Western Front Press Release

Who: An international Network of Internet Audio Artists

What:"ART'S BIRTHDAY 1999 - 24 HOURS OF RADIO ART"

24 hours of non-stop live radio art

connecting Western Front, CITR-FM and contacts in Japan, Austria, Holland, France and Australia.

All three of CITR's production studios will be taken over by local audio artists and DJs.The Western Front will be transformed into an Internet multi-media lab.Using RealAudio, participants around the world will send contributions by Internet.A live CUSeeMe videoconference will launch an ongoing telecommunications workshop linking Western Front to Galerie Oboro in Montreal.Art's friends are invited to drop by anytime, and are especially encouraged to attend the Tea Party.

Background:

"ART'S BIRTHDAY" is an annual event first proposed in 1963 by French artist Robert Filliou.He suggested that 1,000,000 years ago, there was no art.But one day, on the 17th of January to be precise, Art was born.According to Filliou, it happened when someone dropped a dry sponge into a bucket of water.Modest beginnings, but look at us now.Filliou proposed a public holiday to celebrate the presence of art in our lives.In recent years, the idea has been taken up by a loose network of artists and friends around the world.Each year the network widens slightly.Some Canadian cities have even proclaimed the day as Art's Birthday or Artists' day.As its contribution the Western Front often produces a tele-performance event.


When: Midnight-Midnight January 17, 1999

Where: Western Front

Contact:

Hank Bull, Western Front, 878-7513
Anna Friz, CITR, 822-1242