News

Over 30 artists gather for March 20 joint fundraiser

On Saturday, March 20th (the first day of spring), the original grounds of Black Mountain College host an event showcasing over 30 artists from multiple disciplines.

{Re}HAPPENING: a feast for the senses is a joint fundraiser for the Media Arts Project and Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. It's the first in a series of events celebrating innovations and collaboration in the arts.

The evening includes cocktails, dinner, appetizers, dancing and appearances by local artists and creators including chef Mark Rosenstein, formerly of the Market Place, as well as gonzo puppeteer/Freaks of Asheville Calendar Pageant 3rd-place winner Madison J. Cripps of Royal Peasantry boutrique.

March 20 - Camp Rockmont, Black Mountain

Doors 6pm - Dinner 7pm - Dance 8:30pm

Art, dinner and drinks: $40/$35 for MAP and BMCM+AC members

Art, drinks and dance: $15/$10 for MAP and BMCM+AC members

LaZoom buses to and from downtown Asheville all night!

Ticket available at the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center,

56 Broadway, 828-350-8484, bmcmac@bellsouth.net

The night's entertainment consists of two halves: The first begins at 6 p.m. with a cocktail social, leading into a seated “family style” dinner served at 7. Various art and performance events take place throughout the cocktail hour and dinner.

The second half begins at 9 p.m. and includes drinks, light appetizers and an extended evening of art, performance & dancing...

Saturday nights during the BMC's heyday usually included art, music, dance and performance. In partnership with the BMCM+AC, this joint event pays tribute to Black Mountain College by bringing its dynamic energy into the present.

THE LINEUP

New media work from Scott Furr, Mark Koven, Megan McKissack, Gene Felice, Mark Hanf, Marnie Muller, Lorraine Walsh, Lei Han & Wray Bowling will be on display.

Participating dancers include Claire Elizabeth Barrett, Julie Becton Gillum & Sara Baird.

Sculpture and ceramics will be shown from Jinx (Sean Pace) & Mellissa Terreza.

Performance artists incude Graham Hackett, Queen Mae & the Bells, and puppeteer Madison J. Cripps.

Sound installation and performance will be created by Wayne Kirby, Dave Hamilton, Salvatore D’Angio, Ross Gentry & Chris Ballard.

Guest chef Mark Rosenstein represents the culinary arts.

NEW MEDIA

Mark Hanf & Marnie Muller
http://www.geometryofnature.com/

Scott Furr
http://www.vimeo.com/themoonfoetus

Megan McKissack
http://www.myspace.com/megnanamus

Mark Koven
http://markkoven.net/

Lorraine Walsh
http://www.lorrainewalsh.com/

Lei Han
http://mmas.unca.edu/han.html

Wray Bowling
http://www.vimeo.com/rgbk

Gene Felice
http://www.genefelice.com

CULINARY ARTS

Mark Rosenstein
http://www.thefrenchbroad.com

DANCE / MOVEMENT

Claire Elizabeth Barratt / Cilla Vee Life Arts
http://www.cillavee.com/

Julie Becton Gillum
http://www.ashevillebutoh.com/

Sara Baird
http://www.anemonedance.org/

PERFORMANCE

Tina Matthews & Eve Warnock
http://www.evewarnock.com/
http://www.queenmaeandthebells.com/
http://vimeo.com/6489947

Elisa Faires
http://www.myspace.com/elisafaires444
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyYd87PTJXg

Graham Hackett – Spoken Word
http://www.philmechanicstudios.com/graham_hackett.html

Madison J. Cripps - Puppeteer - Strings Attached Puppet Show

SCULPTURE

Sean Pace aka “Jinx”
http://www.philmechanicstudios.com/sean.html
http://www.boldlife.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A10115

Melissa Terrezza – ceramics

SOUND

Wayne Kirby
http://rocky2.unca.edu/music/faculty/wkirby.htm

Greg Olson – Sound Performance
Dave Hamilton – Moog Foundation Creative Director
http://www.myspace.com/theelectromagneticduo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK3PvDoB6O0

Ross Gentry & Chris Ballard
http://www.myspace.com/headwaycollective
http://www.myspace.com/ventriclessounds

Salvatore D'Angio – Audio Installation
Kima Moore
http://www.last.fm/music/Kimathi+Moore
http://www.myspace.com/kimamoore

Chandra Shukla
http://www.erototoxdecodings.com/xambuca.html
http://www.myspace.com/xambuca

Local sci fi movie Solatrium showing in Asheville

Fresh from its world premiere at the Slamdance film festival in Park City Utah, the locally produced sci-fi short film Solatrium - funded in part by a Media Arts Advantage Fund grant from the MAP - finally screens in Asheville for three nights at the Fine Arts Theater!

Solatrium's Asheville premiere is Thursday, February 2 at 7 p.m. It shows again Friday and Saturday at 9 p.m.

All showings are at the Fine Arts theater in downtown Asheville. Screenings include footage from director Chris Bower's documentary projects We Won’t Bow Down - about the Mardi Gras Indians - and The Holy Ghost Electric, about the soul gospel circuit in the South.

Solatrium is the shortened version of Moon Europa, a feature-length film Bower directed with G. Craig Hobbs. Moon Europa received the MAP's Daniel DeLavergne Media Arts Advantage Fund grant in 2007.

"Solatrium delivers sleek sci-fi" -- wired.com

Links
www.solatrium.com
www.chrisbower.tumblr.com

Media Artists: Do you want ultra-fast Google internet here in Asheville?

Want Asheville to be a test site for a cutting-edge new Google initiative providing internet connectivity at speeds up to 20 times faster than the fastest connection currently offered to home users in this area?

Google has new plans to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the U.S. The new Google broadband offering will deliver internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to, and will use 1 Gbps (one gigabit per SECOND), fiber-to-home connections.

Google says it will offer this new hyperfast internet service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.

Until March 26, Google asks interested people to provide them with information about their community through a Request for Information (RFI), which Google will use to determine where to build a broadband network.

Learn more about Google's fiber optic broadband plans in the short video here.

As you can probably imagine, lots of local geeks and techies are getting behind this initiative. You can, too:

Offically nominate Asheville as a test site here (requires Google account)
Join a Facebook group supporting Asheville as a Google test city here.
Join a listserv for supporters here.
Local YouTube video supporting Asheville's bid for Google fiber here. Does the media arts community have videos of its own to help spread the word?

There's also an ongoing conversation about Google fiber in Asheville on Twitter. Looks like a popular hashtag is #googleavl.

What do you think, Media Artists of Asheville? Do we want this? Can we do this?

Off the MAP: Ray Johnson afterparty

Ray Johnson Afterparty

Bobo, 8:30 p.m., no cover

This month's Off the MAP (a MAP event devoted building community among MAPsters and celebrating the visual arts), is a Friday night afterparty for the Black Mountain College Museum and Art Center's Ray Johnson exhibit kickoff event.

Johnson, the collagist whose art appears at the BMCM+AC from Friday through June 12, has been called the most significant "unknown artist" of the postwar period. He influenced Pop artists including Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, as well as a generation of contemporary artists.

Ray Johnson Show blog with images from the exhibit is here.

From BMC to NYC: The Tutelary Years of Ray Johnson (1943-1967) kicks off with an opening reception 6-8 p.m. Friday Feb. 19 (free for BMCM+AC members and students w/ID /$3 non-members), followed by...

Off the MAP: the Ray Johnson AFTERPARTY

8:30pm, Bobo Gallery, 22 Lexington

8 pm is too early to call it a night if you're already downtown. Walk over to Bobo (just a few blocks from the BMCM+AC) for wine, catered treats from Filo Pastries, spoken-word performances by Graham Hackett & Poetix Vanguard, plus multimedia/projection/interactive video fun from MAPsters Gene Felice, Scott Furr and Megan McKissack.

See you this Friday on Lexington Ave., MAPsters!

Lube Royale premieres new short film

Local noise-rockers Lube Royale -- an underground percussion outfit including Rob Westmore, Dougal Bailey, James Owen, Hal Millard and others -- is known for creating a spectacle (even by Asheville standards) through costumes and theatrics.

In a rare live show, the band provides live accompaniment to the premier of its new short film, Tall and Pink. Tall and Pink, of course, involves a vampire, a bunny and a snowman.

The Lubesters also show their short film Wealthy Infant Lung, also with live soundtrack. After the show, ignore the snow and stick around for a dance party with DJ Bunny Buhto until 2 a.m..

Saturday, Feb. 13. 10 p.m. at Stella Blue

Check out the Tall and Pink trailer here

Facebook link for the event here

Mountain Xpress article on Lube Royale here

TED fans: 2010 TEDx Teams Need PAID Videography Help and Volunteers

Sponsored by the TED conference but independently organized by local people, TEDxAsheville returns in 2010 after rave reviews and a sold-out show last summer at the Orange Peel. And it returns with double the fun: 2010 marks the debut of TEDxNextGenerationAsheville, a new event where young people present visions, passions and ideas for the future to an audience ready to be inspired.

As fan-organized, Asheville-centric events, TEDxAsheville and TEDxNGA bring homegrown great ideas and virtuoso performances to a local stage, sharing Asheville's most exceptional talent (of all ages) with the whole world through digital recordings of the day's performances.

VIDEOGRAPHERS NEEDED!

TEDxAVL and TEDxNextGen are taking proposals for videotaping this year's events. A paid videography team will record all talks and performances, edit them, and upload them to the TEDxTalks YouTube channel.

All videos are hosted online indefinitely on the TEDxTalks channel, and all are considered for broadcast as a TED talk on TED.com.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Other than the videography team, TEDxAVL 2010 and TEDxNextGen are largely run on volunteer efforts. Volunteer organizers are needed in the following areas.

If you are interested or know someone who might be, send email to TEDxAVL@gmail.com and indicate which area interests you.

Stay tuned for information on the nomination process for 2010...

Both TEDx groups seeks help in the following areas:

Stage Direction
Marketing
Writing
Publicity
Outreach to 12-18 year-olds
Social Media/Blogging
Overflow Venue Management
Technical
Speaker Selection
Performers/Product Demos/Video
House
Hospitality
Website
Accounting
New Media/Social Media
Graphic Design

TEDxAVL 2010 and TEDxNGA

coming this summer

TEDxAVL Official Website

wrap-up of the 2009 TEDxAVL event

Found Footage Fest a SMASH!

This weekend's Found Footage Fest was a smash, and feedback so far tells us it was "spectacular" and "hilarious." Nearly 250 film fans braved ice, snow and cold for the show at the Grey Eagle, and we all had so much fun that sponsors (including the MAP) are already talking to FFF hosts Nick and Joe about a return engagement this summer.

Thanks to everyone for supporting the MAP and local indie businesses Orbit DVD (West) and TV Eye (downtown)! Nick and Joe, thanks for braving the snow with your crappy vids. We salute you.

TEDxAsheville 2010: MAPsters needed

Gillian, Scott Furr, Perkowski

presenters: Robert Zimmerman and David McConville

Found Footage Fest This Sunday

Update straight from Found Footage Fest hosts Nick and Joe: "Attention North Carolinians: it's just snow! Show tonite in Asheville."

That's right, the show is NOT canceled. Bust out of your snowy prisons and trek down to the Grey Eagle for the worst that VHS has to offer. Cold beer, hot Cajun food, live comedy, crappy videos. Put down the remote & step on out.

The Found Footage Fest: Tonight, 8 pm, $10.

Tour sponsored by the Onion, show presented locally by the MAP, Orbit DVD and TV Eye. Snow by Mother Nature. Gumbo by Twin Cousins Kitchen.

After playing to a packed house last year, the Found Footage Fest returns to Asheville Sunday with some of the most bizarre footage ever committed to VHS. It's a curated selection of the best unintentional humor available on old VHS tapes the festival hosts (and volunteer contributors nationwide) scrounge from thrift stores, garage sales and dumpsters.

This week's Mountain Xpress has an interview with FFF co-host Nick Prueher. Click here to check it out.

Quote: "You're taking a training video you had to watch the first day of your horrible minimum-wage job, but now it's being projected in a movie theater or a rock club on a big screen and there are 300 other people there. We're giving permission to laugh at it."

Check out the Found Footage Fest. Vol. 4 trailer here. Prepare for pirates, Klingons, incredibly bad Saturday morning cartoons, New Wave music, '80s hair and dating videos. You have been warned.

The Found Footage Festival

Sunday, Jan, 31, 8 p.m.

The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave.

Tickets are $10 at the door and available in advance at Orbit DVD, TV Eye and online here

Official website

Found Footage Fest on Twitter

Music Video Asheville seeks musicians, video artists

Music Video Asheville returns in 2010, asking area musicians and video artists to create original works for a spring showcase of 100% homegrown local music videos.

Put on by Future of Asheville Music, MVA needs YOUR videos by Feb. 17. The showcase of all qualified submitted local videos is March 10 at Cinebarre.

MVA 2010 is open to all Buncombe County residents who submit one video showcasing their act's live footage, music video or documentary-style film. At the event, the audience will vote for their favorite video, and the winning video wins a cash prize.

2009 participants included Toubab Krewe, Ear Powr, Laura Reed, Bugs Multiply, The Poles, Shapetastic, Angi West, Buncombe Turnpike, Velvet Truckstop, Mad Tea Party, LS and MJ Grillo, The Broomstars, Arizona, Custard Pie, Josh Phillips, Ice Horse, The Cheeksters, Chakra Bird, Nights Bright Colors, Tyler Ramsey, Quetzatl, Custard Pie, LAAFF, Silver Machine and Now You See Them.

The screening is open to the public, and tickets are $5 each. All ticket proceeds go directly toward the winning artist's prize.

All Asheville-area musicians and filmmakers are invited to submit one video or film. Organizers ask that all participants download the MVA submission guidelines and MVA submission form (linked below).

Music Video Asheville

Deadline for submission: Feb. 17

Video showcase: March 10, Cinebarre (behind Biltmore Square Mall)

6pm to 10pm, $5

MVA website

Official 2010 guidelines

Submission form

Wired mag feeds Solatrium buzz at Slamdance

None other than Wired magazine has picked up on the buzz surrounding a locally produced, MAP-funded short movie, Solatrium (the former Moon Europa reborn as a 20-minute short catching national attention).

Wired's Solatrium coverage includes picking the Asheville short film as a highlight of the Slamdance indie film festival in Sci-fi, Horror and Beat Poetry Converge at Sundance, Slamdance.

Wired also features a two-minute Solatrium clip in its online video gallery, Solatrium Delivers Sleek Sci-fi Look on a Shoestring.

Solatrium screens for the second time at Slamdance on Tuesday January 28th. Attended by tens of thousands of fans, Slamdance takes place at the same time as the Sundance film festival, providing what supporters consider a truer representation of independent filmmaking.

Follow Solatrium on Twitter (@solatrium), or visit solatrium.com for updates.

Asheville Fringe Arts Fest -- Fringe Audio Jan. 22-23

Now in its 8th year, the Asheville Fringe Arts Fest asks artists in various genres and media (juggling, theatre, spoken word, puppetry, cabaret, stand-up...) to push their boundaries and present innovative performance art to a culturally adventurous audience (AKA Asheville).

Fringe Audio is an immersive environment focused on sonic experimentation and surprise, where musicians, performers and composers premiere new works and avant-garde ambient sounds.

The Fringe Audio music lineup includes Elisa Faires, Kimathy Moore, Xambuca featuring Chandra Shukla, Sturgeon Hoof featuring David Jones, Ivan Seng, Auracene featuring Liz Lang, and Vincent Wrenn and the “shape note” singing of Western Carolina Sacred Harp Singers.

On the visual side, check out MAPster VJ's Megan McKissack and Jason Scott Furr, and a butoh performance by Julie Becton Gillum.

The Asheville Fringe Arts Festival: Fringe Audio
January 22-23 (Fri.-Sat.), 8 p.m.
The Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center
56 Broadway
ashevillefringe.org
$12
Free with Fringe Freak all-access Pass
Advance tickets available: 828-350-8484 or bmcmac@bellsouth.net

The Asheville Fringe Arts Festival is presented by Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre.

Emmy-winning Popcorn Sutton doc showing Jan. 21

An Emmy-winning, locally produced documentary about Maggie Valley moonshiner Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton shows at 7 p.m. Jan. 21 at White Horse Black Mountain in Black Mountain.

The film, which won a 2009 Emmy, depicts Sutton distilling his final batch of illegal liquor. Interviews with Appalachian folklorists, storytellers, and authors explore the role of moonshine in Appalachian history and identity.

The affable Sutton dominates the film, weaving explanations of moonshine craft with stories of a lifetime of in an outlaw trade.

Sutton’s fame grew exponentially when he committed suicide following a series of highly publicized moonshine busts. Scheduled to report for an 18-month prison term, he instead ended his life. Singer Hank Williams Jr. attended Sutton's funeral to pay his respects.

The Last One

Thursday Jan. 21

7 p.m.

White Horse Black Mountain

105 Montreat Rd., Black Mountain

Tickets and info here

Solatrium Benefit at Satellite Gallery

Saturday, January 16
55 Broadway, Asheville

Asheville film Solatrium, by local filmmakers Chris Bower and Craig Hobbs, has its world premier at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City this month! Solatrium is a shortened version of Moon Europa, which won the MAP’s Daniel DeLaVergne Media Arts Advantage Fund Award. To celebrate and raise money to attend the festival, Bower is having a fundraising/launch party on Saturday. He will be showing clips from the movie, John Brinker will be DJing, and the MAP's own Scott Furr will VJ.

Come out and support a beautiful piece of local art. Tickets are $10 at the door - this includes free booze!

Found Footage Film Festival

January 31, 8pm - $10

The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Avenue, Asheville

Since it was such a blast last year, the MAP is partnering with TV Eye and Orbit DVD to host the Found Footage Film Festival when it returns to Asheville this month. These guys showcase footage from videos that were found at garage sales and thrift stores and in warehouses and dumpsters across the country. A thousand hours of footage has been distilled into 90 minutes of the most sublime spectacles, intriguing characters, and beguiling, if not insightful, looks into those who lived during the golden days of the VHS dynasty.

Two rules govern Found Footage Festival: 1) Footage must be found on physical format. No YouTube. 2) It has to be unintentionally funny. Whatever it’s trying to do, it has to fail miserably at that.

Since the first tour in 2004, the Found Footage Festival has gone on to sell out hundreds of shows across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., including the HBO Comedy Festival at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. The festival has been featured on National Public Radio, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and G4 TV’s Attack Of The Show, and has been named a critic’s pick in dozens of publications, including The Village Voice, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle ("Riotous!"), AVClub.com ("Skull-crushingly funny."), The Stranger, and The Chicago Tribune.

See you there...

Happy New Year from the MAP

Wishing y'all a joyous celebration in the light of the blue moon as we ring in a new decade.

Stay tuned for news on what the MAP has in store for you in 2010 and beyond...

Aesthetica Short Film Competition

The Aesthetica Short Film Competition has just been launched! Leading the search for filmmakers who are driving the genre of short film forward through inspirational and innovative works the competition provides an opportunity for both new and experienced filmmakers to have their work broadcast to a wider audience. All genres of film are being accepted: drama, documentary, music video, animation, satire, comedy, artists' film and anything else you can think of!

This award offers winners and runners-up a fantastic prize package, including:

Screenings of your film at: The National Media Museum (Bradford), Rushes Soho Shorts Film Festival (London), Glasgow Film Festival and on the Aesthetica website
£500 first prize, £250 runner-up
12 months membership with Shooting People
Collection of film books from Wallflower Press
Winner and 10 runners-up to be included on a DVD that will go to all Aesthetica readers.

Films should be up to 20 minutes long. Entries are due in April 2010 - detailed guidelines and entry are here.

Call for Entries: Art Program for Public Transit

City of Asheville: Art on Transit Bus Graphics Program
Application Deadline: 5pm, January 20, 2010

The City of Asheville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department announces a juried public art competition for the first Art on Transit Bus Graphics Program open to all artists in the City of Asheville and select surrounding towns serviced by the City of Asheville transit system.

Artists are invited to create original 2-D images for one of three different City of Asheville bus graphics. Two dimensional images include (but are not limited to) photographs, computer generated design, paintings, prints, and drawings. Text and letters are permitted when used as part of the overall design.

Although there is no “theme” for this project, it is suggested that designs reflect, at least in part, the ‘canvas’ the art will be displayed on – buses!

The call for entrries is online here.

Group Art Show at Asheville Arts Council

Opening: Friday December 4, 5 – 8 pm
Asheville Area Arts Council Gallery  
11 Biltmore Avenue, Downtown Asheville

In the main gallery, the group show artists include fabric artist Meg Manderson and painters Gloria Gaffney and Mark Holland. In the large basement area downstairs is work by Heather Lewis. This lower space, which has not been used for exhibiting before, has an industrial look that suits Lewis’ large light installations.

Artist bios:

Meg Manderson  
A lifelong desire to express the beauty she sees in nature has inspired Meg Manderson to combine her love of the tactile qualities of fabric with landscape art to create “fabric paintings.” Meg works with hand-painted, hand-dyed and commercially produced fabrics. Using fiber paints, pigments from native soils and natural dyeing techniques, she creates yardage from which she choose the areas that lend themselves to achieving her vision. Manderson has studied with the acknowledged masters of fabric painting and art quilting. She has practiced her art and craft for over 25 years.

Heather Lewis 
Heather Lewis is a British visual artist, born in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, currently living and working in the Asheville. She holds a Masters Degree in Fine Art from the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee, Scotland. Lewis’ work has been shown in solo and group shows in galleries in the United States and abroad including the Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York (in collaboration with Amy Guggenheim). Her current work uses light in several ways to play with shadows and reflections that incorporate some traditional qualities of drawing, but also offers new possibilities. “Light installations take art off the paper or canvas, introducing questions of scale and value.”

Mark Holland 
For Mark, each painting has a story in it and is a narrative of the thoughts he had at the time of its conception. He loves fantasy, frivolity, vanity, the sacred and profane, the tragic, the lost, the joy and “I want my work to show that to others. We as a human race have all those emotions in us and the artist reminds us to honor and enjoy those feelings and embrace what is human.” He has been a recipient of many national art awards, as well as works in private, corporate, and university collections.

Gloria Gaffney
Gloria Gaffney is an oil painter living and working Asheville since 1995. Ms. Gaffney’s work has been used in conjunction with Bele Chere Festival, the Asheville Lyric Opera, the Biltmore Estate and UNCA. Ms. Gaffney works ‘en plein air’, completing the artwork at the site of inspiration and can be seen painting at her easel on the streets of Asheville throughout the year.

Stan Vanderbeek's Films at BMCM+AC

Thursday, December 3, 7:30pm

Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center
56 Broadway, Asheville

Johanna Vanderbeek will present and discuss the underappreciated films of her late husband Stan. Combining animation, painting and collage with a Dadaist sensibility, Vanderbeek made films in the 1950s and 60s that were beautifully original.

“Clearly a Renaissance Man, Vanderbeek has been a vital force in the convergence of art and technology, displaying a visionary 's insight into the cultural and psychological implications of the Paleocybernetic Age."
- Gene Youngblood in Expanded Cinema

$7 / $5 for BMCM+AC members + students w/ID

Asheville Affiliates Fundraiser

Party with a Purpose
December 3, 7-11pm @ The Venue, 21 N. Market Street, Asheville
Tickets: $30 in advance, $35 at the door
Food, beer and wine included
Bring cash for raffle & silent auction
Purchase tickets here - Be sure to note that it's for the MAP!

The MAP's history of partnering with the Asheville Affiliates have helped us to raise a ton of cash for artist grants and other MAP endeavors. The Asheville Affiliates is a group of professionals in Asheville that helps nonprofits plan and produce events – they provide sponsorship, guidance during the planning process and invite their network of 3,000 people to attend each event.

This year the Affiliates are celebrating their 10th Anniversary, and are having a reunion party on December 3 at the Venue in downtown Asheville – “Party Like It’s 1999”!

