[iDC] activism now and when?
Richard Lowenberg
rl at dcn.org
Fri Dec 9 14:20:01 EST 2005
Hello. I've been quietly lurking for some time.
The current exchange prompted me to respond; on theme, I believe.
I've long been involved in the arts and in 'creative social practice'
in the U.S. and elsewhere.
It is not always an easy life. As part of my thinking and expression,
I occasionally write.
The following short essays are provocations, originally written for
other publications/audiences.
These (draft) essays pose ideas that are at the heart and mind of my
own daily cultural work.
I'll throw them into the mix here, and look forward to responses.
Not sure if this list accepts attachments, so I'll send one essay per
email,
as plain text with hopes that formatting doesn't get too disrupted.
"Artful Intelligence" (from a longer essay originally written in the
mid-80s)
Richard Lowenberg
www.radlab.com
---------------------------
ARTFUL
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Artists and creative activists have a unique opportunity and ought to
act with greater social
responsibility today.
Within the broad framework of cultural theory, the arts are recognized
for their communicative
efficiency and transcendence. The processes of creativity, though
elusive, have lead mankind
through historical mazes of uncertainty. In an information based
society, creative development
may assume an economic value comparable to that of warfare in an
industrialized society.
Having learned to recognize the complex ecological interdependence of
living systems and the
environment, creative individuals and venturers now have an
all-important opportunity to take
full advantage of the great independence and freedom inherent in their
calling; to take a more
active personal responsibility to be proponents of a true sense of
ecology; a cultural ecology.
Art has now become an almost indefinable term. It is the irony of the
Information Age, that
reflecting the crisis of meaning in our lives, the arts are being
relegated to the marketplace of
mass-appeal superficiality; having become popularly synonymous with
entertainment, fashion
and commercial product. At the same time, the richness and diversity of
indigenous cultures
around the world, is increasingly being valued for its scarcity and
novelty, while being
exterminated and replaced by the greed of progress and 'new world
orders'.
If we take the incentive of applying our creative talents towards an
ecologically considered
future, we must be comprehensive. Society is in need of clear,
intelligent, inspired visions. Such
nonmaterial information resources constitute the true wealth and
aspirations of a culturally
secure community. As technological development shapes our concepts of
the future, those artists
working with new tools and processes, need to weigh the eco-cultural
worth of their endeavors,
against their merely being narrow-minded advocates of new media based
consumerism.
To call oneself 'artist', is either a grand conceit, or a bold decision
to assume greater individual
creative freedom. That freedom ought to carry with it, a responsibility
for honesty and
transformation influencing intelligence. Artists, having chosen a
freedom of aesthetic and
intellectual vision and pursuit, are almost always at odds or in
conflict with the prevailing social
norm. This is precisely the artistÕs value. The artist is in a way, the
personification of society's
means of checks and balances; the promoter of individuality and
nonconformity, amid the ever
threatening systematization of an information-based world. Many artists
and cultural
institutions are working with deep, sincere integrity and dedication.
Their perseverance and
efforts must be encouraged. It is time.
ART CUTS THROUGH THE CRAP
IT IS A DEVIOUS MODE OF HEALING;
THE VOODOO OF AN INFO-CULT.
IT IS THE IRRATIONAL, BECOME INSPIRATIONAL.
Richard Lowenberg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------
Richard Lowenberg
Exec. Director, Davis Community Network (DCN), 1623 5th St., Davis, CA
95616
Ph. 530-750-1170 / Fax 530-757-2938 rl at dcn.org
http://www.dcn.org/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------
Home/Studio: 530-668-1100 rl at radlab.com
http://www.radlab.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------
"If it is not Matter, it is Energy. If it Matters, it is Information.
If it does not Matter, it is Noise."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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