Plutopia » Participants

Official Plutopia press release with run of show!

jonl — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:04:36 +0000

Here’s an official press release about Plutopia 2010, circulating today. This includes the run of show under “Featured Artists.”

(Austin, TX – March 4, 2010) Now in its fourth year, Plutopia will show once again why the Austin Chronicle called it the most exciting SXSWi party ever. Plutopia 2010 will present an exciting convergence of technology, DIY, music, art, and brainstorms. In addition to localvore food and beverage and general party ambience, performance and the arts will play a major role alongside exhibits and talks that present compelling innovative thinking to make this yet another unforgettable, stimulating, and fun SXSW after event.

Way beyond the run-of-the-mill “booze and schmooze” after-party mixer, Plutopia is an ever-evolving multimedia experiment of Austintatious proportions dedicated to a playful, yet masterful cross-pollination across verticals to bring you an immersive interactive experience event.

This year’s Plutopian theme explores the role of technology, sound and digital media in changing the landscape and narrative of music in the information age.… everything from immersive listening and the expanding of audio boundaries and experimentation, to new forms of instrumentation, sampling and remixing and emerging creative processes; and from integrated multisensory systems and interfaces with intelligent networks, to transformations of aesthetics and the changing rhythm of nature.

With that theme in mind, Plutopia has amassed a master class of performers from across the globe, led by the electronic and experimental hip hop musician, turntablist, producer, author and postmodern intellectual, DJ Spooky, who will be joined by a string section to perform the premiere of a piece based on his collaboration with Brian Greene, author of “Elegant Universe”.

There’s also rich ambience around the Plutopia Universe, in the Zocalo of the Mexican American Cultural Center, such as Professor Conrad and THE GIANT BRAIN, along with its satellite, the Multi-dimensional Jalapeno Space Probe. The Giant Brain includes The Questionator, a faux theremin, sound activated sensors, IR triggered sound effects, dazzling LED and strobe light effects, complete sound system, solar battery charging, ipod music connection, wireless microphone, karaoke available, and much more, The Space Probe will be loaded with hacked musical toy parts linked to THE GIANT BRAIN. The whole thing will roam through the crowd with the help of Il Gruppo Technologico Paradiso, a group of renegade unofficial Robot Group members, actors and musicians.

Austin’s Toy Joy will also be on hand, allowing attendees to see the event through anaglyph 3D (if not rose-colored) glasses, and bringing along a set of not-quite-animals for your bouncing entertainment.

And there’ll be LED light shows, robots, holograms, widgets, bicycle madness, and intense locavore experiences (see below).

Welcome from the Plutopians at 7:30pm:

Derek Woodgate, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer
Jon Lebkowsky, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Maggie Duval, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Producer
Bon Davis, Chief Technical Officer and Technical Producer

FEATURED ARTISTS:

Bruce Sterling 8:00pm –

Xiao He – 8:05pm – 8:35pm –

DJ Spooky - 9:00pm-10:00pm –

Black Pig Liberation Front - 10:15pm – 11:00pm –

White – - 11:15pm – 11:45pm-

Dr. Strangevibe - interstitial throughout-

Also featuring the Edible Austin Foodie Fest and Tipsy Texan Cocktail Bar! Unique to this and only this event, Edible Austin magazine is bringing the heart and soul of Austin’s local foodie scene and cutting edge mixology to Plutopia and will be hosting out-of-town guests from Eat Well Guide . Full list of food and drink participants here

Sponsors include: Bazaarvoice , PGi – Where the World Collaborates , Tipsy Texan , SXSW Interactive , Toy Joy , BoingBoing , Clarity Ventures , Interactive Entertainment Systems , The Futures Lab .

Friends of Plutopia: Blastro and Diversity Interactive Worldwide .

Plutopia interviews from Dial-A-Stranger

jonl — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:31:46 +0000

Check out episode 67 of Dial-A-Stranger, part 1 of a set of interviews recorded at Plutopia. Click here to listen, or here to download.

Ian McLagan at Plutopia

dwoodgate — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 14:05:07 +0000

It may seem strange that we have selected Ian “Mac” McLagan to be one of the headliners for an event under the mantle of “living Systems”, particularly when he is surrounded by accomplished proponents from fields as seemingly futuristic as transhumanism, bio- and nanotechnology, future networks, alternative energy and the like.

Yet, in Mac, we have a one-man “living system” who has remained at the center of rock music and ultimately become the hub of a very active social network within the world of rock and roll, connected at various times to bands and artists including The Small Faces and later The Faces, Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, Taj Mahal, John Hiatt, David Lindley, Paul Westerberg, Billy Bragg and Patty Griffin, to name just a few.

Mac has developed a highly successful career spanning four decades. Over that time, he (like all of us, as products and parts of “living systems”) has been influenced and affected by the people, interactions, sounds and media that he has encountered.

Mac took up the keyboard because he heard sounds on the radio, players like Otis Span, Johnny Johnson, Booker T and Billy Preston who inspired him to become the wonderful musician that he is. And he, in turn, has influenced countless other musicians to take up the craft. They in turn will pass that on to others.

As Keith Richards says: “If you turn out to be a musician, everything that you have ever heard comes out in what you play.”

Mac’s role as a highly influential and critical node in this living ‘social network” is a perfect example of a social structure that facilitates communication between a group of individuals or organizations, which are related by one or more specific types of interdependency: a special or common interest; shared values; visions, ideas, or perhaps ideals; friendship, and sometimes even dislike or conflict. Above all, it has been the fluidity in the ties that have made Mac’s relationships as powerful and influential and ones that will outlive both Mac and those of us that have had the opportunity to follow and share in his evolution.
If it were not for Mac, there would have been no Faces, Itchycoo Park, Stay With Me, Miss You, Black Crowes, The Jam, The Sex Pistols, etc., or any of the future names that we have yet to discover that will carry his bits of his creative DNA.

We are proud to have Ian McLagan perform with his Bump Band at Plutopia 2009. His performance will be prefaced by a short introduction from Bruce Duval, who has studied Mac’s contribution both to the world of music and as a “living system” and network hub.

Entranced – Immersive Musical Entertainment

maggie — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:50:04 +0000

Entranced is a 3D interactive music experience designed to benefit and entertain the player through balancing the emotions, exciting the imagination, and developing rhythmic abilities. Players listen to music and attend to visual and controller vibration cues, allowing them to successfully interpret and perform the expected movements in sync with the music, and resulting in dazzling visual and audio rewards. The goal of playing Entranced is to enter a state of flow, harmonizing and moving with the music while being immersed vibrant and responsive visual landscapes. Entranced uses procedural graphics and popular game controllers such as the Nintendo Wii Remote to create game-as-art that appeals to a wide audience. http://www.monstro.us

Appearing at Plutopia, Monday March 16, 2009, Palmer Events Center, Austin, Texas in our Interactive Atrium Gallery.

Entranced Blog Maker Faire from monstrous on Vimeo.

Hypnautica (Elysium, October 2008)

jonl — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 06:32:13 +0000