[-empyre-] Three Sisters

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear Tim and all, 
Earlier I wrote: 
“Amidst the acreage surrounding us I realize how important our role of 
caretaker is. I am grateful for the rich fertile land and clear water that 
surround us and there are many days I feel the aura of those who planted the 
land before me.” 

Last night I finished the last pages of Barbara Kingsolver’s non-fiction gem, 
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  The book plots one year of Kingsolver’s family 
experiment of family farming.  The goal was to lower the carbon footprint of 
their existence by farming their land, raising the animals they needed for 
nourishment, and buying everything else locally from their farmer’s market or 
other local vendors. 

Though we have a one foot blanket of snow here in upstate New York, just last 
Monday afternoon in forty-five degree weather I planted garlic bulbs in my 
garden.  As I was on my hands and knees digging the compost in the rows for 
planting, I recalled my grandfather advising me that you are supposed to plant 
garlic in October.  The aura I spoke of earlier chimes through often when I am 
in my garden--- That my corn should be knee high by the fourth of July; that 
slugs can be attracted off from tomato leaves by leaving small lids of beer 
near plants.  It is as if that advice is imprinted on me.  I recall him 
spending time plowing, weeding, cultivating, grafting fruit trees, shucking 
corn and so much more as if it were just yesterday. Kingsolver’s captivating 
writing reminded me of the importance of the rituals of family planting. 

Two springs ago Jolene and her husband Tim generously gave me a stash of corn 
kernel seed from their reservation that I planted in my own garden.Often 
called the three sisters, corn is traditionally planted with beans and squash 
together in a formation where support and nutrients sustain each other.  The 
growing season demands patience and slowness. The traditions of planting join 
intuition and common sense in the cyclical rituals of the year. How ironic it 
is that exactly one year ago in November of 2017 I hosted the discussion topic, 
On Contamination, for –empyre-soft-skinned space. 
http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/2017-November/date.html’
During that month we considered the slow seepage of contamination.  

Thanks Tim, Kate, Simon, Elizabeth, Stirling, Murat, Jolene, Hans for sharing 
your perspectives. Looking forward to more this week. 
Best. Renate 


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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[-empyre-] a space to incubate, pause, reflect

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear –empyre- subscribers, 
Thanks to Tim for pulling this diverse group of writers and thinkers together 
to consider our topic this month on Duration.  I have been keenly observing 
these past two years as Tim defined the theme of Duration for the Cornell 
Council on the Arts Biennial in relationship to the networks of passage, 
persistence and survival. These markers extended the conceptual qualities for 
those of us who sat on the curatorial committee as a way to think through and 
beyond conditions within the contemporary local and global political, 
ecological, social worlds we find ourselves today. 

From Ruby Chisti’s piece, Narratives of Memory whose layered glints of 
reflective and absorptive textures and sounds created a space for viewers to 
consider her own memories of loss and the destruction of her Pakistani home. 
http://cca.cornell.edu/?p=narratives-of-memory

To Ni’ja Whitson’s choreographed performance and installation, Meditation of 
Tongues.  Whitson reconsidered Marlon Riggs, Tongues Untied, a documentary film 
from the AIDS era.  Whitson and her performers embodied rage, raw anger and 
trauma through hip-hop moves and remixed media.
http://cca.cornell.edu/?p=a-meditation-on-tongues

Also, Poet and performer, Lyrae Van Clief and performance and video artist 
Emilie Stark-Menning rocked the audience via resistance against the Brett 
Kavanaugh senate confirmations.
http://cca.cornell.edu/?p=measured-the-clover-project
 
Many other projects considered the fragile state of our ecology from geology 
and land formation:  Hans Baumann and Karen Pinkus’, Crystalline Basement and 
the sea life duet between whale songs and the resonances of Annie Lewandowski 
and Sarah Hennies music and sound.  

http://cca.cornell.edu/?p=crystalline-basement
http://cca.cornell.edu/?p=cetus-life-after-life

