Kategorie: International News

Am 27. August hat das Media Facades Festival Europe 2010 Premiere. Luminapolis sprach mit der künstlerischen Leiterin Susa Pop, die sich seit Jahren mit dem Thema Medienfassaden, digitaler Kultur und öffentlichem Raum beschäftigt. Das Festival verbindet sieben europäische Metropolen miteinander, in denen jeweils Projekte unter dem gemeinsamen Dach vernetzt werden. Mehr zum Programm des Festivals hier>

Luminapolis: Susa Pop, you are artistic director of the Media Facades Festival Europa 2010. Who are the others? It is a trans european cooperation of several institutions.

Susa Pop: I initiated the Media Facades Festival Europe 2010 (MFF2010) together with Mirjam Struppek / Interactionfield as a follow-up project of the Media Facades Festival Berlin 2008 (MFF2008) where we explored the cultural and communicative potential of mainly commercially used urban screens. We invited 24 Berlin based artists and media designers to develop site-specific screening projects with the possibility of social participation. Based on this experience of MFF2008 and on the fact that most public screens are operated by internet-based technologies, we developed the idea of interconnecting seven European metropoles with the medium of urban screens. We are collaborating with new media experienced institutions and curators like Stefan Mittleboeck / Ars Electronica Futurelab, Marie-Laure Delaby from iMAL / Brussels, Heather Corcoran from FACT/ Liverpool, Minna Tarkka from m-cult / Helsinki, Nerea Calvillo from Medialab-Prado / Madrid and Eszter Bircsák from Kitchen Budapest. In a collaborative process we selected the artists’ projects which will be presented in Joint Broadcasting Events from 27 August to 2 October 2010.

Luminapolis: What kind of art do you present at the festival and what are the main topics? Street art and Urban Intervention are the keywords for new art initiatives for the public space.

Susa Pop: We have been developing main curatorial topics with a special focus on the following themes:
• Connected Cities: Joint Broadcasting projects that happen simultaneously and interactively across the borders
• Urban Activism: Reclaim the Screens! An activist approach to opening screens for the urban community
• Human Screens: Human processes are visualised on media facades
• Organic Cities: Public Data projects use information resources from the environments and develop a real-time software programme for live streaming
• Public Playing: Games designed as an interaction catalyst for the public audience
• European Dialogue: Projects that especially support intercultural exchange and connect the local scenes through the media facades infrastructure of the participating cities
• Citizens Journalism: Research and participatory projects of local scenes
• Recontextualise: A shared video platform on a central server to create local screening programmes

Luminapolis: What are the places in Europa where the festival activities take place?

Susa Pop: MFF 2010 is a pilot project of interconnecting 7 European metropoles with the medium of urban screens and media facades. The Joint Broadcasting Events will take place in Berlin, Budapest, Brussels, Helsinki, Liverpool, Madrid and Linz. Some of the participating institutions temporarily display screening and interactive projects on the existing infrastructure of urban screens and media facades in the cities – like Helsinki, Berlin, Budapest, Brussels. The other institutions are running their own media facade like Medialab-Prado Madrid, Ars Electronica Center in Linz and FACT in Liverpool which develop more socially and ecologically sustainable programmes. The joint Broadcasting Events will take place during the weekends and are presented in local frameworks like Long Night of Museums, White Nights / Nuits Blanche etc.

Luminapolis: Which technologies the artists use to create their messages?

Susa Pop:For the interactive projects, they use mobile devices like mobile phones and especially developed digital interfaces like the SMSlingshot by VR/Urban. The public playing projects are based on motion-tracking camera systems. Then there are also Public Data projects with especially developed software to visualise the environmental and social processes.

Luminapolis: And what is the perspective of media facades. When becomes the movie Blade Runner reality?

