Director's
Diary: Dec 2009
It was wonderful to see so many of you at Wired Women Salon #75 chez Eastern Bloc last week! Jessica MacCormack, Rae Spoon, Janna Graham and Carol Whiteman gave us abundant inspiration to savour over the holidays while the NFB’s luminous Kat Baulu presented the First Person Digital submission guidelines for 2010 projects.
If that was not enough, below you will find the guidelines for application to our Resident Artist stream, our workshop offerings and if critical discourse is your passion, do not forget .dpi #17’s Call for Papers.
Sincere thanks to Alliance Vivafilm, Aveda Salon Spa, Rouge Nail Bar, Saco Hair and board member J. Karène Rietschen for the holiday gift certificates that made our WW #75’s prize draw so much fun!
Studio XX is pleased to announce the appointment of Dina Vescio to the position of Programming Coordinator. Dina is a recent graduate of the Master of Art History Program at Concordia University (2009). Her thesis investigated webcam-based artworks by Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and Cheryl Sourkes, focusing on themes of surveillance and spectacle while drawing from feminist studies to explore how women achieve agency via the Internet. As a DOCAM Research Assistant at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (2007-2009), she performed case studies on digital video installations and published texts based on media art in museum collections and Internet art for the Museums and the web conference (2008) and the DOCAM and CHIN (Canadian Heritage Information Network) websites. Dina has co-curated a number of exhibitions for Concordia’s FOFA (Faculty of Fine Arts) Gallery and has worked for artistic institutions in Montreal and Ottawa. With research interests in media art, feminism, museum studies and artistic creation, Dina brings vital new energy to Studio XX.
We
are also delighted to announce the appointment of Marguerite Gawrys to
the position of Junior
Web Developer. Her solid background will be a great asset
as she will work closely with Webmistress Stéphanie Lagueux on
several project sites. Web
artist Antonia Hernandez
has also joined the team as designer of the First Person Digital site.
On the workshops and production front, Britt Wray is the Studio’s new Workshops Coordinator, while Darsha Hewitt and Valérie d. Walker are hard at work on the XX Files Radio Project. Jane Moloney, Sara Tizhouch and Coco Riot have been a formidable Production Team over the past few months. The magnificent Rashid and Rosetta Web art project launch with Isabelle Bernier, Rehab El Sadek, Heba Farid, Andrew Forster, Skawennati Fragnito and Hadil Nazmy put our team to the test and it was a thing of beauty.
In the fall, we bid a fond farewell to Bérengère Marin Dubuard
as longtime Director of Production and this past week, to
Communications ace Annie
Briard. We thank them for their
substantial
contributions and wish them every continued success.
The Studio’s Board of Directors also welcomed two talented new members: interdisciplinary artist and lawyer-to-be Maroussia Lévesque and Communications Specialist J. Karène Rietschin. Natacha Clitandre is the newly elected Vice-President. Many thanks to departing Board member and busy filmmaker Alexandra Guité.
The Board will begin 2010 by realizing the next phase of the XX Strategic Plan with consultant Myriam Grondin thanks to a Flying Squad Grant.
We wish you joy, inspiration and peace at this very special time of the year...
Paulina Abarca-Cantin
Director General
Photos : 1. Studio XX, photo: Paulina Abarca-Cantin, 2009. 2. Wire Women Salon #75, Kat Baulu and Carol Whiteman, photo : Jessica MacCormack, 2009. 3. Wire Women Salon #74, Heba Farid and Isabelle Bernier, photo : Stéphanie Lagueux, 2009.
Call
for Proposals : Artist in
Residence Program at Studio XX
Studio XX is currently accepting submissions for its Artist in Residence program.
Deadline for 2010-2011 : February 15, 2010.
Selected
projects are announced in April of each year.
Studio XX's Residency Program was created in
keeping with the diversity of approaches that have been brought about
by new and multiple methodologies and processes being practiced by
artists working with new media and the Web as creative platforms.
Residencies are offered each year through three major axes identified
below. This offers a supportive context within which Québecois and
Canadian women artists may conceptualize and create, and which can
adequately accommodate the evolving realities of contemporary networked
practices.
Residency Program
Three 8-week residencies are offered per year
In 2009-2010, the Studio's annual theme is resistance. However, all
themes are eligible for consideration. We favour projects taking into
account the Studio's orientation and commitment to open source software.
