Life as an Artificial Lifeform

Clay Shirky just said that the death of Soap Operas/Sitcoms on TV is freeing up 2.000 wikipedia worth of contribution time... Soap Operas are of course just as on thing of the epic battle between the distraction media vs. the contribution media. I still found the original comment (boingboing.net) a bit "lush" so I looked at a talk from him and its a very refreshing organized view on things that I deep down understand but couldn´t communicate. Here are some Quotes from the talk:

- "Social Lag"
- "Social Capability has not transformed society at anything like the rate as other applications have launched "
- "Groups are natively conservative"

- "It is curiously the moment when Technology becomes boring that the social effects become interesting"

The 4 step ladder of which a participatory internet society is going through...
"1. Sharing, 2.Conversation, 3.Collaboration, 4.Collective Action"

We seems to be past 1. 2. and 3. and apparently approaching number 4 fast. Now with 2.000 wikipedias worth of time freed up the possibilities of collective action that transforms us into a new kind of culture - a free open source culture perhaps - are imminent? This guy thinks so. Listen to his catchy fast worded speech on the Harvard - Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

Posted by fALk at 8:00 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Scientist talk about global warming and that one of the effects that comes with it is that northern Europe will cool of into an Sibirian ice desert as the gulf is not transporting warm air. Well Berlin is part of northern Europe and what we are experiencing at the moment can be seen as an introduction of whats to come. We have mid March, normally for the rest of my life at this time the first flowers start to blossom the trees become a little green and the birds are chirping wildly.
This year all is different. We have mid March and about 30 cm of fresh powdery snow. Nighttime temperatures are around -7 Celsius and are supposed to reach -10 next night. I love snow and I think I might take out my snowboard and build a little kicker on the hill (anyone wanna come along?) in the back of the garden - but seeing some color other then white would be a welcome addition now. Things are supposed to stay like this over the next week and after that metereologist are not sure yet. The Alps are still struggling with too much of the white stuff - something that in recent years was always to sparse. If you are a Snowboarder - its the best season ever to go powderriding - but be aware of the avalances - the risk is super high. (the grain on the left picture is heaven emptying even more snow into the garden at this very moment)

Just in time comes a report in the guardian about the abrupt rise of carbon dioxide on the north pole and the accelerating ice melt that causes disruption on the gulf.

Posted by fALk at 11:57 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I usually not talk about the weather on this blog but something odd is happening - not only do we have snow in Berlin almost constantly since November - and its freaking cold (especially if you have to heat seven coal ovens by hand) but today we have -4 C and its raining – encrusting the snow. Its very weird - raindrops fall and instantly freeze once on the ground - the snow looks and feels like cake icing. Interestingly enough the Apple weather widget had the perfect graphic for the situation.

Posted by fALk at 8:44 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Berlin has been appointed by the UNESCO as a city of Design. Don´t ask me what this means other then billions of jobless starving designers coming from more then eight (ten?) public and private design, film, 3d and game schools and roaming the city for the little work offered. From the press release:

As the first German city to be appointed to the Creative Cities Network, Berlin has demonstrated remarkable social, economic and cultural achievements in the field of design, and as a crossroad of diverse backgrounds and histories, Berlin’s design tradition and contemporary creation have influenced both national and international movements.

More information yada yada can be found on the UNESCO homepage. Apperently the UNESCO is trying to interconnect other "Design Cities" to create a network effect - especially trying to create a bond between the developed world and the "third world". Bauhaus "make it fast and simple" designers of Berlin can put on a warm hat if they need to compete with gorgeous labour intensive designs from Africa, China or the Middle East but cross learning and breeding is always good I guess.

Posted by fALk at 16:08 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Berlin cubscene celebrations are not ending yet. Tonight the vj, dj, art and promoter group e-gruppe is celebrating their 10th birthday. The party will be at the Maria am Ufer and will star many many oldschool dj and vj resident faces of Berlin. I am invited to play as well and will spin the harddrives as vj opener from 11.pm. til 1.30 am.

10 years hedonistic lifestyle support | 10 years of esoteric underground entertainment | 10 years electrochemo-pharmaceutical dance society | 10 years e-fusion network | 10 years explosive visual e-mc-ing | 10 years deep-into-ear-&-eye-action..........

DJs:
tanith (vitriol), mijk van dijk (microglobe), duck (delikat records), gianni vitiello (aromamusic), daniel boon (ostfunk records), wolle haarnagel (electric ballroom), u.v.m.

VJs:
protobeamaz, gif-tv, flashforceone, notch & bead, hollie & flockey, pixel royal, e-gruppe u.a.

