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Mauj and Ars Electronica
by yasir ~يا سر 13 Jul '09

13 Jul '09

From: Atteqa Malik <atteqa(a)gmail.com> For those of you in the Linz area pls. check out live broadcasts from Mauj in Karachi to the pinhole in the box project at Ars Electronica http://www.80plus1.org/blog/801-%E2%80%9Cbasecamp%E2%80%9D-plans-announced-… we will be starting probably by next weekend, every Friday Saturday Sunday, uptil mid August 14.00 Austria time for 2 hrs and we will hook up our camera to public places in Karachi given that Karachi is a VERY unpredictable megacity, we are prepared for surprises and a few rude shocks!!!! but not too many I hope Atteqa --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ \\ Mauj _ Collective for Open Technology, Art & Culture

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Social networking software or sites for artists
by yasir ~يا سر 02 Jun '09

02 Jun '09

dear thingys i am looking for your suggestions for social networking softwares and sites (existing). This can be contrued in a wide sense also meaning google apps as a whole as well. and if anyone is up to it what kinds of apps and functionalities - affecting both quality of interaction and ease of expression - are its good features. on the other hand if you dont know of any any existing ones, then what could be desirable .... thanks, best yasir

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intro
by yasir ~يا سر 30 May '09

30 May '09

hello everyone ran into thingist online around 98-99 and joined sometime around 2000-01 Our latest thing is the Mauj Collective which wants to grow into a cultural centre. We do art that is socially engaged. yes art tech culture, last most useful to think in. Mauj is also setting up networks of architects doing envirionmentally sensitive architecture as well as helping out in a sufi shrine (dargah) project. The list of things we are doing is long, We've also just started working on a social networking site which will also work as a mapping thing for artists and works and institutions, besides promoting interaction .. we love to link people and orgs...and are always looking for collaborative ideas, projects I am primarily a theorist as surprised as other people that i still defy categories. so its not uncommon for me to be digging south asian intellectual streams which have gathered over time a very thin covering of western ideas, trying to find the missing areas of why currently dwelled theory / concepts are awkward, and what democracy and theory meant in the old streams of muslim, indian, hindu, indus valley, persian, arab thought which make their presence felt extremely strongly in their absence from current life. I have lived in New York, Bangkok, Islamabad and Karachi, where i think i have spent most time. The Pakistani environment is difficult and rich. one is tempted to leave and one stays. i dont remember New York being any different. I also do things with traditional media (tv, journalists, reporters). This could be an interactionist or research mode or, in my activist mode especially, for the citizen org, the People's Resistance, which as a pressure group with disparate elements across society was in a small way instrumental in bringing Musharraf out of his uniform and finally down. we currently oppose not just the taliban but the army action as well, relates to blunt and blunting US policy (no revelation here). I also take jokes seriously just like james allan. so where are murph, the francophones and St blackhawk greetings from Karachi yasir

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Peaceful Anti-War Protestors Harrassed & Arrested !
by yasir ~يا سر 30 May '09

30 May '09

People's Resistance ** Peaceful Anti-War Protestors ** Harrassed & Arrested ! Saturday 30 May 2009 Karachi, Pakistan *People's Resistance*, a civil society coalition of students, professional and ordinary citizens strongly condemns police violence and arrest of peaceful anti-war protestors in Quaidabad, Karachi today, on grounds that the right to peaceful dissent has been violated. The march had been organized by The Jang Mukhalif Committee (Anti War Committee) comprising several local groups that have been protesting the army operation since August 2008. The committee included the Bajaur Committee of Peoples Resistance, Labor Party Pakistan, International Socialists, Swat Quami Ittehad, Anjumani-i-Buner, and many neighbourhood groups. At 6:15pm a disproportionately large police force, several hundred in number, baton-charged the protestors and even the cart-pullers and other people present in Quaidabad and later near Gul Ahmed Chowrangi. Fifteen protestors were arrested and shifted to the Shah Latif Police Station and Quaidabad Police Chowki. Panic spread in the area. Seven of the fifteen people - the exact number is unclear - were arrested from Quaidabad Chowk, in front of Hamid Hospital, and taken to Shah Latif Thana. After the arrests, the police lathi charged and dispersed the crowd. The vicious and prompt action has been videotaped. Rehana of International Socialists climbed into the policewagon as they were taking Ali Hassan, Riaz, Salaam, and others away. Later Adaner and Shaukat were picked up and taken to a Police Chowki, while they were only standing around. They were later brought to Shah Latif. Later, a few more people who were protesting the arrests were picked up from Gul Ahmed Chowrangi, and taken to a police station The update from Tanvir who is at the Police Station is that they have issued FIRs under Sectioin 188 of the PPC. But they have also said the decision will be made by higher ups. It looks likely that they will be in the Police Station all night long. Shah Latif Thana is beyond Landhi, on the right, on Shahrah e Faisal a couple of kilometers past FAST Institute. There are reports that they may be moved to anothet police station during the night. Those arrested include Dr. Riaz, Ali Hassan, Rehana Channar, Ali Leghari, ,Asim Jaan of International Socialists, Adaner, Shujaat Zaheer Khan and Salam of Labour Party of Pakistan, and Shoukat from Jang Mukhalif Committee. Rehana Channar was later released. The protest was held to demand that the government halt its operation in Swat, Dir, Buner, and Waziristan. As the government tries to divert attention towards just relief efforts, the Committee presses that the war, the root cause of this immense human suffering, must be stopped. According to Sartaj of International Socialists, “the operation has resulted in the large scale expulsion of more than 2 million people from their homes. These people demand a peaceful return to their homes and lands and relief work will only provide them with temporary solutions.” Moreover, he states that there are no official counts of civilian deaths, estimated in the thousands, and there is absolutely no hope that these people will ever be compensated for their loss. Salaam, a member of the committee, says that the Taliban, the target of this operation, will not be eliminated by military heavy handedness; if anything, the operation will exacerbate the presence of these militias which will regroup and find new recruits. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- People Resistance strongly condemns the brutal suppression of Peaceful Dissent and violent harrassment on ordinary Citizens on the part of the concerned authorities, and demands the Immediate Release of those arrested. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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fussball mit george best
by Wolfgang Staehle 22 May '09

22 May '09

sunday at 8:30 pm we'll show "fussball wie noch nie" by hellmuth costard (1970) at the white slab palace (in the secret lounge) on delancey and allan, nyc. this came about by talking with john - who's from manchester - two weeks ago over beers at the bar. i told him about this movie and we spontaneously decided to screen it in the unfinished room behind the bar. yesterday heidrun sent me an email informing me that cabinet magazine is also showing it in brooklyn on tuesday, followed by a discussion with simon critchley. it's one of these weird coincidences. well, at least, you have a choice...

