I would like to try a performative discussion about agency where respondents would be involved in simple actions on the grounds wherever they might be in the world. I would begin with myself of course.
Agency in art is a pressing problem with the intrusion and dissémination of artistic production in general media as well as in scientific fields. New media has helped develop artistic pratice away from the object (not too far mind you) and towards the process.
At least this is what it looks like from inside the artworld which brings us to the question of agency: when the artwork is fulfilled in the process, the artist's status as producer is put into question. This not a new problem, however the increasing commodification and the archaic relation to the means of production in the artworld is widening a gap between the artist's discourse and action because of the branding of the artist's name.
This brings us to the importance of the performative treatment of the present issue.
If we are dealing with agency in art or through art the discussion itself has be part of the process and therefore performative.
We cannot deal with art from an external standpoint. There is no possible critical distance. This has the logical consequence of empowering the viewer allthewhile creating a tension and dissensus with the actual and continued practices in art where names refer a limited number of people identified as the producer or artist.
thestateofmind.be initiative came to be with no clear artistic authorship. It is a relational that changes form with new additions and actions. The website is not the space, rather the relation to question of agency in art and its performative treatment.
In that respect the thought process generated by the discussion should have a performative part through specific actions by the respondents.
I would begin myself as offered, and relay the proposal or response on the bambuser account in order transfer the theoretical proposition into a performative stance.
We are thestateofmind
Georges Rabbath
-----Original Message-----
From: yasmin_discussions-request@estia.media.uoa.gr
Sent: 03/06/2011, 2:20 PM
To: yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
Subject: Yasmin_discussions Digest, Vol 118, Issue 1
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THIS IS A DAILY DIGEST BY YASMIN_ANNOUNCEMENTS
Today's Topics:
1. Art agency and its constitution (roger malina)
2. grading the lebanese constitution (roger malina)
3. Re: Boundaries (hight@34n118w.net)
4. Living data (Lisa Roberts)
5. Re: Boundaries (teri rueb)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2011 13:42:28 +0200
From: roger malina <rmalina@alum.mit.edu>
Subject: [Yasmin_discussions] art agency and its constitution
To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS <Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
Message-ID: <BANLkTikh2x-mY7SzE5j25zD+5eph07jh7g@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
yasminers
the venice biennale activities are under way= goerge
rabbath and team are reporting daily on their\blog =we hope
you will contribute
roger
With the current change in Middle-Eastern and North African countries,
>> it has become clear that the use of new media has apparently given
>> people the power to change status quos. This new (media) kind of
>> freedom is being addressed by attempts by governments to control the
>> web and exert better censorship and press intimidation. At the same
>> time the exercise of freedom of speech through new media gives rise to
>> new questions about the close relation to freedom and chaos.
>>
>> A R A B means W E S T, the words ??? (Arab) and ??? (West) have the
>> same root. The A R A B S were named thus because they were to the west
>> of the Assyrians. It so happens that this name has come to give E U R
>> O P E its name through the myth of Europa, being kidnapped by Zeus
>> from kingdom of Tyre and ending up in an island at equal distance of
>> East and West. Being A R A B has become an allegory of change.
>>
>> Change is happening, the question is whether change entails freedom or
>> whether it just refers to the unpredictability of chaos. The growing
>> aspect of participation in contemporary art, questions under new light
>> whether artistic practice per se, entails conditions of freedom, or
>> whether it stops at agency. Agency is a notion closely tied to that of
>> freedom. When we refer to agency, we usually combine the two words and
>> say free agency. But we sometimes use this term to refer to freedom as
>> well as agency. T H E A R A B S T A T E S O F M I N D is the
>> performative displacement, and the conceptual wandering of the ?State
>> of Mind? exhibition projected in Venice in June 2011.
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2011 13:48:44 +0200
From: roger malina <rmalina@alum.mit.edu>
Subject: [Yasmin_discussions] grading the lebanese constitution
To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS <Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
Message-ID: <BANLkTimyA0nhV2ZyfUD1yRSBt7vJCrphng@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
yasminers
187 of you have now graded the Lebanese Constitution and it
is currently rated at:
11.20320855615 out of 20
'Grading the Lebanese Constitution' is a web based project by Ricardo
Mbarkho where people can make anonymous grading for any and every
article of the actual Lebanese Constitution. An Overall Average Grade
is constantly displayed and updated. This grading centered project
with its mass evaluation process implies different ways of reading the
numbers and graphs of all the statistical results. It's a work that
deals with data interpretation to offer multiple analysis levels
relative to our emotional and rational attitude toward the
Constitution.
