Hi All, I propose to put Ruth's text, painted on a wall of HTTP.
Everybody should read this. Yours Annie On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 9:31 PM, Ruth Catlow <[email protected]>wrote: > Dear All, > > I found the discussion that blew up and over last week both fascinating and > frustrating. The demands of off-list life just wouldn't ease up enough to > allow me to absorb the arguments and then interject. The most I could have > managed would have been the odd strongly-felt but incomprehensible half > sentence. I feel in some part responsible for the success of this DIWO > (whatever that might be) as an artistic venture and for its politics. I > wonder if you feel the same way as subscribers to the list? > > But the question of responsibility is bewildering. And writing a letter to > six hundred people many of whom I can't put a face to might just be a weird > thing to do (how much weirder must it be for people new to the list). I've > taken a number of runs at it. I've been carrying on a telepathic > conversation with you all (regular correspondents and lurkers) and the mails > are backing up in my Drafts folder. I even did some painting yesterday (I > haven't painted for years) to test-out Michael's assertion about boats going > over cataracts and painting (which made me think of the orchestra playing on > the deck of the sinking Titanic). > > > > The thought of painting became really attractive; the tactile and sensual > experience of thinking in sloshy colours on a rough surface, in contrast to > marshaling bits and bobs at the screen-face. I dug out some photographs that > I took in September from the windows of trains during our overland trek ( > http://blog.furtherfield.org/?q=taxonomy/term/219 ) and became absorbed > for hours. The stream of thought that ran in parallel to painting eddied > around the subject of edges, surfaces, illusions, marks, meaning and then > judgements about how long?, how good?, how relevant?, easy effects vs. risk > of failure. I had jumped back into my stream of thought around painting > exactly where I left it 15 years ago, only with more words. > > > > I wonder why it was so enjoyable to be wrestling the images back (even in > an amateurish way) from these machines (cameras and computers) that are so > much cleverer and slicker than me. > > And this thought branches and branches. > > 1) I find the sense of impending environmental crisis debilitating in a way > that prevents me from returning to or developing a craft as a sculptor, > painter, writer, violinist, hacker or political activist. At the same time > the possible passing of the kind of society that can maintain an orchestras > makes me miserable. > > 2) Recently I met the person who oversees the examination of the > International Bacalaureat for art. She told me that art exams are currently > weighted in favour of those who can demonstrate skills in appropriation, > remix, contextual manipulation, conceptual dexterity ie western, > entrepreneurial values, as opposed to (what she regarded as the more > impressive) well honed drawing crafts, as valued by some of the more > traditional cultures of China and African countries. > > 3) Gregory Bateson is still in my mind a lot. Aside from his > interdisciplinary mapping and tracing of steps to an 'ecology of mind', his > wonderful 'Metalogues'-dialogues that explore and lay out their themes not > just with their content but with their chosen context, structure and form. > > 4) About desire: So many times now I have heard people respond to > discussions of the ever-more-terrifying realities of manmade climate change > with comments like "but I like the world as it is" as if by wanting it to > continue, remaining loyal and consistent in their values and desires that > they are contributing to its survival. I feel it myself. How could it be > possible that something that feels so right could be so wrong. > > 5) Fear: I am afraid. Most afraid of never finding the smallest > right-action for myself (yes I am aware of the egotistical and religious > overtones in this thought) so that if social collapse and global > indifference to violence and injustice continue to accelerate in proportion > to the expanding human-population I will be part of the problem. Or perhaps > its more that there will be not place for ME in the future world... a > dreamer who needs an unfair share of the attention and energy pie, who spins > webs between moving entities and then busies herself with their maintenance. > > > On the way to our studio I get a view of a line of poplar trees. They still > have all their leaves on them. (when I was younger, Guy Fawkes Night on > November the 5th always marked the start of real Wintery weather. The leaves > were dark mush in the grass beneath our feet as our fingers at once froze > and burned we hoiked charred potatoes from the bonfire). The leaves look > like so many faces in a crowd. > > 6) What role do the digital network plays here in the generation and > sharing of art-missives and how the changes in the Internet (its structures, > protocols and behaviours) since the last DIWO > http://www.vagueterrain.net/journal11/furtherfield/01 effect our work. > What makes collective action possible in this environment? What makes > collective art action possible? I realise I dont know much about the quality > of our collective art receptors, the quality of our appreciation. > > And while I still wonder how central wrong stories are to our current > predicament I know I can fall into a delusional and mechanical belief that > any problem that might exist in the world, if properly framed, can be solved > by some means. I know that wrong stories exist and are powerful. > > And by suggesting a slightly different question to the one we all squeeze > our eyes tight on and hope we can wish away the DM manifesto does inspire me > to try something different. It says the end of the world as we know it is > not the end of the world full stop. > > >From now on I promise to restrict myself to short responses, jokes, > interjections and instructions in the approved mail art formats. > > I will continue to be glued to all DIWO posts so you imagine this set of of > eyes with attached (more or less traditional) human form in some kind of > encounter with your mails. > > And if you made it this far, thanks! > : )) > > Ruth > > > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > -- Video "Squad" fragment 3 min Riam06 http://aabrahams.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/squad/ http://vimeo.com/6926113 "Sortir de sa bulle : entretien croisé entre Annie Abrahams et Albertine Meunier" par Cyril Thomas http://www.ciac.ca/magazine/entrevue.htm...................."Coming Out of One's Bubble" Interview with Annie Abrahams and Albertine Meunier by Cyril Thomas. http://www.furtherfield.org/displayreview.php?review_id=354
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