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Its kind of interesting the number of messages that have been asking to unsubscribe from the list amidst these discussions... In a large part the discussion has focused upon the offence people have felt towards the notion that their or their contemporaries work isn't significant.... If we follow Tom's point that 'there is a very live strain of "self-ghettoizing" in the media art community' you have to ask what might merit the notion of 'significance' outside of this group; this is a question worth asking for a number of reasons unless you expect everybody to become a part of the group and subscribe to its (albeit internally broad) values. The notion of interactive practice involves or should involve folk outside of its makers. For my money significant practice does reach out beyond a set of codes (and herein often lies its significance/'radical' nature) and affect those who view or participate with it. For that matter how much significant art work of any kind is there in the first place? How much can we expect of this given a practice that has begun to emerge over a relatively brief period of time? Might a of of this simply be pioneering rather than significant in and of itself? I think we also need to view this against a backdrop where a lot of other practises use the same sorts of technology but with large collaborative teams that generates a type of practice more focused upon participation than the 'vision' of a singular (or limited number of )creator(s). For instance there are magazines devoted to 'retro' gaming from approximately 10 or more years ago (ok I know that there are also magazines devoted to tattoos,piercing and other things and this doesn't make it art); but I'd also suggest that there is an interest in this precisely because a lot of this focused on participation and involvement rather than the sort of thing/future proclaimed by many so many artists using this stuff at the time. In the end isn't this kind of connectivity and involved what is supposed to be at the heart of these new forms of practice? I think that its important to have output that works against the uncritical adoption of dominant forces but is a form of practice associated with another form mode of artisitic production appropriate? best Mark This email was independently scanned for viruses by McAfee anti-virus software and none were found