The Stifo@Sandberg workshop was started six years ago when designers and filmmakers were paired up with the intention of influencing both artistic practices. Since then, the digital media have changed our lives considerably.
The Stifo@Sandberg Worshop starts every year with a two day conference. This conference gives a picture of the current state of affairs with respect to digital developments, trends and, in particular, the effects of digital media.
The medium of TV, for example, has been allowed to evolve and deepen in peace for decades since its conception.
We now see that this structural lack of disturbance to our suppliers of information has been significantly disrupted by the new media and is now seeking a new meaning and quality. In this quest we are confronted with a world in which various local, national and international relationships are under pressure. Image makers cannot avoid the decision of whether or not to contribute to the solution of social, economic, cultural, and even political problems. We must now address the question: How does one relate as an image maker to the entire spectrum of media?
As the medium of TV is becoming increasingly insignificant, the importance of the documentary form is growing.
Henk Oosterling (dutch philosopher): In contemporary art practice, interdisciplinarity and the use of multiple artistic and technological media are a matter of course. Choreographers work with computer simulations, fine artists with games, architects with music, musicians with video. Theatre makers incorporate techno culture. And in films, we even see media forms like cartoons. Interesting contemporary art crosses the boundaries of the discrete artistic disciplines and media forms. The digital medium has developed into a carrier of visual culture.
A new field is opening up for makers of reportage and commentary, certainly now that the line between production and distribution is becoming blurred. New platforms are appearing. More and more objects around us are becoming media; screens and tools for the transmission of information are everywhere, from architecture to supermarkets to the inside of our body. The in-house TV station of the Wal-Mart store chain in the United States reaches more viewers per day than the national networks. And then there are the new channels on the Internet and the transmission possibilities of mobile telephones.