Roger
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2011 12:49:37 -0700
From: hight@34n118w.net
Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Boundaries
To: yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
Message-ID:
<9ae6cb0d361bc4a7baff336fdaa30a2c.squirrel@webmail.34n118w.net>
Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
Vicki,
I love the title "Echology". echo/ecology=data and even feedback loop
It sounds fascinating and very timely. I have studied meteorology and
climatology since I was a little kid and Australia in the last year has
had some wild events. Yassi comes to mind first, but also the unusual
inland flooding both in the east and in the west central dry regions that
had a temporary lake. The effects of La Nina and arguably climate change
have been immense and wide ranging to the extreme there. As I write we are
expecting a storm in a few days to bring up to 2 inches of rain in parts
of northern california which is unheard of in June (some all time records
are .89 inches down to near a trace).
I would love to know what you and other yasminers think of data and how it
is timely in relation to larger issues and concerns. I think right away
of archiving and older platforms and hardware as well as the work being
down by the Buckminster Fuller Insitute and the recent challenge winners
among a wide array of ecological and semiotic concerns around data and
measure.
best,
Jeremy
> On 30/05/11 4:24 AM, "hight@34n118w.net" <hight@34n118w.net> wrote:
>> Good point. I think the fascinating thing is the larger gestalt
>
> Jeremy,
>
> You're not kidding about the larger gestalt! Just in the past couple of
> months arts/culture orgs including Future Everything, Eyebeam and MediaLab
> Prado, have presented some really exciting projects around data.
>
> Here at ANAT in Australia we've been developing 'ECHOLOGY: making sense of
> data', which will take place from 2011-13. Kicking off with a travelling
> seminar in November, the project is especially interested in data
> representations that move beyond the screen and play to the fuller suite
> of
> senses, embracing sound, light, kinetics, materials (water, sand, gas,
> fire,
> etc) in their realisation.
>
> We're not quite at launch stage, but I thought yasminers might be
> interested
> in what we're planning, so I've included a brief overview below.. If you'd
> like to know more, please get in touch.
>
> Cheers
> Vicki
>
> ----
> ECHOLOGY: making sense of data
>
> The 21st Century is an era of pervasive and ever-increasing data
> collection;
> it tracks who we are, what we do and how we live our lives ? in effect
> creating a complex, connected universe of information-based ecologies.
> Alongside this, there has been a rapid proliferation of proprietary and
> open
> source publication and aggregation tools, enabling critical and creative
> approaches to data representation well beyond the intent and scope of
> those
> involved in its collection.
>
> Presented by the Australian Network of Art & Technology (ANAT) and Carbon
> Arts, ECHOLOGY: making sense of data introduces artists and other creative
> types to the use of real-time data in the production of artworks for the
> public realm ? bringing these abstract information ecologies into our more
> grounded, local spaces. We are especially interested in approaches that
> embrace new ways of representing data through the use of sound, kinetics,
> materials (water, sand, plants) and light.
>
> Timeline
> 2011: Travelling roadshow featuring Julie Freeman, Usman Haque, Joyce
> Hinterding, Geo Homsy, Natalie Jeremijenko and DV Rogers.
> 2012: Site identification, call for proposals, development lab
> 2013: Production, unveiling at ISEA2013 (hosted by ANAT in Sydney).
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Yasmin_discussions mailing list
> Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
> http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
>
> Yasmin URL: http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
>
> HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to subscribe to.
> In the page that will appear ("info page"), enter e-mail address, name,
> and password in the fields found further down the page.
> HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE: on the info page, scroll all the way down and enter
> your e-mail address in the last field. Enter password if asked. Click on
> the unsubscribe button on the page that will appear ("options page").
> HOW TO ENABLE / DISABLE DIGEST MODE: in the options page, find the "Set
> Digest Mode" option and set it to either on or off.
>
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2011 08:04:42 +1000
From: Lisa Roberts <lisa@lisaroberts.com.au>
Subject: [Yasmin_discussions] Living data
To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
Message-ID: <20110603080442.14cafb9a@lisa-desktop>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Yasminers,
I am interested to read Vikki's post, particularly have
experienced last week's VIVID event. I too have observed a growing
number of artists who are attracted to working with data. The word
data seems to have gathered around it an appeal that goes beyond its
definition as mere measurements and statistics.
The VIVID event comprised many small
and large scale light projections. At the launch it was was promoted
as a Design event that was innovative, sustainable and creative.
Individual statements by designers and design companies made references
to their innovative projections of data. Was it innovative? Apart
from the fact that LED lights are now replacing incandescent lighting
forms, many of the works appeared to collect and project the same old
data (random movements of people) in the same old ways (through motion,
heat or light sensors). Sustainable? The scale of the event was so huge
it made me wonder about its carbon footprint. Creative? Creativity has
no clear definition, but I had to ask, How does such work contribute
to creating a more sustainable world?