This has been a long work week for me.  My apology to all of you for not 
chiming in a bit sooner.  As I walked in the door just a few hours ago I was 
grateful for the fact that I made it home through our first major snowstorm 
where at least three inches of snow have accumulated on the ground with the 
expectation of four to six more through the night.  The cold weather and poor 
weather conditions provide a space to incubate, pause, reflect on DURATION or 
the time which something continues. I will write more tomorrow morning. 
Best, 
Renate

  



Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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[-empyre-] October topic: Welcome Tarsh Bates to -empyre-

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
   Dear –empyreans, 
   The warmest welcome to Tarsh Bates (AU), our October moderator.  I first 
met Tarsh in Hong Kong a couple of years ago at the New Media Caucus 
Conference.  I was mesmerized by her presentation on the research and creative, 
artistic work she was doing with living yeast.  Thrilled that she has not only 
agreed to sit on our newly formed Advisory Board but also excited to introduce 
her to our list.  Tarsh has curated an exhibition in Australia that lies at the 
heart of this month’s topic.  I will let her introduce that to you but I 
welcome and introduce Tarsh Base to the –empyre- community.  
   Tarsh Bates is an artist/researcher interested in the aesthetics of 
interspecies relationships and the human as a queer ecology. I have worked 
variously as a pizza delivery driver, a fruit and vegetable stacker, a toilet 
paper packer, a researcher in compost science and waste management, a honeybee 
ejaculator, an art gallery invigilator, a raspberry picker, a lecturer/tutor in 
art/science, art history, gender & technology, posthumanism, counter realism 
and popular culture, an editor, a bookkeeper, a car detailer, and a life 
drawing model. I was recently awarded a PhD exploring the human as a 
multi-species ecology and am currently a research associate at SymbioticA, UWA 
and The Seed Box, an international environmental humanities collaboration based 
at Linköping University in Sweden and funded by Mistra and Formas. I am 
particularly enamoured with Candida albicans. 
https://tarshbates.com

Happy October to all, 
Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Cornell University
-empyre soft-skinned space, curator, managing moderator
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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[-empyre-] Thanks to Byron Rich and guests.

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thank you Byron for shepherding our listserv this past month.  You have been 
such a reliable comrade and we do appreciate your first foray into moderating 
our listserv.  We look forward to your continuing contributions to our listserv 
and hope to hear from you again in the future. Also, many thanks to your guests 
this month and do invite them to continue tuning in to our upcoming topics. 
If any of you have other comments or questions please field them back channel 
to Byron. 
Best Wishes to all of you.
Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Cornell University, Department of Art
-empyre-soft-space, curator, managing moderator 
 

On 9/30/18, 9:10 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Byron Rich"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

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[-empyre-] October is open

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear –empyreans_
My apologies to Byron for interrupting his month, but I wanted to send this 
alert out. We have an unexpected opening for the upcoming month of October open 
for a topic of choice.  If you have an idea and a selection of guests who you 
can call on to help you out please email me as soon as possible and I can 
assist. 
Best. Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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[-empyre-] FW: Welcome Byron Rich to the September discussion

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
While this was sent out at 7 am this morning for some reason it never went 
through.  Here we go again and apology to Byron and his guests. 
On 9/4/18, 7:00 AM, "Renate Terese Ferro"  wrote:

Welcome to Byron Rich.  I am thrilled to introduce you all to our monthly 
moderator for September.  Byron and I have worked together on mutual interests 
at the College Art Association particularly a panel a year ago on BioArt.  I 
have included his biography below. He is traveling in Stockholm so will 
introduce soon.  Thanks Byron and welcome to all his guests who are new to 
–empyre-soft-skinned space 

I also wanted to mention that many of you have written back channel about 
the very flimsy state of our website hosted by Cornell.  The Cornell IT folks 
are aware of these issues but have been swamped.  Stay tuned for a new update.  

