Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect: The Coordinates of the Moment Before Discovery (A Pillangó-hatás: A felfedezés elõtti pillanat koordinátái) was a series of international events organised by the Soros Center for Contemporary Arts Budapest, Intermedia MKE Budapest and Műcsarnok Budapest from 20 January - 25 February 1996 at Műcsarnok, Budapest.

Curators: Suzanne Meszoly - Program Director SCCA-Budapest, Miklós Peternák - Board member SCCA-Budapest.
Organising team: Zoltán Szegedy-Maszák, Andrea Szekeres, János Szoboszlai, Adéle Eisenstein, Helga Rajz, László Tölgyes, Lívia Páldi.

Programme

• Current Coordinates, exhibition of media art works related to Central and Eastern europe, Műcsarnok, 20 January - 25 February 1996. Invited artists: Gábor Bakos, Balázs Beöthy, Wojciech Bruszewski, Attila Csörgő, Róza El-Hassan, Gábor Farkas, Péter Forgács, Gábor Gyõrfi, Gusztáv Hámos, Ágnes Hegedüs, Péter Kiss, Richard Kriesche, George Legrady, Dóra Maurer, Csaba Nemes, László Révész, Józef Robakowski, Jeffrey Shaw, János Sugár, Zoltán Szegedy-Maszák, Attila Szűcs, IPUT, Péter Türk, Steina & Woody Vasulka, Beáta Veszely, Tamás Waliczky, Peter Weibel.
• Media Relics, historical exhibition of inventions and experiments focussing on technological innovations produced by Central and Eastern Europeans, Műcsarnok, 20 January - 25 February 1996.
• Moving Horizons, retrospective video, film and computer animation program of work by international artists, Műcsarnok, 20 January - 25 February 1996. Invited artists: Michael Bielicky, Wojciech Bruszewski, Victor Burgin, Companie K. Danse, Jean-Paul Fargier, Ivan Ladislav Galeta, Marina Grzinic, Gustav Hámos, Ágnes Hegedüs, Józef Robakowski, Jeffrey Shaw, Valentina Valentini, Steina & Woody Vasulka, Tamás Waliczky, Peter Weibel.
• Staged Moments, series of multi-media dance performances, happenings, actions, concerts and experiments by international artists, Műcsarnok & Petőfi Hall. Invited artists: Michael Bielicky, Wojciech Bruszewski, Compagnie K. Dance, Eike, GRANULARSYNTHESIS, Woody & Steina Vasulka.
• The Moment Before Discovery, international symposium devoted to the development of media technology and media art both forgotten and unforeseen, Műcsarnok, 22-23 January 1996. Invited speakers: John Perry Barlow (USA), Victor Burgin (USA), Timothy Druckrey (USA), Karel Dudesek (Germany), Jean-Paul Fargier (France), Ivan Ladislav Galeta (Croatia), Jochen Gerz (Germany, France), Marina Grzinic (Slovenia), Kathy Rae Huffman (Germany), Richard Kriesche (Austria), Werner Kunzel (Germany), George Legrady (USA), Valentina Valentini (Italy), Tibor Vámos (Hungary), Woody Vasulka (USA), Peter Weibel (Austria), Siegfried Zielinski (Germany).
• In the Shadow of Technology, lecture programme covering practical and theoretical issues presented by international guests, Intermedia MKE Budapest, February 1996. Invited institutions: Bauhaus Dessau; Information Arts/Conceptual Design, Art Dept, San Francisco State University; Kunsthochschule für Medien (KHM), Cologne; Le Fresony, Studio National des Arts Contemporains, Tourcoing; Media Dept, Academy of Fine Arts (VSVU), Bratislava; Video Dept, Academy of Fine Arts (AVU), Prague; Video Dept, Academy of Fine Arts, Bucharest; Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM) Karlsruhe.

Publications

• The Butterfly Effect: Műcsarnok Budapest Jan 20 - Feb 25, 1996, ed. Lászlo Beke, Budapest: Műcsarnok, 1996, 24 pp.
• A pillangó-hatás: Jelenkoordináták / The Butterfly Effect: Current Coordinates, Budapest: C3, Műcsarnok, and Open Society Institute, 1998, CD-ROM + 15 pp. Presents the exhibitions and exhibited works, and the material of the lectures and presentations of the accompanying international symposium. [1] [2] [3] [4] (Hungarian)/(English)

Documentation

• Event website
• Photo documentation of exhibition
• Video documentation of performances
• Video documentation of symposium
• Event documentation in C3 collection

Literature

• Miklós Peternák, "A pillangó-hatás. Média-relikviák elõkészítõ jegyzeteibõl", Balkon 1-2, Jan-Feb 1996, pp 38-39. (Hungarian)
• György Karvázy, "A pillangópillangó-hatás. A felfedezés előtti pillanat koordinátái", Balkon 3, Mar 1996, pp 32-35. (Hungarian)
• Tamás Bokody, "Egyetlen szárnycsapás. Pillangó-hatás a Műcsarnokban", Filmvilág 39:4, 1996, p 28. (Hungarian)
• Tamás Szőnyei, "Ötéves a C3: A pillangó túlél", Magyar Narancs 32, 2001. (Hungarian)
• Szilvia Seres, "„A kultúra felelősség azokért az információkért, amelyeket létrehoztunk.” Beszélgetés Peternák Miklóssal", Digikult.hu, 4 Sep 2014. [5] (Hungarian)
• Nikolett Erőss, "A pillangó hatás – A felfedezés előtti pillanat koordinátái. Bemutatási mód", in Curatorial Dictionary, Budapest: tranzit.hu, c.2015. (Hungarian)
  • "The Butterfly Effect—The Coordinates of the Moment Before Discovery: Exhibition Display", in Curatorial Dictionary, Budapest: tranzit.hu, c.2015. (English)