Contemporary Art and New Media: Towards a Hybrid Discourse?<\/p>\n
Art Basel, Art Salon, Hall 1 Auditorium<\/p>\n
19 June, 1pm<\/p>\n
Panelists:<\/p>\n
Nicolas Bourriaud, curator\/writer, Paris<\/p>\n
Peter Weibel, CEO, ZKM, Karlsruhe<\/p>\n
Michael Joaquin Grey, artist, New York<\/p>\n
Coordinated and chaired by Edward Shanken, art historian\/media\u00a0theorist, Amsterdam<\/p>\n
Since the mid-1990s, new media has become an important force for\u00a0creative culture and economic development. Supporting institutions\u00a0including Ars Electronica, ZKM and Eyebeam have expanded, while\u00a0interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs at the intersections of art, science,\u00a0and technology have proliferated internationally. Simultaneously,mainstream contemporary art experienced dramatic growth, propelled by\u00a0the proliferation of venues from Art Basel Miami to the Shanghai\u00a0Biennial and by the creativity of artists, curators, dealers and\u00a0pedagogues. Yet rarely do these two artworlds meet. As a result, their\u00a0discourses have increasingly diverged. To what extent are new media\u00a0art and mainstream contemporary art commensurable? Is it possible to\u00a0construct a hybrid discourse that offers insights into each, while\u00a0enabling greater mixing between them? What roles have educational\u00a0programs and cultural institutions played in fostering these divides\u00a0and how can they contribute to suturing them? What insights into\u00a0larger questions of emerging art and cultural forms might be gleaned\u00a0by such a rapprochement?<\/p>\n