Re: [-empyre-] re/claiming and unsettling / continuing artistic practices
On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 3:34 PM, Johannes Birringer johannes.birrin...@brunel.ac.uk wrote: kamen argues: This notion - of retreat, of losing the centre - is something I'm researching right now in terms of art practice could you elaborate on that, and your proposition that citizens produce public space, perhaps also in response to Alan Sondheim;s justified skepticism, and his mentioning of the resilient governing forces? Ah, indeed, retreat as recession (= to recede). This is actually slightly off-topic here, especially with regards to pin-point the nuances that distinguish resistance, resilience, recalcitrance, etc. But, yes, in the light of the 15M movement in Spain last summer, and the Acampada Sol phenomenon - and ESPECIALLY the late reaction and poor performance of the different Culture Commissions in different occupations all over the country - I started pondering the idea of what might define a critical aesthetic practice which could be truly adequate to these phenomena and to the historical moment we're experiencing. My initial impression - which was later confirmed by the OccupyWallStreet phenomenon - was that the contemporary art sphere was responding to this with the received wisdom and the aesthetic language of critical art practices from the 1960's and 1970's of last century. Not an inspiring sight. Some of the strongholds I came accross in this process came from critical thought, and some of them manifested themselves in actual direct activist practice. On the one hand, already back in 2009, Hal Foster, David Joselit, and Yve-Alain Bois launched an open call for discussion on the notion of Recessional Aesthetics. The resulting debate was later published in Recessional Aesthetics: An Exchange, October 135, Winter 2011, pp. 93-116. But, back in 2009, Paul Chan published his talk The Spirit of Recession (October 129, Summer 2009, pp. 3-12.). There, he attempts to outline an aesthetic understanding of the current recession, and resorts to an interesting etymological reading of the term, and, eventually, finds an empowering aspect to it in the significance of the recessional hymn in church service: For the other definition of recession has to do with the church, namely, the time after church service when the clergy departs and the people who make up the congregation are left to themselves. As the church authorities leave, a hymn is sung. This is called a recessional. (Ibid., pp. 10-11) And it is here, in the act of leaving and singing, that the idea of a recession gains its transformative potential. For a church without authority is blessed indeed. The end of the service announces the beginning of another kind of time: no more commands for sacrifice and expressions of faith; no more sermons from the book of Progress; no more exchange of prayers. Time holds no more duties and returns to the poeple a sense of being neither guaranteed nor determined, and inner composition unburdened by the anxiety of influence, one which finds its own shape only when power recedes. This is the time when thoughts turn away from the authority that captures their attention from above and from within, and toward the radical demands of life after church. (Ibid, p. 11) Now, in an (apparently) wholly unrelated context, I was deeply impressed at the events surrounding Acampada Sol between August 2nd and August 5th 2011. In preparation for the Pope to Madrid, the authorities, fearing the response of activists, decided to cordon off Puerta del Sol and this, somehow, behead the protest movement. Partly, this was done with the assumption that, this being August in Madrid, most people would have left on holiday. But the authorities must not have been reading the salmon pages in the newspaper - most of us were skint and had to stay in Madrid for the summer, so Sol was soon besieged by a crowd of over 10 000 demostrators, demanding access to the square. Of course, the principle of non-violence upheld by the movement meant that forcing our way through the riot police cordons was not an option, so for most of the first day, it was mostly a stalemate. Then something interesting happened. Frustrated at the impossibility of moving forward, and following someone's chant os Ciao! Ciao! Ciao! ¡Nos vamos a Callao! (We're off to Callao!), all of us followed suit and left the main square behind to concentrate on the nearby square of Callao. Then, a demonstration started from there and proceed to block the traffic and take over most of the major avenues and streets of the city centre. The operation was repeated the following three days, until, eventually, on the 5th of August, the demo reached Puerta del Sol, only to find the police cordons had disappeared and access to the square was open. So, the demo entered the square triumphantly, held a long general assembly, partied for a while, and, like an exceptionally lenghty flashmob, abandoned the square once more. There is nothing exceptional about this, historically.
