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Monday and Tuesday I was running What Do You Get If...? a two-day workshop exploring the role of social media in a) the arts and b) health and environmental issues.
I organized a 2 day event as part of the EPSRC Digital Economy cluster. The first was on Web 2.0 and the Arts, the second on Web 2.0 and Health.
On 17th March, I'll be running an event at FACT in Liverpool on Social Media and Health/Environment funded by the EPSRC Digital Economy research cluster. For this reason, the event is free, but we have limited spaces. We are now open to a general audience. For more information about the event, please link here. Drop me a line if you'd like to attend
Here's the press release for FACT's first major exhibition of 2009, curated by Heather Corcoran. Looks like I'll be getting involved for the final event on May 9th, 2009. We'll also bring Heather and some of the residents at FACT from Eyebeam New York for the IMDE event on Social Media and Healthy Environments on March 17th. Get in touch if you'd like to attend.
NEWS RELEASE Climate for Change 13 March - 31 May 2009 (private view 12 March)
For its first new exhibition of 2009, its UNsustainable year, FACT is proud to present Climate for Change, a unique experiment in activism, engagement and networking, examining the multiple crises affecting the planet – ecological, financial, food and housing. From peak oil to peak credit, Climate for Change seizes the moment, and asks how do we respond?
In Gallery 1, a range of groups will take up residence in an environment created from the leftover building materials from 2008's Capital of Culture year. The networked activities of Merseyside and beyond will become a key part of the experiment, as FACT hands over the keys to the door and becomes a hub for meetings, socials, discussions and workshops, supporting grassroots networks to practise and imagine new models of governance and organising - live in the gallery space. Dealing with topics as diverse as the Transition Town movement to underground nightclubs, Climate for Change speculates that distributed networks who share methods of selforganising are the most important tools we have for responding to sustainability. Underpinning this action will be a number of artist-led activities. In Gallery 1, New York’s Eyebeam Art and Technology Centre stages its Sustainability Road Show – a series of hands-on workshops and activities that are both playful and social, highlighting Eyebeam's strong media lab culture built around tinkering, hacking, making and doing.
Artist Stefan Szczelkun presents his Survival Scrapbooks. Originally published in the early 1970s, the Survival Scrapbooks are DIY manuals for autonomous living, covering topics from “bio-diesel-making” to “increasing your chi”. Loosely formatted and intended to be re-edited in a pre-internet information-sharing format, the books will form the basis for workshops and discussion in Gallery 1.
Mute Magazine Contributing Editor Anthony Iles revisits the magazine’s Climate Change issue – Mute Vol 2, no.5 It’s Not Easy Being Green from May 2007 to update it in light of changing perspectives on finance, capital and current affairs. Iles will curate a discussion and screening series that runs throughout the exhibition. Meanwhile, The People Speak and renowned think tank New Economics Foundation will unveil a new facilitation format that creates a dynamic conversation around sustainability and climate change.
In addition, Gallery 1 will house a loose and rotating line-up of artists working in Liverpool and beyond, including British-born Chinese artist Kao-Oi Jay Yung, activist Nina Edge and artist-led environmental group The Gaia Project in partnership with L@tE.
In Gallery 2, FACT presents Melanie Gilligan’s film Crisis in the Credit System. Originally commissioned and produced by Artangel Interaction, the fictional four-part drama explores the bizarre scenarios and disturbing conclusions employees from a major investment bank come up when they are invited to role-play a future-facing strategy for today’s unstable financial climate.
Berlin-based art duo Nik Kosmas and Daniel Keller (AIDS 3D) will unveil Forever, a new installation alluding to a post-apocalyptic future where our machines remain as beautiful relics of our former glory.
Copies of a spoofed New York Times newspaper, created by thousands of volunteers and originally distributed in November 2008 - but dated July 4, 2009 - will get a further outing at FACT.
In the Media Lounge, Copenhagen-based art and architecture collective N55 set up SHOP, a unique exchange area with its own alternative economy, where visitors can swap, borrow or use donated items.
FACT’s Atrium will become the drop off point for The Ghana Think Tank. A collaboration between artists Christopher Robbins, John Ewing and Matey-Odonkor, the project asks visitors to submit their problems which will be given to a network of Think Tanks established in Ghana, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico, Ethiopia and Serbia to ‘solve’. Afterwards the artists will enact the solutions.
