As the world undergoes a transition from an industrial base to one of information, the construction that links continents takes place invisibly, through satellites , the air waves, and telephone lines. Technology is the vehicle for this construction, information the building material- this information is content. These developments have the potential to effect such profound changes in culture, commerce, and the Arts that have not been seen since the invention of the Guttenburg Press. For many, this rapid growth has changed the way that information is viewed, accessed, shared, and generated- a possible revolution in media.
The title "Under Construction" refers to the common Internet experience of finding incomplete Web pages, signaling the constant growth of the World Wide Web, the most visible aspect of the Information Age. While progress in technology has gained a great deal of attention, questions surrounding content must be raised. How does technology alter the information it transmits; What can society learn from the media of the past; How is society affected by the ever increasing amounts of information it receives; How does an information society change the labor process; When does content become a commodity?
It is with these questions in mind that the Media Research Foundation presents MetaForumIII/Under Construction/ Budapest Content Conference. The conference will include a variety of national and international speakers as well as; a live Web-radio broadcast with East Edge, Hungary; an on-site micro-radio building and transmission; a chill-out lounge with Heath Bunting; a Public Content-input Station (computer terminals and scanners available to the audience to provide content that will be included in the MetaForum CD-ROM); the presentation of ZKP3, an experiment in net-publishing; a screening of selected, vintage technology-training films.
Invited lecturers
Richard Barbrook, (UK); Heath Bunting, (UK); Manuel Delanda, (Mex); Erik Davis, (USA); David Garcia, (NL); John Horvath, (H); Heiko Idensen, (D); Attila Kotanyi,(H); Eveline Lubbers, (NL); Oliver Marchart, (A); Benjamin Perasovic, (Cro);Miklos Peternak, (H); Pit Schultz, (D);Alexei Shulgin, (R); Mark Stahlman, (USA); Katalin Timar, (H); Toshia Ueno, (Jp);
Sponsors
MetaForum III is made possible by the generous support of Albacomp, Copy General, Isys Hungary, Springer Magazine, Es Magazine, Juventus Radio, the Austrian Embassy, the British Council, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, and the Autumn Festival.
MetaForum III Organizing Committee
Geert Lovink, Diana McCarty, Ferenc Pohly, Janos Sugar, Margit Valko, and Noel Villers
Coordinator: Diana McCarty (diana@dial.isys.hu) Press: Margit Valko Editor: Ferenc Pohly (pohly@freeside.elte.hu) Finance: Gabriella Szucs Webdesigner: Laszlo Tolgyes (dash@caesar.elte.hu) Assistants: Anna Balint, Gabriella Barta, Thomas Bass, Geza Foldesi Metaforum III will take place at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, 69-71 Andrassy ut, on October 11-13, as a part of Budapest's annual Autumn Festival of the Arts. Tele: 36.1.266.6090 fax: 36.1.266.6131 Post: C/o Intermedia 69-71 Andrassy ut, Budapest, Hungary 1062
Program
Friday October 11
11.00 Registration
12.00 MetaForum III Opening
12.15 Introduction with Geert Lovink, Diana McCarty, Janos Sugar
12.30-14.30 The Information Industry
John Horvath: Wittgenstein's Nightmare
Miklos Peternak: Forms of Content in Media History
Mark Stahlman: Internet: New Media or New Dark Age?
14.30-15.00 Introduction to Content Input Station, Micro-radio,
and Real Audio
15.00-15.30 Break
15.30-17.00 Round Table: The Hungarian War on Content
Chairman: Kelemen Gabor
Participants: Dash, Steve Carlson, InterNetto,
East-Edge, Szalay Tamas
17.00-19.00 Be Content! The Politics of Counter
David Garcia: Social Innovation through Charismatic
Images/A User Language for the Visual Arts
Oliver Marchart: Online Revolutionaries: How to construct
the world over again (or not) and what
Thomas Paine has to do with it (or not).
Eveline Lubbers: Back To The Source: an archivist exploring
new dimensions of Netactivism
19.00-21.00 Reception
Saturday October 12
10.00 Registration
11.00-14.00 Notes from the Margin
Mokka Group: RomaRom Presentation
Pit Schultz: Panic Content-ZKP3 and alternative publishing strategies
Heiko Idensen: Poetry Should Be Made by All
Alexei Shulgin: There is No Media Art
14.00-14:30 Break
14.30-15.45 Round Table: The Crisis in Hungarian Alternative Culture
Chairman: Kopper Judith
Participants: Tilos Radio, Vakuum TV,
Koz-Hely, Magyar Narancs, Tilos Bar
15.45-17.45 When Now Was the Future:
Heath Bunting: Standing in Circles
Attila Kotanyi: Is There Any Net Critisicm that is Not Suicidal
Katalin Timar: The HyperRealities of the Spectcale:
The Situationists Internationale and Cyberspace
18.45-18.00 Break
18.00-20.30 Culture Reflected
Toshiya Ueno: Techno Mysticism and Media Tribes
Benjamin Perasovic: Tekno Scene in Croatia: Under Construction
Erik Davis: Techgnosis: Heretical Echoes in Contemporary Cyberculture
22.30 Party: Location to Be Announced
Sunday October 13
11.00 Registration
11.30-13.00 The Morning After
Losanc Alpar: The Unlimited New
Alexei Shulgin/Rachel Baker: The Lighter Side
Vuk Cosic: Very Cyber Indeed
13.00-15.00 New World Ordered
Kristian Csako: SoftProfits for Free
Manuel Delanda: Markets and Anti-Markets
Richard Barbrook: Political Dyslexia
15.00-15.30 Break
15.30-16.30 Roundtable: The Best Money Content Can Buy
Chairman: Geert Lovink
Participants: Stahlman, Schultz, Barbrook, Davis, Delanda.
16.30 Conference Closing Remarks
17.00-19.00 Tour Of C3 (Soros Center for Culture and Comunication)
21.00-23.00 When Film Was the Fashion/
Screening of vintage technology films,
Introduction Olia Lialina and presentation
of Cine Fantom (Moscow)