Dear Sarah and All,

Just a quick point of clarification re: Michael Century's synopsis of  
studio labs. E.A.T. was founded by Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer  
along with Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman. In fact, Klüver's  
role was central (his papers are at the Getty Research Institute  
archives), perhaps more so than Rauschenberg's.

Best,
Grant Kester


On Aug 1, 2008, at 12:21 PM, Sarah Cook wrote:

> hi crumb-list
>
> this month on Empyre i have been invited to respond to the debate on  
> new models for new media art centers, as part of my CRUMB-supported  
> fellowship at Eyebeam.
> tune in, i think it will be interesting! (info below) CRUMB and  
> Empyre have been meaning to collaborate on a theme for _ages_ so i  
> am glad that our research partner Eyebeam has prompted it.
>
> i'm also dying to hear about ISEA from those who were there and  
> attended the CRUMB Dialogues!
>
> best from stinky hot New York,
> sarah
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> From: Marcus Bastos <[log in to unmask]>
>> Date: 1 August 2008 14:59:41 GMT-04:00
>> To: soft_skinned_space <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: [-empyre-] Models and perspectives for Media Centers and  
>> Net Art organizations
>> Reply-To: soft_skinned_space <[log in to unmask]>
>>
>> hi empyreans,
>>
>> I would like to welcome all of you to our August discussion, which
>> will be devoted to the topic of Models and Perspectives for Media
>> Centers and Net Art organizations, and use a quote from Ned Rossiter
>> as a provocative epigraph to this month's topic:
>>
>> "there is urgent need for new institutional forms that reflect
>> "relational" processes to challenge existing systems of governance  
>> and
>> outmoded representational structures"
>>
>> Lately, a number of institutions, based on more or less conventional
>> models, seem to be focusing on fomenting art and culture created with
>> digital, networked and portable devices. This is not a new  
>> phenomenon,
>> but there seem to be different approaches, and a variety of  
>> unfoldings
>> that shift away from the classic MediaLab models, as the convergence
>> of art, science and technology no longer seems to be dominant on a
>> field nowadays diverse enough to range from social and educational
>> perspectives to artistic experimentation of all kinds. There is  
>> also a
>> diversity of actors from University Labs and Research Centers to
>> Corporate initiatives, representing a broad variety of approaches and
>> agendas.
>>
>> Part of this history is briefly presented in Michael Century's
>> Pathways to Innovation
>> (http://www.nextcentury.ca/PI/PImain.html#_Toc456019293), under the
>> topic "Studio LABs since the 1960s". On his report, Century proposes
>> "three overlapping phases" of "the institutional development of the
>> contemporary studio-laboratory" and points out that:
>>
>> "In the first phase, dating from the 1960s and 1970s, artist centres,
>> networks, university-based institutes and public sector labs were
>> established to support open-ended exploration of new and emerging
>> technologies by artists". One example "was Experiments in Art and
>> Technology (E.A.T.) founded by artist Robert Rauschenberg" with the
>> goal "to establish 'an international network of experimental services
>> and activities designed to catalyze the physical, economic and social
>> conditions necessary for cooperation between artists, engineers and
>> scientists.'. Other examples for this phase are MIT's Centre for
>> Advanced Visual Studies and the Institut de Recherche et Coordination
>> en Acoustique et Musique (IRCAM). Century sustains that the "relative
>> autonomy of these new centres /.../ distinguish them from the more
>> publicly oriented type of media centre that began to appear in the
>> 1980s and 1990s".
>>
>> The typical media art organization of the 1980s and 1990s can be
>> considered examplary of the second phase, which incorporate
>> "festivals, exhibitions, commissions and competitions of electronic
>> art" resulting in an "increased commitment of both public
>> administrations and private corporations towards exposing the most
>> radical media-based creativity to a wider public". Examples are Ars
>> Electronica, SIGGRAPH and ZKM. According to Century, this lead to an
>> ambivalence among critical intellectuals who feared that "these
>> institutional developments /.../ would serve only to accelerate the
>> public acceptance of automation in everyday life, on the one hand,  
>> and
>> to co-opt artists — "with their purported creativity" — into becoming
>> commercial application designers, on the other".
>>
>> As stated before and also stressed by Century, the diversity of  
>> actors
>> on this context makes things more complex and gray-shaded than
>> enthusiastic or over-critical views would make one suppose they are.
>> This assumption "form the basis for the third phase of the
>> contemporary studio-laboratory", marked by an effort to link
>> "multimedia art with technological development and the social
>> sciences" given that "the deliberate involvement of artists as
>> collaborative researchers in innovation programs now takes place in a
>> wide variety of social and economic settings, with a corresponding
>> diversity of approach and program design".
>>
>> One aspect that might go beyond this three-phased history is implied
>> on the spreading of media centers throughout the world, as digital
>> culture reaches places such as China and India, while mobile and
>> wireless networks adds layers of complexity to our connected society.
>> Sarai is the obvious example of that shift, but there is also a
>> curious aspect when we think of informal developments, such as those
>> described by Jan Chipchase on his blog, Future Perfect
>> (http://www.janchipchase.com/repaircultures). This culture of
>> informality, as well as the emergence of communities engaged on the
>> dissemination of open source softwares, as well as approaches to
>> alternative / recycled devices represent a perspective that gained
>> importance with little institutional support or based on alternative
>> practices / non-hierarchical forms of organization. Nowadays, a  
>> number
>> of organizations seem to support those developments, despite their
>> distance from the corporate agendas. On the other hand, this attitude
>> can be traced back to DIY initiatives before digital culture, as well
>> as others that grew with the Internet.
>>
>> Obviously, this short (and arbitrary) presentation is not capable of
>> covering all aspects of the topic, and could only aim to point to  
>> some
>> aspects of a discussion that should gain a life of its own by the
>> crossing of different views that the topic suggests. One aspect that
>> should be taken in consideration is how local scenarios alters the
>> dynamics of institutionalization, according to the predominance of
>> more public oriented models (public grants, government support) or,  
>> on
>> the other hand, more private oriented ones (sponsorship). To discuss
>> this and other themes related to the increasingly complex tissue of
>> media centers and net art organizations, we will invite people from
>> institutions or independent initiatives in Brazil, England and US to
>> share their experiences, aiming to debate differences and  
>> similarities
>> as well as possible challenges and / or local peculiarities.
>>
>> So we would like to welcome Anne Nigten (V2, Rotterdam /  
>> Netherlands),
>> Gabriel Menotti (Cinefalcatrua, Vitoria / Brazil), Gisela Domschke
>> (MediaLAB MIS, Sao Paulo / Brazil), Marc Garrett (Furtherfield,  
>> London
>> / UK) and Sarah Cook (Eyebeam, New York / US) with warm thanks for
>> accepting our invitation to be guests of – empyre – during the month
>> of August, as well as Amanda McDonald Crowley, who was already a  
>> guest
>> of the list and will join the discussion later on the month. There is
>> a short bio of of them @ http://rhizome.org/announce/view/51830 and
>> they will also share longer introductions with the lists audience on
>> their first post, that should also focus on how their practices and
>> researches relates to the proposed topic.
>> _______________________________________________
>> empyre forum
>> [log in to unmask]
>> http://www.subtle.net/empyre