Saturday, April 5, 2008

Welcome to Version>08: Dark Matter

In 2008, Dark Matter is all around us. Us artists, us activists, us outlaws. All of us, we are engaged in a culture war and economic struggle against establishments in all their guises. We form communities to counter the alienation of everyday life, and the commercial and institutional structures that stifle reality. We desire another world.

And we're not alone. As artist-activist Greg Sholette says, "a hidden social production has always found its own time and space apart from hegemonies of power and the objectifying routines of work. This dark matter resistance extends well beyond conventional conflicts between labor and capital to form a murky excrescence of affects, ideas, histories, sentiments, and technologies that shift in and out of visibility like some half-submerged reef."

In 2008, we think it's time for things to shift. It's time to re-ignite dormant forces within the murky worlds of radical culture. It's time to dive.

And how? From April 17-27 (11 days), we are gathering to celebrate, identify, discuss and act on the workings of Dark Matter. Version>08: DARK MATTER will showcase emerging, progressive trends in art, politics, technology and music. We'll gather and see how our peers in the counterculture create work, spaces, tactics and strategies. We'll witness multiple possibilities for the future, and leave ready to act.

To read more about Dark Matter and the inspiration for this year's theme visit Greg's website.


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