As a past beneficiary, the MAP has the chance to win a portion of the proceeds from the event – estimated at $3,000, which would help us to continue our support for the media arts community in WNC. In order for us to qualify, we only have to sell 10 tickets. They are $30 each - you can purchase them online at www.wncap.org (WNC AIDS Project is partnering with the Affiliates to produce this event).

IMPORTANT!!! For your ticket to count toward our 10 to qualify, you must enter The Media Arts Project into the “Nonprofit Affiliation” line in the online order form. The deadline for us to qualify is Monday, December 1st... so do it now!

Please help us celebrate our partnership with the Asheville Affiliates, and earn the chance to win some funds for the MAP. This event is expected to sell out, so please order early and bring your friends to Party Like It’s 1999!

Off the MAP Guest Curator: Curt Cloninger

Enacting Exhausted Language / Exhausting Enacted Language
An Artist Talk @ Bobo Gallery
November 24, 8pm ... $3

New media artist and UNCA assistant professor Curt Cloninger will discuss his art work and related research at this month's Off the MAP event. Cloninger's art undermines language as a system of meaning in order to reveal it as an embodied force in the world. His materials are spoken words, sounds, hand-written words, lines, objects coupled with words, objects as words, light, and time. He orchestrates these materials using video, software, performances, installations, and networks. By layering, restructuring, hashing, eroding, exhausting, and (dis)splaying language, he causes language to perform itself until its "meaning" has less to do with what it denotes and more to do with how it behaves.

This talk is in conjunction with Cloninger's upcoming performance at Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center on November 29... info is here.

Curt Cloninger is an artist, writer, and Assistant Professor of Multimedia Arts & Sciences at the University of North Carolina Asheville. His work has been featured in the New York Times, ABC World News, and at festivals and galleries from Korea to Brazil. Exhibition venues include Digital Art Museum [DAM] Berlin, L'Instituto de México à Paris, Living Arts of Tulsa, and The Art Gallery of Knoxville. Cloninger also maintains lab404.com, playdamage.org, and deepyoung.org in order to facilitate a more lively remote dialogue with the Sundry Essences of Wonder.

Asheville Film Festival

The seventh annual Asheville Film Festival is happening this weekend - a somewhat pared-down version of the festival in years past, but a chance to support local talent, see some good flicks and sharpen your skills at the workshops. Highlights:

The "Focus on Local" screening is tonight (Friday, November 13) at the Diana Wortham, and it features Paul Schattel's Alison, a film he made here in Asheville with the help of a Media Arts Advantage Fund grant through the MAP. (See Paul's blog post below.) Also screening tonight is Beer Y'all... on everyone's favorite subject. Films from UNCA students screen on Saturday at the Fine Arts. Tickets and screening schedule are here.

YMI hosts two days of workshops, many of them from friends of the MAP: an animation session with UNCA's Lei Han and Philip Delacruz, a directors' panel with Rod Murphy, Paul Bonesteel and Paul Schattel, and a talk on sound design from David Schmidt of A Cappella Audio. Apple workshops at Pack Place run all day today and tomorrow. The educational offerings are all free - here's the schedule.

Have fun and support your local filmmakers...

Art and Activism - Visualizing Human Rights at UNCA

UNC Asheville is hosting an International Human Rights Film Festival next week, and the Visualizing Human Rights "anti-conference" happens Saturday, November 14. The event brings the arts and artists to the endeavor of human rights. Theater, dance, poetry, 2D and 3D art, photography, and animation all work together to put a human face on himan rights.

Look for work/performances from The Beehive, Jinx Pace, DeWayne Barton, Ben Betsalel, and Heinz Kossler, among other artists and activists. The local organizers include Jolene Mechanic and Ken Betasalel, and it's sponsored by Amnesty International, the Center for Global Initiatives at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Human Rights Center at Duke, and the Elon University Department of Political Science. Heady stuff.

Highlights include a play about homelessness in Asheville and a discussion about human rights and photography. On Saturday night, "A Jerusalem Between Us" is a one-man show in black box format by Aaron Davidman. On Sunday afternoon, Global Playback presents a production called "Human Rights: Stories of Resilience and Hope."

And! It's all FREE. More info is here.

What's HAPPENING: the MAP and BMCM+AC do it again!

Kicking off Saturday Nights at Black Mountain College Part 2:

Saturday November 7th 8pm- Midnight

Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St Asheville

Cover: $7 members, $10 for general public

Back by popular demand! The MAP and The Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center will sponsor WHAT’S HAPPENING?!, a fundraiser dance party in the heart of the River Arts District of Asheville. This exciting event will raise money for the Museum’s “Living Legacy: Living Artists of Black Mountain College” exhibition series, and is part two of the official kick-off celebration to announce an exciting new series of Saturday Night Events at the original dining hall of the Black Mountain College.

Wedge Microbrewery will once again provide their most excellent, handcrafted beer. Come early to enjoy some nibbles and to view the art installation of BMCM+AC board member, Linda Larsen, downstairs in the Flood Gallery. There will also be a salon in the upstairs library, hosted by Jolene Mechanic, where you can learn more about the college, our organizations, and our exciting upcoming events series. More surprises are in the works—many will not be revealed until you arrive. At the last party, a Theremin station, an open mic and a projection show, courtesy of Gene Felice, were all impromptu additions. The new spin for this party: funk, soul and rock &roll. Come prepared to get your groove on (and support some great local arts groups!). Get on the good foot!

Back in the day students and staff at the Black Mountain College got together on Saturday nights to entertain each other with music, dance, poetry, theater or whatever they were moved to share.

Starting this fall, The Black Mountain Museum + Arts Center and The MAP are hosting a series of Saturday Night dinner and entertainment in this vein but with a fresh new twist. So be at WHAT’S HAPPENING?!, Saturday, November 7th, at the Phil Mechanic Building to help revive the Black Mountain College Saturday night tradition. More information can be found at http://www.blackmountaincollege.org or by calling 828.350.8484

Dr. Awesome's Bad Tape Night

Off the MAP for November

Tuesday October 27th 9pm-11pm $3 cover charge.

Bobo Gallery, 22 Lexington Ave, Asheville

Join Jason Holland from the Dr Awesome show for an evening of the worst video he can muster. Expect the unexpected, but my guess is there will be some bad training films, bad commercials and bad public access shows. But that's just a guess. You'll have to show up to find out what all the hubub is about. Perhaps this Off the MAP event should come with a warning. Side effects may include: offended morals, abdominal pain and cramping, blurry vision, bleeding from the eyes, cluster migraines, irregular heatbeat, and vomiting.

Here's the official poster for the event:

River Arts District Studio Stroll Sponsors Photography Contest

November 14th-15th, 10am-6pm
Asheville, North Carolina

The River District Artists are sponsoring a photography contest during the upcoming Studio Stroll, November 14th-15th, 10am-6pm. The contest is open to all ages and all skill levels. To join the group, read the guidelines, and upload submissions go to, www.flickr.com/groups/riverartsdistrict. Judges will select first, second, and third place winners. The first place winning photographer will receive $100, second and third place each receive $50.

During the Stroll more than one hundred and thirty studios in twelve distinctive historic buildings are open to the public within a one-mile by half-mile area. The district also offers visitors a variety of options for dining and a brewery/tasting room. Throughout the weekend, Asheville Historic Trolly Tours provide a free shuttle service between buildings. The Trolly Tour begins and ends at the Chamber of Commerce on Montford Avenue, and makes a 30-minute loop through the district.

Full color maps with directions and a list of participating artists are available now at the Asheville Chamber of Commerce, The Asheville Area Arts Council, River District studios and galleries, and other locations around town. Read more about River Artist District and the upcoming Studio Stroll online at www.riverartsdistrict.com.

Rules
Photos must be taken during the Fall Stroll. Only photographs of current members of the River District Artists Association and their respective studios will be considered. River District Artists' studios will be identified with a posted membership certificate located on the studio door, or just inside.

Date and time: November 14th-15th, 10am-6pm
Location: River Arts District, Asheville, NC

How:
You take pictures during the times above, upload them to Flickr, and submit them to the Flickr group.

Deadlines:
All images must be taken/exposed during the River Arts District Studio Stroll. Images that you submit must be uploaded to the Flickr site by the end of the day, November 20th.

Judging:
Judges will select the winning images and notify the winner by November 24th. The winners will be contacted via email, announced to the media, and posted on the River Arts District's web site.

Number of photos:
Each participant can submit up to 15 total images to www.flickr.com/groups/riverartsdistrict.

Captioning:
Participants should put in the Flickr caption: their name, name of the artist and their building, a photo title and a caption.

Licensing:
By participating in this project, photographers are agreeing to a “creative commons” license. Your photos should be marked with the "Creative Commons" license. All images submitted may be considered for use by the River Arts District (RAD) for advertising or promotional purposes. Any photographs used by RAD will be credited with the photographers name.

Oct 30 Blogapalooza: Charity Bash to Benefit AHOPE

Extrava 3.0: Spookypaloozananny
Friday, Oct. 30
7-11 p.m.
Pump Gallery in the Phil Mechanic Bldg, River Arts District
$10 suggested donation to AHOPE

Asheville’s online community gathers for a beer-fueled October 30 blowout as bloggers and Tweeters step away from their computers for a good cause: AHOPE, a charity serving Asheville’s homeless.

Now in its fourth year, the event formerly put on just for BlogAsheville fans and readers opens to all of Asheville’s online citizen media community. Awards are offered for Asheville’s favorite Tweeters (users of the social networking service, Twitter) and bloggers alike in 25 categories ranging from Tweeter I’d Most Like to Have a Beer With to Best Political Blog.

Other categories include Blog Most Likely to Make You Laugh Out Loud, Best Art/Photos, Best Local Happenings, Best New Blog, Most Underrated Blog, Best Writing, Blogger I’d Most Like to See Naked and Best Overall Blog.

The event raised $1000 for AHOPE last year, and organizers hope to raise more this year with the addition of the rest of Asheville’s thriving online community.

BlogAsheville organizers seek sponsorships/donations of raffle prizes and food and drink for 100-200 for a nonprofit event with 100 percent of proceeds donated to AHOPE. Sponsors receive exposure to leading Asheville bloggers, citizen journalists, social media mavens and an eclectic mix of online creative minds across multiple social media platforms.

Gordon Smith, the activist behind the Scrutiny Hooligans political blog, serves as the 2009 emcee. Entertainment includes musical acts Its Elephants and Albatross Party, comedy and juggling from 40 Fingers and a Missing Tooth.

Raffle tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5. Tickets are $10 suggested donation, available at the door only.

About BlogAsheville
Founded in May 2005 and run by 41 contributing citizen editors, BlogAsheville builds community by sharing information about events, happenings and news in Asheville and of interest to Asheville residents: blogasheville.blogspot.com/

MAP member to present at Blender Conference

The 8th Annual Blender Conference will be held this October 23-25 in Amsterdam and Wray Bowling is going to be there to present and represent western North Carolina. Blender is a free open source 3D content creation suite which is available for all operating systems. That's pretty cool, so check out their site for more interesting stuff, including the schedule for the conference.

Wray's talk will be a review of his techniques for digital puppetry using Blender and Open Sound Control. The presentation will run for thirty minutes and in three parts: A short performance, a short lecture on the inner workings, and his projection for the future of Blender & Hardware input devices.

Talks will be happening all weekend, and in the past the conference has been broadcasted live over the internet, as it happens. Expect this to be the case again this year. If you're interested in seeing Wray's talk specifically, you'll have to wake up by 8:00am because of the extreme hour time zone difference (it will be 2:00 in the afternoon in Amsterdam). It looks like they'll post the video to their site after the conference, so don't worry if you miss it.

Company Profiles on the MAP

First of all, what is a Company Profle? Themap.org has two kinds of profiles. One is for you creative types (Supply), and the other, the Company Profile (Demand), is for you business types that want to hire the creatives.

The MAP directory is designed to assist businesses in two ways. You can search the directory for specific needs, and you can have a company profile that allows you to promote your company and post job listings to specific professionals. Company profiles are free and come with unlimited private workspaces for file exchange and project management. To apply for a free account click on the “apply for an account” link on the upper right hand corner of the page.

In just two months The MAP has built a database of over 150 digital media professionals. Now we are looking for companies who support local talent and want to add to their web presence by signing up for a company profile. Company profiles are free to any business that will need to hire digital media professionals.

We’re in the throws of a technological revolution which has greatly influenced the way that business gets done. Having a strong web based presence is now a necessary part of doing almost any business and that requires digital marketing, web development and video production. Finding the appropriate technology can be a daunting task. The MAP strives to make that process easier while also promoting regional talent. We believe that hiring local talent will strengthen our local economy and benefit all business in the region.

Elumenati's GeoDome Theater at White House Star Party

Asheville based business, The Elumenati, got to give the White House a tour of the Universe! Read all about it here.

On Wednesday, October 7th, the GeoDome Theater was featured at the White House ‘Star Party,’ an event hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Dr. D’nardo Colucci of The Elumenati set up the GeoDome Theater on the White House lawn, and gave interactive dome presentations to visiting middle-school students. A statement from the White House about the event highlights the importance of astronomy “for its capacity to promote a greater awareness of our place in the universe, expand human knowledge, and inspire the next generation.” An address from the President kicked off the event.

North Carolina Film Incentives Bill

This is old news, but apparently I had my head in a hole all August. I thought I pass it on in case you were doing the ostrich as well.

GOV. PERDUE SIGNS FILM INCENTIVES BILL
SB 943 Boosts Film Production Tax Credit to 25 Percent, Protects Jobs for North Carolinians

RALEIGH – Gov. Bev Perdue today signed Senate Bill 943 allowing production companies a 25 percent tax credit for film projects in North Carolina, up from the previous credit of 15 percent. The bill also sets minimum spending and hiring requirements for qualifying film companies working in the state.

“This legislation will help grow our $91 million motion picture industry, preserve and create thousands of jobs and increase investments in yet another emerging economic cluster,” said Perdue. “Providing a strong foundation for North Carolina’s film industry is essential as we work to build a strong and sustainable economy through increased diversification.”

Companies must spend a minimum of $250,000 on production costs in the state to be eligible for the tax credit. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Linda Garrou (D-Forsyth) also requires companies to meet hiring requirements for North Carolinians and other criteria to qualify for the incentive.

“This incentive will help keep film production in North Carolina,” said N.C. Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco. “It will be a major boost for the film industry and allow us to compete on a level playing field in a vital and growing global market.”

“During these tough economic times, it’s critical to continue making investments that will grow jobs in our state,” said Sen. Linda Garrou (D-Forsyth). “This legislation will help expand North Carolina’s motion picture economy and create new employment opportunities across our state.”

SB 943 ensures North Carolina remains a strong competitor for film production dollars, which totaled $91 million in direct spending in 2008. The industry employs more than 2,500 statewide. Recent major motion pictures filmed in the state include “Nights in Rodanthe,” “Leatherheads” and “The Secret Life of Bees.” The N.C. film industry is also home to the CW Network’s “One Tree Hill” TV series as well as hundreds of commercial and industrial productions each year throughout the state.

More than 800 movies have been filmed in North Carolina. The state is well known for supporting its motion picture industry with a strong infrastructure and a bevy of locations that can stand in for sites throughout the world. North Carolina boasts an exceptional variety of filming locations from the mountains to the coast, and a world-class film industry infrastructure. Wilmington’s EUE Screen Gems, home of the largest studio lot east of California, recently opened the largest film and television production soundstage on the East Coast.

For more details on the N.C. Film Office, go to: http://www.ncfilm.com/.

Photos from the Sept 26 HAPPENING

Despite the pouring rain, over 100 people turned out on September 26th for a MAP and Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center collaboration. Thank you to Jeff Hardman for taking so many great photos! You can look at more pictures here, and read Carol Motsinger's review here. It really was an excellent night! We've heard from a lot folks that they want to do it again so...

The MAP, BMCM+AC, and Phil Mechanic Studios will be joining up again on November 7th for another great HAPPENING at the Phil Mechanic Studios in the River Arts District. Save the date!!

Re-Viewing Black Mountain College An International Conference

October 9-11, 2009 on the UNC Asheville Campus

The legacy of Black Mountain College continues to inform contemporary culture in multiple realms. This conference will investigate its history as well as the multiple paths of influence, actual and possible, identifiable in the contemporary world and beyond.

The Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center and the University of North Carolina Asheville are pleased to announce Re-Viewing Black Mountain College, a three-day international conference October 9-11, 2009 to take place on the UNC Asheville campus. Scholars from all over the United States and as far away as France will gather in Asheville to share their ideas about the history and ongoing influence of the famous progressive college community located just outside of Black Mountain from 1933-1957.

The keynote speaker for the conference is BMC alumna and acclaimed artist Dorothea Rockburne. Her presentation will take place on Saturday, October 10th at 7:00pm at UNCA. Rockburne’s Astronomy Drawings series of paintings is currently on display at BMCM+AC as part of its yearlong celebration of the women of Black Mountain College. A student at BMC in the 1950s, Dorothea Rockburne has been immersed in the contemporary art scene since that time. During the sixties she was involved in Judson Dance Theatre performances with artists such as Oldenburg and Rauschenberg. From 1965 until today she has shown internationally. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a NEA grant, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Department of Art, in 2001 and received the National Academy Museum Artist's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.

Selected highlights from the weekend schedule include:
Alone Together: On Merce Cunningham and the Question of Black Mountain College’s Artistic Legacy – Kate Markoski, Johns Hopkins University
What Josef Albers Taught at Black Mountain College, and What Black Mountain College Taught Albers - Frederick A. Horowitz, Washtenaw College
Black Mountain College: Form as the Creator of Content - Mary Emma Harris, Scholar, NY
The Weaver and the Architect: Reconstructing the Modern Shelter - Kirsten Dahlquist, University of South Florida
Aftereffects: Buckminster Fuller and the Legacy of Black Mountain College –Eva Diaz, Pratt Institute
“Like a Girl:” Gendered Sexual Difference at Black Mountain College and the Development of Postmodernism - Jonathan Katz, SUNY Buffalo
Motion Sculpture Movement Installation: Attack Of The Killer Stripey Tubes!!! - Claire Elizabeth Barratt, Cilla Vee Life Arts
Performance of “This Paradise Apart” a play by David Hopes, UNC-Asheville

In addition to over 50 scholarly presentations, the weekend conference will include poetry readings, performances and a clay, color and word workshop. A full conference schedule can be viewed at www.blackmountaincollege.org. Presenters include authors, educators, artists, independent scholars, poets, an architect and an experimental musician. The one thing they all share is a fascination with Black Mountain College and a common belief that it was an extremely significant educational and artistic endeavor that deserves attention, study and discourse.

Admission to the conference is $10 per day or $15 for the weekend with free admission for UNCA faculty, staff + students. For advance tickets please call BMCM+AC at 828-350-8484.

For a complete schedule of conference events: www.blackmountaincollege.org

How does the "DEMAND" side of this website work??

Are you visiting this site for the first time looking to check out some awesome local talent? Maybe you even have a job position you are trying to fill? Then you will want to apply to be one of the businesses in our directory! First of all you'll need to click on that link up there on the top right hand of the page that says "Apply for an Account". Then you want to select "apply yourself" on the "DEMAND" account side of the page (that's the right hand side). Just fill out the information and wait to hear back from us. I swear I'll get back to you in less than 24 hours.

Then you'll get an email from the MAP with instructions on how to proceed. When you get to your account you'll want to do 3 things:

Write a bio (that's a description of your business), and publish it
Choose the categories that relate to your business. You may find that you'll need to make a few suggestions so we can accuratley define what you do
Go to your account settings and publish your profile

Once you get all that out of the way, you can post jobs, or take advantage of the very cool project manager function of the site.

A MAP business profile is a great way to help our regional economy while you promote your business. And the best part is... it's free.

Off the MAP: MOVEMENT

As part of the monthly "Off the MAP" series. Jason Scott Furr and Megan McKisack team up to explore methods of digital capture. The evening will include a screening of films and videos on the history and technology of motion capture followed by a live demonstration and inreactive displays.

When: Wednesday September 30th, 8 pm

Where: BoBo Gallery, 22 S. Lexington Ave, Asheville

Cost: FREE, but you can always make a donation!

Image from Jonah Bokaer, NYC choreographer and media artist who uses motion capture. He performed and lectured last Fall at UNC- Asheville.

HAPPENING: Kicking off Saturday Nights at Black Mountain College

A dance party explosion and fundraiser for the MAP and the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center

WHEN: Saturday September 26 8pm- Midnight

WHERE: The Phil Mechanic Building, 109 Roberts Street, Asheville

HOW MUCH: $7 for MAP members, $10 for the rest of ya!

WHAT: Wine! Beer! Dancing!!

The MAP and the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center will sponsor HAPPENING, a fundraiser dance party in the heart of the River Arts District of Asheville.

Wedge Microbrewery will provide the beer. DJ Trevor Baker will be spinning records. Come early to enjoy the yummy food and to view the art installation downstairs in the Flood Gallery space. There will also be a salon in the upstairs library, hosted by Jolene Mechanic, where you can learn more about the college, our organizations, and our exciting upcoming events series.

This dance party extravaganza is the official kick-off celebration to announce an exciting new series of Saturday Night Events at the original dining hall of the Black Mountain College. Back in the day students and staff at Black Mountain College got together on Saturday nights to entertain each other with music, dance, poetry, theater or whatever they were moved to share.

“Saturday night parties were…a tradition at Black Mountain…for that one night in the week everybody put on shoes and dressed up: the women in dresses and stockings, the men in ties and jackets. Booze for the party was supplied by the student home-brew master on campus…” Michael Rumaker, Black Mountain Days

Starting this fall, the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center and The MAP are hosting a series of Saturday Night dinner and entertainment-filled evenings in this vein but with a fresh new twist. So be at HAPPENING, Saturday, September 26 at the Phil Mechanic Building to help us revive the Black Mountain College Saturday night tradition. More information can be found at www.blackmountaincollege.org or by calling 828.350.8484

Asheville Film Project Invited To Premier Trailer At Independent Film Week

Mitch Rumfelt, MAP member and co-founder of Eyesore Video, is going to be premiering the trailer for his current project, Wanderlost at the Independent Film Week in NYC on September 20, 2009. "Wanderlost" was one of ten films chosen for the IFP Emerging Narritive Lab. The Lab is the only national program that connects mentors and low-budget film projects before they submit them to festivals.

The Eyesore Video Press release describes "Wanderlost" as a "dark fantasy from Asheville based writer , producer and director , David Kabler . The film was shot and funded in Asheville, NC. The story of the film centers around a Drifter, who is alone in the world. He returns home to visit his father’s grave in hopes of changing his destiny. Here he sees salvation in a beautiful girl who could be his key to freedom. But salvation isn’t found so easily. Wanderlost will be finished in November 2009, premiering in Asheville and festivals in 2010.

In the feature film "Wanderlost" Mitch plays a lead character role while having the duties of a producer and assistant to the director, David Kabler. Mitch co-directed and produced the award winning documentary film "Mountain Punks Fight Dirty".

Eyesore has partnered with Asheville based screenwriter and cinematographer Daniel Judson, also a MAP member. Judson, who has multiple MTV and BET music video credits, brings with him outstanding technical and cinematic vision.

Let's get some WNC digital artists at SXSW this year

Now is the time to get your work submitted to SXSW. This year they are accepting submissions for FILM, WEB DESIGN, GAME DESIGN, and TECH BUSINESSES. And of course, if you are a band you need to apply if you want to be choosen to perform at SXSW. Last year there were no Asheville bands, films or other presenters at SXSW. We can do better, don't you think?

