On Tuesday, June 3, 2003, at 07:43 AM, Jess Loseby wrote:

 >My question is - when does a harsh examination of the curatorial
decisions
 >of what aspect and how net art and new media has been  exhibited and
 >supported take place?

The last time I saw Steve Dietz was in Montreal at an ISEA conference.
There was a show on TV at the time called "Harsh Realm" and Steve said
he was looking forward to watching it.  He did get a "harsh examination
of curatorial decisions"  in a coffee house with Joan and Dirk
(jodi.org) where Dirk tore into him over Art Entertainment Network.
Jordan Crandall and I were also there and sat in silence and (speaking
for myself) in awe. Though jodi.org wasn't even included in AEN Dirk
pretty much demanded Steve acknowledge that, if they were included, they
would have withdrawn in protest at the way it was exhibited at the
Walker. I was in AEN and liked what Steve did with my work but never
understood what the "revolving door" exhibition on-site at the Walker
was. For me that didn't matter too much but, to tell the truth, being
included in AEN didn't matter much either. Obviously it mattered to Dirk
very much even though he wasn't involved and that's a good thing in my
opinion.

  >How have the grants been  distributed (in terms of
 >curatorial decisions) and how 'successfull' (in  terms of producing
 >significant works and promoting and advancing new  media as a genre)
have
 >selected projects been?

Grant distribution in the US has been hit or miss because the people in
charge of distribution aren't qualified to decide and they don't know
who to ask for advice. Artists need small grants to buy software,
hardware and buy time to work. I, for instance, need to upgrade to OSX.2
but don't have the US$129 to buy it right now. I also need US$50 to up
my RAM. Ideally I need the money to by a top end powerbook but I can do
without that. I also need about six weeks without distractions to
complete projects I've started, preferably in a small studio with a
cable modem connection in Fontevraud, France. All that could be covered
with a US$10,000 grant.  But, as it is, I would have to come up with a
"project" that satisfied the educational etc. needs of the funding
agencies in order to then use the money for what I actually wanted to
do. I think Steve is aware of the actualities of making art but had to
deal with the fact that institutions think new media = education &
promotion.

 > If the public have  failed to 'get' net.art/new
 >media, is it a failure of the exhibiting policies of  the
 >museums/organizations in terms of promotion and accessibility  and/or a
 >failure of the works selected themselves to engage and to be  able to
exist
 >as rounded artworks outside the texts, the seminars and  the hype....

My public is very small, a subset of the art world, which is very small,
too. I have a monastic sensibility that a monk praying in his cell will
bring salvation to the world. Or, at least, art that matters. I don't
intentionally address public issues yet, I feel what I do has a
resonance that benefits a wider public. Not what museums want to hear.

 >What I wonder is how, despite this list, despite all the
 >other  lists we all belong to and despite our own work independently as
 >artists   - is how we get heard?

A question of audience. A prof of mine once said that art is an economy
and an economy can exist between two people. As long as one other person
says what you do is art there is an art economy. It can grow from there.
That's where the institutions come in.

 >Most of  us on raw are predominantly
 >net based, we have artworks delivered to  our inboxes. The works we
create
 >are contextualised by whats around  us or else they are quite literally
 >being created out of them.

That's one way of putting it.

 >I've just read that Walkers cutbacks will save $1m per annum. Though
 >peanuts compared to the overall budget, curatorially that's a pretty
 >decent sized wallet in which to establish (and bloody hell) at least set
 >up contingency so the work can be decently and permanently archived.

The Walker is also spending US$90,000,000 on a new wing with new media
capabilities but they fired their new media curator. That's really the
crux of it.

 >have to go, just thinking outloud.

And I have to go to bed. I have aphids and spider mites to deal with in
the morning.

murph
offshore|online