Re: [-empyre-] re/claiming and unsettling / continuing artistic practices
Thank you David for sharing some interesting thoughts. I think networking in itself is a value, a virtue, similar to fortitude, justice, prudence and temperance, the traditional Christian values. When Jose Bové started his fight against MacDonalds and other fastfood chains he was using his knowledge and his contactnet to create a new network. The same thing does the farmes sueing Monsanto. All the best Ana On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 10:08 AM, davin heckman davinheck...@gmail.comwrote: Ana, I wonder if the reason for this lack of sustained critical mass has to do with some of our deeper structures of belief and motivation. I think the 20th century is committed to technique, and insofar as we have been committed to technique, we have been excellent at sustaining the centrality of our belief in technique and our committment to its practice. I was just re-reading Animal Farm and sobbing, along with my children, over its failure. We were wondering why such a sound idea was incapable of producing lasting results. And, the issue is not the problem with animalism in Animal Farm the problem is the belief that animalism in itself, as a formal system, would be enough to sustain its permanent state. But again and again in the story, the problem is not animalism, it is a problem with a belief in animalism as an external technique, rather than an intimately understood, subjectively integral, culturally networked way of being. We wonder why social movements often flounder, it has to do with a lack of belief in anything BUT the technical fix. Find the error, adopt the formula, implement the system and then we can live in utopia without having to constantly concern ourselves with creating it. If we can just get rid of the humans, the animals believe, then the future of animalism is secure. But, really, maybe to sustain a movement, you have to worry yourself constantly with its perpetual renewal. Unfortunately, we are conditioned to believe that the problems of life are solved through discrete purchases even though we have overwhelming evidence that this is not so many behave as though the lack of love in their life can be solved by properly groomed nostrils or scientifically scented skin or the right watch. They might not believe the specific propaganda claims, but at a very deep level, we are always looking for fixes, but we doubt our own capacity to become the fix. I mean, global hunger Monsanto says its about their seeds but really, the world has food, give hungry people food. We don't need a scientist or a machine to do that. Depression Pfizer pushes pills... but really, work less, give your time and effort to people for nothing. The Church was good at building its network because the network wasn't an end in itself. Sure, for some people it is, and these poor people graft themselves to power and try to take something from it without giving themselves to the spirit of the collective project. But the network itself grew and sustained itself because people believe in something else, of which the network is supposed, only, to be a trace, shadow, artifact. Or, to use a more contemporary example--the city--a city does not exist because it is a city, it exists because it offers a means for people to pursue individual existence collectively. The streets, sewers, buildings, law, etc. exist to support that function, and increase the likelihood that people will join the city to pursue life. And, a really good city, eventually becomes a metaphor for the life of its people, and then for people more generally. But this is only a power trick of signification, a way of talking about life through material metaphors. That Chan reference on this thread, really illustrates this idea quite nicely. Peace! Davin On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 4:03 PM, Ana Valdés agora...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Johannes for a very inclusive post where you pinpointed some of the most relevant things we posted these days. I am as you concerned with the concept of networking. I think for the big capital has never haft problems with networking issues. Rome had soldiers and administrators taking to Rome wheat from Egypt, parrots from Africa, grain from everywhere, wine from Spain, etc, etc. The Catholic Church based it's power on networking. Yes, they were vertical and high centralized networkings but their goal was to keep the empire or their organization floating. Why should be so difficult for us, grassroots movements, students, peasants, social leaders, artists, intellectuals, commited people, to act the same way? Ana On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 3:34 PM, Johannes Birringer johannes.birrin...@brunel.ac.uk wrote: dear all thanks for all the postings herel I was intrigued to read the conceptual (theoretical) notions offered, perhaps as a form of political thought or analysis, alongside the reports from
Re: [-empyre-] re/claiming and unsettling / continuing artistic practices