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ARREST (part 3, conclusion, sort of...)
by ws＠thing.net 19 May '09

19 May '09

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. -- Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution Where is the probable cause in this story? Of course, leaving proportionality aside, one could argue legalistically that everything that happened to me was justified. There was an outstanding summons, which caused the suspension of my license, which caused my arrest in accordance to VTL 511. Let's check the facts: 1) The unapproved helmet. If the police officer were properly trained and actually had some "courtesy and respect," he would have examined the helmet with me and found a label on the inside that states in small print "This helmet exceeds federal standard FMVSS 218" and let me go my way. 2) The DMV. Since the suspension of a license constitutes such a crime in the state of New York, can I not reasonably expect to be warned of such an imminent threat? Why does the DMV renew the vehicle registration of an "unlicensed operator?" And why didn't the outstanding summons show up on their web site? 3) The arrest. The police officers fabricated the charge of running a red light. They did this to have a reason to stop me and circumvent the charge of unreasonable search and seizure. After they found a reason to arrest me, they didn't even bother to issue a summons for the alleged red light offense. 4) The law that did me in. VTL 511,(1) also sometimes called "Harry's Law" after a Harry Carnevale, a 17 year old kid who was killed in a car accident by a driver without a license.(2) His father seems to be John Carnevale, formerly of the ONDCP, where he served several drug czars.(3) Mr. Carnevale also runs a a public policy firm and seems to have enough political clout in Albany to have influenced the State Assembly to pass this law in 2007.(4) I am not a constitutional lawyer, but even as a layperson I can say with certainty that this is not what the authors of the Constitution had in mind. If we take the "unapproved helmet" charge as the "probable cause," then it was based solely on the whims of an unprofessional and hostile police officer. If we take the red light charge, then it was based on a blatant lie. How come the NYPD gets away with this? And what about the messy record keeping and communications policy of the DMV? Why do I have to pay the price for their incompetence? About "Harry's Law." While I can sympathize with the grief of a father loosing his son to some crazy driver, I cannot follow the conclusion that everybody with an outstanding summons is a potential threat to society and therefore should be subject to criminal arrest. In a sane society, what should happen in a case like mine could look like this: the police sees the license suspended, issues a desk appearance ticket and gives me 15 days to clear up my business with the DMV and the judge. This I could understand, but throwing totally innocent people in jail is a crime and should be denounced as a human rights violation. Something smells foul in the State of NY and I feel deeply aggrieved by what has happened to me. I am still shaken up and whenever I see a police car or hear a siren now, I twitch. I've never noticed the police before, they just blended into the urban fabric. This has a real effect on the quality of my life now and I don't like it. It feels like living under a totalitarian regime. I am an American, I believe in the founding principles of this republic and I am ready to defend them in any capacity I have. Last November I voted for change. This is not the change I voted for. But this has to change, and it will change. If it doesn't, the United States can have my passport back. Links: (1) http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A04975 (2) http://www.harrycarnevale.com/ (3) You can see Mr. Carnevale's views on drug policy here: http://tv.mpp.org/news/bruce-mirken-on-cnbc-reports-04162009/ (4) http://www.carnevaleassociates.com/carnevale.html PS: On Wednesday, May 13, I tried to enter my plea on the DMV website for the latest summonses I received after my arrest (for the damaged signnal lights and unlicensed operator). This is what the web site returned to me: "Traffic Ticket Number: AAJ7034985 - The TVB traffic ticket with the number displayed above is not currently entered on the DMV traffic ticket files." tried the other ones, none went through. I wonder what will happen next...

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ARREST (part two)
by ws＠thing.net 14 May '09

14 May '09

After we left the Tombs, Michael walks with me to Soho and I invite him for a drink at Cafe Noir. We both agree that this whole thing is insane. Just imagine the waste of tax dollars. What did this cost the state of NY and the city. 1,000 dollars, 2,000, 3,000? Some people who say they have a medical problem get a thorough check up at a hospital, AIDS test and all. And all this in times of scarce public resources. And what will it cost me in terms of money, lost time, not to speak of the the emotional trauma? I am not a sissie, but this hits you down to your bone marrow. A really stupid law. Preposterous and totally out of proportion. To give so much leeway to a corrupt, incompetent and run down police department. He hands me a printout from a web site of a law office in Queens trying to explain the skewed and dubious rationale for its existence. You can read it here, it's worth a read: <http://www.queensdefense.com/suspend.htm> We down a few beers and I go on to another bar in my neighborhood run by friends of mine and after they hear my story the drinks are on the house. I wake up Thursday morning and for a few seconds everything seems normal until my memory kicks in. Did this really happen or was it only a bad dream? Nursing a slight hangover, I look for my glasses. Can't find them. I must have lost them in one of the bars. I remember Michael returning them along with my wallet, papers and helmet. I decide to go up to the DMV office on 34th Street to find out what happened to the license. I want to pick up my bike as soon as possible before they take it to the impound in Queens and charge me for towing and storage. At 34th Street I take a number and soon talk to a man with burnmarks all over his face and body. His hand had only two fingers left and looked burned as well. He checks and tells me that his records show one outstanding ticket from 08/22/06 for "UNAPPROVED HELMET." A leftover from the incident with the nasty cop on 125th Street. So either I screwed up and paid only one summons for the sunglasses, or they made an error in their data entry. Somehow the same record also showed up twice in their database. It was originally for $45 and was now $145. I ask if I could pay it now and he tells me that I would have to go to the Traffic Violations Bureau at 19 Rector Street. "Take the 1 or 9 train," he recommends. At the office on Rector Street I encounter the first sympathetic human being with a government job in this whole ordeal. A young Philippino woman with big glasses. I tell her that I was arrested because my license was suspended due to a traffic violations ticket. "That's so horrible! Is your vehicle insured?" "Yes, of course, I paid Progressive two months ago and I have the document with me." "But they are supposed to check." I don't say anything anymore. Why doesn't the DMV check when they send me the registration? I pay $145 for the ticket and leave, making sure the suspension is lifted. I spend the rest of the afternoon walking to Bar Noir and White Slab Palace to look for my glasses. Nobody found anything. Damn, those were nice Moscot Classics. Another 400 dollars. Friday, May 1, 2009. Immediately after breakfast I start writing this story. The impressions are still vivid and my anger is unabated. Around 11 am I call the 25th precinct and ask for officer Arroyo. "He's out." I am being told by the woman who answers the phone. "He should be back in the afternoon." I ask if I can leave my number. "Sure, I let him know you called." I continue writing. By 3 pm I haven't received a call back and decide to take the receipt for the bike and take the 6 train up to 116th. At the precinct I hand my receipt and drivers license over the counter to the female clerk and ask for Arroyo. They can't locate him in the building. While I wait I study a vitrine with photographs of some sort of cops graduation ceremony, a party and a bicycle outing. Suddenly the door to the stairwell opens and out comes Arroyo. I ask if I can speak with him for a minute. He's a bit uncomfortable but says "Sure." I tell him the reason for the license suspension was a helmet without a DOT sticker. "Any idiot could tell that it was a legal helmet and it probably was one of your guys who wrote that ticket in 2006. It's nothing personal with you, but I am not going to take this shit!" "It was never something personal. I was not the one initiating the arrest." he says. I always had the impression that he was the guy in charge. He was the one who arrived in the black car and put the cuffs on me. But now he's passing the buck to the guy who stopped me. He suddenly takes out his cell phone and walks out in the rain. I wait for a while, but he's not coming back. The woman behind the counter is still looking for the records. "Was there a license plate on the vehicle?" she asks. "There was one when it came in here." I tell her. She comes with some forms and says "This should have been filled out when the vehicle came in." I give her my registration and help her fill out the form. "Did you check his license, he had two suspensions on it!" one cop shouts out from a desk. I smile, sure, two suspensions on one license, that must make the case a slam dunk. She takes my license and goes to check. When she comes back she tells me that an officer will get the bike. "Here you go, Sir" he says as he hands me the keys. I ride over to Cycle Therapy and they put the lenses on my signal lights and give me a new inspection sticker. Amit tells me that this happens all the time. Apparently they catch a lot of people with no license, suspended license or just a car license. If they can't arrest you, there is always something else they find, a technical defect, expired registration, expired inspection, whatever they can stick on you. In my case the whole ordeal started with a missing paper sticker on a motorcycle helmet. Here my story ends, but I will add a few concluding thoughts. Tomorrow...

