AIR Series 83: Oliver Hockenhull
Friday, JAN 16th
An evening of open sky, highly imaginative directed dialogue with Oliver Hockenhull, writer and filmmaker, about his new documentary project Citizen Planet: Cybernetics in the Anthropocene — future society and governance in the information era .
I'll present a brief paper on the subject matter, show archival clips from films and reading from various contemporary and historical sources to trigger discussion and inspire dialogue. The process is to provide us the opportunity to explore some of the most fascinating ideas of the computational and algorithmic revolution. It's also a way for me to work out some ideas as I move forward with the film a feature documentary that has the confirmed participation of such digiterati as:
Peter Norvig, Director of Research at Google Inc; previously he directed Google's core search algorithms group and before that was chief computer scientist for NASA. He is co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, the leading textbook in the field. He is a fellow of the AAAI, ACMCalifornia Academy of Science and American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Stephen M. Omohundro is a scientist known for his research on Hamiltonian physics, dynamical systems, programming languages, machine learning, machine vision, and the social implications of artificial intelligence.
Douglas Rushkoff is the author of Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now as well as a dozen other bestselling books on media, technology, and culture, including Program or Be Programmed, Media Virus, Life Inc and the novel Ecstasy Club. He is Professor of Media Studies and Digital Culture at CUNY/Queens. He lives in New York and lectures about media, society, and economics around the world.
Other luminaries who have consented: Vernor Vinge, Nick Bostrom, Matteo Pasquinelli, Mark Buchanan, David Brin, Erik Brynjolfsson, Kevin Kelly, Howard Rheingold, Francis Heylighen, Charles Eisenstein, Howard Bloom, Michael Chorost, Christopher Steiner, David Pearce, Natasha Vita-More, James J. Hughes, John Mayfield…more yet to be contacted & confirmed.
Some of the many questions that will look at:
What if we took ideology, religion, ego and even personality, out of governance?
What if we lived, worked and contributed in the reality of one decentralized planet rather than the programming of the corporate state?
And what if we treated governance & economy as a philosophical & aesthetic creative project, a matter of solving technical issues rather than warring clans fighting over the remains of a rapacious and absurdly imbalanced system?
Say — what if we rid ourselves of politics entirely and conceived governance, the management of resources, as a plumber might a toilet system, a farmer might a compost pile, a network theorist a web of relationships or a composer a symphony?
That "what if" and that "as if", and the open mindset of speculative science is to illuminate the enquiry as to what we may achieve in the world we find ourselves in.
Bio/Oliver Hockenhull
His many films and media installations have shown at such film festivals and venues as — The International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam (Official Competition – Film), The Museum of Modern Art — NYC, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., The Sao Paulo International Film Festival, The Melbourne International Film Festival, MIT/Boston, The Contemporary Cultural Centre of Barcelona, The Vancouver International Film Festival (Competition), The San Francisco Cinematheque, The International New Media Festival, Seoul, The Chicago International Film Festival, Festival Internacional de Arte Experimental, Bilbao, Spain, etc. Works have been broadcasted on Canadian and European television.
His works are iconoclastic, visionary journeys enlivened by an intimate, poetic, and enlightening perspective. Using the full potentiality of film to engage attention, he has concentrated on pivotal subjects; the social and intellectual import of the eminent writer, Aldous Huxley; an experimental film essay on evolution featuring Richard Dawkins (and the gorillas of the London Zoo); an essay on architecture extending from the early works of Mies van der Rohe to the steps of the Burning Ghats of Varanasi; a hyper media installation that questions ‘chance‘ — as quantum indeterminate noise — to edit video and most recently a double versioned documentary on psychedelic medicines.
--
"I believe that history might be, and ought to be, taught in a new fashion so as to make the meaning of it as a process of evolution intelligible."
T. H. Huxley
http://www.shinynewfilms.com/
An evening of open sky, highly imaginative directed dialogue with Oliver Hockenhull, writer and filmmaker, about his new documentary project Citizen Planet: Cybernetics in the Anthropocene — future society and governance in the information era .
