The Z-Axis panel brings together artists, administrators, researchers, and theorists to discuss innovation, technique, and collaboration within new media practice in and beyond Saskatchewan. Specific topics include strategies for technical expertise-building such as networking and collaborative practices, innovation, and the translocal as methods of strengthening the position of Saskatchewan artists in international new media discourse.
Moderator: Ellen Moffat
Panel participants: Garnet Hertz, Jeff Morton, David LaRiviere, Regan Mandryk, and Gary Young
Saturday, July 25th, 2:00pm - 5:00 pm, 424 20th Street West, Upstairs Event Space.
2:00: Panel Participant Presentations
3:15: Break
3:30: Panel Discussion
5:00: Closing Remarks
The panel will be a 2-phase event with presentation and discussion. Initially, each of the five panelists will present a single project of her/his own work that relates to the themes of the exhibition. The initial presentation will be between 10 and 15 minutes in duration (maximum 15 minutes ). A-V digital media support material is encouraged.The second half of the panel will be a discussion of topics as identified in the section below among the panelists. Questions may also be directed from the floor. Please be prepared to respond to these questions.
The term “translocal” refers to practices, spaces, nodes, networks, and relations and suggests a shift in artistic methods and practices where the local is defined by the community, and not necessarily by traditional physical geographies.
Technique: The specialised nature and technical
demands of new media often require that artists expand their
connections within a community of technical experts, often beyond
their immediate geographic environment. Artistic production
is no longer bound by the technical expertise or skill-base
available in the local. A spin-off to this situation is the
cross-pollination of ideas, skills and resources made possible
by these new networks, and this cross-pollination can facilitate
rich and meaningful collaboration between people with varied
skill sets and aesthetic concerns. As such, new media production
often engages in translocal production in order to make technically
and conceptually complex projects possible. What have your experiences
been with building creative teams, in a local and translocal
sense? How has the ground for collaboration been solidified
by working within and outside of your local community? How has
working with new technologies expanded your idea of the local?
Collaboration: As a practice, collaboration
has numerous interpretations, experiences and evaluations. The
motives for working collaboratively may be political, social,
ideological, pragmatic, or as a research laboratory investigation.
What is your approach to collaboration: as creative research,
as a project that is co-defined and co-authored from its point
of inception, as an opportunity for production as co-development,
or something else? What makes a collaboration successful...
or, unsuccessful? Are there tips or resources to facilitate
collaboration? How are the participating collaborators credited?
Are there differences between the theory of collaboration and
the actuality of production? If so, how are these reconciled?
Is collaboration in new media different than in other practices?
Innovation: Translocal projects create new
kinds of geographies and new cultural forms, as well as local
spaces. Does the translocal affect collaborative practices?
If so, how? Do networks and remote communication systems compensate
for the absence of direct contact? What does it mean when one’s
community is half-way around the world? What about this form
of collaboration enriches the creative process? What are the
consequences of translocal production on artistic practice,
technical expertise-building, and for the local community? How
does translocal collaboration set the stage for innovation in
new media art, and what tools exist for facilitating innovation
in collaboration? How can the innovation afforded by translocal
networking be applied to the local?