Eduardo Kac

Site of the day: http://mitpress.mit.edu/

Eduardo Kac is an artist and writer who investigates the philosophical and political dimensions of communication processes. Equally concerned with the aesthetic and the social aspects of verbal and nonverbal interaction, in his work Kac examines linguistic systems, dialogic exchanges, and interspecies communication. Kac's pieces, which often link virtual and physical spaces, propose alternative ways of understanding the role of communication phenomena in shaping consensual realities.

Internationally known in the '80s as a pioneer of Holopoetry and Telepresence Art, in the '90s Kac created the new categories of Biotelematics (art in which a biological process is intrinsically connected to digital networks) and Transgenic Art (new art form based on the use of genetic engineering techniques to create unique living beings).

Kac merges multiple media and biological processes to create hybrids from the conventional operations of existing communications systems. Kac first employed telerobotics motivated by a desire to convert electronic space from a medium of representation to a medium for remote agency. He creates pieces in which actions carried out by Internet participants have direct physical manifestation in a remote gallery space. Often relying on the indefinite suspension of closure and the intervention of the participant, his work encourages dialogical interaction and confronts complex issues concerning identity, agency, responsibility, and the very possibility of communication.

In his work Kac deals with issues that range from the mythopoetics of online experience "Uirapuru" to the cultural impact of biotechnology "Genesis"; from the changing condition of memory in the digital age "Time Capsule" to distributed collective agency "Teleporting an Unknown State"; from the problematic notion of the "exotic" "Rara Avis" to the creation of life and evolution "GFP Bunny."

His work has been exhibited widely in the United States, Europe, and South America, in venues such as Exit Art, New York; Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria; InterCommunication Center (ICC), Tokyo; Saint Petersburg Biennial, Russia; Huntington Art Gallery, Austin; and Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta. Kac's works belong to the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection, Chicago; and the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, among others.

Kac has received numerous grants and awards for his work. In 1995 he received the prestigious Shearwater Foundation Holography Award for his body of work in the medium. In 1998 he received the Leonardo Award for Excellence, in recognition of his body of work in electronic art as well as his editorial work with the journal. In 1999, in the context of the InterCommunication Center Biennale, Tokyo, an international jury gave Kac an award for his telepresence work "Uirapuru," considered one of the best works in the show. In 2000 he received grants and awards from Langlois Foundation, Montreal; Institute for Studies in the Arts, Arizona; and Illinois Arts Council, Chicago.

Kac is a member of the editorial board of the journal Leonardo, published by MIT Press. His anthology New Media Poetry: Poetic Innovation and New Technologies was published in 1996 as a special issue of the journal Visible Language, of which he was a guest editor. The anthology will be published as a book in 2000 by the British publisher Intellect. Writings by Kac on electronic art as well as articles about his work have appeared in several books and periodicals in many countries, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, United Kingdom, and United States. Kac's collected writings on art will be published in 2001 by the University of Michigan Press. Two books document Kac's work with critical texts by North American, European, South American, and Japanese scholars: Teleporting An Unknown State (1998) and Eduardo Kac: Telepresence, Biotelematics, Transgenic Art (2000).

Eduardo Kac is a Ph.D. research fellow at the Centre for Advanced Inquiry in Interactive Arts (CAiiA) at the University of Wales, Newport, United Kingdom. He is an Assistant Professor of Art and Technology at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Eduardo Kac can be contacted at: ekac@artic.edu. His work can be seen at: http://www.ekac.org/. Eduardo Kac is represented by Julia Friedman & Associates, Chicago.

(From http://telematic.walkerart.org/)


Related articles:
http://www.fondation-langlois.org/e-art/e/eduardo-kac.html
http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/03_02/bunny_art.shtml


Telepresence and Bio Art: Networking Humans, Rabbits and Robots (Studies in Literature and Science) by Eduardo Kac:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0472068105/sr=1-1/qid=1137375062/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-9496415-0352157?%5Fencoding=UTF8

'Signs of Life'(book edited by Eduardo Kac):
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10773

Site of the author:
http://www.ekac.org/

Scientists develop revolutionary microchip that uses 30 times less energy

Site of the day: http://www.wired.com/

Leaving your mobile phone charger at home when you go for a two week long vacation may just be the norm one day as scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Rice University, United States, have successfully created a microchip that uses 30 times less electricity while running seven times faster than today's best technology.
Link:
http://www.physorg.com/news153398964.html

Dean Kamen's 'LED Nation'

Site of the day: http://slashdot.org/

Dean Kamen, best known as the inventor of the Segway scooter and a thought-controlled prosthetic arm, has taken a personal interest in reducing energy consumption.
His personal island, off the Connecticut coast, is totally energetically independent.
Other notable invention of Dean Kamen is water purification system named Slingshot.

Links:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008425362_greenation23.html
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/dean-kamens-led-nation/
http://www.impactlab.com/2008/04/22/dean-kamen-unveils-slingshot-the-ultimate-water-regenerator/

Genetic Analysis

Here is the story of dude who made it at 23andme:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/02/my-23andme-dna-results/

List of genetic services:
http://nspill.blogspot.com/2009/02/site-of-day-httppacketstormsecurity.html

Optical Fiber And Sensors Made From Natural Silk

New optical features of silk were researched by Fiorenzo Omenetto (Tuft University).
"We were looking for new materials for corneal tissue replacement and this led to observations of the optical properties of silk and its ability to replicate optical components with nanopatterned features," says researcher Fiorenzo Omenetto. "The entire system is biodegradable, biocompatible and implantable."
This can be used in sensors that could help monitor patients' progress after surgery or track chronic diseases such as diabetes.

Here is article about it:
http://optics.org/cws/article/research/35471
And another:
http://www.technologyreview.fr/biomedicine/21818/
Omenetto's article:
http://www.nature.com/nphoton/journal/v2/n11/abs/nphoton.2008.207.html

Data Storage Perspective?

Scientists in Stanford University succeeded at writing data in a two-dimensional electron gas.
http://nanotechwire.com/news.asp?nid=7326
Nature Nanotechnology article:
http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2008.415.html
SLAC press release:
http://home.slac.stanford.edu/pressreleases/2009/20090128.htm
More:
http://mota.stanford.edu/press.htm

That's nice.

Singularity University founded by Google and NASA

Slashdot:
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/03/232221
AssociatedContent:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1443403/singularity_university_founded_by_nasa.html

In my opinion, economics, education and entertainment are as important pieces of modern technology as natural sciences.

Crisis Economics

Here is something, that may be of interest:
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Swan-Impact-Highly-Improbable/dp/1400063515
http://www.amazon.com/Fooled-Randomness-Hidden-Chance-Markets/dp/0812975219

Site of the author:
http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com

New Technology Blog

Hi, men! Here is new blog devoted to progress of technology in informational age, its backgrounds and perspectives. Hope it'll be of use.