Houyhnhnms.tv News

The Houyhnhnms Challenge 08 will last from 20 February to 20 September 2008.
Houyhnhnms.tv is the first Internet TV specially created for the audiovisual community. It aims to become a
Tank of audiovisual and advertising trends for the new TV 2.0; and all this in a lab where brands can test
new ideas and creative concepts.
The challenge consists of a simple briefing defying the “Houyhnhners” -the houyhnhnms.tv community of creatives-
to “create a 30 sec. Art-Spot about yourself or your agency, production company or studio with the following slogan:
Inspire the world. It can be changed!!!”

The winner of the challenge will be the Art-Spot gaining the highest score from the votes of the actual members of
the community. Each “Houyhnhner” will be able to compete with three pieces maximum.
As set forth in the community rules, any pieces which fail to receive an average vote higher than 4 during the first week,
will not take part in the contest.
The winner of the Houyhnhnms Challenge will be the Art-Spot who has the highest average score on 20 September 2008
at 00:00H, Madrid time (GMT+1). In the event of a draw, the winner will be the most viewed Art-Spot.
Lastly, should there also be a draw on the number of views, the winner will be the one who has been voted for most times.
This same method will apply to elect the second and third positions.

The prize will be 5,000 Euros in cash and an Adobe Software Suite “Creative Suite Master Collection” for the first prize.
The second and third prizes will receive a Software Adobe “Creative Suite Production Premium”.
Prizes will be given at the “Houyhnhnms Pitching Party” which will be held in Madrid next October 3. This party will
encourage on demand presentations among all those present to boost networking. We will also be able to admire
the best VideoJockeys of the moment.

Inspire the world. It can be changed!
The Houyhnhnms team

embed:
<object width=’384′ height=’300′><param name=’movie’ value=’http://www.houyhnhnms.tv/embed/embed.swf?movie=spotchallenge’></param><param name=’wmode’ value=’transparent’></param><embed src=’http://www.houyhnhnms.tv/embed/embed.swf?movie=spotchallenge’ type=’application/x-shockwave-flash’ wmode=’transparent’ width=’384′ height=’300′></embed></object>
………………..
Desde el día 20 de febrero de 2008 y hasta el 20 de septiembre tendrá lugar el Houyhnhnms Challenge 08.
Houyhnhnms.tv es la primera televisión a través de internet especialmente creada para la comunidad audiovisual.
Su objetivo es convertirse en un Tank de tendencias audiovisuales y publicitarias para la nueva televisión 2.0, y en un
laboratorio donde las marcas puedan testear nuevas ideas y conceptos creativos.

El challenge consiste en un simple briefing lanzado a los “Houyhnhners” la comunidad de creativos de houyhnhnms.tv:
“Crea un Art-Spot de 30″ sobre ti mismo o sobre tu agencia, productora o estudio con el claim (slogan):
Inspire the world. It can be changed! (Inspira al mundo. Puede cambiarse!).
El ganador del challenge será el Art-Spot que obtenga una puntuación más alta entre las votaciones recibidas
por los propios miembros de la comunidad y cada “Houyhnhner” podrá participar hasta con tres piezas.
Tal y como consta en las normas de la comunidad, las piezas que no reciban durante la primera semana
de participación una votación media superior a “4″, no entrarán a concurso.
El ganador del Houyhnhnms Challenge será el Art-Spot que el que el día 20 de septiembre de 2008
a las 00:00 hora de Madrid (GMT+1) tenga una puntuación media más alta.
En caso de empate el ganador será el Art-Spot que tenga más visionados.
En último caso, si hubiera un empate a visionados, el ganador será que haya sido votado un mayor número de veces.
Este mismo sistema se aplicará para la elección del segundo y tercer clasificado.

El premio consistirá en 5.000 euros en metálico y un paquete de Software Adobe “Creative Suite 3 Master Collection”
para el primer clasificado. El segundo y el tercer clasificados recibirán un paquete de Software Adobe
“Creative Suite 3 Production Premiun”, proporcionados por Adobe Systems Ibérica.
La entrega de premios se realizará en la “Houyhnhnms Pitching Party”, que se celebrará en Madrid el próximo 3 de octubre.
Dicha fiesta promoverá presentaciones “on demand” entre todos sus asistentes con el fin de fomentar el “networking”,
además de disfrutar de la actuación de los mejores VideoJockeys del momento.

