[spectre] make-world - reportage

[honor]

hi all,

just wanted to write a little report on the 'make-world' event=20
<http://make-world.org/> in munich, 18-21 october.
its unusual to return from a conference feeling so invigorated, and as such=
=20
i just wanted to share a few impressions of 'make-world' with you.

'make-world' brought together artists, activists, writers, theorists,=20
technicians and others to consider topics such as migration, immaterial=20
labour, tactical media and art in networking environments.  it featured a=20
three-day conference, an exhibition, performances and the virtualienmarkt=20
[an open space for showing cultural and activist projects].  in the wake of=
=20
the post-september 11 world crisis, this was a highly timely gathering,=20
giving the participants and the audience alike opportunities to consider=20
the shape of media cultural practice in the present social climate.

the conference was streamed live online, and has been archived as real=20
video files at the 'make-world' website, giving the event a life well=20
beyond its three day duration. check out the streams at:=20
<http://www.muffathalle.de/make-world/live.html>

as the press material notes:
" 'make world' is a unix command used to completely update an operating=20
system. it's designed to follow the latest developments once local sources=
=20
are synchronized. typing "make world" in the command line initiates a=20
rebuilding and renewal of the whole system while it's running".

the idea of being able to transform something's inner workings while it is=
=20
operating, enacting change from within, was a theme constantly echoed in=20
the panels and discussions - from konrad becker's concise definition of an=
=20
artist as 'an agent of change' at the 'beyond the web' panel on sunday, to=
=20
the lively debate following the 'time, space, action'  panel on saturday.

'time, space, action' opened with matt fuller's engaging description of=20
'textFM', a project produced in collaboration with graham=20
harwood.  recently presented as part of public netbase's 'interface=20
explorer' <http://interface.t0.or.at/> event in vienna, textFM <=20
http://www.scotoma.org/cgi-bin/textfm/textfm.pl> invites mobile phone users=
=20
to send SMS messages to an SMS gateway, which converts messages to audio=20
using text-speech synthesis, and then broadcasts the audio via FM radio.=20
textFM combines the one-to-one medium of SMS, and the one-to-many medium of=
=20
radio, and creates a new many-to-many mode of communication.  while=20
exploring the diverse textures of SMS messaging, textFM also probes the=20
nature of networks and communities.

geert lovink began his presentation by stating, 'we're here to celebrate=20
the end of the so-called anti-globalisation movement', and went to on=20
remark on the need for new social formations, new clusters of protest, and=
=20
new manifestations of dissent, post-september 11.
the panel featured a presentation of 'deportation class'=20
<http://www.deportation-class.com>. activists associated with the 'no=20
border' campaign in germany, have created a project which targets=20
lufthansa's deportation policies.  a spoof of the lufthansa site itself,=20
'deportation class' also featured a high profile 'denial of service'=20
action, which managed to disable the lufthansa website for a period of=20
time.  interventions by aris papatheodrou, angela mitropoulos, guillermo=20
gomez-pena and sam de silva provided food for thought on a diversity of=20
issues, ranging from protest tactics, to the terminology associated with=20
the anti-globalisation movement, to announcements about important future=20
actions, such as the woomera 2002 auto nomadic caravan=20
<http://www.woomera2002.com> in australia.

elsewhere in the conference, the language of resistance was debated via the=
=20
panel 'semi(o)resistance'.  possibly intentional, possibly subliminal=20
'conflicts' between artist + technician and moderator + audience charged=20
this panel with a production tension.  zoran pantelic introduced some of=20
apsolutno's <http://www.apsolutno.org/> projects, which transform the=20
symbology of the yugoslav state in creative and unexpected ways.  after a=20
brief spat with the venue's in-house technician, graham harwood presented=20
mongrel's projects, 'natural heritage' and 'blacklash' which manipulate=20
traditional software or gaming structures to comment on race and cultural=20
identity. a.f.r.i.k.a.-gruppe discussed how attacking the meaning behind=20
symbols in public space is an effective way of disarming their power.  for=
=20
instance, painting a statue of a well known fascist, pink, distorts and=20
disrupts the message that the statue communicates.  Capetown based curator,=
=20
tom mulcaire discussed the role of the artists in apartheid south africa,=20
showing work which exemplified the potency of signs and symbols.

