----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
Perhaps, but a new terminology is also very helpful. Why talk of ³composition² when the term ³montage² helps define the specificity of film? And didn¹t ²montage² provide a handle for subsequent innovative hybrid time-based practices ?
Yes, in the word technogenesis there is ³genesis², becoming, process, movement, evolution...But then, does the expression ³technogenesis art² work ? Or ³inter-agency art² ? The terms strike me as more appropriate for sociologists than for artists. How to characterize a kind of art doted with autonomous behaviour and capable of taking an initiative with respect to its environment (including the viewers whose behaviour it seeks to manipulate) ? What are the terms of this new ³rhetoric² rooted in data and fictional agency ? I don¹t like the term ³living art², because it masks the building blocks of the illusion of ³life/intelligence²; though, as has been argued here, perhaps it is futile to ³resist² vast and invisible manipulation. Florent Aziosmanoof, with whom we regularly discuss these questions at ³Le Cube², is not interested in resisting anything; he just wants to know how to dive (artistically) into the fray. If we narrow the scale of the discussion to consider the building blocks of a new kind of art-making, there are some basic pillars to consider : the principles of generated movement + the criteria for analysing sensory data + the structural principles of ³alterity²... In each of these three areas, there are precedents that provide ³leads² and the basis for a specific terminology. One lead: Italo Calvino¹s ³Invisible Cities² is a kind of inventory of structural (and power) relationships between people and their environments. For me, this book is a key to understanding poetic ³inter-agency²... Carol-Ann le 27/07/13 04:40 Garth Paine ga...@activatedspace.com wrote: > ----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- > > Hi all > > Interesting discussions.... > > I wonder why it is necessary to change the term? surely to some extent it > avoids the discussion? That is how have notions of interaction evolved in > recent decades? > todays discourse is of course around evolving notions of interaction once > pushing the play button on the CD player was regarded as interactive and music > resulted as an outcome. > As I mentioned in a recent post in response to comments by Mez, I think asking > the same (or similar) questions is a constructive discipline. For the context > of the discourse changes and similarly the nature of the discussed actions > evolve. > > There is an evolving taxanomic discourse and an epistemic one - both equally > engaging and with long histories - so to move the target (change the term) > seems to me to disassociate the evolving discourse from past endeavors - all > of which have led to our current depth of understanding - surely we want to > thicken the knowledge, not move its focus completely ? > > Cheers, > Garth Paine > ga...@activatedspace.com > > > > On Jul 26, 2013, at 11:05 PM, Simon Biggs <si...@littlepig.org.uk> wrote: > >> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- >> I only intended to state that interactivity was part of the mix, not the >> complete paradigm. >> >> I quite like the term inter-agency and Hayles's term technogenesis is >> workable. >> >> best >> >> Simon >> >> >> On 26 Jul 2013, at 12:05, carol-ann braun <carol-ann.br...@wanadoo.fr> wrote: >> >>> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- Re: [-empyre-] >>> empyre Digest, Vol 104, Issue 25 >>> >>> >>> The ³entanglement² Hayles writes about is so complex and the technologies so >>> polymorphous that the term ³interactivity² (in its simplest form : >>> command-response...) is both too limited and too vague... >>> >>> What other concept/term? At the CUBE¹s ³Living Art Seminar², we¹re stuck on >>> the term ³living² (...which survives a French accent...but maybe not Spanish >>> or Chinese...) and evokes a relational, pragmatic (and mutually attentive?) >>> context. We¹re even into ³Living community management² :-) >>> >>> How does the term strike those of you who are on the other side of the globe >>> ? I¹ve been in France so long, I can no longer resist the funky terms that >>> keep popping up here. >>> >>> On another note, artistic activity for me is....I¹m embarrassed to >>> admit...resistance to living, however mediated...But that¹s another >>> subject... >>> >>> Carol-Ann >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> le 26/07/13 11:52 Simon Biggs si...@littlepig.org.uk >>> <x-msg://32/si...