Artists may orient their submissions towards one of the following axes:
The Matricules Project Residency
This residency is centered around the use Studio XX's archives
as source material for an artwork. Matricules, one of the world's
largest archives of women's digital artworks, allows the Studio to post
all of its archival material to date online. It is at once an image
bank and a repository of all of the Studio's writings and documentary
footage. All of the original source material is also available at the
Studio.
The Matricules Project comprises more than 3400 images files, sounds,
videos, written critical texts and press releases documenting all our
artistic streams: The Wired Women Salons, The Artist
Residencies, Co-productions and Collaborations, Projects and Special
Events, training workshops, the HTMlles Festival, XX Files radio
interviews and .dpi articles. The Matricules Project database allows
the user to cross-reference individual artists, events and documents,
switching from one event to another. Matricules' main interface offers
an image table of contents by event type and by month, providing an
historical trajectory of the Studio's activities.
This innovative prototype was developed with Drupal Content Management
System (CMS): an open source tool for Web site creation.
[http://studioxx.org/en/matricules]
Virtual
Residency
In response to a growing demand by women artists working
outside of the
Montreal region wishing to explore the different possibilities of
on-line and/or networked collaborations, Studio XX is in the process of
elaborating the mechanics of Virtual Residencies in order to facilitate
the creation of
works via other networks.
Open Residency
Open and self-directed, these residencies offer access to women artists wishing to deepen the experimentation phase of projects they are currently developing.
Image : Magali Babion, Onion Router Performance, Wired Women Salon
67.
Photo: Stéphanie Lagueux, 2008.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Studio XX favours interdisciplinary approaches and welcomes
projects
created or directed by women artists or collectives working in
collaboration with other professionals. This axis responds to the
growing number of
trans-disciplinary projects and their inherent technological challenges
and complexities. Selected projects must be undertaken using the
Studio's
available resources (equipment, technical knowledge, financial
resources).
All submissions are reviewed by a Selection Committee. Selection of applicants is also based on at least two out of the three following criteria:
- Offering significant support and at an important point of the artist's development
- Resonant with Studio XX's priorities in terms of technical experimentation
- Relevant, captivating expression of theoretical, political and/or social engagement
Residencies are eight weeks in length. For accepted proposals, Studio XX offers:
- $2000 to be divided as an Artist Fee and/or towards up to 45 hours of instruction/technical support.
- Access to the Studio's equipment and Lab ($3335 rental value)
- Possibility of taking any of the Studio's workshops ($200-300 value)
- Distinct working space for the artist and her instructor
Studio XX will disseminate the artist's project on its Web site, with
an artist's presentation to be given within its Femmes br@nchées Salon
Series in the year following completion of the project. For
participants working from afar, the presentation will take place
on-line via streaming or chat. Residencies do not include travel costs,
accommodation and per diem, and the artist is responsible for her
living arrangements while in Montreal.
To submit a residency proposal - Online registration :
http://www.studioxx.org/node/add/residence-form
Co-Production Program
Throughout
the year, Studio XX accepts co-production proposals from artists as
well as from collectives and artist-organizations. Emerging and
experienced artists working with new technologies and curators are
invited to submit project ideas including technical specifications.
The
Studio provides a Linux Lab and iMacs, video an digital audio
resources. Projects are selected based on quality, the availability of
the lab and technical requirements. Co-productions carried out at
Studio XX demand full autonomy from the artists on both a conceptual
and technical level. These residencies require autonomy on the
conceptual and technical level but if necessary, the Studio can provide
personalized technical support at the hourly rate of $25. The projects
can stretch over a three-month period.
During the residency,
artists can have access to Studio XX's computer, video and digital
audio equipment. They will also have access to available space on one
of the large bandwidth servers - ideal for network experiments and
Webcasting - and to a dispatcher for wireless Internet connections. It
will be necessary to provide a fixed schedule and to book time in the
lab.
It is possible for the Studio to cover certain expenses
for co-productions, such as training fees. The productions and
co-productions are not housed on our web site but we do direct the
artists towards servers that can accommodate their work. Studio XX
actively seeks to program artworks produced within the co-productions
at events as the Femmes br@nchées Salon series.
