thingist November 2011

thingist@mailman.thing.net

2 participants
4 discussions

What about a subjective, evolving, archive?
by Justin Berry 18 Feb '12

18 Feb '12

I am new to THE THING, having only become involved in the last year or so, working with W and Christoph on The.Thing.Net and the White Slab screenings. I became involved almost by accident--I was recently out of graduate school and making non-salable and non-exhibitable work, mostly web stuff, and feeling a bit chagrined about the art world and its various camps of ideology. I was randomly surfing the web and sending out feeler emails to every organization I could find that was involved in New Media. Wolfgang was the one who answered back. I had no idea what THE THING actually was. I went to look it up online and struggled to find information, only coming up with numerous references to someTHING but never an actual history or a literal description. The most glaring example of THE THING online was the Post, and I think enough has been said about that. It took a long time of being involved, listening in conversation, and attending talks by Wolfgang, etc. in order to really arrive at a sense of what THE THING was and what it represented. If it were not so tragic it would be humorously ironic that an organization that did so much to galvanize thinking about the internet as an artistic and political medium has no functioning legacy online. I think that a proper and academic archive could potentially happen, but it will take a long time and a great deal of work. The nature of academia is to quest after a kind of perfection, to create a source of objective authority. Great! That would be awesome. In a few years it will be something we can all be proud of. I think something different needs to be planned in the interim. What about creating a subjective archive? What about creating a nexus for the stories and narratives of THE THING. It could be a relatively simple interface, something like a data or tag cloud full of links to various stories, where the only hierarchy might be determined by font size. People with a story to tell or an event to document could create their own HTML page, with the only standard requirement being a ‘back to home’ button of some kind. The advantage is that this would allow each person’s ‘history’ to be acknowledged without necessarily privileging one or the other. One link might be called ‘eToy war’ and could be an account of those events while another might be called ‘Justin Berry’ and include simply my own experiences. These pages don’t even have to share styling, though we could certainly provide a CSS sheet for people to use if they chose. One person’s page might be a video, while another person could choose to simply write an essay; an event might be documented with only a series of contextless pictures. Something like this embraces the history of THE THING as a forum and a platform. This does not have to exist in opposition to a formal archive; it can be an accompaniment to that project. It also requires less energy to happen. Once a stable and functioning interface is set up it can be left to individuals to create pages as they wish. Each contribution can be considered on its own terms. It does not have to be ‘finished’, it can be an ever evolving project as new pages are added. Perhaps this is only a selfish wish. I would like to hear the stories and see the history and I would like to have that kind of experience sooner than later. There should be an online presence of THE THING’s legacy. In my experience every time people attempt to create an authoritative history of something there are a whole lot of histories on the table and it takes a long time to negotiate which ones stick around. Justin Berry -- Justin Berry (713) 302 9599 www.waymakergallery.com JustinBerryArt(a)gmail.com Waymaker(a)WaymakerGallery.com

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CFP for Intersections/Cross Sections 2012: Occupations
by Erika Biddle 23 Nov '11