Welcome back. Renate

Moderators: Byron   Rich(CAN)   
Byron Rich is an artist, professor and lecturer based in Meadville, PA. His 
work exists on
the boundaries of ethics, practicality, and the feasibility of emerging 
technologies and
ideologies. He has exhibited and spoken internationally at Ars Electronica, 
ZKM
Karlsruhe, Science Gallery Dublin, Border Sessions @ Den Haag, 
Shapeshifters in
Brussels, Waag in Amsterdam, and MediaLab Prado in Madrid, among many other
art/science venues.
He was the recipient of an Honorary Mention at the 2017 Prix Ars 
Electronica, Runner
up for the 2016 BioArt & Design Award, and recently received a commission 
from The
Science Gallery Dublin to produce M-Ark (Microbiome Ark), a speculative 
design project
designed to be put into earth orbit. M-Ark was recently exhibited at 
Cavendish Labs at
Cambridge University in the UK.
He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Art, and Director of Art & 
Technology at
Allegheny College.


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 



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[-empyre-] Welcome Dan Lichtman, July on -empyre- Bodies and Voices

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
It is with very WARM welcome that we introduce Dan Lichtman to our –empyre- 
soft-skinned community.  Record warmth has moved into Ithaca, NY with the high 
today of 100 degrees For those of you who have lived or visited upstate New 
York this is an unusual heat wave.  Here in Central NYS air conditioning 
usually occurs when you open both windows of your home and have the wind 
circulate!

It was in Ithaca in fact that we first met Dan Lichtman as a brilliant student 
at Cornell.  Since then we have had the privilege of not only collaborating on 
one of his projects, but inviting him to Cornell as a guest critic.  We are 
thrilled that he agreed to host this month’s topic on –empyre- Bodies and 
Voices: an exploration of how multiplicities of body and voice produce 
narrative in video and media art. Dan will be introducing the topic and 
explaining the format changes. His biography is listed below.  We are also 
looking forward to Dan’s ideas as he sits on our newly formed –empyre- 
editorial board. Welcome Dan and thank you for agreeing to join –empyre-.  

Daniel Lichtman is a New York-based artist who works in performance, video and 
installation. Working with improvised and scripted language, new and found 
material, his work presents exuberant and over-the-top displays of personal 
testimony. In particular, his work explores age and gender, and the fragile 
forms of power, solidarity and autonomy brought about by sharing your story.

Lichtman’s recent solo projects include BRIC Arts and Media House, Brooklyn; 
Dynamo Arts Association, Vancouver; the National University of Colombia, 
Bogota; and The Woodmill, London. Group projects include punt-WG, Amsterdam; 
Hercules Project Space, The Drawing Center, The Queens Museum and The Bronx 
Museum, all in New York; University of Oxford, The ICA, The Tetley and the 
Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, all in the UK. Residencies include BRIC 
Arts and Media House, The Drawing Center, The National University of Colombia 
and Flat Time House, London. 

Lichtman received his MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London. He teaches 
studio art, art history and critical theory at St. Johns University, New York.



Organized by Daniel Lichtman

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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[-empyre-] Thank you Shulea and guests

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Bravo to you all.  It has been such a pleasure to lurk this month.  I have been 
inspired so much that I have launched a new drawing project that I have been 
thinking about for quite some time but you all pushed me to the brink for a new 
beginning.   This month’s exchanges have inspired all of us in ways that were 
unexpected and challenging.  Thanks first and foremost to the amazing Shu Lea 
Cheang.  Your energy has radiated throughout the month’s discussion.  Thanks to 
new –empyre-subscribers; we hope you will stay on a bit to get a “taste” of 
what we do from month to month here on –empyre-.  And to so many of our tried 
and true it was nice to read your recent posts.  

Shu Lea has joined our newly organized editorial board so we look forward to 
more of her inspirational work with us.  

Tomorrow, later I will introduce another new member of our editorial board, 
Daniel Lichtman.  Dan is taking us in a new direction format wise.  Really 
looking forward to his hosting the month of July.
Renate Ferro
-empyre- curator, organizing moderator  

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

On 6/30/18, 4:17 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Shu Lea Cheang"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

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[-empyre-] pushing these through

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Apology to Shulea and her guests of June, but I thought it was important to 
pass these on to our subscribers in memory of Marilouise. 
Thanks Shulea.


