Spark Festival of Electronic
Music and Arts 2008
February 26 - March 2, 2008
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN.
Douglas Geers & Ali Momeni, Artistic Directors
J. Anthony Allen, Programming Director
Phillip O'Toole, Technical Director
Zachary Crockett & Christopher Baker, Assistant Directors
For one week each year, the Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Arts gathers creators and performers of new media arts from around the world to the
Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul (USA) to showcase their work to the public.
Spark celebrates all uses of new technologies for artistic expression, including music, video, theater, dance, plastic artworks, and more.
Centered around Minneapolis’ west bank theater district and the adjoining University of Minnesota West Bank Arts Quarter, Spark presents a
wide variety of performances, workshops, discussions, and scholarly lectures. Nearly all Spark events are free, and all Spark events are open
to the general public.
Special Events for 2008:
Richard Devine
During the past three years, Richard Devine has remixed top Warp artists like Aphex Twin and Mike Patton (Faith No More). He has released 4 full-length albums on Schematic, Warp, Asphodel, and Sublight records and has performed his own ear-tearing music mayhem worldwide. ...more...Paul DeMarinis
Paul DeMarinis has been working as an electronic media artist since 1971 and has created numerous performance works, sound and computer installations and interactive electronic inventions. He has performed internationally, at The Kitchen, Festival d'Automne a Paris. ...more...Iancu Dumitrescu
Iancu Dumitrescu is a Romanian composer whose compositions are based on ultra-spectralism and acousmatics from a phenomenological point of view (Ed. Husserl), in which sound is subject to analysis and dissociation, (harmonical multisounds - diagonal sounds) processes which confer a genuine force of suggestion and penetration. ...more...Graffiti Research Lab
Graffiti Research Lab is an art group dedicated to outfitting graffiti writers, artists and protesters with open source technologies for urban communication. The members of the group experiment in a lab and in the field to develop and test a range of experimental technologies. ...more...Simon Reynolds
Born in London in 1963, Simon Reynolds began writing about music and popular culture as a founding member of Monitor, a pop journal based in Oxford, where he had studied history. Monitor lasted six issues before expiring in 1986, by which time he had joined the British weekly music magazine Melody Maker as a staff writer. ...more...Announcements about more Featured Artists will be made soon. In the meantime, we are currently accepting submissions in all catagories. To submit, please see the Submission Page.
Past Spark Festivals have featured a diverse array of guests, including Alvin Lucier, Morton Subotnick, DJ Spooky, Scanner, free103point9, Smith/Wymore Disappearing Acts, Phillipe Manoury, Paul Lansky, and others.
Venue Details
The Spark Festival locations include many venues in the Ceder/Riverside area of Minneapolis. The venues this year include:
- Regis Center for Art
- Ferguson Hall
- Ted Mann Concert Hall
- Southern Theatre
- Weisman Museum of Art
- Ultan Recital Hall
- Nomad World Pub
- Coffman Memorial Union/The Whole
- Regis Center for Art/InFlux
- And more.
Concerts
Over 15 concerts, 5 paper sessions, and 4 featured lectures are scheduled, including artists and presenters from all over the world.
Spark NightLife
Two years ago we added "Spark NightLife" held at the Nomad World Pub, and we are happy to announce this tradition will continue. Every night of the festival from 10pm to 1am (and later) we will take over the Nomad for a series of specially selected "club music works," curated by JP Hungelmann.
Special Presentations
In addition to the panel session, artists from all over the world will present their work and research. Events will include special presentations by some of our guest artists about their work, as well as demo sessions and workshops.
Submission Notification
The submission system is now online. Please note the deadline for works is postmarked October 26, 2007. We will make the notifications as soon as possible.