To submit a co-production proposal - Online registration :
http://www.studioxx.org/node/add/residence-form
Workshops at Studio XX in 2010
Autonomy
and Activism :: Multimedia Creation on Open
Source software
The workshop will give participants the opportunity to discover and develop the creative potential of multimedia design on the Linux platform. Participating artists will conceive and create a project and become proficient with the latest and most popular multimedia Open Source applications (freeware with Open Source code). Participants will work in a quickly evolving and dynamic creative space adapting the tools that are appropriate for them. Two sessions of this exciting multipart workshop are left to choose from, or try them both :
- Linux training
and Ubuntu Studio «
Install Fest » (12h) :
By the end of this course, participants will be able to
configure and adapt their operating system and be able to acquire and
install the freeware that corresponds to their needs;
With Bérengère Marin Dubuard and
Izaak Branderhorst
Dates: January 7th and January 14, 2010
Cost: Linux systems and Install fest: $95 (includes GST + TVQ)
- Initiation to creating Web pages with WordPress (30h)
:
Introduction to creating Web sites with WordPress, system for
dynamic content management. Participants will produce a Web site to
showcase a portfolio of their work. Projects will be made with digital
images, animations, video and/or sound.
With Jeremy Clarke
Date: Cost: February
4th to March 25th, 2010
Cost: WordPress: $235 (includes GST + TVQ)
Media Space: MAX/MSP and
Jitter
With Patrice
Coulombe
This workshop will give artists the chance to acquire essential
techniques and notions of MAX/MSP, Jitter and
Micro-controllers : learn and master elements including: sound
options, video manipulation and physical interactivity.
The second session is now open for
registration.
Dates:
Sundays from 1:00 – 4:00 PM
Dates: January 10th to April 11th 2010
Cost: $225 (includes GST + TVQ)
* Prerequisite: A basic knowledge of computers and multimedia
applications is recommended. Programming experience is an advantage.
Digital
Ludology :: video game design, interactivity and 3D
animation with Blender
Image : Starry Night @
Mathias Pedersen
With Julien Beauséjour
And : Heather Kelley, Cindy
Poremba and Marc
Roberge
This workshop offers participants the opportunity to deepen their
understanding of digital creation by developing interactive components
of their work. Participants will explore the world of 3D animation and
uses in game art in particular.
Participants will learn the key technical components required for a 3D production:
- Modeling : Lighting, texture, materials and colours.
- Animation: Armature and animation techniques
- Real-time workflow incorporated into the game engine for Blender 3D
- Video
integration
Topical presentations by professionals from the industry will be scheduled to coincide with appropriate dates during the course. Theoretical aspects of design relating to the construction, content and interactive concept development will be explored to optimize the game structure in the artist's works.
Dates: Wednesdays from 6:00 to 9:00 PM
Session 1 (technical classes on the Blender Interface,
specifically modeling, texturing, animation, rigging)
-> 1 week intro
January 20th, 2010
-> 9
weeks of technical classes January 27th to March 24th, 2010
Session 2 (Blender Game Engine)
-> 6 weeks of classes from March 31th to May 5th, 2010
Cost: Session 1: $280.00, Session 2: $170.00 (taxes included)
For more information, please visit:
www.blender.org/
http://studioxx.org/en/node/2422
*
Prerequisite: Basic computer knowledge and the desire to
have fun!
For information: 514.845.0289 or please email ateliers (at)
studioxx.org
Participants to Studio XX’s workshops must be members of
Studio XX.
These professional workshops offered at Studio XX are generously
sponsored by Emploi Québec and are offered at a 10th of their market
price.
Become an XX member !
Membership fees are:
Regular Membership $40,00
Community Membership* $60,00
Supporting Member $100,00 or more
* Reserved for non-profit organizations.
All community memberships
include 3 regular registrations.
** All prices include GST + TVQ
Your membership will allow Studio XX to pursue pertinent and innovative projects and respond more adequately to the needs of people such as yourself. Members enjoy privileges such as:
- Small workshops in a friendly and supportive environment
- Technical assistance
- Customized courses
- Open Access to The XX Computer Lab
- Private and personalized workspace on our local server
- Free or reduced admission to all Femmes Br@nchées Salons, mini conferences and the HTMlles Festival
- Newsletter informing you of all of our other activities and preferred information regarding equipment sales.
- Right to vote at our Annual General Assembly
To become a member of Studio XX : Download (PDF file), print and fill out the registration form and send it along with your cheque made to the order of Studio XX. You will receive a membership card and become a part of a great community.