Here are some of the deadlines for you to consider:

Apply to Showcase Music Early Deadline: September 25, 2009. Fee: $30

Submit your Film Early Deadline November 5, 2009. Fee: $25-$40

Enter Game Design Competition Deadline: December, 4 2009

Enter your website in the SXSW Interactive Web Awards Early Deadline: October, 15 2009. Fee: $10

The 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge

The 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge is now open. Each year a distinguished jury awards a $100,000 prize to support the development and implementation of a strategy that has significant potential to solve humanity’s most pressing problems. Entries are now being accepted and the deadline is midnight, Eastern Time on October 30, 2009.

The Idea Index is a repository for entries from previous years and showcases the winners from the past two cycles, as well as over 200 innovative solutions addressing the world's most pressing problems.

Buckminster Fuller's prolific life of exploration, discovery, invention and teaching was driven by his intention “to make the world work for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or disadvantage of anyone.”

Fuller coupled this intention with a pioneering approach aimed at solving complex problems. This approach, which he called “comprehensive anticipatory design science”, combined an emphasis on individual initiative and integrity with whole systems thinking, scientific rigor and faithful reliance on nature's underlying principles. The designs he is best known for (the geodesic dome, the Dymaxion house, car, and map, and the global electric grid) were part of a visionary strategy to redesign the inter-related systems of shelter, transportation and energy.

After decades of tracking world resources, innovations in science and technology, and human needs, Fuller asserted that options exist to successfully surmount the crises of unprecedented scope and complexity facing all humanity – he issued an urgent call for a design science revolution to make the world work for all.

Answering this call is what the Buckminster Fuller Challenge is all about.

Bucky had it right. “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

That’s why we’re awarding a $100,000 prize each year for comprehensive solutions that radically advance human well-being and ecosystem health.

For more information about the Challenge or the Buckminster Fuller Institute Please contact:

JenJoy Roybal
Program Manager
jroybal(at)bfi(dot)org
718 290 9283

Elizabeth Thompson
Executive Director
et(at)bfi(dot)org
718 290 9285

Here's the Buckinster Fuller Challenge Movie:

The Buckminster Fuller Challenge from Buckminster Fuller Institute on Vimeo.

LIVE BLOGGING from TEDxAVL starting at 6:30 PM EST TEDx ASHEVILLE

Click here for the LIVE BLOGGING starting at 6:30 PM EST:

Click Here

Local fans of the TED conference present TEDxAsheville, an independently organized TED event, Sunday, August 30, 7–11 p.m. at The Orange Peel.

Mix your favorite mind-blowing lecture in college with a hot night out at a club, add a few beers, and you've got TEDxAsheville, where smart is sexy and great ideas are the name of the game. Five Asheville visionaries join a sprinkling of all-local performance talent for a night of fun for your head that promises inspiration, excitement and ideas worth spreading.

Confirmed 2009 TEDxAsheville speakers include:
Dee Eggers, UNC Asheville professor of environmental science
Drew Jones of the Sustainability Institute, creator of interactive climate simulations
David McConville of the Elumenati, media artist, entrepreneur, inventor and community activist
Caroline Yongue, Buddhist minister and director of Asheville’s Center for End-of-Life Transitions
Robert Zimmerman, Bug Logic coder, designer and illustrator

This late-summer conference event is FREE, seats will fill QUICKLY. Arrive early if you can.
TEDxAsheville official website: tedxavl.com
TEDTalks sample videos: tedxavl.com/videos
Facebook: search TEDxAsheville
Twitter: follow @TEDxAVL

ABOUT TEDx
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED created a program it calls TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxAsheville, where “x” = an independently organized TED event. At TEDxAsheville, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection within the audience.
The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.

Final Call for Entries: Aesthetica International Creative Works Competition

Deadline for entries: August 31, 2009

The Aesthetica Creative Works Competition is internationally recognised for identifying new artists and writers and bringing them to international attention. 2010 will be the competition's third year and previous finalists have achieved success and recognition with accolades including: writing commissions from Channel 4, selection to represent Australia in the Florence Biennale, exhibitions at DACS (London), John Martin Gallery (London), Flores Fine Art Gallery (New York), inclusion in the International Drawing Competition exhibition (Poland) and the National Geographic International Photographic exhibition. The Aesthetica Creative Works Competition represents the scope of creative activity today, and provides an opportunity for both new and established artists to nurture their reputations on an international scale.

The Aesthetica Creative Works Competition seeks entries of Artwork, Photography & Sculpture, Fiction and Poetry
Three winners will be awarded £500 (approx $825) each
Additional prizes include an Olympus E-420 SLR camera and a boutique holiday for two
All finalists will be published in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual, in stores December 2009
Entry to the 2009 Aesthetica Creative Works Competition is £10 (approx $16)
This allows you to submit up to 5 images, 5 poems or 2 short stories
Closing date to receive Creative Works is 31 August 2009
For full details please visit www.aestheticamagazine.com/submission_guide.htm

SOUNDCLASH this Saturday at the Orange Peel

This Saturday night, get yourself over to the Orange Peel for a showcase of the region's finest electronica artists. AND you'll be supporting the new community internet radio station, Asheville FM.

AshevilleFM is sort of like college radio, but all grown up. The volunteer-based, grassroots station was envisioned earlier this year as an outlet where community members could broadcast locally based music and news. The space has been rented (behind Wizzy's), the studio being built: Check it out at www.ashevillefm.org. Chip in monetarily (think of it as a fund drive without the boring chatter) at the all-ages Orange Peel benefit. Music from Doom Ribbons, IO, J.R.R. Foolkiller, Aurascene, Kimathir, Liz Lang, sys:ex and Pomme de Terre. Saturday, Aug. 22 (9 p.m., $8 advance, $10 doors. Info: www.theorangepeel.net or 225-5851).

Joe De Cola to speak at the Asheville Filmmakers Group

"Producing and Documentary Movie Making"
Wednesday, Aug 19th 2009
The Fine Arts Theater (critics lounge) 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Beer and wine are available in the lobby.

Asheville Filmmakers Group (AFG) is pleased to announce that they are fortunate, one more time, to have a generous host speaker, independent documentary filmmaker and former ABC, NBC, and CBS news producer, Joe De Cola. Joe is traveling from NYC to speak at the August AFG monthly meeting this Wednesday. He has produced such shows as "Close Up", a one hour documentary show for "60 Minutes" on CBS, as well documentary shows for NBC Nightly news and the Today Shows. He has received a number of awards including a News Emmy for his work on NBC Nightly News Series “The New Cold War”.

Join AFG this Wednesday as this is a great opportunity to find out more about documentary movie making, producing in general, and ask questions on what exactly does a producer do and how they get their projects produced from A to Z.

Info about AFG:

The Asheville Filmmakers Group (AFG) meets once a month in order to network local filmmakers with one another, as well as discuss different aspects of the filmmaking process including things like writing, equipment use, music, documentary work, narrative work, rights, and of course, the creative process. It is also open to discuss your current works in progress and ask for feedback from other filmmakers in a safe environment. On occasion we will have screenings of members work for discussion and feedback.

The AFG was formed in order to bring Asheville and Western North Carolina filmmakers together and to build a stronger filmmaking community right here in our mountains. It's also a way to network people who are interested in working as crew members, music composers, screenwriting, and other collaborative efforts with others interested in the production of film.

We meet on the THIRD Wednesday of every month in the upstairs Critics lounge at the Fine Arts Theater in downtown Asheville from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Please come and join us!

Don't Wait Until 2012 to Learn to Use theMAP.org Calendar

The NEW and IMPROVED MAP website has all kinds of fuctions for getting your information out to the other MAP members and the rest of the world. There are blogs, member message boards, and a bi-monthly newsletter.

But what I want to talk to you about is the calendar. Anyone visiting the site can see the calendar (it's over there >>>> on the right of the page) AND anyone who is a MAP member can post events to the calendar.

To post an event, you'll need to log-in. If you don't already have an account, and are a digital media artist residing in western North Carolina you'd better just sign up for one right now!

Okay, so you have logged-in. Now click on the "calendar" link on the upper right hand side of the page. You'll see a small red link on the right that says "add to the calendar". From here on it's pretty self explainatory. Just fill in the fields, upload an image, and click the "display this event" button.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezey!

Themap.org: Regional or Global

We want your input! The MAP Board of Directors met for their monthly meeting on Monday August 3rd. One of the issues discussed was wheter media artists from outside our region should be allowed to join themap.org and post their work on profiles. The site was designed as a regional network for regional artists to get work, but we also know that some of the members used to live here or are thinking about moving here. So, the Board is seeking your input. Let us know what you think by contacting me or, if you are a member, by going to the member message board.

Winners of the LAUNCH drawing

Congratulations to Mary Long of ivaluva design, videographer Scott Duncan, and photographer/mixed media artist Ken HIlberry! They have all won a year of unbridled excitment on themap.org!

Themap.org LAUNCH PARTY was a blast!

I hope you were able to come to our big LAUNCH party last week at the Phil Mechanic Building. We were joined by over a hundred people including representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, the HUB, the Economic Development Comission, and Congressman Shuler's office. The food was excellent and the beer and wine flowed endlessly (those are our event sponsors logos over there>>). I think we need to find a good excuse to do that every year!

If you signed up to be a new member and haven't heard back from us yet, contact me! There was a little bug in the system that held up the membership applications, I apologize for any delays.

I am still waiting for some photos and video of the event, which I'll post here as soon as we get it. In the meantime, I want to thank all our generous sponsors. Please give them your support, since they are local businesses that support their community!!

Draft: Welcome to the new MAP.com

You've found our new site! If you are a Digital Media Artist in WNC, it's your new site

The new member's site for The MAP is a fairly robust platform for you to show off what you're doing and also to showcase skill sets, share information and relate stories with other members and visitors to the site.

Be a Featured Artist at www.citizen-times.com

I found this online at the Asheville Citizen Times Website. I thought you all might want to get your name in there for more exposure.

Portfolio is a weekly profile on an artist from Western North Carolina's rich artistic community. If you'd like to be featured or have a visual or performing artist you'd like to recommend, contact Carol Motsinger at cmotsinger@CITIZEN-TIMES.com. There is no charge. Photos of artists and their work should be at least 200 dpi and 2,000 pixels wide or tall.

Used Computers Needed for People with Disabilities

Have a computer or laptop that needs a new life?
Western Alliance Center for Independent Living needs old computers to refurbish for its CyberPal program, which provides computers to people who have disabilities.

The program uses volunteers to fix computers. Basic computer training is provided and Western Alliance also collaborates with Mountain Area Information Network to provide Internet service to individuals.

Western Alliance offers an array of services to people with disabilities. They provide four core services including information and referral, independent living skills training, advocacy, and peer counseling. Western Alliance offers a potluck each month to offer people the chance to socialize with other people with disabilities.

The CyberPal Program is in need of computers that have at least a Pentium III processor. All donations are tax deductible, and are accepted free of charge. Laptops especially needed for people who aren’t mobile.

To recycling a computer, contact Mechelle Holt, volunteer program coordinator, at 298-1977 or drop off your donation 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 108 New Leicester Hwy.

PARTY with the MAP

When: July 23 5:30 - 8:30

Where: The Phil Mechanic Building, 109 Roberts Street, Asheville

What: Celebrate our new directory by joining us for drinks and eats!!

After 2 years of planning and design, The MAP is launching it's new online Directory and GetWork Network!! Funded by the Asheville HUB, the new directory will foster the development of Western North Carolina’s creative economy by promoting the region’s diverse and accomplished talent base and providing a resource for WNC media arts professionals to collaborate and connect, both with one another and with opportunities for work. The July 23 event will showcase the site and its capabilities to the region’s artistic and professional communities.

In the new directory, MAP members will upload their portfolios to profile pages that specifically list their skills, experience and availability. Artists can communicate through blog posts and forums, and promote events through the site’s calendar. The site also includes functionality for demand-side members, businesses in search of media talent for specific objectives. A demand-side member might be a filmmaker on location in WNC who needs a boom operator, a growing company in need of a designer to build a corporate identity, or a journalist who wants to create podcasts of her work and add them to her website. Through the MAP directory, demand-side members anywhere in the world can access the dynamic community of accomplished media arts professionals in WNC.

“I see the new site as a virtual media arts center, a place where people connect, share work, inspire one another and showcase their work to potential clients” said Gillian Coats, Media Arts Project Board Chairman. “The new map.org creates a platform for growth for media artists in the creative community and the creative economy of the region as a whole.”

The directory was created by BugLogic, an Asheville-based web technology company that specializes in designing and managing community web solutions.

BugLogic’s projects include Drawger.com, an online community for illustrators that has become the network hub for illustration, with an average of 10,000 visitors per day – a number that spikes to over 100,000 when the site is featured in influential media like the New York Times, Juxtapoz, and BoingBoing.net. Another BugLogic community is illoz.com, a portfolio site that connects illustrators with art buyers in much the same way the new MAP website will function. Art buyers have viewed over 3,000,000 images on the site in its two years of operation.

“What I've learned with these projects are all applied to the new MAP member site,” said BugLogic founder Robert Zimmerman, an accomplished illustrator and founding member of the Media Arts Project. “Drawger and illoz both operate as social networks for the membership and they love this aspect of it, but the real goal and the realised end result was a better business for everyone involved.”

The launch event takes place at the Flood Gallery in the Phil Mechanic Studios, at 109 Roberts Street in Asheville. The event begins at 5:30pm, and Zimmerman will present the site at 6:15, followed by a performance by local VJ Megan McKissack. After Zimmerman’s presentation, attendees can register for the site and artists can build their own profiles by uploading media that they bring on portable drives, using computers donated by Charlotte Street Computers. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be provided by The Wine Guy and 28806 Catering. Peak Definition will film the event. For details on the event and further information on the site, contact the Media Arts Project at info@themap.org.

About the Media Arts Project

Established in 2004, the Media Arts Project cultivates innovative arts & technology in western North Carolina. The MAP provides exhibition programming, professional development, outreach, and education. The MAP’s history includes providing fiscal sponsorship, grant funding, and community support for a wide range of films, festivals, and interactive media. The MAP is driven by the belief that the media arts are integral to the vibrant cultural and economic life of the region. For more information, visit www.themap.org.

Launching the new MAP website and directory

We are thrilled to announce that we’re almost ready to launch the new Media Arts Project member site. It's a dynamic online directory where MAP members can build profiles that highlight their skillsets and help them connect with work, each other, and the rest of the world. It’s a showcase for the incredible pool of talent and skill here in Western North Carolina, and it’s programmed to directly connect media arts professionals with the people and projects who are looking to hire them.

Made possible by a grant from the Asheville HUB, the new site was built by Bug Logic, an Asheville-based web technology company that specializes in creating and managing community web solutions. Bug Logic’s online communities for illustrators, art directors and educators include Drawger, Illoz, and Class Jump. Drawger was recently featured in the New York Times when artists who connect through the site used it as a forum to rally round the cause of fair pay for good art, protesting Google's policy to not pay illustrators for art they submit to be featured on the new Google browser.

The site officially launches with an event on Thursday, July 23, at Flood Gallery in Asheville's River Arts District. We’ll walk you though the new site and its features, and then we’ll pour you some wine and feed you snacks while you sign up for the new site and create your own profile. More details of the event are forthcoming, but save the date and get your images, video clips and MP3’s ready to post to the new site!

Feel free to email us if you have any questions about the new site or the event.

Call For Entries: 2009 Media Arts Advantage Fund

***The submissions deadline for the MAAF has been extended to June 30, 2009***

The Media Arts Project is pleased to announce the 2009 MAAF grant cycle. The MAAF program is open to all MAP members.

Guidelines and an application are available below. After reading the guidelines, please email us with questions regarding the application process.

TIMELINE:

May 5, 2009: Call for Entries Opens
June 30, 2009: Submissions Deadline
August 2009: Awards Announced

Projects may fit into, but are not limited to, the following categories. These categories are by no means proscriptive. They are simply meant to suggest and encourage a broad array of submissions:

Video & Film Productions
Animations & Mixed Digital Media
Live Performance Integrating Multimedia Technology
Generative Art & Gaming
Data Visualization
Curatorial Efforts Presenting Media Art
Variable Media Installations

AWARDS:

Decided on by judges brought in by the MAP
We expect to distribute awards in the amount of $6,000, $4,000, $2,000.
Funds must be used with in one year of grant award
Funds will be provided as reimbursements in installments of 50% of the total grant amount

Highlights from MAP's CodeName : OpenSource event

CodeName : OpenSource from Peak Definition on Vimeo.

On March 24, we hosted a fundraiser for the 2009 cycle of the Daniel DeLaVergne Media Arts Advantage Fund. Now in its fourth year, the grant - a joint initiative with Advantage West - supports innovative media artists in the region. At CodeName : OpenSource, we showcased the work of winners and judges from previous years. The event also featured a talk on The Future of OpenSource from Teresa Spangler, followed by a Q&A with a panel of artists.

We are actively fundraising for the 2009 MAAF. Any dollars we raise this year will be matched by Advantage West and will go directly to media artists in the region - so if you're able to donate, get in touch by emailing director@themap.org!

CodeName : OpenSource was a joint fundraiser for the MAP and Hatchfest Asheville.

Thanks to all our sponsors: Pack Place, Pisgah Brewing, WineStyles, Blue Moon Water, Clingman Café, Curras Dom, Doc Chey's, Steak&Wine, Usual Suspects, Short Street Cakes, and Black Mountain Chocolates. And a big shout to Peak Definition for the video!

Asheville Twestival Thursday February 12th

One in six of us… One billion people lacking access to clean drinking water — That’s a staggering amount. So how important is clean water? Consider this: Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable to the consequences of unsafe water. Of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and a lack of basic sanitation, 90% are children under 5 years old.

This is not a trivial matter; it is a global crisis.

Please join us for the Asheville Twestival at Windows in the park and be a part of this global effort to raise money and awareness for charity: water.

Media Arts Project proudly supports the First Annual Asheville Tweetup 12 February 2009, 18:00, Windows on the Park, 1N. Pack Square, Asheville, North Carolina, 28801.

See the multi-media here by Wu Media -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-0SGjfez5c

Get more information from the Asheville Twestival -> http://asheville.twestival.com/

Change We Need in 2009

It's a new year full of big changes. The MAP has been making positive, constructive changes, though some have been difficult and unexpected. We've been working hard for the last six months to get organized so that we can grow and be an even stronger resource for the Media Arts Professionals in western North Carolina.

As a result, we have a new Interim Director, Taylor Barnhill, whose focus for the next four months will be to create a development and strategic plan for the MAP. Taylor comes to us from a long history of non-profit management. He most recently was the Executive Director of Southwings, a conservation organization that uses volunteer pilots and small aircraft to protect the natural resources and ecosystems of the Southeast. Aside from successfully managing non-profits, Taylor is an architect working on green-built and sustainable designs. He has also produced news pieces and documentaries for local public radio. We are very happy to have him at the helm.

We would like you to welcome our 6 new board members: Paul Dezendorf, Meegan Kelly, Ron Gordon, Hilary McVicker Margaret Marchuk, and Gordon Smith. They come from a variety of backgrounds with concentrations of Marketing, PR, Fundraising, Development and Community Activism. They are a powerful group of people and we are excited to see what they can bring to the MAP. You can view everyone's bios here.

As we move into 2009, the MAP will be offering more opportunities for you to get involved with, connect to and give input on the functions of the MAP. Please join us as we create new opportunities, goals, and directions.

Film Screening: Soul's Journey: Inside the Creative Process

The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design will host a film screening at the Fine Arts Theatre in Asheville, NC on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009 at 7:00 PM giving the public an opportunity to preview two hours of the series.

Admission is $5, free for students.

The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design (CCCD) will host "Soul's Journey: Inside the Creative Process" Jan. 23 - April 25, 2009. This exhibition features 22 accomplished contemporary object makers living in the Southeast - from Virginia to Florida - and working in ceramic, fiber, glass, metal, and wood. The exhibit developed from is a six-part documentary series (of the same name) illuminating the creative process through an intimate view of these working artists told largely through their own words. The film was conceived and produced by David Hutto, Vice President for Technology at Blue Ridge Community College, and videographer Chanse Simpson.

The exhibition complements the documentary, showcasing significant works by established and emerging artists, representative as much of the ethnic, gender and geographic diversity as the area's creative tradition and cultural heritage.

Additionally, CCCD will host a reception in their gallery on Friday, February 20, 2009, giving the public an opportunity to meet some of the artists who attend.

The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design is an inter-institutional center of the University of North Carolina, located 5 miles west of Hendersonville at 1181 Broyles Road adjacent to the UNC Asheville Kellogg Center. Gallery hours are Monday thru Friday from 10-5pm. Visitors are invited to walk the Perry N. Rudnick one-mile nature and public art trail following a visit to the exhibition in the Craft Center galleries. For more information see www.craftcreativitydesign.org or call 828-890-2050

Participating Artists:

Elizabeth Brim Penland, NC

Curtis Buchanan Jonesborough, TN

Hunt Clark Sparta, TN

Cristina Cordova Penland, NC

Sam Corso Baton Rouge, LA

Susie Ganch Richmond, VA

Hoss Haley Asheville, NC

Mark Hewitt Pittsboro, NC

Richard Jolley Knoxville, TN

Janice Kluge Birmingham, AL

Ellen Kochansky Pickens, SC

Stoney Lamar Saluda, NC

Dale Lewis Oneonta, AL

Mark Lindquist Quincy, FL

Gwendolyn Magee Jackson, MS

Patricia Mink Johnson City, TN

Gary Noffke Farmington, GA

Richard Prisco Savannah, GA

Joel Queen Cherokee, NC

Ché Rhodes Louisville, KY

Michael Sherrill Bat Cave, NC

Jerydine Taylor Walterboro, SC

Heather Lewis : COTTAGE/INDUSTRY

New art work and installations

Opening Reception Friday 23rd January, 6.30 (includes a talk by the artist)

Holden Gallery, Warren Wilson College,

701 Warren Wilson Road, Swannanoa, NC 28788

Exhibition runs January 19^th through February 28^th

Gallery hours 9.30 – 4.00pm Mon – Thu

1.00 – 4.00 Sundays

The work is conceptual with a strong visual (though not always material) presence, subverting conventional assumptions of skill, perfection or precious materials. In this way it questions perception of the art object's value.

The exhibit will feature an enormous shadow; a coin-operated light painting that invites the viewer to draw on the wall; and the reflections of numerous mirror circles. Alongside these are various installations including a collection of glowing, imperfectly molded wax bottles; a painting (displayed as a coffee table) that bears the scars of a gravel driveway; and three plastic tubs of recycled cartons lit by cheap Christmas lights.

I hope you can join me!

Heather

Questions and Answers for the RFP

Q. Is your proposed timeline set in stone?

A. You may propose your own timeline and please respect that we are trying to get this done in a timely manner. Please include the necessary milestones.

Q. Any objections to developing site in Rails and using Radiant as the CMS?

A. No objections. You may propose any platform

Q. Since we are a virtual company, we often work with designers who live all over the country. Would the designer also need to reside in a WNC country or is it sufficient that our firm is based in Asheville?

A. It is sufficient that your firm is based in Asheville but preferable that the whole team reside in WNC.

Q. How much of the design elements, such as shapes in the banner, or color preferences, should carry over into the new website?

A. None need to. We are looking for a whole new look and brand identity.

Q. Is the immediate objective to serve WNC?

A. Yes. Our current membership is based largely in Buncombe County, but the objective is to serve the entire WNC region.

Q. Will the website moderator be solely in charge of moderating content?

A. Yes, in the beginning, although it should be possible to extend the platform to user moderation based on a history of credibility.

Q. What level of ecommerce functionality is expected in phase 1?

A. Payment for membership and ability to accept donations. A simple integration with Paypal or similar would be sufficient.

Q. For MAP board to communicate privately via the web site, is this expected to be something such as private forums? If so, what level of administrative privileges are expected for MAP staff members - e.g. create and delete entire forums - entire threads?

A. This is not critical, but we think the community (as well as the MAP board) would find it useful. This may be a phase 2 component where we would have the ability to create privately shared discussion space, which can be used by the board and others for private discussions.