I'll present a brief paper on the subject matter, show archival clips from films and reading from various contemporary and historical sources to trigger discussion and inspire dialogue. The process is to provide us the opportunity to explore some of the most fascinating ideas of the computational and algorithmic revolution. It's also a way for me to work out some ideas as I move forward with the film a feature documentary that has the confirmed participation of such digiterati as:
Peter Norvig, Director of Research at Google Inc; previously he directed Google's core search algorithms group and before that was chief computer scientist for NASA. He is co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, the leading textbook in the field. He is a fellow of the AAAI, ACMCalifornia Academy of Science and American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Stephen M. Omohundro is a scientist known for his research on Hamiltonian physics, dynamical systems, programming languages, machine learning, machine vision, and the social implications of artificial intelligence.
Douglas Rushkoff is the author of Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now as well as a dozen other bestselling books on media, technology, and culture, including Program or Be Programmed, Media Virus, Life Inc and the novel Ecstasy Club. He is Professor of Media Studies and Digital Culture at CUNY/Queens. He lives in New York and lectures about media, society, and economics around the world.
Other luminaries who have consented: Vernor Vinge, Nick Bostrom, Matteo Pasquinelli, Mark Buchanan, David Brin, Erik Brynjolfsson, Kevin Kelly, Howard Rheingold, Francis Heylighen, Charles Eisenstein, Howard Bloom, Michael Chorost, Christopher Steiner, David Pearce, Natasha Vita-More, James J. Hughes, John Mayfield…more yet to be contacted & confirmed.
Some of the many questions that will look at:
What if we took ideology, religion, ego and even personality, out of governance?
What if we lived, worked and contributed in the reality of one decentralized planet rather than the programming of the corporate state?
And what if we treated governance & economy as a philosophical & aesthetic creative project, a matter of solving technical issues rather than warring clans fighting over the remains of a rapacious and absurdly imbalanced system?
Say — what if we rid ourselves of politics entirely and conceived governance, the management of resources, as a plumber might a toilet system, a farmer might a compost pile, a network theorist a web of relationships or a composer a symphony?
That "what if" and that "as if", and the open mindset of speculative science is to illuminate the enquiry as to what we may achieve in the world we find ourselves in.
Bio/Oliver Hockenhull
His many films and media installations have shown at such film festivals and venues as — The International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam (Official Competition – Film), The Museum of Modern Art — NYC, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., The Sao Paulo International Film Festival, The Melbourne International Film Festival, MIT/Boston, The Contemporary Cultural Centre of Barcelona, The Vancouver International Film Festival (Competition), The San Francisco Cinematheque, The International New Media Festival, Seoul, The Chicago International Film Festival, Festival Internacional de Arte Experimental, Bilbao, Spain, etc. Works have been broadcasted on Canadian and European television.
His works are iconoclastic, visionary journeys enlivened by an intimate, poetic, and enlightening perspective. Using the full potentiality of film to engage attention, he has concentrated on pivotal subjects; the social and intellectual import of the eminent writer, Aldous Huxley; an experimental film essay on evolution featuring Richard Dawkins (and the gorillas of the London Zoo); an essay on architecture extending from the early works of Mies van der Rohe to the steps of the Burning Ghats of Varanasi; a hyper media installation that questions ‘chance‘ — as quantum indeterminate noise — to edit video and most recently a double versioned documentary on psychedelic medicines.
--
"I believe that history might be, and ought to be, taught in a new fashion so as to make the meaning of it as a process of evolution intelligible."
T. H. Huxley
http://www.shinynewfilms.com/
AIR Series 84: Synn Kune Loh & Jason Robinson
Saturday, Jan 31st
"Birth of New Consciousness"
In a salon event, featured speakers are shining bright stars sharing their vision and achievements The audience is touched, moved and inspired during the evening. Then each person goes back to their own lives. What if the salon is only the beginning, the laying of a foundation for the emergence of a new consciousness. How do the dots connect?
A salon provides a space for cross pollination, where ideas that began as singular pursuits found a resonance note from another and out of that emerged a third reality.
