Brusells based ARGOS centre for art and media is organizing a conference called “Video Vortex: Responses to YouTube“, where I will contribute a speech on “The Artist moving (through) the web - new forms of artist’s production and distribution on the Internet”.

“Over the past years the moving image has claimed an increasingly prominent place on the internet. Thanks to a wide range of technologies and web applications it has become possible, not only to record and distribute video, but to edit and remix it on-line as well. With this world of possibilities within reach of a multitude of social actors, the potential of video as a personal means of expression has arrived at a totally new dimension. How is this potential being used? How do artists and activists react to the popularity of YouTube and other �user-generated-content� websites? What is the impact of the availability of massive on-line images and sound databases on aesthetics and narrativity? How is Cinema, as an art form and experience, influenced by the development of widely spreading internet practices? What does YouTube tell us about the state of art in visual culture? And how does the participation culture of video-sharing and vlogging reach some degree of autonomy and diversity, escaping the laws of the mass media and the strong grip of media conglomerates?”

The conference is part of the Open Archive #1 program from 29.09.-10.11.2007, which will feature ARGOS extensive collection of video works and media art.