Inspire the world. It can be changed!
The Houyhnhnms team

embed:
<object width=’384′ height=’300′><param name=’movie’ value=’http://www.houyhnhnms.tv/embed/embed.swf?movie=spotchallenge’></param><param name=’wmode’ value=’transparent’></param><embed src=’http://www.houyhnhnms.tv/embed/embed.swf?movie=spotchallenge’ type=’application/x-shockwave-flash’ wmode=’transparent’ width=’384′ height=’300′></embed></object>

- Who is PepperMelon?

We’re a new group of designers/animators/composers who enjoy mixing colours, shapes, characters with or without music, in a narrative or non-narrative way.

- What are your projects?

We’re really interested in making incursions in the conventional narrative animation world, but we’re also trying to grow as an international motion graphics company.

- What inspires you?

Nature.

- What is the future of audiovisual art?

Japan

- What is houyhnhnms for you?

A good cause to support.

Inspire.

http://www.peppermelon.tv/

- who is Álvaro León?

I’ve been finding out since 1978… and I’m still at it. in the professional dimension I have developed  within the audiovisual media, executing projects of graphic design, photography, animation, motion graphics, multimedia, illustration or cinema, and anything else that may come up.

- what are your projects?

Anything that comes up, although the following are quite constant:

keloide.net; a mutant concept of an audiovisual lab.

pornografika.com: virtual space to drain any kind of  audiovisual or graphic fetishism… Graph your Fetish

- what inspires you?

Inspiration is a status I try to keep in permanently, being surprised by almost anything appearing here and now.

- what is the future of the audiovisual art?

The Future (whichever) is uncertain and mysterious, we are building it up and pulling it down simultaneously… … it will simply be, and that is enough for us to want to hang around here for a while… only to see what is to come.

- what is houyhnhnms for you?

It is a means of self-promotion and exchange in which there is no editorial focus editing or cutting its contents beyond the actual user I hope it is heading towards a community of high quality creative and professional exchange managed by the users themselves.

www.keloide.net

www.pornografika.com

www.yeska.tv

- Who is Alec Crichton?

Alec Crichton is a British, Cologne based artist, designer and writer, experienced in a broad range of media technologies and research. He gained credibility in his local community through his participation in several cultural activities. He received his master’s degree at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne in 2007, where he is working on his thesis titled PARADIESFUNKTION.

- What are your projects?

Always changing.

- What kind of things inspire you?

Nearly everything.

- What’s the future of audiovisual art?

The place for audiovisual art is shifting towards the Internet, which is, compared to the art system, an open place, where products and ideas can find their own interest groups. Works will be fully cataloged in order to inspire future Generations and help understand the fundamental principles underlying an aesthetic approach to the World.

Whether the internet, the networked homeland of our culture, the digital place for exchange and memory, will help us bridge the gaps between us all - resulting from traditional thinking, the flow of money, advantages in information and human vanities - remains to be seen. In the digital realms parasitic relations seem to be expanding even further; we have to take this into account and influence the ongoing changes in a reasonable manner.

As the openness of the internet provokes new ways of participation, the resulting mixture of existing forms, in which we record and describe our common reality, represents an ever increasing challenge. Where technological progress and spare time breed a mass of data, the organisation of this quantity, its classification and hierarchisation, is the next step.

As energies are progressively set free, the fact that we are all part of a large stream is entering our collective consciousness. As describing and changing a present situation, through an act of creativity, is mostly based on reprocessing and constantly re-sorting former ideas, the need for access to these views becomes evident. Presently these ideas, in science and art, economy and politics, just like in any other field, are undergoing a systematic unification, which will help future generations to better investigate and understand our world.

In all ranges of human interaction, the internet multiplies the ways of perceiving and describing our world, undermining former barriers. Within the scope of an artistic form of communication for instance, the internet might erase the division of the entertainment industry and the art world. 

- What’s houyhnhnms.tv for you?

I don’t know.

http://alec.crichton.tv/

- Who is Giacomo Triglia?

Giacomo Triglia was born and lives in Reggio Calabria, Italy on July 7, 1981. Independent filmmaker, teaches Digital

Video in an italian Academy of  Fine Arts. His films, including music videos and some Video-Art’s projects (of

which he is director, writer, editor and producer), focusing on the refinement of visual construction, in order to

explore its narrative potential and its bond with memory, as well to create a particular atmosphere, and a recurring

feature in all projects is the relationship between music and images. Also, they’re selected in various

international festivals, including the Turin Film Festival, the Kansk Video Festival in Moscow, the Aosta’s Silent

Movies Art Festival, the Stockholm Film Festival ect, and broadcast by national television like La7, MTV, All Music

and Music Box.

