[spectre] Metacreation: Art and Artificial Life - November on-empyre-

[Aliette Guibert]

Melinda, something could appear abusive in the term "metacreation" stricly
applied regarding to life-art and more to artificial life.

Don't you think so ? "Meta" literally : what comes after, what succeeds...

Easy : The metaphysics succeeded the physics of Aristote, the postmodern
meta-philosophy in the philosophy, the meta-cinema in the cinema, and so
on.... Meta-politics what succeeds the politics (from the past political
economy and that of the modern parties, with their avant-gardes, and the
conceptions of republics and democracies reflecting to the people - or mass)
and more.

The digital cinema is not any more cinema by its very technology and the
languages: the question of directionnal space-time for example ('before,
'now and 'after, and even in the deregulation of these codes by the
dreamlike universes in narrative and in representation including of the
events or phenomenas in real time), but also the composition by syntaxes of
fragments managed by softwares of special effects, all this defines the
meta-cinema - from Kill Bill (always the transparent support but already the
languages inherited from the digital supports) and until video digital
technology (after the analogical material), digit video is experimental even
in documentary of creation, all appoints the meta-cinema and either the
cinema.

I could make the same analysis round Arts or Musics...

Post-technical everybody - humans or things as proper body - of the
post-industrial era presents in the order of a meta-world: exactly that
where we live under our cognitive visions of our times (illusion of the
reality - Baudrillard). And it until new traditions erase those of the
technical universe where from we appear, then it will be "other" world.

The only matter which disappears without leaving places in its universe
'meta, conceptually, it is the utopia; he(it) is curiously The only
thing(matter) which disappears without leaving places in its universe méta,
conceptuellemenet, it is the utopia; it is not curiously concept of
méta-atopie possible otherwise that of the revisionism or the
réductionnisme!

Beyond the utopia (the place which does not exist) it is the atopie (the
absence of topos) : the absence of topos in project you should not
inevitably see it as worse maybe even a sign of the end of the ideology and
especially, the completion of the ideology of the couple at the end / the
means - the resources : " the end - the means of the objective justifies the
acting meaning of the resources - even evil - " The end justifies the means
" (blindly on the real-time kept silent sense is justified by the project of
utopia), and also " the function follows the form " - " form follows
function, that's the law " the american architect Sullivan, visionary in
materialistic visions in matter of environment of the following modern
times, saying in his way all the modernity before the Bauhaus - and even
before Van de Velde). (As to see the consequently possible effects in matter
of society under economical or administrative visions under the
disappearance of the social training of the consciousness by the education)

Then for me, if the question of the universes of the artificial life are
unmistakable, there is another avant-gardist aim in the name "meta-art"
about such applications, which does not seem to me really relevant on the
critical plan. This says not to push aside from the interest of your post
nor from the piece of information that it gets on several artists, but to
resume some radical marks in terminology and semitoticist strategy, as for
the object of your communication seeing it by our part from outside.

Sincerely do not worry of it but it appears to me that any precision could
be useful. From my point of view, there is no specification of the concept
méta to apply to a discipline or to the other one: from when it is about a
technology technical post and\or post-technical languages, he can be used -
even in social subject. It is an environmental concept of our current
immediate.

A.

---------------------- 

C'est simple : la métaphysique a succédé à la physique d'Aristote, la
métaphilosophie post-moderne à la philosophie, le métacinéma au cinéma,
etc... Métapolitique ce qui succède à la politique (à l'économie politique
et celle des partis modernes, avec leurs avant-gardes, et les conceptions
des républiques et des démocraties) etc...

Le cinéma numérique n'est plus di cinéma par sa technologie elle-même et les
langages : la question de l'espace-temps par exemple , mais aussi la
composition par syntaxes de fragments gérés par des logiciels de truquages,
tout cela définit le métacinéma - de Kill Bill (toujours le support
transparent mais déjà les langages hérités des supports numériques) au
cinéma par video numérique (après le matériel analogique) expérimental, même
en documentaire de création, désigne le métacinéma et non plus le cinéma.

Je prourais faire la même analyse à propos des arts ou de la musique...

Tout le monde post-technique de l'ère post-industrielle est un méta-monde :
exactement celui où nous vivons.  Et cela jusqu'à ce que de nouvelles
traditions effacent celles de l'univers technique d'où nous émergeons, alors
ce sera un "autre" monde.

La seule chose qui disparaît sans laisser place à son univers méta,
conceptuellemenet, c'est l'utopie ; il n'est curieusement pas de concept de
méta-atopie possible sinon celui du révisionnisme ou du réductionnisme !