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ARREST (short story in 3 installments)
by ws＠thing.net 13 May '09

13 May '09

Wednesday, April 29, 2009, started just like any other day in New York City. I needed to do an errant and had to go up to the German Consulate on 49th Street to have my signature verified on some legal document my Berlin notary had sent me. It was a beautiful day and so I decided to take my old BMW K75 motorcycle for a ride up there. My plan was to go to Chelsea Piers for a swim afterwards. I had some busy weeks behind me putting together a show at Postmasters gallery in Chelsea and I felt like allowing myself an afternoon off. After I finished my business at the Consulate and returned to the bike I had actually found a legal parking spot on 50th Street near 1st Ave I had a fateful idea. Maybe instead of cutting crosstown, I could ride up to Cycle Therapy, my garage, and have them look at the damaged blinkers. It was the second time this season that an idiot had knocked over the bike while it was parked on Rivington Street and the lenses on the signal lights were broken. The lights worked fine and I had fixed the lenses temporarily with gaffers tape, but it didn't look good and it needed to be taken care off. Cycle Therapy is up in Harlem on 127th, between Third and Second Avenue. Amit, the guy who runs the shop, looks at the bike, goes back to his computer and orders the parts. I ask him about the inspection sticker that was punched for May 2009. "You have till the end of May, we'll do it when we have the parts. I will call you. Good bye." I get on my bike, turn right on Second Ave to take 125th over to the West Side Highway looking forward to my swim, relaxing on the sun deck at Chelsea Piers and continue reading Derrida's "Counterfeit Money," a book on the theory of the gift. At 126th street a cop car behind me starts flashing his lights and turns on the siren and I move to the right thinking he wants to pass me. Looking back, I see them gesturing at me so I pull over at a gas station. Two cops get out and ask for my license and registration. I ask what's wrong and the cop tells me that I was "running a red light" when I turned at 127th. I ride my bike in NYC since 1991 and I am not in the habit of running red lights. Drivers in NYC hit the gas within a millisecond the light turns green. You don't want to be on a bike in an intersection when this happens. The guy's probably desperate to write a ticket I think. I give him my NY drivers license and my registration and am ordered to stay at my bike while they check. It takes forever. Suddenly a black car speeds into the gas station lot. Two cops jump out and order me to put my hands up on their car and frisk me. "Do you have anything sharp in your pockets" one of the cops asks me. "No, just my keys" I answer as he empties my pockets. "What is this about" I ask, my mind racing trying to make sense of this. "You're under arrest" the cop says. "I am under what? What for?" "For driving with a suspended license" he declares. They put hand cuffs on me, order me in the back seat of their car and we drive off to the 25th precinct on 119th Street, while one of the cops rides my bike. In the precinct they put my belongings in a manila envelope and order me to take off my belt and shoe laces. They count my money, 104 dollars and a few coins. Officer Jose Arroyo, the guy who arrested me, tells me I am allowed to keep up to 100 dollars. He gives me 60 and two quarters and they put me in a holding cell. I'm starting to feel a little bit alarmed by now and demand my cell phone to call a lawyer. Arroyo actually comes back with my phone and allows me to make a call. I call Martin Liu, an immigration lawyer and art collector who I recently met and who was the only lawyer I had on my phone. "You're what? Arrested? Which precinct? I send an associate up there right away." I'm waiting in the cell sitting on the metal bench. Left to me is a black transvestite with a wig looking like a younger version of Michael Jackson. "What are you here for" I ask him. "Prostitution" he lilts managing a smile. The guy on the right was charged with assault and outside the cell, shackled to the iron bars, is a black woman in her thirties who apparently had sold bootlegged CDs on the street. An hour later officer Arroyo comes back and hands me a card. It was the Chelsea Piers membership card of Michael Strage, the lawyer Liu sent up. Arroyo hands me my phone back and I can talk with the lawyer. "Hey, we go to the same club." "Yes, I saw your card in your wallet and I gave the officer mine to let you know I am here." Strage tells me that he has my belongings, but there was probably not much else he could do other than meet me later at Central Booking on Centre Street. He says it could take up to 24 hours in the worst case, but that he will try to speed it up. He asks me if I want him to represent me and I say "Hell, yeah sure, get me out of here." Idling my time away in the cell I think what could have caused the suspension of my license. I had paid my insurance a couple of months earlier. The DMV in Albany had always sent me new registration stickers after I paid the 14 dollars for it online. I also checked the DMV web site regularly and paid my parking tickets. I wanted to make sure I had no balance on it, because sometimes when I am traveling abroad I let my friend Paololuca have the bike. He used to collect a lot of parking tickets over time, almost a thousand dollars worth, but he paid for all of them. Then I remembered another incident three years earlier in Harlem. A cop stopped me on 125th and issued two tickets for wearing RayBan aviator sunglasses and a helmet on which the DOT sticker had peeled off, although any idiot could have seen that it was a legal motorcycle helmet. I had also immediately offered to wear my goggles which I kept in the bike for cloudy days or longer rides, but there was absolutely no room for negotiation. I was so furious back then, that I wanted to contest the charges. I received a date for a hearing, but couldn't go because I had to be in Berlin at the time. So I wrote back to the DMV and said I wouldn't be able to make it and paid the summonses instead. Could it be that something got mixed up in the bureaucracy then? The DMV is not exactly known for accurate record keeping. After a while Arroyo shows up again. I look at him and realize he's not totally comfortable with the situation. Strage must have spoken with him. But it's too late to change anything now, I'm in the system and the process has to run its course. He hands me back my license and tells me that normally he is required to tear it up. He also hands me 3 summonses and a receipt for the impounded bike. He tries to be friendly and we manage to strike up a short conversation. I ask him if he could tell me what possibly caused the suspension of my license. He tells me that the DMV records were "a bit mixed up" and he doesn't know what the exact offense was, but that the DMV records show my license suspended for two unpaid moving violations in March and May 2007. I told him that I am not aware of any outstanding tickets, that in fact last time I paid a parking ticket on the DMV website it showed zero outstanding balance. He tells me something about the DMV web site only showing "parking tickets" and not "moving violations." He continues to tell me, almost apologetically, that the officers are told by their superiors to target motorcycles between April and October. So that's how the system works, these guys are told to produce a number of tickets no matter what, otherwise they don't get ahead in the system. I don't know if this order is specific to the 25th precinct or whether this profiling goes on city wide. I never had a problem downtown where I've been living and riding my bike for many years. But this was the second time now that I had a run in with the "law" in Harlem within a few years. It certainly explained the annoying helmet and sunglasses charge on 125th Street in 2006 and the current accusation of running a red light on 127th. He leaves me and I look at the summonses. One is for a "defective turn signal front right," one for a "defective turn signal right rear" and one is "unlicensed operator." Strangely enough, no ticket for "running the red light," which started this whole thing in the first place. I while away my time in the filthy cell doing knee bends and stretch exercises. At one point they get me out of the cell and a Hispanic cop in shorts takes my finger prints and photographs me on a grey wall with a height scale painted on it. Around 5 pm the other three inmates are picked up for transfer. I have to wait longer. Around 6 pm, a female and a male cop take me to an old white and blue Ford with the words NYPD, Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect written on it. I'm in hand cuffs again and they take me by the arm and shove me on a bare metal back seat. The cuffs hurt, but at least we are finally on the way downtown to Centre Street. At least that's what I thought. But no, they turn north and take me to the "hub" at the 28th precinct. There I am stripped again and put in a single