@littlepig.org.uk> wrote: >>> >>>> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- >>>> >>>> I want to pick up on Sue's comments about the ubiquity of, and entanglement >>>> of ourselves with, technology and Johannes' comment that interactivity is >>>> "over". >>>> >>>> I'm not sure what Johannes intends with this comment. I agree with Sue - >>>> that we live in a technologised environment and we are enmeshed within it. >>>> We are in a constant state of "interactive" alert with that environment - >>>> although perhaps, for many, this has become such a default condition we are >>>> unaware of it. Sue's concern with attentiveness suggests a practice >>>> intended to address this existential complacency. >>>> >>>> Katherine Hayles' recent work on what she terms technogenesis is relevant >>>> here. She argues that human evolution is not an entirely biological process >>>> but also social and, thus necessarily, technological. The relationship >>>> between language, tool making and social formation is the focus of her >>>> thinking, building on the work of Heidegger, Foucault, Latour and others. >>>> In her view we have been enmeshed in ubiquitous technology for as long as >>>> we have made tools and used language - it follows that being human is all >>>> about this entanglement as it is these characteristics that define us as a >>>> species. >>>> >>>> In this light I would argue that interactivity, in art and in life, is >>>> extremely relevant. In this context it might be considered the artist's >>>> role, at least in part, to facilitate the critical self-consciousness >>>> required to become aware of this condition. I assume this is what Sue means >>>> by attentiveness. >>>> >>>> Seeking to respond to Ruth's lament concerning the lack of politics at ISEA >>>> I would suggest that developing a critical self-consciousness is a >>>> political activity and, perhaps, a necessary step if one is to engage >>>> broader political agendas. Assange kicked off his keynote by insulting his >>>> audience. I can't remember exactly what he said, but it was to the effect >>>> that artists are self-absorbed a-political wankers (he definitely said >>>> "wankers"). I'm not going to try and defend artists against his attack, >>>> firstly because they don't need defending and secondly because Assange is >>>> right. Nevertheless, you are likely to find quite a few politically aware >>>> and committed people in the ISEA crowd - I know the scene well enough to >>>> know they are there and they purposefully choose to work in that context. >>>> This would seem to come back to the idea that the artist has an obligation >>>> to encourage self-awareness and awareness of context amongst those who >>>> encounter their work. >>>> >>>> Perhaps the lack of a sense of the political at ISEA was less a product of >>>> a lack of politics but of the fragmentation of the agendas being addressed >>>> in and around the event? ISEA addressed so many themes and sub-themes, >>>> seeking to respond to so many threads of current discourse and practice. >>>> This broad engagement and willingness to take on board so many concerns >>>> suggests an openness in the direction of ISEA, which we should welcome. >>>> However, perhaps future ISEAs need to be more focused, addressing specific >>>> questions, if a sense of urgency is to emerge from ISEA's activities. I >>>> suspect that even debating what such a focus might be would generate >>>> significant heat. >>>> >>>> best >>>> >>>> Simon >>>> >>>> >>>> On 25 Jul 2013, at 20:23, Sue Hawksley <s...@articulateanimal.org.uk >>>> <x-msg://32/s...@articulateanimal.org.uk> > wrote: >>>> >>>>> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- >>>>> Dear Simon & all >>>>> >>>>> Thanks for the invitation to join this discussion. I'd like to pick up on >>>>> a point made early on in the month's discussion by Christina Spiesel: >>>>> >>>>>> On 4 Jul 2013, at 18:21, Christina Spiesel >>>>>> <christina.spie...@yale.edu<mailto:christina.spiesel >>>>>> <x-msg://32/christina.spie...@yale.edu%3Cmailto:christina.spiesel> >>>>>> @yale.edu <http://yale.edu/> >> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> We are organisms in environments. If we can't "see" those environments, >>>>>> we can't adapt for self-protection. If we wish to sustain our lives, we >>>>>> must be able to operate under changed signals from a changing environment >>>>>> ... So how we "attend" to what is there, I submit, is very important. And >>>>>> the capacity for play which is the science of children. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> As a dance artist, I am interested in exploring how people shape and are >>>>> shaped by their environment. Immediately after the debate and activity of >>>>> ISEA (my first), I had the pleasure of spending time in residency at >>>>> Bundanon Trust, working with collaborators on the development of a new >>>>> interactive performance installation work. In the context of the beautiful >>>>> setting of Bundanon, it sometimes seemed at odds to be in a darkened >>>>> studio, immersed in projected image, learning to negotiate a highly >>>>> mediated environment where motion was tracked, voice captured, action >>>>> augmented, space constrained. >>>>> >>>>> The presence of technology was very apparent in the particular environment >>>>> we created in the studio, which at first glance seemed in total contrast >>>>> to the 'natural' environment outside and loaded with constraints on 'the >>>>> performers' 'freedom' to move. But outside, one has to negotiate the >>>>> technological infrastructures of communications, transport, power, >>>>> sanitation, conservation. Operating in an environment like Bundanon >>>>> requires opening and closing of gates, driving with peripheral vision on >>>>> high alert for kangaroos (although the roos also adapt to traffic, and >>>>> carefully stop-look-listen before crossing the track!) taking care where >>>>> one sits, avoiding wombat-holes, being mindful of the river's currents It >>>>> would be simplistic to regard the different aspects of this experience as >>>>> more, less or even un-natural. In the installation system we were >>>>> creating, I developed embodied practices to nurture the performers' >>>>> capacity to cope. these emphasised attending to change, treading lightly, >>>>> listening carefully and/or reacting quickly. >>>>> >>>>> I'm sharing this because it was such a great way for me, to put in to >>>>> practice and make sense of some of the ideas I heard at ISEA - in >>>>> particular concerning the ubiquity of technology, the impossibility of >>>>> disentangling ourselves from systems of mediation, and attentiveness to >>>>> our changing environment. >>>>> >>>>> all the best, Sue >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On 23 Jul 2013, at 03:00, <empyre-requ...@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au >>>>> <x-msg://32/empyre-requ...@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au> > >>>>> <empyre-requ...@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au >>>>> <x-msg://32/empyre-requ...@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au> > wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Send empyre mailing list submissions to >>>>>> empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au <x-msg://32/empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au> >>>>>> >>>>>> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit >>>>>> http://lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/empyre >>>>>> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to >>>>>> empyre-requ...@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au >>>>>> <x-msg://32/empyre-requ...@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au> >>>>>> >>>>>> You can reach the person managing the list at >>>>>> empyre-ow...@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au >>>>>> <x-msg://32/empyre-ow...@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au> >>>>>> >>>>>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >>>>>> than "Re: Contents of empyre digest..." >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space---------------------- >>>>>> >>>>>> Today's Topics: >>>>>> >>>>>> 1. empyre: Resistance is futile, ISEA, Sydney 2013 - week 4 >>>>>> (Simon Biggs) >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>>>> >>>>>> Message: 1 >>>>>> Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 10:52:01 +0100 >>>>>> From: Simon Biggs <si...@littlepig.org.uk >>>>>> <x-msg://32/si...@littlepig.org.uk> > >>>>>> To: soft_skinned_space <empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au >>>>>> <x-msg://32/empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au> > >>>>>> Subject: [-empyre-] empyre: Resistance is futile, ISEA, Sydney 2013 - >>>>>> week 4 >>>>>> Message-ID: <96faf381-6119-48a3-8486-1f1bb6f0f...@littlepig.org.uk >>>>>> <x-msg://32/96faf381-6119-48a3-8486-1f1bb6f0f...