Thank you Aristide. You are right that the violent changes to Athens, which have altered it from a European city to a war field... indicative of the future, is absolutely emblematic of the future and the ownership of states by the banks. This article from February 12th, signed by Alain Badiou, Jean-Christophe Bailly, Étienne Balibar, Claire Denis, Jean-Luc Nancy, Jacques Ranciere, Avital Ronell, may be old news to everyone, but it's worth considering if you have not read it: Save the Greeks from their Saviours! says Alain Badiou http://www.europeagainstausterity.org/?p=650 Thanks to everyone for the very stimulating discussion of resistance and resilience, which I have been following closely. Kristine Stiles Duke University On Mar 9, 2012, at 2:33 AM, Antonas Office wrote: 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 ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] re/claiming and unsettling / continuing artistic practices
Ana, I think you are right, insofar as it is a web of intersubjective relations, a network does imply some pretty hearty obligations and rights. On the other hand, network can also imply a relationship among objects or objectives, as a command and control tool, more or less. I think sometimes, the lines between the two models of communication, one humanistic and the other informatic, tend to blend together. Davin On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 4:21 AM, Ana Valdés agora...@gmail.com wrote: Thank you David for sharing some interesting thoughts. I think networking in itself is a value, a virtue, similar to fortitude, justice, prudence and temperance, the traditional Christian values. When Jose Bové started his fight against MacDonalds and other fastfood chains he was using his knowledge and his contactnet to create a new network. The same thing does the farmes sueing Monsanto. All the best Ana On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 10:08 AM, davin heckman davinheck...@gmail.com wrote: Ana, I wonder if the reason for this lack of sustained critical mass has to do with some of our deeper structures of belief and motivation. I think the 20th century is committed to technique, and insofar as we have been committed to technique, we have been excellent at sustaining the centrality of our belief in technique and our committment to its practice. I was just re-reading Animal Farm and sobbing, along with my children, over its failure. We were wondering why such a sound idea was incapable of producing lasting results. And, the issue is not the problem with animalism in Animal Farm the problem is the belief that animalism in itself, as a formal system, would be enough to sustain its permanent state. But again and again in the story, the problem is not animalism, it is a problem with a belief in animalism as an external technique, rather than an intimately understood, subjectively integral, culturally networked way of being. We wonder why social movements often flounder, it has to do with a lack of belief in anything BUT the technical fix. Find the error, adopt the formula, implement the system and then we can live in utopia without having to constantly concern ourselves with creating it. If we can just get rid of the humans, the animals believe, then the future of animalism is secure. But, really, maybe to sustain a movement, you have to worry yourself constantly with its perpetual renewal. Unfortunately, we are conditioned to believe that the problems of life are solved through discrete purchases even though we have overwhelming evidence that this is not so many behave as though the lack of love in their life can be solved by properly groomed nostrils or scientifically scented skin or the right watch. They might not believe the specific propaganda claims, but at a very deep level, we are always looking for fixes, but we doubt our own capacity to become the fix. I mean, global hunger Monsanto says its about their seeds but really, the world has food, give hungry people food. We don't need a scientist or a machine to do that. Depression Pfizer pushes pills... but really, work less, give your time and effort to people for nothing. The Church was good at building its network because the network wasn't an end in itself. Sure, for some people it is, and these poor people graft themselves to power and try to take something from it without giving themselves to the spirit of the collective project. But the network itself grew and sustained itself because people believe in something else, of which the network is supposed, only, to be a trace, shadow, artifact. Or, to use a more contemporary example--the city--a city does not exist because it is a city, it exists because it offers a means for people to pursue individual existence collectively. The streets, sewers, buildings, law, etc. exist to support that function, and increase the likelihood that people will join the city to pursue life. And, a really good city, eventually becomes a metaphor for the life of its people, and then for people more generally. But this is only a power trick of signification, a way of talking about life through material metaphors. That Chan reference on this thread, really illustrates this idea quite nicely. Peace! Davin On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 4:03 PM, Ana Valdés agora...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Johannes for a very inclusive post where you pinpointed some of the most relevant things we posted these days. I am as you concerned with the concept of networking. I think for the big capital has never haft problems with networking issues. Rome had soldiers and administrators taking to Rome wheat from Egypt, parrots from Africa, grain from everywhere, wine from Spain, etc, etc. The Catholic Church based it's power on networking. Yes, they were vertical and high centralized networkings but their goal was to keep the empire or
[-empyre-] Istanbul, Jerusalem, Damascus, resilients cities?
