Hi Martin,

I agree, that it is not the only way and many artists are proving this 
in using propriety software/hardware instead of free and open source. 
But, there is a systemic issue here and it is certainly not as you say 
'abstract'; it is social, political, ethical and ecological. And I am 
interested in discussing how far we can go, especially when 
organizations and curators take the less difficult root into 'scripted' 
defaults with their use of technology. Of course, pragmatism wins the 
day if you just need to get something to work. But, asking these 
questions and seeing how far you can go is as innovative as using 
computers in 'cutting edge science'.

No one necessarily needs to be actively involved in co-creating the 
source or hardware itself to be aware that in "the 21st century, we are 
facing a lot of resource issues—energy, water, food and metals,” 
“Ultimately each individual consumer is driving the whole rate of 
expansion of resource use... do we really need all this stuff?” 
http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/09/19/rare-earth-metals-will-we-have-enough/

If we are not building into our remits these questions in relation to 
ecological and cultural contexts in our practice, then surely we are 
blindly hoping that some how it will all be fixed for us. And, artists 
and scientists, academics each have a responsibility to consider their 
actions when continuing to buy this stuff as much as anyone else does. 
Our use of technology is not a neutral activity, it is a decision and it 
has repercussions whether it is open source or proprietorial. This is 
why I respect what Access Space is doing - they know what they are 
talking about. I'm also interested in groups such as (OSE), known as 
Open Source Enterprise Learning Community 
(http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?OpenSourceEcology). "We believe that a 
highly distributed, increasingly participatory model of production is 
the core of a democratic society, where stability is established 
naturally by the balance of human activity with sustainable extraction 
of natural resources. This is the opposite of the current mainstream of 
centralized economies, which have a structurally built-in tendency 
towards of overproduction."

I'd rather be engaged in thinking about Furtherfield's responsibility as 
a group, and myself as an individual, rather than just going through the 
process of ignoring it all. I'm not perfect as you know, but still - I'm 
interested in learning more all about this stuff, and seeing what 
happens. And it's not about being pure or taking on a mono-cultural 
ideology, it's being human and trying to get to grips with contemporary 
issues of the day as well as defining one's role in the world - in 
practice, and trying this out in the political climate we are currently 
living under, it is not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination.

Wishing you well.

marc




 > Hi Marc
 > There is certainly a lot of art currently being produced that can as 
easily be produced to the same or higher standard using open source 
programs, and be done cheaper with older hardware. There is even things 
which can only be done with open source software.
 > But to suggest this as the only solution, in my opinion, discounts 
too much. It creates restrictions on the Artist. It would be to keep the 
artist as amateur and hobbyist.
 > Example, for an artist to work at the level of cutting edge science, 
for an artist to inform science, requires access to that same hardware 
and software. Stuff that can't be made in a garage, it's stuff made by 
the collaboration of nation states and taking the whole career's of 
world leading experts.
 > Software, be it open source or not, remains a tool: a abstraction of 
the computer, to allow its manipulation. To make to function how I want 
more easily than writing machine or assembly code.
 > Photoshop may not be the image editing software I'd design, but it 
works, or I can make it work. I don't need to make Photoshop to edit 
images. A Raspberry Pi may work to play video files, but there will be 
times when you have to spent ten times the money on  a Brightsign player 
with it's propriety s/w. If an artist isn't actively involved in the 
development of open source s/w, then I don't see there is a difference 
in them using open or not.
 > We are still talking about acquired tools. A recycled computer makes 
better use of finite resources, but it remains an abstraction as much as 
a shiny new one. The artist hasn't mined the minerals and etched the 
chipset. The old and new are the same to the artist: a tool.
 > m
 >
 >
 > On 22 November 2012 16:07, marc <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 >
 >     Hi Lindsay,
 >
 >     Looking forward to hearing about your experience at 
http://319scholes.org/ in New York...
 >
 >     At Furtherfield, all the tech we use is now recycled and reused. 
We are completely open source, this includes the set up of the 
exhibiting space and administration. Control over one's tools of 
creative production is now, as significant as having control over one's 
creative ideas. And, media art as an art practice, has gained various 
attributes which allow processes of self-autonomy. There is something 
about working with technology and the Internet that changes our 
perception of the world, and how we operate in it. Other than the world 
becomes less definable as nations and states. It evolves into a way of 
engaging and understanding other things, other worlds, other 
possibilities; touching on aspects of being able to re-edit 'source' 
materials, whether it be hardware, software or code, and bringing this 
knowledge with its learned experiences into, real-life situations.
 >
 >     This philosophy or tech orientated agency I feel is (as Access 
Space do), now one of the most significant factors of being aware of 
contemporary social contexts, and integration of ecological 
responsibility needs full support by all art venues and institutions 
right across the board.
 >
 >     So, regarding your approach to open source philosophy, I am 
wondering how it's working at the moment and how is this (if at all) 
challenging those artists who come your venue expecting to use propriety 
software?
 >
 >     Wishing you well.
 >
 >     marc
 >

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