At the beginning of the 21st century, new forms and dynamics of interplay are constituted at the interfaces of media, art and politics. Current challenges in society and ecology, like climate, surveillance, virtualization of the global financial markets, are characterized by hybrid and subtle technologies. They are ubiquitous, turn out to be increasingly complex and act invasively. New media art utilizes its broad range of expression in order to tackle the most urgent topics through multi-sensorial, participatory, and activist approaches. This volume shows how media artists address, with a political lens, the core of these developments critically and productively. With contributions by Elisa Arca, Andres Burbano, Derek Curry, Yael Eylat Van Essen, Mathias Fuchs, Jennifer Gradecki, Sabine Himmelsbach, Ingrid Hoelzl, Katja Kwastek, Jose-Carlos Mariategui, Gerald Nestler, Randall Packer, Viola Ruhse, Chris Salter.

"Every film starts with an idea...logical...experiential... fueled by passion...originated on a napkin...filled with stars. And then there's the rub...a movie must be physical...until a sense of logic is formed." CJ Powers authors his fourth groundbreaking book as an out- growth of his popular CJ's Corner blog. Notes from the Napkin is filled with golden nuggets of truth or Easter eggs of knowledge for the independent filmmaker. Based on CJ's Corner, each chapter is loaded with CJ's practical experiences or insights from processionals that CJ met on set, at festivals, conferences and workshops, or on location. The book is written in three sections based on the viewpoints of a screenwriter, director and producer. Some chapters are written for up and coming filmmakers, and other chapters are aimed at independent professionals. CJ's style is informal and enjoyable to follow, as he unpacks complex issues in his simple, easy to understand fashion. CJ thrives on learning from others, especially those little tips that universities and books don't cover. Many of the insights shared in this book came from professionals during passing off-the-cuff moments. The conversations weren't planned and the professionals hadn't memorized any elevator speeches, but instead genuinely shared from their heart on filmmaking, which CJ is now passing on to his readers.

Hollywood thinks you are stupid From all-too revealing trailers and remakes, to over-priced fuzzy 3D movies, is there no end to the condescending ways the big studios will try to sell you their latest blockbusters? American Popcorn is a compilation of scathing, honest commentaries from film critic Dennis Willis on a wide variety of subjects, including the broken MPAA rating system, ill-conceived movie star vanity projects, and how tough it is to be a Star Wars fan. Funny and insightful, you'll never look at movies the same way again

In Virtual Memory, Homay King traces the concept of the virtual through the philosophical works of Henri Bergson, Gilles Deleuze, and Giorgio Agamben to offer a new framework for thinking about film, video, and time-based contemporary art. Detaching the virtual from its contemporary associations with digitality, technology, simulation, and speed, King shows that using its original meaning-which denotes a potential on the cusp of becoming-provides the means to reveal the "analog" elements in contemporary digital art. Through a queer reading of the life and work of mathematician Alan Turing, and analyses of artists who use digital technologies such as Christian Marclay, Agnes Varda, and Victor Burgin, King destabilizes the analog/digital binary. By treating the virtual as the expression of powers of potential and change and of historical contingency, King explains how these artists transcend distinctions between disembodiment and materiality, abstraction and tangibility, and the unworldly and the earth-bound. In so doing, she shows how their art speaks to durational and limit-bound experience more than contemporary understandings of the virtual and digital would suggest.

"Consciously Created Cinema: The Movie Lover's Guide to the Law of Attraction," the latest book from author Brent Marchant, takes an inventive approach to a topic that's both enlightening and entertaining-how the world of film helps to illustrate how we create the world we experience. Marchant's singular perspective on the subjects of movies and conscious creation (also known as the law of attraction) offers readers an engaging, practical look at these topics and the complementary relationship between them for explaining how our reality comes into being. By citing examples from genres as diverse as comedies, dramas, science fiction and even documentaries, the author acts as a cinematic tour guide to the mystery and magic of how we manifest our existence.