Q. When registering for the site, users are required to create a basic, free MAP membership. Does this registration need to integrate with an existing membership database? Y

A.Yes.

Q. Is the current membership database expected to migrate to the new site so that existing users automatically become users of the new site?

A. Yes

Q. Should the site functionality, including blog and forum posts, media distribution and other user features integrate with existing social network services and functionality such as those of Facebook and Flicker?

A. Yes.

Request For Proposals: MAP Website & Online Directory Redesign

The window for submissions is now closed.

Thank you to everyone who sent in a intent to bid.

The Media Arts Project is redesigning its website and creating a new online directory. This is a multi-phased project: initially the directory will serve the Media Arts community of Western NC, but it will grow into a Creative Arts directory that will serve multiple organizations and thousands of individuals. To this end, the directory needs to be scalable. This RFP pertains to Phase 1, and will require 3 roles: a developer, a designer, and a project manager. You may submit proposals for any or all of these roles, but we would prefer that you consider creating a team that can function effectively. Send all inquiries and proposals to the web adminstrator.

Please note, only proposals from residents of the following 23 western North Carolina counties will be considered: Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon, Swain, Jackson, Haywood, Transylvania, Henderson, Buncombe, Madison, Polk, Rutherford, McDowell, Yancy, Mitchell, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Watugua, Wilkes, Ashe, and Alleghany.

You may view a list of questions and answers about the RFP here.

MEDIA ARTS DIRECTORY REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Project scope for phase 1:

Design a searchable web based directory (database) and website that is accessible, comprehensive, extensible and easily maintained. The directory will have advanced search functions and will use the latest social web technologies. The directory will allow registered users to create profiles and then cross-reference contact information. The profiles will serve individual artists as well as production companies and will contain descriptions of work, representative images of works produced, artist biographies, and links to websites. The profiles' functionality will include hosting images, audio and video. Once logged into their profiles, members will be able to send and receive private messages to other members, as well as create and respond to public forum topics.
The site will include a job board where companies can post listings. Posting to the job board will be accessible to the general public, but only MAP members who are logged in will be able to view the job postings. This section should also include the ability for members to subscribe to an RSS feed. We will also use RSS feeds for new profile postings so that members will be notified of new profiles that meet selected criteria. For example, a company can subscribe to a feed that will notify them when a new filmmaker signs up, or perhaps a new web developer.
The site will also include a user-generated calendar of events.
It is our intention to sell sponsorship packages which will include highlighting monthly sponsors on the site through design features and banner ads. The site traffic will need to be tracked to measure the success of these sponsorships and the directory itself.
Phase 1 will also need to include functions that will serve the MAP staff and board, such as e-commerce, management of membership, contacts and donors as well as tools for private board and staff communication. The site and directory will be managed by the MAP staff and will need to be designed in a way that will be simple to maintain.

The Media Arts Directory will be housed on the Media Arts Project website, the new version of which will include functionality to feature a different directory member artist every week through their directory profile. We consider www.rhizome.org to be a good example of a model for the Media Arts Directory and MAP website.

2. BUDGET

Implementation of management system by web-development firm- $8,000-$10,000

Establish data model and site framework
Finalize user experience design and implement all specified functions

Visual design and layout by web-design firm- $5,000 - $6,500

Design sketches for all required functions
Co-establish page semantics with primary developers
Extract designs into CSS rules and supporting assets

Iteration - $2500-$3000

Minor re-spec, re-implement, re-design layout as required for acceptance

Installation and migration - $1500-$2000

Install on permanent host
Transfer existing operational and membership data to new website
Launch Website

The budget for Phase 1 is in place. We hope to showcase the results of Phase 1 to assist us in raising funds to move forward into Phase 2.

3. TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The Media Arts Project must own, have full access to and have the right to customize site code.

Terms for proposal:

Relevant dates (see item #11 below)
Proposals should be delivered to Gillian Coats at gilliancoats@gmail.com or mailed to The MAP, PO Box 646, Asheville, NC 28802.
Copies should be postmarked or received by January 22, 2009.
If you are mailing a hard copy, please provide 3 copies of any proposals submitted.
All proposals must include a statement of authorization to bid signed by a principal of the responding company
All proposals must use the proposal format outlined in this RFP (see item #12 below)
Parties submitting separate proposals may not discuss pricing information or they will be ineligible to bid on the project
Bidder status: bidder must disclose any relevant conflicts of interest and/or pending lawsuits.

4. BACKGROUND OF ORGANIZATION

With the goal of cultivating innovative arts & technology in western North Carolina, the MAP provides exhibition programming, professional development, outreach, and education, driven by the belief that the media arts are integral to the vibrant cultural and economic life of the region. The MAP hosts and promotes public events that encourage dialogue and foster community, to act as a showcase and point of contact for media artists and increase public appreciation of media arts. Projects include the online Media Arts Directory and a planned Media Arts Center that will provide a facility for exchange between disciplines and work towards sending media arts and technologies from the southeastern United States onto the international stage. Founded in 2004, the MAP functions with a volunteer board and employs a part-time Executive Director. View our current website at http://www.themap.org.

5. AUDIENCE

In its initial phase, the directory will serve as a means of communication, publicity, and networking for the media arts community in WNC. The directory will serve artists, designers, business owners, educators and students. Individuals will use the directory to highlight and distribute their work, find support and collaborators for works in progress and developing ideas, and connect and share resources with other artists. Companies will use the directory to find local talent to fill the roles they need for media productions. Both groups will use the directory to present their work and to communicate with others to facilitate their projects.

The entire site will not be accessible to the general public. The general public will be able to view profiles, calendars, events, highlights etc., but not comment or post content, with the exception of the ability to post job listings to the job board. A basic free MAP membership will be required to create a profile, to communicate and interact with other directory members and to post limited information. A premium membership with extended functionality will eventually be available for purchase.

Members should be able to log in to their profiles and edit the information there; we would like to see the capability for both public (forum) and private (messaging) communication between members.

Staff will need the ability to log in to access staff-only functions such as e-commerce, management of membership, contacts and donors as well as tools for private board and staff communication.

We anticipate the need for a moderator to oversee activity on the site, and this role should have the power to change or delete user communications. The plan will be to generate monthly reports, to be reviewed by the MAP board so that we can gauge the relative success of the directory itself and any promotional activities.

6. TOOLS AND FUNCTIONALITIES

The following elements are essential to any proposal that we will consider: Design and understanding of the creative energy that MAP encompasses, experience in developing and maintaining web sites; professional portfolio work; and other factors considered relevant by the Committee.

Please spec out a site in which members will be able to:

Post blog-style content as forum topics,on which other members can comment
Communicate privately with other members
Upload events to a shared calendar
Subscribe to RSS feeds
Connect with work opportunities through a job directory
Highlight work in member portfolios with embedded media/galleries
Link to other social networks
Pay for premium membership (eventually)
Be featured Artists on website
Sign up for MAP mailing list*

* The MAP currently has a moderated listserv which is hosted on Mailman. We will need to find a solution for integrating the function that the current listserv serves, perhaps as a mailing list blog with an RSS feed.

Businesses will be able to:

List job positions
Find employees or creatives
Advertise: Sponsor website or videos
Subscribe to RSS feeds
Create and update profiles
Post blog-style content as forum topics
Communicate privately with other members
Highlight and offer services via their profiles

MAP staff and board will be able to:

Manage membership
Manage contact info for organization membership, i.e. exporting databases for mailings. etc
Generate membership through advertising
Process payments for membership fees
Control member benefits
Manage fundraising
Manage membership renewal

7. REPORTING NEEDS

In order to monitor how the directory is being used, we would like to be able to pull statistics on: new users, comments, forum topics and replies, number of forum views, and messages. These should be viewable in increments of days, weeks, and months. We will also monitor artist portfolios, events, announcements and news. We will need detailed information on page and section traffic, including playbacks and forwards on video and audio content.

8. SITE SPECIFICATIONS

This directory is meant to address the professional needs of media artists. The interface should reflect a design sensibility that is clean and modern, aware of current trends in design but not dated, and simple enough to highlight rather than interfere or clash with the works that are showcased on each member's profile page. We are looking for a site that includes:

· Clarity in visual communication

· Visual richness

· Intuitive interface

· A style that reflects awareness of its users

· Legibility

· Navigability

· Functionality

Our current site is built on a Joomla platform. Since this will be a complete redesign, you may propose whichever platform and language you feel will best serve the function of the site and directory. We are open to the use of out-of-the-box programs that could save us time and money.

We are currently not using e-commerce but will need to process membership fees. Extensive e-commerce may be implemented in Phase 2 of the project.

9. AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES/INTEGRATION ISSUES

For existing sitemap contact the web adminstrator for a copy

Currently the MAP website and Media Arts Directory are built on Joomla.

10. STAFF RESOURCES

A part-time project manager will be assigned to coordinate the development of the MAP directory. According to the project timeline, the project manager will report details and show proofs to the MAP website committee, a volunteer group of web professionals who will review the project from a design and technical standpoint, and to the MAP board, who will look at the completed project to ensure it meets the needs of the media arts community. The primary contact person on this project is Gillian Coats, the secondary contact will be Taylor Barnhill, Executive Director of the Media Arts Project.

11. PROPOSED TIMELINE

RFP release date - Dec 18
Submission of questions on RFP - Jan 1
Notification of intention to bid - Jan 5
Answers to questions emailed to all bidders - Jan 5
Proposals due - Jan 22
Finalist interviews - Jan 28 - 30
Proposal award date - Feb 4
Initial meetings - Feb 9
Working/staging site up - Feb 27
Quarantine begins (no new concepts/functionality added) - Mar 9
Beta site (feature complete, but still rough site) - Mar 13
Proposed site launch - May 1

12. FORMAT FOR PROPOSALS

Executive Summary
Technical Volume
1. Web development process: explain the process you will follow to build the Web site, including major milestones and evaluation
2. Address usability standards and testing
3. Address any important technology information and specifications used in your solution (languages, platform, etc.)
Management Volume
1. Organizational structure: communication process; including lines of reporting and any special tools used.
2. b. Schedule of deliverables; include major milestones and testing proposal.
Budget Volume
1. Break down cost by production hours, tools and functionalities
  (See section #6)
2. Maintenance and support: ID any costs that should be assumed as part of the site and ongoing costs for maintenance and support we need in the future
3. License fees: ID the costs we will need to pay to develop or host the site.
4. Hosting: ID whether we must or are highly encouraged to host with your company. If hosting is provided as an option or requirement, provide pricing options.
5. Training and Style Guide: ID costs to train our staff to use site tools and provide a style guide.
6. Other charge areas: Please ID whether there will be other expenses, consulting fees, future work, etc. to complete this project.
Attachments
1. Qualifications and Experience: relevant case histories with information on accessing online demos or examples
2. Biographies of all who will work on account
3. Professional references.

Holiday music benefit: Joyful Music and Kirtan

2nd Annual Foster Children's Fundraiser
Proceeds will be used to purchase Holiday gifts for Buncombe County foster children
SATURDAY, Dec. 13, 7PM @ West Asheville Yoga
http://www.westashevilleyoga.com/events%20series/events%20series.htm

SUGGESTED DONATION $10
Join Cat, Jacci, Jeff (of MAP), Scott and Will for an evening of beautiful music and chanting to open your heart and free you Spirit. This evening of music will be dedicated to children in foster care. Last year we raised over $300 and were able to sponsor 3 babies and 2 young girls for the Holidays who might not otherwise have received gifts. Jacci and Cat went out and shopped for the children who were assigned to us, bringing their wish lists and hopes along to aid our decision making. What fun we had! Please help us to make this year even more successful. Come sing and give and offer your support of these children who cannot be home with their families for the Holiday season.

CITY OF ASHEVILLE RECEIVES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AWARD

North Carolina Municipality Recognized for New Media Initiative Acknowledging the City of Asheville, North Carolina, for a new economic development initiative, the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) presented an award to the municipality at IEDC's Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The city's Office of Economic Development was recognized for this achievement during an awards ceremony on Tuesday, October 21st.

Competing in the category of New Media by organizations serving areas with populations between 50,000 and 200,000, Asheville was a clear standout with mapAsheville-Priority Places, an interactive mapping analysis application designed to strengthen quality economic development investment in the City. mapAsheville-Priority Places provides users the ability to search and analyze key location factors based on priorities established by the user. It also provides tapestry reports of demographic information on the selected priority places.

To visit mapAsheville-prioity places, please follow the provided link:

http://gis.ashevillenc.gov/mapasheville/priorityplaces

The application is part of the mapAsheville suite of GIS-based tools designed to provide information about the City. Other applications in mapAsheville include Crime Mapper, which provides access to crime related information and statistics by area; Development Mapper, which provides increased access to information concerning large-scale development activities in the City; and Asheville's GIS application, which provides a streamlined interface for basic users, as well as tools for direct access to the advanced GIS user's interface.

Sam Powers, Director of the Office of Economic Development for the City of Asheville recognized the city cross-departmental team, including the IT services department, that developed the award winning new application. "The City of Asheville is successful because of the talent of the many city employees involved in developing this new tool that is designed to assist new and existing businesses make informed business location decisions."

"Economic development efforts have long been a keystone in the quest to bolster the economy and improve quality of life in every locality across the country," said Robin Roberts Krieger, IEDC chair. "As the nation continues to tackle longstanding challenges in the midst of an inhospitable financial climate, these efforts have taken on an even greater significance. With the award, we laud trendsetting organizations and municipalities like the City of Asheville for leading the charge."

The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) is headquartered in Washington, DC. Its mission is to provide leadership and excellence in economic development for communities, members and partners. IEDC's professional economic development awards annually recognize excellence in the economic development profession.

Media artist and dancer Jonah Bokaer coming to UNC Asheville this week!

Join us for an innovative residency and performance with media artist/dancer/choreographer

Jonah Bokaer

as this NC native and acclaimed dancer stages his evening-long work,

"Three Cases of Amnesia"

Sat, Nov. 15

8pm, Lipinsky Auditorium, UNC Asheville

General admission $20

Student admission $6

The performance features Bokaer's ground-breaking combination of multimedia and solo original modern dance.

Bokaer graduated from the NC School of the Arts in Media Arts and Dance and was immediately recruited by the prestigious Merce Cunningham Dance Company in NYC at age 18 - the youngest dancer ever hired in the company's 55-year history. Continuing in his mentor Cunningham's footsteps, Bokaer creates technically complex modern dance works that address the human body's relation to 21st-c. digital technologies, such as motion capture and 3-D animation. Named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" in 2006, he has performed throughout the US, Europe, Australia and Japan.

For more information on these or other events in UNC Asheville's Cultural & Special Events season, call the UNCA Cultural Arts main office: 828/251-6991. Additional details are available online at

http://www.unca.edu/culturalarts/08-09/jonahBokaer.asp

AND you are invited to these FREE related activities with Bokaer!

(Please read beyond the break for details)

Lecture on Motion Capture, FREE>12:15-1:35pm, Thurs, Nov. 13, Karpen Hall 012
Bokaer will explain and demonstrate how motion capture digitally records a dancer's movements and incorporates them into a digital model for use in presentation and performance. Jonah also addresses the use of motion capture and digital media in POP and contemporary video and film such as The Matrix, walking participants through the process in his discussion.

Dance Technology Workshop, FREE>10:25am-12n, Fri., Nov 14, New Hall Drama Studio (Reynolds Green level). Observers welcome. Experience first-hand what you heard about on Thursday as Bokaer works with UNC Asheville dance students in this lecture demonstration that explores the software and techniques integrating media and choreographic techniques.... See the dance studio as a collaborative & creative space investigating the crossover of Architecture, Media, Dance and Theatre. Bokaer intros much of the software (PremiEre, ProTools, Digital Perform, Hyperprism, Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Dance Forms, and Improvisation Technologies among others.) Bring your laptop!

For more information on these or other events in UNC Asheville's Cultural & Special Events season, call our main office: 828/251-6991. Additional details are available online at http://www.unca.edu/culturalarts/08-09/jonahBokaer.asp

HATCH: Dissecting the Creative Process

Join us for a gallery evening of HATCH: Dissecting the Creative Process

For tickets, visit our website:

www.hatchasheville.org

Please contact Alison Watson with any questions at alison@hatchasheville.org

Zenotopia - Exhibition showcasing puppets from the upcoming animated series

VISIT THIS EXHIBITION AT THE PUMP GALLERY

November 7 - December 1

<<<roll over image

Zenotopia, the brain child of Asheville based artist Chas Llewellyn, is an upcoming animated series two and a half years in the making. The story revolves around a pack of junk yard spirits and their continuing efforts to come to terms with the spirit inhabitants of neighboring environments. Shot in real-world outdoor locations, the animation employs a unique synthesis of traditional puppetry, electronics and generative computer effects. The exhibition showcases the puppet characters, custom designed video equipment and animation snippets from the forthcoming pilot episode.

The son of aid workers, Chas spent the majority of his youth overseas, living in Peru, Bolivia, Ghana and Nepal. He moved to Asheville from Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2006 to study multimedia at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

In 2007 he began an intensive year long mentorship under the tutelage of late River Arts District Icon John Payne. Chas has applied the experience of working with Payne's large scale steel puppets to the creation of his own amalgamated scrap yard part characters.

The Zenotopia project was selected for the 2008 Daniel DeLaVergne Media Arts Advantage Fund awarded by the Media Arts Project and Advantage West Economic Group.

Chas Llewellyn's work will be on display from November 7 through 29, 2008. An opening reception with the artist will be held in the gallery November 7th, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.

Pump Gallery is located in the Phil Mechanic Studios building at 109 Roberts Street, in Asheville's River Arts District, 28801. For more information, call 828-254-2166, or visit www.philmechanicstudios.com.

Digital Projections Immerse Audience in Alice Performance and Party

“What is the use of a book…without pictures or conversation?” Alice asks in the opening of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. During a Media Arts Project (MAP) sponsored party and Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance performance on August 13 and 14, spectacular images that would please Alice will be provided in the form of digital projections. Gary Crossey of FastFWD and Craig Hobbs of Black Box Studio have created digital projections to accompany Alice, an original dance.

The duo’s theatrical projections immerse the audience in the setting as Alice shrinks and grows and the Cheshire cat disappears and reappears. The rabbit hole the audience will tumble through into the world of Alice is unique to Asheville, and not only because the world premiere of Terpsicorps’ performance takes place here. Hobbs and Crossey shot the footage that would be digitally altered and transformed into the image of the rabbit hole in Asheville’s Beaucatcher Tunnel, as well as filming other scenes in the area, because they wanted to create a truly local experience.

Asheville is fast becoming a center for media arts activity with the potential to attract artists like Crossey, who recently exhibited experimental work at the Royal Palace in Lakenhal, Belgium. The Alice party will mark the one-year anniversary since Crossey and FastFWD’s co-owner Brian Jones relocated their Atlanta-based business to Asheville. FastFWD made the move to the Asheville media community in part because of the representation provided by the MAP. Jones and Crossey, recipients of the Public Choice Award from Wired for Best Business Web Site 2003, have been pleased to collaborate with other local media professionals at Black Box Studio.

Black Box Studio is an independent multimedia collective composed of Hobbs, David McConville and Steve Mann. In addition to designing the system for projecting the Alice images, the collective has produced an array of interactive media and photography projects both locally and internationally for clients such as Volvo Corporation, the North Carolina Arts Council, Lark Books, YMI Cultural Center, National Climatic Data Center, Elumens, and local artists and non-profit organizations. Members of Black Box play an active role in Asheville as media artists and advocates of media art initiatives such as MAP.

In addition to providing the images Alice would have liked to accompany her story, Alice organizers have remembered her desire for conversation. The MAP, Fast Forward, Black Box Studio, and the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce Technology Council will sponsor a party and networking event at the New French Bar after the Saturday, August 14th performance of Alice. During the party, visuals from the performance will be projected on an overhead canopy. This set-up, says Crossey, will allow attendees to relate to each other more freely than they would if they had to direct their attention to a flat screen in front of them. Continuing the immersion in Wonderland, images of the dancers will be projected in such a way that party-goers can be photographed so it will appear they are in the performance. There will be hors douvres and live DJs.

The skill of Terpsicorps dancers and choreographers combined with a jazz and rock score by the As Is Ensemble; the Mad Hatter as played by Matthew Bivins of the band Jump, Little Children; and the projections created by Hobbs and Crossey will lead to innovative results. Greg Lucas, Director of the MAP, thinks the social opportunities of the Alice after party will create more successful collaborations between various artistic disciplines. "This gathering is the first of many convergences between traditional artists and media artists that MAP will help facilitate. Having media artists socialize and brainstorm with performance artists is a great way to expand the dimensions of art in Western North Carolina.”

Performances of Alice will take place at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, August 13, and Saturday, August 14 at the Diana Wortham Theater. To purchase tickets, call 828-257-4530. For more information on Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance, call 828-252-6342. The after-party will be held on Saturday, August 14, beginning at 9:45. Alice ticket holders are admitted free. The cover charge for those without ticket stubs is $10 at the door. Contact Rose at rosem@themap.org for more party information.

Press:

Digital meets dance in 'Alice' production (Asheville Citizen-Times)

Go Upload Alice (Mountain Xpress)

FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL comes to Ashevile

The Found Footage Festival,

the acclaimed touring showcase of odd and hilarious found videos, will make a one-night-only appearance in Asheville next month as part of its 2008 North American tour. Hosts Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher, whose credits include The Onion and the Late Show with David Letterman, are excited to present their unique blend of video clips and live comedy in two big shows at the Asheville Arts Center (308 Merrimon Ave.) on Saturday, Oct. 11th at 8 and 10 pm. The shows are being sponsored locally by the Media Arts Project (MAP) and OrbitDVD. Tickets are $10 and are on sale at Static Age, Harvest Records, TV Eye and OrbitDVD, or online at www.brownpapertickets.org .

This one-of-a-kind event compiles more than an hour’s worth of footage from videos that were found at garage sales and thrift stores and in warehouses and dumpsters throughout the country. Curators Pickett and Prueher host each screening in-person and provide their unique observations and commentary on these found video obscurities. From the curiously-produced industrial training video to the forsaken home movie donated to Goodwill, the Found Footage Festival resurrects these forgotten treasures and serves them up in a lively celebration of all things found.

Among the new video clips to be featured in the show:

Highlights from a cable access talent show called “Stairway to Stardom”

An all-new collection of exercise videos featuring Marky Mark Wahlberg, O.J. Simpson and a group of rapping pregnant ladies

An instructional video for a cosmetic device so frightening that it will forever haunt you

The Found Footage Festival was founded in New York in 2004 and has gone on to sell out hundreds of shows across the U.S. and Canada, including the HBO Comedy Festival at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. The festival has been featured on National Public Radio, ABC World News, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and G4 TV’s Attack of the Show, and has been named a “Critic’s Pick” in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and The Chicago Tribune.

To obtain a DVD screener of the festival or to set up an interview with the curators, please contact Nick Prueher at 347-255-7350, or via email at foundfootagefestival@yahoo.com. High-resolution photos, stills and video clips from the festival are also available upon request. Additional information and a short preview of the show can be found on the festival’s official website: www.foundfootagefest.com.

ABOUT THE CURATORS

Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett began collecting found videotapes in 1991 after stumbling across a training video entitled, “Inside and Outside Custodial Duties,” at a McDonald’s in their home state of Wisconsin. Since then, they have compiled an impressive collection of strange, outrageous and profoundly stupid videos. Pickett, a former film technician, and Prueher, a former researcher at the Late Show with David Letterman, have written for The Onion and Entertainment Weekly and recently premiered their feature-length documentary, “Dirty Country,” at the South By Southwest Film Festival (www.dirtycountrymovie.com).

ABOUT THE SPONSORS

The Media Arts Project cultivates innovative arts & technology in western North Carolina. The MAP provides exhibition programming, professional development, outreach, and education. We are driven by the belief that the media arts are integral to the vibrant cultural and economic life of the region. OrbitDVD is a fiercely independent video store in West Asheville stocking 14,000 different titles, including the best television, horror, music, documentary, and cult selections in Western North Carolina.

