ISEA2009: 15th International Symposium on Electronic Art - Catalogue

Forward by Kerstin Mey - Artistic Director ISEA2009Engaged Creativity in Mobile Environments maps the territory of inquiry, debate and display for ISEA2009, the 15th International Symposium on Electronic Art. The incessant change of physical and virtual environments under the influence of global capital and mass migration as well as the fluidity of personal and social relationships effected by digital information and communication technologies have come to determine the life experience for billions of people. The radically and rapidly altered ways inwhich we communicate, inter- and transact re/define how we appreciate and make meaning of the world in and around us, and how we conduct our lives along dramatically changing fault lines of the private and the public. Digital technologies as the fuel of global capital have not only effected dynamic and increasingly precarious labour relations. Their impact on the spaces of (media) representation in/forms ideological, ethical and religious perspectives, values and believes. The speed, reach and connectivityof the new information and communication technologies fundamentally effect the perception and negotiation of political and economic, social and cultural circumstances and act as catalyst for the re/organisation of society and itsspaces through changing notions of democracy, citizenship and (self-) governance.ISEA2009 has set out to explore how creative strategies, activist interventions and critical thought engage with these fundamental issues. ISEA2009: The Exhibition forms a significant and integral part of this endeavour. This major show across three key art venues in the city of Belfast, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Golden Thread Gallery and the University of Ulster Belfast campus, is expanded further expanded and enriched by the SPARK platform at the Waterfront Hall, the art activities of the Dublin HUB, two special projects as well as associated displays and debates hosted by cultural organisations across the island of Ireland. Jointly these displays demonstrate how artists make use of electronic and digital media and formats to engage profoundly and imaginatively with contemporary societal concerns.Kerstin Mey - Artistic Director ISEA2009