- What are your projects?

Currently, in addition to continuing the video project ZETTELKASTCHENcinema (casket of beautiful cinematographic

things), a video project that combine music and fragments of many famous films (that can be found on houyhnhnms’s web

site)… edits a weekly video survey on the italian national television ALL MUSIC, carries out projects and artistic

events with the Academy of Fine Arts where he works, continues to produce music videos (lastest for Victor

Bermon, australian musician), and works in a new short film titled “my private videotapes”.

- What kind of things inspire you?

I’m inspired by film directors like Gus Van Sant, Bela Tarr, Wong Kar-Wai, Paolo Sorrentino, Thomas Vintenberg,

Aleksandr Sokurov, Vincent Gallo, Wes Anderson and many others, I’m inspired by little beautiful things, I’m

inspired by music I’m constantly seeking on myspace.com, I’m inspired by internet, I’m inspired by writers like

Kurt Vonnegut, Daniil Charms, Dave Eggers, Chuck Palahniuk… I’m inspired by exhibitions and books of

contemporary art, I’m inspired by analog music gadgets, Norwegian bedside tables, Wilco’s mangiadischi, polaroids

and instamatic camera, vintage tins, analog reflex cameras, godspeed you! Black emperor’s vinyls, typewriters,

painting, pastels that gave me my ex-girlfriend, snapshot of my grandmother, my best friend Alfredo and the little beaver

on the little motorboat that greets me with the little hand.

- What’s the future of audiovisual art?

It is all in projects like this, and I am sure that traditional medias, from film to magnetic coils, are going

to assists today’s technologies.

- What’s houyhnhnms.tv for you?

I’ll tell you mentioning Dirk Paesmans Jodi.org Project: <<we’re exploring computer from the inside and

we’re going to reproduce it on web. When a spectator is going to watch our work, we’re inside his computer.

We’re so honoured to be in someone’s computer, ‘cause you’re very very close to a person when you’re on his

desktop>>. Essentially, this a “warm” and “intimate” project, opposed on common stereotype that wants computers “cold”

and “impersonal”.

http://www.giacomotriglia.com 

- Who is Delacrew?

Delacrew, more than someone, is basically an idea. The idea of making up a crew of artists with no creative boundaries, with no predefined purpose, where someone’s idea becomes an immediate objective. And we, Juanjo Ortiz, Bruno Farins and Juan Reig (Rez), are working on that idea.

- What are your projects?

Right now, the projects we’re working on are our live audiovisual broadcast of drum&bass and midtempo, the shorts, the programming of an owned software to punch in/out video, the courses on audiovisual creation for live broadcast, the postproduction of videoclips for clients, web development, the creation of a group in Asia…

- What inspires you?

We have a wide array of sources of inspiration and they’re sometimes unconnected. We’re not always inspired by something related to our universe; it’s often quite the opposite. A movement of classical music may inspire a theme of downtempo, a film of Bergman may inspire a video loop and a book of  W. Gibson may inspire a script. A stroll through an unknown city, a rave, a flight, a coffee on a square… our mind works in funny ways when it comes to inspiration and its good to give it different moments to develop ideas.

- What is the future of the audiovisual art?

The future of art (of any kind) follows an exponential curve which is closely related to the technological progress. So it’s too difficult to foresee something that develops faster than us. Maybe the future of art entails humanizing the technology that surrounds us and giving positive answers to the human+technology equation.

- What is houyhnhnms for you?

Houyhnhnms is the first “selective” community we take part in, and to be honest, it is very exciting and comforting to know that the people we share virtuality with have such high standards and support your work. On the other hand, it is a place for inspiration and meditation where we can sound out our contemporary creativity. Also, its interface is one of the best I’ve seen.

www.delacrew.net

- Who is eddie d?
a video artist (or media artist if you like). I make short tapes and installations. The tapes have a musical background and I like to de- and re-construct text and language.
I use mostly ‘found’ (better term would be ’searched’) footage from television and movies. Editing is my main tool and I love doing it. I like to work on the frame level of the footage en rebuild from there. For me video is animation.
My installations are more about objects and single gestures. I use a very basic form of interactivity (buttons, motion detectors) to prevent a work from blaring on all the time (when sound is used) and also to let the work unfold itself only then, when someone is watching it or in its proximity.
I love making my work but since I am pretty lazy I don’t make many works in a year.
Being an artist is the best way of keeping my independence, which is very important to me.