However, VIVID gave many people pleasure. It was, quite simply
seductive colour and movement. It brought people together in a
space and made us think and talk. I was seduced by the beauty of
the works and stimulated by discussions that they led to. One
discussion was about how there are artists and scientists
who have an interest in connecting many people to data that has more
meaning than random human actions. We agreed that there is a
place for designers to develop such displays, but a need for
connections to be made between them and artists and scientists.
Such connections are starting to be made at UTS, and I am keen to know
of other places where this is happening.
At UTS this year, a confluence of interests naturally arose between
me, a climate change scientist and an artist who works with data. This
has led to a new research project, Living data: How animation can bring
scientific data to life, which I will lead through the Climate Change
Cluster (C3) in the Faculty of Scientists. I will work with
plankton ecologist Martina Doblin (PhD UTS) and artist and data
visualizer Gail Kenning (PhD UNSW). Students and their tutors at UTS and
other universities in Australia and overseas will be offered
opportunities to participate in the research through field trips,
workshops, exhibitions, conferences, publications and the on-line
research journal.
Please read the Project Outline below and let us know if you would like
us to us keep you posted of our progress.
Project Outline
The need to communicate accurate and accessible information about the
integral connections between human actions and the global ecosystem is
urgent. As artists and scientists we propose a two-year program of
research into how art and science methods can be used to make digital
animations that present scientific data in ways that can expand
awareness of the place of humans within the natural systems. A visual
language of archetypal forms used in art and science to describe
feelings of connection and forces of change in the natural world will
be combined. Animations that appeal to the senses and intellect will
give new meanings to climate change data by connecting them to human
experience. Animations will be made accessible from a free on-line
archive and distributed widely. Our research will model a new
pedagogical framework for teaching and learning that reflects our view
of the world as a dynamic integrated whole.
Roberts, L; Doblin, M.; Kenning, G. May 2011
---------------------------
Lisa Roberts, PhD Fine Arts (UNSW)
www.lisaroberts.com.au
www.antarcticanimation.com
Post:-
PO Box 486
Newtown NSW
Australia 2042
Tel. +61 2 9550 2806
Mob. 0428 502 805
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2011 19:31:37 -0400
From: teri rueb <terirueb@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Boundaries
To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
Message-ID: <BANLkTikxvmGebGpPBRC-9=5LiQjBeHmDDg@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Hi All,
Happy to be a new Yasminer! And sorry to be so late in jumping into this
discussion - I have been busy writing a very long paper. Finally done. I
hope I am not introducing too much of a non sequitur with this comment.
Roger wrote:
whats not clear to me is whether these kinds of work
can really change our behaviours or relationship
to the world= to the extenthat they occupy our
mediated spaces they can perhaps "re thicken" our
connection to phenomena that we only have
abstract awareness of) but without embodiment
do they remain un=intimate ? that boundary
between the virtual and physical is multi layered
I wonder:
What about the phenomena that we only have abstract awareness of that lies
right in plain view and sensible without aid or "visualization," yet resists
quantification or reduction to mediated representations? Do mediated
overlays of data sets possibly eclipse or dull our senses to such rich
information? How might the capacity to direct movement and gaze or
attention - also critical capacities of locative media - be used to bring us
back to the fundamental experience of our own embodiment that is so often
pushed to the margins of our consciousness as we seek evermore data
"enhanced" experiences, often tailored to data-obsessed, media-attuned
sensibilities?
I also am drawn to think about the ways that "layers and layers" of data may
actually distance us from the richness of ambiguous, yet ubiquitous,
phenomena that give richness to interaction in public spaces - the level of
conscious and unconscious apprehension of our surroundings that "places" us
in relation to environment and other inhabitants. For example, the smells
in a crowded subway car that shift with the rocking of cars and bodies, the
sources of such smells ranging from the fuel or electric power of the
infrastructure, the materials of the train itself, to the smells of hair
products, laundry detergent, food, sweat, urine, etc. - all of which inform
our sense of identity, placing us and displacing us in the moment, location,
and social context. Displacement may be even more important to challenging
who we are and what unites and divides us in public, personal and private
space, yet how do data overlays facilitate such displacements - especially
since most are intent upon fixing us in space, or in specific relationship
to others, framing the context around concrete themes and easily recognized
meanings? I wonder about the affective experiences we cannot quite
articulate, visualize or explain which are nonetheless powerful factors that
inform our feelings, attitudes, opinions, and actions, behavior, etc. How
is this level of experience folded into so-called "locative media"?
Another example from the subway . . . we seem to be informal experts at
managing furtive glances or even outright stares as a form of observation
through which we become attuned to social contexts and communications at
verbal and non-verbal levels. These are highly localized, yet powerful
sources of affective knowledge that extrapolate to more abstract levels of
behavior and decision making. The information we are gleaning in these
moments and how we make sense of it may remain relatively inchoate, even
over long exposure or extended experiences with the same conditions, yet
still they form a sense of place and identity at less self-conscious levels
that may be more important than we think. Yet just to point to it isn't very
compelling, and may even be self-defeating if the goal is to foster diverse
levels of attention and affective experience. Is this kind of knowing and
experience eclipsed by "data layers" that promise to add other dimensions to
our social interactions in public space, even as they may dull our capacity
for deeply attuned and embodied forms of social exchange?
