QUAD Derby

AGM 09 under_ctrl

Artists: Various

Venue: The Box, Gallery and Digital Screens at QUAD

Date: 15th 25th January 2009

The 7th edition of the media/art project AGM was also part of Nottingham's Radiator Festival and Symposium and included an exhibition, video installation, performance, music and talk; exploring our behaviour with technologies of surveillance and counter-surveillance.

Eight international artists; designers, writers and performers responded to the cultural environment generated by CCTV and (self) recording.

Curated for QUAD by Iben Bentzen and Alfredo Cramerotti, QUAD Exhibitions Officer.

For previous editions of AGM art/media event see www.annualgeneralmeeting.net

AGM 09 under_ctrl evening event
Thursday 15th January
This event included a specially commissioned bus from Nottingham to QUAD for those travelling as part of the Radiator festival. There was a performance on the bus by artist Sian Robinson Davies - “Palm Off”, which looks at how we distinguish between different modes of representation and space.

On arrival at QUAD there was a performance by Paula Roush, an artist and lecturer obsessed with CCTV. Roush performed “CCTV Ecstasy” combining projection, voyeurism, pecha kucha (pronounced peh-chak-cha), masquerade and facebook.

Followed by 'Angelic Culture' - an illustrated talk by Charile Gere, both motivational and critical showing what is possible with surveillance not only in terms of resistance (either passive or active) but as “behavioral enjoyment.” Charlie Gere is Director of Research at the Institute for Cultural Research at Lancaster University, and author of the book Digital Culture (Reaktion, 2002). His main research interest is in the cultural effects and meanings of technology and media, particularly in relation to art and philosophy.

Followed by the opening of the AGM under_ctrl exhibition and guided tour.New media and video works by Miska Knapek, Scott Jon Siegel, Chris Oakley, plankton, and ZimmerFrei.

A specially commissioned bus from Derby back to Nottingham included a performance "Wireless Bus" by Dis-locate. Akihiko Taniguchi in collaboration with artist Yuko Mohri and Dis-locate director Emma Ota wired the bus. In a challenge to wireless technology and invisible computing the team created a concrete network throughout the bus which demanded physical participation and collaboration in the realization of human and machine dialogues.