At a point in history when independent artists, collectives, galleries, and small arts organizations are struggling to see their way through this thickly choking economic smog, all the while acutely aware that the endeavors of some of their colleagues have been sadly lost forever, there are still a few discernible rays of hope in the form of a growing number of groups that place an emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration.
Locally, we've seen the establishment and continuing success of the creative/tech idea incubator Spreenkler and the foundation of the much anticipated artistic cross-pollinator RedLine Milwaukee, opening in July. In what may enable us to confidently call this a trend o' our times, we can now happily welcome Upgrade! Milwaukee to our fair city by the Great Lake.
Upgrade! Milwaukee was founded some months back by three übersmart artists who also happen to teach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) Peck School of the Arts: Nathaniel Stern, Assistant Professor/Area Head of Digital Studio Practice and Co-Coordinator of Interdisciplinary Arts & Technology in the Department of Visual Art; Ryan Sarnowski, Associate Lecturer in the Film and Visual Arts Departments; and Colleen Ludwig, Assistant Professor in the Film Department. Their goal? To bring the excitement and beauty of synergistic cooperation to artists of all disciplines working or wanting to work in digital mediums.
To accomplish this inarguably daunting objective, they've started to organize free bimonthly gatherings, the first of which was held on April 19 at the Historic Third Ward watering hole MOCT--pronounced "MOST" for those of you who've let your Serbian language skills slip. According to Stern and Sarnowski--whom I met over a nice cup of coffee/tea/other liquid last week--approximately 30 peeps showed their ready-to-learn faces at the inaugural meetup, where Chicago-based tech/conceptual artist Patrick Lichty and Milwaukee electroacoustic/chamber music composer Christopher Burns satisfied the curiosity of all in attendance, save for one HIlariously sloshed heckler.
Ya know you're hittin' on something of value when a rowdy, inebriated critic takes the time to make an appearance and offer up a few uncomfortable moments--a phenomenon that just doesn't happen very often at artsy gatherings but probably should. Though I wasn't there, I imagine the slurring taunter to have shouted, "Hey, who do ya think ya are? Brian Eno or somethin'?" Hehe!
Anyhoo, as a part of Upgrade! International, Upgrade! Milwaukee joins some thirty other autonomous nodes--i.e. groups--located in cities around the world, including Paris, São Paulo, Jerusalem Tel Aviv, Dakar, Johannesburg and Warsaw.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Upgrade! International supplies a "decentralized, non-hierarchical structure [that] ensures that Upgrade! (i) operates according to local interests and their available resources; and (ii) reflects current creative engagement with cutting edge technologies." In other words, each node is what the local participants want it to be, with the role of The Man left uncast, so participants have no one but themselves to blame if the thing falls apart. Now that's a grassroots effort, people!
Stern very graciously put me in touch with a couple of other longtime organizers who could add their insights and answer my questions regarding the larger network, Jo-Anne Green of Upgrade! Boston and Yael Kanarek of Upgrade! International.
I asked whether the international website would be offering more opportunities for its autonomous node participants to gather and collaborate with each other online. Green explained that they had made forays into Second Life in the past but had encountered the types of problems that so many experience when they attempt to enter that sphere: Lack of time, wrestling with an unreliable bandwidth and an insufficient number of volunteers to orchestrate it. However, due to an increased interest expressed by many nodes at The Institute for Networked Cultures' March Winter Camp in Amsterdam, some kind of platform to facilitate creative online projects and peer-to-peer collaborations will most likely emerge over time. Neat!
In terms of enabling participants to get information as to what's going on at Upgrade! International and the other groups worldwide, Green stated that they "are in the process of transitioning to Word Press blogs. The international site will aggregate all of the activities of the local nodes. To find out more about our plans, you can go to the wiki." And so I did, and I recommend you do that as well.
Upgrade! Milwaukee plans to present 1-3 speakers per meetup, providing an atmosphere in which artists, musicians, performers, writers, curators, and interested members of the public can chat, swap ideas, introduce new works for informal critique, and develop collaborations of the digital kind. The next gathering is slated to happen in June and Cricky will let you know the exact date when it comes across the wire.
Welcome, Upgrade! Milwaukee, we're sure glad to have ya!
Link (Thanks, George!)
Related:
Lose Your Fear/Laziness--Apply to RedLine
Spreenkler Gets WIRED Up
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