The Media Lab was launched in 1994 as a new, experimental venture within the University of Art & Design Helsinki. The Lab’s development involved some earlier projects including the Computer Aided Photography lab (CAP) and an experimental 2-year masters program in high-end 3D animation and design entitled, IMI (1992-4). In August 1994 the university hosted ISEA 1994, a leading international conference and festival of digital media art and culture. The new MA in New Media program was launched in September 1994 with an intake of 18 inter-disciplinary students. At this time the MA in New Media program was one of the first of its kind in Europe.
The MA program was developed during the late 1990s as part of the European Media Masters Program (EMMA) coordinated by the Centre for International Technology & Education, CITE, based in London. The EMMA consortium consisted of 9 pioneering MA programs run by Art & Design schools in 7 European countries and was supported by the European Commission’s Media2 Programme. In 1998 the Media Lab rose from the status of development project to that of a full department of the University of Art & Design Helsinki.
In 2006 the Media Lab was showcased at the Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria in a substantial exhibition of students and research projects entitled, The Beta Lounge. In 2010 the University of Art & Design merged with two other leading Finnish universities and became an integral part of the new Aalto University. The Media Lab became part of the new Department of Media within the School of Arts and Design. At the end of 2013 the Media Lab was relocated to new premises on the Aalto University Otaniemi campus in Espoo, sharing a building with the school’s department of Architecture.
The Media Lab continues to be the leading department of its kind in Finland dedicated to multi-disciplinary education and research within the broad field of new media and digital creativity.
https://medialab.aalto.fi/2014/09/19/media-lab-20-years-anniversary-seminar-25-9-2014/
Here the video from the anniversary seminar:
and the program:
Media Lab 20 years anniversary seminar 25.9.2014
Place: LUME tv-studio, Hämeentie 135 C, Helsinki
Live stream http://inside.arcada.fi/medialab
9:30-10:15 Arrival & coffee
10:15-10:30 Welcome
Philip Dean and Anna Valtonen
10:30-11:00 Observations, reflections and propositions about media, design, and research
Klaus Krippendorff, Ken Friedman, Lily Díaz (host Lily Díaz)
During this 30 minutes we want the discussion to focus on basic issues, current paradigms and future trends. Among the items up for discussion for example, are observation and attention and what these might mean for humans in the age of ubiquitous computing.
11:10-11:55 The Art of the Long New
Minna Tarkka & Mika ‘Lumi’ Tuomola host Heidi Tikka, Leena Saarinen, Minna Nurminen, Teijo Pellinen, Petri Kola & Pia Tikka (hosts Mika Tuomola, Minna Tarkka)
In this discussion, we revisit hot topics from media art 10 years ago. With a group of Media Lab artists, designers and alumni, we take a nostalgic look at the expectations for mobile and interactive art presented by them in interviews from the year 2003. How have the visions changed in the past decade? Where is ground-breaking art to be found today?
12:00-12:30 New Media Approach: Future of Sound in Arts and Design
Andy Farnell and Koray Tahiroğlu (host Koray Tahiroğlu)
This seminar deals with the future possibilities for music, discussing alternative conditions that set the trajectories and tensions in creative audio practices.
12:30-13:30 Lunch break
13:30-14:00 The future of work and learning
Kirsi Juva, Esko Kilpi, Teppo Säkkinen, Minna Aslama (host Teemu Leinonen)
Old people in mega cities. Everything connected. What kind of work there will be in the future? To what kind of world of work we are educating people? Digital curators, social engineers, artificial intelligence designer, creativity experts, story tellers.
14:10-14:55 Sound in New Media
Ava Grayson, Aki Päivärinne, Ville Wallenius (host Antti Ikonen)
Three Sound in New Media MA students present their projects in the intersection of music technology, sound studies and interactive audio and discuss about audible art and design in the digital era.
15:05-15:45 Digital Dystopia
Ville Oksanen, Jari Arkko, Rasmus Vuori, Kari-Hans Kommonen (host Kari-Hans Kommonen)
Digital technology has made our lives easier, our work more efficient, and connects everyone on the planet to each other. But recently we have also learned much more about the dark side of the digital world – it is misused in many ways against us and mocking basic freedoms and protections that we used to consider important for a free society. What went wrong? Are we heading towards a dystopia, how far are we on that track, and is it still possible to change the course?
