Syndicate: AVATAR - CALL FOR PROPOSALS <15/1/98

[Bas Vroege <paradox@knoware.nl> (by way of Andreas Broeckmann)]

AVATAR
Of postmodern times and multiple identities
Amsterdam,  18/4-3/5/98

Organized by: Axis, De Balie, Maatschappij voor Oude en Nieuwe Media and
Paradox.



Dear Colleague(s),

Thanks to the generous support of the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts and the
Mondriaan Foundation, Paradox, Axis and De Balie are happy to announce
AVATAR, an event consisting of exhibitions, a symposium, and a special
party around the phenomenon of multiple personality.
The event will take place at a  number of Amsterdam based institutions from
April 18 - May 3. Main exhibition site will be a 12th C church in the heart
of the red light district.

An outline of the concept is following this message. We would greatly
appreciate your suggestions for projects to be included, both from artists
(for the exhibition) or theoreticians (for the symposium or MOO Meeting as
it will be called). Please feel free to distribute this message to others.

The deadline for proposals is close: January 15, 1998.
It is our intention to make the exhibition available for take-over.

Thanks in advance for your help,
sincerely,


Bas Vroege (Paradox), Martine Brinkhuis (De Balie), Deanna Herst (Axis)

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AVATAR
Of postmodern times and multiple identities

EXHIBITION & SYMPOSIUM
organized by: Axis, De Balie, Maatschappij voor Oude en Nieuwe Media and
Paradox.
Amsterdam,  18/4-3/5/98

OUTLINE
	Intensive users of the Internet are familiar with the concept of
the Avatar. An "Avatar" is an "Alter Ego," a disguise that an Internet user
puts on in "Cyberspace" when communicating on "websites," "chatboxes" or
"MUDS" (Multi-User Dungeons or Domains). Because of the deceptive play of
"Avatars," no one actually knows with whom he or she is really in contact.

 The form of the "Avatar" is to a great extent determined by how creative
the user is. At the simplest level, you can pose as a man when you are a
woman, or vice versa, pose as old while being young, assume an entirely
different profession, etc. But at the same time you can also make use of
multiple personalities, something that "users" appear to be doing more and
more frequently.

	Ever advancing technological possibilities allow these guises to
take on increasingly detailed forms, thereby more closely approximating
reality. Where formerly the communication in chatboxes took place entirely
through typed text on the screen, it is now possible to give avatars a
photographic "face" and, with "text to speech" software, to convert typed
text into audio communication. Popular commercial websites such as The
Palace, for instance, are already making use of these possibilities. These
developments mark the beginning of a "new life-form" in electronic space.

	Taking on various roles or guises has come to be almost routine for
us, not just in cyberspace but also in physical reality. It is the
consequence of social and professional pressures requiring top performance
in any area of our lives. The growing anonymity of urban society enables
people to more easily maintain these multiple, parallel aspects than
previously would have been the case. It goes without saying that the
possiblities the electronic society offers in this respect, are
unparallelled.

	These developments have recently given rise to questions,
particularly psychological in nature. Illnesses such as MPS (Multiple
Personality Syndrome), schizophrenia and other identity problems might
increasingly be lying in wait for us, if we are not able to cope with the
demands of modern society. This implies keeping control over the identities
connected to the different roles we have (or want to play) in it.

	But although the threat with regard to this phenomenon is primarily
attributed to cyberspace, such developments took (and take) place in the
"real" world as well. Roll playing which breaks through identity, such as
"gender-bending," transvestitism (theatrical and otherwise) and the "alter
egoism" of the personae behind certain amusement, chat and sex telephone
numbers, however, have become completely accepted. One can thus say that
this is a rather general (and older) social phenomenon; people no longer
unthinkingly accept the limits laid on them by a single identity. Through
these deceptive exhibitionist games people consciously flout social control.

BACKGROUND
 The theme of "multiple personality" has had a history of legitimacy as a
source of inspiration for visual artists which goes back much further than
its history as a social phenomenon. One of the pioneers in this field in
the visual arts was Marcel Duchamp, who in the 1920s attained notoriety
with his female "avatar" Rose SŽlavy. Since the 1980s the theme has been
related primarily to identification with media personages. as e.g. in the
early work of Cindy Sherman.

 In the present decade, the increasingly indistinct border between male and
female identity has become an important point of departure. In her
photographs, Catherine Opie (USA) soberly documents Lesbian women who move
in transvestite circles. Her gallery of portraits is a peculiar inventory
of a subculture in which the right to determine one's own identity
predominates over gender conventions.

	For the interactive installation Genderbender, Greg Garvey (USA)
was inspired by the anonymity those who use chatboxes, MUDS and MOOS.
Proceeding from this, he investigated psychological tests in the field of
sexual identity. Genderbender challenges users of the installation to
undergo a personality test themselves. On the basis of the users'
questions, the computer gives a definitive answer about their identity
("You are a man!" "You are a woman!" "You are androgynous!") An initially
androgynous individual, who becomes more masculine or feminine depending on
the questions asked, appears on a monitor. Users are themselves responsible
for the end result.

	Another component is the process of observing in contemporary
technological culture, a subject that is being investigated by artists
chiefly through the use of new media. Based on this process, Lynn Hershman
(USA) shapes various different female characters in her interactive video
installations. In addition, she has made a pair of video films about how
relationships arise through the internet, by means of assuming a different
self.

	Avatar intends to bring together projects from artists who are
investigating the phenomenon of "multiple personality." In addition to
photography, video and installations, projects which make use of new media
will be at the heart of the project.

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DATES
The project will take place from April 18 through May 3, 1998, and will
take place at a number of different locations in Amsterdam. Main location
for the exhibition, however, is the Oude Kerk (a 12th C church in
Amsterdam's red light district).

PROPOSALS
The deadline for submitting proposals is January 15, 1998.

SHORTLISTED ARTISTS (subject to change)
Jeanine Antoni (USA), Bea de Visser (NL), Jake & Dinos Chapman GB), Lynn
Hershman (USA), Cindy Sherman (USA), Hamish Buchanan (CDN), Tony Oursler
(USA), Gillian Wearing (GB), Ken Feingold (USA), Vibeke Tandberg (Norway),
Cathie Opie (USA), Paulina Wallenberg-Olsson (S), Lawrence Weiner (USA) and
others.

PROGRAMMING
Bas Vroege (Paradox), Deanna Herst (Axis), Martine Brinkhuis (De Balie)

FUNDING
Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst, Mondriaan Stichting

CONTACT
Axis   Oudezijdsvoorburgwal 72  1012 GE Amsterdam The Netherlands
T +31 (0)20 4655530 F 4654290 E axisvm@xs4all.nl

De Balie  Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10  1017 RR Amsterdam  The Netherlands
T +31 (0)20 5535151 F 5535155 E brink@xs4all.nl

Paradox   PO Box 113  1135 ZK Edam  The Netherlands
T +31 (0)299 315083 F 315082 E paradox@knoware.nl

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PLEASE DIRECT ALL (PHYSICAL) MAIL TO AXIS
(Please CC Email correspondence)




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Paradox
Postbus 113
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The Netherlands

T +31 (0)299 315083
F +31 (0)299 315082
E paradox@knoware.nl
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