- What are your projects?
At the moment I am searching and collecting material for installations. I want to make some more still live inspired works (see my website for examples) and am looking at a lot of movies, old tv series and strange infomercials for footage. This means downloading and going to the library a lot.
This process also gave me ideas and material for a new video so this period is more about contemplating and writing then actually making stuff.
But I also found material for a ‘what is Houyhnhnms” video and am collecting more to make it soon. I like to do this kind of ‘quick and dirty’ stuff every now and then, since I usually work for months on a video that could be as short as 50 seconds. (I have a rule that no art video should be longer then the average Ramones song, which is about 3 min, unless you have a very good reason)

- What kind of things inspire you?
I was a ‘first-wave punk’ in 1977 and still love the Do It Yourself mentality that arose in that time. Music is a big inspiration, bands from that era like the Fall and The Ramones can still get me up to want to make work, but also bands like Eels or the Hives, people like David Thomas (from Pere Ubu) and experimental music and -sound stuff. Music (and sound) in general probably.
And of course the world around me inspires me, as seen on tv or in real live.

- What’s the future of audiovisual art?
I have absolutely no idea. But I do think that with all the user-generated crap around, the need for a good artist is as great as ever.
The internet does give a good way of presenting work to a wider audience all over the world, the problem being of course that they still have to find it.

- What’s houyhnhnms.tv for you?
It is a good way to help that interested audience find the good stuff.
I want to present my work to as many people as possible. This is a problem for the mainstream art world because they are more interested in exclusivity; that makes more money.
Houyhnhnms is a way to present good (I also mean technically) quality video art and experimental movies and bypass traditional tv and art scenes.
I am not to keen on the fact that people can vote because you can see on sites like Youtube that the average highest vote is not the best stuff, but I can see that it can give a notion of community and make people feel more connected to the site.
I am not much of a social community person (I am an artist and as ego-centric as an artist can get I guess) but it looks like this is growing into a good artist and art-interested community and since I find myself getting involved, for me something must be right around here.

————————————-
eddie d
for all your media art
www.eddied.nu
————————————-

A 2004 Pentagon report warns the U.S.A. President that an abrupt climate change will take planet Earth on the brink of anarchy and nuclear war for access to basics resources like food and water. ‘2050’ approaches the issue of Climate Change from the perspective of the consequences for our civilization and the short time we have to react.

“What we have now is that the change
is much more rapid than anything that happened
in the past. That´s why it is scary”

Dieter Schoene, FAO
(Food and Agriculture Organization) UN

“…climate change is a threat to humanity.
It’s a threat to all forms of life…”

Pachauri, Chairman of IPCC
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) UN

“Climate change is one of the greatest challenges
that mankind faces this century”

Brian Dawson, UNDP
(United Nations Development Programme)

http://www.2050thedocumentary.com/

- Who is Gareth Crook?

I’m a filmmaker and commercial motion graphic artist in the UK. I run a small production company by the name of GraphicQuarter, which works as my alter ego for producing experimental short films, that genre hop from comedy and drama, to off beat animations and video art. I have worked commercially for nearly 10 years and have run GraphicQuarter for five of those. The two fractions of my work, although fairly seperate in their application, do tend to cross over quite a lot. I’m able to take ideas and skills from one to the other and often the influence I have over my work can be seen in both. I’m interested in making films and animations that people can get lost in, for commercial purposes things need to deliver a clear message and entertain, I like taking these notions into my experimental work and blurring the boundaries, making the viewer work that little bit harder and ask questions of what they’re seeing.

- What are your projects?

I’m currently working on an experimental drama called ‘The Sky’s Gone Out’ which is due for release in early 2008. The film is a social commentary on the industrialised world, with the key characters expressing a desire and hope for a more naturalistic environment that they once knew and trusted. With a mix of film montage and graphic overlays, the narrative is controlled by a series of personal voice-overs, speaking of hope, love and warmth in a cold and harsh existence. The film represents my more experimental side of working, allowing the film to take shape as production goes on. When working this way I tend to start with an outline concept of what I want the film to say and the visual style I’d like it to portray. Once in production I see how the individual elements and scenes in the film work together best. Other recent projects have been a world away from this technique. The animation ‘10 Ways to Sheer a Sheep’, is a very structured albeit simple tale and was more concerned with humour than anything else, but it still retains some of my signature styles, despite it’s difference to much of my work. I’ve always liked the idea of each film being radically different from things I’ve done in the past, I’m not a big fan of repeating themes and this is what led me to produce ‘Very Nearly an Armful’ which is a traditional documentary about donating blood. It’s a fly-on-the-wall styled piece that follows a donar through the process as a positive statement about how easy it is to donate. The film was supported by the National Blood Service in the UK and should begin public screenings in the UK in January 2008. The running of GraphicQuarter in itself is always an on going project, in addition to making films, working independently means you also need to promote them. I’m always looking for new avenues to get GraphicQuarter films to larger audiences. The promotion of the GraphicQuarter website provides me with a hub to focus on, so no matter how far the message spreads, there’s always a base to come back to.

