Syndicate: sub fiction, 3. Werkleitz Biennial, September 3-6, 1998

[Peter Zorn <pz@werkleitz.de> (by way of Andreas Broeckmann)]

Sub Fiction

                     3. Werkleitz Biennial 1998

                             September, 3rd to 6th, 1998

---------------------------------------------------------------
        The Werkleitz Gesellschaft e.V. is running the Center for
Artistic Visual Media
        Saxony-Anhalt, provides the place of business for coordinating
the Media Association
        Saxony-Anhalt and is concerned with technical matters in the
field of production of
        the cultural public film funding of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

        Alternating with ostranenie - The International Electronic Media
Forum at the
        Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, the Werkleitz Gesellschaft stages the
Werkleitz
        Biennial.

        The concept of the Werkleitz Biennial is that of a border
crossing, international forum
        for media and art. Artists in the fields of Film, Video,
Photography, Performance and
        Multimedia as well as classical fields of the Visual Arts
        get the opportunity to present their views on contemporary
issues with their artistic
        work. The artistic engagement on the current development from
the information to the
        communication society is playing a significant role.

        After the 2. Werkleitz Biennial Cluster Images in 1996 with 70
participating artists
        from 15 countries, the 3. Werkleitz Biennial will take place in
1998 with the thematic
        line of SUB FICTION.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

        SUB FICTION

        ?In science, fiction is, as the most important methodic tool, an
assumption which is
        accompanied by the consciousness of its incorrectness, yet may
help to gain the
        correct perception?.
        (Meyers Neues Großes Volkslexikon)

        Due to the rigoros fragmentation of the notion of reality,
triggered by the recently
        increasing mixing of fictional, scientific and social
constructions, it appears -also
        caused by the rapid technological development of new media- ,
that the idea of fiction
        becomes less and less homogenious to manage to capture the span
of contemporary
        phenomena.
        SUB FICTION serves as possible expression for a new development
beyond the
        original notion of fiction, especially since its terminological
closeness to smaller and
        subcultural groups, interests and actions much more take the
actual phenomena into
        account, these ?fictions?are trying to define contentual
distinctions with.

        With SUB FICTION we want to present works which reflect their
own fictional content
        and/or enter into the experiment of breaking through
conventional fictions and forms.

        The 3. Werkleitz Biennial intends to have different experts in
the fields of Film, Video,
        Internet/CD-Rom, Visual Arts and Performance to give their
opinion on which
        positions in the respective artistic field are current and
important.

        We are especially interested in the interaction of technology,
art and society, in
        outlooks on the development of virtual media and the relation to
our idea of reality,
        fiction, identity and culture.

        In this context the following questions occur:

              Which significance has fiction for society, which for art?
              Are collective fictions replaced by individiual fictions?
              Which shiftings exist in the evaluation of fiction -
construction and virtuality -
              reality?
              Does fiction, following the already existing possibiliy of
real-time data
              transmission, appear increasingly in spatial and
localspecific qualities and
              distinctions?
              How is fiction altered by new media?
              Which necessity of dramaturgy is behind this development?
              Which relevant new forms and contents are emerging in art
and popular
              culture?

        Approximately ten experts of different fields will each curate a
programme or
        exhibition section with a selection of works which is important
to them in that
        context.

        These positions - which can be contrary and discursiv - will be
presented and
        discussed together. For this reason we were choosing this open
form and the line of
        questions, not believing, that the function of curating can
replace the artistic, but to
        present these views as a spectrum which should supply
information on the current
        situation of SUB FICTION.

        General

        The event will take place on four days in Tornitz und Werkleitz.

        Date: September 3rd to 6th 1998

        Selected programmes and parts of the exhibition shall be
presented before and after
        the event in Magdeburg, Dessau and Halle, the major towns in the
state.

        Further presentations in 1999 are planned within a touring
programme.

        A printed catalogue as well as an online version of the
catalogue, containing the
        documentation of the artistic works and a selection of
theoretical contributions, will
        be published for the 1998 Biennial SUB FICTION.

        Participants

        A group of about ten curators in the fields of Film, Video,
Visual Arts, New Media and
        Performance will be nominated by the Werkleitz Gesellschaft.
Considering the
        thematic questions described above, each curator will be
responsible for the
        respective programme, inviting artists with their work for SUB
FICTION.

        Selections may include pieces of work of the classical static
and time based Visual
        Media, Performance and New Media as well as border crossing
artistic works.
        Suitable spaces and the respective technical equipment will be
supplied for the
        presentation proposals of the curators.

        A series of lectures and a special programme on thematically
relevant features will
        complete the programme.

        Local Realisation

        One of the unique aspects of the Biennial is the rural
situation. The villages of
        Werkleitz and Tornitz, situated at the Saale river, make up the
local framework.
        Space for venues can also be provided in the closeby towns of
Barby and Calbe, if
        necessary.

        Information on Werkleitz and Tornitz can be looked up on our
website as well as on
        the webpages of SUB FICTION: http://www.werkleitz.de/sub-fiction


Peter Zorn, festival coordination
--
---------------------------------------------------------------
Werkleitz Gesellschaft e.V. / Centre for artistic visual media
Saxony-Anhalt
Strasse des Friedens 26 / 39249 Tornitz / Germany
Tel. 0049 - (0)39298 - 675- 0 / Fax: - 55
http://www.werkleitz.de