ABOUT THE VENUE

The Asheville Arts Center is a school and performance venue featuring music, dance, drama and other special events. The venue is located at 308 Merrimon Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801. Tickets to the Found Footage Festival are $10 and are available at Static Age Records, Harvest Records, TV Eye and OrbitDVD or at the door.

Media Arts Project Survey

Help With Our Website Redesign by Taking Part in Our Survey

Good News! The MAP has gotten funding to revamp its website and redesign the Media Arts Directory (due to launch January of 2009). If you are a media artist in Western North Carolina it is very important that we know what your needs are. It is equally important that you take part in the functioning and direction of the MAP. Over the next few months we will be offering ways for you to get involved and give your input. As a first step to creating an effective website and directory we have created a survey. It's a mere 10 questions and should only take a minute to fill out. Here's the link: SURVEY

If you are in WNC and have done so already, be sure to sign up for our listserve and join the Media Arts Directory (you've gotta do both!) If you are already on the Directory please be sure your information is updated before the new directory is launched.

2008 Media Arts Advantage Fund Winners Announced

2008 Media Arts Advantage Fund Winners Announced

ASHEVILLE, NC, July 2, 2008 -- The Media Arts Project (MAP) and AdvantageWest Economic Development Group announced today the three winners of the 2008 Daniel DeLaVergne Media Arts Advantage Fund (MAAF) grants totaling $6,000.

They include an animator who works with puppets made out of junk, a new artist who is developing a large outdoor installation that will lure visitors through mysterious doorways, and a filmmaker who is creating a professionally-executed high definition feature film on a shoestring budget.

2008 Media Arts Advantage Fund Winners Announced

The three winners and the judges who selected their entries illustrate the high levels of talent, vision and innovation in Asheville's thriving media arts community, as well as the extraordinary collaboration that takes place in the Asheville area.

Winners and Their Projects

Charles (Chas) Llewellyn (www.zenotopia.com) was awarded $2,400 to continue production of Zenotopia, an animated film featuring puppet characters constructed from found objects (a.k.a. junk) who reveal a fantasy world of spirits existing in the real world of Western North Carolina. With specially developed animation techniques and charming puppets, the preview of Zenotopia is getting excellent reviews at YouTube. The MAAF judges have offered Llewellyn mentorship and resources in addition to his grant.

Gene Felice (www.genefelice.com) has received $2,600 to help him construct a large-scale installation that revolves around the theme of the paths we take through life and the doorways that lure us to futures not yet known. Screen Doors of Perception employs audio, visual and interactive methods to entice viewers to open its door, and the installation will be powered by alternative sources such as solar panels and bicycle generators. Judge John Sisti called Felice's vision wildly doable and pledged to serve as a mentor to help Felice develop the project.

Asheville filmmaker Paul Schattel (www.harrowbeauty.com) was awarded a $1,000 grant to help him produce Alison All Over, a micro budget, professionally executed HD feature film about a woman in crisis and her courageous journey to discover the person she had never before dared to believe she is. The judges said this was a project that is on the right track and wanted to assist via the grant and by offering recommendations to Schattel.

The Judges

The judges for the MAAF grant competition were:

John Sisti, who teaches at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Much of his career has been in the recording industry, where he has worked with artists such as George Harrison and Barbra Streisand, as well as with engineers and producers including Phil Ramone, Henry Louis, Phil Specter and Jeff Barry. He has taught at the Sherwood Oaks Experimental College and at the Berklee School of Music.

David Miller is an animator and digital media production specialist who lives in Asheville. His company, Imaginari Studio, is a prominent and award winning studio engaged in 3D animation, motion graphics and digital special effects.

Karen L. Dunn and Katya Moorman are the co-founders and principal partners of Studio2k. Their work ranges from video to print design to interactive performance pieces. Their work has been widely shown in such places as PS122, the Ohio Theater, and Williamsburg Art Nexus in New York City as well as in Detroit, Durham, Toronto and the Krakow Festival in Poland.

2009 MAAF Plans

The MAAF was established in 2005 in memory of Daniel DeLaVergne, a local filmmaker who was a world-class whitewater cinematographer. The fund promotes innovative media arts and film in Western North Carolina.

The Media Arts Advantage Fund is a strategic catalyst for the media arts industry in Western North Carolina, said Gillian Coats, interim director for the Media Arts Project. By supporting media artists working in or based out of Western North Carolina, the MAAF is fostering regional talent, increasing interest in all forms of media art, and attracting new talent to the region. Next year MAAF will be an even bigger and better catalyst for our creative economy as we plan to increase the funding for awards at least three-fold.

About AdvantageWest

AdvantageWest (www.advantagewest.com) is a public-private partnership established by the state General Assembly to promote economic development in Western North Carolina. AdvantageWest operates the Western North Carolina Film Commission.

About the Media Arts Project

The Media Arts Project (www.themap.org) cultivates innovative arts and technology in western North Carolina by providing exhibition programming, professional development, outreach and education. The organization supports the development of a Media Arts Center, a state-of-the-art facility that will encourage interdisciplinary exchange and send media arts and technologies from the southeastern United States onto the international stage.

Fact Sheet about Asheville's Media Arts Community

A fact sheet about Asheville's media arts community may be viewed at the Asheville Hub's Website (PDF). It was created by the Asheville Hub, a community catalyst supporting specific efforts to build Asheville's New Economy, including the proposed Media Arts Center.

# # #

For more information, contact:

Gillian Coats, the Media Arts Project
director@themap.org or 828/989-1699

Photo Caption

Chas Llewellyn received a Media Arts Advantage Fund grant to continue production of Zenotopia, an animated film featuring puppet characters constructed from found objects.

MAP and the Applied Visualization Lab

The Applied Visualization Lab is working to cultivate and promote the momentum of digital media, information technology, and environmental and entrepreneurial resources in Western North Carolina.

Highlights include two pieces on Water in Western North Carolina: "Impervious Surfaces," which premiered at the International Symposium on Digital Earth, in Berkeley, CA; and "Drought," which premiered at the Tennesse Valley Corridor Economic Summit in Asheville.

The animated films exemplify the AVL's potential for dynamic collaboration. Along with RENCI, the MAP worked with Asheville companies The Elumenati and Klein Digital to provide stroytelling, an immersive viewing environment, visual effects and animation support.

To learn more about the Applied Visualization Lab in Asheville, visit www.appliedvis.org.

Can I send MAP my programming ideas?

Yes. We're always looking for new ideas and contributors for Off the MAP and other activities.

Where does your money come from?

The MAP is actively seeking funds. Like most non-profits, we rely on the graciousness of private donors, grant organizations, and corporate sponsors. If you don't have money but would like to provide in-kind contributions, please contact us about volunteering or physical support.

How can I support the MAP and its mission?

Donate time, money, resources, or simply your comments. Contact us.

Can the MAP take my donation?

Yes. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit, so your donations are tax deductible.

You may click on our donate button on the front page to use your credit card. Please send checks payable to the Media Arts Project to PO Box 646, Asheville, NC, 28802.

How can I help?

We constantly need volunteers and input, so contact us to get involved.

Is the MAP non-profit?

Yes, the MAP is a North Carolina 501(c)3 tax exempt non-profit corporation.

Will you try to get a building?

In the short-term the MAP is focused on organizing events in established venues and creating dialog and community.

A long-term goal of MAP is to provide a permanent facility in which to pursue its mission of serving the local media arts community.

The Media Arts Project New Website

The MAP needs a new website! The MAP is looking for the right person or company that can design an innovative and creative site for our organization. Please read the RFI and direct any questions to director@themap.org before the deadline. Deadline: Wednesday 5PM January 9, 2008.

Southern Circuit: Socheata Poeuv's New Year Baby

The Media Arts Project (MAP) presents Socheata Poeuv as part of the Southern Circuit tour of independent filmmakers. New Year Baby will screen Wednesday, February 6th at the Fine Arts Theatre downtown at 7 PM.

A discussion with the filmmaker will follow the screening.

This event is $5 for non-students and free to UNCA and WCU students with ID.

Socheata Poeuv was born in a Thai refugee camp on Cambodian New Year.Each member of the family is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia, smuggled to Thailand by Poeuv’s father before the family immigrated to the United States.

In her captivating debut documentary, New Year Baby, Poeuv and her brother travel with their parents back to Cambodia to reconnect with their past.In this very personal and powerful film, she unveils the enormity of the Cambodian genocide and interviews the generals of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge who never faced prosecution.

Socheata made her filmmaking debut with the feature documentary NEW YEAR BABY which won the 'Movies That Matter' human rights cinema award (an Amnesty International initiative) on its premiere at the 2006 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.

NEW YEAR BABY is also slated for national PBS broadcast on Independent Lens in 2008. She is working with several international organizations to take NEW YEAR BABY to conflict and post-conflict cities around the world.

She left NBC News Dateline in 2007 and previously was on staff with ABC News World News Tonight Weekend and NBC News TODAY.

She also co-founded Broken English Productions in New York City and has written for City Limits Magazine, the Daily Hampshire Gazette, DisOriented and the Open Society Justice Initiative. She has spoken at United Nations, both Yale Law & Divinity Schools, Northwestern Law School, the Harvard Kennedy School and UCLA among others.

Her newest project is creating Khmer Legacies, a visual history project with the goal of videotaping 10,000 Cambodian genocide survivors while interviewed by their children. Socheata is a 2007 Echoing Green Fellow and a Visiting Fellow at the Yale Genocide Studies Program at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies. Socheata graduated cum laude with a B.A. from Smith College in 2002 and studied one year at Hertford College, Oxford.

Southern Circuit: Cathy Crane's Unoccupied Zone: The Impossible Life of Simone Weil

The Media Arts Project (MAP) presents Cathy Crane as part of the Southern Circuit tour of independent filmmakers.

April 09, 2008
7 PM, The Fine Arts Theatre
Unoccupied Zone: The Impossible Life of Simone Weil

This event is $5 for non-students and free to UNCA and WCU students with ID.

This portrait is not simply an account of Simone Weil’s life, but rather the skein of her ideas.

The film, shot in 16mm black-and-white, stages the “theatre” of her mind through a mise-en-scene whose rear screen projections of live-feed video and archival newsreels antagonize the spectacle of biographical reconstruction being played out by actors before it. The screen serves to distance the viewer from the fiction of fact while also representing Weil’s own definition of a human life as “a composition on several planes.”

Off the MAP: Who is Bozo Texino?

Screening:
Who is Bozo Texino?
Bill Daniel presents a show of underground documentary films
Q&A with the filmmaker afterwards
Wednesday Nov 16
Doors open 7pm
Films start at 8pm
Wedge Gallery (see directions below)
$5

Filmmaker and tramp Bill Daniel is back in the van and touring the USA with a program of new work, including his recently completed documentary on the secret history of hobo and railworker graffiti, Who is Bozo Texino? The film has been wowing audiences of punks, geezers, foamers and graffiti toughs all over the West Coast this summer. The film was featured in the Viennale International Film Festival in Austria in October.

“Daniel and Renwick makes some of the liveliest work on the microcinema circuit, wherein film, video art, and music collide with edgy, confrontational, unpredictable and often exuberant intensity”

- Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post

“I am not going to hold back any enthusiasm… it is the best movie I have ever seen.”
- Josh from Edmonton

Headlining is Daniel’s 56min documentary on the secret history of hobo and railworker graffiti, called Who is Bozo Texino? Shooting over a period of 16 years, Daniel rode freights across the West, gathering interviews and clues to the identities of many of the most legendary boxcar artists while discovering a vast underground folkloric practice that has existed for over a century. This gritty black and white documentary tells the mostly-factual account of the epic quest and unlikely discovery of railroading's most mysterious artist.

Also screeening:

Waldo Point by Saul Rouda, 1970, 20 min. A stoned and song-filled documentary shot in Sausalito’s hippie houseboat community. An utterly unique and authentic snapshot of ‘60’s freedom shot by a young film student who was living moored out in San Francisco Bay in a floating utopia of hand-made houseboats. Shaggy pirate-hippies drink wine, pass joints, and discuss building boats from garbage.

Britton S. Dakota by Vanessa Renwick, 2004, 7 min. Depression-era children are hypnotized by the camera in this re-discovered imagery from 1938. Score by Johnne Eschleman. Portland-based filmmaker Vanessa Renwick is Director of Affairs of the Oregon Dept. of Kick Ass. (www.odoka.org)

On line reviews:

http://www.sfbg.com/39/52/art_marks.html

http://www.jigsawlounge.co.uk/film/content/view/241/1/

Time is of the Essence

Visit the Asheville Art Museum to see this exhibit using several mediums including film and video.

The Media Arts Project New Website

The MAP needs a new website! The MAP is looking for the right person or company that can design an innovative and creative site for our organization. Please read the RFI and direct any questions to director@themap.org before the deadline.
Deadline: Wednesday 5PM January 9, 2008.

Climate Alive! Produced by AVL

The Applied Visualization Lab (AVL) has just announced the release of a film which was produced by American Green and Directed by Kurt Mann for the community with the Centers for Environmental and Climatic Interaction (CECI) called Climate Alive!.

Climate Alive! was created in collaboration with the MAP, the Asheville HUB and many other community partners including ERS, RENCI,the Elumenati, American Green Media, Klein Digital, Stratos Digital, 2Bruce Studio and more.

As the government and private sectors in the United States develop strategies to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change on society, CECI wants decision makers to know how the climate services community in Asheville, NC, can help them.

The Daniel DeLaVergne Spirit Award

The Media Arts Project presented the award at the Asheville Film Festival this past November 10, 2007. The Award was given to the documentary, Oil and Water Project.

This annual award was created to honor expedition filmmaker, Daniel DeLaVergne. The DeLaVergne Spirit Award recognizes and honors filmmakers whose work explores pushing the limits of our minds and hearts by artistically expressing true Spirit. These films unlock the vast potential of the human spirit or nature and enable us to view films that display courage, integrity and hope, taking entertainment to a unique level.

To learn more about the Oil and Water Project, visit
www.oilandwaterproject.org

the SQUID KILLER VIDMIX SHOW

November 6th and 7th
BoBo Gallery
highlighting Local MAP artists' work

November 6th and 7th BoBo Gallery The MAP presents:

the SQUID KILLER VIDMIX SHOW highlighting Local MAP artists' work...

Screenings of experimental, animations, works in progress.. whatever just keep it under ten minutes (unless it is amazing, then bring it on)

The following formats are acceptible: VHS VHSc DVD 16mm Film, 8mm Film, digital formats (.mov, .mp4, .mpg, .flv, and some .avi/.wmv files)

I have a DV box if anyone needs to digitize oddball stuff like beta or Hi8/Digi8.

Also if you or someone you know would like to do a short live set or small MM installation/presentation during the events... That would be awesome too.

Email: luxifurr@gmail.com

The Poetix Lounge

Saturday November 3rd
9pm at Hookah Joe's Bar - 38-B N. French Broad St
$7 at the door or only $5 if you're in costume!
a multimedia performance event featuring spoken-word poetry of The Poetix Vanguard, DJ Bowie and DJ Nod spinning downtempo, trip-hop, and dub-step grooves, Wicked Geisha fan-dancers, and the digital visuals of VJ MoonZygote

Paradox: Video Installation Show

November 1st
11am to 9pm
Highsmith Union, Alumni Hall
cutting edge work by UNCA digital video art students

Oil and Water Project Documentary

Asheville Community Theatre on Saturday, November 10th at 10:30 PM
Seth Warren, the filmmaker, will be there for a discussion about sustainable lifestyles

Two kayakers, Seth Warren and Tyler Bradt, set out to complete the Oil and Water Project by driving a Japanese fire truck 34,000 kilometers from Alaska to Argentina without a single drop of petroleum. Instead, they used waste grease from fast-food restaurants, along with pig, fish, canola, soy and palm oils. On their way from river to beach to mountains, they visited schools, conducted demonstrations and collaborated with local governments to raise awareness for alternative energy. And they chased summer the whole way, surfing and kayaking in some of the best spots in the Americas.

Screening on Halloween: Disappearances

In Disappearances, Craven brings a number of these characters to life on the silver screen: Kris Kristofferson as Quebec Bill Bonhomme, a wild irrepressible feral patriarch with a history as both a smuggler and abuser of alcohol; Charlie McDermott as Wild Bill Bonhomme, his young son eager to take up the same path as his father; and Genevieve Bujold as Cordelia, Wild Billâ€™s enigmatic and prophetic aunt who seeks to save her grandson from the terrible fate she sees for him. These characters and others dance through gripping tale of high stakes whiskey smuggling along the Vermont Canadian border, involving mysterious French backers, dangerous bandits, and the Bonhomme family's mysterious history.

Screening on Halloween

Disappearances Jay Craven

Fine Arts Theatre,
7 PM
Wednesday, October 31st

{mosimage} In Disappearances, Craven brings a number of these characters to life on the silver screen: Kris Kristofferson as Quebec Bill Bonhomme, a wild irrepressible â€œferal patriarchâ€ with a history as both a smuggler and abuser of alcohol; Charlie McDermott as Wild Bill Bonhomme, his young son eager to take up the same path as his father; and Genevieve Bujold as Cordelia, Wild Billâ€™s enigmatic and prophetic aunt who seeks to save her grandson from the terrible fate she sees for him. These characters and others dance through gripping tale of high stakes whiskey smuggling along the Vermont Canadian border, involving mysterious French backers, dangerous bandits, and the Bonhomme familyâ€™s mysterious history.

Dreams in High Fidelity

Scott Draves
November 9, 2007
8 pm opening and discussion
10pm dubstep party
BoBo Gallery

Off the MAP and Southern Circuit

The Media Arts Project presents more of the Southern Circuit Film Series at the Fine Arts Theatre on Monday, March 12th at 7 PM.

Please join us for Liberia: A Fragile Peace and Fishers of Dar. {mosimage}

Liberia: A Fragile Peace begins documenting the Liberian saga with the departure of the tyrannical Charles Taylor in October 2003. The film explores the civil war between the wealthy minority of former American slaves and the indigenous, rural tribes across the country.

Rakumi Arts International writes, “Fishers of Dar is a visually lush documentary without commentary. The film takes the viewer, beginning before dawn, to the pier and the bustling central market, as hundreds of people make their living in this age-old way.” The film has screened internationally winning Best Documentary at the Athens International Film/Video Festival (2003) and Best Cinematography at the Ann Arbor Film Festival (2002).

Tickets will be available at the door and are $5 to general public, free to UNCA and WCU students with ID.

Steven Ross describes his film Fishers of Dar as “A sublime bit of filmmaking.” Although the film presents the issues around development in the Third World and the idea of modernizing traditional markets, Ross states, “This film doesn’t take a position towards its subject. It is Africans being productive and allowing the viewer to take an accurate look at their lives.”

For almost a decade, Ross has juggled the two worlds of professional cinematographer and associate film professor at the Ohio University School of Film. While the traveling was a major benefit of being a career cinematographer, Ross says that he has more chances for travel in the field of academia. Continuing in the vein of making location-specific documentaries Ross is now working on a documentary about a Viking Age archaeological dig in the Mosfell Valley outside of Reykjavik, Iceland.

The Southern Circuit Film Series is a program of the Southern Arts Federation in collaboration with the South Carolina Arts Commission. The MAP would like to thank all of the sponsors who brought the program to Asheville: The Fine Arts Theatre, Western Carolina University, University of North Carolina Asheville, Advantage West and The New York Times.

Curt Cloninger presents "St. Frank and the Wolf" at Flood Gallery

The performances will take place in the cave-like side room of the Flood Gallery between 7-9 p.m. on Friday, February 23. The Flood Gallery is located in the Mechanic Building at 109 Roberts Street in Asheville's River Arts district. For more information call 828-255-0066. Email curt@lab404.com Or visit http://lab404.com/video/francis.html

According to the artist:

"St. Frank and the Wolf" is a series of solo, improvisational multimedia performances that explore the irreducible aspects of faith. Abstractly based on the story of St. Francis making peace with a wild wolf, these performances dialogue with sound and light in order to saturate time and space with the presence of God.

The performances consist of two separate audio/video loops projected onto the artist who uses a theremin, an analog synthesizer, and voice to mix between these two loops. The results blur the distinction between real/virtual, live/pre-recorded, and matter/spirit.

The performances will take place in the cave-like side room of the Flood Gallery between 7-9 p.m. on Friday, February 23. Each improvisational performance lasts between 10-20 minutes, and there will be several performances throughout the evening. Between performances, the audio/video loops will continue running, effectively remixing themselves, functioning as a kind of generative installation intermission.

"It really feels like playing some sort of strange, hybrid instrument that is more than the sum of its parts. The volume of my live instruments controls the mix of my pre-recorded instruments, so it's like I am improvising and remixing two different versions of myself.

The different audio sources will be positioned around the audience in the space, and the room is small and intimate, all in order to facilitate a more immersive experience. Each performance will be 10-20 minutes. Once a performance starts, no one will be allowed in or out of the room.

Some people who have seen the performances describe having a kind of ecstatic experience, and other people describe having a very unsettling experience. It's been compared to Sufi whirling dervishes, puppeteering, and one person said it reminded him of infamous clown serial killer John Wayne Gacy. I'm not trying to control the experience people have. I'm just trying to dialogue with sound and light in a contemplative way. It's a conversation between harmony and noise, and each performance is different. With this particular piece, I've noticed that noise often gets the last word."

Off the MAP:Jesus Camp

Tuesday, December 26th at 7:20 p.m.

Hosted by the Media Arts Project and the Fine Arts Theater

The award winning documentary, Jesus Camp, is about Pastor Becky Fischer's "Kids on Fire" summer camp in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, where kids as young as 6 years old are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in "God's army."

The film is a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's political future.

This is special one time screening presented by the MAP and the Fine Arts Theatre. Tickets are eight dollars at the door of the Fine Arts Theatre.

Southern Circuit: Animated Shorts by Karl Staven

Karl Staven: February 12, 2007

Take a trip through a world of shadows marching across bricks, rival gangs of dolls vying for dominance, and jazz bands trekking through the underworld. For over 20 years, filmmaker Karl Staven has experimented with everything from time-lapse photography to cutout animation and even manipulated 16mm live action footage in his animated shorts.

Join this award-winning artist for an evening of surreal and engaging animation at the Fine Arts Theater on Biltmore Ave. The film begins at 7:00 pm, and is $5 for the general public and free to WCU and UNCA students with ID.

Applied Vis 2006

Join us as leading scientists and digital visualization experts from research, academia, government, and industry meet in Asheville, NC.

AppliedVis 2006 will be held at the Haynes Conference and Technology Training Center on the AB-Tech, Enka Campus on Friday, November 10th from 8am until 6:30pm.

Learn more about the symposium at http://www.appliedvis.org

Asheville is the regional hub for technology, high performance computing, weather and climate data, GIS expertise, industry, and education, and multi-media arts - forming a strong culture focused on the the growing field of applied visualization. This is the third annual conference, building on the successes of Quarks to Quasars in 2004 and AppliedVis 2005.

Be a part of this rapidly growing field by joining us for AppliedVis 2006.

Applied visualization is the use of computer-based technologies that make large amounts of information more understandable by combining the results of data analysis, computing models, interactive technologies, display technologies, and narrative development. The results provide people from all sectors (including community planners, scientists, media professionals, engineers, educators, artists, designers, and business people) the ability to communicate complex ideas in ways that are easily understandable to a wide variety of audiences. Primary applications include weather forecasting, environmental modeling, urban planning, science communication, financial models and medical analysis.

Be a part of this rapidly growing field by joining us for AppliedVis 2006.

FLY ZONES

Beginning Saturday, November 4th, the Flood Fine Art Center in Asheville, NC, will present new work by artist Lorraine Walsh. On exhibit will be digital prints and motion media exploring nature and perception. In this work, Walsh creates landscapes inspired by diverse forms, utilizing various species of butterflies and other insects. This new work also expresses subtle references to warfare, hence the title of the exhibition, Fly Zones.