british beat-theorist, kodwo eshun delivered a typically erudite lecture on=
=20
what he considers to be the 'new musique concr=E9te'. eshun contrasted=20
contemporary electronic musicians' use of found sounds, with musique=20
concr=E9te pioneers such as pierre schaeffer and pauline oliveros. musicians=
=20
such as matthew herbert <http://www.matthewherbert.com/> combine an=20
interest in found sound with a predelection for rhythm and funk. herbert's=
=20
new album 'bodily functions' is fundamentally concr=E9te in nature, composed=
=20
as it is from recordings of the body.  however, the slurps, gloops, and=20
gurgles of the body - or as eshun says, the body's 'onomatopoetry' - are=20
composed into sensual rhythms and melodic songs.  this is a deviation from=
=20
the approach of traditional concr=E9te composers, who's abstract, jarring=20
collage works eschew repetition and rhythm.  arguing that herbert,=20
timberland and others achieve a reconciliation of groove and collage, eshun=
=20
appealed for type of experimental music which more readily incorporates=20
'social desire' and the intelligence of the body.

introduced by olia lialina as 'the most interesting media theorist in the=20
world' ;-), lev manovich gave an illustrated lecture expanding on a recent=
=20
essay, 'new media from borges to HTML' and topics he introduced in his book=
=20
'the language of new media'. <http://www.manovich.net/new_media_images.html>

'make-world's exhibition, 'artist as expert' presented artists who display=
=20
advanced techniques, special knowledge sets and unusual levels of=20
skill.  featuring work by herbert w. franke, entropy8zuper!, jennifer=20
reeder, marko peljhan and BEIGE, the show entangled many threads of enquiry=
=20
of the nature of 'expertise'.  particularly intriguing were the=20
low-tech_high-skill computer works of BEIGE, an ensemble of computer=20
artists/programmers from st. louis, usa.  BEIGE utilise 'fixed=20
architecture' computers (ataris, commodore 64s, nintendo gameboys etc) to=20
create sound + visual works, which are displayed on the computers=20
themselves, and also used to output material to different formats (eg.=20
silk-screen prints).  highly refined in the art of =FCber-geekery, BEIGE=20
expound a philosophy of 'intentional computing', wherin the artist=20
demonstrates a complete understanding of the machine he/she is composing on=
=20
from the CHIP to the display.  members of BEIGE also release music under=20
the rubric, beige records <http://www.beigerecords.com>.

'make-world' was accompanied by a free newspaper, which introduced many of=
=20
the topics and participants of the event in detail.  the reader, put=20
together by a small editorial team soon before the event, is published in=20
an edition of 5000.  It's an excellent publication, and well worth getting=
=20
your hands on and helping to distribute.  emailing <0yes@make-world.org>=20
might be a good place to start if you want to get hold of a copy.
the newspaper also reminded many of us of the need for concentrated=20
analysis of the post-september 11 world crisis.  editorial groups in berlin=
=20
and zagreb have already began considering a possible publication which=20
collects comment, analysis, and essays which examine the world-crisis from=
=20
many perspectives.

'make-world' was an unusually engaging and spirited event.  congratulations=
=20
to florian, olia and all the organisers for creating a space for such rich=
=20
discussion / debate.

best

honor


references:

make-world website: 		<http://www.make-world.org>
make-world streaming archive:=
 	<http://www.muffathalle.de/make-world/live.html>
textFM: 			<http://www.scotoma.org/cgi-bin/textfm/textfm.pl>
mongrel: 			<http://www.mongrelx.org/>
deportation-class: 		<http://www.deportation-class.com>
woomera 2002:		<http://www.woomera2002.com>
matthew herbert: 		<http://www.matthewherbert.com/>
beige: 			<http://www.beigerecords.com>
lev manovich:			<http://www.manovich.net>
<london + amsterdam>

   _______________.play
<honor@va.com.au>           <http://www.radioqualia.net>

_______________.work
<honor.harger@tate.org.uk>  <http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/>
ph: +44 (0)20 74015066