Saturday, December 04, 2004
The Next Frontier - As Venues Dwindle, Local Arts Organizations Turn to Cyberspace
Since its inception in 1999, George Fifield’s wildly successful Boston Cyberarts Festival has been uniting Boston’s technology and arts communities, showcasing Bostonians’ pioneering work in new media arts and bringing that work to an ever-increasing slice of the populace. But in a city that’s short on funding and even shorter on new media venues, it’s the work that Fifield does in the years between Cyberarts festivals that’s helping to establish The Bean as a leader in the technological arts.
Boston Cyberarts is a member of Art Technology Boston (atBoston), a consortium of 10 local arts organizations - Art Interactive, the Berwick Research Institute, Boston Cyberarts, the Collision Collective, Do While Studio, iKatun, Mobius, 911 Gallery, New Radio and Performing Arts’ Turbulence and the Somerville Producers Group’s Dead Air Live - that work in new media and art technology. They advance new media arts in Boston and reinforce each other’s efforts by pooling resources, trading mailing lists, partnering on advocacy, sharing project ideas and residency openings, and working collectively to overcome Boston’s space shortage.