New Media Scotland is proud to announce the next Poker Club on Wednesday 24th October at the Beehive Inn (18-20 Grassmarket, Edinburgh) where Atau Tanaka (US/FR), and Martin Parker (UK), will be in discussion.  Inspired by the fireside conversations of the Scottish Enlightenment, where Adam Smith and David Hume once gathered to discuss their ideas and use the metaphorical poker to 'stir things up', New Media Scotland invites you to have a glass of whisky and join the contemporary debate.

This month's guests will be discussing the implications of gesture responsive technology on musical performance. How similar are electronic systems to traditional instruments; is the creation of new interfaces actually an attempt at creating old-fashioned "instruments" or something new? Can the use of interactive technology bridge the gap between the passive listener and active user?  Furthermore by demonstrating the link between sound and movement can gestural interfaces improve audience understanding of computer generated sound? 

6 for 6.30pm, Wednesday 24th October 2007, Beehive Inn, 18-20 Grassmarket, Edinburgh.

Admission is free but seating is extremely limited - please RSVP to avoid disappointment by emailing: rsvp -at- mediascot.org

Biographies:

Atau Tanaka was born in Tokyo, and was raised in the U.S. He moved to Paris with a residency at the Cité des Arts to work at IRCAM, was Artistic Ambassador for Apple France , and was researcher at Sony Computer Science Laboratory Paris. Atau creates sensor-based musical instruments for performance and exhibition, and is known for his work with biosignal interfaces. His recent work seeks to harness collective musical creativity in mobile environments, seeking out the continued place of the artist in democratized digital forms. His work has been presented at Ars Electronica, SFMOMA, Eyebeam, V2, ICC, and ZKM. He has received support from the Daniel Langlois Foundation and has been mentor at NESTA. In the 2007 season, he has been Artistic Co-Director of STEIM in Amsterdam . He recently joined Newcastle University as Chair of Digital Media at Culture Lab. http://www.xmira.com/atau/

Martin Parker makes music, designs sound and creates interactive visuals involving computers and live musicians. He studied composition at the University of Manchester and completed a Ph.D in Composition at the University of Edinburgh in 2003. He is Academic Director of the University of Edinburgh 's MSc in Sound Design and Artistic Director of Edinburgh's Dialogues Festival http://www.dialogues-festival.org .  He performs widely as a soloist with laptop and is a member of concert remixing duo SNAIL and Edinburgh-based free improvisation trio MKM. http://www.tinpark.com

The Poker Club is sponsored by anCnoc single malt whisky and the Beehive Inn.