Rhizome isn't the real issue here of course as Lichty points out. There are a _lot_ of people - I'm thinking of wryting for example - who are not academically-oriented and haven't settled in. I do agree with Lichty's points in general; even 'text' seems backwater at this point, and certainly there's a furious leap to the gallery system. Within the aegis of the artworld, that's not unusual; it's been that way ever since I've been associated with artschools (I'm not teaching at one at the moment but have floated in and out at times) - I remember the enormous 'impact' Sonnabend had in the early 70s for example.
I think it's worth taking a closer look at SL - I get tired of the critiques of power / corporate structures there (which are self-evident in practice) and find very little discussion of the very real friendships and group collaborations / discussions which grow out of it - in other words the exhuberance. I'm loosely associated with Odyssey which has spilled out into Ning (through Sugar Seville) and Facebook and who knows where else, and this is healthy I think. Discussions and collaborative features have spread across applications, not resided within them - this has been happening for a while now. Private email has become more important (at least for me) as a way of extending discussion; email lists like Cybermind have become literally aging communities which is of interest in itself. I wonder if there's not a lot more real-life street discussion as well; at least in NY I hear it everywhere at this point. Blogs _are_ booths and in a way it's sad, I've stumbled across incredible writing that pretty much no one is accessing. It's a kind of privatization that's understandable, particularly given the degree of spam today (which is still rising almost exponentially), but it cuts into community in a big way of course. Then there's gaming which is still increasing in popularity - there were new stats on this today - For me I don't miss the early 90s; I'm finally getting a modicum of recognition, as are others I know - whereas we felt excluded by the money and power talk/strategies of the dot.com stuff. - Alan _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
