20 Nov 2011 to 27 Nov 2011
Saturday-Wednesday 9am-2pm, 6-9pm
The Townhouse Gallery
10 Nabrawy street
off Champollion street
Cairo
Downtown Cairo
Egypt
Middle East
T: +2 02 2576 8086
F:
M:
W: www.thetownhousegallery.com
Opening November 20, d1sc0nN3ct is a week-long event series at the Townhouse Factory Space featuring artists working in Cairo, Alexandria, and abroad, including Amr Ali, Emma Benany, Kareem Lotfy, Sarah Samy, and Ahmed El Shaer. Working across different new media platforms, the participating artists share a common interest in taking digital forms that circulate as commodities, and rendering them useless – creating video games that can’t be won; web pages that can’t be navigated; or digital images that fail to communicate.
Often, the work featured in d1sc0nN3ct falls in or around the domain of “glitch.” The term glitch refers to an error in a system – when, for instance, there is a mistranslation between file types, circuitry gets damaged, or an obsolete piece of equipment is asked to read a new type of software. When these disruptions in transmission occur, the user is confronted with a visual and/or auditory artifact; an unexpected and inscrutable signifier of a process gone wrong.
As users/consumers, the glitch is frustrating – an impediment to our work, something to be eradicated with more “invisible” interfaces and software. But these artists take the residues of failed attempts at digital communication and turn them into poetic, aesthetic acts. The jarring, disturbing, or surprisingly beautiful results can serve as a Dada-esque tribute to destruction; an ephemeral encounter with accidental moments of beauty; or subversive signs that point to the cracks in goal-oriented, upgrade-obsessed consumer culture. Collectively, these dirty new media works subtly interrogate the systems of power that underpin the realm of the digital, creating a playful and disruptive static in the channels of communication.
Program of Events In addition to a gallery show in the Townhouse Factory Space, d1sc0nN3ct features a daily series of programs on issues related to glitch, net-based, and digital art. Many artists working with a digital and/or net-based practice find traditional gallery modes of presentation unsatisfactory. d1sc0nN3ct explores different exhibition formats to allow for varied interactions with these immaterial forms.
Schedule:
Virtual Artist Talk: Nick Briz Monday, November 21, 7:00 p.m. Townhouse Library
Glitch Video Night Tuesday, November 22, 7:00 p.m. Townhouse Library
Cairo Hackerspace Workshop Wednesday, November 23, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Townhouse Factory Space
“Talk To Me”: Speed Show Cairo Thursday, November 24, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Internet Café "InterClub", 12 Talaat Harb Street, Downtown Cairo + 2 (02) 25 79 18 60
BYOB CAIRO Saturday, November 26, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Townhouse Factory Space