Re: [-empyre-] reclaiming
Dear Ether, I think you pinpointed it clear, the relational city is, for me, indeed, a form of resilience, the way a city and it's population adapt itself to changes and to exterior modifications. As I wrote the other day quoting Hakim Bey, one of the most innovative netthinkers I have come across, I think the cities have an inherent capacity of answer when the state fails at it's duty as ruler and coordinator. Hakim Bey's notion of TAZ, Temporary Autonomous Zone, can applies to several places in the world where the population find ways to mitigate the pressure exerced against them. I think about Gaza and it's tunnels, today the only way for the gazians to get goods and people in and out the strip. The siege of Gaza exerced by Israel created by paradox a very creative situation where goods and wares are exchanged and recycled. The same happens in Cuba, where the embargo imposed upon them by the US, stops the most import of spare parts for cars or medicines or many other things. And the Cubans learned how to make own medicines with local herbs or to repair and maintain cars without spare parts from outside. Ana On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 2:10 PM, Ethel Baraona Pohl ethel.bara...@gmail.comwrote: Ana As you mentioned new forms of grassroots fundraising I started to think on how new economic approaches are an important part of urban resilience. i. e. If we think about the Argentinian Corralitohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corralito and how people were fighting for their right to have their funds from the banks. The fact that neither banks or the Government weren't helpful for people to recover their savings, lead the Argentinian population to start trading with a new way of economy: the trueque. This exchange, based of relational goods was the main fact that allowed a large number of people to have access to food and basic goods. I think we're talking about resilience here. By this point of view, can we say that the relational city is almost the same that the resilient city? What do you think? Ethel --- Ethel Baraona Pohl | dpr-barcelona http://www.dpr-barcelona.com/ twitter @ethel_baraona https://twitter.com/ethel_baraona47 | about.mehttp://about.me/ethel_baraona ethel.bara...@gmail.com (+34) 626 048 684 *Before you print think about the environment* On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 1:06 PM, Ana Valdés agora...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Ethel for sharing it, very interesting! By the way the new forms of grassroots fundraising are very imaginative and I think they are changing the ways Art and other forms of cultural production are working. Instead of relying in states we rely on our own networks. An autogestionated culture? Ana On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 10:02 AM, Ethel Baraona Pohl ethel.bara...@gmail.com wrote: Just sharing a project that may be related to all that Pablo has explained about Fukushima: http://www.indiegogo.com/WEAREALLRADIOACTIVE *We Are All Radioactive* is an innovative experiment in online filmmaking that integrates storytelling, fundraising, and awareness-raising. I'm thinking on how this communication tools can be (or not) helpful to get people aware of the situation and create new resistance/resilient/recalcitrant/reclaiming movements. Any thoughts? Ethel --- Ethel Baraona Pohl | dpr-barcelona http://www.dpr-barcelona.com/ twitter @ethel_baraona https://twitter.com/ethel_baraona4747 | about.me http://about.me/ethel_baraona ethel.bara...@gmail.com (+34) 626 048 684 *Before you print think about the environment* On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 4:30 AM, Ana Valdés agora...@gmail.com wrote: Pablo, great map, thanks for sharing it! And I think it should be great if you wrote something about your book and your project Situation Room, a really collective book :) with my foreword and edited by Ethel's publishing house DPR! It was a book preceding your stay in Japan and your work with the nuclear... Ana On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 3:38 AM, Pablo de Soto pablodes...@gmail.comwrote: hola Ricardo et all last year we did an of incomplete map of student actions in Europe: http://hackitectura.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/B-side.jpg the idea was to visualize the highlighs and most creative students actions from book block to the temporary squatting of very iconic monuments we did not have time (it was a 3 days workhop) or the enough network capacity to make the global map, including the very intense squatting actions in America all along from California to Chile best pablo El 6 de marzo de 2012 15:24, rrdominguez2 rrdoming...@ucsd.eduescribió: Hola all, While I can appreciate the exit culture of performing recalcitrance, which at least for me recalls Herman Melville's Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street with his mantra of I would prefer not to - the urban capabilities that enable those who are less powerful to reroute around the recalcitrance of those in power to change or delete themselves - is
Re: [-empyre-] reclaiming
Hi friends, first welcome to my good friend Alicia Migdal, a writer and literary critic, who is going to be one of our guests next week. She posted now as part of the conversation and I tried a translation for all our non-Spanish speaking subscribers. Please bear with me, I am not a native English speaker and Alicias language is a wonderful literary language, I hope I did her post justice. If not, I apologize. My translation of Alicia's post: Argentinas economic and social crisis from the years 2001-2002 resulted in many interesting experiences we can call autogestionated. The information and memory from that time is now in loose threads, as it happen often when the attention change to other issues. There were many occupied factories which were recovered by their workers. In the cultural field the most interesting cultural phenomenon was Eloisa Cartonera, an underground publishing house with handmade books started among others by the writer Washington Cucurto. In Montevideo there is a similar project called La propia cartonera. Their editions are made from recycled wellpaper and paper waste, with a very personal design. Recognized writers and new ones participate in the project, Ricardo Piglia, César Aira, Dani Umpi. Everyone gives away their copyrights to these cooperative project. They are situated in the neighboorhood La Boca, where they have courses and meetings. Their catalog have more than 100 titles. On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 5:26 PM, Alicia Migdal aliciamig...