Kate, 

I know you are crazy busy, but I'd love to hear your take on the session at Tate on Friday (as I failed to sneak my way in due to its popularity). As I've said, my own interests at the moment focus on the curation (as it were) of art-related knowledge in books (for example) so I'm keen to think more on how the exhibition as research works and (for my own perspective right now), what it does that books can't in terms of the storage, transfer and development of knowledge?!

Charlotte

-----Original Message-----
From: Curating digital art - www.crumbweb.org [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kate Southworth
Sent: 05 May 2010 22:29
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: politics, ethics, aesthetics and distributed forms

Dear List,
Thanks to Verina for inviting me to contribute this month’s theme -
Educational Turns, and Distributed Social Systems.

Perhaps I can start by mentioning some upcoming events that I’m working on,
and which in different ways seem to be feeding into my thinking on this
month’s theme?

Dematerial: Critical Debates in Digital Arts is series of events that I’m
organising across the South West region.  Funded by Arts Council England the
events seek to stimulate and generate critical debates in digital arts, and
also aim to contribute to the next stage in the development of the digital
arts within the region. (
http://www.dematerial.org/critical-debates-digital-arts). The first event is
on Monday 10th May at University College Falmouth with Charlotte Frost, Lise
Autogena, Ele Carpenter, Tom Corby, Patrick Simons and Helen Sloan.  The
second event is on May 25th at Arnolfini in Bristol with Marie-Anne McQuay,
Geoff Cox, Clare Reddington, Kate Rich and Helen Sloan.  And the third event
is on June 9th at the University of Bournemouth with Helen Sloan, Ruth
Catlow, Gianni Corino Kit Monkman and Tom Wexler (KMA) and Neal White.

Tomorrow I’m up at the Dartington Campus of University College Falmouth
giving a fairly informal  talk on ‘creating and sustaining collaborative
learning communities online’.

At the end of next week (Friday 14 May 2010, 10.00–17.30) I’m speaking about
‘distributed exhibitions’ on the ‘The future of the research exhibition’
panel at the Beyond the Academy Research as Exhibition symposium at Tate
Britain (http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/eventseducation/symposia/21155.htm)

For me, one of the things that artworking, curating, and educating within a
‘new media’ context have in common is the role of the distributed network.
In particular, I am interested in trying to articulate (within an art
context) the politics, aesthetics and ethics of the distributed form   I
think that knowledge about distributed forms that is produced through
artworking and curating is transferable to other non-art contexts such as,
for example, education.  I do think (following Alex Galloway/Eugene Thacker)
that distributed networks are not in themselves radical: that they
constitute a very specific organisational form that controls and organises
through protocol.  Again, following Galloway in his assertion that there is
no escape from protocol I am interested in the transcoding of
computer/network protocol to art: to the qualities and potential of
(non-technical) protocol within art (and other contexts) – amongst other
things,  protocols of making, sharing, documenting and archiving.

I'm really looking forward to hearing what other guests and contributors are
thinking about this month's theme.
very best,
Kate
-- 
Kate Southworth
http://www.gloriousninth.net
http://www.dematerial.org