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. The Weekender ................................................... . a weekly digest of calls . actions . websites . campaigns . etc . . send your announcements and notes to announcer@simsim.rug.ac.be . . please don't be late ! delivered every friday . into your inbox . . http://simsim.rug.ac.be/announcer/ for subscription info & help . ................................................................... 01 . Peoples' Global Action Secretariat . Inter-Continental Caravan for Solidarity and Resistance 02 . video@imprese.com . Videxparty: new numb 03 . opencity@rtimearts.com . RealTime 29 now online 04 . Ivo Skoric . (Fwd) [ALBANIAN] talk on Kosova 05 . McKenzie Wark . invitation 06 . Frank Fremerey . [Fwd: Alfred Sohn-Rethel] 07 . Phillipe Taminiau . Second International Browserday, May 20th 1999, Amsterdam 08 . maxb@xs4all.nl . 1st International Browserday reviewed in Eye #31 09 . euro@cryptic.demon.co.uk . Coin - Note - Sign 10 . Femke Snelting . T H E W A L K - I N R E A D E R ................................................................... 01 From: "Peoples' Global Action Secretariat" <pga@agp.org> Subject: Inter-Continental Caravan for Solidarity and Resistance **please spread widely this message** Six Hundred Representatives of Southern People's Movements will Demonstrate throughout Europe in May and June 1999 600 representatives of Southern grassroots movements will come to Europe >from the 22nd of May to the 21st of June to protest at the gates of the major transnational corporations, multilateral institutions and at the EU and G8 Summits. These are the people who are most directly affected by a development model imposed and maintained from the North in collaboration with Southern elites, a development paradigm which is condemning them to poverty, destroying the natural resources on which their livelihoods are based, taking control of their lives out of their hands and making them dependent on extremely exploitative and highly volatile multinational capital. This initiative has been proposed by the Indian farmers' movements, one of the strongest and most dynamic actors in the global civil society. These movements have been struggling for years in order to make their demands heard both at national and international level, but the results of their efforts have been limited by the fact that policy-making happens increasingly far away from the place where they live, too far away for their protest to be registered or even known about. They have thus resolved to send a delegation of 500 representatives to Europe, in order to have direct contact with people of all walks of life, dialogue with a wide range of organisations about the destruction caused by globalisation and about alternative development models, and take direct action against the centres of power that are at the root of their problems. They will be joined by one hundred representatives of grassroots movements in other countries. Frequently asked questions about the Inter-Continental Caravan (ICC) ******************************************************************** -> Who are the Southern people coming to participate in the ICC? Out of the 600 participants, 500 will be representatives of different Indian grassroots movements. Most of these 500 will be representatives of Gandhian farmers' movements, and there will be smaller numbers of representatives of Adivasis (the indigenous peoples of India), Fisherfolk, people resisting the construction of big dams in their regions and representatives of the revolutionary struggles in the states of Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. The other 100 participants will represent peasant, indigenous, women's and other grassroots movements from other Southern countries. -> Who are the people receiving them in Europe? A large number of organisations are working in the 'welcoming committees' set up in each country to prepare the caravan. There are organisations of all kinds, ranging from peasant organisations such as the French Peasant Confederation or the Dutch Agriculture Association to squatted social centres such as Leoncavallo in Milan, EuroDusnie in Leiden and the Reithalle in Bern, from anti-nuclear networks such as For Mother Earth to the migrants' organisations of almost all European countries, from direct actions groups such as Reclaim the Streets! to academic institutions such as the Institut Argent et Societ, from women's organisations such as Espace Femmes International to unemployed groups such as AC! Lille, from activists' support groups such as Theaterstraat to development NGOs such as CETIM, from Zapatista committees in many different cities to groups working against genetic engineering such as Biotechnologie Archief NoGen, from youth environmental groups such as A SEED to the Italian Christian peace movement. This list is in no ways exhaustive, in fact it is growing every day, and there are many people who do not belong to any organisation and are actively involved in the