@gmail.comwrote: De la experiencia autogestionaria producto de la crisis argentina del 2001/02 la información se ha ido deshilachando, como sucede en general después de momentos cruciales que hegemonizan la atención. Hubo una importante cantidad de fábricas recuperadas por los obreros. En el ámbito cultural el fenómeno más interesante fue el de Eloísa Cartonera, una editorial artesanal de la que el escritor Washington Cucurto es uno de sus promotores. En Montevideo existe La propia cartonera, como proyecto similar. Son ediciones hechas a partir del reciclaje de cartones y materiales de descarte, con un tipo de diseño personalizado y en las que hay tanto nuevos escritores como consagrados. Por ejemplo, Ricardo Piglia, César Aira, Dani Umpi. Todos ceden sus derechos para este proyecto cooperativo. Su sede es en el barrio de La Boca, donde hacen además cursos y encuentros. Tienen un catálogo de más de 100 títulos. -- http://www.twitter.com/caravia15859 http://www.scoop.it/t/art-and-activism/ http://www.scoop.it/t/food-history-and-trivia http://www.scoop.it/t/gender-issues/ http://www.scoop.it/t/literary-exiles/ http://www.scoop.it/t/museums-and-ethics/ http://www.scoop.it/t/urbanism-3-0 http://www.scoop.it/t/postcolonial-mind/ mobil/cell +4670-3213370 When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will always long to return. — Leonardo da Vinci ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] reclaiming
Dear Ana Just to share some thoughts on Gaza tunnels, a post we wrote some months ago: http://dprbcn.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/secret-tunneling/ Best, Ethel _ Ethel Baraona Pohl dpr-barcelona Sent from my iPhone On Mar 8, 2012, at 16:00, Ana Valdés agora...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Ether, I think you pinpointed it clear, the relational city is, for me, indeed, a form of resilience, the way a city and it's population adapt itself to changes and to exterior modifications. As I wrote the other day quoting Hakim Bey, one of the most innovative netthinkers I have come across, I think the cities have an inherent capacity of answer when the state fails at it's duty as ruler and coordinator. Hakim Bey's notion of TAZ, Temporary Autonomous Zone, can applies to several places in the world where the population find ways to mitigate the pressure exerced against them. I think about Gaza and it's tunnels, today the only way for the gazians to get goods and people in and out the strip. The siege of Gaza exerced by Israel created by paradox a very creative situation where goods and wares are exchanged and recycled. The same happens in Cuba, where the embargo imposed upon them by the US, stops the most import of spare parts for cars or medicines or many other things. And the Cubans learned how to make own medicines with local herbs or to repair and maintain cars without spare parts from outside. Ana On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 2:10 PM, Ethel Baraona Pohl ethel.bara...@gmail.com wrote: Ana As you mentioned new forms of grassroots fundraising I started to think on how new economic approaches are an important part of urban resilience. i. e. If we think about the Argentinian Corralito and how people were fighting for their right to have their funds from the banks. The fact that neither banks or the Government weren't helpful for people to recover their savings, lead the Argentinian population to start trading with a new way of economy: the trueque. This exchange, based of relational goods was the main fact that allowed a large number of people to have access to food and basic goods. I think we're talking about resilience here. By this point of view, can we say that the relational city is almost the same that the resilient city? What do you think? Ethel --- Ethel Baraona Pohl | dpr-barcelona twitter @ethel_baraona47 | about.me ethel.bara...@gmail.com (+34) 626 048 684 Before you print think about the environment On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 1:06 PM, Ana Valdés agora...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Ethel for sharing it, very interesting! By the way the new forms of grassroots fundraising are very imaginative and I think they are changing the ways Art and other forms of cultural production are working. Instead of relying in states we rely on our own networks. An autogestionated culture? Ana On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 10:02 AM, Ethel Baraona Pohl ethel.bara...@gmail.com wrote: Just sharing a project that may be related to all that Pablo has explained about Fukushima: http://www.indiegogo.com/WEAREALLRADIOACTIVE We Are All Radioactive is an innovative experiment in online filmmaking that integrates storytelling, fundraising, and awareness-raising. I'm thinking on how this communication tools can be (or not) helpful to get people aware of the situation and create new resistance/resilient/recalcitrant/reclaiming movements. Any thoughts? Ethel --- Ethel Baraona Pohl | dpr-barcelona twitter @ethel_baraona4747 | about.me ethel.bara...@gmail.com (+34) 626 048 684 Before you print think about the environment On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 4:30 AM, Ana Valdés agora...@gmail.com wrote: Pablo, great map, thanks for sharing it! And I think it should be great if you wrote something about your book and your project Situation Room, a really collective book :) with my foreword and edited by Ethel's publishing house DPR! It was a book preceding your stay in Japan and your work with the nuclear... Ana On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 3:38 AM, Pablo de Soto pablodes...@gmail.com wrote: hola Ricardo et all last year we did an of incomplete map of student actions in Europe: http://hackitectura.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/B-side.jpg the idea was to visualize the highlighs and most creative students actions from book block to the temporary squatting of very iconic monuments we did not have time (it was a 3 days workhop) or the enough network capacity to make the global map, including the very intense squatting actions in America all along from California to Chile best pablo El 6 de marzo de 2012 15:24, rrdominguez2 rrdoming...@ucsd.edu escribió: Hola all, While I can appreciate the exit culture of performing recalcitrance, which at least for me recalls Herman Melville's Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street with his mantra of I would prefer not to - the urban capabilities that
