Wednesday, September 22, 2004
CALL: VIDA 7.0 - Art & Artificial Life International Competition (Spain)
Deadline: Wednesday, November 3, 2004
http://www.vidalife.org
VIDA 7.0 is the sixth international competition seeking to reward excellence in artistic creation that has embedded in it the practices of Artificial Life (A-life).
In the competitions held to date, prize winners have included autonomous lifelike entities that pleasure us (Tickle, 2.0; Tickle Salon, 5.0), converse irrationally with us (Head, 3.0) or invade our social space (Cour des Miracles, 2.0); virtual ecologies that evolve with user participation (Autopoiesis, 3.0; Electric Sheep and Remain in Light, 4.0); autonomous systems that use feedback as both a mechanism and a metaphor for transformation (Appearance Machine, 3.0; Levantate, 5.0); and works that emphasize social commentary relevant to A-life (Novus Extinctus, 4.0; The Relative Velocity Inscription Device, 5.0).
Further themes appear in the honorary mentions: avatars and agents in their unique worlds (Iconica, 2.0; Life Spacies II and Unconscious Flow, 3.0), re-workings of the roots of A-life such as cellular automata (Sandlines, 3.0; Dadatron, 5.0), and system feedback or autonomy translated into simple, familiar means (Breathe and Autistic-Artistic Machine, 4.0; The Responsive Field of Lattice Archipelogics, 5.0).
We’re interested in art that reflects upon the panorama of potential interaction between synthetic “life” and organic life, for example:
- autonomous agents that shape and perhaps interpret the data-saturated environment we have in common.
- portraits of intersubjectivity or empathy, shared between artificial entities and us.
- intelligent anthropomorphising of the datasphere and its inhabitants.
- user-defined exploration and interaction that is designed to mitigate fear and enhance curiosity in the face of emergent phenomena, which are by definition beyond our control.
- dynamic cybernetic ecologies that invite human participation.
The international jury will grant awards to the most outstanding electronic art projects employing techniques such as digital genetics, autonomous robotics, recursive chaotic algorithms, knowbots, computer viruses, embodied artificial intelligence, avatars, virtual ecosystems, and interfaces between software, hardware and biomass.