Radical media, politics and culture.

6th International Browserday Back in Amsterdam, May 17, 2002

NL-Design and Paradiso present

6TH INTERNATIONAL BROWSERDAY

WIRELESS – CELLSPACE – RICH AIR

PARADISO – AMSTERDAM - friday May 17 - 2002

Start at 2 PM

Browserday, the international competition for new media designers, is
coming back to Amsterdam. After Browserdays in New York and Berlin, the next
event will take place at Paradiso on 17 May 2002. In 1998, the first
Browserday was staged in the midst of the so-called 'Browserwar' between
Netscape and Microsoft. Ever since the question who owns infrastructure and
thus determines the ways in which billions of people communicate has become
increasingly urgent. The techno-economic battleground has shifted from the
Internet to mobile networks but the issues are still the same: who sets the
standards and owns them? What degree of freedom does the user have and what
is the role of designers in this fast changing world of new media? Almost 35
young designers will present their alternative proposals that leave the
existing software and interface culture far behind.

Wireless

The networks have liberated themselves from their cables. Electroclouds blow
through the streets. The heavy desktop computers of yesteryear have shrunk
and accompany us everywhere and nowhere. The unbearable lightness of the
media makes us feel uneasy about the almost perfect accessability of the
world. The invisible abundance of signs takes users into a technological
unconscious. For the moment all problems seem to be solved. But who are the
ones that invite us to this technological wonderland? Are wireless networks
part of society or are we mere paying guests of this cell space; clients
granted access only after having paid? Does wireless mean powerless? Can we
act against wireless devices being tapped? Are there public spaces on the
network that aren't being run by the big telecoms? What do the tiny screens
look like that offer more facilities than sending text messages or photos?

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PROGRAM:

Start 2 PM - (door open at 1.30)

Browsershow and contest – more than 30 fresh and cool presentations of
exactly 3 minutes by young designers from all over the world.
Presentation: John Thackara (Doors of Perception)

Special guests:

Tim Pritlove, Chaos Computer Club

Jaap den Dulk, KPN Mobile

The jury members are:

Jonah Brucker-Cohen, Research Fellow MIT Dublin

Taco Stolk, Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag

Caroline Nevejan, Hogeschool van Amsterdam

Shu Lea Cheang, Artist (USA)

Koert van Mensvoort, Designer / Programmer

Thorsten Schilling , Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, Bonn

Ine Poppe, Journalist & Professor, The Netherlands

Jaap den Dulk, KPN Mobile, The Netherlands

7 PM – 8 PM: dinnerbreak

8 PM

That evening, five finalists chosen by the jury will compete for The Browser
Award. Before the Award Ceremony three former Browserday winners will give a
presentation:
Jonah Brucker-Cohen (USA), Fellow MIT Dublin, winner of the 4th Browserday
in New York. Joes Koppers (NL), interaction designer/artist, winner of the
first Browserday in Amsterdam. Victor Vina (Spain), researcher at the
Interaction Design Institute Ivrea, Italy, winner of the 3th Browserday
Amsterdam.

10 PM

WWAMM - Wireless Wide Area Music Machine

BrowserParty organized by Paradiso.

*** STAR GUESTS

Tim Pritlove, Chaos Computerclub from Berlin.

The Chaos Computer Club is world's oldest hacker club with more than 1000
members mostly in but not limited to german-speaking countries. The club
organizes regular meetings and conferences and actively promotes freedom of
information in the public. The acts as a mediator between public and the
technical scene and tries to explain both chances and risks of the use of
modern technologies.


Jaap den Dulk, KPN mobile. He will introduce i-mode to the Netherlands and
shows how to create your own website on the mobile phone.

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INTERVENTIONS:

Docu RT. Browserday will be broadcast live from the Paradiso on the Internet
(www.browserday.com) and on Amsterdam’s local TV cable A2000. Comments,
Interviews and moving images will give shape to Browserday’s theme of
"Wireless Cellspace: rich air". Students from UvA and the Rietveld Academy
will experiment using digital techniques to tackle the difficulty-defined
term "webcast"



- Live streaming of International browserday:
browserday

Concept: Shu Lea Cheang - artist (USA) in collaboration with
DasArts dialogue and Sandberg Instituut.

May 16th Dinner Served at 7.30 pm. at the glasshouse at dasarts
Haarlemmerweg 8-10 reservations compulsory. t: 020-5869636

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MOBILE MINDED - publication

This is the mobile world of quotes, essays, statistics and factoids, all
reflecting the very young state of the art in wireless thinking. This
publication asks what it means to become cellular, think wearable and live
mobile. Liberated from cables and heavy objects, the new human condition of
always being available is a remarkably light and unreflected one. Mobile
phones seem to fit in almost unconsciously our busy everyday lives. More
than 60 thinkers, designers, artists have contributed to this colorful book.

The texts of this book are compiled by Geert Lovink & Mieke Gerritzen.

Design by NL.Design. The publisher is BIS Publishers (nl) and Gingko Press
(usa). The book is available at browserday for 12 euro.

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International Browserday is a project by NL.Design. Day and Dinner address
issues pertaining to the present state of communication in society. By
thinking up new communication concepts and creating experiments, we
criticize the technological developments in business, culture and society.
For more information: browserday

The Sixth International Browserday is organized in collaboration with:

Paradiso, DasArts, UvA, Rietveld Academy and Sandberg Institute.

The Browserday is generally supported by: Mondriaan Stichting, Thuis Kopie
Fonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuur Fonds, Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst, KPN
Mobile, Engage!, XS4ALL, DDS Studio and Skyworks Nederland.