INTELE

European Tele-Plateaus

Transnational Sites of Encounter and Co-Production

Tele-Plateaus is an international initiative planned to run through 2010 with an aim to create publicly accessible networked audiovisual sites. The main objective is to make possible and support real-time sensory-physical interactions of people over long distances. Therefore, we work to establish a permanent network allowing for direct audiovisual real-time interactions between similarly configured public sites and performance stages across Europe. Tele-Plateaus will be composed, controlled and structured by movements of people from different cities. Within these networked stages and sites people from Dresden, Madrid, Norrköping, and Prague (among the first connected cities) can dance and play together. They can simultaneously create pictures, sounds, and light effects by means of their own movements without operating any additional interfaces. The shared virtual hyper-site is based on the generation of data that is available for processing to all computers within a common network. Movement parameters (speed, spatial position, etc.) are captured and digitalised by camera-based motion system and exchanged between computers at distant locations with a technically similar configuration. At concrete sites the numerically coded movement parameters are creatively transformed into audiovisual outputs and processes. Tele-Plateaus will ultimately provide accessible environments for live telematic artistic performances and other collaborative activities.

The project is co-financed by Culture 2007 Programme of the European Union for the period 2008-2010. Project is led by TMA | Trans-Media-Akademie Hellerau (http://www.t-m-a.de/) in co-operation with the Hellerau - European Center for the Arts, and is jointly produced with CIANT Prague (CZ, http://www.ciant.cz/), REVERSO Madrid (ES, http://www.reverso.org/), and bitnet Norrköping (SE, http://bnp.se/).

Concept: Klaus Nicolai, Project Manager: Thomas Dumke (TMA). The TMA Hellerau is a »Landmark in the Land of Ideas«. It is thus part of the event series »365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas« that is jointly carried out by the initiative »Germany - Land of Ideas« and Deutsche Bank. TMA (Trans-Media-Akademie Hellerau e.V.) is an institute for integrals perception and media research, founded in 2001 as a platform for artists and researchers with experiences within the area of interactive systems. One of the highlights and focal point of work is the international festival of computer-based art and inter-disciplinary media projects called CYNETart taking place annually in Dresden, Germany. The CYNETart festival presents media performances, networked virtual environments and interactive installations. In the realisation of its media art works the festival builds on dimensions of the human body as baseline for authentic perception and communication.

Klaus Nicolai has background in cultural studies, 1985 conferral of a doctorate; until 1987 lecturer at the University of Leipzig and until 1992 lecturer at the Dresden Academy of Arts; from 1995 until 2005 Media Commissioner of the City of Dresden; from 1997 to 2005 director of the international festival for computer-based art CYNETart; since 2001 spokesman of the Trans-Media-Akademie Hellerau, since 2007 director of the Dresden Innovation Fund of Art and Media technology (DIF) and DIF-lab; author and lecturer at the Dresden International University. Father of three daughters.

Thomas Dumke, born in 1977. Studied history, sociology & communication sciences at TU Dresden, postgraduate in culture & management. Since 1999 Thomas Dumke is part of the CYNETart festival in Dresden, in 2000 he initiated together with DS-X.org the »microscope session«, founding member of TMA Hellerau, from 2006 he has been the director of the CYNETart festival. Father of one daughter.

Jacob Korn, born in1981, studying media technology at TU Ilmenau, 2002 assistent at the Fraunhofer IDMT, 2004 workshop »Live-Audio/Video-Installation« (Museumsquartier Wien), 2007 participation at the two-week workshop for music productions in Toronto at the Red Bull Music Academy. Since a six month internship at the Dresden Innovation Fund of Art and Media technology (DIF), he is writing his diploma in co-operation with the DIF and the Fraunhofer Institute IDMT.

Matthias Härtig, born in 1977, studied media technology at the University Applied Sciences Mittweida and graduated in 2003. Since 1999 Matthias Härtig is part of the CYNETart festival in Dresden, in 2000 he initiated together with DS-X.org the »microscope session«, founding member of TMA Hellerau, from 2006 he has been the technical director of the DIF-lab. He lives and works in Dresden.

Marlon Barrios Solano is a New York City based, social media specialist/consultant, on-line producer and lecturer/researcher focused on the intersection of new media and performance and on the use of on-line platforms for collaborative creativity and social innovation. He is the creator/producer of dance-tech.net (a social networking site), dance-techTV (a collaborative network of internet video channels) and of DANCE TECH Interviews (an on-line program that explores the intersection of dance and digital technology). Currently he an is artist/researcher in residency at Cie Gilles Jobin (Switzerland) and social media specialist for dance New Amsterdam (NYC). He holds an MFA in Dance and Technology (independent track on real-time technology, performance of improvisation and cognition) from The Ohio State University (USA).

Johan Melin started his career as a radio show producer, but has been working as an event producer since 1992. The events he organises cover mainly the electronic music scene, presenting DJ:s, computer game music and musicians, cultural experiments within the field of computer sound and mixed media, workshops etc. Johan is the founder of Norrköping Electronic Music Community (Nemcom), an interest group formed in 1992, reorganized 2002, which has now grown to include more than 500 members. He also runs a commercial company, Bitnet Productions, which focuses on event production.

Jaime Del Val (Madrid 1974) is a transdisciplinary and transmedia artist of old a new technologies of sound, image, space, body and text (painter and digital artist, composer and pianist, performer and choreographer, virtual architect, writer and philosopher); multidisciplinary activist (against urban speculation, environmental, post-queer/post-gay/post-transgender and other); independent researcher, organiser of events, teacher and director of REVERSO in which he promotes diverse initiatives in the crossroads of the body, arts, technology, critical theory and political action. His work in performance, dance and technology, electroacoustics, video and virtual generative architecture as well as in fields of critical theory has been extensively presented, awarded, performed and exhibited in Europe and America. REVERSO is a transdisciplinary independent initiative of research, production, education, diffusion and activism in the crossroads of arts practices, old and new technologies, critical theory and political action. It started in 2000 with the publication of the first Journal of queer studies in Spanish. Since 2001 REVERSO has developed and presented performances and installations as well as critical theory papers in festivals, conferences, exhibitions and other events in Europe and America. Since 2004 it has developed an intense activity in the fight against urban speculation having achieved, amongst other things, the paralysation of the Algarrobico Hotel in Almería and other initiatives of high political and social relevance, through several of its related associations. The Workshop of the Technologies of the Body is the education, production and diffusion initiative of the project. The first REVERSO CENTRE will open in 2010 in a village in the province of Salamanca. It is coordinated by Jaime del Val and Olinto Rubio.