Fran Ilich
Encyclopedia
Fran Ilich is a Mexican writer and media artist who principally works on the theory and practice of narrative media. During the early 1990s he co-founded the Contra-Cultura (menor) collective and was involved in the independent media scene in Tijuana -- mainly the cyberpunk
scene -- where he was known to be an eclectic producer working with literature, photography, comics, videofilms and electronic music. Because of this, he was identified as part of the Generation X
of Mexican literature, with other writers like Guillermo Fadanelli & Nahief Yehya. In 1995 he began publishing Cinemátik, a printed tabloid on urban electronic culture. In 1996 he was a screenwriter for Discovery Channel Interacción, a show produced by Beatriz Acevedo. In 1997 he published his first novel, Metro-Pop. In 1998 he was signed by Digital Entertainment Network
as creator for a series of 6-minute shows targeting young Latino audiences. However, the series never was produced, as the multimedia dot-com company
and internet pioneer went bankrupt. The same year, along with other members of Laboratorios Cinemátik, he produced Cinemátik 1.0, which is considered to be the first cyberculture festival in Latin America. He was part of the initial group of artists and producers who founded Nortec, though he distanced himself from this scene in 1999 and and moved to Berlin
. There, he became involved with Nettime
, collaborating with Florian Schneider
, Geert Lovink
, Natalie Bookchin
, Pit Schultz, Ricardo Dominguez
and Alexei Shulgin
.
In 2000 Ilich initiated the Borderhack festival on the Mexican side of the Tijuana-San Diego border wall. He then moved to Mexico City to become an editor for the magazine Sputnik Cultura Digital.In 2005, after attending the meetings of the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle in Chiapas with Subcomandante Marcos
and the EZLN, Ilich launched the autonomous server possibleworlds.org. In 2007 the magazine he edited, Sab0t
, was presented at Documenta 12 magazines
. This same year his novel Tekno Guerrilla, a story about the HEM (Hecho En México) graffiti crew in Tijuana, was published by Verbigracia (Basque Country). His novel Circa 94 was published in Mexico in 2010 and won the Premio Binacional de Novela Joven Frontera de palabras/Border of words award for 2010.
As an artist, Ilich has presented his work as a media artist at cultural institutions and international art and media festivals throughout Europe and the Americas (e.g. Transmediale, Ars Electronica,Berlinale Talent Campus,Walker Art Center, InSite 05, Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, Streaming Cinema Festival, Antidoto at Itau Cultural, International Festival of New Film Split, Salón Internacional de Arte Digital de la Habana, among others. Ilich has also presented his work in other fora: In 2009 he was a keynote speaker at the EZLN's first Festival Mundial de la Digna Rabia (first World Festival of Dignified Rage) on a panel on "Otra Comunicación, Otra Cultura", along with Subcomandante Marcos
, Comandante Zebedeo, Hermann Bellinghausen
, Gloría Muñoz, Sergío Ramírez Lazcano, Francisco Barrios "El Mastuerzo" and Roco of Maldita Vecindad
. In 2011 he presented his project Diego de la Vega and Spacebank at The Economist 2011 conference in Mexico City, "Change from the Bottom Up."
Since 2010 Ilich has focused on the cooperative media conglomerate Diego de la Vega and its virtual community investment bank Spacebank. Since 2011 he has been a Fellow at Eyebeam Art and Technology Center in New York City.
Ilich is completing an M.A. in the Media Art History program in Donau-Universität Krems in Austria, where he holds the 2010 Leonardo Foundation scholarship. His most recent book is an extended essay on radical political imagination and narrative across media. Titled "Otra Narr@tiva es Posible: La imaginacion política en la era del internet" [Another Narr@ative is Possible: Political Imagination in the Internet Age]. It was published by Recovecos in Argentina in 2011 and is forthcoming from The Institute of Network Cultures in Amsterdam.
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
scene -- where he was known to be an eclectic producer working with literature, photography, comics, videofilms and electronic music. Because of this, he was identified as part of the Generation X
Generation X
Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western post–World War II baby boom ended. While there is no universally agreed upon time frame, the term generally includes people born from the early 1960's through the early 1980's, usually no later than 1981 or...
of Mexican literature, with other writers like Guillermo Fadanelli & Nahief Yehya. In 1995 he began publishing Cinemátik, a printed tabloid on urban electronic culture. In 1996 he was a screenwriter for Discovery Channel Interacción, a show produced by Beatriz Acevedo. In 1997 he published his first novel, Metro-Pop. In 1998 he was signed by Digital Entertainment Network
Digital Entertainment Network
Digital Entertainment Network was a multimedia and web television dot-com company.-Founding:Rector hired traditional media executives from Broadcast TV, Film, Commercials, Documentary and Cable to create a destination website featuring serialized "6 minute shows" on the internet.Launched in 1996,...
as creator for a series of 6-minute shows targeting young Latino audiences. However, the series never was produced, as the multimedia dot-com company
Dot-com company
A dot-com company, or simply a dot-com , is a company that does most of its business on the Internet, usually through a website that uses the popular top-level domain, ".com" .While the term can refer to present-day companies, it is also used specifically to refer to companies with...
and internet pioneer went bankrupt. The same year, along with other members of Laboratorios Cinemátik, he produced Cinemátik 1.0, which is considered to be the first cyberculture festival in Latin America. He was part of the initial group of artists and producers who founded Nortec, though he distanced himself from this scene in 1999 and and moved to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. There, he became involved with Nettime
Nettime
Nettime is an internet mailing list that was founded in 1995 during the second meeting of the Medien Zentral Kommittee at the Venice Biennale. Founded by Geert Lovink and Pit Schultz, the list was meant to provide a space for a new form of critical discourse on and with the nets...
