Get Real : Real Time + Art + Theory + Practice + History

Real Time is a transdisciplinary issue. It is media art practice. The concept of Real Time enters our language because of the possibilities given to us by the (new) mediaelectronic communication and control.

This anthology and DVD is one of the first collected presentations of the influence on and significance of real-time media in art. Some of the most influential Scandinavian artists and internationally renowned critics, historians and curators within the field of media art and new media art have been asked to contribute to this anthology. The result is a kaleidoscopic view on the relations between real-time and art from three different angles/subsections:

REAL-TIME + ART + THEORY discusses the theoretical positionscurrent as well as historicaland their possible implications, seen from different perspectives. REAL-TIME + ART + PRACTICE gives subjective presentations by practitioners from the field of media art on real-time strategies and formalisms. REAL-TIME + ART + HISTORY presents the current research within the field of the history of media art, with a specific focus on real-time.

Furthermore, the DVD will provide a large selection of examples, ranging from documentations to actual, functioning real-time artworks you may install or run on your home computer.

A list of selected real-time artworks will supplement the examples on the DVD and the texts in the anthology. 15 two color illustrations, 110 in black and white, accompanied by a DVD.

Concerning itself with the interaction of time and art-sound, video and performance art-the central question this book attempts to answer is: What is the relation between art and reality? To fully answer that question, it would require a book much heftier than this slim volume, which weighs in at 200 pages. Editor Sondergaard attempts to expeditiously explain concepts that could fill books on their own. "Before I continue with the discussion of real time as media art practice," he writes, "I will take a brief look at the position of reality in western thinking, as exemplified by philosophers and artists." While truly ambitious in its scope, this is too much exposition in too little space. Sometimes, the tone of this book is downright flip, like when Mogens Jacobsen, in the middle of an essay, declares: "Modern computer games might offer a different and freer approach to responsive media. But my experiences in computer games are virtually nonexistent. And I have no children to show me how to use them." The book, itself visually stunning, explores an interesting topic, but it's unlikely to find an audience outside techno-art circles. 15 color, 110 b/w illustrations, companion DVD.
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