Re: [-empyre-] reclaiming
Wonderful post, thanks Ethel! I can't avoid posting this You Tube short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuOYKRhRWP4 :) Ana On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 6:29 PM, Ethel Baraona ethel.bara...@gmail.comwrote: Dear Ana Just to share some thoughts on Gaza tunnels, a post we wrote some months ago: http://dprbcn.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/secret-tunneling/ Best, Ethel _ Ethel Baraona Pohl dpr-barcelona Sent from my iPhone On Mar 8, 2012, at 16:00, Ana Valdés agora...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Ether, I think you pinpointed it clear, the relational city is, for me, indeed, a form of resilience, the way a city and it's population adapt itself to changes and to exterior modifications. As I wrote the other day quoting Hakim Bey, one of the most innovative netthinkers I have come across, I think the cities have an inherent capacity of answer when the state fails at it's duty as ruler and coordinator. Hakim Bey's notion of TAZ, Temporary Autonomous Zone, can applies to several places in the world where the population find ways to mitigate the pressure exerced against them. I think about Gaza and it's tunnels, today the only way for the gazians to get goods and people in and out the strip. The siege of Gaza exerced by Israel created by paradox a very creative situation where goods and wares are exchanged and recycled. The same happens in Cuba, where the embargo imposed upon them by the US, stops the most import of spare parts for cars or medicines or many other things. And the Cubans learned how to make own medicines with local herbs or to repair and maintain cars without spare parts from outside. Ana On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 2:10 PM, Ethel Baraona Pohl ethel.bara...@gmail.com wrote: Ana As you mentioned new forms of grassroots fundraising I started to think on how new economic approaches are an important part of urban resilience. i. e. If we think about the Argentinian Corralitohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corralito and how people were fighting for their right to have their funds from the banks. The fact that neither banks or the Government weren't helpful for people to recover their savings, lead the Argentinian population to start trading with a new way of economy: the trueque. This exchange, based of relational goods was the main fact that allowed a large number of people to have access to food and basic goods. I think we're talking about resilience here. By this point of view, can we say that the relational city is almost the same that the resilient city? What do you think? Ethel --- Ethel Baraona Pohl | dpr-barcelona http://www.dpr-barcelona.com/ twitter @ethel_baraona https://twitter.com/ethel_baraona4747 | about.mehttp://about.me/ethel_baraona ethel.bara...@gmail.com (+34) 626 048 684 *Before you print think about the environment* On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 1:06 PM, Ana Valdés agora...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Ethel for sharing it, very interesting! By the way the new forms of grassroots fundraising are very imaginative and I think they are changing the ways Art and other forms of cultural production are working. Instead of relying in states we rely on our own networks. An autogestionated culture? Ana On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 10:02 AM, Ethel Baraona Pohl ethel.bara...@gmail.com wrote: Just sharing a project that may be related to all that Pablo has explained about Fukushima: http://www.indiegogo.com/WEAREALLRADIOACTIVE *We Are All Radioactive* is an innovative experiment in online filmmaking that integrates storytelling, fundraising, and awareness-raising. I'm thinking on how this communication tools can be (or not) helpful to get people aware of the situation and create new resistance/resilient/recalcitrant/reclaiming movements. Any thoughts? Ethel --- Ethel Baraona Pohl | dpr-barcelona http://www.dpr-barcelona.com/ twitter @ethel_baraona https://twitter.com/ethel_baraona474747 | about.me http://about.me/ethel_baraona ethel.bara...@gmail.com (+34) 626 048 684 *Before you print think about the environment* On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 4:30 AM, Ana Valdés agora...@gmail.com wrote: Pablo, great map, thanks for sharing it! And I think it should be great if you wrote something about your book and your project Situation Room, a really collective book :) with my foreword and edited by Ethel's publishing house DPR! It was a book preceding your stay in Japan and your work with the nuclear... Ana On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 3:38 AM, Pablo de Soto pablodes...@gmail.comwrote: hola Ricardo et all last year we did an of incomplete map of student actions in Europe: http://hackitectura.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/B-side.jpg the idea was to visualize the highlighs and most creative students actions from book block to the temporary squatting of very iconic monuments we did not have time (it was a 3 days workhop) or the enough network capacity to make the global map, including the very intense squatting
Re: [-empyre-] re/claiming and unsettling / continuing artistic practices