I knit an imaginary thread between Damascus, Jerusalem and Istanbul, three cities dear to me. They share a complex past, they have been capitals of mighty empires streaching itselves far from their territories. Istanbul was Byzantium and Constatinople before and the populations became a hybrid, merging foreigners born far from the cities and people settled down inside the city limits. In Istanbul I was overwhelmed by Sultanhamet, the oldest part of the city where Hagia Sophia and the big mosques has seen the city change and evolve. I read Özcan Pamuk's book about the city and it helps me to understand the resilience of the city, it's capacity of change and implode weaving in the stimulus and the influences from outside into it's own canvas. When I stay in Jerusalem I stay barely twenty meters from the Al Aqsa mosque, Islam's second most precious and most sacret place after Mecca. I stay in the monastery Ecce Homo, ruled by the Canadian catholic order Notre Dame de Sion. The monastery is one of the oldest parts of the city, the Antonia fortress, and the spot where Pontius Pilate's washed his hands giving away Jesus to the jewish priestership. The city has been a canaanite city, a jewish city, a roman city, an arab city, now a contested city. But the city's s´resilience has suceeded melting in invaders and traders, merchants and scientists. In Damascus most beautiful mosque, the Omaya's, where now the people clashed by their liberty, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NULwxE1Y4js I saw a catafalque covered by a green drape, the colour of the profet. I asked who he was and they told me it was John the Baptist. It made sense. The mosque was before a byzantine cathedral and the remains where there, John, Yasha, is also revered by the Moslems. The byzantine cathedral was before a roman temple erected to honor Jupites Damascenus and before that a temple to the syrian god Hadad. It was about resilience this post, yes :) Ana -- http://www.twitter.com/caravia1585959 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
dear Ana, i can empathize with you enjoying the arrival of Benjamin's Passagenwerk, hmm, but i hope you share his saddened sense of irony (we always have nostalgia of what is left behind) it's of course best not to indulge in sentimental nostalgia, wouldn't you agree, especially in this conversation? i still owe you a critical synopsis of Zizek's thoughts on the failure of resistance and resilience and recalcitrance vis à vis totality of capitalism; i also am finding it hard to translate the Sparta metaphor, but will try later; first I wish to ask how others reacted to Aristide's evocation of Athens (Greece) , considering 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 violent changes in the city divided a homogeneous territory in gated communities and ghettoes...a war field... indicative of the future. You may find my reaction insulting, or as patronizing as I assume Alain Badiou et al to be (Save the Greeks...)... but i do find what you write overly dramatically in tone, and you speak of what one might find a completely imaginary homogeneous European community that I doubt existed in any way you wish to state or propose here. Europe or the Euro-Zone never existed as a homogenous community. respectfully Johannes Birringer PS: and the messianic side of Benjamin was probably destroyed for good in 1939-40. ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] re/claiming and unsettling / continuing artistic practices
Dear Johannes, I was struck the same way as you after the description of Athens as a trruly European city. I have been in almost the whole European continent and never found two cities similar to each other, not either the Scandinavian capitals, in the perifery of Europe, almost like the Romans limitanae. I was in Skopje last year, in Belgrad as well, in Tuzla in Bosnien and never found a familiarity or a common ground. That's because I put into the discussion Damascus, Istanbul and Jerusalem, more related to each other than Paris to London. Ana, totally agree with you about Benjamins irony. I have read Passagenwek in different languages, but never owned it. Ans Spanish is still my best language, followed very narrowly by Swedish : On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 9:33 PM, Johannes Birringer johannes.birrin...@brunel.ac.uk wrote: dear Ana, i can empathize with you enjoying the arrival of Benjamin's Passagenwerk, hmm, but i hope you share his saddened sense of irony (we always have nostalgia of what is left behind) it's of course best not to indulge in sentimental nostalgia, wouldn't you agree, especially in this conversation? i still owe you a critical synopsis of Zizek's thoughts on the failure of resistance and resilience and recalcitrance vis à vis totality of capitalism; i also am finding it hard to translate the Sparta metaphor, but will try later; first I wish to ask how others reacted to Aristide's evocation of Athens (Greece) , considering 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 violent changes in the city divided a homogeneous territory in gated communities and ghettoes...a war field... indicative of the future. You may find my reaction insulting, or as patronizing as I assume Alain Badiou et al to be (Save the Greeks...)... but i do find what you write overly dramatically in tone, and you speak of what one might find a completely imaginary homogeneous European community that I doubt existed in any way you wish to state or propose here. Europe or the Euro-Zone never existed as a homogenous community. respectfully Johannes Birringer PS: and the messianic side of Benjamin was probably destroyed for good in 1939-40. ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre -- 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
