CfP: Codes & Modes: ReFraming Reality, Virtuality & Non-Fiction Media

[Heidi Boisvert]

Amidst the flurry of techno-utopian industry hype surrounding Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning, not enough attention has been paid to long-term socio-cultural or neurobiological impacts of these new technologies. How can theorists, activists and artists develop a useful framework to explore the complex implications of using these technologies?

This version of the Codes and Modes Symposium aims to create an intervention into the uncritical excitement about emerging technologies to establish a space for conversations that are not being had. We are looking for presentations on new forms of nonfiction media that feature critical thinking on new technology, aesthetics, activism, practices, platforms and outreach.

Topics may include but are not limited to: sensory input, VR, AI, machine learning, the role of the body, methods for engaging subjects, AR, immersion, MR, user interfaces, games, creative code, representations of nature, interactive documentary, transmedia, technology and pedagogy, collaborative environments, biomedia, social media platforms, or experiential design.

We are interested in questions that examine:

• What are new methods media makers are using to engage communities for social transformation?  
• How can the economics of data mining that permeate social media be avoided in this new realm?
• What are compelling open source technologies and knowledge practices that advance possibilities for a genuinely free exchange of ideas and experiences?
• Does the dominance of an ocularcentric focus of emerging technology in nonfiction hide the affective and embodied potential of immersive media?
• What are the ethical implications of immersion and how might we collectively develop a set of best practices?
• What strategies are activists using with immersive environments that turn outreach into policy change?

Please submit papers, panel discussions, artworks, workshops and artist talks to [e-mail] prior to December 1^st. Include your CV, short bio, and an abstract (500 words or less) of your presentation. Make sure to include your name, title, email, and institutional affiliation (if any). The symposium is March 17^th & 18^th. Symposium website: http://ima-mfa.hunter.cuny.edu/reframe/ ;

The symposium is sponsored by the Integrated Media Arts MFA Program at Hunter College, the Department of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College and the Emerging Media Technologies Program at NYC College of Technology, the Entertainment Technology Department.

Symposium Organizers:

Marty Lucas, Associate Professor, Integrated Media Arts MFA Program, Hunter College

Heidi Boisvert, Assistant Professor, Emerging Media Technologies Program, NYC College of Technology

Andrew Demirjian, Assistant Professor, Integrated Media Arts MFA Program, Hunter College