Digital arts festival NEoN announces the second wave of confirmed speakers

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:22:13 GMT

The international digital arts festival NEoN has unveiled the second group of speakers and delegates confirmed to appear at the event’s landmark conference, which takes place on Thursday 11 November and Friday 12 November, 2010 in Dundee.

This year’s NEoN welcomes the creative input of critically acclaimed and entertaining individuals currently leading their respective fields within film and digital media. The expanding line up features; founder of iconic Designers Republic, Ian Anderson, writer and consultant, Pat Kane, Digital Producer of Tern TV, Simon Meek and the highly respected Dr. Ken Perlin. The confirmed delegates will examine this year's curatorial theme 'character' with reference to the digital arts and media industry according to their own personal, professional and creative viewpoints.

The growing line up continues to build upon the diversity of the already exceptional selection of speakers and delegates descending upon Dundee for the NEoN festival:

A welcome addition to the NEoN conference’s list of delegates is the eminent Dr. Ken Perlin. Ken has been at the forefront of computer graphics and film innovation for over 20 years. He was systems architect on the iconic Tron, and received the Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1997 for his invention, the Perlin Noise, a technique used to produce natural appearing textures on computer generated surfaces for motion picture visual effects which played an integral role in film animation development. Passionate about film and the development of digital as having a fundamental role in both art and education, Dr. Perlin will draw upon his academic and professional roles as Professor and Director of the NYU Games For Learning Institute, appearing also as the entertaining animation and film guru.

“As an organisation devoted to contemporary art and culture, Dundee Contemporary Arts is delighted to have had a part in bringing one of the most important FX visionaries, Ken Perlin, to NEoN. It is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Ken's amazing achievements which have had such a lasting impact on the development, not only of film technology, but film artistry as well.” enthused Alice Black, Head of Cinema, Dundee Contemporary Arts.

Ian Anderson of the Designers Republic’s appearance this year is sure to be one of the highlights of the NEoN festival. A leader in its field for almost 25 years, the Designers Republic created innovative designs for large consumer brands such as Orange, Coca-Cola, Sony, Nokia, MTV and Nike while remaining dedicated to preserving the creative freedom of design which is unhindered by boundaries or parameters. Ian holds a wealth of experience and knowledge of the digital arts industry and is sure to shed light upon many topical issues.

The cast of delegates will also be joined by highly respected writer and consultant, Pat Kane. Pat is certain to engage with audiences through his analytical and entertaining approach to the in depth discussions at the NEoN conference, illustrating his passion for culture, digital technologies and politics.

Drawing upon his expertise in digital media platforms and television, Simon Meek of Tern TV has joined an inspiring list of delegates this year. Simon is involved with the digital wing of Tern dedicated to developing and producing digital and multi platform product, his team being responsible for the entertaining and engaging GUTS iPhone game, the award winning KNTV sex and relationship guide among other cutting edge productions.

The ever expanding NEoN list of delegates will entertain and engage with the audience while stimulating important discussion regarding digital development, the media and the arts.

For further information regarding the delegates, visit:

Ken Perlin http://blog.kenperlin.com/ <

NEoN’s second public debate to examine ‘Digital Museums’

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 10:08:17 GMT

International digital arts festival NEoN’s second public debate event will discuss the issue of ‘Digital Museums’ on Tuesday 28th September 2010 at the D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum, University of Dundee, in the city.

The debate will be directed by a panel of experts including Rachel Bhandari of the Museums and Galleries Scotland, Richard Brinklow of the McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum, Sarah Cowie of East Lothian Museums, Matthew Jarron of the University of Dundee Museums Services and Ger Malcolm of the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow. The panel will seek to examine and encourage public debate of the impact of digital media on museums’ services and curatorial concepts.

"Museums are often seen as stuffy establishments but many are now embracing advances in digital technology to reach out to new audiences. This debate will look at some current examples of the use of new technologies and ask what they mean for the future of museums,” explained Jarron.

While museums remain committed to protecting and sustaining the material culture of the past, there exists a real incentive in today’s climate to engage with new audiences and to keep abreast of developments in technology to interpret and make accessible their collections.

