Vectorial Empires 

01. These are precarious times. These are eventful times. Let us note some of the symptoms of this instability. There is September 11,and the prospect of a new form of American empire that uses September11 as its pretext. There is the global stock market slide, triggered by the collapse of American tech stocks, which altered the lives of chip-makers in Korea and Coltan miners in the Congo. These are instances of what I call weird global media events. They are events because they are singular. They are media events because they happen in a vectoral space of communication. They are global media events because they call a world into being. They are weird global media events because they defy explanation. They subsume every explanation as mere ripples and eddies in their wake.

• politics,
• tactical media,
• infopolitics

Art and the Battle for Truth 

In their curatorial statement for the exhibition, Really? Art and Knowledge in Time of Crisis (2024), Mi You and David Garcia explore how artists address the erosion of trust in knowledge and the rise of disinformation through investigative and critical practices.

• tactical research,
• disinformation,
• evidence

 VakuumTV

VakuumTV was founded in February 1994 on the initiative of László Kistamás. Its members presented weekly broadcasts on Monday nights at the most popular cultural club in Budapest, Tilos az Á.

• tactical media,
• tactical television

Tactical Media in Brazil - Submidialogia conference report 

The four-day conference on the campus of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) brought together many key persons from the tactical media movement of Brazil and some of their counterparts in the Brasilian government.
The movement is converging from roots in free radio, free software, hardware hacking, art and social movements. It is currently focussed around a large-scale project master-minded by Claudio Prado and supported by the Ministry of Culture: ?Pontos de Cultura? (Culture Spots) which is aiming to empower up to 600 cultural projects with free software-based multimedia production and publication facilities.

• tactical media,
• Brazil

Dictionary of War - New York Edition 

On Saturday, September 26th 2009, 11 am, the "Cities and the New Wars" conference organized by Saskia Sassen will host the 9th edition of the Dictionary of War.

• war,
• theory,
• dictionary of war

World-Information Serbia 

World-Information.Org is an trans-national cultural intelligence provider, a collaborative effort of artists, scientists and technicians. It is a practical example for a technical and contextual environment for cultural production and an independent platform of critical media intelligence.

• infopolitics,
• world-information

Dr. Shahidul Alam Detained and Released on Bail - Demand to Drop all Charges: #FreeShahidulAlam 

Dr. Shahidul Alam, internationally renowned photographer, activist, founder and Managing Director of the Bangladesh multimedia company, Drik, founder of Chobi Mela International Photography Festival and Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, was forcibly abducted from his home on the night of 5 August.

Shahidul Alam was granted bail on November 15, 2018 and released from jail, but still faces a maximum of 14 years in prison if convicted.

News and updates #freeshahidulalam

• art,
• activism,
• majority world,
• photography,
• Bangladesh

World-Information Vienna 

In winter 2000 the World-Information Exhibition took place in Vienna's Technical Museum.

• infopolitics,
• world-information

Networked Disruption 

The current techno-economic paradigm of Web 2.0 has challenged notions of art and hacktivism within digital culture. The book "Networked Disruption" takes up this challenge and discusses a new perspective on political and social criticism. It simultaneously asks what are the conditions for hacker and artistic practices under Web 2.0 and how can social networking be seen to build on and incorporate artistic practices from the earlier decades of digital and network culture.

Through its theoretical discussion of contemporary art and hacktivism, the book maps out a new contradictory space for art and criticism: Networked disruption.

• network cultures,
• activism,
• infopolitics,
• info-activism,
• hacktivism

Palestine the US and Satellite Television 

Sixty-two-year old Jordanian Labibeh Tannous was trying frantically to decide which satellite dish to buy. Should she go for the simple kind that only has the Arab satellite stations that goes for about $100 or should she go for a rotating dish that can pick up European stations as well which can be bought for about $150?

Her interest reflects both how inexpensive satellite dishes have become and the great thirst people throughout the Arab world have to go beyond what their national station is providing in television news.

• Palestine,
• satellite television,
• middle east

Sex in the Age of Media 

The most important issue concerning the representation of sexuality in the media is, whether human dignity is being honored or not. Respect has many forms and those forms have many layers, and really there is no one else but ourselves to be the judge of the way we are being treated. Yet when and where basic human rights are not granted, the feeling of being deeply rooted in one's dignity (if not entirely unimaginable) is but a dream. This world is certainly not the best of all worlds and there is always a battle to be fought and battles will have to be fought again and again. Some so mean and savage that they can only be fought by those prepared to go till the end.