This happened
On Monday 15th at 830am GMT, I'll be appearing on the BBC Radio 4 flagship Radio programme to talk abou thte future of humanity and my new book Human Futures: Art in an Age of Uncertainty. Tune in, or iTune in (then buy the book - great Xmas present).
At approximately 1030pm GMT, Facebook went down, at least it did for me. What's going on I wonder. I was engrossed in a conversation with a friend I've not spoken to for over 15 years too. How about that?
This fascinating film from Lynn Hersmann-Leeson reveals the story of Steve Kurtz, an artist who works with cell cultures who found himself at the centre of an FBI investigation into his work. His plight is the focus of the chapter by George J. Annas in Human Futures on Bioterror and Bioart. Here's a clip of the film's trailor: [youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ikNO1ANHIQs]
and here's an interview with Kurtz:
[youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bExpRb7vryA&feature=related]
My working year ended in Washington for a debate at the American Enterprise Institute. It was especially interesting to see Washington in the heady gaze of Barack Obama's imminent inauguration. Long may their hope continue.
Pipilotti was the solo artist for one of FACT's major exhibitions this year. Her work features in the introductory chapter by Mike Stubbs and Laura Sillars. For a taste of Rist's work, here's a well-known embed, one of the first I saw of her work. The exhibition was stunning and buying a copy of Human Futures will get you some rare printed material of Rist's work... [youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CsC8FKNE8fg]
The Human Futures book will be presented at Ding Dong, FACT's new exhibition for December. A central part of the exhibit is The Fragmented Orchestra, which one the PRS Foundation prize and one of the Chapters of Human Futures. Come to Ding Dong on 10 December and the artists' breakfast on 11 December to meet the authors/artists/musicians and get a signed copy of the book. Here's some information about the exhibit:
[youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ToRGizwmNN4]
The Fragmented Orchestra is a huge distributed musical structure modeled on the firing of neurons within the brain’s cortex. It is designed by its composers to perform a profound and unique score to thousands of listeners across the UK. This instrument, a model of a brain, will be distributed across 24 public locations throughout the UK, and at least one central venue (FACT, Liverpool). The piece will operate continuously over the period of three months.
At 24 diverse locations, ranging from football stadia, motorway crash barriers, school playgrounds and an offshore buoy with a ringing bell, a small ‘neuron unit’ will be mechanically attached to the resonant surface of an existing physical structure. All of the neuron units are connected to each other, via the internet, to form a tiny ‘cortex’ and will ‘fire’ signals back and forth when stimulated by sound. The ‘neuron units’ will act as a musical interface and gateway into The Fragmented Orchestra.
When a ‘neuron’ fires, fragments of sounds from its location are transmitted to the central venue in which each neuron unit is represented by its own loudspeaker. Performers, including individuals and groups from each locality, can play each neuron unit and listeners can hear a unique array of rhythms, timbres and pulses created by the cortex at work. The music at the central venue will also be shared with listeners at each of the remote locations through the use of Feonic™ technology, which turns any resonant surface into a high quality loudspeaker. A website will also enable people to tune into each of the neurons as well as the central location.
Jane Grant is predominately a visual artist working with film, sound, video and installation. She has exhibited widely in the UK and is currently Principal Investigator at the University of Plymouth of an AHRC funded project, which merges the human voice and breath with neuronal firing patterns to be shown at ArtSway in 2008. John Matthias is a musician and physicist. He has worked with many artists including Radiohead, Matthew Herbert and Coldcut and has performed extensively in Europe including at the Pompidou Centre, Paris. He is a lecturer in Sonic Arts at University of Plymouth. Nick Ryan is a composer, producer and sound designer. He won a BAFTA for his ground breaking interactive radio drama The Dark House, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and has composed extensively for film and television.
“The sounds created at 24 resonant locations around the UK would be captured and transmit to each other in a collective composition, based on the same principles as the connections in the human brain. This is music writ large across the country and, through complex technology, we can all create, listen and play a part in it.” New Music Award panel
Would you be interested in taking part in this musical experiment? Do you think that this technology will create music? Click here to let us know your thoughts...
Responses so far
"As an artist and supporter of sound based artistic practice, I'm really interested in this sort of cross discipline work and have recently been doing research in architecture and music; folk musics as distributive technologies, I can't wait to see how it will be realised."
"There seems to be a surge of works of music and sound that are essentially distributive and expanded in their performance; no fixed settings; no fixed audiences microscopic elements distributed across many places... physical networks across an atomised society. I'm really interested in this sort of cross discipline work; folk musics as distributive technologies. I cant wait to see how it will be realised."
This great series of Conversations, includes one of the HF contributors Kira O'Reilly. THE MEDICAL GAZE Detachment and empathy in medicine and art
2 December | 7-9pm | £10 (£8 conc) Starr Auditorium, Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
How do different artists represent, challenge, and engage with the ‘'medical gaze'? What can medicine and the arts learn from each other about how each identifies, deconstructs and then reassembles the objects or subjects of its attention? Do artists and doctors face similar dilemmas in patrolling the ethical dimensions of their work?
