.x-med-k. is a series of workshops and seminars dealing with the many faces of 'experimental media arts'. From 2004 to 2008¹⁾, three Brussels based art and technology organisations (FoAM, nadine, okno) joined forces to design and implement this heterogeneous series, for artists and designers interested in experimental use of digital media, new materials and technologies.

.x-med-k. is about sharing the understanding of the diversity and multiplicity of tools and media that can be used creatively, as well as teaching the basics of 'making-your-own' techno-artistic materials and instruments. We cover collaborative issues in the production of art, specifically computer implemented and media related art. We discuss wider economic, environmental, social and political implications of our works. We forge new projects, perform and socialise together, gathering a critical mass of people around topics close to our hearts.

The programme for 2006/2007 is a mixture of introductory tutorials, advanced master-classes, informative seminars and collaborative experiments. Nadine is offering three hands-on introductory workshops, teaching some of the most wide-spread tools in the experimental media scene: Max/MSP, Final Cut and DVD Studio Pro. For artists with already some digital mud on their hands, Nadine will engage in a DIY session on how to build a computer to fit people's specific needs, okno will teach about physical computing and FoAM will dig into the issues of environmentally sustainable media arts and design. A step further, where artists become developers of tools for other artists, FoAM works on real-time audiovisual systems and tools, while okno braves the world of online collaboration tools. And last but not least, we did not forget that a lot of digital media are about and for play, which nadine explores in different seminars dealing with the artistic use of computer games and gaming engines.

You can participate in .x-med-k. in several ways. You can join us as a workshop participant, or a discussion partner for people presenting on the seminars. You can contribute to our online publication, or participate in public experiments with creating/performing/collaborating remotely. You can come and experience the results of the workshops during open labs, as well as suggest topics and trajectories that you are interested in sharing, teaching or following. There are a few things that are a prerequisite for a .x-med-k. participant: you should be self-motivated, curious and open to new experiments. A little understanding of English language and some digital literacy are a bonus. For the rest, we have welcomed digital and video artists, media performers, architects, creative software and hardware engineers, physicists and biologists, dancers and composers, mathematicians, graphic and textile designers, journalists and puppeteers. If you are interested in any of the above, either as a novice, or as a veteran in experimental media, don't hesitate to contact us.

Project pages: http://fo.am/xmedk/ and some workshop notes

Publication: http://fo.am/xmeda/

see Media Ecologies Workshop

see Fabbing Workshop

see: Luminous Green

see RealtimeAV Workshop

see Fluxus Workshop

see Softwear Workshop

see Defying Physics Workshop

see Responsive Environments Workshop

'x.med.a' is the xmeda Book which provides an overview of the workshops during 2oo4 and 2005.

see Xmedk References