preparations. -> What is this caravan about? The political contents of the ICC are (in order of importance): (1) Global policy-making, with particular emphasis on the push for "free" trade and economic globalisation. (2) TNCs and transnational capital. (3) Agribusiness, Green Revolution, Biotechnology, and Patents on Life. (4) 3rd World Debt. (5) Militarism and nuclear issues. These contents are ellaborated in a manifesto which is being discussed by the Indian participants of the caravan. This manifesto will be the ideological basis on which they are coming to Europe, and clearly reflects the view that if the world is to survive we need a far-reaching and participatory process of political, economic and social change, a bottom-up process initiated and controlled by grassroots movements, not by governments or multilateral institutions. This is the basis on which the PGA process is taking place. -> What are the objectives of the caravan? (1) Bringing its political contents close to people's lives in all the places where actions will take place. (2) Encouraging as many as possible to get actively involved in the preparation and realisation of the actions and to remain active in confrontational non-violent action in these issues after the project. (3) Promoting more contact and co-operation between all the organisations (from Europe and other continents) involved in the project (4) Attracting local, national and international media attention on the political contents of the programme. Strengthening and building up new autonomous media. (5) Preparing the field (in Europe and everywhere else) for the PGA days of action against the WTO during the third Ministerial Conference in fall 1999. (6) Promoting non-violent direct action and civil disobedience as tools for political change. -> What will the participants of the caravan actually do in Europe? They will meet as many European as possible directly, face to face, communicate with them not through newspaper articles or video documentaries, but at the human level. They want to convey directly their understanding of the world system of governance to people of all walks of life, not just to those who are already politically active. Many of them do not speak English, but they will use different ways to communicate with Europeans, many of which are more direct and real than language - the most important of which is action. There will be plenty of action during the caravan, action at the gates of headquarters of corporate criminals such as Nestle, Monsanto, Cargill, Novartis and Shell, action in front of multilateral institutions at the roots of misery like the WTO and NATO, action on the face of the 'global leaders' responsible for slow genocide at the EU and G8 summits. We will also have other activities, like public meetings with speakers and audience, open-air picnics, living together with farmers or squatters, press conferences, parties, video shows and so on, but action will be at the heart of the caravan. -> Who came to the idea of organising such a notoriously complicated project? The idea of the caravan was proposed by the Indian peasant movement KRRS (Karnataka State Farmers' Association), the biggest Indian grassroots movement with a constituency of approximately 10 million people (the total population of Karnataka is 50 million). The KRRS has been since two decades struggling for comprehensive social change in Karnataka, for the ideal of the Village Republic and for sustainable and equitable policies and technologies. They proposed the ICC due to their conviction that unless people mobilise in large numbers in the countries where the global centres of power are located, their protest will continue to be ignored. They know that the destruction of their livelihood is caused primarily by global forces which can afford ignoring their protest, but cannot (yet) afford ignoring the protest of people in the North. Their proposal was immediately picked up by all major Indian movements, since they all share the same analysis regarding the impact of capitalist globalisation and the inability of isolated action to stop it. The farmers' movements of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madya Pradesh, Maharastra, Punjab, Rajastan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal will be represented in the caravan, as well as the indigenous peoples of several states. -> Who is paying for the caravan? The finances of the Caravan are organised in an as decentralised and participatory manner as possible. The activists from the South pay their own travel expenses to Europe (see below). Food and accomondation, as well as all the costs of local actions and publicity are borne on the local level by the local welcoming committees. The costs of travel within Europe and of co-ordination are centralised, but fundraising efforts are shared by all welcoming committees, which are still very busy asking for donations, organising concerts, applying for funds and selling t-shirts in order to gather all the money necessary