Rosanna -
[medium]
mediation - i have translated from german "Vermittler"
mediate - "vermitteln"
communicable - "vermittelbar"
a pure presentation is not (per se) mediative in my sight
esp. when the 'user' habits differ in such a way like in new media.
but it's a bit more complicated and complex. (as al_ways)
can the history of the art of the 20th be read (written) as "a steady 'go
away' ('become astrange') from the public" or "a curry favour with"?
i for myself would like art to be/come more readable/with more closeness by
itself (which seems to be impossible in a 'splitted', expanding, pluralistic
society [celebrating individuality and uniformity at the same time]).
might be such a 'direction' - approached/realized in art and (+) exhibition
can break some border.
might be time for some collab (not only between artists).
leisure, fun, thoughtfulness, meditation, reflection - all kinds of human
being are not as different to get
(but with some you can get more cash;)
R.
> I am interested in Reiner's definition of "mediation" in the context of the
> museum. It brings to mind the notion of the "museum as medicine" - - good for
> our cultural well-being, serving society through culture, but still having a
> funny after-taste. Museums do not pretend to present themselves as raw,
> unmediated spaces to show art; they are polished forums in which they attempt
> to stratify art into many levels, to foster connections between the art and
> its public - - and they do that thing that they do to bring in their visitors.
> But museums - the larger ones, and the smaller ones too - have also identified
> themselves as institutions of "leisure" and fund themselves to support all the
> marketing/promotion/development that goes into presenting it as a leisure
> attraction.
>
> What IS the responsibility of a museum to its public now, for net.art? Is it
> just as a mediation - in its seamless presentation of the work? When the
> technology fails, the seamlessness is lost. Can we define were the mediation
> ends and the experience of an actual encounter with [net]art occurs? Is it
> in the wall text, in the catalogue, and the acoustiguides used to explain and
> illuminate the exhibition? The website that sometimes substitutes for the
> exhibition for some visitors? Or, perhaps the mediation is ALL of it - the
> very inclusion of artists in a big media art show, with the totality of
> critics and curators and educators that bring it to the public.
>
> In that sense it makes it more complicated for the artists and the
> institution. At some point, the artist decides that the mediation is not
> appropriate for the work. The mediation is complicated by all its other
> functions as an institution of leisure. Artist Paul Kaiser identified himself
> as "P. Mutt" in Bitstreams due to the Whitney's connection with Phillip
> Morris, and the byline in the New York Times' "Footlights" section ended with
> the sentence "Phillip Morris is a leading corporate sponsor of the arts in an
> era of reduced federal support." There it is - - another Duchampian reference
> in net.art, but more powerfully, it's on the wall.
>
> Rosanna Flouty
> Solomon R. Guggenheim