dear all Kamen's response – regarding the spirit of recession - is so evocative and striking that I want to just let it stay here, and take more time reflect further, on what you yourself wonder The question is how to continue being a moving target, shifting gears, adopting new tactics, new approaches, new practices and what you pose to interrogate, namely whether there is a critical aesthetic practice which could be truly adequate to these phenomena and to the historical moment we're experiencing, rather than a contemporary art sphere [that] was responding to [the political activist movements] with the received wisdom and the aesthetic language of critical art practices from the 1960's and 1970's of last century. Not an inspiring sight. What artistic critical practices of tactical receding would that be? The thoughts on Slajoy Zizek's lecture will have to wait... (I had planned to mention his reference to Greece, to see what Aristide Antonas might reply (after he suggested Athens is emblematic for the future - why?) . Strangely, Zizek went for a (mythopoetic?) analogy, in his critique of how the new political activist uprisers or occupiers misunderstand global capitalism's totality, and he mentioned Sparta. It was a truly strange moment in his lecture to hear him reflect back on the ancient military struggle between Athens and Sparta. .. interesting feedback from Ethel, Pablo and Alicia Ana, and Ana's proposition of an autogestionated culture (experiencia autogestionaria) - as Alicia i think references the handmade books (Eloisa Cartonera) --cannot but raise questions that point in the direction, perhaps, of what Kamen or Pablo interrogated. but the notion of handmade also seems to be caught perhaps on the received wisdom and aesthetic languages of the past? (of institutional critique or arte povera?), artistic civil disobedience always has a somewhat bad taste attached, no? peace johannes birringer dap lab Kamen schreibt: Ah, indeed, retreat as recession (= to recede). This is actually slightly off-topic here, especially with regards to pin-point the nuances that distinguish resistance, resilience, recalcitrance, etc. But, yes, in the light of the 15M movement in Spain last summer, and the Acampada Sol phenomenon - and ESPECIALLY the late reaction and poor performance of the different Culture Commissions in different occupations all over the country - I started pondering the idea of what might define a critical aesthetic practice which could be truly adequate to these phenomena and to the historical moment we're experiencing. My initial impression - which was later confirmed by the OccupyWallStreet phenomenon - was that the contemporary art sphere was responding to this with the received wisdom and the aesthetic language of critical art practices from the 1960's and 1970's of last century. Not an inspiring sight. Some of the strongholds I came accross in this process came from critical thought, and some of them manifested themselves in actual direct activist practice. On the one hand, already back in 2009, Hal Foster, David Joselit, and Yve-Alain Bois launched an open call for discussion on the notion of Recessional Aesthetics. The resulting debate was later published in Recessional Aesthetics: An Exchange, October 135, Winter 2011, pp. 93-116. But, back in 2009, Paul Chan published his talk The Spirit of Recession (October 129, Summer 2009, pp. 3-12.). There, he attempts to outline an aesthetic understanding of the current recession, and resorts to an interesting etymological reading of the term, and, eventually, finds an empowering aspect to it in the significance of the recessional hymn in church service: For the other definition of recession has to do with the church, namely, the time after church service when the clergy departs and the people who make up the congregation are left to themselves. As the church authorities leave, a hymn is sung. This is called a recessional. (Ibid., pp. 10-11) And it is here, in the act of leaving and singing, that the idea of a recession gains its transformative potential. For a church without authority is blessed indeed. The end of the service announces the beginning of another kind of time: no more commands for sacrifice and expressions of faith; no more sermons from the book of Progress; no more exchange of prayers. Time holds no more duties and returns to the poeple a sense of being neither guaranteed nor determined, and inner composition unburdened by the anxiety of influence, one which finds its own shape only when power recedes. This is the time when thoughts turn away from the authority that captures their attention from above and from within, and toward the radical demands of life after church. (Ibid, p. 11) Now, in an (apparently) wholly unrelated context, I was deeply impressed at the events surrounding Acampada Sol between August 2nd and August 5th 2011. In preparation for the Pope to
[-empyre-] an interlude on sympathy
Dear empyreans, Thank you, Kamen, for citing Paul Chan's piece The Spirit of Recession. I was so taken by its poetry that I found and listened to it. [here http://artonair.org/play/8563/show/paul-chan-the-spirit-of-recession] I offer the following as a brief interlude: In The Spirit of Recession Paul Chan invokes three cycles: 1. the ineluctability of the cycle of history - a war, a banking crisis, or scandal, a recession, repeated from father to son, Bush by Bush 2. the ineluctability of the cycle of domination - whereby disarmament is a high calling (note already a religious-pacifist tone) 3. the ineluctability of the cycle of the self - the most mysterious, since it is the subject of a domination, in a circular or voluntary relation with its dominated object He brings in two disciplines or orders: 1. the practice of religion 2. the practice of art Both in a practical sense rely on repetition. The parallels between the two are well-known: it is in regard to the first, that, while also linking it with the sacrament of exchange in capitalism, Paul Chan says, I am a liar, I have no problem being a liar; he gives the context of labelling himself a Christian while in Iraq in order better and more fully to engage with