Syndicate: REVOLTING - media lab in Manchester

[micz flor <micz@metamute.com>]

REVOLTING
[temporary media laboratory]
Manchester, UK; Aug/Sep '98

REVOLTING will bring together Activism, Art and Theory 
concerned with media in a social and productive environment. 
Throughout August and September '98 Manchester will offer 
more or less informal locations providing a media workspace 
(at Salford University) and social interfaces (in the 
Greater Manchester Area) - as well as related events in 
Manchester. This event/workspace will provide the 
opportunity of lively exchange and collaboration, both in 
the privacy of a dedicated environment and the mayhem of the 
public arena.

REVOLTING vs. REVOLUTION

Attempts to define 'the' revolution have failed to produce a 
universal checklist of distinguishing characteristics. Where 
does that then leave the 'Digital Revolution'? REVOLTING 
replaces the handset on the master narrative and dials 
again. Stepping outside the mere potential of 'revolutionary 
technologies', REVOLTING shifts the focus to groups and 
individuals within the field of media, who are applying 
creative, challenging, tactical and innovative ways to make 
the most of the 'revolting' circumstances we live in. We 
don't want to define the Digital Revolution, we are 
interested in knowing who attended!

Not understanding art as critical by 'nature', but stressing 
the fact that it could well be critical by definition, 
REVOLTING wants to focus on the overlap between cultural 
production and cultural theory. We 'mind the gap' between 
wanting to understand and being forced to act. REVOLTING 
will provide the means of production as well as the social 
setting within which to present the processes.

PUBLIC ACCESS

>From March 98, we hope to put in place a public access 
server for the Greater Manchester Area. This server will 
provide audio and video facilities and be devoted and linked 
to many local initiatives and activities in the area. This 
practise will also playfully explore the link-up of old and 
new media. Currently Manchester has very limited 
possibilities in terms of public access channels for radio 
and TV - at the same time, Manchester has a lively scene of 
pirate radio and video practise, which will be channelled 
through the public access project. In collaboration with 
these initiatives, REVOLTING will bring together local 
activity and global discourse. For the period of August, 
September 98 there will be a series of co-productions 
between international guests and local projects, to produce 
an ongoing archive of material, to test run concepts on the 
web and to experiment with the interfacing of old and new 
media.

IN-PRINT

REVOLTING will also print a bi-monthly newspaper/letter, the 
first issue to be published in March 98. This publication 
understands itself as an intermediate balance sheet for the 
off-line public and features information, opinionated 
journalism and manifestos which address pressing economic, 
political and cultural topics. As mentioned above, this 
publication attempts to extend the possibilities of new 
media by experimenting ways in which news groups, web pages 
and mailing lists can alter the impact of print publications 
- and vice versa... SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS NOW.

CONCEPTS & HISTORY UNDER CONSTRUCTION

REVOLTING hopes to amplify the close collaboration of the 
temporary media laboratory with the community within which 
it is situated. We also want to situate the media lab and 
the social interfaces at two nearby but separate locations 
to maintain a focused workspace while encouraging active 
participation of the public at the other end. The public 
interface will be equipped with sufficient access points, 
computers and consumer electronics to produce material in 
the semi-public environment as well as being a constantly 
changing archive and social space.

The media lab (at Salford University) will be equipped with 
extensive audio, video and internet facilities - as 
Universities are. The 'social interface' (in Manchester) 
will feature essential equipment: workstations, beams, 
projectors and the obligatory sound system to allow anything 
from focused presentation, screenings, via semi-public 
debates, improvised exhibitions, spontaneous interviews, to 
well earned leisure times.

At the same time, REVOLTING can be expanded into the city of 
Manchester, using locations and facilities to screen movies, 
celebrate, host presentations and stage demonstrations. 
Being located in a lively city like Manchester - with its 
strong profile of popular culture situated amongst the 
archaeological relics of the industrial revolution - there 
seems no need to implant an infrastructure which is already 
available and extensively accepted. In this way we hope to 
make the most of the city for what it was and is.

BIG SOLUTIONS FOR SMALL PLANETS?

We want to encourage participation - remote and on-site. We 
expect that the participants will all have enough social, 
political and cultural commitment to use this space in a 
tactical and productive manner. REVOLTING should be more 
than an editorial office and more than the extension of your 
working environment at home. REVOLTING wants to be an 
experimental social interface to the many realities we will 
bring to Manchester and to the ones already forming and 
performing in the area.

Attention: this is all construction!

Watch your usual channels for further information...

[REVOLTING is currently in dialogue with Salford University; 
Hypermedia Research Centre, Westminster University; Mute 
Magazine; Hybrid WorkSpace; Telepolis; North West Arts 
Board; Foundation for Art and Creative Technology]

Micz Flor (micz@metamute.com)

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