Other : Lara Croft:ism
(Written using Google to translate German)
In 1999 an exhibition called 'Lara Croft:ism' was created and was based around a magazine of the same name, written by Manuela Barth. It was made up of lectures, films, performances, workshops and panel discussions, in which professionals from various artistic, business and media fields took part. One part of the project consisted of a group of artists, who took the opportunity to learn more about digital technologies and video games, whilst the other part were professionals within the subject of technology, who were "interested in aspects of artistic-scientific analysis and interpretation". The works of the following were used to aid the project:
  • Sadie Benning - Film - 'Flat is Beautiful'
  • Barbara U. Schmidt - Lecture - "Funny Games" - games with virtual bodies
  • Randi Gunzenhäuser - Lecture - On the complex reception of virtual identification models
  • Helene von Oldenburg - Lecture - Lara Croft - as a post subject a future-active identity model !?
  • Marlena Corcoran - Lecture - The (Un) Reality of Cyberspace

Eidos Interactive Germany approved of the project as they were also there on the last night of events.
The project, which took place in Munich, was held over 5 days and organised by Manuela Barth and Barbara U. Schmidt. Below is the schedule:
Friday October 1st
  • 7pm - Welcome: Prof. Dr. Julian Nida-Rümelin, cultural advisor at the LH Munich. 
  • Presentation of the LaraCroft magazine : ism
  • 8pm - Screening: Flat is Beautiful by Sadie Benning, USA, 1998

Saturday October 2nd
  • 10.30am - Introductory lecture: "Funny Games" - games with virtual bodies by Barbara U. Schmidt, Kunstraum Munich
  • 11.30am - On the multi-layered reception of virtual identification models by Randi Gunzenhäuser, literary scholar, Munich
  • 2.30pm - Lara Croft - as a post subject a future-active identity model !? Helene von Oldenburg, artist, Hamburg 3.30 pm, final discussion UKB DM 15, - / reduced DM 10, -

Tuesday October 5th
  • 7pm - Presentation of the website www.laracroftism.de and the concept for the HTML workshop, which will take place on October 7th. Visitors should acquire information and knowledge here in order to help shape the website www.laracroftism.de .
  • 7.30pm - Lecture: The (Un) Reality of Cyberspace by Marlena Corcoran, network artist / network theorticist, Munich

Thursday October 7th
  • 7pm - HTML workshop with Marlena Corcoran
​
Friday October 8th
  • 7.30pm - Discussion event : Consuming Lara Croft - Phenomena of the "Lara Cult" by Knut-Jochen Bergel, Marketin Director of Eidos Interactive Germany, Hamburg Gert Zimmermann, Head of Graphics Business Unit at SZM Studios, Unterföhring ​Bernd Graff, online editor of the Süddeutsche Zeitung / Assistant for Theater Studies, University of Munich

The Website

On the LaraCroft:ism website, not only could you find out all about the event - the individual talks, how the project came about, the time table and order a copy of the magazine for yourself - a desktop wallpaper was also given out.
The magazine and website kept updating until what appears to be in sometime 2004. However, there was another project within LaraCroft:ism that was created in 2002 - a video titled 'The Ultimate Game Girl' that "​sheds light on the tension between the diverse demands and expectations that girls have and their integration into economic interests".

Other events that happened after the very first exhibition in 1999 include:
~ May 2000 - LaraCroft:ism - A lecture performance by Manuela Barth and Barbara U. Schmidt, as part of the exhibition "If ... Wunschwelten der Kommunikation", Museum for Communication and Forum for Media and Design, Bern (CH)

~ February 2001 - The Ultimate Game Girl - A lecture performance by Manuela Barth and Barbara U. Schmidt as part of the event program of nomads & residents Swiss Institute, New York (USA)

~ September 2002 - LaraCroft:ism - A lecture performance by Manuela Barth and Barbara U. Schmidt as part of Diamond 2002 / an other business, Arhus (DK)

~ September 2002 - Career in Suit - Femininity Concepts in the Media and IT Sector - A lecture performance by Manuela Barth and Barbara U. Schmidt as part of the 7th conference of female art historians, Berlin

~ November 2002 - LaraCroft:ism - A lecture performance by Manuela Barth and Barbara U. Schmidt at the University of the Arts, Bremen

~ January 2003 - A presentation of the LaraCroft:ism project series by Manuela Barth and Barbara U. Schmidt in Magasin, Vienna

~ May 2003 - Career Approaching - Gender concepts in the visual worlds of the computer and IT industry - A lecture performance by Manuela Barth and Barbara U. Schmidt as part of the graduate day of the Johannes Kepler University Linz

~ Friday 4th June 2004, 7:00pm - Careers are Coming - Gender concepts in the imagery of the computer and IT industry - A lecture performance by Manuela Barth and Barbara U. Schmidt, plus presentation of the new Work in Progress, a video project on "Gender and Computers in Feature Films", media room at Kunsthaus Graz, Lendkai 1, A-8020 Graz, as part of DOKU - The everyday imposition
Sources:
  • http://web.archive.org/web/19991128213946/http://www.laracroftism.de/  - 1999 Link
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20071205150928/http://www.laracroftism.de/  - 2007 Link
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20010304040219fw_/http://www.laracroftism.de/kurzbeschreibung.htm
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20000621014803fw_/http://www.laracroftism.de/willkommen.htm
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20010305134130fw_/http://www.laracroftism.de/film_benning.htm
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20010305133859fw_/http://www.laracroftism.de/vortrag_barbaraschmidt.htm
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20010121175000fw_/http://www.laracroftism.de/vortrag_helenevonoldenburg.htm
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20010305135658fw_/http://www.laracroftism.de/vortrag_marlenacorcoran.htm
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20010304035449fw_/http://www.laracroftism.de/kunstraum.htm
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20010216101713fw_/http://www.laracroftism.de/desktop.html
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20050313034058fw_/http://www.laracroftism.de/ugg.htm
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20050313033855fw_/http://www.laracroftism.de/start.htm
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20050224144908fw_/http://www.laracroftism.de/news_vortrag_text.htm
  • http://web.archive.org/web/20050224144908fw_/http://www.laracroftism.de/news_vortrag_text.htm

All images are from the LaraCroftism.de website.