Dear Marc and friends:

I think the point that Geert's mentions is worth considering.  Geert states
that new media arts still operates in a self-referential ghetto, this is
partly the case if we compare the development of new media art theory in
relation to other disciplines, this means that many other disciplines are
better and more solidly established in terms of annual events, periodic
publications, etc.   The second point which I also find serious is that
usually new media art was the most innovative, but with so many web 2.0
artefacts which have displaced the attention of experiment in favour of
folksonomies and data streams, does this stands true today?  One thing is to
have the possibilities to exploit all branches of the digital universe but
another thing is to be deeply innovative.

On the other hand, the self-referential ghetto exists also in relation to
the few number of artists that are always mentioned, mainly from the western
side of the world.  Yes, new media art has been an extended practice in
other parts of the world (sometimes is deeply embedded with the process of
globalization), but to my modest perspective the new media mainstream still
has a lot to learn from particular and successful uses of technology in
underrepresented parts of the world (that sometimes we neglect or we do not
assume they exist).  In these places, the addressing of the social is much
deeply connected to the new media art practice.  Curiously enough our
relationship with technology has been so deep that we have not addressed the
social as in other disciplines that are also IT-related (namely Science and
Technology Studies in the past or Information Systems).  I think that if we
connect more with what is happening in other disciplines and other
realities, new media art will disentangle from its current promiscuous
self-referentiality.



Jose-Carlos



on 1/4/07 5:53, marc at [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> I do not see Geert's statement, as a crisis. More of a change of
> circumstance offering us all various choices, as in what directions
> should we choose to go, what is considered appropriate in respect of our
> positions at present. To choose one direction, would surely limit the
> influence that we wish to have on culture generally. We no longer in
> exist mono-cultural societies, many may do mentally but how we relate to
> each other regarding uses of technology, patterns of communications
> influences what we do and how.
> 
> I feel that we have the opportunity to exploit all branches, collaborate
> with institutions, galleries, traditional media of distribution such as
> magazines and newspapers, fine art venues, with festivals and exhibitons
> - yet at the same time create a more focused identity that relates
> specifically to media reflecting upon its practice so to maintain a
> strong, critical enquiry challenging media art discipline, as it becomes
> more entwined in other forms of creative endevours.
> 
> The other thing which needs to be dealt with here, is to create stronger
> links betwen ourselves so that we do not get watered down. If we do
> this, I feel that media art and its various, related genres and ideas
> will remain strong and able to deal with the changes that are no doubt
> about to happen, as new audiences, artists, writers and institutions
> begin to undertake and move into the culture that many of us have been
> part of for a while now...
> 
> marc
> 
> http://www.furtherfield.org
> http://www.http.uk.net/
> 
>> Dear List,
>> 
>> So, there's couple of interesting conferences lecture series that have
>> been posted to the list, are any list members going, and would like to
>> report back?
>> 
>> 
>> TATE MODERN
>> PVA MediaLab symposium and open debate
>> ART, LIFESTYLE AND GLOBALISATION
>> Saturday 7 April 2007
>> 
>> 
>>> THURSDAYS@ARGOS
>>> LECTURE
>>> 05.04.07 // 20:30
>>> 
>>> Geert Lovink
>>> New Media Arts at the Crossroads
>>> The emerging new media arts genre is in a crisis. Not that 'new
>>> media' are on their way out. What we're talking about here is a
>>> Œluxury¹ problem: in what direction to grow futher. After an initial
>>> period in which time and again the question ³what is new media² was
>>> raised, we have now moved to a second phase, in which large parts of
>>> the population have become familiar with multimedia, cell phones and
>>> the Internet. However, new media arts still operates in a
>>> self-referential ghetto, dominated by techno-fetishism. In the
>>> meanwhile, the world at large has moved from utopian promises about
>>> virtual reality and cyberspace to a culture of massive use. Taking
>>> this 'democratization' of new technologies in mind, what are the
>>> implications of this shift for the 'electronic arts' branch? Should
>>> new media artists and their (few) institutions seek collaboration and
>>> integration with the museum and gallery art? Should new media remain
>>> a seperate category, with its own festivals and exhibitions, or be
>>> integrated into the broader 'contemporary arts'? Or should we rather
>>> further institutionalize the new media discipline?
>>> 
>>> Geert Lovink (NL/AUS) is a media theorist and activist, Internet
>>> critic and author of Dark Fiber, Uncanny Networks and My First
>>> Recession. He worked on various media projects in Eastern Europe and
>>> India. He is a member of the Adilkno collective and co-founder of
>>> Internet projects such as The Digital City, Nettime, Fibreculture and
>>> Incommunicado. He is founder and director of the Institute of Network
>>> Cultures, professor at Interactive Media (Hogeschool van Amsterdam)
>>> and associate professor at the Media & Culture department, University
>>> of Amsterdam. In 2005-2006 he was a fellow at the Berlin Institute
>>> for Advanced Study.
>>> 
>>> followed by debate
>>> 
>>> THURSDAYS@ARGOS
>>> 05.04 LECTURE ­ GEERT LOVINK NEW MEDIA ARTS AT THE CROSSROADS
>>> 19.04 CONCERT - TOSHIMARU NAKAMURA & NICHOLAS BUSSMANN / MARCUS
>>> SCHMICKLER & HAYDEN CHISHOLM
>>> 26.04 LECTURE - DANIEL ROSENBERG LINE AND TIME
>>> 03.05 LECTURE + SCREENING - HERMAN ASSELBERGHS & ROSI BRAIDOTTI IN
>>> THE FUTURE PERFECT
>>> 17.05 LECTURE - JON IPPOLITO & JOLINE BLAIS ART AFTER INSTITUTIONS
>>> 24.05 CONCERT - DISCODESAFINADO / MACHINEFABRIEK
>>> 
>>> ARGOS, Centre for Art & Media
>>> Werfstraat 13, 1000 Brussel
>>> www.argosarts.org
>>> 
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> Beryl Graham, Professor of New Media Art
>> School of Arts, Design, Media and Culture, University of Sunderland
>> Ashburne House,
>> Ryhope Road
>> Sunderland
>> SR2 7EE
>> Tel: +44 191 515 2896    [log in to unmask]
>> 
>> CRUMB web resource for new media art curators
>> http://www.crumbweb.org
>> 
>>