cell with a toilet. There is puke residue in the corner, the toilet is a mess, the stench of urine all over the place. I feel nauseous. Around 8:30 they open the cell doors and line up ten of us. They take a long metal chain with shackles and cuff our left hands to it. One guy comes in late, a Dominican crackhead, still totally high, busted for "a snatch." He seems to know some of the cops already. "Hey you, are you Chinese?" he goes to one of the cops. They always identify the cops by their ethnicity. "You know Bruce Lee used to come up to Harlem to party and eat pussy! He and Khalid Abdul Muhammad, they would go out together and Muhammad was a Muslim and was not allowed to eat pussy, but they did anyway..." The Chinese cop didn't care much. But another big fat black cop in an oversized white t-shirt gave him a high five. Together they had known some famous karate guy in Harlem and they both visibly enjoyed their reunion. I realized they were two sides of the same coin, they grew up in the same neighborhoods, went to the same schools and are still playing robbers and cops together. In the end we are twelve guys, I am the only Whitey in the gang. I am between the crackhead and a black drug dealer with a missing front tooth and a baseball cap. We are led to a truck to take us to the Tombs. The crackhead is rapping "I am a lyrical wizard, I make sunshine out of a blizzard..." In the truck we are squeezed together and the crackhead won't stop talking. Actually, at one point he said to be freebasing only on cocaine. "You can do anything you want when you smoke cocaine. Anything!" "Fuck all night?" one asks. "Fuck all night, man!" Then the drug dealer to my right talks about declining business. The economic crisis affects his business too. I bet a good portion of his wares ended up spicing up Wall Street investment bankers parties. "We used to make shitloads of money, man. But now? Shiiit." He doesn't like me and calls me a cracker. The crackhead comes to my rescue, "He's not a cracker, man. He's German. Red necks are crackers, not Germans." The black Muslim across the aisle in a white oversized sports jacket and skull cap smiles at me and says "Germans are good people, they like black people." The drug dealer, who claimed to be a member of the Bloods, didn't like this. "He's a cracker, I tell you, look at his neck, it's red." At this point I'm fed up with this shit. I had problems following their slang, the only crackers I know come as party food and so I told him "If I am a cracker then you must be a pretzel." Some laughed, but it didn't go over well with the Bloods dude. "Next time I see you in the hood, I blow your head off!" he shouts at me. From now on I keep my mouth shut. The truck door opens and we are in the court yard of the Tombs. It's night now, the cranky metal entrance shutter door rolls down behind us. The gang is led downstairs and made to wait in a long corridor. As we wait I notice two white cops who are watching us. They must be detectives of sorts and were checking us out or simply training their cognitive skills. They are young, in their early thirties. One is an Irish guy with short reddish hair wearing a t-shirt, the other a good looking Tom Cruise type with a jacket and wearing his badge on a chain over his chest. At one point, after a staring contest, the Irish cop asks me "Five Eleven?" I ask "What?" "License suspended?" I nodded and told him I had no idea why. He said "Just take it as an experience." I've heard this line before from my lawyer when we talked on the phone at the precinct "Just stay calm, don't be sarcastic, the cops don't like it, and just take it as an experience." I told the Irish cop that I've had other plans for the evening. He shrugged. They were intelligent and of course figured out that I must be German or European. I felt like injecting a bit of drama into the scene and said "You know, you guys run around the world preaching about democracy and human rights and then you treat people like this for no reason?" and held up my shackled hand to him. The Cruise guy twitched and they both said nothing anymore. Some guy comes, unshackles me and leads me into a small room with two female cops. One is doing some clerical work while watching a talk show on a huge old TV set, the other sits behind a desk with a computer monitor and talks on the phone with friends or family. She doesn't look at me, just motions with her free hand to a digital camera in the back. I look at the camera and she hits a key on her keyboard. Then she motions to the side wall where they've mounted a picture of an Irish setter puppy. I look at the dog and she takes my profile. Next we are led into yet another corridor and frisked by a gang of rough and muscular black cops. They line us up against the wall and again we empty our pockets and put everything on the floor. The crackhead continues to talk back at them. They don't like it and after the second "Shut up!" the broke ass mutha fucka does the sensible thing and shuts up. Then there's a roll call and we have to state our dates of birth. Finally we can pick up our stuff and they give us back our shoe laces and belts and escort us to the cages. A big room with about six or seven cages. About twenty people in a cage, some sleeping on the benches and on the floor. Garish institutional green cinder block stone walls. Fluorescent light flickering. Filthy floors, food crumbs everywhere, one open toilet and two pay phones. I was wondering before why Arroyo gave me 60 dollars and two quarters. Thoughtful guy, I would be able to make a phone call now. At the entrance there was a box with sandwiches and small containers of milk. I took my ration and after I sniffed on the undefinable brown spread on the stale bread I decided to throw it in the trash. 11 pm. My name is called and I am escorted upstairs into a holding cell with three small booths where people can talk with their lawyers. Most had court appointed legal aid. One young hip hop guy was running around frenetically asking for quarters to make a phone call. After he got some, he yelled in the phone "They got verything, my gold chains, my 5,000 dollar watch. Everything!" Finally my lawyer shows up. We talk through the screen. "There are two options," he tells me, "either we plead guilty and I probably can get you out with a $75 fine or we plead not guilty and we have to go back to court in a couple of months." It's a tough decision. I felt so fucking violated that I really itched to fight back. But then you think, is it really worth it? Do you want to spend your time and energy to go against this bureaucratic juggernaut, like some Don Quichote fighting the windmill in the seal of New York City. I couldn't decide. "Think about it," my lawyer said, "see you in the court room." Ten minutes later, I am called into the court room. As I go in I overhear a police woman telling another waiting delinquent "Oh don't worry so much, it's judge Klein tonight, he is a good one." I take it as a good omen. It's around midnight. All sorts of people sitting around the court room, cops, lawyers, bailiffs, clerks. I walk up to the bench where Michael already waits for me. High up, behind some sort of lectern, presides judge Klein, a stern looking man around sixty, grey hair, thick glasses. A stenographer typing on a keyboard below to his left. The case is read and he asks how we want to plead. I am still undecided and talk quickly to Michael who encourages me to take the pragmatic route. "Do you really want to be stuck here all summer waiting for a court appearance and it's not even sure we can get a better deal and it will cost you more money? And if you don't show up they issue a warrant..." I agree, let's get it over with. The judge proceeds to ask if I admit my offense. I twitch and turn to the side in frustration and anger. I know of no offense I committed. Immediately there is a chorus from the cops and clerks in the court room. "Face the judge! Face the judge!" I straighten myself and tell the judge "I would have to lie to you if I would admit an offense now." Judge Klein looks at me and responds "You can plead not guilty, do you understand?" At this point my lawyer jumps in "You see your honor my client is deeply aggrieved..." "You can also plead nolo contendere" the judge cuts him short. Michael takes 15 seconds to explain the legalese to me. It's basically a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, kind of a plea bargain. You still have the guilty charge stuck on you, but you don't have to admit any guilt. I think about it for a second and agree. "The fine will be 75 dollars and 80 dollars in court fees. Do you wish to pay now with credit card or do you want to pay later?" I agree to pay with credit card. My hand is trembling when I sign the credit card receipt in the clerks office. "Running a good business here" I say, not exactly approvingly. The clerk glares at me. "Could have kept you here all night" he snaps back. Michael gets me out of the room quickly. "You shouldn't have said this, the clerks can be very useful. Without him you would be still down there." We're out of the Tombs by 12:30 am Thursday morning. To be continued...