Posted by fALk at 11:53 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

This morning 9 a.m. the letters that meant so much for the Berlin subculture where dismounted under the tearfull eyes of many. TRESOR was more then a club - Tresor was the last standing symbol of free, loud, uncontrolled subculture and after 14 years it has to close so that the rich can build a sterile office tower in its place.
I was in the Tresor for the first time maybe 10 years ago - I was more one of the people going to the E-Werk in those times - a more personal preference then any issue with the club. Back then there was what counts as the most true subculture of all - a subculture that rose from the chaos that came with the dissolve of east germany. A healthy ground for creativity that inspired so many to work in the creative field in the first place. It was maybe three or four clubs that made all the vibe - the Walfisch that was the first to close and where my memory really blurs as to describe what it was like - the Bunker - known for the most extreme speedy Gabba Techno, the Tempel E-Werk and the holy steel walls of the Tresor. All the clubs went down one after another and most of the time it had to do with permissions and location problems. The bunker and the e-werk locations are still in existence today. Nothing happens in the bunker anymore and the renewed e-werk looks more like a renewed office building then a place for dirty loud subculture and some events that tried to revitalize the feeling from "back then" failed completely. The Tresor was the last standing bastion for a healthy subculture scene and a sign that you could always hold up and be proud of if you where afflicted with the scene in Berlin. Techno has seen so many faces in the meantime - a rise and fall of the loveparade - the rise and fall of thousands of smaller and larger clubs - the commercialization of electronic music into the extreme and the Tresor has survived it all - financially and bureaucratically and spiritual. It was always there for giving the scene some guidance and personally - to an extent - it helped making my own personal decision to become a VJ - I am addicted to the fusion of our mammal feelings(dance, spirit) and futuristic sounds(technology) and Tresor gave those feelings a meaning - everyone who ever danced downstairs to some good techno beats could feel free for a moment - free from all chains of the modern world. This dirty loud subculture is exactly what makes spiritual survival in the modern times possible for many young overstressed people and makes many of them communicate that would sit in front of the TV otherwise. In Tresor it never mattered who you are where you came from. I have seen people wear dresses next to dirty old punks next to beatiful topless girls next to the ordinary young neighbor. They all got along and all had their own way of communication - if they didn´t want to talk they danced and they loved.
That I got the opportunity to play as a VJ in Tresor is something I will never forget and that I will always be thank-full for. My first time vjing in the Tresor/Globus (the upper part) was almost a year ago - for a Sommersafari crew birthday party - and I can tell you that I was a very happy VJ that night - it was kind of magic creeping up in telling me this is what all the work is for even though the crappy beamers never really showed much of my pictures. That the Tresor Crew was so cool to let the VJs of AVIT^C3 play there on the Wednesday before NewYears Eve and that they bought this huge kickass videowall knocked me off my shoes and was about the coolest VJJam I have ever witnessed - but what honors me most is that they trusted me to book VJs and play there for their last birthday - 4 nights true spirit for those who cared most. With Friday the most interesting day music wise I have ever experienced inside the old shopping malls money storage and entrance hall. Playing at Tresor has brought me some of the most intense tight sets I ever experienced with a wonderful open crowd.
Thank you Tresor Crew for making this happen over all this time and thank you for letting me play and be part of this wonderful 14 year long experience. Yesterday was the day to say goodbye - very personally - I celebrated and danced and had a lot of nice memories pop up in my mind - an era is over at least for me - not much will change but much will be missed.
This last saturday will be the day that either marks a new future for Berlins subculture or its sellout and slow painfull death.
Good bye Tresor and I hope that the new home you hopefully find will be filled with the same true spirit as always.

PS: I would like to thank Micha, Ralf and the whole Lighting Crew for their fantastic support during my visits and hope that we can work together again in the future.

Posted by fALk at 18:49 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Since he seems a little shy with the announcement I think today is the day to welcome him to the blogosphere with his new blog fRELHI_V1.0. The idea for his blog is told shortly. He got a VJ commitment for two month in New Dehli /India for a new club there and will also do vj lectures. Its all pretty exiting and seeing a VJ take of for gigs into another continent can only mean good things for all of us. I wish him all the best over there and eagerly await his entries. Go check it out.

http://www.prototypen.com/blog/fred

Posted by fALk at 11:10 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We have finally an official website for our local small sub.culture club. The Curie Club is locally the only way to get exposed to true subculture in sound and vision - our word for that is optophonic. Local young artists and people interesting doing something for our sub.cultural needs get together here and make something very cool. The website is still in its infancy but if you always wanted to know what goes on in a small suburb of Berlin and know some german head over to the Curie Club. We always welcome new people - local or global - who want to help in any way to make this club something special. Drop us a line if you are interested.

Posted by fALk at 0:08 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Next Saturday, October 2nd the Kleinmachnow Prototypen collective will open the local Curie Club for the second time. The formerly well known Jazz Club in Kleinmachnow comes to live after 10 year of closure as a place for experimentation, party and fun. There are whicked never again to be seen art and media specials and a good jazzy/groovy/breaky dj lineup. Experimental live visuals by proto.beamaz:fRED&fALk and a drum n`bass wallpaper by Grysue.This is a place of local subculture living and blooming without much constrains and a good place to check out of the anonymity at the big clubs in Berlin.

More info:

http://www.prototypen.com/wiki/CurieClub

Getting in without getting in Line:
http://www.prototypen.com/wiki/KartenVorverkauf

Posted by fALk at 18:20 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Finally the HipHop Band that I am touring with has a demo. Its finest german HipHop mixed with Reggae and Rock. The band is making the songs available for free as MP3. Go check out their blog or download the songs directly from here:

1 Feedback.mp3 (5,1 MB)
2 Resümee.mp3 (5,2 MB)
3 ShuMo.mp3 (3,6 MB)

Tell them what you think.

Posted by fALk at 17:17 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday we got confirmation that on May 30th 2004 from 16.00 to 22.00 we are allowed to have a nice chilly local Open Air Festival in Kleinmachnow. It will be a little different since it won´t happen at night rather on a Sunday afternoon. It will host our local Reaggy and HipHop Live Bands (SubHerb Sound, FdW more to be announced). The local HipHop heros "Klartext" will give a special thank you concert for all the fans supporting them. The fest will be in the beautiful Bäketal right behind the watermill (Kleinmachnow, Zehlendorfer Damm 217).
So this is a special invitation to all who care to come out and have a nice little chilling in the green open air of Kleinmachnow.
There is no entry fee.

Posted by fALk at 11:56 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)