Lorraine Walsh is a digital media artist living in Asheville, NC. She traded the asphalt of NYC for the verdant hills of Western North Carolina, ostensibly to find more bugs. She is Director and Assistant Professor of Multimedia Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Walsh's work addresses ideas related to science and nature in contemporary society. She exhibits her work and lectures nationally and internationally.

Asheville Film Festival

The MAP is presenting the Daniel DeLaVergne Spirit Award at this year's Asheville Film Festival.This annual award was created to honor expedition filmmaker, Daniel DeLaVergne. The award is to recognize and honor filmmakers whose work explores pushing the limits of our minds and hearts by artistically expressing true Spirit. These films unlock the vast potential of the human spirit or nature and enable us to view films that display courage, integrity and hope, taking entertainment to a unique level. The winner will also receive $500 donated by the MAP. For more information, visit www.ashevillefilmfestival.com

Space is the Place! The Moon Europa Film Festival Party

Moon Europa, recently voted Asheville's Best Locally Produced Film, hosts a VIP Film Festival party to celebrate completion of principal cinematography and receipt of the Inaugural Daniel DeLaVergne Media Arts Advantage Fund Award created by the Media Arts Project and AdvantageWest.

Moon Europa is an independent, community-based science fiction film project. The film addresses themes at the intersection of humanity, nature, and technology with a unique vision which could only come out of the cultural renaissance of Asheville. Moon Europa represents a new wave of independent digital filmmaking.

Festivities for the Friday, November 10th event include:

8-11pm Space is the Place - Moon Europa Film Festival Party @ Cafe on the Square (VIP list/ invitation or $20.00 at the door)

Premiere of the newly released and unseen Moon Europa trailer
Free food and beverages provided by Cafe on the Square and the French Broad Brewery
Meet the cast and crew, including award-winning Director, Chris Bower
Raffle and Silent Auction
Ambient DJ & Video

11:00-11:30pm Djinntana FirePlay directed by Draven Arcane, star of Moon Europa (free to the public/ Pack Place downtown) Fire spinning, modern primitives, pirates, and more!

11:30-2:30am After Party Benefit @ Mela Indian Restaurant ($10.00 at the door) with DJ's, Bellydance troupe Baraka Mundi, and live space video mix by VJ Welkin

Hosted by Cafe on the Square
VIP After Party hosted by Mela Indian Restaurant

Sponsor List
The Media Arts Project, French Broad Brewing Company, Studio Chavarria, Djinntana Fireplay, Baraka Mundi, Flood Gallery, Cafe on the Square, and Mela Indian Restaurant

For more information please contact info@mooneuropa.com

www.mooneuropa.com

Southern Circuit: Tara Wray's Manhattan, Kansas

The Media Arts Project (MAP) presents Tara Wray as part of the Southern Circuit tour of independent filmmakers at The Fine Arts Theatre on Biltmore Avenue in Asheville, NC, on November 6, 2006 at 7pm. This event is $5 for non-students and free to UNCA and WCU students with ID.

Director Tara Wray fled her childhood home of Manhattan, Kansas after her mother, in a mentally unstable state, threatened to kill her when she was 19 years old. "My mother was my entire life," she says, "But, we were always running from her demons, both real and imagined." Her mother's undiagnosed emotional and mental state terrorized Wray for years.Following five years of estrangement, Wray knew it was time to go back with her camera.

Manhattan, Kansas delves into the complicated ways family members connect with each other. In the same way that everyone tries to forge relationships with their parents or siblings, Tara Wray desperately wants to connect with her mother. The Film Society of Lincoln Center writes, "Wray's film articulates the moment we truly see ourselves removed from our parents and see who they are beyond the world they created for us." According to the Independent Feature Project, the American representative of the Cannes Film Festival, "This intimate and engaging documentary acknowledges that love abides, even when forgiveness is not always easy or possible."

Tara Wray was born and raised in "The Little Apple" of Manhattan, Kansas and has since relocated to "The Big Apple" itself. Wray took her first plunge into film work, without the formal training of film school, by making Manhattan, Kansas. Knowing the risks she took for her documentary were great; she asserts, "You have to trust your guts and surround yourself with people who know what they're doing and are willing to help you out."

Created by the South Carolina Arts Commission over thirty years ago, Southern Circuit takes independent filmmakers on a journey into communities across the South. Chosen by a panel of experts for the quality of their work, the filmmakers screen their recent films for local audiences. Produced without studio backing and struggling to secure a distributor, many of these films would never be seen on a screen in this area of the country without Southern Circuit. The program also encourages audiences to interact with the filmmakers during receptions and post-screening discussions.

Southern Circuit is a program of the Southern Arts Federation, a not-for-profit regional arts organization making a positive difference in the arts throughout the South since 1975. Southern Arts Federation is supported by funding and programming partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts, private foundations, corporations, individuals, and the state arts agencies of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Liquefaction: A Geek and Artist Mixer

A Joint Event of The Media Arts Project and Meet the Geeks

Date: Tuesday, October 24th, 2006

Time: 5:30pm - 7:30pm

Location: The New French Bar Courtyard Cafe, 12 Biltmore Avenue

Cost: Free Admission, Free Food, Cash Bar

RSVP to director@themap.org

Learn more about the collaboration of geeks and artists helping to effectively discover, analyze and communicate ideas and insights by unlocking data, improving networks & communication, and developing new tools for working together.

Demonstrations will show how geeks and artists can help each other to build new businesses and create mindblowing art (think new photoshop plug ins, better quality video compression and more). Computers will be on hand to create interactive collaborations with "processing", a language that both artists and geeks can love. Come join the discussion and spur new ideas.

Off the MAP:Southern Circuit

The Media Arts Project (MAP)presents Pamela Yates as part of the Southern Circuit tour of independent filmmakers at the Fine Arts Theatre on Biltmore Avenue on October 9, 2006 at 7pm.

Following a screening of her award-winning film, State of Fear, Yates will engage the audience in a discussion of the film and her work as a filmmaker. A reception with the filmmaker is scheduled after in the fine arts theatre lounge. Tickets will be five dollars and free to UNCA and WCU students with ID.

State of Fear tells a cautionary tale of what happens when fighting terrorism impairs democracy. “When I went there in 2002," says Yates, “I realized all of these astounding parallels between Peru and what the rest of the world was about to begin. It is really about the war between terror and counter-terror.” State of Fear makes every image count as it contrasts the unsettling testimony and confession of victims and perpetrators with the unparalleled beauty of the Peruvian landscape.

(Child soldier in Ayacucho, Peru from State of Fear. Photo credit: Vera Lentz)

The South American nation’s blood-soaked 20-year “war on terror” from 1980 to 2000 burst out of an explosive atmosphere of hopelessness, corruption and ideology gone wrong. The radical militant group, Shining Path, and the oppressive President Alberto Fujimori created a “state of fear” leading to the violent deaths of 70,000 Peruvians. State of Fear explores issues of traditional military responses to rebel attacks, the governmental use of fear to justify authoritarian measures, and the manipulation of the media to influence public opinion. Although the film tells the story of one particular country, the issues and events it depicts concern any democratic nation in today’s terror-conscious climate.

Pamela Yates has devoted her life to human rights and social-issue storytelling through documentary films. Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine director Michael Moore, a mentor and former coworker of Yates, taught the filmmaker to “go for the hard part first; the people who really, really don’t want to talk to us”. While working on State of Fear, Yates visited Peruvian prisons and listened to hours of stories from Shining Path. She learned to uncover the real-life human truths hidden beyond the surface of the story. In creating State of Fear, Yates pieced together these human truths to tell the story of a nation lost in the chaos of terror and tyranny. Peru’s Channel 7 aired State of Fear weekly, after the war, to remind the country of its history.

As a filmmaker, Yates’ goal is to push people to notice and question the trends of global, criminal, or human rights injustices. In this endeavor, she has earned both Academy and Emmy awards, as well as considerable respect in her field. However, Yates still faces challenges. “It is always a balance between the pessimism and the optimism,” she concludes, “because if I were a sunny and optimistic American, I would never be seeking out these kinds of films that have uncovered these realities. Yet, if I don’t stay somewhat optimistic, I’ll never believe that there is a possibility for change.”

Created by the South Carolina Arts Commission over thirty years ago, Southern Circuit takes independent filmmakers on a journey into communities across the South. Chosen by a panel of experts for the quality of their work, the filmmakers screen their recent films for local audiences. Produced without studio backing and struggling to secure a distributor, many of these films would never be seen on a screen in this area of the country without Southern Circuit. The program also encourages audiences to interact with the filmmakers during receptions and post-screening discussions.

Southern Circuit is a program of the Southern Arts Federation, a not-for-profit regional arts organization making a positive difference in the arts throughout the South since 1975. Southern Arts Federation is supported by funding and programming partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts, private foundations, corporations, individuals, and the state arts agencies of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Off the MAP:Red Hat Speaker

Join us for a special Off the MAP get together presented in conjunction with Meet the Geeks (MTGs) and Blue Ridge Entrepreneurial Council (BREC).

This coming **Thursday**, September 28th we’ll have a special guest at On Broadway. Starting at 5:30pm, we'll have casual socializing with other media artists and IT professionals. Then at 6:30pm, Jay Turner from Red Hat will speak about how to launch a new product. This is a free event with pizza and a cash bar. RSVP to director@themap.org and read on for more info...

Launching a new film or website can be a harrowing experience. You work day and night creating and improving it, fixing problems, viewing it with your client. Walking the balance between being a perfectionist and sending something below par out the door is not easy. How do you know when your product is ready to be seen?

Come see Jay Turner, Manager of Quality Engineering at Red Hat, speak about developing a quality product and learn how to test your product for bugs (websites and software), ensure your product is easy to understand and aesthetically pleasing and determine when it is ready to launch or ship. This event is at On Broadway near Mellow Mushroom.

As a case study example, Jay will also talk about the development of Red Hat's recently launched social networking site Mugshot (www.mugshot.org) and how he used quality assurance to create a

Jay Turner graduated from UNC with a BS in Applied Science in 1996. While at UNC, he stumbled upon the fast maturing Linux kernel and GNU operating system components and began to use those in his coursework. Jay joined the Red Hat Quality Engineering team in December 1998 as the lead test engineering for the installer. Three years later he, and 4 other engineers, built and launched the Red Hat Network subscription service offering. Jay then returned to the operating system side of the company as a QE manager where his team focuses on test automation, qualification of the kernel for all Red Hat products as well as test integration with Red Hat's software and hardware partners.

Southern Arts Federation 2006-2007 Southern Circuit

The Media Art Project presents Danielle Beverly as part of the Southern Circuit tour of independent filmmakers at The Fine Arts Theatre on September 25, 2006 at 7pm.

Following a screening of her first feature documentary, Learning to Swallow, Danielle Beverly will engage the audience in a discussion about the film and her work as a filmmaker.A reception with the filmmaker and MAP members will take place in the Fine Arts Theatre lounge after the screening.Tickets to the film are five dollars. UNCA and WCU students get in for free with a valid student ID.

Patsy Desmond, an artistic whirlwind chronicling her life through self-portraits, stormed through the early 90’s Chicago art and music scene. Full of drama, outrageous style, and charisma, no one guessed that behind it all she was hurtling toward her ruin. In an uncontrolled, manic-depressive episode, Desmond attempted suicide by drinking drain cleaner. Although she survived, the incident destroyed her digestive system. Danielle Beverly’s documentary Learning to Swallow follows Desmond over four years of recovery: through reconstructive surgeries, oxy-contin and alcohol addictions, and the ultimate struggle to keep hope.

Learning to Swallow contains footage of Desmond’s recovery, old photos, and animation created from her artwork. Director Danielle Beverly’s 96 hours of film culminates with the opening of Patty Desmond’s exhibition Coming Clean. According to Mary Kerr, programming director of SILVERDOCS, “It is rare that a film can so meticulously capture the essence of a complicated person like Desmond.” Beverly finds that audiences are responding to the film “in an intensely visceral way. Although Patsy’s experience is singular, it also has universality in its portrayal of one person’s resilience, redemption, and self-acceptance.”

While earning her M.F.A in Film/Video from Chicago’s Columbia College, Beverly lived in the fashionable Wicker Park community and befriended wild-child photographer Desmond. “I am attracted to dramatic, unfolding stories; watching the process and transformation of a subject,” says the filmmaker, “I’m not afraid of human pain. Rather, I am drawn to it as a documentary subject – the incredible pain of living.” As a director, Beverly wants the subject to tell their own story-- full of choices, decisions, and survival, “I just try to bear witness to the situation.”

Created by the South Carolina Arts Commission over thirty years ago, Southern Circuit takes independent filmmakers on a journey into communities across the South. Chosen by a panel of experts for the quality of their work, the filmmakers screen their recent films for local audiences. Produced without studio backing and struggling to secure a distributor, many of these films would never be seen on a screen in this area of the country without Southern Circuit. The program also encourages audiences to interact with the filmmakers during receptions and post-screening discussions.

Southern Circuit is a program of the Southern Arts Federation, a not-for-profit regional arts organization making a positive difference in the arts throughout the South since 1975. Southern Arts Federation is supported by funding and programming partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts, private foundations, corporations, individuals, and the state arts agencies of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

48 Hour Film Project

Sleep is for the weak!
Asheville’s 2nd Annual 48 Hour Film Project
July 21-23
www.48hourfilm.com/asheville

Asheville, NC- July 21-23, 2006—The 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP) is returning to Asheville for the city’s second annual competition. Over 34 teams are expected to compete this year beginning on Friday, July 21 and ending Sunday July 23 at Asheville Pizza Company, on Merrimon Ave. In addition to winning prizes at the local level, Asheville’s 2006 winner will battle teams from 36 cities worldwide at the 48HFP Panasonic HD Filmmaker Showdown, giving them the opportunity to win film equipment and a chance for national distribution.

The 48 Hour Film Project is a frenetic race to the finish unlike any other film competition. Teams must write, shoot, and edit their films beginning at 7 PM Friday, July 21, and deliver a finished movie by 7:30 PM Sunday July 23rd. Teams are assigned a genre, a character, a prop, and a line of dialogue at Friday’s Kick-off Event that must be included in their film. Each filmmaker is responsible for gathering the necessary cast, crew and equipment needed to produce a complete short film in just 48 hours. Whether this is a first effort or the work of professionals, all skill levels are eligible and encouraged to participate in this competition.

This year’s judges are writer/producer, Denise Kiernan, television writer, Brenda Lilly and film guru/owner of Orbit DVD, Mark McCloud. And a huge thanks to our sponsors Asheville Pizza Company- for providing a venue to show our fabulous films; Advantage West- for supporting local filmmakers and our industry; and
Bonesteel films- for being a brilliant production sponsor (they take in all the films and make one master dvd!).

The 48 Hour Film Project’s mission is to advance local filmmaking and promote local filmmakers. The competition emphasizes building communities of filmmakers and creative people. It facilitates new connections, showcases skills and celebrates what creativity and teamwork can accomplish in just one weekend.

All completed films will be screened for the public on Tuesday July 25, Wednesday July 26, and Thursday July 27- Showtimes are 5:30pm; 8:00pm and 10:30pm each night! Tickets are $5-

Anyone interested in joining a team can go to www.48hourfilm.com/join/ or get more info at www.48hourfilm.com/asheville

Daniel Delavergne Media Arts Advantage Fund winners announced!

MAP and AdvantageWest announce three cash grants to Western NC media arts and film projects

Grant fund of $17,000 dedicated to local kayaker and videographer, Daniel Delavergne

Asheville, NC – May 23, 2006: AdvantageWest and the Media Arts Project (MAP) are proud to announce the winners of the inaugural Media Arts Advantage Fund. The Fund, administered by Advantage West, was developed in 2005 to foster and promote innovative media arts and film in Western North Carolina. According to MAP Board Chair Greg Lucas, “the grant fund is an opportunity to get cash into the hands of artists and entrepreneurs to complete projects that will enhance our region’s digital arts and culture.”

The grants awarded for the Daniel Delavergne Media Arts Advantage Fund are as follows:

Moon Europa, a full-length science fiction film shot entirely in WNC, submitted by Gary Craig Hobbs, receiving $3,000
Three-Dimensional Zoetrope, a multi-media installation piece, submitted by Stewart Dickson, receiving $1,000
Twin Rivers Media Festival Workshops, featuring set design and HD workshops serving local media artists, submitted by Carlos Steward, receiving $1,000

The Media Arts Advantage Fund is dedicated to the late kayaker and filmmaker Daniel Delavergne, who was recently named an “Adventurer of the Year” by National Geographic Magazine. His Asheville-based production company, Penstock Productions, produced numerous classic outdoor adventure features. Daniel was an ardent supporter of the MAP and Platinum level sponsor at the MAP’s November 2005 fundraiser, which raised seventeen thousand dollars for the Fund. The next grant cycle will be before the end of 2006, announcements to follow.

Cash grants were awarded to three of the nineteen applicants for this round of funding. Three independent judges chosen to select the grant recipients pared down the pool to seven finalists. Projects ranged from documentary films about environmental issues to a 3-D holographic installation. The judges were Glenn English, a local media artist and business-owner, Jessica Irish, Professor of Media Arts, 3-D Design and Installation at Wellesley College, and David Dombrosky, Contemporary Arts Manager of the Southern Arts Federation based in Atlanta. “The esteemed judging panel reflects the unique nature of this grant which is the first of its kind in the country that we know of, joining an economic development agency and media arts non-profit,” says Mary Trimarco, Director of the Western North Carolina Film Commission.

The judges convened at the Haywood Park Hotel on May 22nd for the final selection of grant recipients. The process culminated in a dinner reception at Bobo Gallery May 22, 2006. The event, sponsored by AdvantageWest and the Media Arts Project, honored the three judges and AdvantageWest’s CEO & President, Dale Carroll. Carroll said, “It was a great evening and we are excited to help the winners get their products out to the region and world.”

Special thanks to our sponsors Haywood Park Hotel, Bobo Gallery, Flying Frog Cafe and Biltmore Estate.

Media Contact: Elizabeth Voorhees at AdvantageWest, 828-687-7234

Hi-Tech Hoedown benefit for the MAP Advantage Fund

Thursday November 3rd, 2005
6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
The Orange Peel Social Aid & Pleasure Club

Live bluegrass mixed with electronic music mixed with live video processing!?!

AND a virtual tour of the universe in a dome INSIDE the Orange Peel!?!

You'll just have to see it to believe it!

Live bluegrass samples mixed with synthetic beats from DJs Pomme d'Terre and Auralox and live 'footwork footage' with local dancers featuring contra dance caller Frederick Parks. AND - Elumenati will be hosting tours of the Universe in their 20 foot diameter inflatable dome!!!

The MAP and AFFIALIATES is where it's at!

Join us as the Media Arts Project hosts the Asheville AFFILIATES and kicks off the MAP Advantage fund, Western Carolina’s first grassroots film and media art grant program for regional media artists.

All proceeds, up to $10,000 will be matched 100% by Advantage West to support the new Media Arts Advantage Fund for Film, Video and Media Arts.

$20 WITH RSVP IN ADVANCE $25 AT DOOR

Ticket price includes music, hors d'oeuvres, our favorite local brewery beer from Catawba Valley Brewing, wines from Skyland Distributing and a great time.

All proceeds go the MAP/Advantage West Media Arts Advantage Fund. Attendees are eligible for a one-year membership to the Media Arts Project.

About the Media Arts Advantage Fund

This grant will help fund projects across Western NC, including youth media education, media workshops, non-profit public service videos, documentary and fictional films, software art, theater technology, 2D & 3D animators, and exhibitions of local works. The grant is a partnership with Advantage West as a crucial step to establish a regional media arts & technology hub that will encourage innovation, education, and collaboration.

The Asheville Affiliates and Orange Peel are hosting a kick-off fundraiser for the new Media Arts Advantage Fund, a new grant program from the Media Arts Project for regional media artists and film-makers.

To RSVP contact:

Greg Lucas
828-242-6663
greg@themap.org

About the Asheville Affiliates

Established in 1999, the Asheville Affiliates are a group of local young professionals dedicated to supporting fundraising events for Asheville area nonprofit organizations. With over 2000 members, each of the four Affiliates events are a high profile philanthropic opportunity for sponsors.

About AdvantageWest

AdvantageWest is Western North Carolina's regional economic development commission. Chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1994, AdvantageWest is a non-profit public-private partnership whose primary focus is marketing the North Carolina mountains to corporations seeking to relocate or open a new facility, expand an existing business within our region, and those who might otherwise improve the quality of life for citizens within our region through activities such as filmmaking and tourism.

About the Media Arts Project

For the past two years, the Media Arts Project has sponsored the monthly Off the MAP series of screenings, exhibits, and lectures, fiscally sponsored numerous film projects, established youth media training programs, and established a regional Media Arts Directory. The MAP's objectives include fostering and connecting the regional media arts industry, enhancing the arts and cultural environment of the region and innovating new directions for 21st century economic development.

MAP Benefit Party at Gypsy Moon:Saturday

Oliver Media and Filmmakers, Inc. would like to invite you to the 2005 Filmmakers, Inc MAP Benefit Party Saturday, October 29th at the Gypsy Moon Sofa Bar in downtown Asheville. We had a great time last year and hope to see everyone again!

Fools 'n Ghouls

Off the MAP: Come Join Us

Where: Flying Frog (upstairs, side room), 1 Battery Park Avenue, downtown Asheville

When: Thursday, October 13, 7-8:30 pm

What: The off the MAP committee is planning our upcoming 2006 events calendar, and we're taking this month's meeting to invite your participation. At the meeting, we'll introduce ourselves, explain what we understand Media Arts to be, talk about some past events, and then invite proposals and artwork for the upcoming year. The rest of the meeting will just be hanging out hearing about your work, hearing ideas for events, and exchanging contact information.

RSVP to info@themap.org and tell us about your work

Off the MAP is a monthly media arts event hosted by the Media Arts Project. In the past, these events have consisted of lecture presentations, artist's presenting and discussing their own work, group screenings of video shorts, and DJ/VJ performances. The theme is always media arts, but the genre and form of these events varies greatly.

Who should attend: 1. Curators wishing to curate and hosts presentations. 2. Artists in a variety of media (musicians, filmmakers, digital artists, programmers). Not necessarily potters or basket-weavers or painters or fiddle players, UNLESS you're somehow mixing those media with newer media. Here is a brief definition of "media arts". 3. Fans and patrons of the arts.

Please come with ideas, artwork on laptops, contact information, and as many creative friends as you can think to bring.

RSVP to info@themap.org and tell us about your work

Filmmakersinc.org Launches!

Attention Filmmakers!

The Filmmakers, Inc. team has been working in our region producing film and video productions since 1998. Throughout this time, we have been able to work with many, many talented people and have relied on these relationships when we search for production resources in Western North Carolina.

While WNC has been a great home for our production company, we find ourselves using resources from providers out of the area. There is a need for a professional production bulletin board that will provide our community with a forum for networking, finding equipment, discussing solutions, etc. Filmmakersinc.org is here to serve this need.

Filmmakersinc.org is a website that hosts a very simple forum dedicated to these needs. Our goal is to help support our industry by providing our production professional’s with the resources needed to succeed.

We invite you to visit Filmmakersinc.org. The site is newly launched, so we encourage you to become a founding member.

Off the MAP: Making the Invisible Visible: Bucky Fuller and Immersive Media Environments

Thursday, August 18, 8:00 pm
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center
56 Broadway
$5, Co-sponsor: BMCM+AC
Part of the Media Arts Project's Off the MAP series

R. Buckminster Fuller, the visionary American design scientist, is perhaps best known for his development of the geodesic dome. However, this was only a small part of his comprehensive design approach that incorporated aspects of mathematics, philosophy, engineering, and the arts. He strongly believed that human understanding is based on experiential learning. He viewed this as the only truly effective way for most people to understand complex and inter-related phenomena.

