Welcome to Cyberlab 7
MILLENNIUM RENAISSANCE
Humanity is about to go through an incredibly powerful collective experience - another turning of the 1,000 year clock. This single event will influence all other activities for the next 5 years and beyond. With each passing year as we approach the year 2000, the intensity will increase. Even though this is a Euro-American calendar, its effect will be felt worldwide. Euro-Americans make up 10% the planet's population and use over 50% of its resources.
CyberLab 7 is a new media organization dedicated to using media technologies in the service of life. With a fully equipped studio in the SOMA area of San Francisco our community of over 20 artists and technologists is preparing for the new millennium in three related ways:
1. Creating online, interactive visual realities which will be the primary communication medium in the 21st century.
2. Hosting millennium events, parties and celebrations, which will be a major activity during this period of history.
3. Developing Planet Change Projects to assist in the creation of a global society that transcends current dystopian visions and leads to a sense of shared responsibility for the quality of our biosphere.
Spinfinite Realities
We live in a spinning universe. Stars spin, planets spin, atoms spin, minds spin. Spinning worlds are cyclical worlds. We experience them having a beginning, a middle, an end and a new beginning.
Millennium Events
As the millennium crossover date approaches, the desire to celebrate this rare event will increase asymptotically. On the one hand there is an urge to experience the infinite possibilities that the new era contains. On the other, there is the dystopian feeling of apocalypse - a fear about the ending of the old. The focal point becomes the millennium itself which takes on the symbolism and significance of a collective rite of passage.
To prepare for this historic moment, CyberLab has been warming up with a series of parties and events that utilize technology to create virtual community. We use video phone links, the internet, interactive midi gear, large screen projections, virtual reality equipment and other technologies to link people in delightful new ways. The following stills and quicktime clips offer a glimpse of the range of our recent experiments.
[IMAGE] [IMAGE] Begin Again, New Year's, January 1995: (888k)
You could call this now legendary event a dress rehearsal for New Year's Eve, 1999. Quotes like "life-changing," "closest thing to space travel I've ever experienced," "restores my faith" are typical comments from those who had the good fortune to be there. (For those who didn't happen to make it that night, a Begin Again videotape is available for $20. Email beginvid@crl.com.)
[IMAGE] [IMAGE] Digital World: The Interactive Media Festival, June 1994: (672k)
This was a large scale event with a theme of rainforest awareness done in cooperation with the multimedia band Realia. Together we created a media zone that allowed artists and the audience to interact and co-create the event. Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Todd Rundgren and Toni Childs joined us onstage for an amazing jam. Live links to David Bowie in London and Prince in Miami were a part of the mix.
[IMAGE] [IMAGE] MacWorld: The Digital Art Be-In, January 1994: (714k)
This was a mixed-media piece with the multimedia band Realia that utilized 25 dancers whose movements were processed and projected on large screens. VideoPhone links and audience interaction were also incorporated to create an Invocation for Gaia.
[IMAGE] [IMAGE] Peter Gabriel's WOMAD Tour, September 1993
We designed the Future Zone to be an experiment in audience-created art. Custom-built, digital instruments allowed participants to completely control their sound and visual environment.
[IMAGE] [IMAGE] One World Tribe Rave, May 1993
We have taken part in many underground music and art events. The One World Tribe Rave was offered in support of the indigenous peoples of our planet. Native Americans from the San Francisco Bay Area created a ceremony at the heart of the all night gathering.
We have also created or participated in parties and events at Siggraph 93, SigCHI, TED 3 and for organizations ranging from Computer Life and Intel to Interval Research and Pacific Bell.
We think it's all in the vibe. Good vibrations are an awesome transformative power. Practicing virtual party skills may be one of the most creative things we can do for the planet. And we expect that if we begin practicing now, by December 31, 1999 we ought to be ready to host one fine party! _________________________________________________________________
[Visual Realities] [Planet Change Projects]
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Planet Change Projects
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If we don't ultimately stop the destruction of our shared Biosphere, humans will no longer walk the earth in 100 years and the current vogue of apocalyptic, dystopian visions will become a reality. This won't happen - humanity will adapt to its changing circumstances and modify its lifestyle accordingly. Technology can be used to monitor the health of the Biosphere providing us with the cybernetic feedback we need to make life-oriented decisions.
We are developing a number of seed projects to learn more about possible 3rd millennium lifestyles.
[IMAGE] [IMAGE] Teknofemme (1505k)
We chose the word teknofemme to remind us of the natural connection of women and technology. Techno, the root of technology, is from the Greek word for art. Women have created and evolved technologies from our beginnings as toolmakers. Teknofemme is dedicated to providing new role models of women using technology in creative, life-sustaining ways. We work to empower women with online technologies. Once a month, in the San Francisco Bay Area, we offer Journey in Cyberspace - flight training for the Internet and online conferencing services like Women's Wire and the Well - to help women become active participants and creators of the global communications network. Other special events are held throughout the year. For information on workshops and classes, email tao@sirius.com, and put teknofemme in the subject line.
[IMAGE] [IMAGE] Haven.Net (604k)
We can be certain that the lifelong learning environments of the future will not resemble schools as we know them. But what will they look like? Haven.Net designs working models for 21st century "collaborative creativity environments" that blur the artificial boundaries between learning, work and play. We are dedicated to sharing the best ideas and resources on learning that exist today. We offer online support for young people seeking to design their own unique learning paths and apprenticeships as an alternative to school. We consult with parents and educators online about the ingredients and tools of 21st century education. We host a series of workshops and dialogues in the San Francisco Bay Area. In March, we're offering "Instead of School: creating your own learning path to higher education and right livelihood"--a four week series for teenagers. The Haven.Net website is currently under construction and will be on the World Wide Web in the spring of 1995. Stay tuned. For information, email tao@sirius.com, and put haven in the subject line.
Gaia.net
Gaia.net is a World Wide Web site dedicated to the emerging Global Village culture (currently under construction). Beginning in the spring of 1995, we will have forums on potential 3rd millennium lifestyles and technologies for improving the health of the biosphere.
United Nations Media Centers
We are working with an organization called WorldLink to create a series of multimedia installations for the United Nations that will demonstrate how technology can be used for life-enhancing purposes. The first of nearly 100 installations will be made in San Francisco in June to commemorate the founding of the UN. (The founding charter of the United Nations was signed in San Francisco in 1945.)
Tree-free Architecture Online
Tree-free Architecture Online designed and maintains the Cyberlab homepages. We are dedicated architects of cyberspace, experimenting with this beautiful new form and assisting individuals and organizations with putting their creative projects and businesses on the World Wide Web. Our web team has interface designers, writers, Photoshop, Premiere and Director artists. We draw on the works of the visionary designers Edward Tufte and Richard Saul Wurman for presenting information in compelling and easily accessible formats. Our greatest strength is our commitment to creating a life worth living for everyone here on Planet Earth. We bring a unique understanding of systems theory, educational transformation, sustainable jobs, and deep ecology to the design of World Wide Web environments. As a service to the Internet community, the TAO homepage publishes information on renewable paper fibers like kenaf and hemp for those occasions when you still need paper to communicate your ideas. We will keep you updated on the many alternative papers available. Email tao@sirius.com for more information. _________________________________________________________________
[Visual Realities] Millennium Events]
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