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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[-empyre-] Welcome to June on -empyre_ Introducing ShuLea Cheang,

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
It is with great pleasure we introduce our Editorial Board Member ShuLea Cheang 
to the –empyre- community.  ShuLea has organized a robust month for June, 
“rehearsal of a network”
Based on her new project “rehearsal of a network “Mycelium Network Society” Shu 
Lea brings together a stunning group of guests for the month.  We invite and 
urge all of our interested –empyre subscribers to join in. Welcome ShuLea and 
thank you on behalf of –empyre-. 

Biography:
Shu Lea Cheang (Taiwan/USA/France)

Shu Lea Cheang is an artist, filmmaker, networker. Cheang constructs networked 
installation and multi-player performance in participatory impromptu mode. She 
drafts sci-fi narratives in her film scenario and artwork imagination. She 
builds social interface with transgressive plots and open network that permits 
public participation. Engaged in media activism and video art for two decades 
(80s,90s) in New York city, Cheang concluded her NYC period with a cybernoia 
film FRESH KILL (1994) and the first Guggenheim museum web art 
commission/collection BRANDON (1998-1999). After releasing her second feature 
“I.K.U” (2000) at Sundance Film Festival, she relocated to Eurozone where she 
took up large scale installations and networked performance while co-founded 
several collectives to pursue cross-disciplinary projects. From homesteading 
cyberspace in the 90s to her current retreat to post-crash BioNet zone, Cheang 
takes on viral love, bio hack in her current cycle of works.  In 2017, she 
released her third feature FLUIDØ at Berlinale Berlin Film festival and is 
currently developing Unborn0x9, an ultrasound hacking performance and UKI, 
cinema interrupted , an interactive cinema with mobile game app. 
http://mauvaiscontact.info

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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[-empyre-] closing down our May discussion and a tribute to Marilouise Kroker

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear –empyre-, 
Many thanks to those who posted in our open month this past May especially 
those who wrote tributes to Marilouise Kroker who passed away this past month.  
We have forwarded all of your posts to her husband Arthur Kroker.  For those of 
you who have not read Arthur and Marilouise’s amazing writing we hope you will 
do so. 

http://krokers.net/
http://ctheory.net/ctheory_wp/author/marilouisekroker/
http://ctheorymultimedia.cornell.edu/

Thanks to all. 
Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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Re: [-empyre-] In memory of Marilouise Kroker 1943-2018

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Sorry all.  Sent out the unedited version inadvertently. Use this version to 
pass on to others please. 

Tim and I are heartbroken to write to all of you today. 

Marilouise Kroker, died earlier this week at home on May 22, 2018. She was an 
author and Senior Research Scholar at the Pacific Centre for Technology and 
Culture, University of Victoria. With her collaborator and husband, Arthur 
Kroker, she wrote Hacking the Future (1996). She also co-edited and introduced 
numerous anthologies including Critical Digital Studies A Reader (2008), 
Digital Delirium (1997), Body Invaders (1987), The Last Sex (1993). Arthur and 
Marilouise also jointly edited the online academic journal Ctheory, an 
international journal of theory, technology and culture. Collaborating with Tim 
Murray they created the curatorial online project, C-theory Multimedia. For 
more of their work: 
http://krokers.net/
http://ctheory.net/ctheory_wp/author/marilouisekroker/
http://ctheorymultimedia.cornell.edu/

Marilouise and Arthur Kroker have been vital parts of our personal fiber for 
the past twenty years. It has been their courage and trailblazing efforts at 
personal collaboration that provided us the beacon of example for us 
personally.  Tim’s common work and writing for CTHEORY Multimedia has been one 
of the personal and artistic highlights of his career.  Marilouise was ripped 
from Arthur so quickly and cruelly.