‘Are we doing enough to respond to the incredibly rapidly changing environment of access to information?’ Asked the then President of the Museums Association and Director of the National Gallery, Charles Saumarez Smith, as he addressed the Museums Association’s conference in October 2005 on the topic of the digital media and maximizing museums’ potential. Fast forward to 2010, and in the light of funding uncertainties, the topic of maximising a museum’s potential through digital media and audience interaction still prompts discussion, and the debate is perhaps more apt now more than ever.

The NEoN public debate event taking place on Tuesday 28th September, 6pm – 8 pm, will explore the issues involved (both practical and ethical) using a variety of case studies to examine the question ‘will new technology change our museums forever?

Booking for the debate is not essential and seating will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

For further information please visit http://www.northeastofnorth.com/events/, contact 01382 384310 or museum@dundee.ac.uk

Visit http://www.northeastofnorth.com/ for general NEoN information, join the community at http://northeastofnorth.ning.com/ or follow NEoN on twitter @weareneon.

ENDS

Contacts

Helen Reid
Revolver PR
E: helen@revolver-pr.co.uk
T: 0845 130 8992

Donna Holford- Lovell
NEoN
E: d.holford-lovell@abertay.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

North East of North (NEoN) is an international digital arts festival featuring moving image, performance, music and technology driven arts. The over arching curatorial theme for 2010 is Character: evaluating the abstracted or physical agent in a work of art; investigation of the fictional or psychological systems; observation of the unit of information, symbol, sound or written language. Through this focused dimension NEoN intends to explore the notion of collaboration between visual art, information communication, media production and gaming that will expand digital development and knowledge. (www.northeastofnorth.com)

NEoN was created by Interactive Tayside (www.interactivetayside.com).
Interactive Tayside is a partnership between public, private and academic sectors to develop and promote Tayside's digital media industry.

NEoN is sponsored by: Angus & Dundee City Council, Event Scotland, National Lot

Digital arts festival NEoN reveals the first of its confirmed speakers

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 11:10:29 GMT

International digital arts festival, NEoN, announces the first wave of inspiring speakers and delegates confirmed to take part in the two day NEoN conference as part of the wider NEoN festival on Thursday 11 November and Friday 12 November, 2010 in Dundee.

The NEoN festival this year will feature a host of well known and talented individuals within the digital arts world. Speakers at the conference will include; Creative Director of leading digital arts organization, Folly, Kathryn Lambert; multimedia artist Akinori Oishi; design duo Peter Thaler and Lars Denicke of Pictoplasma; member of the Chaos Computer Club, Tim Pritlove; and performative visual instrument Tagtool producer, Matthias Fritz aka IINK. Speakers will address this year's curatorial theme 'character' according to their own personal interpretation and its relevance to their specific fields of interest.

The NEoN festival organising group is excited by the calibre and diversity of this year’s speakers. Chair of the organising committee, Donna Holford-Lovell is thrilled to announce the first part of this year’s line-up and feels optimistic that the selection of speakers and delegates will prompt interesting debate during the two day NEoN conference speaker events and engaging sessions.

"We are looking forward to building upon the success of last year's NEoN conference. It is set to be bigger and better and I believe the quality of speakers reflects this. It is fundamental to get the views of those involved in the arts professionally and to examine their personal interpretation of this year's theme. The eclectic mix of speakers will no doubt prove that the digital arts crosses many sectors and presents an exciting range of innovation and opportunity for all involved" explained Holford-Lovell.

Set to inspire and entertain the conference audiences, the recently confirmed group of highly respected speakers at the NEoN conference will draw upon their own experiences and expertise in the digital arts and media fields to facilitate stimulating discussions focusing upon this year’s curatorial theme, ‘character’.

Already one of the highlights of the NEoN festival, the full line up of speakers and delegates involved with the NEoN conference will continue to be announced over the coming weeks.

The NEoN conference will take place in the Centre of Excellence, University of Abertay, Dundee on Thursday 11 November and Friday 12 November, between 9am and 6pm and tickets available for booking now at http://www.northeastofnorth.com/tickets/.

For a full programme of NEoN events, visit http://www.northeastofnorth.com/programme/

For further NEoN festival information, visit the NEoN website at http://www.northeastofnorth.com/, join the NEoN community http://northeastofnorth.ning.com/, or follow the festival on twitter @weareneon.

