I think that rather than criticise the ignorance of specific curators,
directors and institutions, tempting though it is, it may be more useful
to think of the ICA and the Dundee debacles, and indeed the ongoing
refusal of mainstream institutions to take new media art seriously, as a
structural and historical issue. 'Art' with a capital A is a
comparatively recent phenomenon, a product of Western modernity and of
humanism and developed in lockstep with that modernity and with the
enlightenment and also with a certain media ecology, that of print, with
its specific rhythms and speeds. The emergence of recognisably 'new'
media in the mid-19th century, such as photography and telegraphy,
presented the first challenges to Art, and though photography did not
kill Art or at least painting as was then suggested it might, it
certainly presented it with the need to justify itself. The period since
can be seen as nothing else than the ongoing attempt by Art to justify
its existence in a highly mediated, visual culture, an attempt that gets
more desperate and unconvincing as time goes on. My own view, having
recently spent ten quid to look at Cy Twombly's infantile rubbish, is
that the kind of Art shown at Tate etc... is hopelessly bankrupt as a
form of cultural endeavour, not least because of its metaphysical
disavowal of its own technicity, and that if there is to be a form of
art (lower case 'a') that might be fit for the new rhythms of our
digital culture then it is new media art. That institutions such as Tate
or the ICA cannot understand it or incorporate it is not merely
ignorance or blindness, but a symptom of their inability to come to
grips with new cultural paradigms. I realise that this is not much use
for those who have to or wish to make their living making and showing
this kind of work, but perhaps it is a consolation that they are helping
to bring about a new world out of the ruins of the old, which will
always be a struggle. It seems to me almost axiomatic that if moribund
places like the ICA and Tate understood this stuff it would have failed

Charlie Gere 
Head of Department
Institute for Cultural Research 
Lancaster University Lancaster LA1 4YL UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1524 594446
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fss/cultres/staff/gere.php


-----Original Message-----
From: Curating digital art - www.crumbweb.org
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of nina czegledy
Sent: 22 October 2008 15:52
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [NEW-MEDIA-CURATING] "the art form lacks ...depth and
cultural agency"

While "new media based arts practice"  might not be an
explicit 'art form', lack of  definition(s),  -less among artists,
curators and cultural administrators-but in the student/ general
public scene-  remains a problem. Each time I present to
undergraduates or outside the  discipline, the first question is
"what is new media art?".

  The "astonishing ignorance" Marcia mentions is an accurate
comment and extends in my experience to museum curators in
well known traditional institutions  (worldwide).  Some of the
hidden agendas are fueled by this ignorance.

nina




>I'm jumping in very late here but I wanted to applaud Christiane 
>Paul for her dismay regarding Ekow Eshun's blanket dismissal of "new 
>media based arts practice" and to agree with her mordant irony-laced 
>critique of his assessment  "that, in the main, the art form lacks 
>the depth and cultural urgency to justify the ICA's continued and 
>significant investment in a Live & Media Arts department."   I think 
>he'll come to eat his words.  
>
>In my view, "new media based arts practice" is NOT an "art form" in 
>itself. It's a diverse, continuously metamorphosing variety of 
>experimental arts practices explored in diverse ways, using a broad 
>range of ever-shifting media, by a growing number of 
>male/female/trans-/  decline-to-be-identified-by-gender global 
>artists of every aesthetic, conceptual, ethnic, national, political, 
>personal, etc. description.  Their practices produce works in many 
>different forms and, as with any other artistic media including the 
>traditional ones of painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, etc. 
>, much of it is bad or mediocre yet blessedly some of it is 
>extraordinary, mind-shifting and revelatory. 
>
>Eshun's statement reveals either an astonishing ignorance of the 
>field and/or one or several of the hidden agendas other respondents 
>have suggested.  Besides, his remark implicitly devalues the work of 
>all the artists who have explored these media over the past 60+ 
>years, AND of the visionary curators who have labored to make these 
>works accessible to a wider audience in alternative as well as 
>mainstream institutional venues.
>
>As a new media curator myself, I question Charlie Gere's notion that 
>artists working experimentally with new media are better off without 
>the support of mainstream institutions.  Large audiences need to be 
> exposed to these works so that they can overcome their technophobia 
>and appreciate that real art -- art that invents compelling forms 
>while expanding consciousness, imagination and aesthetic experience 
>and illuminating contemporary life and culture -- is being created 
>by artist who use the contemporary technologies that define our 
>lives within the "information society."  The universe of 
>contemporary artistic practice has room for non-commercial "skunk 
>works"  as well as blue chip market-based objects, and every degree 
>of the spectrum between those poles -- this applies to artists 
>working in every medium, including new media.  I'm all for 
>promiscuity and proliferation in this regard. 