@littlepig.org.uk> > >>>>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >>>>>> >>>>>> Welcome to the fourth and final week of empyre's July 2013 discussion: >>>>>> Resistance is futile, ISEA Sydney, 2013 >>>>>> >>>>>> Thank you to Garth Paine and Deborah Ely, who described their own >>>>>> activities at ISEA and considered those of others. Thanks to all those >>>>>> who responded and contributed to the debate. The focus during the week >>>>>> oscillated between themes concerning embodiment and place and how each >>>>>> can be mediated and affected as a creative and experiential site. >>>>>> >>>>>> Our guests during the final fourth week (July 22-28) of our discussion >>>>>> about ISEA are: >>>>>> >>>>>> Clea T. Waite (US/D) is a research artist-scholar and experimental >>>>>> filmmaker investigating the correspondences between art and science via >>>>>> somatic, cinematic works. Her films are realized using animation, >>>>>> immersion, stereoscopic imaging, structural montage and unique interfaces >>>>>> as well as one inter-species collaboration with several hundred spiders. >>>>>> She received her SB and SMVis degrees from the MIT Media Lab as a >>>>>> physicist and 3D computer graphics developer. She has been an Alexander >>>>>> von Humboldt Fellow, a Radcliffe Institute Fellow, and a fellow at the >>>>>> Academy of Media Arts Cologne. Her artworks have been exhibited and >>>>>> awarded internationally, notably the IBM Innovation Prize for Artistic >>>>>> Creation in Art and Technology. She is currently an Annenberg Fellow at >>>>>> the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts pursuing >>>>>> her PhD in Media Arts and Practice. >>>>>> >>>>>> Daniel C. Howe (HK/US) is an artist, hacker, writer, musician, and >>>>>> educator whose work focuses on networked systems for image, sound and >>>>>> text, and on the social and political implications of computational >>>>>> technologies. He has a PhD in computer science and an MFA in interactive >>>>>> media and digital literature. He currently lives in Hong Kong where he >>>>>> teaches at City University's School of Creative Media. >>>>>> >>>>>> Ruth Aylett (GB) has been working with intelligent graphical characters >>>>>> for more than ten years and, more recently, with social robots. She has >>>>>> led large EU projects (VICTEC, eCIRCUS, eCute) in this area and has >>>>>> helped develop affective architectures driving virtual drama systems such >>>>>> as FearNot!. She has more than 200 publications and leads the Autonomous >>>>>> Affective Agents group at Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, where she is >>>>>> Professor of Computer Science. >>>>>> >>>>>> Sue Hawksley (UK) is a dance artist, bodywork therapist and artistic >>>>>> director of articulate animal, an interdisciplinary performance company >>>>>> which undertakes collaborative projects focused upon movement, identity >>>>>> and territory which have been presented internationally. She has >>>>>> previously performed with Rambert Dance Company, Mantis, Scottish Ballet >>>>>> and Philippe Genty among others, as well as on many freelance projects as >>>>>> performer, choreographer or educator. Sue holds a practice-led PhD from >>>>>> the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh College of Art. Her research >>>>>> critically examines concepts of embodiment through choreographic and >>>>>> somatic practices, philosophy, and mediation. She is Senior Lecturer in >>>>>> Dance at the University of Bedfordshire. Her URL >>>>>> ishttp://www/articulateanimal.org.uk >>>>>> >>>>>> Before proceeding to the final week's discussion we will again outline >>>>>> July's discussion, engaging the themes and activities underlying and >>>>>> emerging from this year's International Symposium of Electronic Arts, >>>>>> held in and around Sydney, Australia during June 2013. The primary theme >>>>>> for ISEA was "resistance is futile". How are we to interpret this? >>>>>> Resistance to what? The conference programme offered a positive take on >>>>>> this statement - proposing that the electronic arts have moved from the >>>>>> margins to occupy a central role in contemporary culture. But has this >>>>>> happened - and, if it has, is it generally the case or only so in certain >>>>>> contexts? >>>>>> >>>>>> Other themes were also apparent at ISEA. Important questions were asked >>>>>> about: >>>>>> - sustainability - how this can be achieved in relation to the >>>>>> environment but also how artists, arts groups, academics and activists >>>>>> might ensure their activities are sustainable as the processes of >>>>>> technologisation and globalisation unfold? >>>>>> - notions of the human - what does it mean to be human now, in the >>>>>> context of developments in genetics and ICT? >>>>>> - globalisation, diasporas and cultural identity? >>>>>> - the boundaries of the real - where virtual and augmented realities have >>>>>> become pervasive media? >>>>>> - the post-digital and its implications for aesthetics and questions of >>>>>> agency? >>>>>> - the challenges and opportunities associated with big data? >>>>>> - urbanism, activism and the socially disruptive potential of technology? >>>>>> >>>>>> Looking forward to another week's discussion... >>>>>> >>>>>> moderator: >>>>>> Simon Biggs >>>>>> si...