Susa Pop: Media Facades and Screens are a new communication medium at the interface of the public space and the digital worlds. Our main idea and goal is to reclaim the screens for the public audience and contribute to a sustainable urban media development in our cities. In my opinion urban screens and media facades have a high potential of community building and regeneration of the public space. They can open digital stages for the public audiences, visualise social processes and interconnect local scenes of other cities.
On August 27th the Media Facades Festival Europe will have its première. Luminapolis made an interview with Susa Pop, artistic director. She explores the interferences between media facades, digital culture and public space since years. The festival will connect seven European metropoles with their site-specific projects under the common roof of the festival. The programme you find here>

Luminapolis: Susa Pop, you are artistic director of the Media Facades Festival Europa 2010. Who are the others? It is a trans european cooperation of several institutions.

Susa Pop: I initiated the Media Facades Festival Europe 2010 (MFF2010) together with Mirjam Struppek / Interactionfield as a follow-up project of the Media Facades Festival Berlin 2008 (MFF2008) where we explored the cultural and communicative potential of mainly commercially used urban screens. We invited 24 Berlin based artists and media designers to develop site-specific screening projects with the possibility of social participation. Based on this experience of MFF2008 and on the fact that most public screens are operated by internet-based technologies, we developed the idea of interconnecting seven European metropoles with the medium of urban screens. We are collaborating with new media experienced institutions and curators like Stefan Mittleboeck / Ars Electronica Futurelab, Marie-Laure Delaby from iMAL / Brussels, Heather Corcoran from FACT/ Liverpool, Minna Tarkka from m-cult / Helsinki, Nerea Calvillo from Medialab-Prado / Madrid and Eszter Bircsák from Kitchen Budapest. In a collaborative process we selected the artists’ projects which will be presented in Joint Broadcasting Events from 27 August to 2 October 2010.

Luminapolis: What kind of art do you present at the festival and what are the main topics? Street art and Urban Intervention are the keywords for new art initiatives for the public space.

Susa Pop: We have been developing main curatorial topics with a special focus on the following themes:
• Connected Cities: Joint Broadcasting projects that happen simultaneously and interactively across the borders
• Urban Activism: Reclaim the Screens! An activist approach to opening screens for the urban community
• Human Screens: Human processes are visualised on media facades
• Organic Cities: Public Data projects use information resources from the environments and develop a real-time software programme for live streaming
• Public Playing: Games designed as an interaction catalyst for the public audience
• European Dialogue: Projects that especially support intercultural exchange and connect the local scenes through the media facades infrastructure of the participating cities
• Citizens Journalism: Research and participatory projects of local scenes
• Recontextualise: A shared video platform on a central server to create local screening programmes

Luminapolis: What are the places in Europa where the festival activities take place?

Susa Pop: MFF 2010 is a pilot project of interconnecting 7 European metropoles with the medium of urban screens and media facades. The Joint Broadcasting Events will take place in Berlin, Budapest, Brussels, Helsinki, Liverpool, Madrid and Linz. Some of the participating institutions temporarily display screening and interactive projects on the existing infrastructure of urban screens and media facades in the cities – like Helsinki, Berlin, Budapest, Brussels. The other institutions are running their own media facade like Medialab-Prado Madrid, Ars Electronica Center in Linz and FACT in Liverpool which develop more socially and ecologically sustainable programmes. The joint Broadcasting Events will take place during the weekends and are presented in local frameworks like Long Night of Museums, White Nights / Nuits Blanche etc.

Luminapolis: Which technologies the artists use to create their messages?

Susa Pop:For the interactive projects, they use mobile devices like mobile phones and especially developed digital interfaces like the SMSlingshot by VR/Urban. The public playing projects are based on motion-tracking camera systems. Then there are also Public Data projects with especially developed software to visualise the environmental and social processes.

Luminapolis: And what is the perspective of media facades. When becomes the movie Blade Runner reality?

Susa Pop: Media Facades and Screens are a new communication medium at the interface of the public space and the digital worlds. Our main idea and goal is to reclaim the screens for the public audience and contribute to a sustainable urban media development in our cities. In my opinion urban screens and media facades have a high potential of community building and regeneration of the public space. They can open digital stages for the public audiences, visualise social processes and interconnect local scenes of other cities.