The RENEW conference, itinerant since 2005, is now taking place in Riga (Latvia) at the Stockholm School of Economics (8-11 October). Here, more than two hundred experts in the field of new media, are coming together from all over the world to discuss on topics related to history, archive, techno-ecology and much more, in multiple sessions and in a very intensive program. Erkki Huttamo, pioneer of the ‘media archeology’, opened the conference with a lecture on the emerging field of new media archeology, an argument we will further discuss in the near future in a dedicated focus. In his vision the study of ‘topos’ in history, formulas that are repeated cyclically in cultural processes, becomes a methodolical intrument that enables a better understanding of the nearest contemporary at large.
The conference dedicates much space to issues related to preservation of digital works. “Save as” is the title and the theme of the exhibition curated by Raitis Smits for the Festival of Visual Arts, which will open in conjunction with the conference to last until November 17. “The exhibition ‘Save as’ – announces the notice on the site – does not want to give answers but offers some questions about how to preserve the contemporary digital for the near future.” Everything interwaves in the grip of contemporary culture to influence the most important aspects. This is what emerges from the announced closing conference on Friday when Lev Manocivh will dissert on “how the display of large amounts of data will help us to question the traditional cultural categories”.
Artists for “Save as Exhibition”: JODI (NL), Alexei Shulgin & Aristarkh Chernyshev (RU), Olia Lialina (RU / DE), Cécile Babiole (FR), Heath Bunting (UK), Evan Roth (UK/USA/FR), Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits & Xchange / E-Lab / RIXC (LV), Aram Bartholl (DE), Dragan Espenschied (DE), Lamberto Teotino (IT), Benjamin Gaulon, Karl Klomp, Gijs Gieskes & TokTek (Tom Verbruggen) / ReFunct Media (FR/NL), Parag Kumar Mital (IN/UK), Robert Sakrowski & Constant Dullaart / net.artdatabase.org (DE/NL), Andris Vetra, Artis Kuprish (LV).
Images
1. (cover) Lamberto Teotino, Sistema di riferimento Monodimensionale, 2011, photo via
2. Alexei Shulgin & Aristarkh Chernishev, Out of Control, 2008, photo via
Exhibition “Save As“, Riga – October 9 – November 17, 2013