Over the next week, until we introduce the next topic hosted by ShuLea Cheang 
please feel free to add thoughts and narratives about Marilouise.  We send our 
heartfelt condolences to Arthur at this time from the entire –empyre- 
soft-skinned community. 

Renate Ferro
and Tim Murray





Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

On 5/26/18, 11:47 AM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Renate Terese Ferro" <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
rfe...@cornell.edu> wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Tim and I are heartbroken to write to all of you today. 

Marilouise Kroker, died earlier this week at home on May 22,nd  2018. She 
was an author and Senior Research Scholar at the Pacific Centre for Technology 
and Culture, University of Victoria. With her collaborator and husband, Arthur 
Kroker, she wrote Hacking the Future (1996). She also co-edited and introduced 
numerous anthologies including Critical Digital Studies A Reader (2008), 
Digital Delrium (1997), Body Invaders (1987), The Last Sex (1993). Arthur and 
Marilouise and Arthur also jointly edited the online academic journal Ctheory, 
an international journal of theory, technology and culture. Collaborating with 
Tim Murray they created the curatorial online project, C-theory Multimedia. For 
further colaborations see the following links: 
http://krokers.net/
http://ctheory.net/ctheory_wp/author/marilouisekroker/
http://ctheorymultimedia.cornell.edu/

Marilouise and Arthur Kroker have been vital parts of our personal fiber 
for the past twenty years. It has been their courage and trailblazing efforts 
at personal collaboration that provided us the beacon of example for us 
personally.  Tim’s common work and writing for CTHEORY Multimedia with the 
Krokers has been one of the personal and artistic highlights of his career.  
Marilouise was ripped from Arthur so quickly and cruelly.

Over the next week, until we introduce the next topic hosted by ShuLea 
Cheang please feel free to add thoughts and narratives about Marilouise.  We 
send our heartfelt condolences to Arthur at this time from the entire –empyre- 
soft-skinned community. 

Renate Ferro
and Tim Murray



Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

___
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[-empyre-] In memory of Marilouise Kroker 1943-2018

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Tim and I are heartbroken to write to all of you today. 

Marilouise Kroker, died earlier this week at home on May 22,nd  2018. She was 
an author and Senior Research Scholar at the Pacific Centre for Technology and 
Culture, University of Victoria. With her collaborator and husband, Arthur 
Kroker, she wrote Hacking the Future (1996). She also co-edited and introduced 
numerous anthologies including Critical Digital Studies A Reader (2008), 
Digital Delrium (1997), Body Invaders (1987), The Last Sex (1993). Arthur and 
Marilouise and Arthur also jointly edited the online academic journal Ctheory, 
an international journal of theory, technology and culture. Collaborating with 
Tim Murray they created the curatorial online project, C-theory Multimedia. For 
further colaborations see the following links: 
http://krokers.net/
http://ctheory.net/ctheory_wp/author/marilouisekroker/
http://ctheorymultimedia.cornell.edu/

Marilouise and Arthur Kroker have been vital parts of our personal fiber for 
the past twenty years. It has been their courage and trailblazing efforts at 
personal collaboration that provided us the beacon of example for us 
personally.  Tim’s common work and writing for CTHEORY Multimedia with the 
Krokers has been one of the personal and artistic highlights of his career.  
Marilouise was ripped from Arthur so quickly and cruelly.

Over the next week, until we introduce the next topic hosted by ShuLea Cheang 
please feel free to add thoughts and narratives about Marilouise.  We send our 
heartfelt condolences to Arthur at this time from the entire –empyre- 
soft-skinned community. 

Renate Ferro
and Tim Murray



Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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Re: [-empyre-] open post

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear –empyre- Subscribers, 
With the end of the semesters and May ticking away this open month of –empyre- 
is waiting for anyone to post a new project they are working on or something 
they would like to share? 
Anyone beginning a new research project?  Feel free to post.  Best, 
Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

On 5/4/18, 7:34 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Renate Terese Ferro" <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
rfe...@cornell.edu> wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Also want to add 

THINKING THROUGH DIGITAL MEDIA: TRANSNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS AND LOCATIVE 
PLACES edited by Patricia Zimmerman 
On Video Games: The Visual Politics of Race, Gender and Space by Soraya 
Murray

Thanks Melinda for these .  The mix between historical and contemporary is 
interesting. 

