The Jungled Urban Sprawl aka Kinshasa

After almost 3 months still in this kaleidoscopic town of extremes Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A lot of intersections of which one led to a collaboration with Thérèse Muyumba Odito, sculptress, for an installation created for "Maturité", a contemporary dance piece of choreographer Madrice Imbujo. It was presented at the "Centre Wallonie Bruxelles" in Kinshasa on the 25/04. The work consisted of knotted/overtorsed cords mixed with clay and other components hung in the entrance hall (see pictures) + 2 video projections in the theatre (no picts and video footage (as they are lost)).

Also, I've been busy with the organisation ('mise en scène' and co-ordination) of a photo exhibition for Doctors Without Borders & photo agency VII (NYC).


www.flickr.com/photos/msfvii_expo_photos_kinshasa/
www.viiphoto.com/exhibitions.html

okno public01 - May 24-26

event:

okno public01 - May 24-26

24/5: Experimental media art in belgium: a focus on the media arts in belgium
With: Guy van Belle (Society of Algorithm, mxHz.org), Auriea Harvey (Tale of Tales), Lawrence Malstaf and Bartaku.
Moderators: Maja Kuzmanovic (FoAM) and Michael Samyn (Tale of Tales)

Beauty in the age of digital art
Let's talk about aesthetics - a term that became a taboo in many contemporary arts circles for nearly a decade. Swept away as the frilly fluff that adorns much of the mainstream entertainment, in the 'media arts', beauty became subordinate to elaborate concepts, social context, critical theory and technological functionality. However, we are quite sure that even the most rigorous of media artists like to see, hear, touch, wear and immerse themselves in an atmosphere which resonates with their aesthetic sensibilities. We would like to know what are these sensibilities and how people incorporate them in their artistic adventures. How does aesthetics relate to the technologies we use and develop? Is it dictated by the tools, or can we bend the tools to make something we consider beautiful? When we work on collaborative projects, do people make compromises, or do they give each other a 'carte-blanche'? Is there such a thing as 'democratic aesthetics'? Can different people's aesthetics connect or disconnect a piece together in distributed, networked, realtime performances? And finally, how do we talk about it, without offending anyone's most intimate sensibilities?

wednesday may 24, 2006 3pm
matrix art project, brussels