Synn Kune Loh, a visionary artist and poet, and Jason Robinson, founder of sustainability TV met at Keiko's salon a year ago. Come and hear their story of how synchronicity brought them together to explore new horizons.
This coming salon is intended to be about moving to the next phase, an experimental event where the audience participates in an open forum after the speakers make their presentations.
"Birth of New Consciousness"
In a salon event, featured speakers are shining bright stars sharing their vision and achievements The audience is touched, moved and inspired during the evening. Then each person goes back to their own lives. What if the salon is only the beginning, the laying of a foundation for the emergence of a new consciousness. How do the dots connect?
A salon provides a space for cross pollination, where ideas that began as singular pursuits found a resonance note from another and out of that emerged a third reality.
Synn Kune Loh, a visionary artist and poet, and Jason Robinson, founder of sustainability TV met at Keiko's salon a year ago. Come and hear their story of how synchronicity brought them together to explore new horizons.
This coming salon is intended to be about moving to the next phase, an experimental event where the audience participates in an open forum after the speakers make their presentations.
AIR Serie 85: Barbara Jackson & Earle Peach
Saturday, Feb 14th
St. Valentine is said to be the patron saint of many things, including courtly love, happy marriages, travelers, and bee keepers. On his feast day, February 14th, Songtree will offer up musical reflections and expressions of love in all its various manifestations.
ABOUT Barbara & Earle:
From toe-tapping to heart-opening to contemplative, Songtree’s music is an eclectic collection of stories told in song. Their original arrangements feature great vocals accompanied by guitar/banjo, and occasional other ornamentation. They represent folk traditions from the 14th to the 21st century, with some samba and jazz tunes thrown in for good measure. Songtree is Barbara Jackson and Earle Peach. Barbara and Earle have been singing together for over twenty years. They delight audiences at coffee houses, concerts, and special - any place where music brings people together and celebrates the human experience.
St. Valentine is said to be the patron saint of many things, including courtly love, happy marriages, travelers, and bee keepers. On his feast day, February 14th, Songtree will offer up musical reflections and expressions of love in all its various manifestations.
ABOUT Barbara & Earle:
From toe-tapping to heart-opening to contemplative, Songtree’s music is an eclectic collection of stories told in song. Their original arrangements feature great vocals accompanied by guitar/banjo, and occasional other ornamentation. They represent folk traditions from the 14th to the 21st century, with some samba and jazz tunes thrown in for good measure. Songtree is Barbara Jackson and Earle Peach. Barbara and Earle have been singing together for over twenty years. They delight audiences at coffee houses, concerts, and special - any place where music brings people together and celebrates the human experience.
AIR Series 86: Stuart Ward
Saturday. March 14th
Devine Lights
“I’m interested in the intersection between nature and technology, the disappearance of gadgetry function into form, and neural activity when experiencing art.”
- Stuart James W
Stuart James W is a classically trained artist specializing in digital media and the founder of Hfour Studios. Stuart is also well known for his Sakura illumination during the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival.
He was featured in Kerrisdale Playbook: http://www.kccplaybook.org/2013/12/01/making-art-marketing-art/
Devine Lights
“I’m interested in the intersection between nature and technology, the disappearance of gadgetry function into form, and neural activity when experiencing art.”
- Stuart James W
Stuart James W is a classically trained artist specializing in digital media and the founder of Hfour Studios. Stuart is also well known for his Sakura illumination during the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival.
He was featured in Kerrisdale Playbook: http://www.kccplaybook.org/2013/12/01/making-art-marketing-art/
AIR Series 87: Mary Bennett
April 11, 2015
collage: (noun)
= an assemblage or occurrence of diverse elements or fragments in unlikely or unexpected juxtaposition.
“I make art and teach art but what excites me most is when making art builds connections. When people play together they can discover their own and others' gifts.” - Mary Bennett
Mary Bennett has a degree in art education from UBC. Her mixed-media art is on exhibit at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver this month and she is offering workshops in mixed-media in her home studio. She calls them a “Playdate with Mary.” Among her community-engaged art projects are “Bird on the Beach,” a 6' floatable bird from recycled plastic, and “Flying the Nest,” an environmental art project, for Kits House moved out for 3 years during the redevelopment.
