[iDC] Curating New Media Art
John Hopkins
jhopkins at commspeed.net
Wed Apr 12 13:53:44 EDT 2006
Hallo Honor
> >I also pointed to examples of projects where artists don't make
> >"works" per se, but rather make "frameworks"** for others to
> >contribute, and I sited examples such as r a d i o q u a l i a 's The
This idea/concept is nothing new, I would remind you... Countless
mail-art projects were based on this principle, not to mention Fluxus
events among others (I'll leave other examples ot the historians...)
>I believe Trebor would refer to this as 'context provision', and
>suggest that the 'artists' (ie, Marko, Mongrel & r a d i o q u a l i
>a) are 'context providers' in these situations.
I feel that the term 'context provision' is perhaps a special limited
case (albeit by the meaning of the words) though. For example, for
me it sounds too neutral -- which the process definitely isn't.
Facilitation is one concept, perhaps -- where the artist is
facilitating the situation.
I envision this, when teaching, as a situation where I am pushing
back the dominant social constrictions on relation within a certain
'defined space' -- this space-creating process, when done properly,
allows something else to go on within that space which would normally
not happen. (and by space, I'm not talking about the material
Cartesian spaces**, but a psychic space mostly: the energized locus
of full-spectrum human relation).
How is this done? The actual process depends on those who have
chosen to occupy that space with me (and each other) -- it is highly
reflective of each individual who choses to join in.
I see the process as a facilitation of trust; as a re-formation of
possible creative channels between participants (as compared to the
channels that the social system imposes on them); as an explicit or
implicit critique-through-praxis of that dominant system; uh, what
else.
Thus, with those comments, I guess I feel that putting a two-word
description 'context provision' is far to reductive of a highly
complex process... Take for example, Mongrel -- although I didn't
know the crew too well, what I saw of their praxis, it was MUCH more
than context provision -- it was a life-praxis that the members lived
through as vital members of a community...
** this is another example where the language of materialism simply
cannot circumscribe the phenomena of networks and organic
distriibuted systems. I would encourage a critical engagement and
subsequent search for language that transcends materialism.
Cheers
John
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