to make the caravan happen (about 210.000 US$). No money for the central costs will accepted from multinational corporations, national governments, EU institutions, or political parties. -> How can poor peasants and indigenous peoples pay a flight ticket to Europe? The case of India is quite special: the European groups are preparing to receive such a large number of Indian representatives in order to make it much easier for them to participate, since their flight expenses per person will be less than one half of the normal cost of a return ticket. It is still a lot of money for the participants, people who are among the most exploited and marginalised in the world. However, these are also people who have been struggling for decades in their country on the basis of self-reliance (i.e. they do not accept donations from any source other than the constituency of their own movements), and many Indian activists have spent this kind of amount travelling around India as part of their campaigns. It was their proposal since the very beginning that they cover the travel expenses. -> Does this mean that the participants of the caravan are relatively rich peasants? No. Most of the participants own between 2 and 5 hectars. Just for the purpose of comparison, a farm in the European Union must have at least around 40 hectars to be considered economically viable (information provided by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Buerliche Landwirtschaft). And the Indian government does not pay the kind of subsidies that the EU does. There will also be some participants who will not pay for their flight (landless peasants, indigenous peoples, representatives of the revolutionary struggles) since they cannot afford it but the Indian organisers consider their presence as politically important. Their travel expenses will be shared among all the other participants. These Indian peasant activists give enough political importance to this project as to devote large amount of resources to it - and this was one of the things that has really touched us (the organisers in Europe) and encouraged us to do our best to make this project a success. We see their determination as a clear sign of their deep understanding that they have to contribute to increasing awareness and action at a global level if they are to survive. -> There are few people working against capitalist globalisation in Western Europe. Does it make sense to invest so much of this limited potential of work and resources in one single project, one single month? We believe that the inter-continental caravan is one of these rare projects which generate much more energy than it requires. We see already that many different groups which were not working on global issues and many people who were not particularly involved in politics before are now joining local welcoming committees, because the caravan appeals to their imagination and motivates them to participate in a struggle that so far was not really theirs. Furthermore the caravan is not conceived as an isolated project: we see it as the beginning of a long-term process of organic (i.e. not 'organised') convergence between a large diversity of organisations and individuals with similar views on social change - people who agree on the need to reclaim our lifes, challenging the current structures of power from below, and constructing alternatives controlled by the people. -> Can I participate in this crazy project? Yes! The number of people who will be physically in the caravan will be rather limited, but there are many ways to join this project - no matter whether you are in Europe or not. You can join by making information available to the press and the people in the place where you live, by organising an action in June 18 (during the days of action against financial centres), by engaging in similar activities, etc. And of course, we need lots of help of all kinds (economic, organisational, etc). Please contact the secretariat if you want to be part of this project: Inter-Continental Caravan European Coordination Office P.O. BOX 2228, 2301 Leiden, NL Tel/Fax 00 31 71 517 3094 or 00 31 71 517 3019 email: caravan@stad.dsl.nl Web page: http://www.agp.org or http://stad.dsl.nl/~caravan ******************************************* Peoples' Global Action pga@agp.org against 'Free' Trade www.agp.org and the WTO (PGA) ................................................................... 02 Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 20:30:10 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Vide=F8party?= <video@imprese.com> Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Vide=F8party?