>
>I still think it's a pity that the ICA should opt to exclude what I 
>consider to be the most vital, dynamic and illuminating area of 
>artistic practice in our time.
>
>Marcia
>
>On Oct 18, 2008, at 6:06:51 PM, "Christiane Paul" 
><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>From:   "Christiane Paul" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject:    Re: [NEW-MEDIA-CURATING] Live and Media Arts at the ICA
>Date:   October 18, 2008 6:06:51 PM PDT
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Hi everyone,
>I agree that termination of new media programs at cultural 
>institutions per se is nothing new, we have seen it before, for many 
>different reasons.
>
>I also agree with Simon's comment that the following statement by 
>Ekow Eshun wouldn't necessarily need to be read in a negative way:
>
>"I no longer feel that the artistic rationale for devoting 
>considerable institutional?attention to that art form - to the 
>extent of maintaining a dedicated department to its pursuance - can 
>be strongly made."
>
>This ideally would mean that new media arts are considered part of 
>contemporary artistic practice and find their place in the 
>institution's programming - something we presumably would all 
>support. (Of course the reality most of the time is that new media 
>arts drop off the map as soon as they lose their dedicated space).
>
>What I find deeply disturbing is the following comment:
>
>"New media based arts practice continues to have its place within 
>the arts sector. However it's my consideration that, in the main, 
>the art form lacks the depth and cultural urgency to justify the 
>ICA's continued and significant investment in a Live & Media Arts 
>department."
>
>Wow. (Live &) New media arts lack 1) depth and 2) cultural urgency. 
>
>1) Is it the first art form in the history of art that, overall, 
>lacks depth? One could make a very strong argument that any art form 
>produces works that lack depth, works that are mediocre, works that 
>are good and works that are outstanding. I guess new media arts are 
>exceptional after all.
>
>2) New media arts is the only art form that uses the technologies, 
>which have profoundly changed societies around the planet, as a 
>medium. The information society, globalization, connectivity (from 
>the work place to 'social networking' / Web 2.0), immaterial labor - 
>the list could be much longer - are supported and enabled by these 
>technologies. While not all new media art comments on the social / 
>cultural / political condition, it seems to be *the* art form with 
>prime potential for cultural urgency. (And I'm not saying that any 
>other art form couldn't exhibit the latter).
>
>I suspect that many people in the traditional art world share 
>Eshun's opinion. To the best of my knowledge he is the first who 
>shuts down a program by blatantly dismissing the art form. I'm 
>looking forward to seeing his version of an "ambitious artistic 
>plan."
>
>Christiane
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Curating digital art - www.crumbweb.org on behalf of marc garrett
>Sent: Sat 10/18/2008 11:46 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Live and Media Arts at the ICA
>
>Hi Simon & all,
>
>I agree with Simon. It does seem that the ICA are sending a strong
>message that they wish to maintain an old fashioned, perspective on
>things by keeping mediums and practices apart from each other. Such an
>approach is a mistake and only serves to show the world outside, how
out
>of touch they are with contemporary culture as a whole.
>
>And yes, it is a great pity, not only for culture generally but also
for
>their audience, who are being sold a very limited vision of things.
>
>It also sends a rather dispiriting message that they are no longer an
>interesting or viable option to show at, or worthwhile collaborating
>with. It also gives the impression that they are all hiding behind some
>kind of castle, trying to hold together some ideal, which does not
>relate to the world outside. It is a shame that they have chosen not to
>expand and take on new forms of creativity in a more positive manner.
>Yet, this is their choice and perhaps it is more about keeping certain
>jobs in the ICA - at the top. And unfortunately, those who are staying
>in these positions at the top, are perhaps less interested in
>contemporary art and its ever expanding, nuances. Not interested in
>relearning, adapting their knowledge about media art and other related
>practices.
>
>
>I think that Emma is probably best out of there.
>
>marc
>> 
>>  Johnny is right and I take back what I wrote before. Or, rather, I
wish to
>>  finesse it. Media arts, in the sense they are understood at the ICA
(art
>>  that employs media) is, as I stated before, well and truly part of
the
>>  mainstream of arts practice and therefore not having a specific
program to
>>  engage it shouldn't be surprising nor necessarily a bad thing.