Today, innovative visualization tools and immersive media environments are increasingly being used to bring complex ideas to life. David McConville, co-founder of the Elumenati, will discuss the influence that Fuller's designs and philosophy have had on artists and scientists. From experiments in the 1950s with immersive projection to contemporary video game designs, McConville will explore how Fuller's visionary ideas are continuing to be brought to life.

Co-sponsored by the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, this lecture is in conjunction with the IDEAS + INVENTIONS: Buckminster Fuller and Black Mountain College exhibit.

Off the MAP: What the f*** is processing?

{mosimage}Off the MAP presents an exhibition + talk

by WCU's Katya Moorman

Thursday August 4th at 7:30pm

Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center Gallery

56 Broadway, Asheville

Processing is an open source programming language and environment which is blurring the boundaries between programmer and artist and challenging current notions of art making practice. Initiated by Casey Reas and Ben Fry while students at MIT it won the prestigious Golden Nica award at Ars Electronica and will be presented there this fall.

Digital artist/designer Katya Moorman will give an overview of the history/ideology of open source code, Processing's history within it, and how the environment expands possibilities for artists through programming. There will also be interactive work on display from various artists using Processing including: Casey Reas, Sawako Kato, lab5769 and others.

Off the MAP: DeKam and Noschool

The Media Arts Project (MAP) and The Electronic Music Composers Forum of Asheville are proud to present Johnny deKam and Noschool live at BoBo Gallery on Saturday, June 18th at 9:00pm.

In a collaboration featuring two Asheville-based media arts initiatives, one a non-profit and the other a local independent performance series, this event will provide a foundation for understanding electronic media and the audiovisual arts in Asheville and beyond.

For more information please visit -

Node & The Electronic Music Composer's Forum

Johnny deKam has an international reputation as innovator of live video performance and technology. He was the founder & programmer behind VIDVOX, a software company dedicated to realtime video, which is used in professional productions worldwide. deKam has been a touring VJ for well-known artists including Sasha & Digweed, Photek and Eminem. As a solo audio visualist he has appeared at prestigious venues and festivals such as Club Transmediale, MUTEK, The New York Video Festival, The American Museum of the Moving Image and Sonar Music Festival. deKam has a DVD release on the mego/dOc label with Berlin-based minimalist PURE, and two international tours with Swiss composer Jasch as DYAD.

deKam will premiere a new solo a/v performance exploring spatial live cinema. The work is a hybrid architectural & narrative de-construction, utilizing his own unique 3d video mapping software `xlight`. The work will be presented at the Test.Portal festival in Amsterdam the week following this show.

Noschool is one of the bewildering array of aliases used by Asheville composer/performer John Brinker. This one draws on his entire musical background including rock, noise, free improv, house, "glitch," even West African music. Expect to hear field recordings, toy accordions, software abuse, and toe-tapping polyrhythms. John Brinker has shared stages with everyone from Oval to Keith Fullerton Whitman and improv legend Eugene Chadbourne to the National Percussion Ensemble of the Republic of Guinea. Brinker is published on Swazak's label - Volt Records - as Lifestyle Interiors.

In a collaboration featuring two Asheville-based media arts initiatives, one a non-profit and the other a local independent performance series, this event will provide a foundation for understanding electronic media and the audiovisual arts in Asheville and beyond.
For more information please visit -
Node
The Electronic Music Composer's Forum

Off the MAP:Bruce Conner Films

The Media Arts Project (MAP) is screening “Breakaway” and a seven films package by Bruce Conner for its upcoming Off the MAP event. The event will be held on Thursday, May 19th at Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center (BMCG+AC) at 8pm. There will be discussion following the work by the curator, Lisa Shenouda. There will be a $5 cover that goes to the MAP and the BMCM+AC.

Bruce Conner was a beat filmmaker who often collected reels 16 mm film from diverse sources and re-edited them to create new meaning. Some were cut at rapid-fire intensity (e.g. Breakaway, 1966) and using compilation footage and the wedding of sound or music to picture, which had an enduring effect on motion picture media throughout the world. Bruce Conner's filmmaking influence can be seen through both low-budget appropriation collage films as well as through high budget music videos. In addition, those music video editing techniques have, in many cases, influenced editing in mainstream commercials and feature films. His influence can also be seen directly in students such as Craig Baldwin, a collage filmmaker, who has influenced such other West Coast 90’s appropriation artists such as Negativland.

Lisa Shenouda would like to explore his style and composition of various short films to see why he was successful at creating new meaning in the visual text while engaging the audience. These 16mm films are available only through special screenings and therefore this is a very unique event for Asheville. One film, “Breakaway” is a five-minute dance film where it is played and then reversed to the original beginning. The sound track with Basilotta singing the title song is run in reverse as an aural analogue to the visual abstraction of photography. It was shot at single frame exposures as well as 8, 16, 24 and 36 frames per second.

Anthony Reveaux states, "The camera captures her movements in gestural, expressive light smears. Intercut rhythmically with strophes of black leader, she gyrates in graceful, stroboscopic accelerations. Conner's editing is consummate as he alternates angles of her figure from different shots into a kinesthetic, flowing continuity.

For more information, visit www.themap.org Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center 56 Broadway Avenue

Off the MAP: Temporal Distortions: Stop Motion and Time Lapse Shorts

Fine Arts Theater
Thursday April 28th, 2005
9:30pm
$5

Temporal Distortions is a collection of short films that in some way innovatively play with time. From stop-motion animations in which inantimate objects are made to come to life, to time-lapse films in which long cycles are made viewable, these films illustrate the ways in which young filmmakers are using film and video to record what is inaccessible in day-to-day reality by our unaided perceptions.

Both WNC and international artists are represented in the collection, including The Wraith of Cobble Hill by Adam King, shorts by several UNCA multi-media students, and a 3 time-lapse shorts by David McConville.

Here are just a few pieces that will screen:

The Wraith of Cobble Hill is a stop-motion animated film about a neglected kid named, Felix, and a corner store owner, Mr. H, who only has spirit enough to care for one of them. "The Wraith of Cobble Hill" is stop-motion animation, shot on 16mm, black and white film. The characters were constructed from plasticine, latex, steel armatures and clay molds. Every element that makes up the sets was hand-constructed in miniature, from the bricks on the buildings, to the embroidered doilies in the bedrooms, to the comic books, whiskey bottles, dog food, TV dinners, ice cream, and canned asparagus in the corner store. The project took almost five years to complete and was shot in the small studio space of a one-bedroom apartment in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles.

Optical Nervous System (2004) is a short film based on a 1965 lecture by philosopher Alan Watts about the nature of vision and perception. It was shot entirely using a 14 megapixel digital still camera and an 8mm fisheye lens in and around Asheville. This short was awarded Best of Show at DomeFest 2004, the first internationally juried digital dome film competition. Soundtrack by Asheville resident Jason Holland, aka Pomme de Terre.

Train (2003) was shot while traveling by rail through Thailand in October of 2002. Soundtrack by Kid Loco.

Asheville Driving Study (2002) was created to research the capabilities of a 1080P high definition video camera for filming extremely wide angle scenes for projection into domed environments. It was filmed using a Panasonic HDW F900 HDTV camera mounted with a 210 degree wide angle fisheye lens. Soundtrack by Aphex Twin.

UNCA Multimedia Arts and Sciences Annual Juried Student Exhibition

UNC Asheville
Multimedia Arts and Sciences Annual Juried Student Exhibition
April 8th to April 19th 2005

OPENING April 8th, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
The Highsmith Gallery
Hours Monday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Featuring Animation, Digital Print, Interactive, Video, Web and 3D projects from the students at UNC Asheville.

The Multimedia Arts and Sciences (MMAS) Program is proud to announce the 4th annual juried student exhibition featuring innovative, cutting edge projects by students at UNC Asheville. The students' art and design work covers varied topics and approaches, including computer art, web applications, video, gaming and animation. Their subjects range over a wide territory, from personal expression to commercial application, exploring ideas in communication, information technology, science, architecture, literature and music.

The juror for the show is Jessica Irish, Assistant Professor of Art and Co-Director of Media Arts + Sciences, Wellesley College, MA.

Irish teaches in the areas of media arts, 3D design, and installation. Her research interests include new ways to visualize and construct ideas of urban space, landscape, architecture and technology. She works in video installation, interactive media and print media. Irish's work in new media has been screened and exhibited nationally and internationally, including exhibits in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Australia and various locations in the United States.

Visit and learn more about Multimedia, and the varied creative forms that it takes, combining analog and digital, art and design, continuously expanding and evolving as the technology upon which it relies changes ever more rapidly.

Lorraine Walsh, Assistant Professor and Director of Multimedia Arts and Sciences, UNC Asheville
Info: 828.251.6550

I THINK THEREFORE I PROJECT

Upcoming this weekend Saturday, April 9th @ The Wedge. Things get underway around 9pm...

JABBERWOCKY meticulously recontextualizes popular musical content to reveal both it's absurdity, and it's means to a creative endlessness...plunderphonics never smelled so 'open-fieldy'

PROJEXORCISM combines mobile 16mm projectors with electronic soundscapes for the optimal trance-inducing anti-trance experience this side of Lamonte Young on Icehouse

O.N.E. is an improvising electro-acoustic collective and this convocation of accordion, clarinet, guitar, circuit-bent, and otherwise functional electronics, is to explore 'usage' as a departure point for instantaneous exploration

THE I THINK THEREFORE I PROJECT is a surprise!

Off the MAP: Non-Symbolic Animation

Non-Symbolic Animation
Presentation by Chris McKee
Thursday, March 31, 2005 7-9 pm
BMCM+AC, 56 Broadway Avenue
$5 donation

Join The Media Arts Project and the BMCM+AC for another event in the monthly Off the MAP series. Artist and curator, Chris McKee will present at the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center located at 56 Broadway Avenue in downtown Asheville.

Chris Mckee will screen collected animations, followed by a discussion about the works and related topics.

The animations are an exploration into the world of non-symbolic animation. The foundation of the animations are based on basic design concepts and the following question: What will happen when a visual environment is created based on compositional theory that consists of unfamiliar imagery?

The primary objective of the animations was to create a world without symbols that is depicted through shape, color, and form.

The concepts involving shape, color, and form are personally constructed and firmly grounded in mathematics and science.

The discussion will cover:
1) shape
2) color in relation to shape
3) sound
4) editing

The event will run from 7-9pm on Thursday, March 31st. Five dollar donations will be accepted at the door. Proceeds will go to the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center and the Media Arts Project.

For more information, contact info@themap.org.

Screenwriter Terry Curtis Fox

Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company- Sunday, March 20th, 2005 2pm

Western Carolina University brings Hollywood screenwriter Terry Curtis Fox to Asheville. He will discuss the challenges of writing for series television.

Off the MAP Event: “Finding a Voice” Terry Curtis Fox Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company- Sunday, March 20th 2pm

Hollywood screenwriter Terry Curtis Fox, visiting artist in Western Carolina University’s department of English, will discuss the challenges of writing for series television Sunday, March 20, during the third presentation in his semester-long series of lectures, and the first to be held in Asheville.

Fox, a member of the board of directors of the Writers Guild of America who has written for “Diagnosis: Murder,” “Hill Street Blues” and “Stargate SG-1,” will speak on the topic “Finding a Voice” at 2 p.m. at the Asheville Brewing and Pizza Co. on Merrimon Avenue. The program is open to the public free of charge.

“Terry will offer insight into how writers define a series’ characters and how they discover the tone of a new show,” said Jack Sholder, a motion picture director, writer and editor who joined Western’s faculty in September as professor of digital motion pictures and video. “He will explore the interaction between the show’s creators and staff, between writers and directors, and between writers and the star. He’ll discuss what a network and production studio expect when a new series goes on the air, and what makes a show difficult and exciting to write.

“In other words, once you’ve achieved the near-impossible goal of getting a show on the schedule, what then?” said Sholder, who directed “The Hidden,” “Nightmare on Elm Street 2,” “Renegades” and HBO’s “By Dawn’s Early Light,” and who won an Emmy Award for his editing work on “3-2-1 Contact.”

The classes are part of a new motion picture studies concentration and a proposed digital motion picture production major being developed at the university.

Off the MAP: Eyeful - Video Art Vol. 1

Valentine's Hangover Show: An Evening of Artist Made Videos
Thursday, February 24 at 9:30 p.m.
Fine Arts Theatre, Asheville, NC
$5

The roses have dropped their petals all over the floor, yet it's still difficult to throw them away. That red heart of chocolates is almost empty, and only the jelly-filled candies remain. Ten days after Valentine's Day, what's left of the winter feels like it will be long and dark, but you can beat those blues with the Valentine's Hangover Show: An Evening of Artist Made Videos.

The Valentine’s Hangover Show consists of short videos that deal with longing, joyful bliss, mystifying obsession and deviations from romantic and sexual convention. These seven videos were curated by Bree Edwards in conjunction with Off the Map and have an approximate running time of 50 minutes. The featured artists are Samuli Alapuranen, Stephen Dean, Tommy Foster, Miranda July, Tara Mateik, Bec Stupac and Veronica Varlow & Burke Heffner.

Program Notes:
Valentine’s Hangover Show: An Evening of Artist Made Videos

Revolver (2003)
Trailer
Veronica Varlow & Burke Heffner

"Revolver began when we were both dead broke, and longed for a chance to get away. We would console each other with stories. I told Veronica of all the fun trips I had taken in the past. In her journal, the dream of a road trip expanded to include a string of bank robberies along the way. After a month or two of her journal slipping further and further into a novella, we bought a clean notepad and decided to commit to the stories we were building."

This is a true labor of love for the writers & co-stars. Last year they won "Best Trailer No Movie" at the Golden Trailer Award. A regular trailer has to be good enough to get someone to drop 10 bucks. In this category, the trailer has to be good enough to get somebody to drop 10 million bucks. So if you are looking for a good investment check out their website www.revolverthemovie.com

The Amateurist (1998)
Miranda July
14 minutes

The Amateurist is a video made by Miranda July, in which a "professional" woman monitors an "amateur" woman (both played by July) via video surveillance. Although there has never been any physical contact with the amateur, the professional has synthesized a bizarre emotional connection with her subject.

Since making this film, July has produced the multi-media performance Swan Tool. Combining video, performance, live music and digital rendering of architectural spaces July was able to create what she describes as a "live movie". Her collaboration with the artist Harrell Fletcher culminated in the web-based project, Learning to Love You More. This project illustrates ways the Internet can be employed by artists to enhance networks for creativity. July has just completed her first feature-length movie, which premiered at Sundance film festival, last month.

Pulse (2001)
Stephen Dean
8 minutes

To produce the video Pulse, Stephen Dean shot footage of the amazingly colorful Hindu festival of Holi, held each March in the northern part of India. One story attributes this festival to be a celebration of the beginning of Spring, the season of hope and new beginnings. During Holi people throw and smear brightly colored powders, known as Gulal, and exhibit flamboyant and unrestrained behavior. Dean is a French born artist who lives in New York. His paintings, sculptures and films heighten the visual experience of cultural events, turning the everyday into flowing displays of color and rhythmic unity.

This Must Be My Lucky Day (2003)
Tommy Foster
13 minutes

Tommy Foster’s This Must be My Lucky Day is set in a surreal Southern swamp. The camera follows a cowboy on a mysterious journey to release a group of plastic "Wonder Horses" back into the wild. As the sun sets and the music of Calexico plays this Cowboy enacts an unusually symbolic "putting out to pasture." This video has an offbeat Americana aesthetic that is reminiscent of the David Byrne movie, True Stories. Foster is an artist and musician who recently left his home of Memphis to live on a Mexican island.

Scissorfriends (2003)
Bec Stupac
2 minutes

Bec Stupack has been a stretching the limits of motion design and video performance since the late 90s.The video Scissorfriends was created as a DVD zine while Stupack was in residence at the electronic arts atelier Eyebeam, in New York. By creating a DVD zine she has expanded the metaphor of the paper zine into a cinematic 3 experience. In the late 90s Stupack worked with Pseudo, the innovative effort to create an on-line cable channel with all original programming. She has appeared as VJ Honeygun all over the world, performing her short video works in the developing club and rave scenes. Bec Stupack, Samuli Alapuranen and other trailblazers of live-video performance have had a major impact on visual culture that is evident in museum exhibitions as well as on MTV and in commercial advertising.

Silmukka (2002)
Samuli Alapuranen
3 minutes

Silmukka is a short dreamlike sequence of mechanical animals made by Samuli Alapuranen. The cuddly yet robotic images combined with electronic score are hauntingly seductive. Alapuranen is a Finnish musician and artist working primarily as a live VJ in Helsinki.

PYT (2003)
Tara Mateik
4 min

Tara Mateik’s video PYT masquerades as music video to chart a perverse transsexual identification between Peter Pan and Michael Jackson. Fantasy is in full force and this transgendered video will make you want to sing along. Mateik is an artist and media activist who in 2001 co-founded Dykes Can Dance, a New York City performance group. For many years Mateik has collaborated with the cable access video collective, Paper Tiger Television.

Off the MAP: RESFEST Screening - A Local Gathering and a Global Collection

As RESFEST prepares to take its 9th festival on the road to 33 cities in 13 countries on six continents, The Best of RESFEST will be showing in Asheville. The collection consists of the 11 best short films culled from the archives of the largest festival of its kind. The screening, part of the monthly Off the MAP series, will take place at the Fine Arts Theatre, 36 Biltmore Avenue, on Wednesday, January 26th at 9:30 p.m.

The BBC reported that RESFEST’s short film program featured, “small but perfectly formed films.” The effect of the festival, however, has been anything but small or contained. The Australian Center for Moving Image stated that RESFEST has “pushed significant boundaries in the understanding of digital screen forms.” The festival showcases emerging artists and genres, including digital, design, and animated films.

Among the 11 films, “Home Road Movies,” composed of photographs and actors inserted into 3-D spaces, tells the story of a father’s desire to be a good parent, as expressed through his maintenance of the family car. Perhaps because the story is true, a remembrance of director Robert Bradbrook’s own father, it communicates a complete and compelling narrative rare in the limited parameters of short films. So too does “Terminal Bar,” Grand Jury Prize winner at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, a documentary director Stefan Nadelman based around the 2,500 photographs his father took of customers during ten years of working at Manhattan’s “toughest bar.”

In “Japanese Tradition (Sushi),” director Junji Kojima takes a more scathing look at his background. During this instructional film on Japanese culture, Kojima uses comedy to cut through the characteristic polite façade. “The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal,” also a mockumentary, coolly observes the artistic shapes created by efforts to paint over graffiti. Though Matt McCormick's film is humorous, the beauty of the many images collected in it is striking, and almost deservedly compared to paintings by the likes of Mark Rothko.

Geoff Adam’s “Birdbeat (Fugue)” is an exciting work of pure visuals and rhythm, in which “birds of many feathers peck and flap in syncopation” with jazz. Meanwhile, Tim Hope's remote "Jubilee Line" entrances viewers in with a beautiful soundtrack and a 3-D landscape of grids through which seemingly 2-D human figures pace. Whether acute and personal like “Home Road Movies” or purposefully abstract like “Jubilee Line,” the diverse selections in the third volume of The Best of RESFEST are all carefully made and tastefully chosen.

In addition to showing a vision of the innovative ways arts and technology can work together, RESFEST strives to build a global network of creators and audiences. The Media Arts Project, the nonprofit organization responsible for Off the MAP, selected the collection, in part, for this reason. The MAP seeks to engage western North Carolinians in regional and global media arts, providing participants with both local events and international information such as how to submit to RESFEST. (For a RESFEST 2005 entry form, go to http://www.resfest.com/submissions/. To get involved with Off the MAP or other programs, contact rosem@themap.org.)

Off the MAP is a joint effort by The MAP and the Fine Arts Theatre. Admission is $5.00 with proceeds going to the nonprofit organization.

Digital Cinema Boot Camp

The Media Arts Project (MAP): News about the 48 Hour Film Project

We have added two new screenings! Tuesday and Wednesday will have 4pm screenings. Be sure to buy your screening tickets from Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company (APBC) right away.They are selling fast.

The screenings will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday and can only be purchased in person at APBC. There will also be a Thursday evening screening of the winners.

The Media Arts Project (MAP) had a great success with the workshop for the 48 Hour Film Project at the University of North Carolina Asheville and in cooperation with AB Tech and local media professionals. A special thank you to Paul Bonesteel, Steve Agnew, Kurt Mann, Jonothan Ross, Hal Marienthal, Amanda Edwards and Don Diefenbach.

The 48 Hour Film Project is in Asheville.

Workshop Descriptions:

Screenwriting/Creative Concept: This workshop will look at the importance of telling a good story, in a short period of time! The instructors will give tips and guidelines to writing shorts and how to best handle the 48-hour last minute genres, characters and phrases.

Acting/Directing: This workshop will look at being talent and directing talent for a short. Instructors will cover handling a shooting script, finding the right actors and best use of crew and talent.

Camera/Lighting: This will cover the basics of setting up shots, using equipment and how to best shoot in a small time frame. Technical assistance for the equipment will be provided.

Post: Editing and Sound- This workshop will cover how to best edit a short with a close deadline. How do you decide what makes the cut? And how do you make it look good?

A special thanks to UNCA and AB Tech for their generous support.

Also see the MAP's 48 Hour Film Project forums here

For more information on the 48 Hour Film Project, please contact the producer. Katie Kasben: katiekasben@hotmail.com 828.337.3854

Register for the Media Arts Directory

Western North Carolina’s new online Media Arts Directory is now available at http://www.themap.org/directory/. Register for this free service, and encourage your colleagues to do so. In addition to media artists and professionals, businesses that use multimedia services, production crew members, equipment suppliers, venues that show media art, traditional artists seeking to incorporate media art into their work, and others who are interested are welcome to register.

The directory was programmed and designed by Top Floor Studio and funded by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. Tiyo Hallock, president of Top Floor Studio, says of the importance of professional organizations like The MAP, “I submitted a media piece to [an online exhibit,] my first interaction with the MAP. Shortly after, it landed me a job as a instructor…After getting at least three major clients directly from my connections through The MAP's network, I got another amazing lead--office space in the heart of the media art center in Pack Square for the most affordable prices I had found…Once you get involved with the MAP, there’s a whole new work world waiting.” Hallock donated many hours of his time to the project because he believes that, with the directory, “The MAP, an effective group now, will only become more influential.”

Sharon Willen, Director of Business and Industry services at the Chamber, views the directory as “a virtual economic development infrastructure.” She sees similarities between it and the Craft Registry created by Handmade in America, the nonprofit organization that has come to be recognized as a model for creative economic solutions. Like the registry, the online Media Arts Directory has the potential to bring business from customers outside the region to WNC artisans.

As much as the directory fosters an industry network, it should also contribute to the arts and the community in general. Curt Cloninger, a media artist, author, and Multimedia Arts and Sciences instructor at UNCA, commented about The MAP’s event series, “[At Off the MAP], I've met with several artists, musicians, and educators with whom I may never have come in contact otherwise. We've been able to use our shared reference of the event as a starting point for creative dialogue and collaboration. All of this has been extremely beneficial to me as an artist and educator, and none of it would have been possible without The MAP.” It is this sort of connection that the directory is meant to increasingly cultivate. Cloninger, who lives in a rural area of Canton, NC, plans to use the directory to locate other like-minded artists.

Expect to see other improvements to this website in 2005, including a new newsletter and forums. If you’d like to volunteer to work on the redesign, contact info@themap.org.

The MAP Celebrates Local Film

Thanks to the estimated 150 attendees who crowded Tressa’s for the MAP’s Local Film Forum. Thanks to the filmmakers Mark Hosler (Negativland ), Lawrence Benner (The Nudger), Daniel Potthast and Josh Sonstroem (Absent Productions), Francine Cavanaugh (Mountain Eye Media), Michael Folliett (Spentzal Mas Productions), and Chusy Jardine (Asheville, The Movie) who presented their work. And thanks to filmmakers, inc for the well-attended benefit party they threw for the MAP to conclude the successful film-filled week.