Notes to Editors FACT’s new online arts channel, FACT TV (www.fact.tv) will stream video highlights from Climate for Change and related content throughout the exhibition’s run. Artists involved in Climate for Change: AIDS 3D (USA), Eyebeam Art and Technology Centre (USA), The
Ghana Think Tank (USA/Ghana), Melanie Gilligan (USA), N55 (Denmark), The People Speak (UK), Stefan Szczelkun (UK), The Yes Men (USA), Kao-Oi Jay Yung (UK), Nina Edge (UK), The Gaia Project (UK).
UNsustainable In 2009, Liverpool’s Year of the Environment, FACT responds with UNsustainable - its own theme for the year. FACT asks: is the way we live UNsustainable? Examining sustainability from an artistic perspectivein a series of exhibitions designed to illustrate how humans can be invested in the change needed to protect our civilization. Is society itself becoming unsustainable?
SHOP by N55 is a collaboration between FACT and Radiator Festival, Nottingham. For more information please contact: Lucie Davies, Press & Communications Officer T: 0151 707 4405 or E: lucie.davies@fact.co.uk www.fact.co.uk
February 24, 2009Brussels, Belgium
IEET fellow Andy Miah will be speaking at the one day workshop for the European Parliament in Brussels, on Tuesday 24 February 2009
Sponsored by the Rathenau Institute
Human enhancement is the trend to improve the body & mind of human beings by technological means. Examples are the use of “smart pills” to improve concentration or cosmetic surgery. Other examples are selecting embryos that are genetically disease-free to use in an IVF procedure, mood brightening drugs or devices.
These and other technologies promise benefits for the individual using them, but what are the long-term effects? Will human enhancement enlarge social and economic differences? And will the health care remain affordable? Should research into such technologies be stimulated or not? We believe that there are three strategies that the EU could take in response to the challenges human enhancement will pose to the EU. We think that human enhancement raises serious challenges to the EU, and we have identified three strategies that the EU could take to respond to these.
These strategies will be presented by and discussed with experts during the workshop. Some more information on human enhancement, the challenges it poses, the three strategies, and the workshop can be found in the attached information folder.
The workshop is a part of our project on human enhancement. The goal of the project is to provide policy options on human enhancement to the European Parliament. This project is commissioned by the European Parliament and is carried out by ITAS and the Rathenau Institute. We will incorporate the debate during the workshop in the final report.
The workshop will be held on 24 February 2009 in the European Parliament (Rue Wiertz 60, 1047 Brussels). The first part of the workshop will be from 12.45 to 14.15 in room ASP 5F385 and will explore which of the three strategies will be most suitable for the EU. During this part of the workshop, a sandwich lunch will be provided.
The second part of the workshop will be held in room ASP 5G2 from 14.45 to 16.30. In this part, the strategies will be put to the test and will be thoroughly debated – hopefully by you as well!
If you want to attend the workshop, you need to register by sending an e-mail with subject “workshop human enhancement” to info @ rathenau.nl before 16 February 2009. This e-mail should include your name, nationality and date of birth. This information is necessary to ensure your access to the European Parliament and will be treated confidentially.
Please do not hesitate to contact us in case you have any questions about the workshop or our project.
Yours sincerely,
Martijntje Smits and Mirjam Schuijff Rathenau Institute
E-mail: m.smits @ rathenau.nl or m.schuijff @ rathenau.nl Telephone: + 31 70 342 15 42
Yours faithfully,
Mirjam Schuijff, Researcher Technology Assessment Rathenau Institute
Phone: (0031) 70 34 21 524
Address: Anna van Saksenlaan 51 2593 HW The Hague
Postal address: Postbus 95366 2509 CJ THE HAGUE (NL)
The Rathenau Institute focuses on the influence of science and technology on our daily lives and maps its dynamics; through independent research and debate.
This friday, I'm chairing a roundtable at an arts event in Birmingham. Here are the other participants. Table 3 - In an era of technological and biological advancement what role can the arts play?