Ends

Contacts

Helen Reid

Revolver PR

E: helen@revolver-pr.co.uk

T: 0845 130 8992

Donna Holford-Lovell

NEoN

E: d.holford-lovell@abertay.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

NEoN launches ‘character’ design competition

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 10:41:22 GMT

International digital arts festival, NEoN, has launched a design competition focusing upon this year’s curatorial theme, ‘character’.

This year’s judging panel features designer duo Tado, Scott Downie from Hungry Boy, Fraser MacLean who has previously worked with both Warner Brothers and Disney studios, together with Sooper double D designer and part of the NEoN organising group, Lyall Bruce. The critically acclaimed and influential members of the judging panel are hopeful for a high standard of entries which will showcase both amateur and professional talented creatives.

“We are looking for highly creative and original designs focusing around the concept of ‘character’. The competition will give any aspiring artists the opportunity to circulate their work both in print and online, reaching a wide ranging audience. Winning the competition will be a fantastic boost to any professional or amateur artists’ portfolio and we are all really excited to receive the entries,” said Lyall Bruce.

NEoN invites entries from any individuals who are passionate about design, whether industry professionals or casual doodlers. There are three different categories tailored to suit each group of individuals; ‘Industry Guru’, ‘The Layperson’, and ‘For the Kids’ (under 16’s) and all entries will be uploaded and available for viewing in the NEoN online gallery.
The prize for the winning design is 100 pounds, a pair of NEoN conference tickets, and the chance to see their design on a t-shirt produced by Teetonic, the online t-shirt design competition site.

The partnership with Teetonic provides the competition entrants with further exposure as their entries will appear on the website, with visitors of the Teetonic website able and encouraged to vote for the best design. In addition to the exposure, the winning designers will receive a t-shirt featuring their design, and commission on every t-shirt sold.

The winning designer will also benefit from the exposure of their design on NEoN printed marketing material, of which the winning individual will be able to keep 2% for their own portfolio use.

The deadline for design competition entries is October 8, 5pm and the winner will be announced by October 15, 2010.

Visit the NEoN website for further information. Full terms and conditions can be found on the online entry form, along with information regarding the submission of designs.

Ends

Contact
Helen Reid
Revolver PR
E: helen@revolver-pr.co.uk

Donna Holford-Lovell
NEoN
E: d.holford-lovell@abertay.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

Notes to editors:

North East Of North (NEoN) is an international digital arts festival featuring moving image, performance, music and technology driven arts. The over arching curatorial theme for 2010 is Character: evaluating the abstracted or physical agent in a work of art; investigation of the fictional or psychological systems; observation of the unit of information, symbol, sound or written language. Through this focused dimension NEoN intends to explore the notion of collaboration between visual art, information communication, media production and gaming that will expand digital development and knowledge. (www.northeastofnorth.com)

NEoN is sponsored by: Angus & Dundee City Council, Event Scotland, National Lottery Awards for All, The Japan Foundation, Creative City Challenge, Scottish Enterprise &am

NEoN's first public debate to discuss 'Digital Dundee'.

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:34:43 GMT

The first of digital arts festival NEoN's public debates will take place this evening, Tuesday 31st August in the Dundee City Council conference rooms, City Square, Dundee at 6 p.m. The debate will be chaired by Paul Carroll of Dundee City Council. Carroll will be joined by a panel of experts to direct the discussion surrounding the pertinent local issue of ‘Digital Dundee.’

"Dundee has so far met the challenge of adapting to the internet age and built an international reputation as Digital Dundee. Tonight's debate will ask the question how can we build on that for the future." informed Carroll.

The objective of the debate is to consider the concept of ‘Digital Dundee’ and to identify ways in which the city can harness e-technology to improve leisure, business processes and increase their competitive advantage.The debate panel will consist of experts concerned with the digital industry, including Gameelah Ghafoor, Global Project Manager for Communications and Security at NCR, Clive Gileman, Director at the DCA, Colin Anderson, Managing Director of Denki and Doug Tonner, Client Director at BT Scotland. The panel will introduce a variety of topics to the discussion including - does Dundee need a digital strategy? should it continue to develop organically? ; and, what would a world class broadband wireless technical infrastructure do for the city?