=: new numb Videparty http://www.imprese.com/video New numb/ nuovo numero: Rosso vivo: Mutazione, Trasfigurazione e Sangue nell'Arte Contemporanea Blood Red: Mutation, Transfiguration and Blood in Contemporany Art Ron Athey, Franco B, Betty Bee, Louise Bourgeois, Reuven Cohen, Simon Costin, Renee Cox, Janietta Eyre, Jan Fabre, Cesare Fullone, Thomas Grunfeld, Gerd Holzwarth, Laura Masserdotti, Yasumasa Morimura, Orlan, Pierre et Gilles, Marcel.l Antunez Roca, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman, Nicholas Sinclair, Annie Sprinkle, Stelarc, Jana Sterbak, Joel-Peter Witkin Se non desidera ricevere i nostri messaggi, ci rinvii questa e-mail con soggetto "remove" Grazie If You don't agree to receive our messages, Please forward than with subject "remove" Thanks -- Videparty http://www.imprese.com/video video@imprese.com ................................................................... 03 Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 11:44:33 +1000 From: opencity@rtimearts.com Subject: RealTime 29 now online Hi RealTime supporters RealTime 29 is now online featuring... FESTIVALS Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras preview http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/mardi.html Sydney Festival http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/sydfest.html Pacific Wave http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/pacific.html Festival of the never never: Darwin http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/darwin.html CULTURE A visit to Denmark by Australian artists http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/denmark.html Book review: Mary Zournazi http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/millner.html WRITING/HYPERMEDIA interview with merge media http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/merge.html review: A Book About Things That Didn't Happen & Hollow Days http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/mergekk.html hypermedia and video games http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/hutchin.html writesites - writing on the net - Noon Quilt http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/writesit.html ONSCREEN - FILM, MEDIA & TECHNO-ARTS Film Reviews: The Sugar Factory http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/sugar.html Redball http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/redball.html Men With Guns http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/menguns.html Hurly Burly http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/hurly.html TV to film and film to TV adaptations: la femme nikita and The Avengers http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/lafemme.html National Cinemas: sites of resistance conference http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/may.html Cinema and the Senses conference http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/senses.html dLux media arts' futureScreen http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/immerse.html Brisbane Animation Festival http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/farley.html South Park poo http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/teledict.html Cinesonic: songs in the movies 98 http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/cineson.html Super 80s retrospective http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/super8.html Book review: Neil Spiller's Digital Dreams http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/wilken.html A new book on a classic film: Nic Roeg's Performance http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/roeg.html Forgotten Fruit CD-ROM http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/farmer.html DANCE interview with Lisa Nelson http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/nelson.html the works and teachings of Deborah Hay http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/hay.html Wendy Houstoun's barmaid rhythms http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/houstoun.html risky new dance in Bodyworks 98 http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/bodywork.html PERFORMANCE the odds for and against performance in the UK http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/sierz.html brink's brittle in Brisbane http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/brink.html an overview of Adelaide theatre 98 http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/bramwell.html Head to Head Circus & Physical Theatre Conference http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/headhead.html Gravity Feed's Host http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/host.html VISUAL ARTS the interplay of art and commerce in Tokyo http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/japan.html Torres Strait art and culture in Cairns http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/torres.html Fuzz Factor in Brisbane http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/fuzz.html artist relationships in twins @ Contemporary Art Centre SA http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/twin.html MUSIC / SOUND interview with David Chesworth about Badlands http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/cheswor.html Adelaide's The Ring Cycle http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/thering.html The new Studio