U.S. Department of Art & Technology
Press Secretary
press@usdept-arttech.net
For Immediate Release: January 21, 2002
SECRETARY PACKER TO ADDRESS TRANSMEDIALE
02
ANNOUNCING THE GLOBAL VIRTUALIZATION COUNCIL
WASHINGTON, DC - On February 5, 8:00 PM (GMT+0100),
Secretary Randall M. Packer will give an opening address at the Transmediale
02 International Festival of Media in Berlin, announcing a bold new initiative,
the Global Virtualization Council, intended to mobilize and coordinate
artistic forces of virtualization internationally.
Transmediale 02 has as its key thematic objective,
"to go public," questioning the ability of digital media "to
carry the hope for new forms of democratic participation."
At the opening ceremonies of Transmediale 02,
to take place at Congress Hall of the International House of Cultures
in Berlin, Packer along with recently appointed Artist-Ambassadors from
9 nations will ratify the Council's founding Charter, referred to as the
Berlin Virtualization Charter, in a collective signing ceremony. This
represents the first global accord between the artistic avant-garde and
international government.
With a view to the creation of conditions of
social and political action by means of those artists engaged with media,
the Global Virtualization Council is being formed to promote:(a) international
standards for socially-engaged interactivity and collective action; (b)
movements of international activist, hyper-mediated, utopian, and related
ideologies; (c) universal respect for, and observance of, artist rights
and fundamental creative acts of expression for all citizens without distinction
as to discipline, medium, gender, bias, or identity.
Packer will also discuss a new array of important
services to US citizens and to foreigners seeking to visit or navigate
through virtual environments.
Secretary Packer's address, to be Web broadcast
live over Tel-SPAN, will be open for press coverage. Media representatives
may cover this event upon presentation of either (1) a US Government-issued
identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department
of Art and Technology, or Foreign Press Center), (2) a photo ID issued
by the employing media organization, or (3) a letter on official letterhead
from their news organization verifying their employment as a journalist,
accompanied by an official photo ID (drivers' license or passport).
***********
The US Department of Art and Technology is
the United States government's principal conduit for facilitating the
artist's need to extend aesthetic inquiry into the broader culture where
ideas become real action. It also serves the psychological and spiritual
well-being of all Americans by supporting cultural efforts that provide
immunity from the extension of new media technologies into the social
sphere.
Tel-SPAN is the telematic channel of the US
Department of Art & Technology. Its mission is to provide global access
to the artistic process in an increasingly cybernated society. Tel-SPAN
provides its audience access to live, real-time distribution of broad
forms of cultural content, and to other forums where critical artistic
issues are discussed, debated and decided - all without editing, commentary
or analysis and with a balanced presentation of all radical points of
view. Tel-SPAN provides media artists who seek to influence the political
discourse, public policy, and the future of art a direct conduit to its
audience without filtering or otherwise constraining their points of view.
URLs:
US Department of Art & Technology: http://www.usdept-arttech.net
Global Virtualization Council: http://www.usdept-arttech.net/gvc
Tel-SPAN: http://www.usdept-arttech.net/tel-span
Transmediale 02: http://www.transmediale.de
Contact: Press Secretary of the US Department
of Art & Technology
press@usdept-arttech.net
01-094