However,
>>  creative media practice which facilitates, by its very nature, an
expanded
>>  notion of what art can be  well, that is what Johnny is proposing.
It is
>>  something that is a force for change, for creating new modalities,
new forms
>>  of engagement, new social formations.
>>
>>  In this respect the ICA's decision seems to evidence their wish not
to be
>  > involved with any meaningful challenge of the status quo. It wishes
to see
>>  art that is "art", music that is "music" and cinema that is
"cinema". That
>>  is a great pity.
>>
>>  Regards
>>
>>  Simon
>>
>>
>>  On 18/10/08 12:40, "Professor SR Golding" <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>>
>> 
>>>  Dear Emma and List
>>>  It is disturbing, but not surprising, to hear of the kind of
>>>  short-sightedness and ill-conceived departure of live & media arts
>>>  from the ICA, especially under the misleading tag line of those
arts
>>>  no longer being 'cutting edge'. We find at the Univ of Greenwich in
>>>  London that our MA-PHD Media Arts Philosophy and Practice Programme
>>>  has increased over the years by 300%, with huge home, EU, and
>>>  international interest. We have just established a
cross-fertilizing
>>>  Media Arts Production BA/BSc with two Schools: The Humanities and
>>>  Social Sciences and School of Computing Mathematical Sciences. The
>>>  cutting edge work of artists, combined with philosophers,
journalists
>>>  and scientists has been and continues to be exciting and
provocative
>>>  -- and our situation is not unique. There are many universities,
>>>  post-academic and creative commons environments that are doing
>>>  precisely this kind of combination -- led by the live arts and
>>>  encompassed in the broad term of 'media arts', where the latter
>>>  ('media arts') points not to a 'sub-set' of technologies, but names
>>>  the paradigm shift of our age (eg, after 'liberal arts'), where
speed,
>>>  energy, space, time embed themselves differently in the visual and
>>>  sonic arts, or what has been termed elsewhere as the 'altermodern'.
>>>
>>>  How this substantial and lush environment could have escaped the
eye
>>>  of the Director at the ICA is not clear from his letter.
>>>
>>>  However, what is much more obvious is that the role of the 'art
>>>  institute', and especially the ICA, seems to have lost its shine.
>>>  Perhaps art galleries/ contemporary art institutes never did
encourage
>>>  cutting edge works -- but now, at least in terms of the ICA, it
>>>  definitely is not encouraging it. The Gallery/institute appears to
>>>  have recoiled back to the safe shores of being a service sector
>>>  environment to the usual suspects of capital, industry, and
banality.
>>>  Pity, really.
>>>
>>>  Guess we'll just have to go elsewhere -- but then, isn't that the
>>>  usual story for 
>>>  artists-philosophers-scientists-designers-curios-thinkers-doers?
>>>
>>>  Johnny de Philo
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  ----- Message from [log in to unmask] ---------
>>>  Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:23:43 -0700
>>>  From: marcialart <[log in to unmask]>
>>>  Reply-To: marcialart <[log in to unmask]>
>>>  Subject: Re: Live and Media Arts at the ICA
>>>  To: [log in to unmask]
>>>
>>>
>>> 
>>>>>  Dear Emma,
>>>>>
>>>>>  Sorry to hear about this. It's sad for you and the ICA, and
>>>>>  astonishingly short-sighted on the part of the director,
especially
>>>>>  as the ICA was THE germinal institution for new media / computer
>>>>>  based art with its pioneering 1968 presentation of Cybernetic
>>>>>  Serendipity curated by Jasia Reichardt.
>>>>>
>>>>>  Best regards and good wishes to you in the next phase of your
>>>>>  career, and congratulations on your accomplishments @ the ICA.
>>>>>
>>>>>  Marcia Tanner
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>  On Oct 17, 2008, at 10:11:13 AM, "Emma Quinn" <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>  >>>> From: "Emma Quinn" <[log in to unmask]>
>>>>>  Subject: [NEW-MEDIA-CURATING] Live and Media Arts at the ICA
>>>>>  Date: October 17, 2008 10:11:13 AM PDT
>>>>>  To: [log in to unmask]
>>>>>  Apologies for the blanket e-mail and any cross postings
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>  It is with sadness that I am writing to announce the closure of
the
>>>>>  ICA's Live and Media Arts Department. I have included a statement
by
>>>>>  Ekow Eshun, the Artistic Director of the ICA below.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>  I am continuing with the programme here until the end of November
2008
>>>>>  and will then be looking to develop and expand the programme with
other
>>>>>  partners and venues. I will of course update you on new
developments as
>>>>>  they occur.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>  Thank you for your support and interest in the department's
projects
>  >>>> during my time at the helm, and please do make the most of the
rather
>>>>>  full line-up running over the next couple of months. It would be
>>>>>  wonderful if you could continue to show your support by attending
what
>>>>>  will be an exciting finale.