Runway #32 Re/production,  edited by VNS Matrix, 2016
http://runway.org.au/archive/32-reproduction/

Cyberfeminist Manifesto VNS Matrix, 1991 
https://vnsmatrix.net/the-cyberfeminist-manifesto-for-the-21st-century/

Xenofeminist Manifesto, Laboria Cuboniks,  http://www.laboriacuboniks.net/

Xenofeminism Helen Hester , Polity, 2018

a more quantitive look: 
Melissa Gregg, Works Intimacy, Polity, 2011
Please add!  

On 5/2/18, 9:14 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf 
of Renate Terese Ferro" <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf 
of rfe...@cornell.edu> wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Sarah Cook, the curator and writer from the UK, posted this post on 
FACEBOOK a few days ago. 
“just made a list of good, non-fiction, cautionary tales about life and 
work in the digital/information age, and they're all by men. Help.” 

Please help me make a bibliography of self-identified women writers who 
have written books, articles about life and work in the digital/ information 
age and I will share it with Sarah— Thanks Sarah and FB friends for this 
beginning. 

Clicking In by Lynn Hershman
Nature and Wellbeing in the Digital Age by Sue Thomas
The Digital Human (BBC radio podcast)
Hello World: travels in virtuality (2004), a travel memoir of 
cyberspace by Sue Thomas
Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace (2013), a study of nature 
metaphors in digital life with history, culture and wellbeing woven in by Sue 
Thomas

https://www.wired.com/story/social-media-makes-us-soldiers-in-the-war-against-ourselves/
Virginia Heffernan 
Ellen Ullman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Ullman

Also: 
María Fernández books Cosmopolitanism in Mexican Visual Culture (Texas 
University Press 2014) and with Faith Wilding and Michelle Wright she edited 
Domain Errors: Cyberfeminist Practices.
Trans Desire/Affective Cyborgs (Think Media) Micha Cardenas
Love, Robot by Margaret Rhee

Please add to this list!  Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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[-empyre-] bibliography- please add to it

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
-
Please help me make a bibliography of self-identified women writers who have 
written nonfiction books, articles about life and work in the digital/ 
information age 

Adding work on Biopolitics by Beatrice da Costa
Tactical Biopolitics: Art, Activism, and Technoscience (Leonardo Book Series) 
Paperback – August 13, 2010
Mary Flannagan   Reload: Rethinking Women + Cyberculture Paperback – April 30, 
2002
Contemporary Art and Digital Culture 1st Edition by Melissa Gronlund
THINKING THROUGH DIGITAL MEDIA: TRANSNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS AND LOCATIVE PLACES 
edited by Patricia Zimmerman 
On Video Games: The Visual Politics of Race, Gender and Space by Soraya 
Murray
Runway #32 Re/production,  edited by VNS Matrix, 2016
http://runway.org.au/archive/32-reproduction/
Cyberfeminist Manifesto VNS Matrix, 1991 
https://vnsmatrix.net/the-cyberfeminist-manifesto-for-the-21st-century/ 
Xenofeminist Manifesto, Laboria Cuboniks,  http://www.laboriacuboniks.net/
Xenofeminism Helen Hester , Polity, 2018
Melissa Gregg, Works Intimacy, Polity, 2011
Clicking In by Lynn Hershman
Nature and Wellbeing in the Digital Age by Sue Thomas
The Digital Human (BBC radio podcast)
Hello World: travels in virtuality (2004), a travel memoir of cyberspace by Sue 
Thoma
Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace (2013), a study of nature metaphors in 
digital life with history, culture and wellbeing
woven in by Sue Thomas
https://www.wired.com/story/social-media-makes-us-soldiers-in-the-war-against-ourselves/
Virginia Heffernan 
 Ellen Ullman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Ullman
María Fernández Cosmopolitanism in Mexican Visual Culture (Texas University 
Press 2014) 
María Fernández ,Faith Wilding and Michelle Wright,  Domain Errors: 
Cyberfeminist Practices.
Trans Desire/Affective Cyborgs (Think Media) Micha Cardenas
Love, Robot by Margaret Rhee

