Robert Jelinek has been realizing projects in the guise of various internationally active labels since 1992. Jelinek’s first personal retrospective recently took place this July 2007 in the Linz Landesgalerie, a presentation which provided an overview of his multifaceted actions, performances and projects in the fields of art, actionism, olfaction and electronic music from 1992 to 2007. The complexity of Jelinek’s strategic activities in various political, societal, artistic and institutional contexts is apparent in his ongoing project, The State of Sabotage (SoS), which guides the creation of all artistic projects, collaborations and actions by Jelinek and those who work with him. Born in Pilsen (Czech Republic), Jelinek lives and works in Vienna (Austria) and Baldrockistan (SoS). The formation of “Sabotage” was founded by Jelinek in the area of the Documenta IX in Kassel in June 1992. Sabotage” began operating in 1992 as a small project and collective, later in 1994 becoming Sabotage Communications- an art organisation and music label facilitating a union of various sublabels brought together by their shared way of thinking and similar style of expression through different media. Since 1992 more than 100 international “public sabotages” have taken place in form of performances, actions, events and exhibitions. On August 30, 2003, Jelinek declared the State of Sabotage a Micronation in a ritual ceremony on the uninhabited island of Haraka off the coast of Helsinki, Finland (as part of the Summit of Micronations conference). Development of the SoS state has progressed since that time, gaining embassies and territories around the world, as well as a permanent state zone called Baldrockistan, in Queensland, Australia.

Mark Prier’s eclectic practice ranges from installation and performance to audio art and electronic music, often exploring themes of mapping, wilderness, and survival. He has presented exhibitions and performances across the country and internationally, most recently participating in ‘Lost O’, a festival of urban interventions and performative works curated by Michael Pinsky, and presented in Ashford, U.K. this past July. As a curator, Prier runs 312, putting together video art screenings and exhibitions both offline in alternative spaces and online at ​www.312.ca​. And as half of the electronica duo hellothisisalex, Prier has played the MUTEK Festival in Montreal, done commissions for CBC Radio’s Brave New Waves, and taken part in the National Film Board of Canada’s Minus 40 project. Along with Melissa Creasey, Prier curates audio art in mp3 format for alectric:audio. He is also a member of the COMMONS, an art collective based in Toronto, Ontario and Corner Brook, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. Prier is based in Corner Brook, and has established his base there to continue to create work. Nomadsland was founded on May 11, 2003 by ‘Alex’, who wrote the necessary founding documents to present a basic Charter, acknowledging that this Charter did not simply drop from the sky. Alex recognized the charter as a work in the making, part of an intellectual continuum of ideas. Nomadsland was seen by Alex as an Independent State of Mind, ever-changing within the contemporary context and striving to be an accurate reflection of its citizenship. It has no enclosed land to call its own, and, in order to reflect its form as a network, never will.

Gjen Snider is the former Director of Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, and a founding collective member of The Artel: Arts Accommodation and Venue (Kingston, Ontario). As an artist and producer, Snider has developed projects since 2001 that challenge conventional systems of social and artistic recourse, including the health care system, food sourcing and distribution, and the effects of artistic and cultural policy development on choices available for emerging artists. She was raised in Verona (Ontario), and after living in communities throughout the country, now lives and works in Kingston.