@littlepig.org.uk <x-msg://32/si...@littlepig.org.uk> >>>>>> http://www.littlepig.org.uk <http://www.littlepig.org.uk/> @SimonBiggsUK >>>>>> http://amazon.com/author/simonbiggs >>>>>> >>>>>> s.bi...@ed.ac.uk <x-msg://32/s.bi...@ed.ac.uk> Edinburgh College of Art, >>>>>> University of Edinburgh >>>>>> http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/edinburgh-college-art/school-of-a >>>>>> rt/staff/staff?person_id=182&cw_xml=profile.php >>>>>> http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/simon-biggs%285dfcaf34-56b >>>>>> 1-4452-9100-aaab96935e31%29.html >>>>>> >>>>>> http://www.eca.ac.uk/circle/ http://www.elmcip.net/ >>>>>> http://www.movingtargets.org.uk/ http://designinaction.com/ >>>>>> MSc by Research in Interdisciplinary Creative Practices >>>>>> http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/degrees?id=656&cw_xml=details.p >>>>>> hp >>>>>> >>>>>> -------------- next part -------------- >>>>>> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... >>>>>> URL: >>>>>> <http://lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/attachments/20130722/9cdc >>>>>> 8427/attachment.html> >>>>>> >>>>>> ------------------------------ >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> empyre mailing list >>>>>> empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au <x-msg://32/empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au> >>>>>> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu/ >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> End of empyre Digest, Vol 104, Issue 25 >>>>>> *************************************** >>>>> >>>>> Sue Hawksley >>>>> s...@articulateanimal.org.uk <x-msg://32/s...@articulateanimal.org.uk> >>>>> http://www.articulateanimal.org.uk <http://www.articulateanimal.org.uk/> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> empyre forum >>>>> empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au <x-msg://32/empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au> >>>>> http://www.subtle.net/empyre >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Simon Biggs >>>> si...@littlepig.org.uk <x-msg://32/si...@littlepig.org.uk> >>>> http://www.littlepig.org.uk <http://www.littlepig.org.uk/> @SimonBiggsUK >>>> http://amazon.com/author/simonbiggs >>>> >>>> s.bi...@ed.ac.uk <x-msg://32/s.bi...@ed.ac.uk> Edinburgh College of Art, >>>> University of Edinburgh >>>> http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/edinburgh-college-art/school-of-art >>>> /staff/staff?person_id=182&cw_xml=profile.php >>>> http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/simon-biggs%285dfcaf34-56b1- >>>> 4452-9100-aaab96935e31%29.html >>>> >>>> http://www.eca.ac.uk/circle/ http://www.elmcip.net/ >>>> http://www.movingtargets.org.uk/ http://designinaction.com/ >>>> MSc by Research in Interdisciplinary Creative Practices >>>> http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/degrees?id=656&cw_xml=details.php >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> empyre forum >>>> empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au <x-msg://32/empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au> >>>> http://www.subtle.net/empyre >>> _______________________________________________ >>> empyre forum >>> empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au >>> http://www.subtle.net/empyre >> >> >> Simon Biggs >> si...@littlepig.org.uk >> http://www.littlepig.org.uk <http://www.littlepig.org.uk/> @SimonBiggsUK >> http://amazon.com/author/simonbiggs >> >> s.bi...@ed.ac.uk Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh >> http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/edinburgh-college-art/school-of-art/s >> taff/staff?person_id=182&cw_xml=profile.php >> http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/simon-biggs%285dfcaf34-56b1-44 >> 52-9100-aaab96935e31%29.html >> >> http://www.eca.ac.uk/circle/ http://www.elmcip.net/ >> http://www.movingtargets.org.uk/ http://designinaction.com/ >> MSc by Research in Interdisciplinary Creative Practices >> http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/degrees?id=656&cw_xml=details.php >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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
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