at the Sydney Opera House http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/opera.html Adelaide's sound underground http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/harger.html CD reviews http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/rt29/cds.html ______________________________________ RealTime 29 is now online: http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/index.html This issue includes: contemporary culture in Japan Sydney Festival South Park Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras preview Pacific Wave festival TV to film adaptations Brisbane Animation Fuzz Factor in Brisbane Super 8 screenings interviews with Lisa Nelson and Wendy Houstoun New deal for new music at the Sydney Opera House Hypermedia and video games New cult publisher, merge media Film reviews: The Sugar Factory, Redball, Hurly Burly, Men With Guns RealTime Australian Contemporary Arts Incorporating OnScreen http://www.rtimearts.com/~opencity/ e-mail: opencity@rtimearts.com Editorial: +61 2 9283 2723 Fax: +61 2 9283 2724 Advertising: +61 2 9313 6164 ................................................................... 04 From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 22:54:47 +0000 Subject: (Fwd) [ALBANIAN] talk on Kosova TALK BY BOGDAN DENITCH Kosovo Crisis Tensions, Strains & War Wednesday, February 24 7:30 p.m. at BRECHT FORUM 122 W. 27th Street 10th Floor 12/242-4201 sliding scale fee: $6/$8/$10 Kosovo has emerged as a serious foreign policy concern as sharpened tensions between the U.S., European Union and the U.N. reveals European incapacity to mount a concerted response and deepening European misgivings about American domination of security issues in Europe, almost a decade after the end of the Cold War. Bogdan Denitch, honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America and a leading analyst of European foreign policy will lead a discussion on one of the major conflicts of the late 20th century. (Notice from Brecht Forum flyer) __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Opinions expressed on ALBANIAN do NOT necessarily reflect the views of the owner, co-owners and/or moderators, nor any of their host institutions. **>>> Technical support: albanian-request@listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu <<<<** ................................................................... 05 Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 10:49:36 +1100 (EST) From: McKenzie Wark <mwark@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au> To: Multiple recipients of <announcer@simsim.rug.ac.be> Subject: ann! ... invitation Pluto Press invites you to the launch of McKenzie Wark's new book Celebrities, Culture and Cyberspace to be launched by Richard Fidler Gleebooks, 49 Glebe pt road Glebe Wednesday 10th March, 6 for 6.30pm __________________________________________ "We no longer have roots, we have aerials." http://www.mcs.mq.edu.au/~mwark -- McKenzie Wark ................................................................... 06 Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 09:28:34 +0100 From: Frank Fremerey <frank.fremerey@homenetz.com> Subject: [Fwd: Alfred Sohn-Rethel] if you should be in Vienna on 6 March 1999 you should definitly pass by at the Point of Sale, an artistic Project by Andreas Wegner. Mr. Wolfgang Henrich, a German writer, will talk about Alfred Sohn-Rethel and his extensions to Marx' theory and he will introduce the listeners to his new book "Das tote Geld" (the dead money, a tribute to Alfred Sohn-Rethel) in which he shows how interest rate based-capitalism affects not only the way we work but also strongly influences the way we communicate. The whole event will be in German, although English-language questions will be answerd. With kindest regards Frank Fremerey Bonn 18 February 1999 -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Alfred Sohn-Rethel Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 07:48:24 From: Wolfgang Henrich <wolfgang.henrich@homenetz.com> To: frank.fremerey@homenetz.com ***** NEWS aus dem POINT OF SALE Andreas Wegner, Knstler und Entertainer und in dieser Eigenschaft Besitzer des POINT OF SALE in der Wiener Operngasse 36, hat zum 6. Mrz, 19 Uhr, den deutschen Schriftsteller Wolfgang Henrich eingeladen, von Wien aus Berlin ins Gedchtnis zu rufen, was Alfred Sohn-Rethel eben dort whrend der Weimarer Republik erarbeitet hat und wie sein Capolavoro, die Soziologische Theorie der Erkenntnis, uns den Kapitalismus begreifen lt, der, kaum da er die ideologischen Oligopolstellungen auf den Monopol gebracht hat, unter unseren Augen das Geld entwirklicht. Erinnert man sich noch an den von Heinz Edelmann gezeichneten Beatles-Film Yellow Submarine, der fr die ApO zum Inbegriff "des schnen Scheins der Warenwelt" wurde? Da gab es doch die bezeichnende Szene mit dem Vakuum-Schlucker', der sich am Ende selbst entsorgt, weshalb Andreas Wegner diese Szene zur Einfhrung auf die Leinwand werfen lt, um dann die Maler-Familie Sohn-Rethel zu prsentieren