E hara taku toa, I te toa takitahi – ngari he toa taku tini
My strength is not from myself alone, but from the strength of the group
Pierre Levy’s notion of collective intelligence provides not only an alternative model for thinking about the world, but an alternative model for thinking itself; a model that is increasingly apparent in the contemporary world, particularly in the densely interconnected, layered and cross-pollinating networks of the internet. The SCANZ theme of Interconnections and attendant topics that we have been invited to explore can be approached from this paradigm of collective intelligence, and the collaborative cyberformance platform UpStage provides the perfect hybrid medium within which to situate this ontologically multifluous discourse.
This performative presentation will be an enactment of collective intelligence: remote intelligences at geographically dispersed locations will expound on the ideas postulated within the SCANZ themes, generating a dynamic ideography which the on-site presenter will deliver in real time to the symposium audience. The complex hybrid methodology of the remote intelligences will simultaneously construct and deconstruct itself, generating a vibrant, even ticklish, indeterminate exploration of the interwoven hypotheses and resulting in perhaps surprising synchronicities and juxtapositions – as well as illuminated banalities and flashes of incomprehensibility. This apparent chaos will be underpinned with hybrid integrated indigenous knowledge systems and beliefs, in an (arguably vain) attempt to embody, or even anthropomorphise, a vision of truly synthesised, if preposterous, collective intelligence. All will unfold upon, within and beyond the hypersurfaces of the UpStage platform, the presenter’s present body and the remote intelligences’ projected absent presences.
The contributing intelligences will tap the deep pool of global intelligence, including Levy, Agnihotri-Clark, Bagnall, Ballard, Barba, Barthes, Barbrook, Bataille, Baudrillard, Bebo, Beehre, Bell, Benjamin, Bennett, Binney, Birringer, Bishop, Blau, Body, Bourriaud, Bradley, Braidotti, Brennan, Broadhurst, Brown, Bruns, Bryce, Bugden, Burroughs, Burk, Butler, Butler, Butt, Cage, Cunningham, Czegledy, Englebart, Facebook, Fuks, Giannachi, Gibson, Google, James, Jamieson, Mauss, McAvoy, McCaw, McCahon, McIntyre, McKenzie, McLuhan, Monteith, MySpace, Peric, Plant, Robertson, Smith, Untitled, Whyte, and many others. Concocted by a gaggle of idiosyncratic post-structural theory sluts, and in the spirit of Einstein’s notion of loose opportunism, the potential exists for both supporting and contradictory concepts to culminate in an exhilarating collision.
Helen Varley Jamieson has been diagnosed as a congenital post-structuralist cyborg (non-ticklish). Rarely operating solo, she has a penchant for coercing innocent intelligences into ambitious disruptive schemes involving thick plots, imaginary friends and uncertain outcomes. She describes her modus operandi as collective collaboration, with interconnection being a key personal trope.
www.upstage.org.nz, www.creative-catalyst.com
Keywords: Collective intelligence, cyberformance, hypersurface, presence, absence, remote collaboration
helen is a theatre maker, digital artist, writer, catalyst, frock collector, gardener, and more. she has recently completed a master of arts (research), investigating her artistic practice of cyberformance - using the internet as a site for live theatrical performance by remote players. she is the project manager of the UpStage cyberformance platform and a founding member of the globally dispersed cyberformance troupe Avatar Body Collision. sometimes she can be found in wellington.
Read more about helen varley jamieson.
under-construction, under-distraction, in-deconstruction, undecomposed, undecoded, undebatable, undecidable, undecayed, undelayed... ok, little delaying, so what?
Read more about miljana peric.
Clandestine band of Brussels cyber-activists, notorious for infiltrating serious melting chocolate networked performances and upsetting the false veneer of the political belgian lace with precisely executed digital acrobatics and atomium juggling. Not sure how many people are part of the synthesis but definitely a hybrid collective intelligence.
Suzon Fuks (choreographer, photographer and digital artist) and James Cunningham (dancer and digital artist) have developed an extensive body of work internationally, both individually and together as Igneous
Read more about suzon fuks.
Daniel's research into the sociocognitive interface between social structures and discourse structures elicits rapturous applause from stadium rock audiences worldwide. His key cybernetic enhancement (the infamous plate of titanium in his right leg) allows him to run faster when high modernists and screaming groupies chase him. His research has recently taken him to the other side of the surgical knife and experiments with opiates, which have done wonders for his discourse analysis.
Read more about dan agnihotri-clark.
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James' post-structural approach to performance has led to complex and sometimes chaotic collaborations, real and virtual appearances around the globe, and quite some years in India.
Read more about james cunningham.
Symposium/Hui - 14th-16th of January, Owae Marae in Waitara.
Creative Residency - 17th-30th of January, WITT Campus in New Plymouth. International and New Zealand-based participant projects.
Workshops — Throughout city, schedule to come.
Public Events — Throughout city, schedule to come. Will include events on the closing weekend.
The SCANZ 2011: Eco sapiens creative residency participants include Sue Page and Janine May, Jo Tito, Andrew Hornblow, Dhyana Beaumont, Lanfranco Aceti, DodoLab (Andrew Hunter with Lisa Hirmer), Raewyn Turner & Richard Newcomb, Karen Ingham, ÆLab (Gisèle Trudel with Stéphane Claude), Josephine Starrs and Leon Cmielewski, Angelo Vermeulen, Justin Morgan, Jonah Marinovich, Nina Czegledy (our International Research Fellow) and Janine Randerson, Keith Armstrong and James Muller, Ramon Guardans. Dr Te Huirangi Waikerepuru, Roger Malina and Erich Berger of Ars Bioarctica will be involved in the hui, to be held at Owae marae. Julian Priest's Slow Flow project is also a partner project, and will immediately follow the SCANZ 2011 residency.
Solar Circuit Aotearoa New Zealand (SCANZ)
Solar Circuit Aotearoa New Zealand (SCANZ) is New Zealand’s premier art, technology, culture and ecology event and involves a symposium, creative residency, and public events and exhibitions. Occurring bi-annually, it has typically involved a mix of Aotearoa New Zealand and international artists, producers, theorists and curators many of whom are leading practitioners. Held in New Plymouth, SCANZ 2011: Eco sapiens will be the third event.
Intercreate.org gratefully acknowledges the support and partnerships of:

Creative New Zealand
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Govett-Brewster Art Gallery

Puke Ariki

Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT)

TSB Community Trust
and...
Phosphor Essence Ltd.
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