Hi Annie

My book ‘The Word Machine’ will be published by Penstemon Press soon I will let You know when
I am a fan of your work – great performance art
I’m sorry to hear you had mental health issues too
this is absolutely the issue with body/computer problematics
how does this affect your working practice would you say?

best
Sarah

From: Annie Abrahams
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 3:18 PM
To: Sarah Thompson
Subject: Re: [NEW-MEDIA-CURATING] March Discussion Begins: The Performativity of Code

Hello Sarah,


Could you please tell me where I can find your book. (I don't know if you know me, but I am a French (net) artist and I did spend 6 weeks in a psychiatric hospital in 1999 - so I also have a special relationship with body computer problematics)


Best

Annie




On Tue, Mar 25, 2014 at 4:08 PM, Sarah Thompson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

  Hi GH

  I am very sorry if I upset the fragile eco-system of the
  net art world years ago, with a page that I thought
  would only contribute rather than damage. I have
  been very sad to see Rhizome go downhill over that
  time, and I hope it will initiate Raw again as they seem
  to be thinking of doing soon. I loved Rhizome.

  I can only say I was a carer at the time,and had
  1 x depressed
  1 x heart condition
  1 x carer needing support
  + I had been made redundant again
  this is no excuse though. Then I went mad
  I have written a book about it (my experience of madness)

  I now work in mental health. Perhaps this explains my concerns
  over programming and personal boundaries, and clear
  understanding of the difference between the symbolic and the real.


  >I think that humanity is on a path towards becoming hybrid bio-machines

  this would surely mean an incorporation of the machine into the body
  which has all sorts of implications for how we feel about the body
  both personally and politically. This is obviously of great concern to artists
  all over the world. But what about the psychological implications
  of what’s me and not me? What is your object with live-coding?
  To find a sense of those new configurations?

  X


  From: Artists Meeting
  Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2014 2:51 AM

  To: Sarah Thompson
  Cc: [log in to unmask]
  Subject: Re: [NEW-MEDIA-CURATING] March Discussion Begins: The Performativity of Code



  On Mar 22, 2014, at 7:42 PM, Sarah Thompson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:


    if young
    people are self-harming and getting a thrill out of
    self-harming with others then surely the symbolic
    is failing them in some way in terms of not addressing
    their concerns in terms of 'live coding'


  Hi Sarah & List,

  OK. You can say that any technology causes a type of numbing disassociation within the person. Maybe what you’re talking about with young people
  is the disassociation that comes with social media. You have to harm yourself in order to feel anything. And yes, a bunch of people sitting around in a circle
  quietly writing code is different from talking to one another of singing or dancing etc.. So maybe we are harming ourselves by engaging in these types of live coding endeavors.
  I like to use digital tools to reveal and enhance our humanity. However it does cut down on much of my social and physical activities.
  Unfortunately I think that humanity is on a path towards becoming hybrid bio-machines.




--

/////

From 1st to 27th of April residency (E)stranger, CONA and JSKD, Ljubljana
http://aabrahams.wordpress.com/2014/03/14/it-is-not-about-the-project-it-is-about-the-relation-talk/

http://www.bram.org
http://aabrahams.wordpress.com
http://metalogues.tumblr.com/
http://readingclub.fr