und so das geschtzte Publikum erst einmal ins buchstbliche Bild zu setzen. Henrich schildert dann Alfred Sohn-Rethels Werdegang bis Mitte der 20er Jahre, wobei seine Autoritratti' gezeigt werden und zugleich seine Vesuvbesteigung zu hren sein wird. Es folgt Die Geschichte des 30. Juni 1934, so wie sie Sohn-Rethel rekonstruiert hat, als Adolf Hitler wegen angeblicher Putschgefahr durch die SA seinen Gnner Rhm und dessen 120-kpfigen Fhrungsstab im Stadelheimer Zuchthaus zu Mnchen sowie 2000 Oppositionelle im ganzen Reich ermorden lie. Anschlieend geht der Gang in die Bendlerstrae in Berlin, wo sich sozusagen im Auge des Orkans, inmitten des geballten Naziterrors, der konspirative Kreis um Alfred Sohn-Rethel und Margret Boveri bis 1936 halten kann. Und so kommt die Rede ganz zwangslufig auf den wirtschaftlichen Aspekt der faschistischen "Konjunktur", darauf, wie die sog. defizitren Kreise resp. die faulen Debitoren die "schpferische Zerstrung" des Herrn Schumpeter inszenierten. Und damit das Publikum nun aber nicht vor lauter Angst vergeht resp. stiftengeht, wie der Berliner sagt, lt Henrich es wie Simplicius Simplicissimus den Weg zum Einsiedler finden, lt also Alfred Sohn-Rethel als Philosophen sprechen, als jemanden, der bei allem Agnostizismus an den caracter indelebilis des Christentums glaubt. Ja, und dann sind schon die zwei Stunden um, die mit der Schlsselarie aus Hndels 1708 in Rom komponierten La Resurrezione beschlossen werden, in der sich die Sopranstimme erhebt, ganz so wie es in dem in Klosterburg bei Wien aufbewahrten Evangeliar auf dem herrlich verzierten Buchdeckel geschrieben steht: "Angeli tubis canunt". Was Sinn macht, da anschlieend Wolfgang Henrich sein im Bettina Wassmann Verlag Bremen soeben erschienenes Buch Das tote Geld signiert. Zweifellos soll es als Hommage an Alfred Sohn-Rethel wie an Robert Ranke-Graves und den im letzten Jahr verstorbenen Niklas Luhmann gelesen sein. Zugleich enthlt es eine wunderschne Entdeckung, nmlich da die arabischen Buchstabennamen Abkrzungen des Glaubensbekenntnisses der griechisch-sprechenden Kreter darstellen und das dort erstmals geschlagene Mnzgeld Symbol des Sonnenheros und seiner Wiederauferstehung ist. Alfred Sohn-Rethels Geburtstag jhrte sich am 4. Januar zum 100. Male. ................................................................... 07 From: taminiau@waag.org (Phillipe Taminiau) URL: http://www.waag.org/brower (results of 1998) Subject: Second International Browserday, May 20th 1999, Amsterdam Defy the Frame! One year after the 1st International Browser Day (organised in Amsterdam in April 1998), the development of the Internet seems to have warped into another millennium. Big brother Microsoft is engaged in a furious battle with the EU and US, over its attempt to become the worlds' monopolist of the web. The complete integration of the browser and the Windows '98 system threatens to wipe away all competitors. After the 'war of the browsers' the battle over standards has now been unleashed. Who is going to win? Windows as the meta medium for everything; net, tv, radio, multimedia? Or are web tv and the set-up box going to become the standard of the future; surfing the web from your comfy chair? Is the virtual super market, apparently everyone's preoccupation right now, really the only thing we can come up with? If there is one good reason not to let these people win, it is that everything they design looks so incredibly bad! - explorer and web-tv, this cannot possibly be the future of media? The Linux community has shown that there are viable alternatives, sometimes *designed* by thousands of net users together. We challenge young designers across Europe to show that all this can be seen in a completely different light, that the net is more than an interactive shopping channel. Drop your inhibitions and design a truly inspiring medium for the next millennium; subversive, distinguished, high-tech or back to basics, specialised or endlessly interconnected, charming or breath taking. Imagination is the only relevant standard, and isn't that supposed to be boundless? The 2nd International Browser Day is a design competition that will culminate in a show program at Paradiso in Amsterdam on Thursday May 20 1999. The best proposals out of the competition will be presented there. In the evening political cultural centre De Balie will host the 2nd International Browser Debate, which features internationally renown designers and thinkers. The day will be concluded with the 2nd International Browser Award ceremony, followed by the 2nd International Browser Party. The 2nd International Browser Day is organised by the Society for Old and New Media in co-operation with De Balie, Paradiso, Rietveld Academy, the Utrecht School of the Arts - Faculty for Art, Media, and Technology, the Sandberg Institute and Media-GN. This time also schools outside of the Netherlands will participate. For more information on registration/participation, e-mail to: taminiau@waag.org ................................................................... 