The NEoN public debate, discussing the topic of ‘Digital Dundee’ is particularly relevant this year with the city having been given the accolade of one of the ‘Top 7 Cities’ by the think tank, Intelligent Community Forum. The think tank recognizes international communities which create prosperity, stability and cultural meaning in a world which is increasingly reliant upon digital media and dependent upon the development of communications. This evening’s debate will address the issues surrounding the importance of digital to the future of the community of Dundee.

The debate will take place this evening, Tuesday 31st August, at Dundee City Council conference rooms at City Square, Dundee, 6 - 8pm. Seating will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Visit http://www.northeastofnorth.com/2010/06/neon-debate/ for further information on this evening's debate.

For all of the latest news and updates to the programme, visit www.northeastofnorth.com To get involved with the NEoN community, join www.northeastofnorth.ning.com or follow us on Twitter: @weareneon.

Ends

Contact

Helen Reid
Revolver PR
E: helen@revolver-pr.co.uk
T: 0845 130 8992

Brian Baglow
Revolver PR
E: brian@revolver-pr.co.uk
M: +44 (0) 7747 792247

Notes to editors:

NEoN is sponsored by: Angus & Dundee City Council, Event Scotland, National Lottery Awards for All, The Japan Foundation, Creative City Challenge, Scottish Enterprise & the North Sea Screen Par

Dundee shows its character in NEoN

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:34:34 GMT

Following the success of last year, international digital arts festival North East of North, NEoN, returns to Dundee this November with over a month of various exciting and inspiring events and exhibitions, all focused on this year's theme of 'character'.

The new programme is set to showcase each element of digital art innovation; everything from design and art exhibitions, sound and moving image installations, digital animation to music performances. In addition to the displays of digital art, festival goers will be able to attend and take part in the extensive programme of salons, workshops, design competitions, and debates. The festival week will culminate in an entertaining digital music and arts event taking place in a multi-story car park in Dundee city centre.

Donna Holford-Lovell, Chair of the NEoN organising group, said, “It's incredibly exciting to be involved with this year's North East of North festival. Last year's event set the bar very high, with some inspirational speakers and guests. This year we have moved up several gears, to create something wholly new which incorporates even more content and a much wider variety of topics. The theme for 2010 is 'character' – exploring the abstracted or physical agent in a work of art; investigation of the fictional or psychological systems; observation of the unit of information, symbol, sound or written language. Within that remit we have some truly captivating speakers and events we hope to tell the world about very shortly.”

In the run up to and during the festival, a series of public debates, salons and workshops have been planned. The discussions will explore aspects of the digital world and the topical issues faced by creators and indeed consumers of the new generation of digital content. From digital Dundee to technology and the museum, the debates will take place in various venues across the city.

The University of Abertay will host a series of debates and sessions in its new Centre of Excellence on November 11 and 12. Experts from every corner of the digital world will present and chair discussions covering a range of diverse issues currently affecting the digital community. In addition, a range of workshops and hands-on sessions will give participants the chance to find out more about the latest software and technologies from many of the world's leading digital companies.

Dundee will be the home of a brand new conference and 'AppJam' during November 8 - 10. Focusing on the creation of Applications (Apps) for mass-market platforms such as the iPad, iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Facebook, the AppCon will bring together speakers from many of the world's largest mobile and online companies for three days. The AppJam, a 48 hour development competition is set to produce some exciting innovations in App design and production, challenging teams to create a new and original App in only two days.

In addition to the exhibitions, debates and workshops, both the Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre and Hannah Maclure Centre are planning themed movie-screenings to run across the week of NEoN to compliment the concept of the festival.

Many of the NEoN events including the salons, debates and AppJam are free of charge. Tickets for the NEoN conference, App Conference and AppJam are available for purchase now. Visit http://www.northeastofnorth.com/tickets/ https://reg.istrations.com/delegate/events/DNDNEON2010 for an events programme in brief, and ticket information and purchasing.

The full line-up of speakers, participants, sponsors, events, movies, parties and venues will all be announced over the next several weeks.

For all of the latest news and updates to the programme, visit www.northeastofnorth.com To get involved with the NEoN community, join www.northeastofnorth.ning.com or follow us on Tw

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Digital arts festival NEoN announces the second wave of confirmed speakers

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