[spectre] Re: the media art center of 21C

[Andreas Broeckmann]

Zitat von Simon Biggs <simon at littlepig.org.uk>:

> Thus it could be argued that there cannot be an ideal media arts centre for
> the 21st Century, only diverse organisations founded on various models of
> more or less appropriate form to their function.

this was also, in a nut-shell, the result of our meeting in linz last saturday.
let me report very briefly, and i hope that others will add as appropriate.

there were almost 30 people who met at the servus.at space in Stadtwerkstatt;
after a round of introductions - which was already interesting, seeing the
diversity of practices and projects people are involved in -, the discussion
focused mostly on the situation of the ICC, while the more general questions
that have been discussed on the list were touched upon, but not really
elaborated as thoroughly as online.

we got a report from the situation at the ICC which is strongly determined at
the moment by the fact that NTT is the sole sponsor, or rather, the *owner* of
ICC; and by the fact that there seems to be nobody at NTT who can be addressed
as responsible for the future of the ICC - at present, there is no known
address to send your letters of support to. imagine the situation of the ICC,
having no responsible counter-part at NTT with whom to discuss the future of
one of the major international media art centres ...

what also became clear was that it is important for the ICC and the japanese art
community that is interested in the ICC as a facility, to formulate a strong
vision for the ICC beyond its current situation: what should the ICC become, if
it cannot stay what it is at the moment? it will not be enough to emphasise what
it has been in the past and what it has collected as art and documentation -
that problem can be dealt with. what needs to be projected is a plan for the
'tokyo/japanese media art center of 21C'.

the question of how to do that, what different possible ways of conceptualising
it, and how it could relate to its institutional and artists environment, all
that is up in the air and depends a lot on the different cultural conditions,
local and translocal, that have been discussed here.

... we were drive out of the room by fighter planes which were part of the
Klangwolke spectacle happening over the river danube as we had our meeting ...

best regards,
-a