[spectre] Subversive in China - Mainstream in Adelaide Press Release

[marc garrett]

Hi jaromil,

Firstly, I better mention that it was Brogan Bunt who wrote 'Making 
Sense of ISEA2008 (Without Any Decent Statistics)', for Furtherfield. I 
also enjoyed the article and felt that he wrote a well balanced, 
critical observation of the festival. I do write many articles, but this 
was not one of them ;-)

I did write an article about Ars Electronica last year, but it was so 
critical I began wondering whether I was being too negative. I remember 
that you were there in one small, side-conference, asking similar 
questions that I was asking, but from a different perspective.

 >i second your sensation very much.   is it like when people slide into
 >comfort?  loosing interest in criticism when not needed any more?

I understand the need for comfort but to deny the process of being 
critical as though it was just a phase, lessens the authentic and 
quality of their earlier ideas and words. We know now, that if one is 
within an institution that individuals within can still be critical and 
continue to engage with challenging projects that explore beyond 
imposed, static protocols, in fact that is the beauty of radical 
thinkers or artists being part of education. They can reach outside and 
bring into their working environments contemporary issues that inform 
their students contexts other than the standardized, homogeneity. Bring 
light into these dark, mechanistic and production led places. And I know 
a few who are doing this.

Many voices through the years have become less questioning, along with 
what was once a (seemingly) more stable and solid activist culture, 
mixed within the media arts - which is now divided.

 >but it isn't  just about age time and change, i  believe there is also
 >quite some "top-down" manipulation going on.

Yes, you are right. Age and change is of course unavoidable. Although I 
do know people who are getting older and continue to learn and develop 
beyond career led desires, who are writing and making interesting work. 
It is unfortunate that there are less of them now. I still think that 
one can build a career but still be critical in one's approach, and make 
changes that culturally significant.

I also think that there has always been a divide between media 
practitioners and academics, and this really has not been actively dealt 
with, and perhaps it is too late now. A good example of how an academic 
could support media art communities is, to become part of them, and stop 
hanging around the same lists for years on end. If furtherfield suddenly 
vanishes, I know who to blame ;-)

I really do worry whether some of the groups and individuals who set up 
these cultural interfaces, see the bigger picture out there.

With early Mute magazine for example, it used to cater for media artists 
and academics with critical views. Which was great, communicating to an 
expanded audience as well as media artists, receiving some juicy and 
imaginative polemical noise, questioning peoples actions and ideas, 
whilst reading about media arts at the same time. My personal issue with 
Mute now is that it features mainly academic texts and is only 
accessible to that peer group,which is really a specific and 
culturalized audience. So, even though someone like myself is a 
perpetually, dedicated supporter and reader of Mute. I do wonder if it 
now only communicates to an already converted group of individuals and 
organisations, and through this action it is accidentally leaving out 
contemporary and critical art because it feels that all art is the same, 
which of course just is not logical or a realistic perception. My own 
personal position in respect of academics, artists and techies, is that 
they should really collaborate and help each other out, but of course 
this turns out to be romanticism.

 >there are  multiple dynamics that  converge in the same  phenomenon we
 >are  talking   about,  which   i  believe  is   not  just   plain  old
 >"institutionalisation",  but also a  widespread tendency  to represent
 >success,  optimism,  beautiful figures  rather  than  a  meshy mob  of
 >different voices.

In this case, it seems that there is rush to create a shiny interface 
that represents a more hegemonic, pseudo version of our own shared 
cultures, which are not dealing with immediate questions, or as you say 
- meshy, different voices. The tone is a blanket spectacle of 
irresponsible capitalism, via creative industry directives. It smells 
horrible and is cheap, lacking in imagination and is lazy in the extreme...

 >in  this  regard  i  found  very inspiring  the  Schwartzmarkt  format
 >@steirischerherbst.at -  very good challenge for the  talking heads  :)
 >this might be  of some interest actually, the  archive is public since
 >just a few days on http://www.mobileacademy-berlin.com/arc/

Thank you very much for this, I will read :-)

wishing you well.

marc









On Sun, Aug 24, 2008 at 12:54:02PM +0100, marc garrett wrote:
 > > Hi jaromil,
 > >
 > > Yes,  this is all  rather troubling.  Although, correct  me if  I am
 > > wrong - didn't  Eyebeam write a statement in  support for James when
 > > all this stuff kicked off?

well i  don't really  know eyebeam, just  some people in  there surely
well concerned but maybe without much agency in these situations:
http://eyebeam.org/labs/people/graffiti-research-lab
but nothing is mentioned on the blog (yet?)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/eyebeam/reblog

it does  sounds a bit strange,  but well i keep  hearing people having
problems with the insititutions they are hosted by.

let me also add that the message from James has no encrypted signature
:)   so we aren't 100% sure he  wrote it himself and actually in case he
did i can read stress in his words.



 >> > >   James is  proud to have been  kicked out of  the Synthetic Times
 >> > >   new media  art exhibition in Beijing because  he wouldn't censor
 >> > >   his little art project. James wonders why organizations like the
 >> > >   MoMA, Parsons, Eyebeam, Ars  Electronica and many other arts and
 >> > >   cultural institutions around the world who claim to support free
 >> > >   speech  and expression would  participate in  a show  like this.
 >> > >   But they did!
 > >
 > > It would be interesting to  know why such organisations thought it a
 > > good idea  to be a  part of  this the show.  The Olympics is  such a
 > > slack,   hegemonic    and   over-culturalized   form    of   eugenic
 > > indoctrination,  worldwide.

eheh, i place  my bet that they will just ignore  the question.

a very good one indeed.


 > > Perhaps, what we are witnessing  is a shift from supposed 'critical'
 > > 'intelligent' media art  organisations, becoming more traditional in
 > > their  approaches and  outlooks, such  as is  the norm  in  fine art
 > > fields.  So  much lip service  and not enough real  challenge. Where
 > > are the socially informed risks here?

i second your sensation very much.   is it like when people slide into
comfort?  loosing interest in criticism when not needed anymore?

but it isn't  just about age time and change, i  believe there is also
quite some "top-down" manipulation going on.

for  example it  is  very  delusive these  days  to see  "philantropic
billionaires" and "new venture capitalists" appropriating the concepts
of open  source and collective creativity,  yuppies promoting creative
commons worldwide weaving their i-phone  to the masses, and stuff like
that,  just   plain  incoherent,  but  still  these   are  the  people
broadcasted in mondovision, why?

there are  multiple dynamics that  converge in the same  phenomenon we
are  talking   about,  which   i  believe  is   not  just   plain  old
"institutionalisation",  but also a  widespread tendency  to represent
success,  optimism,  beautiful figures  rather  than  a  meshy mob  of
different voices.

in  this  regard  i  found  very inspiring  the  Schwartzmarkt  format
@steirischerherbst.at -  very good challenge for the  talking heads  :)
this might be  of some interest actually, the  archive is public since
just a few days on http://www.mobileacademy-berlin.com/arc/

BTW i liked your report of ISEA, you really made good points there.

ciao


- --
 Jaromil, dyne.org developer, http://jaromil.dyne.org

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