[NetBehaviour] 080808 UpStage Festival - online, 8-9 August

[Helen Varley Jamieson]

Stories of identity and histories that connect countries, cultures 
and centuries are among the performances selected for the 080808 
UpStage Festival, which takes place on 8 August 2008.
<http://upstage.org.nz/blog/?page_id=130>http://upstage.org.nz/blog/?page_id=130

The festival features 14 live online performances by artists in 14 
time zones, and will be accessible to anyone with a standard internet 
connection and browser. People in Munich, Oslo, Los Angeles and 
Wellington can also attend 'real life' access nodes 
(<http://upstage.org.nz/blog/?page_id=138>http://upstage.org.nz/blog/?page_id=138).

A story of bridges unites the cities New York and Munich, while 
another performance brings together the every-day lives of women 100 
years ago in Turkey, Canada and a Portuguese immigrant to the USA. 
Other performances feature a digital ego, a miniature biome based on 
climate-warming data from the internet, live audiovisual mash-ups, 
the celebration of the birthday of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano 
Zapata, and much more. See the full list of performances at: 
<http://upstage.org.nz/blog/?page_id=159>http://upstage.org.nz/blog/?page_id=159

One performance has already begun: "Calling Home" by activelayers 
introduces four characters who are trying to find their way home. As 
well as the 080808 festival performance, a build up of performances 
and appearances in UpStage and other online environments is taking 
place. For more information, visit 
<http://www.activelayers.net>www.activelayers.net.

UpStage is software that allows audiences from anywhere in the world 
to participate in live online performances, created in real time by 
remote players. Audiences need only an internet connection and web 
browser and can interact through a text chat tool while the players 
use images to create visual scenes, and operate "avatars" - graphical 
characters that speak aloud and move.

Last year's festival, 070707, featured thirteen performances and was 
screened at the New Zealand Film Archive as well as online. This year 
most shows will be performed twice, and there will be 'real life' 
access nodes in Munich, Oslo, Los Angeles and Wellington.

The artists involved range from experienced cyberformance 
practitioners such as The Plaintext Players and activelayers, to 
children: the youngest performers are six years old. In Belgrade, 
children attended a workshop before the festival to create their own 
show.

The full list of performances, artists, performance times and RL 
access nodes is on the UpStage web site: 
<http://www.upstage.org.nz>www.upstage.org.nz. Live links to the 
stages will be accessible from the UpStage web site on August 8; 
online audiences just need to click!

UpStage is supported by CityLink, MediaLab (NZ) and the Auckland 
University of Technology.

<http://www.upstage.org.nz>www.upstage.org.nz

-- 
*******************************
helen varley jamieson
UpStage project manager
helen at upstage.org.nz

UpStage
a web-based venue for live online performance
http://www.upstage.org.nz
*******************************
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