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<FONT FACE="Verdana"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:9.0px'>Chris and All,<BR>
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First, I was not at Ars #1 in 1979. Also, more seasoned veterans at ZeroOne I should’ve mentioned include Geetha Narayanan, Machiko Kusahara, and Sara Diamond. Apologies to others I’m forgetting.<BR>
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Consider Ars #1 in Linz in 1979. A mid-size industrial city living the the cultural shadow of a nearby giant (Vienna). A political need and opportunity for it to reinvent itself. Savvy local champions of electronic art. <BR>
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Today, Ars Electronica is unrivalled. First-time attendees are utterly astounded by the “total town takeover,” especially Americans. (1) The best metric for success? “Ask any cab driver.” (2)<BR>
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One big difference between 1979 and 2006 is the ubiquity of the tools for production. Electronic art in 1979 required major commitment to time, to resources, and to hustle. The community was smaller. Electronic art today has achieved pop status. The bad news is that the amount of naïve and mediocre work has skyrocketed. The good news is that, if only by sheer quantity, there are gems out there. But finding them is harder than before. (3)<BR>
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Another big difference between 1979 and 2006 is real time global connectivity via the Internet and mobile phone networks. Many profound implications here. A major one is how our sense of community is being reshaped, bringing into question when it’s appropriate, desirable, or necessary to actually rub flesh and break bread together.<BR>
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Another difference, huge, is the abysmal state of culture production and critical thinking that the US has thrust on itself and the rest of the world, particularly since Bush. This cannot be underemphasized. If we don’t look back on this period as a dark cloud, we’re in deep trouble. (4) <BR>
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These are the conditions under which ZeroOne made its festival, in the US, in the heart of Silicon Valley, in 2006. <BR>
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So from my perspective, how good was it?<BR>
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Good enough.<BR>
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-M<BR>
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(1) <a href="http://www.naimark.net/writing/ars2004.html">http://www.naimark.net/writing/ars2004.html</a><BR>
(2) <a href="http://www.artslab.net/">http://www.artslab.net/</a><BR>
(3) <a href="http://www.naimark.net/writing/symmetry.html">http://www.naimark.net/writing/symmetry.html</a><BR>
(4) <a href="http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/digital-universe/185/">http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/digital-universe/185/</a><BR>
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