"What about an issue on Mexico?" came the suggestion from a frequent contributor. We realized we had never published a work from South or Latin America. At ASPECT we continuously push ourselves to expand the breadth of our publication, and Arte de las Americas became our way to begin to represent a vibrant and important region of artists. New Media Art crosses linguistic, cultural, and geographic boundaries, and our goal is to represent the genre in all its forms and sources. more

Exploring the pastoral, ASPECT shifts the concept of urban as center in Volume 10: Rural. Proving that bucolic concerns are equally vital, this issue features nine artists who challenge and investigate the real, imagined, and mediated natural world. These artists effectively employ high-and low- tech transformations and interventions which concentrate the attention of the art world, however temporarily, on the vast world outside of urbanity. more

Performance has been an integral part of the mission of ASPECT since our inception, and we are proud to present this broad interpretation of the practice for our ninth volume. In this issue, ASPECT focuses on the broad spectrum of performance art—from traditional interpretations of performance to those integrating advanced technologies, inanimate objects, passersby, and site. Some performances should not be recorded or replayed, leaving anyone not present to rely on second hand accounts and their imagination. However, the videos included in this issue of ASPECT are works intended to be seen repeatedly and broadly. more

New media art shares an important trait with all other genres: it builds upon the work that precedes it. By studying the work of other artists and the progression of their careers, the next generation builds and expands upon the field of new media art. The ground-breaking artists included in ASPECT Volume 8: Early Works have had an undeniable impact on the creative practice of artists of all media worldwide, new media in particular. The early works of these artists are signposts indicating the goals and interests that are pervasive throughout their careers. As always, we are very excited to bring these works to you, and are particularly grateful to the artists and commentators for their generosity. more

This volume of ASPECT features artists working with issues of identity and personality. For some, a constructed identity is an opportunity to explore personal or cultural issues of gender, accountability and culpability. Other artists make their own personality an integral part of their work and process. All the works in this issue examine the role of personal psychology in how we interact with others and our surroundings on an everyday basis. We are thrilled by the quality and diversity of work in this issue, and with the diverse ways in which the artists and commentators interpreted our open call. Enjoy. more

Without a fixed physical or temporal locus, Aspect Magazine maximizes the fluidity of its ephemeral site in Volume 6: On Location. Extending from the momentary to the monumental, terrestrial to celestial, micro to macro, and personal to cultural, this issue explores the vast concept of location. Where beyond the genre of new media art could so many different interpretations of location exist? And where besides the time-based Aspect Magazine could they be brought together so cohesively? We hope you enjoy this diverse collection of works in relation to location as much as we have enjoyed assembling them more

The morose trend that seems to have pervaded ASPECT for the first four issues needed to come to a conclusion. To that end we asked for artwork that expressed a lightness of heart, a sense of humor, or the joys of life. Joie de Vivre explores levity and humor in art and demonstrates how broadly that concept can be interpreted: long distance friendship and collaboration, a midnight snack, the pain of maintaining a smile for a length of time, discovering plaster babies, or simply exploring your neighborhood. more

Since the early days of conceptual art, text and language have played an important role in the creation and content of new work. Given the digital nature of much contemporary new media art, it is no surpirse that text has made a resurgence in recent years. Being the basic element of computers, text has had a strong role in digital artmaking. As new media art progresses into the use of broader and more rich media, the use of text and language has been carried along to new levels of exploration. This volume contains artists exploring the multilayered understanding of text as a mutable element in their work. more

THE ARTIST AS CONTENT started out as a survey of self-portraiture in new media. It quickly became apparent, however, that the role of the artist in new media has gone far beyond that of simply subject or even creator. The body, actions, ideas and personas of the artist can now be expressed and explored in many subtle and evocative ways. The shifting perception of the role of the artist within the artwork, during and after its creation, has advanced in tandem with the exploration of motion, time, and interactivity in art. The artists in this issue appear in the artworks in vastly different ways, and at times you may have to look hard to find them, but their presence has an unmistakable impact on the work. more

From San Diego to Seattle, the West Coast of the U.S. is an environemnt that has long fostered the growth of new media. Numerous educational and cultural institutions act as epicenters around which artists, technologists, and experimenters can coalesce and interact. The works in this issue of Aspect represent artists who are innovating in new fields and have established paths for future artists to follow. more

The 2003 Boston Cyberarts Festival is an international biennial festival that brings together artists in all media who are using computers to advance traditional artistic disciplines and to create new interactive worlds. The Festival will take place at museums, galleries, theaters, educational institutions, and public spaces in and around Boston. This unique DVD magazine will allow for people to view video, installation, sound, and performance work of some of the oustanding participating artists. more