people doing strange things with electricity
kontakt: dorkbotswiss@dorkbot.org
launching
meeting:
october 2004
what:
dorkbot swiss is a monthly meeting of artists (sound/image/movement/whatever),
designers, engineers, students and other interested parties from the new
york area who are involved in the creation of electronic art (in the broadest
sense of the term.)
the purpose of dorkbot swiss is to:
give artists/programmers/engineers an opportunity for informal peer review
establish a forum for the presentation of new art works/technology/software/hardware
help establish relationships and foster collaboration between people with
various backgrounds and interests
give us all a chance to see the cool things that our neighbors are working
on
imaginary presentation topics:
a demo of the new motion tracking software you're writing
playing a video you made
an explanation of how you hacked your game boy to get it to make cool
bleeping noises
trouble shooting/brainstorming your remote-controlled sandwich making
robot
bringing in some dancers you're working with and having them demonstrate
the interface used in your new mind-control ballet
discussing your approach to electronic sculpture
.
.
.
demos of commercial software are not appropriate, unless you wrote the
software or you are making it do something particularly novel or interesting.
on the other hand, presenting a piece that was created using commercial
software is fine.
dorkbot swiss meetings are free and open to the public.
who:
dorkbot swiss meetings are coordinated by monya pletsch in collaboration
with douglas repetto.
contact: dorkbotswiss@dorkbot.org
when:
dorkbot swiss meetings are planned to take place the first wednesday of
each month .
where:
dorkbot swiss meetings take place in lucerne, basel, zurich and bern.
so each meeting will be in another city.
how:
to attend a dorkbot swiss meeting, let us know you're coming via email
or just show up and hope there's room. to give a presentation at a meeting
please email us and we will schedule you as soon as possible. see below
for details on giving presentations. meeting format:
dorkbot swiss meetings are largely informal, but to save everyone time
and energy a certain amount of planning will go into each meeting. the
current structure is:
* brief intros, announcements,
administrative details
* 20-30 minute presentation followed by 10 minutes of q & a
* 20-30 minute presentation followed by 10 minutes of q & a
* 20-30 minute presentation followed by 10 minutes of q & a
* final comments/debate/etc.
which means that each meeting is about 2.5 hours long and features three
presentations. resources
you are encouraged to provide most of the resources needed for your presentation.
however, some dorkbot swiss equipment will be available for your use.
available resources include:
* a mac osx laptop
* a video projector
* a fast network connection
* a small mixer and powered speakers
hypothetical
Q & A
q: i want to present something at dorkbot swiss. is my
project appropriate? what styles/genres/scenes does dorkbot swissrepresent?
a: dorkboy swiss is (or tries to be) totally neutral
in regard to style/genre/scene. an emphasis on the creative use of electricty
is all that is required. see above for some examples of appropriate topics.
q: what if i just want an audience for my new piece?
a: short performances/demos are fine. however dorkbot
swiss isn't really a good venue for presenting things like full performances
or long-form recorded sound/video pieces. if there's enough interest we
will probably organize some more formal performances/shows at some point.
for now the meetings will be more informal chances to exchange ideas with
other interested parties.
q: i make cold, hard, intense, machine-robot-skull-hammer music,
and am bent on the annihilation of the human species. can i participate
in dorkbot-nyc meetings?
a: yes, although annihilatory activity is prohibited
at dorkbot swiss meetings and you must leave your skull hammer at home.
q: i do soft, warm, dreamy, auto-electrolysis live performance
video and founded a local PETA chapter. can i participate in dorkbot swiss
meetings?
a: yes.
q:
do i have to join something to participate in dorkbot swiss?
a: no.