On 2/17/07, Armin Medosch [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
hi nettimers, I wonder what you think about this ...
armin
The Next Layer or: The Emergence of Open Source Culture
Draft text for Pixelache publication, Armin Medosch, London/Vienna 2006
- 2007
First we had media art. In the early days of electronic and digital
culture media art was an important way of considering relationships
between society and technology, suggesting new practices and cultural
techniques. It served as an outlet for the critique of the dark side of
computer culture's roots in the military-industrial complex; and it
suggested numerous utopian and beautiful ways of engagement with
technology, new types of interactivity, sensuous interfaces,
participative media practices, for instance. However, the more critical,
egalitarian and participative branches of media art tended to be
overshadowed by the advocacy of a high-tech and high-art version of it.
This high-media art conceptually merged postmodern media theories with
the techno-imaginary from computersciences and new wave cybernetics.
Uncritical towards capitalisms embrace of technology as provider of
economic growth and a weirdly paradoxical notion of progress, high-media
art was successful in institutionalizing itself and finding the support
of the elites but drew a lot of criticism from other quarters of
society. It stuck to the notion of the artist as a solitary genius who
creates works of art which exist in an economy of scarcity and for which
intellectual ownership rights are declared.
In the course of the 1990ies media art was superseded by what I call The
Next Layer or, for help of better words, Open Source Culture. I am not
claiming that the hackers who are the key protagonists of Open Source
Culture are the new media artists. Such a claim would be rubbish as
their work, their ways of working and how it is referenced is distinct
from media art. I simply say that media art has become much less
relevant through the emergence of The Next Layer. In the Next Layer many
more protagonists come together than in the more narrowly defined field
of media art. It is much less elitist and it is not based on exclusivity
but on inclusion and collaboration. Instead of relying on ownership of
ideas and control of intellectual property Open Source Culture is
testing the limits if a new egalitarian and collaborative culture.
Later on you acknowledge the historical root, which I think enriches
your discussion. Here though, it sounds like you are saying that Open
Source sprang forth in the 90s, without precedent, which I think you
don't mean. So you might want to add some line that foreshadows your
historical discussion. --But on the other hand, this is me
deliberately reading as an impatient American, who expects everything
to be laid out step by step with absolute explicitness. So clarifying
this small point may not be very important, depending on the intended
audience.
In the following paragraphs I would like to map out some of the key
components of Open Source Culture. It has been made possible by the rise
of Free, Libre and Open Source Software. Yet Open Source Culture is
about much more than just writing software. Like any real culture it is
based on shared values and a community of people.
Open Source Culture is about creating new things, be they software,
artefacts or social platforms. It therefore embraces the values inherent
to any craft and it cherishes the understanding and mastery of the
materials and the production processes involved. Going beyond
craftmanship and being 'open source', it advocates free access to the
means of production (instead of just ownership of them). Creativity is
not just about work but about playfulness, experimentation and the joy
of sharing. In Open Source Culture everybody has the chance to create
immaterial and material things, express themselves, learn, teach, hear
and be heard.
Open Source Culture is not a tired version of enforced collectivism and
old fashioned speculations about the 'death of authorship'. It is not a
culture where the individual vanishes but where the individual remains
visible and is credited as a contributor to a production process which
can encompass one, a few or literally thousands of contributors.
Fundamental to Open Source Culture's value system is the belief that
knowledge should be in the public domain. What is generally known by
humans should be available to all humans so that society as a whole can
prosper. For most parts and whereever possible, this culture is based on
a gift economy. Each one gets richer by donating their work to a growing
pool of publicly available things. This is not a misguided form of
altruism but more like a beneficial selfishness. Engaged in a sort of
friendly competition everyone is pushing the whole thing forward a bit
by trying to do something that is better, faster, more beuatiful or
imaginative. Open Source Culture
