The ATLAS Institute at the University of Colorado at Boulder campus will host a day of activities including a panel discussion, a performance and audio/visual workshops on Saturday, April 19, as part of the Communikey Festival of Electronic Arts.
The festival is a three-day Boulder event coinciding with Earth Day weekend that will present a cross section of artists who are defining the emerging field of digital media arts at various locations throughout the weekend. Besides ATLAS, venues for the Communikey festival include the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Arts, 1750 13th St.; Trilogy, 2017 13th St.; and Boulder City Park.
ATLAS, the Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society, is an educational institute that integrates technology with the arts and humanities. It is located at 18th Street and Euclid Avenue on the CU campus.
The panels and workshops are free to CU students and $5 for the general public. Tickets for all events are available through the Communikey Web site at / .
A panel titled "Sustainable Approaches to Digital Culture" will be presented from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Cofrin Auditorium, ATLAS 100.
The panel will explore the question "How shall we live?" for digital artists. This discussion aims to stimulate participants to reconsider their impact and role in the environment, to discuss alternative perspectives and to offer sustainable approaches to technology-based lifestyles.
The panel includes industry leaders Clark Warner and Tom Hoch of Beatport, North American representatives for the international digital download network based in Denver; Alain Mongeau, director of MUTEK, a Montreal-based new media conference; Jean-Patrice Ramillard, owner of net label Archipel and Montreal community leader; Michael Brownlee, director of Boulder County Going Local, and Joshua Onysko, CEO and founder of Pangea Organics.
Two software workshops also will be presented in the ATLAS building. Randy Jones will introduce Jitter, the visual programming software he co-designed for Cycling '74, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the ATLAS 102 Film Screening Room.
Jones will introduce Jitter and show several ways to manipulate and produce audio and video, adding various kinds of real-time control to give practical starting points for new media projects. Participants are encouraged to bring their own projects in progress to work on. A basic understanding of Max/MSP is expected, which can be obtained by using free demo software at .
Another software workshop on Max/MSP -- a graphical environment for music, audio and multimedia -- will be presented from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the ATLAS 102 Film Screening Room. Cycling 74 director of engineering Darwin Grosse will take participants through a new version of the application, introducing users to the graphical interface and new features.
Internationally renowned multi-media act Skoltz_Kolgen will present and perform a digital meditative garden from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the ATLAS Black Box Theatre.
The Montreal-based couple Dominique T. Skoltz and Herman W. Kolgen have developed an evolving sound and image platform that reacts to sonic influxes. Displayed on gigantic screens, virtual plants can be seen in perpetual evolution, while simple impulses of sound randomly modify their developmental process as well as their environment.
The performance is free to CU students and $10 for the general public. Two installations will be presented inside and outside the ATLAS building.
Exchange/Alteration invites participants to have their clothing altered on the spot from noon to 6 p.m. Friday, April 18, on the northeast patio outside the ATLAS building. Exchange/Alteration founders Melanie Badalato and Camilo Ontiveros of the CMKY Sustainable Media Lab with Marko Manriquez will do a special video display for onlookers to view clothing alterations at time-lapse, fast-forward speed.
Epiphyte, a pedal-powered interactive video installation, will continue to be on display through May 7 in the ATLAS lobby. The installation features a stationary bicycle and a software program that manipulates a video.
More information and the complete events schedule are available on the Web at .