Iraqis. While art practice he describes in eschatalogical, religious terms: as about being about last things, like the last thing in the service, the recessional, when the church is blessed for authority having left it. There is a beautiful role reversal at work here. What strikes me as strange, however, as given the lie to, or the true paradox of his speech, is that he explicitly says there is no magic, when spirit or magic is clearly the issue. A perennial magical domination of the spirit. It is a power immanent to and exercised in religious work as much as artistic work in so far as both involve, convolve, revolve, these three cycles, even when from below, in terms of their hypostasization, their iteration at a deeper, hidden level. Albeit in plain sight, as Paul Chan says. These practices are rites - good works, work itself, right? (Jesus, he says, and so much more!) repeated, undertaken in a spirit of humility, modesty, recession, even, as suggested, yet for that very reason vulnerable to having already been coopted, to having already been made complicit, and to precisely conspiratorially and magically supporting the cycles of repetition: of history, of power, of identity. Best, Simon Taylor www.squarewhiteworld.com ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] re/claiming and unsettling / continuing artistic practices
Dear all, I am very happy about the broad range of our discussion! Next week we are going to have two writers and I am delighted to see some of them (Leandro, Alicia) already participating... The examples raised by Alicia, the publisher house Eloisa Cartonera and their Uruguayan syster, La propia cartonera, are indeed examples of arte povera and they were invited to the Sao Paulo Biennal some years ago, to present their work in a artistist context. I attended the Biennal and talked to them and they impressed me with their very political way of concieve the publishing business, a business overtaken by bif multinationals and the old media. But I am sure Alicia and Sabela are going to present more examples of resiliance and resistance generated here at Rio de la Plata. Ana On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 10:34 PM, Johannes Birringer johannes.birrin...@brunel.ac.uk wrote: dear all Kamen's response – regarding the spirit of recession - is so evocative and striking that I want to just let it stay here, and take more time reflect further, on what you yourself wonder The question is how to continue being a moving target, shifting gears, adopting new tactics, new approaches, new practices and what you pose to interrogate, namely whether there is a critical aesthetic practice which could be truly adequate to these phenomena and to the historical moment we're experiencing, rather than a contemporary art sphere [that] was responding to [the political activist movements] with the received wisdom and the aesthetic language of critical art practices from the 1960's and 1970's of last century. Not an inspiring sight. What artistic critical practices of tactical receding would that be? The thoughts on Slajoy Zizek's lecture will have to wait... (I had planned to mention his reference to Greece, to see what Aristide Antonas might reply (after he suggested Athens is emblematic for the future - why?) . Strangely, Zizek went for a (mythopoetic?) analogy, in his critique of how the new political activist uprisers or occupiers misunderstand global capitalism's totality, and he mentioned Sparta. It was a truly strange moment in his lecture to hear him reflect back on the ancient military struggle between Athens and Sparta. .. interesting feedback from Ethel, Pablo and Alicia Ana, and Ana's proposition of an autogestionated culture (experiencia autogestionaria) - as Alicia i think references the handmade books (Eloisa Cartonera) --cannot but raise questions that point in the direction, perhaps, of what Kamen or Pablo interrogated. but the notion of handmade also seems to be caught perhaps on the received wisdom and aesthetic languages of the past? (of institutional critique or arte povera?), artistic civil disobedience always has a somewhat bad taste attached, no? peace johannes birringer dap lab Kamen schreibt: Ah, indeed, retreat as recession (= to recede). This is actually slightly off-topic here, especially with regards to pin-point the nuances that distinguish resistance, resilience, recalcitrance, etc. But, yes, in the light of the 15M movement in Spain last summer, and the Acampada Sol phenomenon - and ESPECIALLY the late reaction and poor performance of the different Culture Commissions in different occupations all over the country - I started pondering the idea of what might define a critical aesthetic practice which could be truly adequate to these phenomena and to the historical moment we're experiencing. My initial impression - which was later confirmed by the OccupyWallStreet phenomenon - was that the contemporary art sphere was responding to this with the received wisdom and the aesthetic language of critical art practices from the 1960's and 1970's of last century. Not an inspiring sight. Some of the strongholds I came accross in this process came from critical thought, and some of them manifested themselves in actual direct activist practice. On the one hand, already back in 2009, Hal Foster, David Joselit, and Yve-Alain Bois launched an open call for discussion on the notion of Recessional Aesthetics. The resulting debate was later published in Recessional Aesthetics: An Exchange, October 135, Winter 2011, pp. 93-116. But, back in 2009, Paul Chan published his talk The Spirit of Recession (October 129, Summer 2009, pp. 3-12.). There, he attempts to outline an aesthetic understanding of the current recession, and resorts to an interesting etymological reading of the term, and, eventually, finds an empowering aspect to it in the significance of the recessional hymn in church service: For the other definition of recession has to do with the church, namely, the time after church service when the clergy departs and the people who make up the congregation are left to themselves. As the church authorities leave, a hymn is sung. This is called a recessional. (Ibid., pp. 10-11) And it is here, in the act
