Previous Next Index Thread
Previous Next Index Thread
Sent from: pacoid@fringeware.com (P Nathan)
[ mod's note: as a followup to our announcement for the SXSW Multimedia
Festival and other msgs about the SXSW Film Festival, we bring you a
brief conf report... ]
SXSW Multimedia Festival 96 concluded last week, the third annual show
here in Austin TX.
Bruce Sterling delivered an evening reception address, and if I may
paraphrase Mr. B: "Regarding all the talk about CDA, etc., you should
be proud of what you've been able to get away with so far... the flack
will only get worse as people come to realize how you people in
multimedia [Internet, etc.] have the ability at this point to write
your own ticket..." An assembled row of Fringeoids attendees attempted
to pass a collection plate for Brother Sterling during the sermon.
Okay, so it's a relatively small show in a relatively small city, at
a time when there are hundreds of "multimedia shows" happening around
the globe each year... Why bother? Well, Austin enjoys a special verve
in this industry. For instance, the first SXSW Multimedia Fest in 94
featured a tiny little-known local firm (in Dallas) which eagerly
demo'ed an unreleased video game called "Doom" -- p'haps you've heard
the name? And then there are all those people running about from
Origin Systems, another local firm. Not to mention the local activity
>from Dell (HQ'ed in Austin), Compaq (HQ'ed in Houston), IBM (OS/2 *and*
PC development HQ'ed in Austin), Motorola (PowerPC HQ'ed in Austin),
Apple's big site, AMD's fab lines, Samsung's new fab, TI, etc. On the
production side of the house, you've got Human Code, Go-Go Studios,
Iguana, M2k, Monsterbit, FringeWare and a host of small design houses...
UT/Austin features Sandy Stone's ACTlab, Marcos Novak "liquid
architecture" VR, Jay Ashcraft from KVR9, and more... Plus there's
the burgeoning Film Industry here with people like Quentin Taratino,
Richard Rodriguez, Rick Linklater, John Travolta, et al., running
about town with film crews in tow. Need we go on?
Monsterbit Media ran a cu-seeme broadcast of many of the panels,
which p'haps some of y'all got a chance to see:
http://monsterbit.com/
I think the Legal panel enjoyed one of the most attentive audiences,
as Internet-savvy attorneys Ed Cavazos, Gary Kissiah, Lois Scali and
others reminded about the hoard of legal issues faced in media production,
web publishing, etc. Mark Dery stole the show at my panel (the Social
Implications of Living Online); I've never seen an audience respond
to a postmodern critical theorist's rant -- er, uh -- deconstruction
of accepted philosophy about online activities...the response would've
been much more appropriate at a stip club, religious revival or
political rally. Amazing. Please check Mr. Dery on tour with his
new book, Escape Velocity, for a sampling what this man can deliver
on stage...
BTW, my humble rants and weird remarks have been stashed away at:
http://www.fringeware.com/~pacoid/talks/sxsw96.html
Josh Pearson from Emergency Broadcast Network spoke on a music
composition panel, and then EBN treated us with a show at the
(only) local "industrial" nightclub for the closing party.
Nice show.
To wrap it all up, this was the year (finally) that that CD people
became aware of the Internet people. They shook hands and decided
to work together... Many of the panels began Q&A with remarks
leading toward CD-ROM production, but then tended to drift into
discussions about WWWeb as the audience became involved, which
seems apropos to the times. One of our FW owners -- Jamie Thompson
(editor for TAZmedia and Fringengineer Director -- who formerly
ran the Electronic Theatre for SIGGRAPH, had tried to raise interest
at SXSW94 for getting Internet-based multimedia represented, which
at the time was CD-ROM Central; we're glad to see that change happen.
Conference organizers Hugh Forrest, Dewey Winburne, Sue Hinton, et al.,
are to be congradulated for pulling off a great show on a shoestring
budget too -- rumour has it that Microsoft, which had been sponsoring
the show previously, pulled out at the last minute to underwrite
SXSW Music Fest instead "because it seemed really hip". Par for the
course.
Come see it all bigger in 97:
South By Southwest Multimedia
PO Box 4999, Austin TX 78765 USA
+1 512 467 7979 tel / +1 512 451 0754 fax
72662@compuserve.com
http://sxsw.com/sxsw/
-----------------------------------------------------
pxn * FringeWare Inc. * http://www.fringeware.com