Words

A Gathering of the Tribes (tribes.org) magazine seeks submissions for a special issue focused on the evolving Sousveillance art movement. We are looking for contributions reflective of how the arts are affected by monitoring and surveillance (socially pervasive computing; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousveillance) that are effecting human liberties. Defining the public space and identifying the opportunities for expression that public spaces afford needs to be contrasted with the importance of defining freedom and privacy in this era of instantenous access to information. From consumer data fed to advertisers via creditcards, to collecting information to 'protect' us from terrorists, to the monitoring of books we buy or borrow, the fact is that information collection systems are ubiquitous and converging with bio-informatics data mining, facial recognition, and even personal DNA data systems. Our world is closing in and the opportunities for autonomous creative expression are declining along with it. Reestablishing power and control over our own lives may come from a creative appropriation and understanding of how surveillance systems are integrated into the social¬Ý environment.¬Ý Sousveillance is one potential avenue towards achieving this goal.

Surveillance, meaning to watch from above, can be countered by eveloping the art of Sousveillance, a phrase coined to describe the act of watching from below. Sousveillance is as an inverse to surveillance, watching the watchers, and bringing the cameras down from the heavens, from¬Ý lamp posts and buildings to human-eye-level. The camcorder recording which spotlighted police brutality in the Rodney King case represents a seminal act of sousveillance. For the issue of "Tribes" titled Sousveillence, we seek creative works exploring how individuals and cultures artistically respond to and represent our world under surveillance. New media performance emphasizing the importance of public reflection on ubiquitous surveillance and sousveillence is encouraged, as well as essays, short stories, poetry and visual works that assist in defining the ideals of human centeredness in a mechanical and monitored world.

[Japanese version http://sousveillance.org/tribesissue/japanese.html]

Editors: Stefanos Pantagis, Jason Nolan,
Advising Editors: Tom Savage, Dan Chang, Steve Cannon, Steve Mann, Bob Holman, Nikki Johnson, Yuka Kajihara (japanese)

Submission information:

Due date:
Submissions are due: Feb 1, 2005
Response from editors: April 2005
Expected publication date: Summer 2005

Electronic submissions: tribes@sousveillance.org

Mailing Address:
Jason Nolan
KMDI, room 7224
University of Toronto
40 St George St
Toronto, Canada
M5S-2E4

Electronic submissions:
- text must be submitted as a text attachement in .rtf, .txt or .doc format.
- images should be high quality jpg files, 300dpi, 15cm x 15cm max.
- file names must contain the first and last name of the submitter, e.g. jason.nolan.photo1.jpg, jasonnolan.1stpoem.rtf
- submissions must include full name, email address and mailing contact information IN the body of the email message

Mailed submissions:
- incompletely addressed mail will not arrive properly
- artwork should be well packaged and in a format sufficient for scanning
- include a self addressed envelope with sufficient postage if you want work returned

Questions: tribes@sousveillance.org, yuka@yukazine.com (japanese)

This document is archived at http://sousveillance.org/tribesissue