[-empyre-] Walter Benjamin Passagenwerk or the Arcades Project
My favorite bookshopowner called me today and he told me the copies of Benjamin's book I bought from him will arrive on Monday. It made me incredible happy. I think few intellectuals of this century thought so broad and so deep about the homo urbanus, the persons inhabitating the houses strolling the arcades and galleries, reading magazines and newspapers in cofeeshops. I come across a wonderful quote of Benjamin picked up by our friend Ethel Baraona: As Walter Benjamin wrote, we always have nostalgia of what is left behind. Ana -- http://www.twitter.com/caravia15859 http://www.scoop.it/t/art-and-activism/ http://www.scoop.it/t/food-history-and-trivia http://www.scoop.it/t/gender-issues/ http://www.scoop.it/t/literary-exiles/ http://www.scoop.it/t/museums-and-ethics/ http://www.scoop.it/t/urbanism-3-0 http://www.scoop.it/t/postcolonial-mind/ mobil/cell +4670-3213370 When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will always long to return. — Leonardo da Vinci ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] re/claiming and unsettling / continuing artistic practices
First I want to thank Ana for inviting me to participate in this month¹s discussion. I have been part of this list for many years, but I don¹t write every month. I do read most material that comes to my box, as I¹m always interested in the discussions. So it is good to have a commitment to write more consistently from time to time. Thanks again. I have read the postings so far, and I¹m a bit overwhelmed by the diversity and complexity of the material covered. Discussing issues from Fukushima to the middle east, the Americas and other parts of the world so far mentioned can be a bit dizzying; but at the same time, it also feels quite natural. This could be taken as one of the symptoms of a globalized world. Regarding the concept of resilience and resistance, I wanted to share a few points of my own. I usually like to begin evaluating a subject based on its denotative definition and to then move on to its connotations, which is where most people spend their time debating the meaning of things in terms of cultural understanding. Resilience basically means that the material/subject/object is able to bounce back or recover fast/well. This term may be linked to resistance, which as we know means that a material or object may be tough to destroy. The terms are easily interchangeable as synonyms under the right circumstances, and in terms of cultural critical practices, I believe that they are complementary. This is more or less what I also sense in the post so far contributed. One thing that struck me, though, as I read the posts is that perhaps we should consider how the meaning of the terms in discussion may be different in our times from others. Some posts have recalled the movement of 68 and its relation to the occupy movement. Other posts have discussed and provided links to different manifestations of urban resilience. But one of the challenges of a critical position, in my view, is to be able to adjust itself to the changes of the system it aims to critique. In particular, I find the role of technology fascinating in this respect. I think of the Arab Spring and how it arguably would have been very difficult for it to come about as quickly as it did if it were not for the appropriation of social media. I know Ana mentioned that what happened in Tahrir Square would have happened, but I really wonder if this is really true. Didn¹t technology have such a role that without it, it would have been quite difficult to pull off such a decentralized, yet well organized event? You can read my reflections on this if you are interested in this text published on the Levantine Review: http://www.levantinecenter.org/levantine-review/after-irans-twitter-revoluti on-egypt It would be great to hear your views on how resistance and resilience may often be redefined for each generation. I think people (we) do have the tendency to reference these terms as though they are stable forms, but are they? Best, Eduardo On 3/8/12 7:45 PM, Ana Valdés agora...@gmail.com wrote: Dear all, I am very happy about the broad range of our discussion! Next week we are going to have two writers and I am delighted to see some of them (Leandro, Alicia) already participating... The examples raised by Alicia, the publisher house Eloisa Cartonera and their Uruguayan syster, La propia cartonera, are indeed examples of arte povera and they were invited to the Sao Paulo Biennal some years ago, to present their work in a artistist context. I attended the Biennal and talked to them and they impressed me with their very political way of concieve the publishing business, a business overtaken by bif multinationals and the old media. But I am sure Alicia and Sabela are going to present more examples of resiliance and resistance generated here at Rio de la Plata. Ana On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 10:34 PM, Johannes Birringer johannes.birrin...@brunel.ac.uk wrote: dear all Kamen's response regarding the spirit of recession - is so evocative and striking that I want to just let it stay here, and take more time reflect further, on what you yourself wonder The question is how to continue being a moving target, shifting gears, adopting new tactics, new approaches, new practices and what you pose to interrogate, namely whether there is a critical aesthetic practice which could be truly adequate to these phenomena and to the historical moment we're experiencing, rather than a contemporary art sphere [that] was responding to [the political activist movements] with the received wisdom and the aesthetic language of critical art practices from the 1960's and 1970's of last century. Not an inspiring sight. What artistic critical practices of tactical receding would that be? The thoughts on Slajoy Zizek's lecture will have to wait... (I had planned to mention his reference to Greece, to see what Aristide Antonas might reply (after he suggested Athens is emblematic for the future - why?) .
