well put marco. here's to creating much more interesting alternatives -
& sustaining those that already exist.
h : )
On 4/08/14 10:07 AM, Marco Donnarumma wrote:
Hi all,
good to see this discussion going on. My 2cents here.
To think that largely incorporated entities, such as the Barbican and
Google (Google Creative Lab to be precise), are being ingenuous or
ignorant or naive and thus, that their initiatives won't have a
relevant impact implies a rather distorted viewpoint.
It's like staring at a man putting a match to a haystack, and think
that nothing bad will happen because the man doesn't know the haystack
will be reduced to hashes. Well, let him do it, you know.
This is an easy way to discard a much deeper problem which outlines
some seriously worrying links between digital art curation and its
relation to the art establishment and the incorporated lobbies. Links
of which most times, we are either unaware of or worst, not interested in.
To bring more arguments to the table, the ones below are some other
tips of that monstrous iceberg:
a) the involvement of Sound and Music in another Google-curated open
call for emerging sound artist happened earlier this year under very
dim lights [1]; note, another intervention in the UK.
b) the massive cultural hijacking project by Google, which they aptly
termed, "Google Cultural Institute". Which, far from being a mere
digitisation of museums catalogues, is being used as a means to curate
events and open calls which, as for the DevArt, are aimed at inspiring
(or brainwash) **young artists**, as in the case of the collaboration
with Sound and Music above [2]. Young artists does not mean 30-years
old emerging artists. Young artists are student, part-time workers
that follow their passion and dream of being able to live with their
art, or maybe simply being able to express their art. As all of us
started.
c) on a slightly different but related note, the boom of Sedition, an
online platform designed as an appealing app market for well-packaged
and well-known artworks. And I do not mean to take away any of the
artistic value of the works sold there. Despite the fact they just
opened doors so very recently, they had a stand at this year Sonar+D.
Just to exemplify the links already in place.
Now, all of this shows that Google, the Barbican, Sound and Music, and
many other entities which we are not aware of yet, have *already
established* intimate links to work towards new ways of "curating" (or
perhaps "commodifying" is a more accurate term) digital art, sound
art, music, etc..
What we see and discuss today is the result of several months, if not
years of discussion, planning and agreements, both financial and
curatorial.
I don't think there's anything we can do to directly disrupt those
links, given the scary results they have led to so far, but what one
must do is to become aware that this is not a game of capricious
millionaires.
Google is one of the reachest capital holder in the world, a
corporation who owns and develops the best machine learning
techniques, who bought the best 6 companies in humanoid robotics, who
works with US military defense developing technologies for them, etc.
etc.
Stating the obvious here, but sometimes it does not hurt.
If they are investing so much in digital art it is fair to think this
is not a caprice but a well-thought and far-reaching business plan. As
any of their other businesses.
How do we claim our position in their business plan? Is that what we
want?
Or perhaps, can we work towards alternative programs? and how?
the comparison with art patronage across the centuries does not work
in this case, it's just more smoke in the eyes. Renaissance art
patrons didn't have a database of all your documents, pictures, chats,
videos, calendar and locations.
wishing you very well,
M
[1]
http://soundandmusic.org/projects/google-cultural-institute-new-voices-curator
[2]
https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/exhibit/new-voices-in-contemporary-british-music/QRFBBGkM?hl=en-GB
--
Marco Donnarumma
Performer, body tinkerer, teacher and writer.
#soundandmusic #biotech #freeculture
EAVI - Goldsmiths, University of London
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portfolio: http://marcodonnarumma.com
Research: http://res.marcodonnarumma.com
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--
helen varley jamieson
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
http://www.creative-catalyst.com
http://www.wehaveasituation.net
http://www.upstage.org.nz
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