wats: ON? Festival Brings Together Speed Based Film, Multimedia Work @Carnegie Mellon, March 17-19

Lot's of stuff always going on at CMU, often related to the cutting edge of art, design and technology. This festival of lectures, film screenings, music and events caught my eye late.

wats:ON? Festival

"Notions of speed in contemporary culture are often tied to technology and its impact on everyday life. Information dissemination and interactions are accelerating, and with it hopes and fears of the future change with every new invention or discovery. Our culture of speed harnesses energies beyond our comprehension, while calling into question the nature of our everyday reality.


Speed is not merely acceleration, but a magnitude of velocity, fast or slow. It becomes a measure of time and space, of dislocation and change, of transformation and evolution. The extremes of fast and slow heighten our awareness of our surroundings, creating a seamless interface between the visceral and the subliminal. Speed creates a blur between what is real and what is imagined.
wats:ON 2011 will examine speed in relation to the production and presentation of creative work encompassing a range of interdisciplinary events."

As with everything else on the cutting edge, a lot of this stuff may not transend beyond the wow, geek factor into art. If 15% of it does, it's more than worth it.

See full schedule and info here