Re: [-empyre-] re/claiming and unsettling / continuing artistic practices
Thanks Eduardo for joining the discussion. Under your week we are going to be more familiar with your research and thoughts but it's nice to have you here in the discussion, as Alicia and Leandro. I love impacient and enthusiastic guests! :) Regarding the importance of the new technologies (Twitter, social media, cellphones) to make things happen in different parts of the world, Tahir Square, Teheran some years ago, Acampada de Sol, Occupy Wall Street, etc, let me be a bit romantic :) The Paris commune happened in the last century in Paris without any technology, the taking of the Bastille too, I mean when riots and revolutions start it's difficult to point a beginning, the first shout, who started... Yes social media makes easier the gatherings but I believe people shoud ha been gathering anyway :) Ana On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 6:13 AM, Eduardo Navas edua...@navasse.net wrote: First I want to thank Ana for inviting me to participate in this month’s discussion. I have been part of this list for many years, but I don’t write every month. I do read most material that comes to my box, as I’m always interested in the discussions. So it is good to have a commitment to write more consistently from time to time. Thanks again. I have read the postings so far, and I’m a bit overwhelmed by the diversity and complexity of the material covered. Discussing issues from Fukushima to the middle east, the Americas and other parts of the world so far mentioned can be a bit dizzying; but at the same time, it also feels quite natural. This could be taken as one of the symptoms of a globalized world. Regarding the concept of resilience and resistance, I wanted to share a few points of my own. I usually like to begin evaluating a subject based on its denotative definition and to then move on to its connotations, which is where most people spend their time debating the meaning of things in terms of cultural understanding. Resilience basically means that the material/subject/object is able to bounce back or recover fast/well. This term may be linked to resistance, which as we know means that a material or object may be tough to destroy. The terms are easily interchangeable as synonyms under the right circumstances, and in terms of cultural critical practices, I believe that they are complementary. This is more or less what I also sense in the post so far contributed. One thing that struck me, though, as I read the posts is that perhaps we should consider how the meaning of the terms in discussion may be different in our times from others. Some posts have recalled the movement of 68 and its relation to the occupy movement. Other posts have discussed and provided links to different manifestations of urban resilience. But one of the challenges of a critical position, in my view, is to be able to adjust itself to the changes of the system it aims to critique. In particular, I find the role of technology fascinating in this respect. I think of the Arab Spring and how it arguably would have been very difficult for it to come about as quickly as it did if it were not for the appropriation of social media. I know Ana mentioned that what happened in Tahrir Square would have happened, but I really wonder if this is really true. Didn’t technology have such a role that without it, it would have been quite difficult to pull off such a decentralized, yet well organized event? You can read my reflections on this if you are interested in this text published on the Levantine Review: http://www.levantinecenter.org/levantine-review/after-irans-twitter-revolution-egypt It would be great to hear your views on how resistance and resilience may often be redefined for each generation. I think people (we) do have the tendency to reference these terms as though they are stable forms, but are they? Best, Eduardo On 3/8/12 7:45 PM, Ana Valdés agora...@gmail.com wrote: Dear all, I am very happy about the broad range of our discussion! Next week we are going to have two writers and I am delighted to see some of them (Leandro, Alicia) already participating... The examples raised by Alicia, the publisher house Eloisa Cartonera and their Uruguayan syster, La propia cartonera, are indeed examples of arte povera and they were invited to the Sao Paulo Biennal some years ago, to present their work in a artistist context. I attended the Biennal and talked to them and they impressed me with their very political way of concieve the publishing business, a business overtaken by bif multinationals and the old media. But I am sure Alicia and Sabela are going to present more examples of resiliance and resistance generated here at Rio de la Plata. Ana On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 10:34 PM, Johannes Birringer johannes.birrin...@brunel.ac.uk wrote: dear all Kamen's response – regarding the spirit of recession - is so evocative and striking that I want to just let it stay here,
Re: [-empyre-] re/claiming and unsettling / continuing artistic practices
Thank you Johannes Birringer for your observations. I would like to comment the Zizek's reference to Athens and Sparta. I was not there and I cannot see from your reference which was his point. I made my reference to Athens because I consider it the contemporary city that comes first in a series of cities that cannot anymore be included in a homogeneous European community. The city changed violently during the last years. The radical change is obvious by the growth of the homeless population occupying sidewalks and corners and with the garbage recycling works that keeps busy many athenian immigrants in the centre. Athens is maybe the first city in Europe that receives the spirit of a global unified world; it will show the reaction of europe over it. It maybe shows an image of the future because now in athens we can see a picture of what is happening next to us and the borders hide it. The violent changes in the city divided a homogeneous territory in gated communities and ghe ttoes. The city on some parts of it, is not recognizable, in some parts it is similar to a war field. What makes it also indicative for the future is the way Europe understands its recovery. The answer to this violent change seems to be a forced order and a constitution of a different status quo. A non voted government and the priority of the banks over the state is also a future feature which we observe already in Greece, in Italy, in Spain. Athens was a normal European city and it is not any more. This specific change in its tissue I call emblematic. It seems that it will be repeated and the rest of Europe should know. It shows an ending to the architecture of the city that we knew. Something different and important takes place in Athens. New state strategies for a next western world are tested. This is why the difference between resistance and resilience is crucial here. Aristide Antonas Athens Sent from antonas iPhone On Mar 8, 2012, at 23:34, Johannes Birringer johannes.birrin...@brunel.ac.uk wrote: johannes birringer ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
