[spectre] Walker Art closes Media dept. and sacks Steve Dietz

[Karoly Toth]

dear andreas,

it will be a BIG DIG IN & FIGHT

it is too bad with walker art.
it is a sign on the wall.
it is happening all over the new media landscape right now,
or will happen in the near future. here in rotterdam there are budget cuts
for
new media art places, and more independent projects in general.
elsewhere as well.

maybe it is just my traditional hungarian (TM)(R)(C) pessimismo :)

paradox, but i felt always uneasiness from the side of the traditional
modernismo's towards
new media. already from the very beginning (early 90's). it is obviously a
bridge too far
for the old mindset. when i approached ('93-95) leading (modernist)artists
and told them, so, this is the internet, and they have won
the cultural battle. and finally they can rest, and enjoy themselves, and
what a relief, is it?  they got scarry. many of them has
actively sabotaged new madia initiatives, and still do.

we also can not forget what musea are. originally, this institution, The
Museum, was supposed to  show the loot
from the colonized/occupied territories in the first place. it has always
been a place for manifestation of materialisme and greed.
its function may have changed but the concept has remained basically
unchanged.

the new generation of artists, especially those affiliated closely with
digitalismo, were highly fascinated by the immaterial aspect of the
(then)new temptation, the internet. i am one of them and i still love it.
this was/is still a big challenge for people who where educated in the drill
of such old cultural concepts as the 'cultural studies', or anthropology,
p*ss*ng in the bed (freudismo), coal&steel&oil & so on.
they (up to post modernismo) challenged materialisme, but choose always
military or traditional kind tactics. it is not easy to accept that you (or
anybody) buy a cheep machine, and just hook it up, and you can be in the
middle of any high level cultural/social activity, without the mediation and
filter of the traditional institutions, strongholds of knowledge, like
academia, religious, corporate and political bodies.

greetings karoly

___________________________________________
zeroglab nanofestival
károly tóth
nanofestival at xs4all.nl
www.xs4all.nl/~are
__________________________________________
Zeroglab is an independent art-lab
based in Rotterdam.
The lab is in an evolving process of
exchange with initiatives of individuals
and institutions, based on mutual sympathy.
__________________________________________


> -----Original Message-----
> From: spectre-bounces at mikrolisten.de
> [mailto:spectre-bounces at mikrolisten.de]On Behalf Of Andreas Broeckmann
> Sent: Monday, May 12, 2003 4:52 PM
> To: honor
> Cc: spectre at mikrolisten.de
> Subject: Re: [spectre] Walker Art closes Media dept. and sacks Steve
> Dietz
>
>
> dear honor,
>
> your comments are very apt - others have already written privately in
> a similar vein.
>
> >sign that, at least within the UK, there is still evidently a diverse
> >and growing audience interested in new media art practices,
> who consider a
> >museum like Tate Modern has an active role to play in the
> development and
> >support of the field.
>
> although i know that you don't mean it that way, i would like to
> respond by suggesting that one should avoid any hint of defensiveness
> - your observation regarding the UK is not a matter of 'still' (as
> though this was an understanding that would sooner or later be
> questioned and disappear), but it is expressive of an understanding
> how culture is changing in our contemporary society. a museum like
> the tate (or the walker, for that matter) cannot do without a clear
> focus on media art and media culture, nor without the expertise that
> has accumulated in these departments.
>
> with the economic slump and the shrinking cultural budgets, some
> policy makers have a tendency of sliding straight back into 19th
> century aesthetic values. forget it, folks. if you have to close
> institutions and departments, which is bad enough, close (or shrink)
> the operas, shrink the medieval art departments, and dump that plan
> for the ancient pottery or tsarist gold exhibition. they are the
> spectacle of old. tell the museum people that they cannot expect to
> have a role to play when it comes to contemporary culture, identity
> politics or youth creativity if they degrade the new media department
> to building websites. they need to be able to formulate answers -
> i.e. exhibitions and other projects - that reflect the culture of the
> new generations. we are facing a fierce, very bad generation clash,
> and it will be made worse if the cultural institutions defend the
> tastes of the 19th century against the lived realities of the 21st.
> flick through Dietz's catalogue for How Latitudes Become Forms and
> you will immediately get a sense of what 'art in a global age' might
> be at. nobody in his/her right mind and with a critical understanding
> of what a centre for contemporary art should be about, will sack that
> curator.
>
> the good thing about the walker is that it gave steve a chance to
> develop a number of highly important projects. i am pretty certain
> that it won't take long until that knowhow and reputation is snatched
> up. in this end, this will just be bad for minnesota.
>
> greetings,
> -a
> --
> ------------------------------------------------
> andreas broeckmann - artistic director
> transmediale - international media art festival berlin
> klosterstr. 68-70 - d-10179 berlin
> tel. +49-30-2474 9761 - fax +49-30-24721909
> ab at transmediale.de - www.transmediale.de
> -----------------------------------------------
> transmediale.04 - Fly Utopia! - 31 jan - 4 feb 2004
> ______________________________________________
> SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe
> Info, archive and help:
> http://coredump.buug.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spectre
>
>
>