| Emulation |
| Playstation meets Organism
Emulation in cultural Context |
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One could describe emulation as the simulation of aspects of the real world in the virtual computer environment. In the Printed Issue release of Mediamatic Magazine, which offers a good introduction to this seminar, a series of articles concentrate on the biological, musical, literary and "gamesome" expressions of emulation. In his article Trancemedia: From Simulation to Emulation (www.mediamatic.nl/magazine/9_4/mulder_emulatie/mulder_1gb.html), the biologist and writer Arjen Mulder describes how the notion of simulation, used in the last decennia by Jean Baudrillard, has recently been replaced by the notion of emulation, which has become the magic word of the twenty-first century. In Now that our Youth has been Emulated...(www.mediamatic.nl/magazine/9_4/munoz_youth/munoz_1gb.html) Omar Muñoz-Cremers writes about his emulated childhood memories - memories of the primitive games he used to play as a child that come back to him while playing the latest computer games: Computer games let you learn to handle speed. This is why games are addictive - like drugs, they open the body to new speeds, they train the body. The gamer transforms in front of the computer or arcade machine, strains his body in various ways and tries to become absorbed into the plateau of speed where the body is empty. Then there is no longer any difference between screen and consciousness; eyes press, fingers see and the ecstatic moment unfolds in which one sees actions in time. In another context, the art critic Paul Groot has noted: The scores of Messiaen have much of the severity of Bach, Beethoven and Stravinsky, but are at the same time schematically very closely related to a contemporary computer discipline, Artificial Life. Precisely because Messiaen's music reflects a world of mimicked biological microcellular, evolutionary and ecological dynamics. (www.mediamatic.nl/magazine/9_4/groot_dans/groot_1gb.html) In this seminar the meaning of emulation in these different discourses - game design, artificial life, biology, culture - will be discussed, while exploring emulators and practical uses of emulation. The first day will focus on popular discourses in biology and artificial life, the second on emulation in the context of art, specifically new media art, and for the third day computer games and games design will be the central issue. Apart from the intellectual debate, participants will be able to revitalize themselves in real floating tanks and to experiment with computer games. |
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| Programme |
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Thursday 31 August 19.30-21.00 Introduction to Manga with visual materials, followed by film screening of Tetsuo 1
Biology and Emulation 10.00-10.30 Introduction by Arjen Mulder 10.30-12.00 George Dyson: What if Artificial Life Isn't? 12.00-13.00 Lunch 13.00-13.30 Willem Velthoven: Tierra, the world of Tom Ray 13.30-14.00 Dirk van Weelden: presentation of Tom Ray'sAesthetically evolved virtual Pets 14.00-14.30 discussion with Tom Ray online 14.30-14.45 Break 14.45-15.45 Discussion with Arjen Mulder, George Dyson, Dirk van Weelden, Willem Velthoven 16.00-22.00 Floating sessions
Art and Emulation 10.00-10.30 Introduction by Arie Altena 10.30-12.00 Trevor Pinch The social construction of the early Electronic Music Synthesizer 12.00-13.00 Lunch 13.00-14.00 Tom McCarthy The generative Crash: Emulation in a literary Context 14.00-14.15 Break 14.15-15.15 Lev Manovich: Computers emulating other Media 15.15-15.30 Break 15.30- 16.15 Discussion Altena/Pinch/McCarthy/Seijdel/Dyson/Weelden/Manovich/Masuyama 20.00-02.00 Evening programme with deejay Kodwo Eshun
Games and Emulation 10.00-10.30 Introduction by Paul Groot 10.30-11.30 Jorinde Seijdel: The emulated Exhibition(www.mediamatic.nl/magazine/10_1/seijdel_exhibition/seydelem_1gb.html) 11.30-11.45 Break 11.45-12.45 Hiroshi Masuyama: Japanese Game Design 12.45-13.45 Lunch Continuation of the programme in Club BABY, Keizersgracht 676 14.00-16.00 games session with introductions of Thomas Velthoven and Steffan Ros 16.00-18.00 Hiroshi Masuyama: presentation of Doshin the Giant and the INTERNATIONAL GAME INC., an Amsterdam-based electro-acoustic collective of improvising musicians and composers, which integrate the emulation of videogames in their network of analogue electronics, strings, powerbook-esthetics and drums. cast: Gert-Jan Prins: electronics, fm modulations Steve Heather : drums, electronics, videogames John Rose : violin, electronics Alex Waterman : cello, videogames Jan Keller: electronics, double bass Richard Barrett: computer, sampler
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| Course Leaders and Lecturers | ||
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Arie Altena is editor of Mediamatic Magazine. He writes about 20th century literature, new media arts and the WWW. His most recent publications concern DJ culture and metabrowsers. Homepage: http://www.xs4all.nl/~ariealt. George Dyson is a leading authority in the field of Aleut-Russian kayaks. His latest book is Darwin amongst the Machines. Dyson is doing research at the Fairhaven College, Western Washington University in Bellingham WA. Paul Groot is editor of Mediamatic Magazine and art critic. He supported Lara Croft with her first choreographic steps in the ballet Lara (of the Krisztina de Châtel Dance Group). Homepage@Mediamatic: http://www.mediamatic.nl/whoiswho/groot/index.html Lev Manovich is an artist and a theorist of new media. Currently he is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Diego were he teaches studio and theory classes in digital arts. This year his book The Language of New Media will be published at the MIT Press. Homepage: http://www-apparitions.ucsd.edu/~manovich/home.html. Hiroshi Masuyama is video and tv producer, game designer and media theorist. He worked for Nintendo and contributed to various web projects. One of his latest projects is the game Doshin the Giant for Nintendo: http://www.randnetdd.co.jp/kyojin Tom McCarthy is editor of Mute, a London-based magazine about the culture, arts and politics of the new media. He writes about the relationship between literature and technology. In September his novel called Men in Space will be published. Tom McCarthy on the Systems Novel (article from Mute): http://www.metamute.com/issue9/rage.htm Arjen Mulder is biologist and essayist. He published three books on media, bodies, literature, photography and floating. He regularly writes for magazines as Mediamatic and Archis, and is a member of bilwet/adilkno (Media-archive, 1998). He is currently working at a book about technological art. Trevor Pinch is professor at the Department of Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University. His most well-known book is The Golem: What Everyone Should Know about Science (with Harry Collins, 1994). Currently he is writing a book about the history of the music synthesizer: Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer. Homepage at Cornell University: http://www.sts.cornell.edu/Trevor.html Tom Ray is doing research in digital evolution, a project which is known under the name of Tierra. Ray is professor of zoology at the University of Oklahoma and is presently invited researcher at ATR Human Information Processing Research Labs, in Kyoto, Japan. Jorinde Seijdel is art historian, publicist, editor of Mediamatic Magazine and teaches Media theory at the Academy of Fine Arts in Arnhem. Dirk van Weelden is novelist, philosopher and editor of Mediamatic Magazine. Wilem Velthoven is media professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, director of Mediamatic Interactive Publishing and editor of Mediamatic Magazine. |
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| Information | ||
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For more information and registration see: www.amsu.edu or phone the Amsterdam-Maastricht Summer University: +31.20.6200225 |
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