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A resurrection?
by Pall Thayer 02 May '09

02 May '09

Hi People, I've just subscribed to the thingist list (again) to which I was subscribed a long time ago until it went more or less silent. Looking through recent posts, I see that there is some sort of a resurrection attempt going on. I'm wondering, who are you people? It appears to me that there's a very small group subscribed and that you are somehow linked together through other connections (besides the list). I'll introduce myself: My name is Pall Thayer. I'm an Icelandic artist that has been involved in the new media scene for some time. If I had to pin my beginning to an exact year it would have to be 1997. The work I do has evolved quite a bit over the years from focusing on interactive audio-visual web-based systems in a sort of abstract painting sense, to more visual aggregation systems that follow the same abstract ideology and finally to where I am now which is presenting the code for small conceptual works that may or may not be visual or audible or networked or whatever (you can see these at http://pallit.lhi.is/ microcodes and previous work can be seen at http://www.this.is/ pallit). Although I've been more active in festivals and exhibitions in Europe, I've also exhibited my work in the US and Canada and did my MFA in Montreal. But since the computer-based new media scene here in Iceland is rather small (very small), I have relied on online networks over the years to keep in touch with new media communities. This has become increasingly difficult in more recent years as the way in which people use the internet has changed so much. In my opinion, mailing lists have proven themselves to be the best way to share work and ideas but they've been losing to the social websites like Facebook and Twitter. It's a bit difficult to share deep conceptual philosophies in 140 characters or less. There are still a couple of mailing lists like Netbehaviour which I find tends to lean a bit too far towards activism for my tastes, and Rhizome which... well... has really been going downhill for the past 4 or 5 years and finally hit rock-bottom over the last couple of months (especially since it's been non-functional for over a month now). So I'm going to try hanging out here for a while and see how I like it. Best regards, Pall Thayer

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Re: [thingist] mission
by ursula endlicher 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

Hi everybody, These are all fantastic news and plans! Glad that THE THING restarted thingist, and specially happy -- and curious -- to hear more about the development of the new project space! And I am glad to hear that others like listservs too, I certainly prefer them to using facebook and et.al... Somehow more handy ;-)...and focused... Bestest, Ursula -- .......................... ursula endlicher www.ursenal.net ...........................

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mission
by arfus greenwood 08 Apr '09

08 Apr '09

a slow start wins the race...right? or other ideas that justify the machination to crank! we love hearing from jerome and ricardo (love it, so good to know) and look forward to more news from anyone/everyone, but it need not be an edict. right? where ever one feels comfortable on the radar. (insert yourself into radar diagram, here, as you would draw it, or maybe its represented by numbers, a calculation?) meanwhile, toward "new thing," we recently had a cocktail meeting developing the new board. It was so phenomenally odd and therefore quite brilliant. but at one point the mission statement was put on the table. now i will take responsibility for this (although wolf and i put pen to paper and artist christoph draeger-our super new energy and partner, who is actually the sunlight to the seed-okay, he is going to hate the way I poeticized that, also helped to shape this) statement that I have already been using for grants.but.at the "approximation of a board meeting" a certain bon vivant's girlfriend suggested that our interest in social activism was trendy. now this is fair when I hear it from one of you. but while enjoying heidrun's incredible pasta sauce (heidrun, a brilliant filmmaker/artist, who is also in the core group to open the new space) I had to pause a serious pause...really. so here it is. let's fine tune our "storefront" motive and then casually move on to more interesting fodder. editable mission: THE THING is a (501c3) non-profit organization committed to the development of new media culture, fine arts and social activism. During its first ten years, it became widely recognized as one of the founding and leading online centers for new media culture, hosting artists' projects in its multimedia lab, discussion forums with notable events and symposia, as well as publishing cultural criticism. THE THING's new project space expands its mission towards the production and presentation of new work in a real physical environment, redefining the relationship of new media culture, fine arts and social activism and continuing to distinguish itself as an essential platform for outsider expression. Through its diverse programs, testing new curatorial methods of presentation including actions and initiatives, THE THING continues to stimulate contemporary discourse specifically between art, media and socio-political culture. we, as in you as the new team, welcome even the most finite of particular ideas. best from the most perfect spring day in Williamsburg, arfus postscript: i know my tone is odd but it is really the way i speak, except that you can not see the ridculous comedic gestures that i make throughout. tak.

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"House Magic: Bureau of Foreign Correspondence" at ABC No Rio 4/17-5/10
by Alan Moore 06 Apr '09