>>>>>
>>>>>  http://www.ica.org.uk/?lid=12173
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>  I have enjoyed my time at the ICA tremendously and this has been
a
>>>>>  direct result of working with some fantastic artists and
practitioners.
>>>>>  The opportunity and privilege to work on the many exciting,
>>>>>  thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable projects over the last
3
>>>>>  years, has provided me with new challenges, joy, energy, pride,
insight,
>>>>>  thrills and above all has made me very very happy! I am very much
>>>>>  looking forward to continuing with these established
relationships as
>>>>>  well as generating new ones in the next stage of my career.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>  I will be contacting everyone again before I leave with my
personal
>>>>>  contact details should you wish to stay in touch.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>  Thank you for your time.
>>>>>
>>>>>  Kind regards
>>>>>
>>>>>  emma
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>  --- From Ekow Eshun, Artistic Director of the ICA ---
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>  Following a review of the ICA's programming activities I have
taken the
>>>>>  decision to close the Live & Media Arts department from the end
of
>>>>>  November 2008.
>>>>>
>>>>>  The ICA has led a pioneering role in new media arts practice over
the
>>>>>  last decade and more.
>>>>>
>>>>>  We are proud of that legacy. However times change. And I no
longer feel
>>>>>  that the artistic rationale for devoting considerable
institutional
>>>>>  attention to that art form - to the extent of maintaining a
dedicated
>>>>>  department to its pursuance - can be strongly made.
>>>>>
>>>>>  As an institution dedicated to the contemporary moment it is
important
>>>>>  that we continually review the timeliness and relevance of our
>>>>>  activities and at times make decisions on that basis.
>>>>>
>>>>>  New media based arts practice continues to have its place within
the
>>>>>  arts sector. However it's my consideration that, in the main, the
art
>>>>>  form lacks the depth and cultural urgency to justify the ICA's
continued
>>>>>  and significant investment in a Live & Media Arts department.
Following
>>>>>  discussion with the ICA Council and the Arts Council - and
agreement
>>>>>  from both bodies - I have decided to close the department.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>  It's also my view that the sheer breadth of activity that our
artistic
>>>>>  programme encompasses means that we are often stretched too thin
as an
>>>>>  organisation. Our technical, building and financial resources are
under
>>>>>  considerable strain and it is hard for us to communicate our aims
to our
>>>>>  audience with directness and clarity.
>>>>>
>>>>>  In closing the Live & Media Arts department, we will be able to
invest
>>>>>  greater resources in a more concentrated programme of activities,
>>>>>  allowing us to create a more ambitious artistic plan for 2009/10.
And in
>>>>>  communication with the public, the focus of our activity will be
>>>>>  exclusively on Visual Arts, Cinema, Talks and Music.
>>>>>
>>>>>  In addition, these changes will offer the opportunity for the
Digital
>>>>>  Studio to be reconstituted as a dedicated Education space,
offering a
>  >>>> valuable benefit to an important and growing section of our
audience
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>  ---End---
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>  Emma Quinn
>>>>>  Director of Live & Media Arts
>>>>>  ---------------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>>  Institute of Contemporary Arts
>>>>>  The Mall, London, SW1Y 5AH
>>>>>  ---------------------------------------
>>>>>  t: +44 (0)20 7766 1415
>>>>>  e: [log in to unmask]
>>>>>  w: www.ica.org.uk <http://www.ica.org.uk/>
>>>>>
>>>>>  Dogs Ears
>>>>>
>>>>>  Online Art
>>>>>
>>>>>  www.ica.org.uk/dogsears
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> 
>>>  ----- End message from [log in to unmask] -----
>>>
>>>
>>> 
>>
>>
>>
>>  Simon Biggs
>>  Research Professor
>>  edinburgh college of art
>>  [log in to unmask]
>>  www.eca.ac.uk
>>  www.eca.ac.uk/circle/
>>
>>  [log in to unmask]
>>  www.littlepig.org.uk
>>  AIM/Skype: simonbiggsuk
>  >
>>
>>  Edinburgh College of Art (eca) is a charity registered in 
>>Scotland, number SC009201
>>
>>