08 >From maxb@xs4all.nl Thu Feb 18 13:35:42 1999 1st International Browserday reviewed in Eye #31 The upcomming issue of Eye, the international review of graphic design, features a review of works made for the First International Browserday, in April last year. Shown are designs by a.o. Vanessa Borcic / Hjordis Thorborg, Ian Borcic / Luna Maurer, award winner Joes Koppers, Uta Eisenreich, Madelinde Hageman, A. Galia and Anneke Rijnders. Eye's editor Max Bruinsma writes: "The design agenda for these applications, that may very well be challenging operating systems in the near future, has untill now been primarilly set by software developers. But recently, graphic designers and artists are being drawn to the possibilities of the application. In April last year the Amsterdam based Society for Old and New Media (De Waag) held a design competition for (graduate) students of graphic and new-media design to make proposals for a new generation of browsers. It seemed an exiting endeavour for the internationally diverse group of young designers from three Dutch art and design academies: to reinvent the browser by going to the root of the system, not just re-designing its visual appearance. Ultimately, the most sophisticated proposals for the competition went much further than that - though mainly in a conceptual manner. Obviously, to design a fully functioning browser from scratch (or even from Netscape's source code) would take much more than what a graphic designer can cope with within a couple of months. Still, the results of De Waag's 'First International Browserday', 38 in all, were at the least amusing comments on the idiosyncrasies and shortcommings of existing browser and internet technology, and at best highly thoughtfull concepts of what the technology could become." Eye #31 will be out first week of March 1999 ................................................................... 09 Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 15:44:37 +0000 From: euro@cryptic.demon.co.uk To: Multiple recipients of <announcer@simsim.rug.ac.be> Subject: ann! ... Coin - Note - Sign ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Help fill the Strange Case with euros! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ January saw the launch of a new virtual currency, the euro. The euro is the first purely corporate currency: you can only spend it if you have a credit card, write a cheque or work for a bank as a currency dealer. Coins and notes will not exist until 2002, though there are prototype note designs on the European Union website: I have borrowed these designs, and you too can borrow them from this site: http://www.cryptic.demon.co.uk/euro/cash.html The euro is an idealistic project, and the notes, designed through a competition, are very bland. The neutrality of the imagery tries to represent fiscal probity and European unity. The effect is also to mask the terrible histories of national conflict in Europe, which the euro is supposed to help prevent happening again. Despite this laudable aim, the suspicion exists that this currency is more for the convenience of global corporations than for citizens. Behind the gleaming electronic facade of the new Europe, poverty and inequality are still widespread. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ You are invited to design alternative notes, with imagery which perhaps more accurately reflects either the contemporary situation, or histories of European peoples. You may wish instead to question the notions of currency or value exchange. Once done, send an e-mail, with the image(s) attached. All designs will be displayed at this site: http://www.cryptic.demon.co.uk/euro/notes.html 10 designs will be chosen to be printed into alternative euro notes. Another will be added to make 11, one for each of the States in the Euroland. The money will then be transported to Lorient, Brittany in the Strange Case and put on display at the internet art festival x-99 in March: http://www.x-arn.org/x99/ The remaining designs will also be on display through a net terminal next to the case. Some notes will be distributed to people at the festival, perhaps also used in an attempt to purchase drinks. Participation in this project will have several dimensions: the exchange of simulations of a virtual currency, which only exists in electronic or written form; a design competition; the printing of "counterfeit" currency; the smuggling of this currency into the Euroland from a non-euro zone; the display of said currency in public; hopefully, some artistic and critical discourse on the nature of money (whether "real" or electronic), perhaps also some questioning of the realities of contemporary Europe. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For further information, visit: http://www.cryptic.demon.co.uk/euro.html http://www.cryptic.demon.co.uk/case.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Coin - Note - Sign the strange case of the euro euro@cryptic.demon.co.uk http://www.cryptic.demon.co.uk/euro.