06 Apr '09

hi Folks, this is coming up -- if you know this scene and are here in NYC, please come on by and chat with us about it! best, -am 1. PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE _House Magic: Bureau of Foreign Correspondence_ process exhibition at ABC No Rio April 17 to May 10, 2009 evening events Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings The social center movement in Europe will be the focus of a project exhibition at the Lower East Side cultural center ABC No Rio during later April and early May. Images and information, videos and discussion will engage the realities of this vital urban movement. An outgrowth of political squatting, the social center in occupied vacant buildings was a key feature of the Italian Autonomist movement of the 1970s and '80s. Squats on the Lower East Side of New York City in the 1990s borrowed elements of the English and German social center models, including cafes, infoshops (library/bookstores), performance spaces and art galleries. These models also influenced the _infoshops_ of the anarchist movement throughout the U.S.A.. Across Europe, the often short-lived social centers became important organizing foci of the global justice movement during the first decade of the new century. The "House Magic" exhibition will be an open structure, a channel for a continuous flow of information from the social centers themselves. Bulletins will be posted, banners will be painted, soup will be served. Video documentaries will be screened, and guests will discuss their experiences with social centers. The social centers arose out of direct action squatting. In the new century, however, these actions have been less about housing, and more intended to create social, cultural and political space for action in the city. In many cases, social center squatting is a response to gentrifying development in the city, an instance of "bottom up planning and architecture." The social centers are usually well integrated into the neighborhoods in which they are set up, and provide free space for cultural activities to take place. Many social centers work closely with immigrant groups, organizing, supporting and demonstrating to protect their rights. >From April 17 to May 10, we will be working the theme at ABC No Rio, processing and presenting information about the social center movement. A key node in global justice organizing, squatted social centers have sprung up in cities throughout Europe. They represent a new wave of activism, often highly theorized, with participation by both radical intellectuals and grassroots activists.Increasingly architects, urban planners and artists are joining political activists in this movement. "House Magic" is the first step in an ongoing project which invites public participation as we share the stories and synthesize the lessons of the vivid life and often spectacular deaths of these temporary autonomous zones. Among the centers and agencies past and present considered in the show are Bowl Court, Ramparts, CoolTan, ASS and 56a in London, El Patio Maravillas, Seco, Laboratorio, and Caracole (Madrid), La Casa Invisible (Malaga), Krax City Mine(d), (Barcelona), ESC (Rome), Rote Floria (Hamburg), ROG (Ljubljana), and many others. references: "Social Center" on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_center blog of the show, called "Occupations and Properties" http://occuprop.blogspot.com Films about squatted social centers and related questions will be screened on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, accompanied by discussions around a bowl of soup and bread _ an evocation of the VoKu (Volks Kuchen, or people_s kitchen) of German and Dutch squats. A $5 freewill donation is requested to cover the cost of the films. schedule of events FINAL April 6, 2009 APRIL FIRST WEEK Tuesday 21 Germany -- German films to be announced Guest: Michel Chevalier, Hamburg Wednesday 22 United Kingdom -- “Take Over,” directed by Jordie Montevecchi The film follows a group of Brighton, UK, squatters who take over an old church. Thursday 23 Netherlands, Amsterdam – “The City Was Ours,” by Joost Seelen (time?; 1996; Dutch with English subtitles) Amsterdam squatting movement, 1970s to 1980s; short subjects SECOND WEEK Tuesday 28 Spain, Barcelona -- Octavi Royo, "Okupa, Crónica de una Lucha Social" [Spanish & Catalan with English subtitles] Reflexión sobre el fenómeno de la okupación que empieza con el desalojo del Cine Princesa en Barcelona (1996) y termina en la actualidad; Dara Greenwald "Tactical Tourist" [English]; selected bangin' shorts from "Resistir es Crear: 10 años junto al Centro Social - Casa de Iniciativas de Málaga" Guests: Dara Greenwald, Brooklyn, others Wednesday 29 Spain, Madrid -- "Laboratorio 3, Ocupando el Vacio" (66 min.; 2007; Spanish with English subtitles); music videos from Casa Iniciativas, Malaga Thursday 30 Italy – program to be announced MAY THIRD WEEK Tuesday 5 The Art Squat – “Dada Changed My Life,” directed by Lou Lou and Daniel Martinez (2004; time?) about the Zurich art squatting action that saved the Cabaret Voltaire Guest: Olga Mazurkiewicz (invited) Wednesday 6 Open Date Thursday 7 Denmark, Copenhagen -- “Christiania You Have My Heart,” directed by Nils Vest (62 min.; 1991; Danish with English subtitles) talk with Rebecca Zorach on her visit to the Copenhagen free town A rotating selection of videos about squatted social centers will be playing in the gallery, as well as the following artists’ documentaries: Oliver Ressler -- “5 Factories - Worker Control in Venezuela,” 81 min., Span./Ger./Engl., 2004 {with Dario Azzellini}, and “Disobbedienti,” 54 min., Ital./Ger./Engl., 2002 {with Dario Azzellini}; and “What Would It Mean To Win?” 40 min. / 2008 / PAL / Engl./Ger./French (with Zanny Begg), Marcelo Expósito, "Primero de Mayo (La Ciudad-fábrica) [First of May (The City Factory)]" (61 minutes, 2004) Span./Engl. 2. basic CALL FOR MATERIALS For _House Magic: Bureau of Foreign Correspondence,_ a process exhibition on squatted social centers at ABC No Rio in New York City April 17th until May 10th, 2009, we welcome self-representations of social centers worldwide, past and present. _House Magic_ is an attempt to show this vital and inspiring movement to an audience in the U.S. We welcome pictures, texts, videos (any format), zines, posters, stencil designs, and other media that express the special experiences of collective work to open, build and sustain these centers. We would love to receive objects -- but electronic files are okay. We will print them out and display them, and execute your stencil designs. In addition to pictures, posters and texts, the month of _House Magic_ will see continuous conversations at ABC No Rio about social centers, their work and possibilities for the future. If you are in town during that time, please let us know and come by to visit and share your experiences. (Travel venue presentation late April in Chicago for Version Fest 09; second iteration at Sculpture Center, July 2009.) Send files to: housemagicabcnorio(a)gmail.com with a cc to: awm13579(a)gmail.com -- and packages to _House Magic_ ABC No Rio 156 Rivington Street New York, NY, 10002=2441 USA an organizer is blogging the show set-up at: http://occuprop.blogspot.com Alan W. Moore 123 Scribner Ave SI NY 10301 cel : 917 574 8392 working this project: http://occuprop.blogspot.com MWF video archive: http://www.brickhaus.com/amoore

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list etiquette
by Wolfgang Staehle 05 Apr '09

05 Apr '09

many of the list members have been on this list (and/or other lists) before and know most of this stuff, but there are also some for whom this is new. just as a reminder, here are some points to consider before you start posting. disclaimer: i didn't write this, it's just a quick copy and paste job from various sources with some minor modifications. 1. Remember you are interacting with people. Because you only see letters stringing across a screen, it is easy to forget or ignore that a person sits on the other side of the network. This can tempt people to excess verbal boldness or emotional explosions, leaving readers angry and hurt. Over the Internet, you should consider yourself as having a face-to-face conversation with someone in a crowded room. Cursing and raw abuse are not appropriate. Keep debate civil, and keep it a debate, not a slanderous brawl. Always remember behind every e-mail address is another person. 2. Differentiate between public and private messages. a. The mailing list is public space. Personal messages, such as criticism of a person's writing style or new scarf should be sent to that person only. To broadcast such messages on the mailing list can embarrass and anger. Messages for everyone on the list go to thingist(a)mailman.thing.net. Questions about how the list works (e.g., "How do I use Digest mode?" and "How do I find out who else is subscribed to this list?") can generally be answered by logging into your Members' Option section. General questions regarding the thingist lists should be directed to support(a)thing.net. b. From time-to-time, you may find that a posting is particularly well written or offers a perspective that others you know who are not subscribed to the list might enjoy. Many who post to the list expect that their message will distributed to list subscribers only. If you would like to share a list posting with someone not subscribed to the list, it is common courtesy and best practice to first contact the author privately to ask permission to distribute the message beyond the list subscribers. 3. Make subject lines descriptive. People should have a flavor of the message from glancing at the subject line. "Hello," is not as good as, "my gripe with the altermodern manifesto." 4. Edit the original message in your replies. When replying to a message, re-send a few summarizing lines of the original message so the reader will know immediately what matter you are addressing. The user who receives dozens of messages a day can easily forget what he wrote a couple days before. However, do not re-send the entire original message, especially if long, as it might be unwanted by the receiver, and an unnecessary burden for servers. 5. Sign your postings. It is good practice to include a few lines at the end of your message indicating your name and e-mail address as some mail programs do not automatically display such information. And it is best to keep such electronic signatures reasonably short. 6. Write clearly and logically. Simplicity of expression usually is best. Sudden poetic bursts intended to "impress" usually do not impress, and may bother the reader. 7. Be prudent with speculation. On the Internet, rumor can grow extravagant and spread like fire. Remarks beginning with, "I have a feeling that . . ." or, "I think that . . ." are usually suspect. 8. Be cautious with humor and sarcasm. Typed language is naturally colder than spoken language, because it is stripped of voice inflections and body language. Quite easily, humor can be taken as insult, especially if subtle. Some users prefer to use symbols that hint at tone, such as the smiley face. 9. NEVER send attachments to lists (they will often appear as pages of code and may introduce viruses). Instead, place the attachment on a web page and give subscribers the URL. 10. NEVER send messages in HTML or "enriched text." Some subscribers may receive your message interspersed with HTML tags so that it is difficult to read. Check your mail-system's settings to be sure you are NOT sending mail to discussion lists only in HTML. 11. Give URL's as "<http://www......>" (note the angle brackets) so that they will survive line breaks and are hot-linked [note that <www.....> is NOT hot-linked]. Double check all URLs in your message to be sure they work and do not have a misspelling or typographical error. 12. Carefully proofread posts prior to posting - check spelling (especially NAMES) and grammar. 13. E-mail lists are as good, and only as good, as the subscribers make them. Lists work best when intelligent people bring fresh knowledge and ideas to the table. New ideas can stimulate discussion. Trivial or inane comments often kill discussion. Write meaty, thoughtful things and everyone will benefit from the list. --- of course rules can be broken, but it's better to know them before you break them. later, wolfgang

