, whose first assignment was to broadcast the latest art news from digital database. She is the recipient of Grand Prize Winner of Taipei Digital Art Festival 2007. Her work was also selected in Taipei Fine Arts Award 2008 and shown widely on the Net and in international exhibitions throughout Europe, USA and Asia. Besides teaching at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei and BIFT Fast-track Culture Curriculum, Bei-Jing, China, she has published two books, the Futurists Guide to the Web (2002) and Softimage Design Guide.

Eunice Maurice and Chun- Chi Wang have both worked and lived in a variety of countries. Drawing from their experiences as women "in-between cultures" whose biographies bridge Asia and the West, their project - Miss investigates how cultural origin shapes and influences collective memories, ideals and desires and the consequent feeling of loss that derive from those experiences. Utilizing visuals, sound, text and spatial movement, Miss is a multilayered performance piece based on the narratives from worldwide participants submitted to the MISS website and also on interviews with women in Germany, the Netherlands and Taiwan, who moved away from their home-countries at different stages of their lives. The participants were involved in creating the performances by sharing ideas, directions, and lines of dialogue that the performances could use and improvise on. This project will not be realized without the assistance of Pei-Wen Liu and I-Fen Tung.

2. What is your Plan C? On 2010LabTV
In April, 2010, IETM (International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts) invited more than 500 cultural operators and performing artists from over 50 countries to find new ways of dealing with crucial conflicts and challenges in our world.

The invitation says: “Having tried Plans A and B, from Capitalism to Communism,... we are now searching for a third way... A Plan C to turn the crisis of this new century into a chance for culture. It is not a contradiction – chaos and creation are close comrades and between cooperation and competition we have to find the right centre.” (Creative Crisis Economy by Dirk Pilz).

Having a long term interest in creating new economic models for sustaining creative practices, I was invited by IETM to participate in their meeting and encouraged to lead a session during the ‘Open Camp'. On 2010LabTV, I have posted four personal interviews with the following people and will conclude with an article – What is my Plan C? about the concept of Plan C in relation to the value chain of artistic thinking and creative process later this month.

Part 1: Mary Ann DeVlieg, IETM Secretary General, Brussels
Part 2: Phelim McDermott, Improbable Theater, London
Part 3: Jochen Sandig, Folkert Uhde, Bettna Sluzalek, Radialsystem V, Berlin
Part 4: Bernhard Vierling, Consulting Arts and Friends, Berlin

3. Shared Factory/ La Fabrique du commun, 26-28.05.10 at Le Centquatre, Paris
I will participate at the Shared Factory/ La Fabrique du commun from 26-28.05 at Le Centquatre, Paris.

4. Everyone Is Chinese Tomorrow?, 16.06.10 at MMX Open Art Venue e.V., Berlin
Kunst Apotheke Salon Special Edition - Everyone Is Chinese Tomorrow?
16.06.2010, 20h – 23h
MMX Open Art Venue e.V.
Linienstr. 142/ 143, 10115 Berlin-Mitte

After the fever of World Expo in Shanghai, everything about China seems to be associated with ‘ the biggest', ‘the tallest', or ‘the largest' in the world. Besides reading about China's massive urban development and unstoppable economic growth in the media, when is the last time you have the chance to be in real conversation with the Chinese?

Continuing with the critical spirit of Kunst Apotheke Salon, we will explore the love - hate relationship between the Occident and China at MMX Open Art Venue e.V. in Berlin. We have invited Chinese journalist, economist, and cultural activists to tell us what they want us to know about modern China. The dialogue will extend with stories, debates, and questions from European experts and cultural operators who have worked in China , to further investigate the possibility for China to shift its economic force from consumer production to immaterial value system.

Everyone Is Chinese Tomorrow? is initiated and produced by SideBySide Studio, in collaboration with Transmediale and MMX. Special thanks to Up Grade Berlin! and Tao Wang for their generous support.

For more details about the programme, visit Everyone Is Chinese Tomorrow?

SideBySide Studio Newsletter 1

I-WEI LI — 2010-03-09T23:57:00Z

Hallo from Berlin!

It is a real pleasure to introduce the first edition of SideBySide Studio Newsletter! Special thanks to Arscenic for sharing the technology. Feedback is always welcome.

