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Begin forwarded message: > Date: Thu Jun 26, 2003 7:09:23 AM Europe/London > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Cc: "Steve Dietz" <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: RE: response from the Walker Art Center to the open letter > Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> > > > Sarah, Patrick, Skawennati, Josephine+ > > Mostly to underscore what you all have said - and what I will have said > in my response to Sarah's original letter to the Walker. ;-) > > First, since we can all agree that mainstream institutions are in no > way > leaders in this field, I would argue that the Walker's decision is a > reflection on its own sense of mission and priorities, not anything > prescient about the field. > > The Walker may, however, be epitomatic of the situation in the U.S. > where state support is much more minimal; many foundations are only > starting to come out of a new media hibernation/torpor post-April 2000; > and the traditional reliance on private benefactors, which is > ultimately > market-based, is mitigated by the lack of a market for much new media > and digital arts. > > It may also be epitomatic of what may be a de facto trend that only > FACT > seems to have been able to buck recently - to pull back from ambitious > bricks and mortar settings for net and interactive art. > > Nevertheless, ndividual, non-insitutional and alternative venues, > whether Patrick's pdfs or CyberPowWow or dozens of other examples will > continue to drive, and I agree that there appears to be increased > interest in and acceptance of these efforts. Are they a critical mass > ipso facto or can/does the museum play a useful amplifying role? Or are > there other models to achieve critical mass? (Of course there are.) > > Still, traditionally, the mainstream museums have played a role in > introducing a wider/different audience to contemporary art, and if they > are not supporting/presenting nma, what happens to this role? I > understand, of course, that artists can connect directly with a wide > public without the so-called middleman, but I don't think > disintermediation is necessarily successful in reaching much of the > museum-going audiences. > > What of the "integration" issue. Is it good enough to have a separate > but equal world or is there interest in being part of the "just art" > world? > > Finally, as always, I think all of these questions need to be looked at > as choices for the individual artist, not somehow a necessity, although > it should not be a choice for contemporary art museums to seek out the > work of these artists. > > s > > > [log in to unmask] >