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Julie Lazar wrote: >If you had access (as an artist or curator)to AFI (archives, equipment, >support staff), what--if anything--would you do with it re: streaming? ----- I'd attempt to create a new interface to it all that would allow everyone access to the data via the web...although I would do it in a manner that was not direct or intuitive but rather a deconstructive approach to the data and how it is organised. The interface would be a work of art and a critique of its subject (the database). >Looking at the so-called "high and low aesthetic" issues from independent >artists to industry makers could be in the mix. Thoughts? ----- Especially when it comes to the web I think it is becoming difficult to typify practice where the independent artist is seen as destined to work low-tech and the industrial operators high-tech. It isn't like that anymore. What counts today is less the hardware and more the software, which has now been largely commercialised onto platforms that are both consumer and industry standard (eg: Wintel boxes). A number of artists who use software as their primary medium are also in the position to produce work that is more or less on a par with commercial software (eg: nato, a lot of Max patches, IOD, etc). In some cases, even where hardware remains an issue, artists have been the high-tech innovators (Karl Sims, Char Davies, Joachim Sauter, etc) which the larger corporations have had to follow. Some artists working with technology also take the no-tech route as they are more concerned with the use of media than its functioning (I think of C5 here, or ETOY, etc). So, whilst I think it is important to cover the range of media practice from the low-tech to the hi-tech I feel it would be confusing if you typfied it as you have above. >3. Since the "museumification" problem exists - what are the most >constructive ways of making their work with net.artists...with artists in >general...more responsibly responsive? ----- I would like to see Museums shift their role a away from the museumification process towards a proactive role. That is, it would be great to see more museums getting involved in the commissioning and promotion of new work/audiences and in particular work that is of an ephemeral and non-collectible nature. Of course museums already do this, but not as a primary or defining practice. best Simon Simon Biggs London GB [log in to unmask] http://hosted.simonbiggs.easynet.co.uk/ Research Professor Art and Design Research Centre School of Cultural Studies Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield, UK http://www.shu.ac.uk/