She was featured in Kerrisdale Playbook: http://www.kccplaybook.org/2014/09/02/creating-community/
collage: (noun)
= an assemblage or occurrence of diverse elements or fragments in unlikely or unexpected juxtaposition.
“I make art and teach art but what excites me most is when making art builds connections. When people play together they can discover their own and others' gifts.” - Mary Bennett
Mary Bennett has a degree in art education from UBC. Her mixed-media art is on exhibit at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver this month and she is offering workshops in mixed-media in her home studio. She calls them a “Playdate with Mary.” Among her community-engaged art projects are “Bird on the Beach,” a 6' floatable bird from recycled plastic, and “Flying the Nest,” an environmental art project, for Kits House moved out for 3 years during the redevelopment.
She was featured in Kerrisdale Playbook: http://www.kccplaybook.org/2014/09/02/creating-community/
AIR Series 88: Kevin Spenst
April 17th, 2015
Conversations with a Poet
Kevin Spenst's much-anticipated debut collection of poetry opens as a coming-of-age narrative of lower-middle class life in Vancouver's suburb of Surrey, embroidered within a myriad of pop-culture and "post-Mennonite." Jabbering with Bing Bong interrogates memory and makes its way into the urban energies of Vancouver. Language is at play with sit-com sonnets and soundscapes of noise; videogame goombas and an Old-Testament God; teenage longing within the power chords of heavy metal and the complicated loss of a father to schizophrenia. Jabbering with Bing Bong, chronicles the heartbreaking and slapstick pursuit of truth in the realms of religion, mental health, and poetic form itself.
Please come join Kevin Spenst who will share questions, poems, a couple of songs, procedures towards writing your very own poetry and a little bit of loudness.
Kevin Spenst: In addition to the UK, the United States, Austria and India, Kevin Spenst's poetry has appeared in over a dozen Canadian literary publications. In April and May of 2014 Kevin Spenst did a 100-venue reading tour of Canada in support of small poetry presses with his chapbooks Pray Goodbye (the Alfred Gustav Press, 2013), Retractable (the serif of nottingham, 2013), Happy Hollow and the Surrey Suite (self-published, 2012), What the Frag Meant (100 têtes press, 2014) and Surrey Sonnets (JackPine Press, 2014). Poet Kevin Spenst is about to embark on a reading tour around BC, 50 stops! His evolving line-up can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/omfb3cn
Conversations with a Poet
Kevin Spenst's much-anticipated debut collection of poetry opens as a coming-of-age narrative of lower-middle class life in Vancouver's suburb of Surrey, embroidered within a myriad of pop-culture and "post-Mennonite." Jabbering with Bing Bong interrogates memory and makes its way into the urban energies of Vancouver. Language is at play with sit-com sonnets and soundscapes of noise; videogame goombas and an Old-Testament God; teenage longing within the power chords of heavy metal and the complicated loss of a father to schizophrenia. Jabbering with Bing Bong, chronicles the heartbreaking and slapstick pursuit of truth in the realms of religion, mental health, and poetic form itself.
Please come join Kevin Spenst who will share questions, poems, a couple of songs, procedures towards writing your very own poetry and a little bit of loudness.
Kevin Spenst: In addition to the UK, the United States, Austria and India, Kevin Spenst's poetry has appeared in over a dozen Canadian literary publications. In April and May of 2014 Kevin Spenst did a 100-venue reading tour of Canada in support of small poetry presses with his chapbooks Pray Goodbye (the Alfred Gustav Press, 2013), Retractable (the serif of nottingham, 2013), Happy Hollow and the Surrey Suite (self-published, 2012), What the Frag Meant (100 têtes press, 2014) and Surrey Sonnets (JackPine Press, 2014). Poet Kevin Spenst is about to embark on a reading tour around BC, 50 stops! His evolving line-up can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/omfb3cn