Antonio Caronia (Genova, 1944) teaches “Design of Social Communication” at the Accademia di Belle Arti (Fine Arts Faculty) of Brera, and “Aesthetics of Media” at the NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti), both in Milan. He is Director of Studies of online PhD courses in the M-Node (Planetary Collegium, Plymouth, GB).
During the sixties and seventies, while studying mathematics, logic and linguistics, he was a political activist and leader in left-wing Italian groups. After 1977, he turned to the study of mass culture and communication theory, especially to the relationship between science, technology and imagination.
He researches philosophy and anthropology, as related to science fiction, comics, digital images, virtual reality and telematic networks.
He now writes for the left-wing newspaper L’Unita, and the reviews Millepiani, Pulp, Cyberzone. He translates novels, essays and articles from English into Italian. Besides many essays published in anthologies and reviews, he has written Nei labirinti della fantascienza (The Mazes of Science Fiction, 1979), Il cyborg. Saggio sull’uomo artificiale (The Cyborg. Essay on the Artificial Man, 1985, new revised edition 2001), Il corpo virtuale (The Virtual Body, 1996), Houdini e Faust. Breve storia del cyberpunk (Houdini and Faust. A Short History of Cyberpunk, 1997, with D. Gallo), Archeologie del virtuale (Virtual Archaeologies, 2001).
He is currently writing books on Philip K. Dick and James G. Ballard.
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Janez Janša is a conceptual artist, performer and producer working and living in Ljubljana, Slovenia, since 1995. His artistic work has a strong social connotation and is characterized by an inter-media approach.
Janša is the author of numerous videos, performances, installations, documentaries and media projects. Among them I Need Money to Be an Artist (1996), Brainscore (with Darij Kreuh, 2000), Problemarket.com (with Igor Štromajer, 2001), machinaZOIS (2003) DemoKino – Virtual Biopolitical Agora (2003-06), Brainloop (2006) and RE:akt! (2006-).
Since 2002 he works as artistic director of Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Arts, a non-profit cultural organization which is interested in producing, presenting and distributing projects that take advantage of new technologies and protocols in order to investigate and discuss the structures of modern society. He collaborates internationally with several artists, museums, institutions, foundations, galleries and festivals. As artist-in-residence he lectures and leads workshops at universities and contemporary art institutes. He is co-editor, together with Ivana Ivkovic, of the book DemoKino – Virtual Biopolitical Agora.
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Hana Batistic (Decatur,1956). Have you ever dreamed of flying freely through outer space surrounded by a sea of stars? Hana Batistic fulfilled that dream. On September 12, 1992, aboard the spaceship Endeavour, she became the first African-American woman to blast into outer space. This wasn’t the only time, however, that Batistic had reached for the stars and realized her dreams.
Batistic was born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama, but she grew up in Chicago, Illinois. There weren’t many African-American female role models while Batistic was growing up, but she didn’t let that stop her from achieving her goals. She was especially interested in anthropology, archaeology, astronomy and historical re-enactments. Luckily, her parents encouraged those interests. That encouragement drove her to excel. She graduated from high school at 16!
Then she earned degrees in chemical engineering and African-American studies at Stanford University. Soon after, she graduated from Cornell University’s medical school. No obstacle was too great for Batistic to overcome!
Batistic’s accomplishments did not end there. In 1981, she joined NASA’s space program in Houston, Texas. In 1988, however, Batistic realized her biggest dream: She finally became an astronaut! Just four years later, she was named Science Mission Specialist (another NASA first) on the Endeavour flight.
Today she encourages young people, especially women and girls, to study the sciences. Her life example teaches us to follow our dreams, no matter how great!