Speakers
Artists Bobby Baker and Kira O'Reilly Kamaldeep Bhui, Professor of Cultural Psychiatry, Barts and the London
Book Online | Tel: 020 7887 8888
The final major exhibition for FACT is The Fragmented Orchestra, which has a written overview within the Human Futures book. At FACT.tv you can view more about it:
http://www.iafastro.org/index.php?id=114&no_cache=1&tx_iafnews_pi1[tt_single]=144
Euthanasia: A Good Death?Biomedical Ethics Film Festival on the topic of Assisted Dying
14-16 November 2008 – Edinburgh Filmhouse - 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH3 9BZ Box Office Tel: 0131 228 2688 See: http://www.filmhousecinema.com/seasons/biomedical-ethics-film-festival/
Is euthanasia a good death? What is the difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide? Why has euthanasia been so much in the news lately? These are some of the questions which will be asked in a three-day biomedical ethics film festival taking place in Edinburgh between the 14th – 16th of November 2008. During this event, films will be presented all supporting reflection on the subject of assisted dying. At the end of each film, a discussion will be taking place with a panel of 3-4 invited experts in bioethics, science, law, medicine and politics who will support, but not take over, a debate lasting about 30-45 min with the general public attending the film.
Friday the 14th of November 2008 - 18.00 hrs
Reverend Death Channel 4 Documentary directed by Jon Ronson with Jon Ronson, 2008 The Reverend George Exoo is a seemingly jolly, but not very successful Unitarian minister from West Virginia, USA, who has drifted into helping non-terminally ill people commit suicide. At the start of filming, Jon Ronson believed that everyone should have the right to terminate their own lives. However, as the film progresses, he begins to change his mind and starts to have serious reservations about what Rev. Exoo does and about the motives of his new assistant Susan, who claims she'll help practically anyone kill themselves if the price is right: 'For George it's a calling,' she says. 'For me it's a business.'
Saturday the 15th of November 2008 – 13.00 hrs
The Sea Inside (Spanish: Mar adentro) Spanish/Chilean director Alejandro Amenábar, 2004, Rated PG Drama based on the real-life story of Ramón Sampedro (played by Javier Bardem), a Spanish ship mechanic left quadriplegic after a diving accident who fought a 28-year campaign in support of assisted suicide and his right to end his own life. The Sea Inside won the 2004 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, the 2004 Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, and 14 Goya Awards including awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay.
Sunday the 16th of November 2008 - 13.00 hrs
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (French: Le scaphandre et le papillon) Directed by Julian Schnabel, 2007, Rated 12 The film describes the real-life experience of Elle magazine editor-in-chief Jean-Dominique Bauby after suffering a massive stroke that left him mentally aware of his surroundings but physically paralysed with the exception of some movement in his head and left eye. The French edition of the book, on which the film was based, was entirely written by Bauby blinking his left eyelid during July and August 1996. It received excellent reviews, sold 150,000 copies in the first week, and went on to become a number one bestseller across Europe. The film won awards at the Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globes and the BAFTA Awards, as well as four Academy Award nominations.
The film festival is organised in partnership with: (1) the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, (2) the Edinburgh Filmhouse (venue for the event) and (3) the Edinburgh and South-East Scotland Branch of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
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 is the place in Florence where I gave one of the opening keynotes to the conference. There will surely be no grander or more beautiful a room that I will give a talk.
Buy the Human Futures book by clicking here
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.
Just in: Leading British science-fiction writer Justina Robson to speak at the HF symposium. Biography:
Justina Robson was born in Leeds, and studied philosophy and linguistics at the University of York. She worked in a variety of jobs - including secretary, technical writer, and fitness instructor - until becoming a full-time writer.
Robson attended the Clarion West Writing Workshop and was first published in 1994 in the British small press magazine The Third Alternative, but is best known as a novelist. Her debut novel Silver Screen was shortlisted for both the Arthur C Clarke Award and the BSFA Award in 2000. Her second novel, Mappa Mundi, was also shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award in 2001. It won the 2000 Amazon.co.uk Writer's Bursary. In 2004, Natural History, Robson's third novel, was shortlisted for the BSFA Award, and came second in the John W Campbell Award.
Robson's novels have been noted for sharply-drawn characters, and an intelligent and deeply thought-out approach to the tropes of the genre. She has been described as "one of the very best of the new British hard SF writers"[1].
Living Next-Door to the God of Love is a loose sequel to Natural History, inasmuch as it is set in the same universe. Keeping It Real marks the beginning of a series, the Quantum Gravity Books.
On 27th July 2008 she spoke on BBC Radio 3 about Doctor Who and various other sci-fi shows for 25 minutes during the interval of the Doctor Who Prom.
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]
10.15-10.40 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
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
14.45-15.05 Mission Eternity, etoy.CORPORATION SWITZ 15.05-15.45 Discussants: Paul Brown, Linda Candy UK
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]
Human Futures - Subject Index
Originally uploaded by andymiah
First page of the proof for our index, to give you a taste of what has prominence in the book
On November 15-16, 2008, the world's most dangerous ideas will collide in Mountain View, California. Convergence08 examines the world-changing possibilities of Nanotech and the life-changing promises of Biotech. It is the premier forum for debate and exploration of Cogtech ethics, and ground zero of the past and future Infotech revolution. Convergence08 is an innovative, lively unconference, the first and only forum dedicated to NBIC (Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno) technologies. http://www.convergence08.org/
Machines and Souls Exhibition, Reina Sofia National Museum, Madrid from José Luis de Vicente on Vimeo.
[youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LvN3yv7rLB8]