Au-delà de l'utopie (le lieu qui n'existe pas) c'est l'atopie : l'absence de
topos en projet donc le lieu qui existe ici même et maintenant...  il ne
faut pas le voir obgligatoirement comme un pire des idéologies peut-être
même une sorete de fin de l'idéologie et surtout, l'achèvement de
l'idéologie du couple fin/ moyens ("la fin justifie le moyen", et aussi "la
fonction suit la forme" - "form follows function that's the law" Sullivan,
visionnaire, disant à sa façon toute la modernité avant le Bauhaus - et même
avant Van de Velde).

Alors pour moi, si la question des univers de la vie artificielle sont
indéniables, il y a encore une visée avant-gardiste dans la désignation
"méta-art" à propos de telles applications, qui ne me paraît pas vraiment
pertinente sur le plan critique.

Ceci dit non pour écarter de l'intérêt de votre post et de l'information
qu'il procure, mais pour reprendre quelques marques radicales et de
stratégie sémiotique.

De mon point de vue, il n'y a pas de spécification du concept méta à
appliquer à une discipline ou à une autre : dès lorsqu'il s'agit d'une
technologie post technique et/ou des langages post-techniques, il peut être
utilisé - même  en matière sociale. C'est un concept environnemental de
notre actuel immédiat.

A.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Melinda Rackham" <melinda at subtle.net>
To: "spectre" <spectre at mikrolisten.de>
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2004 6:02 AM
Subject: [spectre] Metacreation: Art and Artificial Life - November
on-empyre-


> Metacreation: Art and Artificial Life -  November on -empyre-
>
> Described as  "provocative, literate, subtle, and knowledgeable" [1]
> Mitchell Whitelaw's "Metacreation" (MIT Press) is the first detailed
> critical account of the new field of creative practice of a-life art. This
> appropriation and adaptation by media artist's of the techniques from
> interdisciplinary artificial life science, has produced not only artworks,
> but unique generative and creative processes.
>
> - empyre- is proud to host what promises to be a stimulating discussion,
> with Mitchell Whitelaw being joined throughout the month by eminent a-life
> practitioners Paul Brown (UK), Mauro Annunziato (IT),  Ken Rinaldo (US),
and
> Maria Verstappen (NL).
>
> Over the month Whitelaw and guests will extrude the book's concepts -  how
> artificial evolution alters the artist's creative agency;  the  complex
> interactivity of artificial ecosystems; the creation of  embodied
autonomous
> agencies; the use of cellular automata to investigate pattern, form and
> morphogenesis; and well as examining the key tenet of a-life, emergence.
>
> Please join us at the -empyre- (http://www.subtle.net/empyre) from
November
> 4.
> _________________________________________
>
> Mauro Annunziato, (http://www.plancton.com) artist and scientist, founded
> the art group "PLANCTON in '94 with Piero Pierucci focussing the research
on
> the creative and aesthetical potentialities of chaos and artificial life,
> the relation between art and science, mind and society, communication and
> interaction.
>
> Paul Brown (http://www.paul-brown.com ) is an artist and writer who has
been
> specialising in art and technology, especially computational and
generative
> art for over 40 years.  He was recently described by Mitchell Whitelaw as
> "one of the unheralded pioneers of a-life art".
>
> Ken Rinaldo ( http://accad.osu.edu/~rinaldo/ ) is an artist, theorist and
> author who creates interactive multimedia installations that blur the
> boundaries between the organic and inorganic. Integration of the organic
and
> electro-mechanical elements asserts a confluence and co-evolution between
> living and evolving technological cultures.
>
> Maria Verstappen and Erwin Driessens ( http://www.xs4all.nl/~notnot )
> have worked together since 1990. They both studied at the State Academy of
> Fine Arts, Amsterdam and the Academy of Fine Arts, Maastricht. They have
> held numerous exhibitions in galleries and museums. They received a 1st
> prize at LIFE 2.0 and LIFE 5.0, an international competition for Art &
> Artificial Life, with their Tickle robot projects.
> Mitchell Whitelaw (http://creative.canberra.edu.au/mitchell) is an artist,
> writer and researcher in new media and audio art and culture. He is
> currently Head of Program, Media / Multimedia Production, School of
Creative
> Communication, University of Canberra. His book, Metacreation: Art and
> Artificial Life, was published in 2004 by MIT Press
> (http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?tid=10080&ttype=2 )
>
>
> _______________
>
> [1] --Margaret A. Boden, Research Professor of Cognitive Science,
University
> of Sussex, and author of The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanisms
> ___________________
>
> Dr Melinda Rackham
> artist | curator | producer
> www.subtle.net/empyre
> -empyre-  media forum
>
>
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