MetaForum

A presentation by Dutch political activist Wam Kat about the war situation in the Balkans, Metaforum II, Intermedia Department (Room 13), Budapest, 6 Oct 1995. From left to bottom: Andreas Kallfelz (verein 707), Tom Bass, Noel Villers, János Sugár, Diana McCarty, Walter van der Cruijsen, Zoltán Szegedy-Maszák, Dani Molnár (B2Men), Ákos Maróy (EastEdge), E. "Gomma" Guarneri (Decoder), Matthew Fuller (IOD), Ferenc Gerlóczy, John Perry Barlow (EFF), Wam Kat (Zamir), Vuk Ćosić. Photo: Miklós Bölcskey. (Source)

MetaForum was a series of annual conferences organised by the Media Research Foundation from 1994-1996 in Budapest. The organising committee included Geert Lovink, Diana McCarty, and János Sugár.

"The series, primarily organised by the Media Research Foundation, began in 1994, with the topic of multimedia. This small, chaotic event included CD-ROM and the World Wide Web, which was just gaining attention in the explosive hype of the Internet. There were no commercial Internet providers in Hungary, and just three Hungarian CD-ROMs. The lack of a working Internet connection during the event led to a heated debate between representatives of the Hungarian Telecom and East Edge, a group of Hungarian students well acquainted with the Internet. This debate led to MetaForum II/NO BORDERS/Budapest Networking Conference in 1995. These were international topics, and perhaps even more important in Hungary, where bad telephone lines and a general lack of expendable wealth magnify the issues of new communication technologies in the West. MetaForum III followed with the subject of content, which has become the crucial element in the new media discourse. " (organisers, 1996)

The participants included Richard Barbrook, John Perry Barlow, Konrad Becker, Tamás Bodoky, Heath Bunting, Vuk Ćosić, Nina Czegledy, Hans-Christian Dany, Erik Davis, Manuel DeLanda, Matthew Fuller, David Garcia, Ferenc Gerlóczy, Mieke Gerritzen, Rop Gongrijp, Debra Guzman, E. "Gomma" Guarneri, John Horvath, Heiko Idensen, Gábor Kelemen, Max Kossatz, Attila Kotányi, George Legrady, Olia Lialina, Alpár Losoncz, Eveline Lubbers, Oliver Marchart, Masuyama, András Nyírő, Benjamin Perasovic, Miklós Peternák, Gereon Schmitt, Pit Schultz, Alexei Shulgin, Mark Stahlman, Marleen Stikker, Barbara Strebl, Tamás Szalay, Katalin Timár, Jozsef Tillman, László Tölgyes, Toshiya Ueno, Walter van der Cruijsen, Salvatore Vanasco, Willem Velthoven, Charles Wessel, and Peter Lamborn Wilson (Hakim Bey).

An exhibition showcasing the MetaForum and Nettime-l documentation, entitled Select All, was held in June 1997 in Budapest. Included were video clips, texts, and other memorabilia tracing major topics that fueled the growth of the Internet and World Wide Web.

Editions

• MetaForum 94/Budapest Multimedia Conference, 7-9 October 1994.
  Concept and programme. Announcement.
• MetaForum II/NO BORDERS/HATÁROK NÉLKÜL/Budapest Networking Conference, 6-8 October 1995.
  "The conference critically examines the role that the internet plays now and what is possible in the future. How and where do geographic borders render cyberspace mythical? How is democracy defined and enforced in the fourth dimension? What role do economics play in the colonization of the last frontier? How is identity altered by new communication technology?".
  Programme (DOC), HTML. Event website (HU). Report (IT). Intervention by Strato Network. Tomaso Tozzi's Netstrike. JP Barlow interview by Janos Sugar.
• MetaForum III/UNDER CONSTRUCTION/Budapest Content Conference, 11-13 October 1996.
  Programme (DOC). Concept and programme. Paper by Attila Kotanyi.

Photo documentation

• 

  George Legrady, Melentie Pandilovski, Nina Czeglédy, MetaForum I, 1994. Photo: János Sugár

• 

  EastEdge and Heath Bunting, MetaForum I, 1994. Photo: János Sugár

• 

  Geert Lovink, John Perry Barlow, Konrad Becker, Peter Lamborn Wilson, Debra Guzman, MetaForum II, 1995. Photo: János Sugár

• 

  Hungarian net initiatives, MetaForum II, 1995. Photo: Miklós Bölcskey

• 

  Andreas Broeckmann, MetaForum III, 1996. Photo: Miklós Bölcskey

• 

  MetaForum speakers: Matthew Fuller (MF II, 1995), Attila Kotányi (MF III, 1996), Manuel DeLanda (MF III, 1996), Heath Bunting (MF III, 1996), Richard Barbrook (MF III, 1996), Rop Gongrijp (MF II, 1995). Photo: Miklós Bölcskey, János Sugár

Publications

• János Sugár, "Interview of John Perry Barlow @ MetaForum II, Budapest, October 95'", ed. Noel Villers, Media Research Foundation, 1996. The interview was broadcast in a shortened version on Mediamix (Hungarian Television, ed. J. Kopper) and a full version was published in the weekly Magyar Narancs.

