[Leonardo/ISAST Network] Artists and Scientists in Times of War: Victims' Symptom debate at MutaMorphosis Conference, November 9, 2007

[Leonardo/ISAST]

To: Leonardo Network
From: Roger Malina

As part of the Leonardo special project: Artists and Scientists in Times 
of War, we are pleased to bring to your attention:

A debate on VICTIMS' SYMPTOM at the MutaMorphosis conference 
(celebrating 40 years of Leonardo), November 9, 2007 from 17:35 to 18:30 
(GMT+1) in the debate room of the municipal library of Prague.

The VICTIMS' SYMPTOM blog is at:

http://www.labforculture.org/en/community/blogs/8854

In celebration of 40 years of the MIT Press journal Leonardo, founded by 
scientist and artist Frank Malina, the conference MutaMorphosis will be 
held in Prague from 7-11 November 2007.

http://www.mutamorphosis.org

Leonardo was founded by a generation of artists and scientists 
traumatized  by the Second World War and dedicated to connecting the 
arts and sciences as part of a strategy to build a saner world.

At this time of new insanities and traumas, the Leonardo Network asks 
again what the role of artists and scientists can be in a world of 
endemic wars and enduring social inequities.

One of the topics of debate that will be showcased at MutaMorphosis is 
the project Victims' Symptom, curated by Ana Peraica and commissioned by 
LabforCulture.org for its first birthday, as was announced in its first 
press-release. The panel will discuss the notion of "extreme" as a 
physical consequence of high levels of adrenaline, popularly named "the 
strongest drug".

In the context of war psychology, high adrenaline levels in the blood 
during pregnancy is known to produce problems in the unborn baby 
(including extreme cases where stress is produced intentionally, such as 
by rape in war, for example in Bosnia).

Namely, a generation of babies who were in their mother's uterus during 
periods of extreme conditions feel "safe" only in situations of extreme 
risk. Compared to "normal" (socially acceptable) behavior, their 
behavior is similar to that of "psychopaths". They behave in a similar 
way to automatons (wish equals fulfillment that has a parallel in 
automatons' behavior "command -- control"), with no emotional or moral 
compass. Some examples from major civilizations include first 
generations of babies on the new continents, usually producing a number 
of aggressive leaders, similar to characters we know from cowboy movies. 
The adaptability of babies to new environments (extreme environments 
with high adrenaline but no information) would be taken as the paradigm 
of "survivability" and compared to the external circumstances of 
adapting. Babies respond to the non-decoded information, which produces 
a "feeling," and they do not know what induces the adrenaline.

The mediated experience, becoming more and more real, is also taken into 
account. How much can media representations of violence and adrenaline 
rising in the mediated experience produce similar symptoms? Are we 
already dealing with the collateral media victims of wars, even with 
computer games or reports that are beyond our understanding?

The Victims' Symptom project, based on Ana Peraica's text "War 
Profiteers in Art," started as a critique of the commodification of 
images of victims; originally stemming from Robert Storr's concepts at 
the Venice Biennale this year, which produced discussions on two large 
email lists (Nettime and YASMIN).

A debate moderated by Ana Peraica and inviting presenters like sound 
artist Peter Cusack and prof. Susan Elisabeth Ryan from the Louisiana 
State University, will be held on November 9, 2007 from 17:35 to 18:30 
(GMT+1) in the debate room of the municipal library of Prague. Everyone 
is invited to follow the debate and join in the discussion in a blog at: 
http://www.labforculture.org/en/community/blogs/8854

Leonardo/ISAST is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Donations are 
tax-deductible in the U.S. To learn more about Leonardo/ISAST's 
projects, programs and activities, visit http://leonardo.info


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