Monochrom, an art-technology-philosophy group based in Vienna, Austria, that defines itself as an un-peculiar mixture of proto-aesthetic fringe work, pop attitude, sub-cultural science, context hacking, and political activism presents the Arse Elektronika conference. With the theme of "Do Androids Sleep with Electric Sheep? Critical Perspectives on Sexuality and Pornography in Science and Social Fiction," Arse Elektronika will take place at San Francisco's CellSpace, 2050 Bryant Street, San Francisco September 25 thru 28, 2008.

Taking up where the successful 2007 Arse Elektronika conference left off, the 2008 Arse Elektronika is represented by the motto "future" -- and the ways in which the present sees itself reflected in it. Maintaining a broadened perspective on technical development and technology, while also putting special emphasis on its social implementation, this year's conference focuses on Science and Social Fiction.

The genre of the "fantastic" is especially well suited to the investigation of the touchy area of sexuality and pornography: actual and assumed developments are frequently depicted positively and approvingly, but just as often with dystopian admonishment. Here the classic, and continuingly valid, themes of modernism represent a clear link between the two aspects: questions of science, research and technologization are of interest, as is the complex surrounding urbanism, artificiality, and control (or the loss of control). Depictions of the future, regardless of the form they take, always address the present as well. Imaginations of the fantastic and the nightmarish give rise to a thematic overlapping of the exotic, the alienating and, of course, the pornographic/sexual, as well.

In order to intelligently contextualize the abundance of queries that are involved here, the 2008 Arse Elektronika will be structured around three day-long discussion panels, aka: Talk Abstracts, each devoted to a specific theme; Narration, Technology and Politics. The impossibility of fitting many of these issues and relationships into such neat categorizations is not only accepted, but also encouraged.

Preceding the conference, on the evening of September 25, is the Prixxx Arse Elektronika 2008 Awards Ceremony, an unobjectionable award for sex machines, orgasmotrons and teledildonics.

Who's speaking? A veritable who's-who of bloggers, vloggers, cyber personalities, writers, authors, educators, and entertainers from the world of eroticism, sexuality and technology, including:
Violet Blue -- pro blogger, podcaster, vlogger, irrelevant bitch and femmebot
Jason Brown -- ambient noisemaker, constellation manipulator, and paranoid historiographer.
M. Christian -- an acknowledged master of erotica.
Daniel Fabry -- researcher, lecturer, and artist in the lofty fields of media and interaction design.
Richard Kadrey -- novelist, freelance writer, and photographer.
Verena Kuni -- researcher, lecturer and writer in the field of art and media cultures.
Isaac Leung -- artist, curator and researcher whose work focuses on art, technology and sexuality.
Susan Mernit -- a BlogHer contributing editor on Sex & Relationships.
Kit O'Connell -- author of science fiction and erotica.
Jens Ohlig is a long-time activist at the Chaos Computer Club in Germany.
Carol Queen, Ph.D. -- founding director of the Center for Sex & Culture,
Bonni Rambatan -- independent cultural researcher, theorist, and blogger.
Thomas Roche -- a writer of 400 published short stories of erotic fiction, crime and speculative fiction.
Bonnie Ruberg -- sex and games journalist for The Village Voice and Forbes.com.
Rudy Rucker -- computer scientist, science fiction author, and a founder of the cyberpunk literary movement.
Viviane -- a NYC based librarian, sex nerd, and blog mentor.


The Specifics:

Cost: Really reasonable at $8 to $40 per person.