@David: "the (@Michael) re-portraits¹ are related to our evolving net identities (@Randall) homogenised in a sea of values¹ (@Alan) an 'entropic universe (@Michael) enabling a kind of performative play between artists/makers."
Responding to comments by myself, Alan, Michael, and David, I wanted to make the point that art (and human nature) is never singular, it is mixed & varied, it is complex & layered, it can be playful, entropic, critical, & angry all at the same time. Anything but simple! The same is true of our net behaviours: it is what makes our (net) work interesting when it intertwingles all of those aspects of our complex selves and identities. To add to this attempt at synthesis, I LOVED @Johannes comment that: "for me it is also not necessarily only referring to online, but rather to work on the ground, primarily, bodies interacting and touching.² Our net behaviours do not merely pertain to interaction in the distributed, digital online universe, but in our localized communities as well. The identification of behavioral tendencies of how people act and relate in social systems is a central focus in the study of group dynamics and social psychology. (Ah, this brings me back to my undergraduate days as a Sociology major). And so I am ever-fascinated by the word play, art play, and other creative exchanges on this list and how there seems to be a kind of yearning to reach out and communicate our wildest ideas (a la @Alan): a networked stage for the human comedy (@Balzac) in our own time. From: That Is Repulsive <[email protected]> Date: Monday, March 9, 2015 at 4:48 PM To: Randall Packer <[email protected]> Cc: NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity <[email protected]>, michael szpakowski <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [NetBehaviour] Portraits as Calculated Color Averaging @Randall What first stuck me about Michael¹s paintings was the process, taking participants of a digital conversation, using a networked system to locate their digital likeness and then interpreting that on a tactile, physical and dare I say traditional visual communication medium. At this point a new, analogue likeness exists. But, until returned to the net does it exist? In terms of Net Behaviours, our need to share with the greatest possible audience forces our hand. We create. We document. We share. We give away our medi(a)um, and with this we give up control. As you earlier described, the opportunity for "intermedial exchange & process of co-authorship² exists. The opportunity to engage with the Mailing Listin this way was too great to resist. Michael¹s portraits are a warm, humanised¹ paintings produced offline. The starting point for my interpretation was asking (whilst retaining visual conventions of colour, tone, form(!)) how can these portraits be completely returned to the digital/machine world? As we move further away from the original intent, what becomes of our identity? How will the new portraits be interpreted once they are placed into a different social network, a(nother) step removed from their original context? So yes, the re-portraits¹ are related to our evolving net identities. "Homogenised in a sea of values" is a really nice description. I think the more we individually seek relevance, the further we seem to move towards, as Alan so nicely put it, an ³entropic universe². For me, this has implications in terms of how we are perceived online. Whilst creating the portraits, net surveillance / security / power were also at the fore of my mind. As our identities are turned into data, our personalities lose their distinction and detail, how would any personality / identity profiling be truly accurate? What does this data really say about us? A colleague described the act of creating these new portraits as a reset¹. I love this idea. Depending on at whose hands and to what normalised ideals we are reset, I find the idea liberating and terrifying in equal measure . Thanks for your thoughtful reply, and all other Netartizens for their comments. David > On 9 Mar 2015, at 16:49, Randall Packer <[email protected]> wrote: > > So @David, first I would like to thank you for this provocative translation of > Michael¹s portraits. The conversion brings up some interesting questions > concerning our discussion of net behaviours and what might be a statement > concerning net identity. (At least I can construe it that way.) > > If in fact Michael has lent warmth, personalization, visualization, and a > sense of ³realness" to some of the unique identities and faces participating > on this list, in your color averaging calculation, does it not erase all of > that? What we are left with is a single, pure color that has been assigned to > a hexagram value as used in coding and stylizing on the Web. It reminds me a > little of the George Lucas film THX1138, in which individuality is reduced to > numerical values, a common motif in many science fiction films about the > horrors of the future & technology & identity annihilation. > > My question then is whether or not this was at all the intent of the series or > if it is legitimate in your mind to interpret your renderings this way: as > commentary on our evolving net identities, how we are perceived online, how > the distribution and virtualization of our personalities might lose their > distinction (and detail) via the network as they become homogenized in a sea > of values. > > Randall > > From: That Is Repulsive <[email protected]> > Reply-To: NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity > <[email protected]> > Date: Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 6:31 PM > To: NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity > <[email protected]>, michael szpakowski <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [NetBehaviour] neat NZ rites : helen varley jamieson / MANY > > Series so far > https://www.behance.net/Netartizens <https://www.behance.net/Netartizens> > > Portraits based on the calculated average colour derived from original > artworks by michael szpakowski > Generated using custom Processing script > 2448x2448px > PNG File format > > #88837f_helen_varley_jamieson.png > https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308701/88837f_helen_varley_jamiesonpng > <https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308701/88837f_helen_varley_jamiesonpng> > > #61707a_karl_heinz_jeron.png > https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308647/61707a_karl_heinz_jeronpng > <https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308647/61707a_karl_heinz_jeronpng> > > #6f616d_helen_pritchard.png > https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308577/6f616d_helen_pritchardpng > <https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308577/6f616d_helen_pritchardpng> > > #2d2d2e_rob_myers.png > https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308497/2d2d2e_rob_myerspng > <https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308497/2d2d2e_rob_myerspng> > > #8c8e92_kath_o'donnell.png > https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308453/8c8e92_kath_odonnellpng > <https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308453/8c8e92_kath_odonnellpng> > > #adaaad_simon_mclennan.png > https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308389/adaaad_simon_mclennanpng > <https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308389/adaaad_simon_mclennanpng> > > #89868d_isabel_brison.png > https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308275/89868d_isabel_brisonpng > <https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308275/89868d_isabel_brisonpng> > > #7f7b81_mez.png > https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308159/7f7b81_mezpng > <https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308159/7f7b81_mezpng> > > #6c706f_alan_sondheim.png > https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308089/6c706f_alan_sondheimpng > <https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308089/6c706f_alan_sondheimpng> > > #747892_patrick_lichty.png > https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308005/747892_patrick_lichtypng > <https://www.behance.net/gallery/24308005/747892_patrick_lichtypng> > > #9c8189_dr_hairy.png > https://www.behance.net/gallery/24307781/9c8189_dr_hairypng > <https://www.behance.net/gallery/24307781/9c8189_dr_hairypng> > > #837f84_ruth_catlow.png > https://www.behance.net/gallery/24307661/837f84_ruth_catlowpng > <https://www.behance.net/gallery/24307661/837f84_ruth_catlowpng> > > #7e797e_randall_packer.png > https://www.behance.net/gallery/24307275/7e797e_randall_packerpng > > > > > David > > > > > >> On 8 Mar 2015, at 20:42, michael szpakowski <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/16755763411/ >> >> oil on canvas //12X9" //painted from google search // posted to Flickr >> >> series so far: >> >> >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/szpako/sets/72157651122579216 >> >> cheers >> michael >> >> _______________________________________________ >> NetBehaviour mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > > _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected]http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netb > ehaviour
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