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Melinda, List, nothing wrong with a rant, please indulge mine... Playing devils advocate here, I'm all for forcing utilitarian art in the situation we face with environmental change. A lot of long-cherished ideas, ideologies and habits are going to have to go to the wall or modify themselves. One of the fascinating things for me (in a watching a car crash in slow motion kind of way) is seeing how the art world struggles to reorganise it’s priorities as it grapples with the changed realities of cultural production and relevance in an era of environmental upheaval. Visiting the Frieze art fair in london it barely impinges. As Roger Malina says, we're all in this together. We need to get with the scientists on this...... <end rant> Tom Simeon Lockhart Nelson wrote: > art is not and never has been non-utilitarian ... > art doesnt operate independently or objectively > it is an indentured service provider which has always functioned to: > > - storytell for the victors, > - religiously indoctrinate, > - relay status and power, > - earn investors squillions of $'s, > - dispel fear in times of crisis > > science is constrained in the same way. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On 4 Nov 2009, at 05:15, Melinda Rackham <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> dear oron, et al >> >> return rant -- deviating slightly >> >> On 04/11/2009, at 2:24 PM, Oron Catts wrote: >>> >>> Let me pose it quite >>> bluntly; in the service of WHAT art operates? I am always >>> suspicious of art in >>> the service on anything beyond story telling. >>> ... >>> I am concern that art would lose one of the last >>> remaining privileges of being human – that of non-utilitarian >>> explorations, many >>> sciences are loosing it already. Do we want to make art totally >>> applied? In >>> particular when art deals with new knowledge, it should strive to be >>> a non- >>> applied questioning force, not resolve anything, be in the service >>> of none, be >>> ambiguous, Problematise. >> >> art is not and never has been non-utilitarian ... >> art doesnt operate independently or objectively >> it is an indentured service provider which has always functioned to: >> >> - storytell for the victors, >> - religiously indoctrinate, >> - relay status and power, >> - earn investors squillions of $'s, >> - dispel fear in times of crisis >> >> science is constrained in the same way. >> >>> It would >>> have been the same to me if some net artist would seek my advice >>> concerning >>> the best software to use for some type of self obsessed exploration >> >> >> im so glad you like net art! >> in its origins net art is next of kin to citizen science - a diy >> routing around the functionalities and limitations of >> institutionalized practices - maybe the only niches available for >> 'independent" exploration, crazy ideas and ambiguity. >> >> and as self obsession has been a highly regarded genre of our times >> it works to the advantage of artists making, scientists exploring, >> curators showing and writers critiquing that which directly affects >> peoples sense of personal safety, financial security and species >> survival. >> >> best wishes >> >> Melinda >> >> Melinda Rackham >> [log in to unmask] >> >>> >