SIGGRAPH update
The Art chair for next SIGGRAPH, Michael Wright, wrote to me to tell me that “Art Papers for 2003 will be submitted to Papers. Interactive Art will be submitted to E-Tech.”
Unfortunately, a quick look at the SIGGRAPH 2003 CFP shows that the Papers and E-Tech programs aren’t looking for such submissions - probably because they are outside the traditional definitions of these programs (which is why these categories have existed in the Art program). I wrote back to Michael and asked him when/if the CFP is going to be changed to reflect the new categories of submissions that Papers and E-Tech are supposedly accepting, but I’ve had no answer. The fact is, even if these programs are planning to change their guidelines (which I personally doubt) at most they would be able to accommodate a very small number of works focused on art/culture. The only way that SIGGRAPH is going to have a significant representation of interactive art and art/culture papers will be if they are included in the art program, rather than forced out of it. Turning the SIGGRAPH Art program into a printmaking show is a radical and inappropriate move - and the digital art community needs to make this clear to those involved.