- What kind of things inspire you?

Pretty much everything inspires me in one way or another, whether it be positive or negative. The positive gives a more direct inspiration, but the negative can be seen to drive me to produce an antidote. Certainly a love of graphics is evident in much of my work, but themes about life and the things I’m personally exposed to play a large role too. These things control to a certain extent the subjetcs that I make films about and the way in which they are produced, but I think the reasons for me actually making films at all, is that it provides a forum for me to express my ideas, to entertain and to see what I can achieve. Although many of the themes I explore on the surface may appear to have negative tones, a closer look often reveals elements of hope, love and other positive emotions, the act of making a film or any kind of creation is a positive one and this probably more than anything is what drives me on to my next project.

- What’s the future of audiovisual art??

Things are definitely changing and for the better. Artists film and video has always been a contentious subject and an area that often doesn’t get the exposure that it deserves. There’s a long history about filmmakers having to be proactive in finding outlets for their work and new technology is certainly helping the modern filmmaker to do that. Just as desktop home computer systems have allowed artists the freedom to work at their own pace and in their own surroundings, computers and more importantly the networks that tie them together are now opening doors to worldwide audiences that have previously been closed off. The way that people access film and music is beginning to change, we all still watch TV and listen to songs, but the way that these things come into our homes is shifting away from the traditional broadcast mediums and toward the online revolution provided by the internet. What this means for the independent filmmaker is that the route from themselves to the audience is drastically shortened, the production company and TV executive no longer stands in the way. The path is also open both ways, with the viewer given the opportunity to comment on and influence the things they watch. I think the future of audiovisual art will be extremely healthy and diverse and something to really look forward to and be excited about.

- What’s houyhnhnms.tv for you?

Houyhnhnms.tv represents what can be done with these new technologies, as is always the case with new developments, there are those who get it right and those who despite best intentions don’t quite hit the nail. There is a mass of websites and online TV outlets now appearing, and in the rush, sometimes the quality and user experience is lost and forgotten. Much as with broadcast TV, there are those stations that people watch a lot more than others, what sets these aside is not just the quality of the programming, but also the way that it’s delivered. With online TV, the big thing is the interface provided. Many sites make the mistake of not caring enough about the brand and identity, this for me is where houyhnhnms.tv excels. Not only does it have rich and diverse programming, but the way that’s accessed is sleek, professional and friendly. Filmmakers like any other artist, want their work to be shown in the best possible light, to feel that the outlet provided is done so with a shared passion for the content it shows, this is what houyhnhnms.tv represents for me and is why I’m proud to have GraphicQuarter associated with it.

gareth@graphicquarter.com
——————————————————————————
http://www.graphicquarter.com
http://www.garethcrook.com
http://www.pixelsurgeon.com
http://www.DEC3films.com
http://www.myspace.com/graphicquarter

You can now be inspired by watching what went on at EFFE, one of the most referenced festivals in the international cinema scene, which is now shown on the Houyhnhnms Artventures Channel.

Enjoy it!

THE FESTIVAL

Under the general direction of Independent Producer Paulo Branco and Event Manager Dra. Cristina Fernandes de Abreu, EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL ESTORIL presents what will be its first edition on 8-17 November.

With Europe and its Cinema as its essential geographical space, EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL ESTORIL cannot fail to be a window on other cinematographic forms, showcasing the best of the Seventh Art created around the world.

EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL ESTORIL thus reinstates Europe as a pioneer in the celebration of the Cinema as an artistic, transdisciplinary phenomenon, and projects itself as a space for reflection, dialogue and artistic invention, thereby establishing for itself a unique place in the world of existing film festivals.

With Cinema being the art that better and more fully unites and synthesises the other accepted arts, EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL ESTORIL will reflect that transversality both through the sections that compose the Festival and through the choice of its participants and protagonists.