CODE RED continued an ongoing international artists project which ANAT began in 1995 with Virogenesist, curated by Francesca da Rimini.

These events bring artists and writers to Australia to present their work and meet with Australian practitioners. The event was curated by Julianne Pierce and staged in collaboration with The Performance Space. The touring component of the event was coordinated by Sherryl Ryan.

CODE RED investigated how artists are shaping communication and the vital role which artists can play in developing the future of the new media. Some of the key issues addressed included:

• the technologies which form the infra structure of the information culture (eg. the internet, interactive television, world wide web)
• how these technologies are being utilised and their impact on society and culture
• how artists are responding to these shifts in culture
• how are artists engaging with information technologies (eg. world wide web and multimedia)
• how artists are creating work which critiques and/or engages in debate about information culture
• how information technologies have altered art practice and what sort of practices are emerging through these sorts of technologies.

CODE RED participants were:

Jeffrey Cook (Australia)
Director of multimedia and internet company Merlin, who provide internet services for artists and arts organisations.

Zina Kaye (Australia)  
A new media artist and writer who uses communications technologies, and in particular the internet, to muse on the nature of metaphysical boundaries and the secret life of the airwaves. Arguing that the internet is the new radio, she has begun to broadcast her own test transmissions: using cold war surveillance tools to generate content.

Geert Lovink (Netherlands)
Co-founder of The Digital City (Amsterdam-based freenet) and Press Now, the Dutch support campaign for independent media in former Yugoslavia. Founding editor of the media/art magazine Mediamatic (1989-1994) and member of Adilkno the Foundation for the Advancement of Illegal Knowledge, a free association of media-related intellectuals. Geert has lectured and participated in many conferences on independent media, the arts and new technologies in Eastern Europe.

Cornelia Sollfrank (Germany)
Founding member of German new media performance group - lnnen (1991-93) whose principle was to exploit structures, such as the media, business and public authorities, in order to determine and eventually subvert them. In September 1997, Cornelia was co-organiser of the First Cyberfeminist International meeting at Hybrid Workspace - part of Documenta X in Kassel, Germany. Cornelia Sollfrank's visit to Australia is generously supported by the Goethe Institut.

Brad Miller (Australia)
Artist working with interactive technologies. His CDROM A Digital Rhyzome has been shown extensively throughout Australia and overseas. His latest work Planet of Noise is a collaborative multimedia work with McKenzie Wark.

Marko Peljhan (Slovenia)
Ljubljana based performance and communication artist and writer, founder of the arts organisation Projekt Atol and programs coordinator of Ljudmila (Ljubljana digital media lab). His most recent work Makrolab was part of Documenta X, and was a self sustained survival environment and communications centre which tracked radio and satellite emissions across Europe.

Linda Wallace (Australia)
Linda Wallace is a new media artist, writer and curator. She is director of the machine hunger information art company. McKenzie Wark (Australia) Writer and cultural theorist specialising in the media and emerging technologies. His new book The Virtual Republic was launched in October.

CODE RED NATIONAL PROGRAM

SYDNEY
November 13
University of Western Sydney / Street level Geert Lovink and Cornelia Sollfrank presentation
November 10 - 23
The Performance Space Marko Peljhan (Slovenia) residency: 178° EAST - ocean region research and performance. A legal and practical research of the Australian telecom laws with emphasis on interception and privacy strategies.
Saturday 22 November
The Performance Space, 12 - 6pm Marko Peljhan showed in the gallery and Zina Kaye carried out a presentation and performance
Sunday 23 November
The Performance Space Theatre All day conference Monday 24 November
The Performance Space Studio, 6-gpm Round table discussion/presentation with Geert Lovink and McKenzie Wark
Wednesday 26 November
The Performance Space Studio, 6pm Round table discussion/presentation with Julianne Pierce and Cornelia Sollfrank

MELBOURNE
November 1
Melbourne Exhibition Centre: (Crack the) Binary Code symposium Geert Lovink - forum participant
November 3
ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art) Geert Lovink lecture

HOBART
November 28
CAST (Contemporary Art Services Tasmania) Marko Peljhan lecture and presentation

PERTH
November 27
PICA (Perth Institute of Contemporary Art) Geert Lovink lecture and presentation

ADELAIDE
December 12
Mercury Cinema Marko Peljhan, Julianne Pierce and Cornelia Sollfrank presentations