Contemporary Art and New Media: Towards a Hybrid Discourse?

Contemporary Art and New Media: Towards a Hybrid Discourse?

Art Basel, Art Salon, Hall 1 Auditorium

19 June, 1pm

Panelists:

Nicolas Bourriaud, curator/writer, Paris

Peter Weibel, CEO, ZKM, Karlsruhe

Michael Joaquin Grey, artist, New York

Coordinated and chaired by Edward Shanken, art historian/media theorist, Amsterdam

Since the mid-1990s, new media has become an important force for creative culture and economic development. Supporting institutions including Ars Electronica, ZKM and Eyebeam have expanded, while interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs at the intersections of art, science, and technology have proliferated internationally. Simultaneously,mainstream contemporary art experienced dramatic growth, propelled by the proliferation of venues from Art Basel Miami to the Shanghai Biennial and by the creativity of artists, curators, dealers and pedagogues. Yet rarely do these two artworlds meet. As a result, their discourses have increasingly diverged. To what extent are new media art and mainstream contemporary art commensurable? Is it possible to construct a hybrid discourse that offers insights into each, while enabling greater mixing between them? What roles have educational programs and cultural institutions played in fostering these divides and how can they contribute to suturing them? What insights into larger questions of emerging art and cultural forms might be gleaned by such a rapprochement?

Full program for Art Basel Conversations and Art Salon: http://tinyurl.com/3yajevm