15:55-16:40 Killing the games industry
Ste Curran (host Miikka Junnila)
It’s 2014. The game industry’s body bleeds out on a floor, and someone, somewhere, knows who did this. Ste Curran plays true detective in a murder mystery taking in 100 suspects and just as many murder weapons. Spoiler: you’re not that innocent.
16:40-17:00 Closing words
Philip Dean
17.00 Book Launch: Media Lab 20 Years book
Author Olli Sulopuisto
We reserve the right to make changes to the program.
About the presenters:
Jari Arkko is an Expert on Internet Architecture with Ericsson Research. He is also the General Area Director and current Chair of IETF, the Internet Engineering Task Force, the international body tasked with the mission “to make the Internet work better.”
Ste Curran is a freelance speaker, author, game designer and consultant from London, England.
Andy Farnell is a computer scientist from the UK specialising in audio DSP and synthesis. Author of “Designing Sound”, his original research and design work champions the emerging field of Procedural Audio. As well as consulting for pioneering game and audio technology companies he teaches widely, as resident lecturer and visiting professor at several European institutions. Andy is a long-time advocate of free open source software, good educational opportunities and access to enabling tools and knowledge for all.
Ava Grayson is a Canadian composer and sound artist and a second year Sound in New Media student. She also works in a cross-disciplinary sound art research group at the Media Lab.
Antti Ikonen is the Head the major subject Sound in New Media studies in the Media Lab. His career in sound design and music ranges from TV and radio to installation art and experimental bands.
Petri Kola specialized in the dynamics of participation at Media Lab. Later he became one of the key persons in the Finnish open data movement taking his knowledge into a societal and political context. That path led to Yle (Finland’s national public service broadcasting company) where he has been working as data journalist since 2014.
Kari-Hans Kommonen is the director of the Arki research group in the Media Lab.
Minna Nurminen spent her time at Media Lab with projects combining interactive storytelling and film editing. She has worked in the editing room since her graduation in 2008, currently at Yle (Finland’s national public service broadcasting company).
Ville Oksanen works at Aalto University at SoberIT as a teaching researcher. His research interests include Law, Technology, IPRs, Public Choice Theory and standardization. Dr. Oksanen is also vice chairman and one of the founders of Electronic Frontier Finland ry.
Teijo Pellinen works in the fields of cinema, games and interactive cinema. His first public release was Painter Boy, a computer game in 1986. Other significant works are interactive TV programs, The Mind Saver in 2007 and Cause and Effect -performances with Chris Hales in 2003-2011.
Aki Päivärinne is a composer, musician and sound designer graduating soon from Sound in New Media. He is working with theatre, dance and sonic branding, and he has e.g. created the interactive soundscapes of the Angry Bird stores and theme parks all over the world.
Leena Saarinen worked in Media Lab as designer, researcher and script-writer with special focus on interactive storytelling and cross-media production. She’s currently digital media production manager in the National Library of Finland.
Koray Tahiroğlu is a musician, researcher and lecturer. He has been experimenting with Human Musical Interaction since he started his studies here in Helsinki and currently practicing art and design as a researcher at Media Lab / Department of Media, Aalto ARTS. He is the founder and head of Sound and Physical Interaction – SOPI research group, coordinating research projects with research interests in sound, music and interaction.
Minna Tarkka is director m-cult association of media culture and current chair of the Finnish Media Art network. In 1996-2001 she was professor of interactive media and head of the MA programme at the Media Lab.
Heidi Tikka is independent artist working on mixed media installations. Her context and site-specific work has been shown internationally and often involves participatory processes.
Dr. Pia Tikka combines her filmmaking practice with the methods of neuroimaging in order to study neural basis of storytelling. Currently, she leads the NeuroCine research line at Media Lab as senior researcher and deputy director in the Crucible Studio storytelling research group.
Mika ‘Lumi’ Tuomola is director and co-founder of Crucible Studio, the Media Lab practice-based research group that has investigated new media storytelling since 2001, often via media art productions.
Rasmus Vuori is the Head of the major subject New Media Design and Production in the Media Lab.
Ville Wallenius is a guitarist, composer, sound designer and sound engineer who is working with film, TV, animation and games. His Master’s Thesis project from Sound in New Media is a non-tangible, programmable effect pedal for electric guitar.