Thank you, everyone. So many things to respond to - I won't manage in one go.
But I feel like I've learned a lot about many of you in a very short period of time. I'm beginning to understand what makes this list matter to people. I doubt that could have happened so quickly without the initial discomfort, so I appreciate the role played by those responsible for it. Brian - I particularly liked what you said about the manifesto: "i don't care about it that much.. well.. not as much as i care about the ripple it has created" That's just how I feel about it! Here's something I wrote to a friend recently: <quote> This year, for various reasons, I've found myself becoming more and more aware of how writing is (and should be) a contribution to a conversation, not an attempt to have the final word. Written words seem so permanent, so absolute, I used to feel that as a weight - seeing through that has changed the experience of writing for me. (Funny, I never felt that weight when writing letters - because then the flow of conversation is obvious, I guess.) And if it is all part of a conversation, then that conversation is not only made up of words, but of images and gestures and silences and unnamed intuitions... </quote> Simply repeating the first thing you've said seldom makes for a good conversation. I do want to engage with the thoughtful responses from Edward, Simon and others, but I'm not that interested in defending the content (or style) of the manifesto. (And, from where I'm sitting, it's a bit late to argue over whether or not such things are worth writing.) So I'll try to pick up those threads creatively, in the hope of understanding each other better, rather than changing each other's minds. Finally, I take Alan's point that it's rare to be welcomed to a list - it's not how these things work. But you don't have to be welcomed in order to feel welcome. Last week, I really didn't feel welcome on this list - today, I do. Thank you all for that. Dougald On Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 7:22 AM, brian gibson <[email protected]> wrote: > hi dougald, > i'm so sorry. > and i hope this doesnt seem overly sarcastic and stupid to you. > i think it's really funny and it seemed appropriate or something. > following suit with introductions and explanations.. i am brian. i live in > south williamsburg, brooklyn. (alan, you are near? maybe we'll cross paths > one day) for rent money i am a dvd author of documentaries, art films and > scholastic children's movies. in the moments spare i make videos, music, > drawings, etc (glimpsecontrol) i lurk on this site (hence my lack of > welcoming) ..i feel to young to do anything but.. much much much to learn, > much. > BUT! i feel i've learned the most from netbehaviour when everyone is > arguing. not to say the moments they (we) all come together aren't beautiful > and momentous.. but the clashing of such strong and constructed ideas, to > me, is more proving of unison than any string of compliments. the fact that > you were able to pull any response from this group is fascinating and > admirable, no? > as for the manifesto, (and this may be youth talking..) but i don't care > about it that much.. well.. not as much as i care about the ripple it has > created. it has made us all think a little harder and sharpen our ideas, > challenging our opinions about what we envision the future to hold. oh, but > also too, it has led to a string of thoughtful posts from several of my > favorite contributors (and the posts even rhyme with one another!) > oh. and marc. you are the man. i think you are made of steel and live in a > castle made of numbers. thanks for doing this thing. it's a sweet ride. (i > think we should start a bimonthly 'thank marc' day..hmmmm..) > ok, this was supposed to be short. > rootbeers, > brian > > > > > > On Sat, Oct 31, 2009 at 7:16 PM, manik <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> ...I DO FEEL I... >> MANIK,OCTOBER 2009... >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Alan Sondheim" <[email protected]> >> To: "NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity" >> <[email protected]> >> Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2009 7:17 PM >> Subject: Re: [NetBehaviour] DIWO: a host of whys >> >> >> > >> > >> > I agree with Annie, and want to add the list is a community, work and >> > discussing ranging from personal to lab to collab, but it's all with >> > others; even with the pieces I put up, created for the most part out of >> > context here, are always within context, always collab (rarely commented >> > on, probably not read/watched/heard that much), that collab comes from >> > without as well as within, collab is transported. Oddly DIWO sounds >> > sexual >> > as well (perhaps others have pointed that out), touching (literally) on >> > the dance-work we've been doing with others (short however of doing >> > _it_). >> > I do feel if I were in England I'd be visiting everyone I could face-to- >> > face, which is still for me the best kind of intimacy; I've met for >> > example Simon Biggs, which was wonderful, so in a way I hear/see him >> > through his words here. And it's an odd list, with people emotionally >> > intimate at times as well, which is a gift. I've not been able to collab >> > in a formal sense here, generally I'm uncomfortable with that. As far as >> > manifestos go, they've always been a problem for me (as are most >> > political >> > and artistic pronouncement, protocols, protocol sentences). As far as >> > welcoming people to this (or other lists), I've almost never been >> > welcomed >> > myself, that doesn't seem how most lists, even communal lists, work, and >> > as I said above, my work's rarely commented on, so be it; I have to take >> > responsibility for that as well as for my untoward production. - Alan >> > >> > >> > On Sat, 31 Oct 2009, anniea wrote: >> > >> >> *Do* = act >> >> *It* What? make a show >> >> *With* = this is the difficult part >> >> *Others *Who? not me (I wanted to put a list of the names of all >> >> subscribers, but as I am not an administrator I don't have access to >> >> the >> >> list of subscribers) >> >> >> >> I (Annie Abrahams, artist working on computermediated communication?) >> >> never >> >> like manifestos, I am some one who likes to think, to observe and to >> >> act, >> >> no >> >> so much to talk and discuss , but I do respect Dougalds position and >> >> work >> >> and I am very glad you (Dougald) are observing us and hopefully >> >> participating in, just trying to do something as simple as make a show >> >> together. >> >> >> >> *At* Where? HTTP gallery >> >> *The* = the, no capital >> >> *Dark*, Let there be light >> >> *Mountain* is too far away, too high >> >> >> > >> > >> > == >> > email archive: http://sondheim.rupamsunyata.org/ >> > webpage http://www.alansondheim.org sondheimat gmail.com, panix.com >> > == >> > _______________________________________________ >> > NetBehaviour mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour >> > >> > __________ NOD32 4561 (20091031) Information __________ >> > >> > This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. >> > http://www.eset.com >> > >> > >> >> _______________________________________________ >> NetBehaviour mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > > > > -- > glimpsecontrol.com > baiowulf.com > > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > -- Dougald Hine - http://dougald.co.uk/ _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
