Upgrade! Milwaukee

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Monthly Archives: June 2009

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240 E. Pittsburgh Ave, Milwaukee WI

Upgrade! Milwaukee presents Nadav Assor and Maria Bolivar!
Sunday July 12, 7 - 9 PM
MOCT, 240 E Pittsburgh Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53204

Please come to the second Upgrade! Milwaukee, featuring Nadav Assor (Israel) and Maria Bolivar (Venezuela)!

Nadav Assor, Tunneling (performance)

Nadav Assor, Tunneling (performance)

On Nadav Assor (who was the founder of Upgrade! Tel Aviv):

“I am greatly interested in theories and explorations of urban architectural, emotional and ideological sub-structures. One tactic I use in exposing and reshaping the structures around me is digitization, in the sense of reduction to a primal, reconfigurable matter. The transformed digital matter is recast into its original context, physically manipulated in an ongoing live process that ranges from the absurd to the violent. The outcome often presents various transgressions or inversions of the technological, socio-political structures that served as a starting point. Many of the mechanisms inherent in my work require palpable, physical effort or struggle to manipulate, thus exposing the constant friction between body and media. I do not want my devices to ‘run smoothly’.

My work has been shown in Berlin, Chicago, and in many Israeli venues, including several showings at the Israeli Center for Digital Art, the C.Sides International electronic media festival, the Laptopia festival, the Center for Contemporary Art in Tel-Aviv, The Haifa and Bat Yam Museums and more. I have received a 2006 Leumi (the Israeli national bank) award for excellence in the arts.
I am currently pursuing my MFA with full fellowship in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.”

Maria Bolivar @ UWM

Maria Bolivar @ UWM

Maria Bolivar was born in Caracas, Venezuela. She was significantly influenced by her father, Cesar Bolivar, who is a well-known film director in Latin America. After attending the most important design academy in Venezuela: El Instituto de Diseño de Caracas, Maria spent three years as a professional designer. Due to the violence and her involvement in the 2002 National Strike in Venezuela, Maria was forced to come to Milwaukee  where she received her BFA in communication design from the Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) in 2006. Maria is currently pursuing a Master’s of Fine Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee with an intermedia focus.

Hope to see you there!

Uncategorized announcements

FEATURE on CricketToes: Time Has Come for a Milwaukee Upgrade!

Time Has Come for a Milwaukee Upgrade!

Upgrade! At a point in history when independent artists, collectives, galleries, and small arts organizations are struggling to see their way through this thickly choking economic smog, all the while acutely aware that the endeavors of some of their colleagues have been sadly lost forever, there are still a few discernible rays of hope in the form of a growing number of groups that place an emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration.

Locally, we’ve seen the establishment and continuing success of the creative/tech idea incubator Spreenkler and the foundation of the much anticipated artistic cross-pollinator RedLine Milwaukee, opening in July. In what may enable us to confidently call this a trend o’ our times, we can now happily welcome Upgrade! Milwaukee to our fair city by the Great Lake.

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