Facilitator: Andy Miah / John Cocker, Arts Development Officer / Sima Gonsai, Artist / Ruth Harvey-Regan, Curator / Isata Kanneh, Community Development / Rita Patel, Artist / Gurminder Sehint / Rob Venus, Arts Development Officer / Trevor Woolery, Artist
Table 1 - How do artists inspire greater social responsibility towards sustainable communities?
Facilitator: Juliet Bain / Chloe Brown, Arts Organisation / Ollie Buckley, Curator / Anand Chhabra, Artist / Sara Clowes, Funder / Sian Evans, Producer/Curator / Jose Forrest-Tennant, Curator / Owen Hurcombe, Arts Development Officer / Zoe Shearman, Curator / Justin Wiggan, Artist
Table 2 - How can artists enable us to move beyond a simplistic understanding of diversity and what it means today?
Facilitator: Khembe Clarke / Saranjit Birdi, Artist / Joan Gibbons, Academic / Martin Glynn, Artist / Ajmal Hussain, Academic / Ioannis Ioannou, Curator / Mike Layward, Arts Organisation / Anouk Perinpanayagam, Consultant / Lorraine Proctor, Community Development / Lorna Rose, Artist
Table 4 - What role do religion and/ or spirituality play in negotiating arts practice and engagement?
Facilitator: Naz Koser / Robert Bowers, Artist / Tom Grosvenor, Curator / Mitra Memarzia, Artist / Cathryn Ravenhall, Arts Development Officer / Claire Rooney, Community Development / Craig Trafford, Artist / Mel Tomlinson, Artist
Table 5 - How do space and place impact on arts practice, perceptions and social engagement?
Facilitator: Peter Dunn / Shaheen Ahmed, Artist / Mukhtar Dar, Arts Organisation / Kate Green, Artist / Karl Greenwood, Arts Organisation /Elizabeth Hawley, Arts Development Officer / Rob Hewitt, Arts Development Officer / Helen Jones, Curator / Feng-Ru Lee, Artist / Ian Sergeant, Arts Development Officer / Kaye Winwood, Curator
Last week, Mike Stubbs and I gave a public lecture at the ISEA 2009 pre-symposium in Belfast. We debated Liverpool, Gunter von Hagens, La Machine, bioethics and bioart, the future of humanity, the role of public art in the 21st C, the role of arts institutions, and much more.
This book has been a mammoth in a whirhwind sort of project for me, but the result is stunning. Here are some photos from our preview event.
Find below the full Programme for 30 October, 2008, FACT, Liverpool, UK. Book Tickets
And, via a presentation I gave last week, a sense of the book's visual content:
[slideshare id=666917&doc=miah3008biocentre-1224321969659504-8&w=425]
10.00-10.15 Why Human Futures? Mike Stubbs
10.15-11.45 Envisioning the Future,
Chair: Steve Fuller
10.15-10.40 An Ethics of the Unknown, Russell Blackford AUS 10.40-11.05 Notes Towards the History of the Present, Norman M Klein USA 11.05-11.45 Questions & Answers, Discussion
11.45-12.15 Tea and Coffee
12.15-13.45 Designs on the Future,
Chair: Andy Miah
1215-12.45 Design for Debate, Fiona Raby UK 12.45-13.00 Enhanced Humans as Super-Organisms, Michael Burton UK 13.00-13.15 Natural Kingdoms and the Post-Biological World, Revital Cohen UK 13.15-13.45 Questions & Answers
13.45-14.45 Lunch & ISEA 2009 Meeting
14.45-15.45 Life after death in the 21st century,
Chair: Ernest Edmonds UK
14.45-15.05 Mission Eternity, etoy.CORPORATION SWITZ 15.05-15.45 Discussants: Paul Brown, Linda Candy UK
15.45-16.45 Unsustainable Futures? FACT in 2009 ,
Chair: Nicola Triscott
15.45-15.55 Overiew & Summary, Nicola Triscott UK
Rapporteurs: 15.55-16.05 Steve Fuller 16.05-16.15 Ernest Edmonds 16.15-16.25 Nigel Cameron 16.25-16.45 Laura Sillars
17.15-18.30 Book Launch Reception, Speeches & Signings
Mike Stubbs - Human Futures: The Programme
Andy Miah - Human Futures: The Book
Related Events Also taking place in Liverpool that day is the Long Night of the Biennial, an evening of cultural activities running from 8pm-12am. The following day sees the start of the BBC’s Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival, which is also at FACT. If you’ve not had a chance to get to Liverpool during its year as European Capital of Culture, this could be your time.