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Re: [thingist] mission
by James Moening 03 Apr '09

03 Apr '09

Names, cities, ages and areas of expertise of the "new board" please. I want to make mention of the listserv's revival -- and Thing in general -- on the newspaper-sanctioned blogspace I maintain at blog.lehighvalleylive.com/mixed-bag.

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No need to take your shoes off when you enter.
by arfus greenwood 31 Mar '09

31 Mar '09

Hello again all, We are pleased to have received such an overwhelming response to the re-launching of THE THINGIST. As many of you may already know, The Thing has been in a kind of hibernation over the past few years, having moved its offices from Postmasters Gallery to the Clocktower Gallery. Now after great discussion, we are actively seeking a physical exhibition space, grant-writing, fundraising and generally “think-tanking” for the future. The stars seem to have aligned. The social and intellectual environment seems ripe for a new beginning. (or plug in your own socialist realism aphorism here.) But what of the new and what of the old? What is still relevant and how to take these into still unchartered territories? This is where we would like to begin with The Thingist. (And forgive me the lengthy email but…joy, joy!) In the past, The Thingist was a terrific resource for a wide range of concerns on the cusp of art, new media and social discourse. The breadth of knowledge (and quirkiness) of its participants created a one-of-kind mailinglist. And in the event of this exciting new phase for The Thing, we look forward to each of your distinctive voices again. As always a malleable thing, we will be more actively shaping how this list functions. And your thoughts are essential to this process; but already there a few aspects that we gathered from the past. a.. When new members subscribe, we will attempt to introduce them to the group. Maybe this seems a bit formal, but we will keep it simple and low-key. However, for the moment we encourage each of you to provide a tiny little update about your current craziness within your first post. a.. As always a gentlemen’s code is assumed in this realm. Other listers’ email addresses should never become a part of your personal email flurries (although personal banter should, of course, be delivered more personally.) a.. Because we are carefully expanding the list, at first, there will be a rather loose moderation. This may result in a turnover of post from instant to a few hours. With this, let’s all try to make posts meaningful. Often one’s Inbox becomes cluster-fucked with response like “yes” (or “NO”.) And understandably, sometimes there is nothing more powerful than a simple “yes”; but this has the habit of creating endless posts to open and eventually affects the vitality of the discussion. Okay, let’s cap it off there for now. Parameters are an elephant over the alps! I am Arfus Greenwood. Some of you know me as an hysterical writer/curator, therefore meaning flustered, New York art personality, who might fall down drunk in one moment and then deliver a diatribe on the little other, in the next. Presently, together with Wolf, I have the time and perverse interest to read every little item that each of you write. I am deliberate but I like joy and sublimity is my filter. (Damn, that’s starting to sound like a sexy personal ad… but I refuse to be self-aware about it… ?) Anyway, I write anything. I am a writing whore and fiction is my focus. (But this is not your concern; regardless of what you write, I assume that it is all a kind of fiction.) If I have anything to say in terms of assisting in shaping the list, I will sneak up on you privately. (No one need know.) But for now… The forum is open! Cheers, Bis Bald, arfus

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coming right up at ABC No Rio 4/17-5/10
by Alan Moore 20 Mar '09

20 Mar '09

hi folks, i'm trying to polish this thing off... still a lot of holes! -am 1. basic CALL FOR MATERIALS For “House Magic: Bureau of Foreign Correspondence,” a process exhibition on squatted social centers at ABC No Rio in New York City April 17th until May 10th, 2009, we seek self-representations of social centers worldwide, past and present. ”House Magic” is an attempt to show this vital and inspiring movement to an audience in the U.S. We welcome pictures, texts, videos (any format), zines, posters, stencil designs, and other media that express the special experiences of collective work to open, build and sustain these centers. We would love to receive objects -- but electronic files are okay. We will print them out and display them, and execute your stencil designs. In addition to pictures, posters and texts, the weeks of “House Magic” will see continuous conversations at ABC No Rio about social centers, their work and possibilities for the future. If you have been involved in an SC and are in town during this show, please come by to visit and share your experiences. (Travel venue presentation late April in Chicago for Version Fest 09.) Send files to: housemagicabcnorio(a)gmail.com with a cc to: awm13579(a)gmail.com -- and packages to “House Magic” ABC No Rio 156 Rivington Street New York, NY, 10002=2441 USA an organizer is blogging the show set-up at: http://occuprop.blogspot.com 2. draft PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE "House Magic: Bureau of Foreign Correspondence" project exhibition at ABC No Rio April 17 to May 10, 2009 The social center movement in Europe will be the focus of a project exhibition at the Lower East Side cultural center ABC No Rio during the month of April. Images and information, videos and discussion will engage the realities of this vital urban movement. An outgrowth of political squatting, the social center in occupied vacant buildings was a key feature of the Italian Autonomist movement of the 1970s and '80s. Squats on the Lower East Side of New York City in the 1990s borrowed elements of the English and German social center models, including cafes, infoshops (library/bookstores), performance spaces and art galleries. Across Europe, the often short-lived social centers became important organizing foci of the global justice movement during the first decade of the new century. The "House Magic" exhibition will be an open structure, a channel for a continuous flow of information from the social centers themselves. Bulletins will be posted, banners will be painted, soup will be served. Video documentaries will be screened, and guests will discuss their experiences with social centers. The social centers arose out of direct action squatting. In the new century, however, these actions have been less about housing, and more intended to create social, cultural and political space for action in the city. In many cases, social center squatting is a response to gentrifying development in the city, an instance of "bottom up planning and architecture." The social centers are usually well integrated into the neighborhoods in which they are set up, and provide free space for cultural activities to take place. Many social centers work closely with immigrant groups, organizing, supporting and demonstrating to protect their rights. Throughout the month of April we will be working the theme at ABC No Rio, processing and presenting information about the social center movement. A key node in global justice organizing, squatted social centers have sprung up in cities throughout Europe. They represent a new wave of activism, often highly theorized, with participation by both radical intellectuals and grassroots activists.Increasingly architects, urban planners and artists are joining political activists in this movement. "House Magic" is the first step in an ongoing project which invites public participation as we share the stories and synthesize the lessons of the vivid life and often spectacular deaths of these temporary autonomous zones. Among the centers and agencies past and present considered in the show are Bowl Court, Ramparts, CoolTan, ASS and 56a in London, El Patio Maravillas, Seco, Laboratorio, Caracole and SinAtena (Madrid), La Casa Invisible (Málaga), Krax City Mine(d), (Barcelona), ESC (Rome), ROG (Ljubljana), and many others. references: "Social Center" on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_center blog of the show, called "Occupations and Properties" http://occuprop.blogspot.com Alan W. Moore 123 Scribner Ave SI NY 10301 cel : 917 574 8392 working this project: http://occuprop.blogspot.com MWF video archive: http://www.brickhaus.com/amoore

