thingist April 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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spring collection
by w 29 Apr '11

29 Apr '11

announcing the thing spring collection. now open at https://auctionthing.net/spring-collection/ this is a preview, we will be adding more work as it comes in. pass it on! the spring collection is a benefit event for the thing, but https://auctionthing.net is open to anyone who wants to buy and sell art works. if you have anything you want to auction off on auctionthing, let me know and i will send you an invitation code. greetings from berlin, wolfgang

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Shelly Silver at The Thing @ White Slab Palace, Tue April 26th, 8-10 pm
by Heidrun Holzfeind 25 Apr '11

25 Apr '11

Please join us for an evening with Shelly Silver at The Thing @ White Slab Palace 77 Delancey Street at Allen St Tuesday April 26th, 8-10 pm program: 37 Stories About Leaving Home (52 min, 1996) 5 lessons & 9 questions about Chinatown (10 min, 2009) What I'm Looking For (15 min, 2004) (and maybe a surprise!) Under Silver's direction, video becomes a tool to ponder life's meaning, to create parables about the conundrums of existence. Her videotapes prod, query and confront the way we construct our world and ourselves. (Sally Berger) Don't miss this program! Best, Heidrun 37 Stories About Leaving Home (1996, 52 min, color, sound) 37 Stories About Leaving Home provides a rare and personal view into the lives of Japanese women. This beautifully constructed and complex video weaves stories told by a group of Japanese grandmothers, mothers and daughters, ranging in age from 15 to 83. The stories recount each woman's personal journey from child to adulthood—their experiences of leaving home. It points to the enormous societal changes that have occurred in Japan over the last few generations, showing how these women are both influencing and coping with these changes in their own different, individual and creative ways. "Subtle and insightful... highlighting the competing demands of tradition and personal freedom. Silver presents a remarkable portrait of a culture about to experience seismic social change." (Steven Bode, Film and Video Umbrella, London) "A beautiful film." (Margarethe von Trotta) In 37 Stories about Leaving Home (1996), Silver's view becomes intimate and lyrical, as she creates a portrait of a group of mothers, daughters and grandmothers living in the Tokyo area. These women encompassing three generations, recount childhood memories, dreams and the small daily moments that make up their lives, to build a picture of the strong and complex relations existing between mothers and daughters. Silver, in typical fashion, layers the narrative by weaving in fiction with the documentary material in the form of a traditional, but shocking Japanese folktale of a mother and daughter caught in the grasp of an awful Oni, an ogre who is half-human, half-monster. (Sally Berger) What I'm Looking For (15 minutes, 2004) A woman sets out to photograph moments of intimacy. On an Internet dating site she writes: 'I'm looking for people who would like to be photographed in public revealing something of themselves...' What I'm Looking For, a 15-minute high definition video, documents this adventure; the connections formed at this intersection between virtual and actual public space. The video is a rumination on the nature of photography and the persistence of vision. It is a short tale of desire and control. 5 lessons and 9 questions about Chinatown (10 minutes, 2009) 10 square blocks, past, present, future, time, light, movement, immigration, exclusion, gentrification, racism, history, China, America, 3 languages, 13 voices, 152 years, 17,820 frames, 9 minutes, 54 seconds, 9 questions, 5 lessons, Chinatown.... You live somewhere, walk down the same street 50, 100, 10,000 times, each time taking in fragments, but never fully registering THE PLACE. Years, decades go by and you continue, unseeing, possibly unseen. A building comes down, and before the next one is up you ask yourself 'what used to be there?' You are only vaguely aware of the district's shifting patterns and the sense that, since the 19th century, wave after wave of inhabitants have moved through and transformed these alleyways, tenements, stoops and shops. more info: www.shellysilver.com

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The Thing @ White Slab Palace, April 11, 8 – 10 pm
by w 07 Apr '11

07 Apr '11

Documentary Night with David Gray & Katie McQuerrey http://post.thing.net The People vs. Betty Gooch (2011, 57 min) David Gray (Call it SNEAK PREVIEW, we call it WORLD PREMIERE) The true crimes and punishment of Betty Gooch, alleged grandmother con-artist of the Northwest suburbs of Chicago. An in-depth look at confidence crime, collective guilt, and the role of the media in the dispensation of justice. In 2004, an elderly grandmother is arrested in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago and Betty Gooch becomes an instant tabloid media sensation. But who is Betty Gooch? Just another little old lady struggling with ill-heath and low income? Or an unhinged criminal sociopath using rubber checks to scam car dealerships? With exclusive access to Ms. Gooch, this provocative documentary examines the old-boy connections among her "victims," investigates an outrageous ethical failing of her lead attorney, and looks beyond conventional notions of right and wrong to suggest that judgment itself comes with its own moral risks. Interview subjects include Ms. Gooch (filmed while incarcerated at the Cook County jail), her car dealer victims, the police, her lawyers, and her daughter (and possible co-conspirator). A missed court date, a politically driven prosecution, and a media circus add up to a three year prison sentence, and, ultimately, a tragic and unsettling end. Never Say Die (2003, 53 min) Katie McQuerrey and David Gray 5 years in the life of the world's greatest Black Sabbath tribute band, Never Say Die has its first NY screening since 2004. Tom, Joe, Danny, and Scott play Bill Ward, Ozzy Osbourne, Tonny Iommi and Geezer Butler with heart, soul, and consequence. When a dream to go on tour overseas comes true (albeit to Puerto Rico), newfound success forces the members of the band to finally face their interpersonal demons. Also featuring appearances by Black Dog and Ozmosis. "An engaging non-fiction account of the longest gigging, hardest working Black Sabbath cover band in...let's just say the history of the world." - Ann Hornaday, Washington Post The Thing @ White Slab Palace April 11, 2011, 8 – 10 PM 77 Delancey Street (corner of Allen) New York, New York http://post.thing.net/node/3375

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thingist April 2011