How can the virtual re-direct us to the non-virtual?
On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 3:49 PM, <hight@34n118w.net> wrote:
> Vicki,
>
> I love the title "Echology". echo/ecology=data and even feedback loop
>
> It sounds fascinating and very timely. I have studied meteorology and
> climatology since I was a little kid and Australia in the last year has
> had some wild events. Yassi comes to mind first, but also the unusual
> inland flooding both in the east and in the west central dry regions that
> had a temporary lake. The effects of La Nina and arguably climate change
> have been immense and wide ranging to the extreme there. As I write we are
> expecting a storm in a few days to bring up to 2 inches of rain in parts
> of northern california which is unheard of in June (some all time records
> are .89 inches down to near a trace).
>
> I would love to know what you and other yasminers think of data and how it
> is timely in relation to larger issues and concerns. I think right away
> of archiving and older platforms and hardware as well as the work being
> down by the Buckminster Fuller Insitute and the recent challenge winners
> among a wide array of ecological and semiotic concerns around data and
> measure.
>
> best,
>
> Jeremy
>
>
>
> > On 30/05/11 4:24 AM, "hight@34n118w.net" <hight@34n118w.net> wrote:
> >> Good point. I think the fascinating thing is the larger gestalt
> >
> > Jeremy,
> >
> > You're not kidding about the larger gestalt! Just in the past couple of
> > months arts/culture orgs including Future Everything, Eyebeam and
> MediaLab
> > Prado, have presented some really exciting projects around data.
> >
> > Here at ANAT in Australia we've been developing 'ECHOLOGY: making sense
> of
> > data', which will take place from 2011-13. Kicking off with a travelling
> > seminar in November, the project is especially interested in data
> > representations that move beyond the screen and play to the fuller suite
> > of
> > senses, embracing sound, light, kinetics, materials (water, sand, gas,
> > fire,
> > etc) in their realisation.
> >
> > We're not quite at launch stage, but I thought yasminers might be
> > interested
> > in what we're planning, so I've included a brief overview below.. If
> you'd
> > like to know more, please get in touch.
> >
> > Cheers
> > Vicki
> >
> > ----
> > ECHOLOGY: making sense of data
> >
> > The 21st Century is an era of pervasive and ever-increasing data
> > collection;
> > it tracks who we are, what we do and how we live our lives ? in effect
> > creating a complex, connected universe of information-based ecologies.
> > Alongside this, there has been a rapid proliferation of proprietary and
> > open
> > source publication and aggregation tools, enabling critical and creative
> > approaches to data representation well beyond the intent and scope of
> > those
> > involved in its collection.
> >
> > Presented by the Australian Network of Art & Technology (ANAT) and Carbon
> > Arts, ECHOLOGY: making sense of data introduces artists and other
> creative
> > types to the use of real-time data in the production of artworks for the
> > public realm ? bringing these abstract information ecologies into our
> more
> > grounded, local spaces. We are especially interested in approaches that
> > embrace new ways of representing data through the use of sound, kinetics,
> > materials (water, sand, plants) and light.
> >
> > Timeline
> > 2011: Travelling roadshow featuring Julie Freeman, Usman Haque, Joyce
> > Hinterding, Geo Homsy, Natalie Jeremijenko and DV Rogers.
> > 2012: Site identification, call for proposals, development lab
> > 2013: Production, unveiling at ISEA2013 (hosted by ANAT in Sydney).
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Yasmin_discussions mailing list
> > Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
> > http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
> >
> > Yasmin URL: http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
> >
> > HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to subscribe to.
> > In the page that will appear ("info page"), enter e-mail address, name,
> > and password in the fields found further down the page.
> > HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE: on the info page, scroll all the way down and enter
> > your e-mail address in the last field. Enter password if asked. Click on
> > the unsubscribe button on the page that will appear ("options page").
> > HOW TO ENABLE / DISABLE DIGEST MODE: in the options page, find the "Set
> > Digest Mode" option and set it to either on or off.
> >
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Yasmin_discussions mailing list
> Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
> http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
>
> Yasmin URL: http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
>
> HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to subscribe to.
> In the page that will appear ("info page"), enter e-mail address, name, and
> password in the fields found further down the page.
> HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE: on the info page, scroll all the way down and enter
> your e-mail address in the last field. Enter password if asked. Click on the
> unsubscribe button on the page that will appear ("options page").
> HOW TO ENABLE / DISABLE DIGEST MODE: in the options page, find the "Set
> Digest Mode" option and set it to either on or off.
>
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