My Presentation: [slideshare id=666917&doc=miah3008biocentre-1224321969659504-8&w=425]
On 14th October, I'll give a talk at the Southbank in London and want to play a couple of clips. I hope the Internet works. This first clip is from The Big Donor Show, a reality tv programme from the Netherlands, which purported to have 3 contestants all in need of a new kidney. The winner of the show would receive the life saving transplant. The programme attracted widespread media coverage in advance of its broadcast and in the final few minutes of announcing the winner, revealed the truth:
[youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-lnoVaYj1XI&feature=related]
Q: have you thought that aliens might be machines?A: we do take that seriously. I’m not too sure where to begin with this one. Let’s start where I am now - observing a highlight lecture on the Dynamics of Climate Change delivered at the International Astronautical Congress. It takes place in an auditorium that holds around 3,000 people. Approximately 300 people are present, based on my precise mathematical method of looking around. Part of the lecture, given by the National Centre for Earth Observation explained the value of being able to observe Earth from outer space. Oh, that’s interesting. So, we need to do what his organization happens to get paid for. Not necessarily troublesome, but useful to point out that the ideas we’re being sold are the ones that our speaker gets paid to address. He’d probably like a bit more money to do it as well. Fine.
The presentation also articulated the absence of a skill base to adequately understand and address some of the more pressing challenges we face due to climate change. So, there also needs to be a long term investment into the skill base that would boost the work of the NCEO. Right, but, for want of a better phrae, ‘he had me at hello’. I’m signed up. The practices of environmental care are morally preferable to the practices of reckless excess. That’s good enough for me and he even said we can close the Ozone hole, if we behave. All good and I don’t really mean to appear dismissive. It’s just that a lot of these meetings clearly engage undisclosed financial and political interests and we need to take that on board.
I’m getting side-tracked. This is a posting about the conference on Outer Space. I entered this room after having just finished listening to a series of artist presentations, which articulated their own engagements with outer space. It’s really the highlight of my academic year, so far – and it’s got fierce competition, not least the Beijing Olympics. It’s just the sheer range of ideas and issues that have inspired me. That always has the edge. The exhibitors’ hall is a marvel in itself, and I’ve been to some good exhibitors’ halls. This really leaves the others standing. Best free toy: a pen that lights up (better than it sounds).
The real motivation for being here and what I take from it is that space exploration engages us with a series of problems that are second to none. They apply across disciplines and the application to space requires our re-definition of concepts. My heart lies with the new ‘extraterrestrial ethical’ issues that it provokes and this lecture on climate change further convinces me of the contribution this ethical framework can make to how we relate to outer space. There’s a whole lot of work to be done!
[slideshare id=647104&doc=miah2008lessremote-1223565891992651-8&w=425]
Human Futures: Art in an Age of Uncertainty
website: http://humanfutures.wordpress.com
30 October 2008 Symposium & Book Launch 10.00-5.00pm
Location: FACT, Liverpool, UK (which is also the location of Picturehouse Cinema Liverpool)
The world around us is changing. What will make the first century of the millennium different to the last? What will we love, how will we live, what will keep us awake at night?
Join artists, scientists, ethicists, futurologists as they explore questions, ideas and propositions that explore our changing environment and the challenges humanity faces in the future.
This conference brings together contributors from FACT’s Human Futures: Art in an Age of Uncertainty edited by Andy Miah which features work by George J Annas, Fiona Raby & Anthony Dunne, Norman M Klein and William Sims Bainbridge and Oron Catts.