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Re: [thingist] Harpo Foundation: Call for Proposals
by arfus greenwood 16 Mar '09

16 Mar '09

FW: Harpo Foundation: Call for Proposals h, (so i am going to subvert this to the thingist machine...right?) i saw this recommendation that you made before and wolf and i absolutely put it on the list...but i have to admit that i need help understanding what approach to take. the assumptions that i make are that foundations outside of new york (international) are even more network intimate, but when i look at their recipients and associations the picture anyway is less so...and yet disparate (not easy to understand the thread of what they might fund.) h, do you have an idea about who they fund? i mean certainly let's do it ( we will have the text--one out of the four that i have to immediately present to nysca ) so... i don't know let's (the two of us) meet soon to chat about this and most importantly the jerome and others for your screening program. although i am beginning to feel resentful about trips to the LES for every little bit...with your lovely knee pins and needles, i am happy to dash into your closet haunt to do some serious thingist business. let me know. best..arfus ----- Original Message ----- From: Heidrun To: arfus greenwood Cc: christoph draeger ; Wolfgang Staehle ; gisela ehrenfried Sent: Monday, March 16, 2009 4:06 PM Subject: FW: Harpo Foundation: Call for Proposals That might be a long shot- but if u have ideas for pushing one artist... ------ Weitergeleitete Nachricht Von: e-Flux <info(a)mailer.e-flux.com> Antworten an: e-Flux <info(a)mailer.e-flux.com> Datum: Sat, 03 Jan 2009 11:08:08 -0500 An: heidrun <heidrun(a)thing.net> Betreff: Harpo Foundation: Call for Proposals January 3, 2009 <http://www.e-flux.com> Harpo Foundation <http://www.harpofoundation.org/index.html> Call for Proposals Deadline: April 1, 2009 Harpo Foundation 3851 Kumquat Avenue, Coconut Grove, FL 33133 http://www.harpofoundation.org Harpo Foundation Mission The foundation only gives grants to non-profit institutions that support artists who are under recognized by the field. This applies to all artists whether emerging or further along in their careers. We view the definitions of art and artist to be open-ended and expansive. Proposals Proposals to the foundation can take the form of installations, public interventions, residencies and exhibitions where the artist is commissioned to create new work. All proposals must include a project description, examples of the artist's work, and a resume. It must also contain a budget identifying the artist's honorarium, project costs, and total budget. All materials must be submitted on a single disk in digital format, mailed to the foundation's address, or via e-mail to proposals(a)harpofoundation.org. Texts must be placed in Microsoft word and images in PowerPoint or PDF format. Proposals must also be submitted in hard copy. The foundation's grants must only be used for artist's honorarium and direct cost of the project. Grants will usually not exceed 10,000 USD. The deadline will be April 1, 2009. Grantees will be notified by November 1, 2009. Criteria Projects and work that advance and cross the boundaries of media and artistic disciplines will be given first consideration. Proposals will be judged on the basis of the quality of the artist's work and the potential to expand aesthetic inquiry. Process Our advisors will review the proposals and make recommendations to the board that will be responsible for the final decision. Grants recipients for 2008 ArtPace 445 North Main Avenue San Antonio, TX 78205-1441 Artist: Richie Budd Blaffer Gallery The Art Museum of the University of Houston 120 Fine Arts Building Houston, TX 77204-4018 Artist: Leonardo Drew DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park 51 Sandy Pond Road Lincoln, MA 01773-2600 Artists: Ann Carlson & Mary Ellen Strom Fort Worth Modern Art Museum 1309 Montgomery Street Fort Worth, TX 76107 Artists: Teresa Hubbard & Alexander Birchler Free103point9 Transmission Arts 5662 Route 23 Acra, NY 12405 Artist: Tony Martin Headlands Center for the Arts 944 Fort Barry Sausalito, CA 94965 Artists: Jennifer & Kevin McCoy Institute of Contemporary Art (Penn) 118 South 36th Street Philadelphia, PA 19104-3289 Artist: Joshua Mosley National Museum of Mexican Art 1852 West 19th Street Chicago, IL 60608-2706 Artist: Juan Carlos Macias Newark Museum PO Box 540 Newark, NJ 07101-0540 Artist: Jennifer Angus Orange County Museum of Art 850 San Clemente Drive Newport Beach, CA 92660 Artist: 2008 California Biennial Artist Residencies Red Cat Gallery 631 West 2nd Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 Artist: Walid Raad Walker Art Center 1750 Hennepin Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55403 Artist:Tomas Saraceno 41 Essex street New York, NY 10002, USA Contact us <http://www.e-flux.com/pages/contact> Subscribe <http://www.e-flux.com/pages/subscribe> Unsubscribe <http://www.e-flux.com/pages/unsubscribe?email=heidrun@thing.net> ------ Ende der weitergeleiteten Nachricht

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there we go
by arfus greenwood 26 Feb '09

26 Feb '09

very good idea wolf. at present, there are no responses to my blizzard of emails yesterday and early morning (i could not sleep so i just kept going). i will keep you updated. meanwhile if you happen to be chatting with krome, you might ask if caroline received our proposition about the publication project. best from a groggy fellow, arfus

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testing...
by arfus greenwood 26 Feb '09

26 Feb '09

did the previous mail go thru thingist or just to you?

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thingist is back! testing, one, two, three...
by Wolfgang Staehle 26 Feb '09

26 Feb '09

we resurrected the thingist mailing list as the first step to THE THING's new network presence. for this testing phase i subscribed arfus, christoph, heidrun, gisela, caspar, myself and walter. now everyone involved in the planning stage can stay in the loop. if you're worried that list messages clog up your inbox, i suggest you make a separate folder and filter list messages in there. later we can expand membership and invite friends, associates and some of the veteran thingist fellows. thanks to walter for setting this up! and thanks to arfus for coming up with the name many years ago. wolfgang

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test support echt
by support thing.net 26 Feb '09

26 Feb '09

mit email

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test support
by walter palmetshofer 26 Feb '09

26 Feb '09

test

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test
by Wolfgang Staehle 26 Feb '09

26 Feb '09

habe mich und dich mal subscribed um zu testen...

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hello
by Wolfgang Staehle 26 Feb '09

26 Feb '09

hello new thingist. anybody here yet?

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