[thingist] No need to take your shoes off when you enter.

[Wolfgang Staehle]

> hey can u turn the list back on
> its getting chilly, i need the warmth

> best wishes from karachi  :)

> yasir

hey yasir, happy now?   what's up in karachi anyway?
perhaps you can invite some taliban iconoclasts on the list?
i'm sure that would make for a lively discussion.

after almost two years we have the thingist back.  we invited back the
old gang, but also added a few new ones and will continue to do so.
some of you may ask now, what's the use of such an antiquated medium
like a listserv in the days of twitter and facebook?  well, i don't
know, but yasir and others asked for it and i don't do facebook, so for
me this is the facebook antidote.  maybe we missed that peculiar mix of
people from different backgrounds that made the thingist so special.
there's the activist faction, the pranksters, the artists, the curators
and writers and the media and tech gurus.  if you can decipher email
addresses, all you have to do is check the members list and you know who
they are (and i want to remind you of the code, please don't copy emails
and spam the list members).  so the idea is to throw them all into one
pot, turn on the heat and see what kind of stew we can cook.  hopefully
it will be something different from the homogenized global art world
discourse we get served daily from the usual purveyors - you know who
they are.  just to bring up one issue, there are challenges coming from
new media culture that only now start to resonate in the art world.  the
question of the role of the author,  the free sharing of information,
intellectual property and copy rights, all this has a tremendous impact
on cultural production.  if the seismic shift hasn't occurred yet in the
art world, its tremors can be clearly heard.

anyway... the thing has always been somewhat anti-cyclical and it's no
coincidence that it is coming back in a time of severe economic crisis.
we are currently rebuilding the board, trying to raise funds and find a
permanent space for office, meetings, screenings and installations.  
our clocktower lease is over, but there is a temporary 2500 square feet
space in lower manhattan that we hope to inaugurate with a big splash
later in may.  we will be able to tell you more after tomorrow's board
meeting.  

that much from new york today, good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.

ps:  one thing i forgot.  yes, the list is now moderated.  it shouldn't
intimidate anyone, we will only filter out the worst crap.  if you have
announcements for events or shows or whatever, forward them to the list
as usual, but do so well in advance.  the moderators will attempt to
fashion a weekly digest to keep the list traffic of promotional material
at a sustainable level.