dear all
I hesitated before responding and yet perhaps one can just let thoughts flow
here, I'm just embarrassed
and feel I have now nothing to add, except a certain disgust or despair at
inabilities. I feel the discussion
proves helpless, and maybe that is what it is.
I saw listmembers here propose opening all borders, managing the flood of
refugees as there is enough money in northern europe (US? Australia, Canada,
New Zealand?, Japan?), helping (a blog was cited where people 'speak out' or
say they are upset), getting rid of politicians, putting bankers in prison,
offering food and house spaces; and now there's suggestions of intervention, of
taking command of social and political spaces? But you can't abolish banks or
elected politician nor stop propaganda and fear or xenophobia/racism, nor do I
see media artist virtually/symbolically or physically
having an inch of a chance.;
A friend of mine, Maria Kastrinou, reports how dire the situation is in Greece
? having become unmanageable; the reports from there include
volunteer groups, yes, something really admirable stuff, as seen in germany and
other places (now noted by the BBC and interviewed)
a nonprofit organization (founded by Tirikos-Ergas) called Angalia is one of
the initiatives helping the country cope with a massive wave of migrants to
Greek islands, tens of thousands, most of them refugees escaping conflict and
violence in Syria and Afghanistan. The run-up to elections set for next month
has further paralyzed Greece?s response to the migration crisis as authorities
are already struggling to cope with the skyrocketing number of arrivals amid
the country?s debt woes and near-empty public coffers. Volunteers such as Mr.
Tirikos-Ergas are often all that prevents complete chaos on the islands bearing
the brunt of the migration, fueled this summer by the worsening war in Syria.
These helpers warn that they have their limits. ?We are under enormous
pressure, especially from the people that we can?t help. At the same time, we
are juggling all of our other responsibilities.?
The migrants are crossing into Greece from Turkey before heading to Northern Europe by
way of the so-called Balkan corridor through Macedonia and Serbia and on into Hungary
& then Austria. Nearly 142,000 migrants have arrived by sea in Greece since June 1,
according to the International Organization for Migration.>>
As to acting my media artist role trying to film and speak to refugees
when on Tuesday i passed through Calais en route to Dover (UK), not so
good, not a chance, there was barbed wire fences all around travelers
trying to reach ferry port, armed French police and UK border guards
with dogs searching cars just as they do in Texas when i cross from
Mexico into the US. The barbed wirefence allowed travelers like me to
see hundreds of refugees with plastic bags stumbling along the fences, a
devastating scene right out of "Blindness" (the film adaptation of
Saramago's text that deals with state terror and incarceration after an
unknown disease breaks out), I don;t want to tell what I felt or saw nor
does a reference to literature help, I was safe and after long queues
and questioning allowed to pass through customs, but the physical
experience of such crossing right through a refugee camp was utterly new
to me. No one on the ferry spoke out about it when I asked, but some guy
from the British Tourist Ministry showed up requesting me to answer
questionnaire about my frequent travels and how much I spend on them,
business or pleasure?
Blindnesses here generate thanatopolitics, and terror and war (in the decolonized
zones/recolonized interest spheres) their spiral effects, migration (that,
historically reflected, the old empires [e.g. Rome] should not survive, they
should collapse) will force more death politics, erosion of community (even as we
see the volunteers and the speakers-out momentarily), immunology having to do with
disorder, and immunity will creep forward as the core issue, how the developed
countries and proprietary classes used to comfort zones can keep the latter by any
means necessary (borders will be reappear soon and are already in operation, police
controls, movement controls) -- and relational aesthetics and mediation,
interventionist art & good intentions, well. well.
regards
Johannes Birringer
________________________________________
From: [email protected]
[[email protected]] on behalf of Randall Packer
[[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2015 4:57 AM
To: NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity
Subject: Re: [NetBehaviour] Not quite so dismal
Alan, great question and I welcome anyone who wants to reflect on the idea of the
artist as mediator or interventionist. There is a history of artists and activists
taking control of public spaces, either physically (Yes Men), virtually /
symbolically (Ricardo Dominguez), or in the example I provided of the US Department
of Art & Technology I created in 2001. Of course there are many more
interventions to reference.
On 9/3/15, 11:45 AM, "Alan Sondheim" <[email protected] on
behalf of [email protected]> wrote:
How do you go about doing that? As you know there was a huge amount of
activity of this sort in the 60s-80s US and it vanished; there's nothing -
now - to take control of - those spaces are abject and fractal and not
amenable to control from within or without - look at for example how Trump
has penetrated, fragmented electorates, even Fox news itself -
- Alan
On Thu, 3 Sep 2015, Randall Packer wrote:
Hi Dave? I would like to add that there is always the proactive strategy:
form your own artist-driven government agency; and create your own
artist-driven media. As media artists, we have access to the same techniques
and tools of propaganda as the mass media, and in most cases we are more
adept and nuanced in their use. So I say, we should do what we can to take
command of the social and political spaces that are governed & controlled by
the powers that be and make them our own.
I.E.: http://zakros.com/projects/usdat/
Best,
Randall
From: <[email protected]> on behalf of dave miller
Reply-To: NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity
Date: Thursday, September 3, 2015 at 2:50 AM
To: NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity
Subject: Re: [NetBehaviour] Not quite so dismal
Thanks Edward. That's really encouraging to see. Glad finally people are
speaking out. When government and news media control the discussion we get a
really unrepresentative picture.
Ana I totally agree we have to get to rid of these people - and particularly
the bankers.
On 2 Sep 2015 18:53, "Edward" <[email protected]> wrote:
I've just spent a few minutes looking at the Avaaz
petition/volunteer page on the subject of the refugee crisis:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/uk_refugees_volunteer_thank_you_3/
There are new comments arriving every few seconds. People are
calling on the UK Government to change its stance and
volunteering
to help, in many cases volunteering to give house-space to
refugees. I think the government have misjudged the public mood
on
this one.
- Edward
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