Norway -- BEK - Bergen Center for Electronic Arts in Bergen

Number of residencies: 1-2
Period and duration of residency: during 2004

Hosting organisation: BEK - Bergen Center for Electrinic Arts + Hordaland Kunstsenter


BEK
C. Sundsgt. 55
N-5004 Bergen
NORWAY

Phone: (+47) 55 23 30 80
Web: www.bek.no
Mail: bek@bek.no


Trond Lossius: lossius@bek.no
Gisle Frøysland: gif@bek.no
Ellen Røed: ink@bek.no



BEK, Bergen Center for Electronic Arts, is a non-profit organization situated in Bergen, Norway, providing resources and knowledge for artists and others working in the field of arts and new technology.

BEK was established in 1999 and officially opened in 2000. As a part of the national network of electronic art (PNEK), BEK is one of 4 main centres for new media art in Norway.

BEK functions as a media lab assisting artists working with digital media and hosts web servers for the use of artists and artistic projects. BEK initiates and assists projects investigating and using new technology in original and innovative ways.

BEK functions as a research centre in close collaboration with other research institutions in Bergen, the rest of Norway and abroad. Topics of interest are e.g. digital signal processing as related to processing of sound and image, applied use of digital signal processing, sensor techniques, robotics, aesthetics and art philosophy. BEK emphasizes research related to multidisciplinary topics.

Raising the level of knowledge concerning art and new technology is a major concern. BEK collaborates with the Bergen Academy of Fine Arts and the Grieg Academy on a number of courses for their students. This way, the study of electronic arts becomes a part of a formalized art education. The collaboration between BEK, Bergen Academy of Fine Arts and the Grieg Academy also raises interesting possibilities of cross-topic and cross-field education.

In addition BEK offers a number of independent workshops for artists, covering various topics of interest.

Check out http://www.bek.no/projektor for more info on current and past events.

BEK is sponsored by the Norwegian Council for Cultural Affairs and the Municipality of Bergen.

Facilities available for the artist

BEK will provide an office space with a PC or Mac and a 10 Mbit net-connection for the use of the artist. In addition, the artist will have free access to the rest of our facilities, only restricted by the demands of other users. The media lab consists of a sound studio with Pro-tools, a video studio with Matrox Digisuite DTV and a DVD burner, and a worklab with several Macs and Pcs for general use. Other hardware like video projectors, cameras, VCRs, scanners, CD/DVD-burners will also be available. See http://www.bek.no/lab for a full list of equipment.
Most of the BEKlab PCs have both Windows and Linux OS installed, and for the Macs we are moving to OSX. In addition to a general set of software for sound/image/web, we also have licences for more specialised programs like Max/Nato/Jitter/SoftVNS.
Software and software extensions are developed for specific projects, or generalized for a wider possibility of uses. Development is done in close relation to art and research projects carried out at BEK. In general, software developed at BEK is to be open-sourced.


Possibilities and preferences for the residency artist

One of the main focus areas at BEK is developement and exploration of soft- and hardware for real-time manipulation of digital media. We have arranged a number of workshops and events in this field. Currently the main project is the development of a Linux-based vj-tool called MøB (http://www.bek.no/mob).
Another area is the artistic exploration of streaming media. We host servers for Real and Quicktime media, and an Icecast netradio server. We also collaborate with groups like Motherboard and pilota.fm in live streaming events.

BEK would like to organise public presentations and screenings of the artists' work. Possibly in collaboration with the Bergen Academy of Fine Arts and the Grieg Academy.
BEK has an emphasis on multidisiplinary and cross-aesthetic projects and would be very pleased to receive artists who have interests that breaks traditional aesthetic boundaries. A will to initiate or participate in collaborative projects with other artists is also much appreciated. One opportunity for artists who have experience with Linux, pd, or c-programming is to participate in further development/exploration of our Linux-based realtime videoapplication MøB. Female artists are also much appreciated.


A few words about the local new media / art / culture scene

The new media art scene in Norway has developed enormously over the last couple of years. Government funding has led to the establishment of institutions like PNEK (http://www.pnek.no) and Artnet Norway (http://www.kunst.no). There is also a growing number of exhibitions and festivals focusing on electronic art.
BEK cooperates with festivals, galleries, institutions, etc. in order to get new media art displayed to the public in a number of ways, such as exhibitions, installations and concerts. In Bergen we co-initiated and helped to build up Landmark, which is a club/room for new media run by Bergen Kunsthall (http://www.kunsthall.no).