An updated schedule of the symposium will be added soon, but for more information contact gabrielle.jenks@fact.co.uk
To order the book contact shop@fact.co.uk
Tickets £25.00/20.00 (members and concessions)
Tickets available from 0871 704 2063 or www.picturehouses.co.uk (Liverpool, FACT)
Originally uploaded by andymiah
I've recently become involved with ISEA 2009 as a Steering Committee member and Programme Theme Chair for 'Posthumanism: New Technologies and Creative Strategies'. here's a sneak preview at what I'll be looking for with Co-Chair Mike Stubbs of FACT and our panel team:
"Posthumanism operates at the interface of transhumanism and cyborgology, drawing attention to the convergent spaces of biology and artifice. Its manifestation through a range of biopolitical events, along with the aesthetic staging of bioethical encounters ruptures the polarized views of bioconservatism and technoprogressivism, provoking a series of conflicts that demand multi-layered conceptual apparatus to unravel. The sensory habitus of posthuman prostheses initiates the re-staging of design principles to anticipate the demand for new sensory experiences, technologies, services. This theme explores and expands our understanding of how innovative hardware and technologies are constituted by new art and design forms and how modes of sensory experience alter aesthetic encounters. For example, what kind of experience is generated through imaginations of posthumanity in different art and design forms? What do viewers expect from artists in terms of adopting posthuman technologies and modes of sensory delivery? How do we prepare and critically engage new generations of artists, designers and consumers through these technologies?"
The Review Panel for this theme consists of the following experts:
• Jeffrey N. Babcock, Executive Director, International Center for the Arts, San Francisco State University, USA • Oron Catts, Director, SymbioticA, University of Western Australia • Alison Clifford, Lecturer in New Media & Digital Art, University of the West of Scotland, UK • Heather Corcoran, Curator in New Media, Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT), Liverpool, UK • Gina Czarnecki, Independent Artist, Liverpool, UK. • Anthony Dunne, Royal College of Art, London, UK • Ernest Edmonds, Professor of Computation and Creative Media, University of Technology, Sydney. • Jens Hauser, Institute for Media Studies, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany • Michelle Kasprzak, Scottish Arts Council, Scotland, UK • Debbi Lander, Regional Creative Programme for the North West, London 2012 Olympics. • Fiona Raby, Royal College of Art, London, UK • Emma Rich, Loughborough University, England, UK • Laura Sillars, Head of Programme, FACT, Liverpool. • Nicola Triscott, The Arts Catalyst, London, UK.
I'll be speaking here on the 10th May: Programme provisoire Preliminary program Enhancement – aspects éthiques et philosophiques de la médecine d’amélioration
Jeudi 8 mai
19h30 Accueil des participants 19h45 Conférence inaugurale Cocktail dînatoire
Vendredi 9 mai
Session I : Enhancement et Science-Fiction 9h00-9h50 Jérôme Goffette Modifier les humains : anthropotechnie (Maître de Conférence, Université Lyon I) versus médecine 9h50-10h40 Sylvie Allouche Aspects éthiques et philosophiques de (Lectrice, Collège Eötvös de Budapest) la médecine d'amélioration dans la science-fiction 10h40-11h Pause Café
11h00-11h40 Gérard Klein La Science-Fiction, une littérature (Edition Robert Laffont) prothétique
Session II Enhancement and other topics 11h40-12h30 Gilbert Hottois ? (Professeur, Université libre de Bruxelles)
12h30-14h00 Lunch
14h00-14h50 Marie-Geneviève Pinsart ? (Chargé de cours, Université libre de Bruxelles) 14h50-15h40 Bernard Baertschi Devenir un être humain accompli. Idéal (Maître d’enseignement et de recherche, ou cauchemar ? Université de Genève)
15h40-16h00 Pause Café
16h00-16h40 Kermisch Céline Enhancement et perception des risques (Aspirant FNRS, Université libre de Bruxelles) 16h40-17h30 Pascal Nouvel Un aiguillon philosophique à la conquête (Professeur, Université Montpellier III) des records : les amphétamines 17h30-18h20 Jean-Yves Goffi Soigner, augmenter : une frontière floue ? (Professeur, Université Pierre Mendès)
Samedi 10 mai
Session III : Enhancement and sport. Chair : Pierre Daled.