Eduardo Navas schreibt: 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. .. 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? It seems you are suggesting technology to be instrumental in an uprising or a resistance movement. Technologies and techniques , arguably, are always used, by power and by actors who are affected by it, resist, rise up, recede, etc. Are you saying that social network media (presumably used by all sides, power and resisters) determine revolutions? (twitter revolutions)? Which Iranian twitter revolution did you have in mind, and how to you denote revolution? respectfully Johannes Birringer dap-lab ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] re/claiming and unsettling / continuing artistic practices
Hi Johannes, If you click on the link I provided you will quickly understand my position which I already alluded to in my brief post. To this effect, Ana actually responded to I wrote and I don't think additional commentary on my part can be useful at this stage of the discussion. I will certainly contribute throughout the month. In the mean time, the text-link I provided is very specific about my critical position for those actually interested. The questions you ask me would not come up if you had visited it before your response. Cheers, Eduardo On 3/9/12 3:58 PM, Johannes Birringer johannes.birrin...@brunel.ac.uk wrote: Eduardo Navas schreibt: 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. .. 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? It seems you are suggesting technology to be instrumental in an uprising or a resistance movement. Technologies and techniques , arguably, are always used, by power and by actors who are affected by it, resist, rise up, recede, etc. Are you saying that social network media (presumably used by all sides, power and resisters) determine revolutions? (twitter revolutions)? Which Iranian twitter revolution did you have in mind, and how to you denote revolution? respectfully Johannes Birringer dap-lab ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] re/claiming and unsettling / continuing artistic practices
Dear Ana, I do not find Johannes reaction insulting nor patronizing. I only think it is wrong strategically to underestimate a change. I propose a reading of an urban field; I think that there is a significant transformation recorded in the city of Athens and that we have to study it not as an isolated phenomenon but as a part of a changing equilibrium. Of course: no homogeneity is absolute, no change erases a past conditions but some observations are needed in order to orient our future works. Aristide Antonas Sent from antonas iPhone On Mar 9, 2012, at 22:33, Johannes Birringer johannes.birrin...@brunel.ac.uk wrote: dear Ana, i can empathize with you enjoying the arrival of Benjamin's Passagenwerk, hmm, but i hope you share his saddened sense of irony (we always have nostalgia of what is left behind) it's of course best not to indulge in sentimental nostalgia, wouldn't you agree, especially in this conversation? i still owe you a critical synopsis of Zizek's thoughts on the failure of resistance and resilience and recalcitrance vis à vis totality of capitalism; i also am finding it hard to translate the Sparta metaphor, but will try later; first I wish to ask how others reacted to Aristide's evocation of Athens (Greece) , considering 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 violent changes in the city divided a homogeneous territory in gated communities and ghettoes...a war field... indicative of the future. You may find my reaction insulting, or as patronizing as I assume Alain Badiou et al to be (Save the Greeks...)... but i do find what you write overly dramatically in tone, and you speak of what one might find a completely imaginary homogeneous European community that I doubt existed in any way you wish to state or propose here. Europe or the Euro-Zone never existed as a homogenous community. respectfully Johannes Birringer PS: and the messianic side of Benjamin was probably destroyed for good in 1939-40. ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
[-empyre-] the polis blog
The Polis Blog is one of my favorite readings, combining urbanism, art and activism. Here they write about informal settlements and how to work to make them sustainable. http://www.thepolisblog.org/2012/03/can-co-production-bring-infrastructure.html I am sure when Teddy Cruz join us we are going to know more about it :) By the way he, Ethel and other guests are in Mexico DF participating in the Congress organized by the magazine Arquine, http://arquine.com/desplazamientos www.arquine.com, a really great magazine writing about architecture and urbanism. The Congress have as theme Displacements, Desplazamientos and Alicia Migdal and me wrote a short essay about it in the latest issue of the review, launched precisely for the congress. 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
