- Constant (organization)
-
Constant[1] is a non-profit interdisciplinary arts-lab based and active in Brussels since 1997.
Constant works in-between media and art and is interested in the culture and ethics of the World Wide Web. The artistic practice of Constant is inspired by the way that technological infrastructures, data-exchange and software determine our daily life. Free software, copyright alternatives and (cyber)feminism are important threads running through the activities of Constant.
Constant organizes workshops, print-parties, walks and ‘Verbindingen/Jonctions’-meetings on a regular basis for a public that’s into experiments, discussions and all kinds of exchanges.
Constant's legal structure is a 'Vereniging Zonder Winstoogmerk' (in short Vzw); a formal designation under Belgian law meaning Nonprofit organization. The activities organised by Constant are marked by the idea that the most fruitful debates spring from the interstices of disciplines and genres.[2].
Contents
History
Constant was founded in 1997 as an organization that reflected on the position of new media in contemporary arts institutions. Over the years it has evolved into an association for makers from many disciplines such as art, programming, curation, design, performance and literature who are interested in sharing their experiences in working with free software tools. Constant is supported by the Flemish Government as Multi-disciplinary Art-lab. [3]
Between 2011 and 2014 a temporary workspace (Constant Variable) welcomes artists that are interested in using F/LOSS[4] in their practices. Constant Variable is a Free Libre Open Source Software Artslab[5]in the neighbourhood Schaerbeek in Brussels. Variable hosts collective artistic workspaces such as: FreeSoundsLab, LibreVideoLab, Open Source Publishing[6] and the Open Hardware Studio.
Network
Through collaborations and alliances with organizations such as for example the Wizard of OS[7], The Create community that organizes the annual international Libre Graphics Meeting, Free Art License and knowledge institutes such as the Piet Zwart Institute, the Ghent University, Kuleuven and many others, Constant is an important relay of expertise that functions between local and global actors who are active in the fields of digital arts, open source, design, net ethics, feminism and technology.
Constant is an active member of the Kunstenwerkplaats.be (Arts-labs.be) alliance of Belgium based art-labs. [8]
With the organizations Media-lab Prado[9] in Madrid (ES), Kitchen Budapest (HU)[10] and PiNG in Nantes [11] (FR), Constant co-initiated the LABtoLAB network [12] in 2009. LABtoLAB aimed to widen the understanding of what can be named a Medialab. [13]
One of the outcomes of the network meetings that took place between 2009 and 2011 is the letter of concern that was collectively written and co-signed by many actors in the media-arts field, stating their concerns about the effects that the acceptance of the ACTA trade agreement by the European Parliament would have on the cultural field. [14] This letter was used as reference in a study commissioned by the Greens/EFA group [15] that underlines concerns that the ACTA agreement violates fundamental rights, strengthening the arguments of the Greens and others that are calling for the agreement to be scrapped.[16]
Projects
Recent projects include:
GenderArtNet[17] is an experimental online mapping project that connects artists, groups and projects on a thematic and geographical basis and explores the interrelation of gender, ethnicity, race, class and sexualities in contemporary Europe.
OSP (Open Source Publishing)[18] is a graphic design collective that uses only FLOSS (free and open source software) tools.
Object Score Notation (OSN)[19] is a series of workshops concerning notation systems, writing and rewriting. OSN is programmed and designed by artist Simon Yuill in collaboration with artist Kirsty Stansfield [20]. Later, it was further developed for the performance-project Kaleidoscope. The project also resulted in the objscrs software: a motion tracking program that allows you to interpret the movement of objects and bodies in a live video image using different types of sensor zones.[21]
Lgru: "The Libre Graphics Research Unit will be a traveling lab where new ideas for creative tools can be developed. Its diverse activities range from the practical to the theoretical via writing, research meetings, experimental prototyping, a conference and a workshop. The Research Unit is an initiative of four European media-labs actively engaged in Free/Libre and Open Source Software and Free Culture. This cross-disciplinary project involves artists, designers and programmers and we would like to develop the work in dialogue with the Libre Graphics community. What future practices can we imagine, and which tools can make them happen?[22]
The Libre Graphics Research Unit is a collaboration involving Medialab Prado (Madrid, ES), WORM[23] (Rotterdam, NL), Piksel[24] (Bergen, NO) and Constant (Brussels, BE). It will run for two years as of June 2011 with the support of the EU Culture Programme 2007-2013"[25].
References
- ^ BAM (Flemish Institute for Visual, Audiovisual and Media art) article on Constant
- ^ Fundacio Tapies
- ^ Multi-disciplinary Arts lab.
- ^ F/LOSS
- ^ Variable
- ^ OSP
- ^ Wizzards of Os 4
- ^ Kunstenwerkplaats.be
- ^ Medialab Prado
- ^ Kitchen Budapest
- ^ PiNG
- ^ LABtoLAB
- ^ Medialab wikipedia article
- ^ LABtoLAB Acta expression of concern
- ^ Greens/Efa Acta fundamental rights assessment
- ^ Greens/Efa Acta press release
- ^ GenderArtNet
- ^ Open Source Publishing
- ^ Map-it report of OSN
- ^ Kirsty Stansfield
- ^ objscrs
- ^ River Valley video about LGRU
- ^ WORM
- ^ Piksel
- ^ EU Culture programme 2007-2013
Categories:- Artist groups and collectives
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