23 Nov '11

Below is the CFP for the annual graduate conference hosted by the Joint Programme in Communication and Culture at York and Ryerson Universities, Toronto. Please distribute widely. + + + CFP for INTERSECTIONS / CROSS SECTIONS 2012: “OCCUPATIONS” (March 23– 25, 2012) 11th Annual Communication and Culture Graduate Conference, York University/Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario Abstracts due: December 23, 2011; notification by January 23, 2012 Conference date: March 23–25, 2012 Please email submissions and questions to: intersections.occupations(a)gmail.com Occupare: (Latin.) To seize, capture Occupy but better yet, self manage…. The former option is basically passive—the latter is active and yields tasks and opportunities to contribute.… To occupy buildings, especially institutions like universities or media, isn’t just a matter of call it, or tweet it, and they will come. It is a matter of go get them, inform them, inspire them, enlist them, empower them, and they will come. – Michael Albert, “Occupy to Self Manage” (http://interactivist.autonomedia.org/node/33609 ) I think that our political structures are corrupt and we need to really think about what a democratic society would be like. People are learning how to do it now…. This is more than a protest, it’s a camp to debate an alternative civilization. – David Graeber, “The Man Behind Occupy Wall Street,” interviewed by Seth Fiegerman (http://interactivist.autonomedia.org/node/33897) This is a critical moment, as “Occupy everywheres” present possibilities for new politics, and new forms of learning, engaging and living with each other. From the recurring occupations of the squares in Greece and Italy to the UK’s winter of discontent and the Arab Spring, to the summer of protest in Spain and the North American autumn—at general assemblies around the globe, people are running their own lives, influencing the media and discussing what is to be done without politicians. The recent occupations are an education in direct democracy and the solidarity necessary for action. Occupy Wall Street, and the occupations around the world, are attempts to build the social compositions that are the precondition for action. They are the working-through of a problem that ‘politics-as-usual’ works to suppress—the massive exploitation that is capitalism, and the emergence of politics adequate to address it. At this stage, the occupations are the connection of people, ideas and machines—the cumulation of assemblages that might build something. What happens next depends on what is being built now. As it was written upon the recent expulsion of OWS from Zuccotti Park: “You can’t evict an idea whose time has come.” We invite graduate students from all related disciplines to submit proposals for academic, artistic and activist presentations and workshops that explore, celebrate, analyze and otherwise critically engage with the ideas emerging from occupations. Possible areas of engagement include: politics and aesthetics, movement research and performance studies, humanities and digital humanities, critical disability studies, labour studies, social theory, social movement theory, policy, political economy, communications studies, media, culture, pedagogy, technology, artistic practice and activism. Please send a 250-word abstract, as well as a brief biographical note (100 words) to occupations.intersections(a)gmail.com by December 23, 2011. Proposals should list paper/panel title, name, institutional affiliation and contact details. Workshop facilitators: Please provide a tentative timeline highlighting the duration and one or two general learning objectives of your session, along with a clear indication of space and technical requirements. Artists: If sending creative works by email, please limit attachment size to 5 MB or less, or direct us to a URL. Include viewing instructions, comments and titles in your email if applicable. If submitting creative works by post, please mail the proposal, a non- original copy of the work, and viewing instructions to the following address (well before the submission deadline): Intersections 2012 Conference c/o Graduate Program in Communication and Culture 3013 TEL Building, York University 4700 Keele Street Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Intersections / Cross Sections 2012: Occupations is presented by and for graduate student scholars, artists and activists through the organizing efforts of the Communication and Culture Graduate Students Association (GSA): http://thecomcult.wordpress.com For more information about the Joint Graduate Program in Communication and Culture at York and Ryerson Universities: http://comcult.yorku.ca and http://www.ryerson.ca/graduate/programs/comcult/

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JAM SESSION party
by w 19 Nov '11

19 Nov '11

Massive 24-hour DRUM CIRCLE and JAM SESSION party starting tomorrow, Sunday at 2pm, outside Mayor Bloomberg's personal townhouse: 17 East 79th Street. Tie-dye, didgeridoo, hackeysack welcome! No shirt, no shoes, no problem! And if you don't have talent, don't worry: FREE DRUM LESSONS offered! Also on offer: collaborative drumming with the police! Even though this is a 24-hour drum circle, don't be late! The mayor loves evictions. Who knows what'll happen? In any case, there'll be an afterparty in world-famous Central Park right afterwards. Please spread this announcement (www.yeslab.org/drumcircle) as far and fast as you can!

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"Blind Barber" by Alterazione Video
by w 09 Nov '11

09 Nov '11

PERFORMA 11 PRESENTS THE NEW CINEMA EVENT BY ALTERAZIONI VIDEO Saturday, November 12, 7:00 pm — 9:00 pm @ The Blind Barber (339 East 10th Street) Get a hair cut and mystical truths will be revealed. No cover charge. The last Turbo Movie by Alterazioni Video Starring: Wolfgang Staehle Raganr Kjartansson Mike Egan Uri Aran Viola Yesiltac Adam Kleinman Live sound track by: Alterazioni Video produced by: Dispari&Dispari Project

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thingist November 2011