, collaborating with Florian Schneider
Florian Schneider
Florian Schneider-Esleben is one of the founding members of electronic music band Kraftwerk. He left the band in November 2008.-Career:...
, Geert Lovink
Geert Lovink
Geert Lovink is a Research Professor of Interactive Media at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam , a Professor of Media Theory at the European Graduate School, and an Associate Professor of New Media at the University of Amsterdam...
, Natalie Bookchin
Natalie Bookchin
Natalie Bookchin is an artist based in Los Angeles, California. She is well-known for her work in new media, and serving as the co-Director of the Photography and Media Program in the Art School at California Institute of the Arts...
, Pit Schultz, Ricardo Dominguez
Ricardo Dominguez (professor)
Ricardo Dominguez is an artist and associate professor of visual arts at UC San Diego. He has been the subject of controversy over a number of acts of electronic civil disobedience on his own and with the Electronic Disturbance Theater, which he co-founded.Dominguez, the founder of the Electronic...
and Alexei Shulgin
Alexei Shulgin
Alexei Shulgin is a Russian born contemporary artist, musician, and online curator. Working out of Moscow and Helsinki, Shulgin established the Immediate Photography Group in 1988 and started his career in this area of study...
.
In 2000 Ilich initiated the Borderhack festival on the Mexican side of the Tijuana-San Diego border wall. He then moved to Mexico City to become an editor for the magazine Sputnik Cultura Digital.In 2005, after attending the meetings of the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle in Chiapas with Subcomandante Marcos
Subcomandante Marcos
Subcomandante Marcos is the spokesperson for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation , a Mexican rebel movement. In January 1994, he led an army of Mayan farmers into the eastern parts of the Mexican state of Chiapas protesting against the Mexican government's treatment of indigenous...
and the EZLN, Ilich launched the autonomous server possibleworlds.org. In 2007 the magazine he edited, Sab0t
Sab0t
Sab0t is a Mexico City based tabloid pamphlet focused on art, activism, experimental narratives, media and net-culture. It is edited collectively using open source software, by members of the Possibleworlds.org virtual community, which is an economically self-sustained media initiative of the...
, was presented at Documenta 12 magazines
Documenta 12 magazines
Documenta 12 magazines was a central project of the 12th edition of the documenta exhibition, similar in dimensions and world outreach to the "platforms" of the previous edition...
. This same year his novel Tekno Guerrilla, a story about the HEM (Hecho En México) graffiti crew in Tijuana, was published by Verbigracia (Basque Country). His novel Circa 94 was published in Mexico in 2010 and won the Premio Binacional de Novela Joven Frontera de palabras/Border of words award for 2010.
As an artist, Ilich has presented his work as a media artist at cultural institutions and international art and media festivals throughout Europe and the Americas (e.g. Transmediale, Ars Electronica,Berlinale Talent Campus,Walker Art Center, InSite 05, Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, Streaming Cinema Festival, Antidoto at Itau Cultural, International Festival of New Film Split, Salón Internacional de Arte Digital de la Habana, among others. Ilich has also presented his work in other fora: In 2009 he was a keynote speaker at the EZLN's first Festival Mundial de la Digna Rabia (first World Festival of Dignified Rage) on a panel on "Otra Comunicación, Otra Cultura", along with Subcomandante Marcos
Subcomandante Marcos
Subcomandante Marcos is the spokesperson for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation , a Mexican rebel movement. In January 1994, he led an army of Mayan farmers into the eastern parts of the Mexican state of Chiapas protesting against the Mexican government's treatment of indigenous...
, Comandante Zebedeo, Hermann Bellinghausen
Hermann Bellinghausen
Hermann Bellinghausen is a Mexican physician, poet, writer, and editor.-Career:Bellinghausen was born in Mexico City in 1953. He obtained his MD from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. He has served as collaborator on the Mexican weekly magazines En Solidaridad and Mundo Médico and as an...
, Gloría Muñoz, Sergío Ramírez Lazcano, Francisco Barrios "El Mastuerzo" and Roco of Maldita Vecindad
Maldita Vecindad
La Maldita Vecindad y los Hijos del Quinto Patio are a band formed in Mexico City in 1985. They are pioneers in rock en Español and are one of the most influential rock bands in Latin America....
. In 2011 he presented his project Diego de la Vega and Spacebank at The Economist 2011 conference in Mexico City, "Change from the Bottom Up."
Since 2010 Ilich has focused on the cooperative media conglomerate Diego de la Vega and its virtual community investment bank Spacebank. Since 2011 he has been a Fellow at Eyebeam Art and Technology Center in New York City.
Ilich is completing an M.A. in the Media Art History program in Donau-Universität Krems in Austria, where he holds the 2010 Leonardo Foundation scholarship. His most recent book is an extended essay on radical political imagination and narrative across media. Titled "Otra Narr@tiva es Posible: La imaginacion política en la era del internet" [Another Narr@ative is Possible: Political Imagination in the Internet Age]. It was published by Recovecos in Argentina in 2011 and is forthcoming from The Institute of Network Cultures in Amsterdam.