Content:
Next Kunst Apotheke Salon 18.03.10 at SideBySide Studio
The WAVE Forum and future sessions in Paris, Ljubljana, and Reims.
VALU€S in Transmediale 10 and online interactive performance
kisskillkrisis via Facebook and Twitter

Next Kunst Apotheke Salon 18.03.10 at SideBySide Studio

In this session, we will reflect on issues related to art and environment with emphasis on the values generated in social and cultural activities:

What are the relationships between the cultural production and the business strategies of branding? What are the implications of blending or erasing the divide between the arts and the purposes of branding in private and public spaces?

We are proud to announce the following presentations:

Limbus Europae
Bernd Richter – artist / event organizer – Berlin
Etienne Allaix – artist / event organizer – Berlin

Limbus Europae was initiated in October 2009 by two artists, Bernd Richter and Etienne Allaix, who had no curatorial experiences and who would never have thought to organize such events. The idea was to show ephemeral art, that's why each episode only lasts for four hours. That is to say, the invited artists create site specific works especially for this evening: they work so much for themselves as well as for the audience. Limbus Europae has no connection with any economical purpose, nothing is to be sold, no entry fee, no advertising, nor luminous signage on the door, everything is through word of mouth.

www.limbus-europae.de

Mysterious anti-war monument
Candice Novak – Journalist – Berlin, Hawaii
Tim Pinault – photographer – Boston

Candice Novak writes about culture, history, politics and business and anything that mainstream news sources aren't covering. Born and raised in Hawaii, Candice studied art history, literature, German and journalism.

Tim Pinault manages a visual arts lab at the University of Massachussetts, Boston. Tim is braving the ridiculous weather of New England while working on the art of collodion photography – a 19th century photography process involving metal-plate negatives and lots of quasi-illegal chemicals. Tim, born and raised in New Hampshire, has his Bachelors in Fine Arts in Photography.

Tim and Candice - partners in live, art, crime and other things – recently discovered a secret anti-war monument in the no-man´s land of the once Berlin Wall-border area now under siege of condo-building contractors. They are interested in comparing the politically-endorced monuments in the history-thick area with the unofficial one they found.

www.candicenovak.com

Social Design Tao Wang – researcher / consultant – Berlin

Tao Wang joined socialdesignsite/Segroup (Systemic Excellence Group) in November 2009 as a researcher. He's responsible for strategic development and controlling of the project. He studied history and strategic management and gained experiences in consulting industry. Tao Wang is interested in business development and fundraising for social entrepreneurs.

www.SEgroup.de

Visual thinking Anna Lena Schiller – graphic artist - Berlin

After having spent three years at The KaosPilots, a Danish university for creativity and social innovation, Anna Lena Schiller started up her own business that encompasses multiple disciplines of visual thinking. She specializes in graphic recording, infographics and visual facilitation. Anna Lena has worked with companies ranging from international businesses to small start-ups, as well as freelancers and NGOs.

www.annalenaschiller.com

2. The WAVE Forum and future sessions in Paris, Ljubljana and Reims.
After receiving feedback from The WAVE Berlin panelists and great interest from the audience, we sense the need to continue our discussion. Now, the WAVE Forum has been initiated online so the discussion will not be limited by physical space and time and the questions raised in each session will echo to the next panel and circulate back to the participants. This forum will also serve as a platform to link the panelists and audience participated in different sessions.

For WAVE Forum, click here
For WAVE Berlin documentation, click here

We are in the process of finalizing the programme for The WAVE in Paris, Ljubljana and Reims in 2010.

3. VALU€S in Transmediale 10 and online interactive performance
After performing VALU€S at Transmediale 10, many cultural workers around the world are keen to experience our breakthrough technology to find out their own value as a contemporary cultural worker. Now, with our online interactive performance, you will be able to find out your value in real time!

For VALU€S documentation, click here
For VALU€S online interactive performance, click here

4. kisskillkrisis available via Facebook and Twitter
KissKillKrisis is an online initiative by SideBySide Studio to connect worldwide cultural workers who are concerned about the social and economical values generated by creative practices in the time of crisis. One can join us via Facebook or Twitter.

For kisskillkrisis on facebook, click here
For kisskillkrisis on Twitter, click here

SideBySide Studio Opening

I-WEI LI — 2009-06-02T00:01:35Z