Lubomir,
Is this in reference to the posts below? If so, I believe its
misplaced criticism. First, I would argue that chaos, anarchy,
subversion, and violence each have different meanings and should not
be so quickly conflated. Second, I would argue its an error to equate
the topics disruption in the context of art and design to the work
of warlords and crime barons.
Many of the artists and designers involved in these efforts (such as
those featured in The Interventionists show) have offered and
produced significant viable alternatives that are in effect today.
Contestation, protest, revolt, even subversion, have a place in
politics, most particularly in democratic politics.
Carl
On Jan 8, 2008, at 12:51 PM, Lubomir S. Popov wrote:
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> I am a bit disturbed that our world is going towards chaos,
> anarchy, subversion, and violence. The art of disruption has been
> practiced for decades by both left- and right-wing elements, and in
> particular, all kinds of warlords and organized crime barons.
> Anarchy does not benefit ordinary people. It benefits warlords who
> are free to act as they want. The periods of anarchy and disruption
> have been the most painful in human history. They did not bring to
> a change in the status quo. They did not benefit poor people. They
> are created and used by particular interest groups that wanted to
> operate with impunity. Talk to the Russians. They had experienced
> this at least two times in the last 100 years. The first time -- in
> the period 1917-1923. The subversion went so far that dozens of
> millions of people suffered atrocities, murder, rape, and famine.
> Just do not tell me that this was the price for human equality. No
> one become equal. Then in the period 1990-present, Russian people
> suffer a second time, a similar fate, this time without physical
> pain, but in a debilitating and stagnating economic deadlock of
> special interests and organized crime.
>
> The solution is not to generate subversion at random. The solution
> is to propose a viable alternative. Subversion is easy to do. A
> handful of people can create a lot of damage in the contemporary,
> highly technological world. It is difficult to DESIGN a new social
> organization that can be implemented in a democratic society
> without undue hardship for the general population. The leftist
> project completely collapsed. Russia and Eastern Europe illustrate
> this well. China is also pulling out of the leftist project, but in
> a more strategically savvy way. Where do you find a successful
> implementation of the leftist project?
>
> Think about this and think how you can contribute to humane and
> enhancing design that will be fair to all and would not create
> undue suffering. Sounds unrealistic? Well, I would say just
> difficult to achieve.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Lubomir
>
> At 11:36 AM 1/8/2008, Carl DiSalvo wrote:
>> Hello Cigdem and others sharing this interest,
>>
>> You might also want to take a look at the literature and exhibits of
>> tactical media. There is an interesting and under-discussed
>> relationship between tactical media in design. As starting points I
>> would suggest the catalog for the exhibition The Interventionists.
>>
>> The Interventionists
>> Users' Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life
>> Edited by Nato Thompson and Gregory Sholette
>> MIT Press 2004.
>>
>> You might want to specifically look at the work of Nathan Martin
>> (Carbon Defense League / DeepLocal). Martin wrote a master's thesis
>> on Parasitic Media as art practice and now practices design. You can
>> access the essay here: www.carbondefense.org/pdf/writing_7.pdf
>>
>> Carl
>>
>>
>> On Jan 7, 2008, at 3:14 PM, Elizabeth Goodman wrote:
>>
>>> I'd suggest getting in touch with Anne Galloway -- www.plsj.org --
>>> or at least checking out her writing. While not focused on
>>> sustainability per se, Anne has done a lot of thinking about
>>> hacking, subversions, etc. She organized a panel in 2004 on
>>> "Designing for Hackability," which seems relevant.
>>>
>>> Liz
>>>
>>> ******************************************************
>>> Elizabeth Goodman
>>> PhD student
>>> UC Berkeley School of Information
>>> www.confectious.net
>>>
>>> ******************************************************
>>>
>>>
>>>> Cigdem Kaya wrote:
>>>> *
>>>> I have been collecting data about various industrial design
>>>> projects
>>>> that involve social responsibility in some way, most of which is
>>>> imbued
>>>> with an amateur spirit, around the concepts of participation,
>>>> hacking,
>>>> subversions, teaching a skill, interventions, parasitism,
>>>> democratic
>>>> design, lending authorship, activism, guerrilla design, DIY,
>>>> interrogative design with reference to Wodiczko.
>>>> *
>>
>> Carl DiSalvo, Ph.D.
>> Assistant Professor
>> School of Literature, Communication, and Culture
>> The Georgia Institute of Technology
Carl DiSalvo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Literature, Communication, and Culture
The Georgia Institute of Technology
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