[ISEA2011] Workshop: Panagiotis Kyriakoulakos – Supporting a Network of Excellence in Interactive Art

Workshop Statement

In 1988, we co-organised with Anne-Marie Duguet, Maurice Benayoun and other colleagues from the University of Paris 1 the international symposium PLEIAS (Perspectives de Liaisons Europeennes Images  et Arts de Synthese). The symposium was held at La Sorbonne (Amphitheatre Richelieu) and assembled all important European Scholars and Artists at the time, giving birth to multiple collaborations in the field of Computer Arts. Participants in this symposium are now heads of important Art and Research Centers worldwide and actively participate in joint activities. During 2010, we proposed to four European Laboratories to dress an international panorama of these activities and build a reference portal to support a network of  excellence in interactive art.  These laboratories are the following (in parenthesis the name of the active researcher supporting the project):

  1. Laboratoire des Arts et Medias -LAM, University of Paris 1 (Anne-Marie Duguet)
  2. CITU- University of Paris 8 (Maurice Benayoun)
  3. LECAD – EPEOT, University of Thessaly (George Papakonstantinou)
  4. Interaction Design, University of the Aegean (P. Kyriakoulakos)

Our intention is to broaden the normally bilateral aspect of these collaborations into an international network of excellence in interactive arts in order to provide artists, curators, scholars and researchers with a reference meeting point for design and implementation of ambitious projects. ISEA2011 in Istanbul could offer the opportunity to launch this network of excellence by giving the tribune to 12-20 leaders of university laboratories worldwide to present their actual activities, present their goals for the future and set the standards for the operation of this network. In order to participate in this workshop, researchers will be invited to present their laboratories, the technological infrastructure, research directions, previous work with artists, and their operational capacity for international cooperation. A limited number of interactive artists will be invited in the workshop in order to present the artistic point-of-view regarding the implementation of the artistic work in a research framework. After short presentations of the laboratories (10 min max per participant), a discussion will focus on operational issues: cooperation agreements, appropriate procedures to launch projects, financing issues, implementation schedule, measurable goals and deliverables for a pilot period. Thanks to the contributions of all participants and attendants, the new PLEIAS (Peering Laboratories in Europe for Interactive Art Synergies) network should be able to schedule and implement a project with two main objectives: provide a large database on interactive art and motivate collaborations between artists and researchers through the realisation of interactive art projects.

  • Professor Anne-Marie Duguet is the director of the Laboratoire des Arts et Medias (LAM) at the University of Paris 1 – Pantheon/ Sorbonne, FR. She is the producer of the Media Art Collection ANARCHIVE implementing multimedia artists’ monographies.
  • Maurice Benayoun , Artist- Researcher, is also a lecturer at the University of Paris 8 – Saint Denis, FR. Several media art projects of Maurice Benayoun were co-produced with the CITU Laboratory.
  • George Papakonstantinou, Associate Professor is the director of LECAD (EPEOT) Laboratory at the Department of Architecture – University of Thessaly (Volos, GR).
  • Panagiotis Kyriakoulakos, Lecturer,  is a producer and researcher at the Interaction Design Laboratory – Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering, University of the Aegean (Syros, GR).