10h-10h50 Alexandre Mauron Homo faber sui: quelques questions (Professeur à l’Université de Genève) d'éthique démiurgique 10h50-11h40 Patrick Laure Ethique des conduites dopantes (Université Paris XI-Orsay) 11h40-12h30 Quéval Isabelle Le corps rationnel du sport de haut (Maître de Conférence, niveau: ambivalences du dépassement de Université René Descartes-Paris V) soi
12h30-14h00 Lunch
14h00-14h50 Claudio Tamburrini What´s wrong with genetic inequality? (Chercheur, Université de Göteborg) 14h50-15h40 Andy Miah Human enhancement in performative (Reader, University of the West of Scotland) cultures
Invited lecture in Sept:LESS REMOTEThe Futures of Space Exploration: an Arts & Humanities Symposium
30 September - 1 October 2008 2008 International Astronautical Congress, SEC, Glasgow, Scotland
Abstract Submission Deadline: 11 March 2008 (approx. 300 words and short bio)
For further information, please go to: http://www.lessremote.org
or contact: Flis Holland E-mail: info@lessremote.org +44 (0)114 242 3244
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
LESS REMOTE The Futures of Space Exploration: an Arts & Humanities Symposium
An international symposium to run parallel to the 2008 International Astronautical Congress (IAC).
This symposium will offer a forum in which specialists from many disciplines will be invited to consider the future of space exploration in the context of our current understanding of social, economic and technological imperatives. One of the aims of the symposium is to foster a dialogue and exchange between the cultural and space communities.
Speakers from the arts & humanities and space science & engineering communities will present keynote lectures on space exploration and its possible futures. Papers are also invited from the broad constituency of interest among artists, cultural analysts and historians that has examined the wider implications of the scientific exploration of space for the better part of a century.
(For more information on the 2008 IAC, please visit www.iac2008.co.uk)
Practitioners, scholars and postgraduates in any relevant discipline are invited to submit abstracts that explore the following strands:
Cultures and Space Highlighting the multiplicity of cosmologies that currently hold sway in the world, and considering the consequences of a tacit consensus on the range of opportunities for future space exploration.
The Introspective Urge Focusing on humankind’s image of itself as a determinant of space technology, and the impact of a changing self-image – for example as a consequence of ubiquitous global communications - on future space science.
Leaving a Trace Technical and ethical debate on the impact we have already had on the local solar system, and how our views will affect the possible future of space science and engineering.
Living Space Consideration of the continuity between the needs of humans on earth and the possible demands of spacefarers in remote and often hostile environments.
Organised by Flis Holland and The Arts Catalyst, in association with Leonardo, OLATS and the University of Plymouth. Co-sponsored by IAA Commission VI.
Advisory Committee: Flis Holland (Chair), Nicola Triscott & Rob La Frenais (The Arts Catalyst), Annick Bureaud (Leonardo / OLATS), Stephen Dick (IAA Commission VI), Roger Malina (IAA Commission VI), Michael Punt (Leonardo), Sundar Sarukkai (Centre for Philosophy, Indian National Institute of Advanced Studies)
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
An abstract (300 words max) and a short bio (200 words max) must be submitted by 11 March 2008, via email to abstracts@lessremote.org
A poster session will also take place during the symposium. Please indicate on your application if a poster presentation is acceptable.
Submissions accepted and presented at the conference will be published in the IAC conference proceedings.
The RSA event last week was a whirlwind through so many different technologcical futures that tying everything together was quite a challenge. We roved from Web 2.0 to artificially intelligent robot soldiers in a matter of hours.
It's perplexing how i can be invited all over the world to speak about this subject and, on my own doorstep, not a peep. There's a moral here somewhere, and it's a good one. Anyway, visit Human Futures @ FACT, then get down to London next week for Ethical Futures @ RSA where I am speaking to the title 'Justifying Human Enhancement: The Accumulation of Biocultural Capital [straight after which I'm taking a motorcycle taxi to make my train. life is complicated]
After having met Jim McVeigh and Michael Evans-Brown in Aarhus a month or so back, I'm now substituting for Julian Savulescu at their meet on Friday. looks like an interesting conference.... http://pied-conference.net/
This week, I've arranged to give a session at the IoN in Stirling during the first week of August. Earlier this year, I met its CEO Ottilia Saxl, as part of the NanoBio-RAISE project. I also anticipate that the work of the new PhD studentship we advertized will be closely connected to the IoN. It's a fascinating enterprise and I look forward to being there to talk about all that is new media and public engagement.