• ZKP3: The Metaforum III Historical Files, Budapest, Oct 1996. [1] [2] (English)

• "The Best Content Money Can Buy. Final Debate of Metaforum III: 'Under Construction'. The Budapest Content Conference, October 13, 1996", nettime, 7 Nov 1996. Transcript of closing debate with participants Mark Stahlman, Oliver Marchart, Erik Davis, Richard Barbrook, Pit Schultz, Manuel Delanda and Geert Lovink (chairman).

• Geert Lovink, Diana McCarty, János Sugár, "MetaForum (c) Bueno Bye! MetaForum, Select All/Clear", Dec 1996. [3]

• Ágnes Ivacs, János Sugár (eds.), Buldózer: Médiaelméleti antológia, intro. János Sugár, pref. Geert Lovink, Budapest: Media Research Foundation, Oct 1997, 220 pp. Anthology of contemporary media theory, derived from the Metaforum conference series and Nettime mailing list. (Hungarian)
  • János Sugár, "Bevezető" / "Introduction".
  • Geert Lovink, "Előszó" / "Preface".
  • I.
  • Gilles Deleuze, "Utóirat az ellenőrzés társadalmához" / "Postscript on the societies of control" (1990; ZKP1).
  • Thomas Pynchon, "Építhetünk-e a géprombolásra?" / "Is it O.K. to be a Luddite?" (1984; ZKP1).
  • Tjebbe van Tijen, "Ars Oblivivendi: a kollektív emlékezet felépítéséről" / "Ars Oblivivendi: about the construction of our collective memory system" (20 Aug 1996).
  • Bruce Sterling, "Az Internet rövid története" / "The Brief History of the Internet" (ZKP1).
  • II.
  • Richard Barbrook, Andy Cameron, "A kaliforniai ideológia" / "Californian Ideology" (ZKP1).
  • Manuel De Landa, "Piacok és antipiacok" / "Markets and Antimarkets" (presented at MetaForum 1996; ZKP3).
  • "A legjobb tartalom, mi kapható - A MetaForum III. konferencia záróvitája" / "The Best Content Money Can Buy. Final Debate of Metaforum III" (Nettime, 7 Nov 1996).
  • Felix Stalder, "Pénzügyi hálózatok" / "Financial Networks".
  • Matthew Fuller, "OKÁDÉK - mértéktelenség és mértékletesség a hálózatokon" / "SPEW, excess and moderation on the networks" (presented at MetaForum 1995; ZKP1).
  • Critical Art Ensemble, "Utópista ígéretek - hálózati tények" / "Utopian Promises - Net Realities" (Nov 1995; presented in Műcsarnok, Dec 1995; ZKP1).
  • Geert Lovink, Arthur Kroker, "Adatszemét: a virtuális osztály elmélete - Geert Lovink beszélget Arthur Krokerrel" / "Data Trash: The Theory of the Virtual Class" (ZKP1).
  • János Sugár, "Paradigmaváltás interruptus" / "Paradigm Shift Interruptus" (Nettime, 26 May 1996; ZKP2).
  • III.
  • Pit Schultz, "A végső tartalom" / "The Final Content" (Nettime, 4 Apr 1997; ZKP4).
  • Geert Lovink, "'Push média'-kritika a Wired magazin újjászületési stratégiáiról" / "A Push Media Critique: On the rebirth strategies of Wired magazine" (Nettime, 1 May 1997; ZKP4).
  • Alexei Shulgin, "Művészet, hatalom, kommunikáció" / "Art, Power and Communication" (Nettime, 6 Oct 1996; ZKP3).
  • Calin Dan, "Utazás egy adatszobán keresztül" / "Journey Through a Dataroom" (1996; ZKP2).
  • David Garcia, Geert Lovink, "A taktikus médiumok ábécéje" / "The ABC of Tactical Media" (Nettime, 11 May 1997; ZKP4).
  • Miklós Peternák, "In medias res" (presented at MetaForum 1996).
  • Lev Manovich, "Digitális valóság" / "Digital Reality".
  • Hans-Christian Dany, "Multiplex személyiségek" (presented at MetaForum 1994).
  • Michael Heim, "Aggályaim a számítógépekkel kapcsolatban" / "Anxieties" (Nettime, 10 Jan 1996; ZKP1).
  • IV.
  • Attila Kotányi, "Van-e médiumkritika, amely nem öngyilkos?" / "Is There Any Media Criticism That Isn’t Suicidal?" (presented at MetaForum 1996; ZKP4).
  • Gábor Bora, "AI-SERVICE".
  • Alpár Losoncz, "A határok digitalizálódása" (presented at MetaForum 1995).
  • Erik Davis, "Technokultúra és vallásos képzelet" (presented at MetaForum 1996).
  • Peter Lamborn Wilson (Hakim Bey), "Net-vallás - háború a mennyben" / "Net-Religion - War in Heaven" (presented at MetaForum 1995; ZKP1).
  • "Életrajzok".

• Geert Lovink, "The Budapest Debate", in Lovink, Dynamics of Critical Internet Culture, 1994-2001, Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures, 2009, pp 99-101.

• Szilvia Seres, "„Akkor már lehetett tudni, hogy a számítógép létezik és valahogy a jövő errefelé vezet, és végre ideológiamentesen lehetett valami korszerűt propagálni.” Seres Szilvia beszélgetése Sugár János képzőművésszel", Artmagazin, 23 May 2014. Interview with János Sugár. (Hungarian)

Links

• MetaForum II website (not archived)
• MetaForum III website (not archived)
• MetaForum on MRF
• Select All exhibition announcement