A.S.T.A.R.T.I.

Symposium:


Presentation Title:
  • A.S.T.A.R.T.I.

Presenter(s):


Abstract:

  • Founded in Paris in 1985 by the artists Katerina Thomadaki and Maria Klonaris, A.S.T.A.R.T.I. develops an interdisciplinary international project on media arts: film, video, computer art, multimedia performance and installation, 3D animation, virtual reality, interactive environments, communication networks, etc. Since 1985 A.S.T.A.R.T.I. has organized numerous events (exhibitions, projections, conferences and symposia) in France and abroad and presented innovative work by more than 300 international artists. In 1990 A.S.T.A.R.T.I. has premiered the International Conference on Media Arts (Rencontres Art cinema/video/ordinateur) at the Videotheque de Paris, with the participation of more than 20 international partner institutions and private companies, alternative and independent associations, etc. The first “Rencontres” has focused on the relationships between technology and imaginary and has proposed the breaking down of barriers between the different technologies of the animated image, thus questioning the new discriminative phenomena linked to the use of different media in the arts. The event crossed theories and practices, projections and debates: it was compsed of more than 30 thematic programs and 8 panels in which participated artists, philosophers, art historians, curators, institutional resposibles and industrials. A book was published as a catalogue of the event: “Technologies et Imaginaires”, edited by Katerina Thomadaki and Maria Klonaris, Dis/voir, Paris 1990. Organized in 1994 at the Videotheque de Paris, the second International “Rencontres” on media arts, entitled “Image Mutations”, has questioned the impact of image mutations on our cultural environment. Proceeding beyond the fascination connected with the advent of electronic and digital technologies, the second “Rencontres” has proposed a space of creative criticism and comparative analysis. Connecting lines have been drawn from early cinematic or pre-cinematic phenomena to abstract computer animations, digital effects, stereoscopic video, virtual reality. Some 150 artists and theorists from 20 countries have participated in the event, along with 25 international partners. A wide range of questions has been raised: not only aesthetic and technical, but also philosophical and social, like for instance: “What do the technological arts reflect of the political, social and cultural upheavals at present affecting Europe and the world?”. The book accompanying the second event is “Mutations de l’image” edited by Katerina Thomadaki and Maria Klonaris, A.S.T.A.R.T.I, Paris 1994. The second “Rencontres” has been prize winning at the Kaleidoscope programme of the European Communities Commission. The “Rencontres” is now developing into an International Trienial on Art and Technology and the third event will take place in 1997 in Paris.

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