Off the MAP will take a brief holiday hiatus in December and return in January.

Coming soon: news on the MAP’s next project, the Media Arts Directory.

filmmakers, inc benefit party for the MAP!

Saturday, Nov. 6th, 9pm
Gypsy Moon Sofa Bar
13 Walnut Street
Downtown Asheville
$5 donation at the door

http://www.filmmakersinc.com/

Off the MAP: Local Film Forum at the Asheville Film Festival

Friday, November 5th, 2004

8pm
Tressa's - 28 Broadway in downtown Asheville

Western North Carolina isn’t just a tourist destination or a scenic backdrop for location footage--it’s home to its own filmmakers. While the Asheville Film Festival brings in films from around the world, the nonprofit organization the Media Arts Project (MAP) will hold a Local Film Forum representing a cross section of local filmmakers. The free screenings and presentations will take place on Friday, November 5 at 8:00p.m. at Tressa's, 28 Broadway, downtown Asheville. Fast moving presentations followed by a cocktail hour and informal question and answer period will make for an engaging, entertaining Friday night. See the Local Film Scene Comes Into Focus article in the Citizen-Times.

Mark Hosler, founding member of the culture jamming group Negativland, will present new shorts including "Time Zones," a collaborative collage and CGI video about cold war paranoia, and "Truth In Advertising,” about media literacy. "For more than 20 years, Negativland has earned renown for manipulation of both tape and media," The Los Angeles Times wrote of the collective's collage-like re-use of appropriated materials. Wired Magazine has said Negativland's members are "perhaps America's most skilled plunderers from the detritus of 20th century commercial culture." Since moving to Asheville, Hosler has continued to work with Negativland as a musician, video artist, author, and advocate for fair use of intellectual property. Negativland will soon release a new album and book, No Business, and a new DVD, Our Favorite Things.

Lawrence Benner and Dougal Bailey will present excerpts from The Nudger, a feature length film being produced by Buried Pictures in Asheville using local talent. The Nudger is an urban fairy tale about a love affair between nudger--a woman who travels from house to house waking people up for a fee--and a suicidal petty criminal. Benner, also a musician and theatre critic, wrote and is directing The Nudger. Bailey, who edited a Shorts Selection Winner at the Key West Indie Film Festival and a short that won at The Eye of the Beholder Film Festival, is the DP and editor for The Nudger.

Daniel Potthast and Josh Sonstroem and, a video artist and electronic musician respectively, collaborated to create "Cathexis Blue." The duo will present excerpts from their experimental work, which includes stop motion graphics.

Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood of Mountain Eye Media will present an excerpt from their current project, a documentary on mountain top removal coal mining in Appalachia. Directors and editors of Boom: The Sound of Eviction , a documentary about gentrification in San Francisco, and contributors to the documentary The Miami Model , about the repression of protestors, Cavanaugh and Wood continue to address social, environmental, community, and sustainability issues through video activism.

Michael Folliett will present “Tape,” a short film created spontaneously by two artists in an alley with a mile of adding machine tape. As the manager of a nonprofit DV production business in Ohio, Folliet contributed to more than 80 video projects, many involving at-risk youth. Within less than a month of arriving in Asheville, the MAP accepted his work to be screened.

Chusy Jardine, the director often known by only his first name, will present a promo for Asheville, The Movie, a feature film to be shot in Asheville in spring 2005. Chusy was formerly the executive creative director of a multinational agency in Rio de Janeiro and has created over 100 commercials, including work for Gatorade Coca Cola. A local realtor’s description of Asheville, where Chusy now lives, inspired Asheville, The Movie: "It's the place where the bus carrying Deadheads…crashed head on with a bus carrying devotees of reverend Billy Graham."

The forum is a part of the nonprofit the MAP’s regular Off the MAP series of screenings, exhibits, and outreach activities that encourage appreciation of the media arts in Western North Carolina. For more information, email Rose McLarney at rosem@themap.org or call 828-280-1339.

Thanks to Negativland for providing imagery and Klein Digital for designing Local Film Forum materials.

Multimedia Day Artist's Seminar

Thursday, November 4th
10am-4pm
UNCA Highsmith Building

On Thursday, November 4^th, the MAP will present Multimedia Day as a part of the The Asheville Area Arts Council's annual Artists’ Seminar Series. The day of classes will offer a good introduction to multimedia for beginners, but also interest more experienced artists. The seminar at UNCA's Highsmith building will begin at 10:00 a.m. and run until 4:00 p.m.

David McConville and Craig Hobbs of Black Box Studio will begin the discussions of multimedia. Brian Jones and Gary Crossey of FastFWD and Heather Malloy of Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance will follow with discussion of the possibilities of multidisciplinary collaboration. During afternoon sessions, Nathan Ebanks of Stratos Digital will offer a workshop in 3D animation; Crossey will lead a Flash workshop; Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood of Mountain Eye Media will demonstrate video editing; and Lisa Shenouda of Division Zero will address print design.

Sign up here. Or, recommend this event to contacts and friends who could benefit from knowing more about multimedia.

Off the MAP: Ghost in the Machine - The Marriage of Software and Art

Off the MAP Exhibits Generative and Reactive Art at the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center

The latest Off the MAP event filled all the seats at the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center. Ghost in the Machine: The Marriage of Software and Art was a presentation of generative and reactive computer art that changes continually in response to software programming or a viewer?s input. Curator Curt Cloninger has made the demonstration pieces available to interact with at www.lab404.com/ghost.

More information about the next Off the MAP will be coming soon. Contact rosem at themap.org if you'd like to curate a collection or submit your own media art for an Off the MAP exhibition.

The artworks exhibited at the upcoming Off the MAP event may never be seen the same way again. On Thursday, September 30, Ghost in the Machine: The Marriage of Software and Art, will demonstrate generative and reactive computer art that changes continually in response to software programming or a viewer’s input. The works will be displayed on a large screen, and attendees are also invited to fully experience reactivity by bringing laptop computers, connecting to wireless internet, and simultaneously interacting with their own individual versions of the pieces. The exhibition will take place at 8:30 p.m. at the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center (BMCMAC) at 56 Broadway in downtown Asheville.

"Ghost in the Machine" refers to the computer's ability to make choices within limits set by the artist who creates generative pieces. When the computer chooses variations, in a sense, it is exercising a will endowed by the artist. The ghost in the machine is the influence or force that makes a generative piece play out differently every time, instead of identically as a film would.

During Ghost in the Machine: The Marriage of Software and Art, demonstration pieces will change patterns and movement according to your mouse clicks. Permutation Poetry will shuffle entered words and grammatical units, allowing for an abundance of possible texts. Audio visualizations will react to music. Brian Eno’s generative music, made from 150 musical parameters selected by the composer, will be played in an improvisational order chosen by a computer.

Local artist Curt Cloninger - a speaker and featured artist at worldwide events; author of Fresh Styles for Web Designers, an industry standard book on web design; contributor to many publications such as the New York Times; Media Arts Project board member; and a Multimedia Arts and Sciences instructor at UNCA—will show his Synesthetic Bubble Gum Cards along with the other international selections. The cards perpetually transform, offering different combinations of images ranging from well-known paintings to Cloninger’s own photos, encouraging the viewer to reconsider the images in different contexts.

Cloninger, curator and discussion leader for the one-evening demonstration, is drawn to generative and reactive work because of its random and unfinished aspects. “No matter how experimental a film is,” he says, “it’s still linear. With this art, the maker relinquishes control to the user or computer.” Cloninger has dubbed the interactive, personalized exhibit B.Y.O.L—Bring Your Own Laptop. In addition to being gratifying and fun, interactivity and non-linearity are qualities that reflect today’s culture and will increasingly become a part of cinematic and artistic experiences.

However, generative and reactive arts existed well before digital art. Cloninger will discuss predecessors of the current genre by artists such as William Burroughs and—fittingly for an event at BMCMAC—John Cage, the noted composer who worked and collaborated at Black Mountain College.

BMCMAC, which seeks to commemorate Black Mountain College’s legacy of artistic and educational innovation, will continue to host Off the MAP exhibits. Off the MAP, a regular series of screenings and exhibits, is organized by the Media Arts Project (MAP).

For more information about Ghost in the Machine: The Marriage of Software and Art, contact Rose McLarney at rosem at themap.org or 828-280-1339. Admission is $5.00.

Promotional materials were designed by Klein Digital, using imagery from one of the demonstration pieces, at www.re-move.org.

Off the MAP: onedotzero's "Films of the Future"

MAP and Fine Arts Theatre Bring onedotzero’s “Films of the Future” to WNC

The world’s largest annual digital film festival, onedotzero, isn’t coming to any part of the United States this year. But the Media Arts Project is bringing onedotzero_select II--a collection of short films compiled at onedotzero’s festivals all over the globe—-to Asheville’s Fine Arts Theatre on Thursday, August 26, at 9:45 p.m.

“One day, feature films will be passé, outmoded by motion pictures as brief and compelling as the ones on onedotzero_select DVD,” the BBC reported in 2003 when onedotzero released its first collection. The Guardian Guide called the collection “a dynamic, potential filled glimpse at what films will look like in future.” The short works in the second volume—using motion graphics, animation, and digital film—may be all new to many Western North Carolina viewers. But, it’s important that people be exposed to evolving techniques and technologies, according to Lorraine Walsh, artist and Director of the Multimedia Arts and Sciences Program at UNC Asheville.

“These films are new. They use new technology and offer a new way of seeing. Our vision evolves just like anything else. The renaissance painters and inventors mastered one and two point perspective—a linear view. Cezanne smashed perspective at the beginning of the 20th century with shifting planes. Similar to cubism, early filmmakers used editing techniques and radical shifts in orientation, with various perspectives. Today, we are accustomed to seeing in layers, and non-linear forms…These short films are often nonlinear, using technology to recreate the way we see, reflecting the culture that we live in,” Walsh says.

onedotzero_select II brings together various cultural perspectives—a South African “understated yet elegant graphic homage to spring,” Brazilian designers’ interpretation of Swiss travel posters, English animation influenced by Japanese wood block prints, and a German designer’s exploration of the London underground “with a fresh eye for details most commuters would overlook.” Contributing to the diversity of onedotzero_select II is the number of works it includes. In about an hour, Off the MAP will show a total of 17 digital films, averaging under 4 minutes each.

The films’ economical use of time may be due, in part, to the makers’ experience competing for attention in a visually accelerated culture. No starving artists, onedotzero’s contributors boast portfolios including work in advertising; developing video games and club visuals; and making music videos for the musicians such as Radiohead, Autechre, Prefuse73, Four Tet, and Amon Tobin, whose music is featured in one of the shorts to be shown on the 26th.

Walsh, a MAP board member, says short films are appealing because they’re so communicative. “Brevity—-this is often the goal of good, common sense design. Like the New York City subway map or the hiking trail maps of the Blue Ridge Mountains, [these films] communicate something visually that can be understood in a second.”

Beyond motion graphics and the new techniques and methods that define them, ultimately the purpose of films like those in the onedotzero_select II collection is to tell a story. Walsh looks forward to seeing the story of the role digital technology will play in our society unfold, and to the continuation of the Off the MAP series. “Off the MAP will encourage dialogue, and spark thought. It’s important that we engage each other in discourse about culture. Why?—-I believe in the cultural significance of art and design, be it gaming or film…It is necessary for a healthy and informed community.”

DVDs of onedotzero_select I and II will be available for sale at the screening for $35 each or $65 for two (cash or check only). The DVDs are distributed by Microcinema International, an organization that curates, exhibits, and promotes moving image art marginalized by the mainstream entertainment industry.

Off the MAP is a collaborative effort by MAP and the Fine Arts Theatre to engage, entertain, and educate students, professionals, and the public with regular screenings. Tickets to Off the MAP cost $5.00 with proceeds going to MAP. Contact rosem@themap.org for more information or to find out about volunteer and curatorial opportunities.

For additional information on onedotzero_select II visit:
http://www.onedotzero.com/home.php
http://microcinema.com/programResult.php?program_id=206
To learn more about Microcinema, visit:
http://microcinema.com

MAP teams up with WNC Film Commission for Digital Location Library for Filmmaking

The Media Arts Project and Western NC Film Commission are undertaking a unique collaboration this summer to digitize and categorize the Commission's Digital Location Library for Filmmaking(DLLF).

Check out the 6/17/04 article on the DLLF in the Asheville Citizen Times here!

DLLF will be our region's premier digital library of images, video clips and written data on over 1,500 shoot locales in Western NC. It will enable the Film Commission to operate more efficiently and professionally in a highly competitive environment.

The MAP has agreed to facilitate a team of volunteers for the intensive two-month project. Involvement in this critical project will vastly prove our region's ability to promote filmmaking and the growing local film industry infrastructure. The time commitment will be between four to twenty hours per week from mid-June to mid-August.

Volunteers need to be proficient with computers and scanners, have the ability to categorize visual information, act as responsible and
reliable team players and be committed to enhancing the film industry in Western North Carolina. Volunteers' contribution to this project will be highly valued by the regional film community. Additionally, volunteers will enhance their experience and exposure within the
film industry through the successful completion of this project.

If you would like to join us in this project, email Greg Lucas at director {at} themap.org or call 242-6663.

From Quark to Quasars Symposium

Asheville's Media Arts Project hosted a two-day symposium at UNC-Asheville on April 23 and April 24, 2004. The event, From Quark to Quasars: The Art and Technology of Visualizing Science, was a huge success with over 200 participants attending. Our goal was to provide educational outreach to and demonstration for the local community about ways in which multimedia can be used as public interfaces for scientific research.

The event included two days of free-of-charge educational opportunities for media artists, scientists, students of all ages and the interested public. The public sessions were free and open to the public on a first-come first-serve basis. There was no advanced ticketing or registration, so early arrival is recommended. All events took place at UNCA's Lipinsky Auditorium.Here is the description of events with bios of our special guests:

Plenary Session Friday April 23 2PM – 4:30PM
From visualizations of DNA replication to models of nebula at the outer reaches of the universe, scientists are relying on 3D animation, multimedia productions and immersive displays to present their ideas to each other and the public. You are invited to two free presentations from nationally acclaimed science visualizers from NASA and the Hayden Planetarium. Experience vizualized views of outer space flight into Asheville from the Symposium Auditorium during the NASA/NOAA Earth Science Electronic Theater presentation. Journey to the Red Planet visualized in sweeping Martian landscapes created by one of the top astro-visualization artist in the country.
2-4:30PM	Lobby Exhibits and Presentations During public sessions, Lipinsky Lobby will feature exhibits by Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, Riverlink, Baron Advanced Meteorological Service, the Media Arts Project, and many other regional media artists and science organizations.
2PM	Dr. Fritz Hasler, NASA E-Theater Goddard Space Center (Greenbelt, MD) Join Dr. Hasler for a special high-definition presentation and discussion of Earth science observations and visualizations from NASA and NOAA. Dr. Hasler’s 40-year professional career includes work with NASA/Goddard and terms at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder and the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique in Paris. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the NASA/GSFC Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Medal and Excellence in Outreach Award. He is currently the Chairman of the NASA/NOAA/AMS Earth Science Electronic Theater
3:30PM	Mr. Carter Emmart Hayden Planetarium, Rose Center for Earth and Space (New York, NY) Join Mr. Emmart for an interactive fly-through of the Digital Universe, a three-dimensional digital atlas of all celestial objects from our solar neighborhood to the outer reaches the universe. Mr. Emmart is the Director of the Astrovisualization at Hayden Planetarium's Rose Center for Earth and Space and has worked with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, NASA and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. He has received awards from the Environmental Protection Agency and the American Geophysical Union.
Panel Session Saturday April 24 10AM – 1PM
Hear from regional experts about the increasing commonality between media art and science presentation/education. From the outer limits of technological tools like High Definition Television (HDTV) projection, immersive 3D visual “caves,” and interactive gaming engines, our two panels will explore a variety of techniques and case studies.
10AM-1PM	Lobby Exhibits and Presentations During public sessions, Lipinsky Lobby will feature exhibits by Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, Riverlink, Baron Advanced Meteorological Service, the Media Arts Project, and many other regional media artists and science organizations.
10AM	“The Outer limits of Art for Science Visualization” Moderated by David McConville, Black Box Studio Lorraine Walsh, UNCA Multimedia Arts & Science Department John Payne, Wedge Gallery Carter Emmart, Rose Center of Earth and Space
11:30AM	“Science and Media Art – Creative Commonalities” Moderated by Dr. Ned Gardiner, Science Bulletins, American Museum of Natural History Dr. Fritz Hasler, NASA E-Theater, Goddard Space Center Stewart Dickson, Oak Ridge National Laboratories Craig Hobbs, Black Box Studio

Hosted by UNC-Asheville and the Media Arts Project. Sponsored by Blue Ridge Entrepreneurial Council, an initiative of AdvantageWest, RBC Centura, and the Asheville Chamber of Commerce. With special thanks to the Haywood Park Hotel, Flying Frog Café, and Sweetmonkey Bakery.

The MAP Online Exhibition I

The Media Arts Project is pleased to present the winners of our first online exhibition. These fourteen works, prepared for the most part by Asheville-based artists, are a testament to the local talent and creativity that resides throughout our community.

The exhibition runs April 10 - June 1, 2004

*Motion Graphics & Video*
	Cassini Probe Deployment Nathan A. Ebanks This space science visualization depicts NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft with its attached Huygens probe leaving the Earth, arriving at the planetary destination, and deploying the probe to the surface. The actual NASA destination for the Huygens probe is Titan, a moon of Saturn. The probe is scheduled to arrive in July of 2004. Format: Quicktime Contact: nathan at stratosdigital.com
	The Wonder of Space Tiyo Hallock "I have deep faith that the principle of the universe will be beautiful and simple."- Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) This piece stems from my curiosity and amazement of the universe around me. I believe that my purpose in life is directly tied with this huge machine which is our universe. I am in awe every time I look up at the stars, thinking this is bigger than my vision, this is bigger than my dreams. I stayed up 3 days making this and I have never felt more inspired, the shapes, the textures, came together with such ease I felt as if I had tapped into some well of energy. I hope people can feel that energy when they view this. Format: Quicktime Contact: thallock at topfloorstudio.com
	Life Robert Ramirez This piece looks at the origin of life on earth as the result of two scientific theories. One, that life was brought to earth by a collision with a comet, and two, that life sprang up deep in the abyss of the ocean where the intense heat from the "smokers" or undersea vents acted as the catalyst. This is the first part of the fourth segment of a larger piece entitled "The Ouroborus" which is a history of the universe that focuses on the dynamic and chaotic properties of the cycles of the universe. This final story will not be told in the traditional linear fashion of film and video. These images will be digitally cued, looped, and processed based on analog audio input signals, and MIDI data, from a live musical performance. The music will serve as the dialog of the story. In this way the dynamic nature of the live performance will be reflected visually and will mimic the dynamic, cyclical and non-linear nature of the universe. This piece will be finished and ready for performance the first week of May of this year. Format: Quicktime
	4:4 Spring Lisa Shenouda This is the first installment of a video art series that functions as a meditative journey into the four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Each season is represented with different colors, music, and spatial textures. The video has an intentionally rough pixelated image quality so as to be effective in various viewing formats - from a small TV screen to a large theatre screen - without any of the usual compromises. Format: Quicktime Contact: lisa at dzero.org
*Interactive*
	Three Comments on the Sciences, with Illustrations Joe Bowers Three contrasting epigrams from disagreeing philosophies of science are presented within a system that allows for the composition of three simple, orthogonal dynamics. The result of both compositions is a tangled mess. Format: Flash Contact: joseph at culturematic.net
	Astrolabe Charles P. Morgan This is an artistic rendering of an antique astrolabe. Format: Flash Contact: october_reasons at hotmail.com
	Hybrid Cellular Pattern Growth Generator (H.C.P.G.G.) Robert Goerke The H.C.P.G.G. imitates the reaction-diffusion patterns found in nature through the use of a computer-based system called cellular automata (CA). The CA grows one line at a time, with each new line being generated by a set of simple rules. As the number of lines grows larger, the simple rules begin to yield increasing complex results and patterns begin to emerge. This piece was inspired by Steven Wolfram's recent exploration of cellular automata, but I wanted to take the visual exploration of the phenomena a step further, using not just little black boxes but other shapes and colors to create texture and explore the effect of rhythm and repetition making the output seem more distinctly organic. Format: Flash
	Rotary Project Chris Jackson This work was created as part of a school project. It was designed for an interactive kiosk aimed at educating the user. I’m a student at UNCA in the Multimedia Arts and Science department. I’ve been doing digital imaging since 1996, mostly Photoshop and Bryce 3D at that time. I’ve moved on and branched out to Flash, Director, Maya, Fireworks, and Illustrator. I’ve also sharpened my skills at Photoshop and learned some video editing software. I’m skilled at using Adobe Premier and After Effects. I am proficient in HTML, DHTML, Java, JavaScript, and am in the process of learning ASP, Visual Basic, and Lingo. Format: Flash Contact: chris at devilmotorsports.com
	The Orrery Mark Phillips /Or"re*ry/ n.; pl. Orreries. [So named in honor of Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery.] An apparatus which illustrates, by the revolution of balls moved by wheelwork, the relative size, periodic motions, positions, orbits, etc., of bodies in the solar system. The Orrery is an interactive Solar System simulator. Choose a time, a place, and what you want to look at, and generate your own pictures. Format: Geomview, Tcl, Perl, and HTML Contact: mbp at geomtech.com
	GEECO System: Cryogenics Training Visualizations Jennifer Seevinck Artists and researchers from the Old Dominion University’s enterprise center, the Virginia Modeling Analysis & Simulation Center (VMASC), developed computer-based training aids to enhance instruction of the Cryogenics Equipment Technician Course. This grant is funded by the US Navy’s Center for Naval Engineering for the Cryogenics School House Center for Naval Engineering in Portsmouth, Virginia. The training aids consist of 2D computer graphics and 3D visualizations for the GEECO J68114 High Pressure Oxygen/Nitrogen Producer System. An overall schematic becomes the interactive interface from which component 3D visualizations may be selected for viewing. The material is designed to support live classroom lecture instruction by a course instructor. The training aids enhance the ability of the instructor to explain the function and operation of very complex devices and processes by showing animated graphics of the devices and processes. The ultimate purpose of the training aids is to reduce the amount of class time required to teach these difficult topics and to enhance the student’s understanding by creating a conceptual picture. Format: Flash Contact: jseevinc at odu.edu
	Space Movie Brian Ussery Brian Ussery is a part time resident of Henderson County North Carolina and Brand Engineer dba beussery imagery co. Brian designs and produces high end marketing collateral used by professional corporations, organizations and individuals worldwide. Format: Quicktime Contact: beu at beussery.com
*Mixed Multimedia*
	The Osprey Project David Bourne Video Sculpture Format: tree of heaven, oriental bittersweet, english ivy, grass, plexiglass, plywood, trash can lid, hardware, cloth, LCD TV, DVD, HTML, Quicktime Contact: david at bournemedia.com
	Particles (Series) Kristi Pfeffer This series is a study of bubble chamber particle trails. Those images reveal particulars from a rain of cosmic particles. To create these, I spent a day snapping and throwing paint around, and come back later to pick out the most telling compositions. Format: Digital image, painting Contact: kristi at larkbooks.com
	Stars Nicole Tuggle This piece is a reflection upon the influence--spiritual, intellectual and physical--that astronomy has on Man. The saw blade suggests both the action of human thought process and the sense of movement and flux of stars during the Earth's rotation. Format: digital image, metal tile, wooden box, anatomical and astonomy illustrations, found writing, paper, metal screen, beeswax, saw blade Contact: nicole at sigilation.com