A video release party featuring live world music performances. In partnershipwith LinkTV, select graduate video and animation students were paired with roots musicians from South and West Africa, Haiti, Hungary, and Iran to revision the old world through new eyes. Screenings and presentations will be followed by live performances.

Upgrade! NY
March 2006

Surajit Sarkar discussed his work with the A Deep Fried Jam trio and the community art initiative in India the Catapult Arts Caravan in relation to the media consumption in India.

Surajit Sarkar lives in New Delhi, India. He has held positions as varied as photocopier salesman, bank officer, primary school teacher and developer of curriculum for primary school children and teachers alike. Since 1991, he has worked with video, at first in mainstream television writing and directing a highly successful weekly science & tech program on Indian national TV network. He moved to documentary film making, and has worked on subjects ranging from agriculture, education and the uneven costs of ‘development’. A number of these have been recognized nationally and internationally and have won prizes in film festivals in India and abroad.

Upgrade! NY
April 2006

Upgrade! Anniversary Brunch marked the seventh year in graffiti style,

with Evan Roth and James Powderly of the Graffiti Research Lab, and stencil artist Josh MacPhee.

Josh took us on a whirlwind tour through the history of illegal street markings (Street Art 101), with a focus on the history of the street stencil.

Evan and James talked about how the Graffiti Research Lab was formed. They demo’d the tools they’ve developed and gave out materials to make LED Throwies. Some of Evan’s students presented their projects and/or concepts based on the work of James and Evan. We concluded with a little Throwies experiment/happening.

ARTISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD CONVERGED IN DOWNTOWN OKLAHOMA CITY

Traveling across the globe from cities such as Berlin, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Seoul and Salvador, artists came together in Oklahoma City to present art and ideas to each other and the community in the second annual meeting of Upgrade! International. The Upgrade! International: DIY Oklahoma City symposium, was held November 30 – December 3, 2006, was an opportunity for local and international artists to exchange ideas about the developing field of new-media arts.

Upgrade! NY

February 22, 2007

A celebrity-centric Upgrade! with artists Jillian Mcdonald and Eyebeam Resident Jamie O’Shea.

Jillian McDonald, famous for “Me and Billy Bob,” presented old and new work which focuses on the subcultures that drive the celebrity and horror film industries. She showed a DVD, some quicktime files, a data-driven web project and more dvd. Jamie O’Shea performed an extraordinarily efficient art experience at precisely 8:22:22 on 2/22. An entire performance, narrated by Corey Sullivan, took place within 1/5 of a second. Jamie’s automated memory process created an indelible, and effortless, impression of this instant.

Upgrade! NY
July 31, 2007

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