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Strange Case of Art http://www.cryptic.demon.co.uk/case.html --------------------------------- ................................................................... 10 >From snelting@aladdin.rotterdam.luna.net Mon Feb 15 10:19:58 1999 T H E W A L K - I N R E A D E R ........................................................... Saturday, February 20 / 13.30 MAPPING / IN KAART BRENGEN a tour through Amsterdam with dr. Rob Engelsdorp Gastelaars ........................................................... Sunday, February 21 / 13.30 ENVISIONING CULTURAL PARADIGMS ACROSS DISCIPLINARY BOUNDARIES / DENKEN OVER CULTURELE MODELLEN VOORBIJ DE GRENZEN VAN DISCIPLINES roundtable discussion with Anke Bangma + Ine Gevers ........................................................... in: De Appel, Nieuwe Spiegelstraat 10, Amsterdam ........................................................... MAPPING How do we topographically envision the environments we live in and how is that depicted beyond simple cartography? Dr. ROB ENGELSDORP-GASTELAARS, from the Department of Human Geography, will be touring the inner-city looking at the evolution of architectu re and the process of gentrification throughout the city. Duration of the tour: appr. two hours ENVISIONING CULTURAL PARADIGMS ACROSS DISCIPLINARY BOUNDARIES Moving beyond the critique of the institution, the goal of this discussion is to look at constructive ways art can engage with other disciplines, social issues and networks. With respect to their own practices as educators and curators, Ine Gevers and An ke Bangma have been invited to reflect upon the potential of introducing art into new environments. They will be addressing possible interactive models and forms of collective creativity plus discussing how art along with its supportive mechanisms can ope rate in order to facilitate a more communicative, socially viable and responsive relationship with the broader public. ANKE BANGMA is currently co-ordinator of post-graduate studies at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. She has curated exhibitions such as 'The Rotterdam Project' and has written for such publications as the Witte de With Cahiers and Archis. INE GEVERS teaches at the Jan van Eyck Akademie in the Department of Theory and has organised symposia there such as 'Place, Position, Presentation, Public'. She has co-curated with Jeanne van Heeswijk the exhibition, 'I + the Other. Art and the Human Con dition' and co-edited 'Beyond Ethics and Aesthetics'. Unlimited.NL-2 is an exhibition currently on view at De Appel, Amsterdam. Guest curator Hou Hanru has asked a variety of artists, artist initiatives and architects to reflect upon urban transformation in the Netherlands. For the exhibition De Geuzen has designed THE WALK-IN READER, a space functioning as a resource for research, screenings and discussions. For the period of two months there will be several roundtable discussions based on selected themes: MAPPING, FEELING AT HOME: A SENSE OF (BE)LONGING, SHIFTING ECONOMIES, MOMENTS OF CONVERGENCE and ENVISIONING CULTURAL PARADIGMS ACROSS DISCIPLINARY BOUNDARIES. ........................................................... U P C O M I N G E V E N T S ........................................................... Saturday, February 20 / 13:30 MAPPING A walking tour through Amsterdam with Dr. Rob van Engelsdorp Gastelaars (Human Geographer) ........................................................... Sunday, February 21 / 13:30 ENVISIONING CULTURAL PARADIGMS ACROSS DISCIPLINARY BOUNDARIES Roundtable discussion with Anke Bangma (discussing her approach to art-education) and Ine Gevers (adressing strategies of curating) ........................................................... Saturday, February 27 / 13:30 ENVISIONING CULTURAL PARADIGMS ACROSS DISCIPLINARY BOUNDARIES Antiopee: a tour through the Unlimited.NL exhibition with Nic. Tummers (University of the Socio-Space) ........................................................... Sunday, February 28 / 13:30 ENVISIONING CULTURAL PARADIGMS ACROSS DISCIPLINARY BOUNDARIES Roundtable discussion with Jacob Bijker, Rene Kool, Stefan Kunzmann + Gabrielle Marks on their collaborative project for art education among primary and secondary schools ........................................................... Sunday, March 7 / 13:30 FEELING AT HOME: A SENSE OF (BE)LONGING Roundtable discussion with Branimir Medic and Pero Puljiz on housing in the Netherlands ........................................................... Friday, Saturday + Sunday, March 12-14 (times to be anounced) MOMENTS OF CONVERGENCE The Next 5 Minutes: informal interviews and discussions --- # distributed via nettime-l : no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a closed moderated mailinglist for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@desk.nl and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # URL: http://www.desk.nl/~nettime/ contact: nettime-owner@desk.nl