Please add to this list!  Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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[-empyre-] open post: life and work in the digital/ information age

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Also want to add 

THINKING THROUGH DIGITAL MEDIA: TRANSNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS AND LOCATIVE PLACES 
edited by Patricia Zimmerman 
On Video Games: The Visual Politics of Race, Gender and Space by Soraya Murray

Thanks Melinda for these .  The mix between historical and contemporary is 
interesting. 

Runway #32 Re/production,  edited by VNS Matrix, 2016
http://runway.org.au/archive/32-reproduction/

Cyberfeminist Manifesto VNS Matrix, 1991 
https://vnsmatrix.net/the-cyberfeminist-manifesto-for-the-21st-century/

Xenofeminist Manifesto, Laboria Cuboniks,  http://www.laboriacuboniks.net/

Xenofeminism Helen Hester , Polity, 2018

a more quantitive look: 
Melissa Gregg, Works Intimacy, Polity, 2011
Please add!  

On 5/2/18, 9:14 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Renate Terese Ferro" <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
rfe...@cornell.edu> wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Sarah Cook, the curator and writer from the UK, posted this post on 
FACEBOOK a few days ago. 
“just made a list of good, non-fiction, cautionary tales about life and 
work in the digital/information age, and they're all by men. Help.” 

Please help me make a bibliography of self-identified women writers who 
have written books, articles about life and work in the digital/ information 
age and I will share it with Sarah— Thanks Sarah and FB friends for this 
beginning. 

Clicking In by Lynn Hershman
Nature and Wellbeing in the Digital Age by Sue Thomas
The Digital Human (BBC radio podcast)
Hello World: travels in virtuality (2004), a travel memoir of cyberspace by 
Sue Thomas
Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace (2013), a study of nature metaphors 
in digital life with history, culture and wellbeing woven in by Sue Thomas

https://www.wired.com/story/social-media-makes-us-soldiers-in-the-war-against-ourselves/
Virginia Heffernan 
Ellen Ullman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Ullman

Also: 
María Fernández books Cosmopolitanism in Mexican Visual Culture (Texas 
University Press 2014) and with Faith Wilding and Michelle Wright she edited 
Domain Errors: Cyberfeminist Practices.
Trans Desire/Affective Cyborgs (Think Media) Micha Cardenas
Love, Robot by Margaret Rhee

Please add to this list!  Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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Re: [-empyre-] OPEN POST -empyre-LIFE AND WORK IN THE DIGITAL AGE: can you add to this bibliography

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

Thinking about intersectionality here so think broadly!  

On 5/2/18, 9:14 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Renate Terese Ferro" <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
rfe...@cornell.edu> wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Sarah Cook, the curator and writer from the UK, posted this post on 
FACEBOOK a few days ago. 
“just made a list of good, non-fiction, cautionary tales about life and 
work in the digital/information age, and they're all by men. Help.” 

Please help me make a bibliography of self-identified women writers who 
have written books, articles about life and work in the digital/ information 
age and I will share it with Sarah— Thanks Sarah and FB friends for this 
beginning. 

Clicking In by Lynn Hershman
Nature and Wellbeing in the Digital Age by Sue Thomas
The Digital Human (BBC radio podcast)
Hello World: travels in virtuality (2004), a travel memoir of cyberspace by 
Sue Thomas
Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace (2013), a study of nature metaphors 
in digital life with history, culture and wellbeing woven in by Sue Thomas

https://www.wired.com/story/social-media-makes-us-soldiers-in-the-war-against-ourselves/
Virginia Heffernan 
Ellen Ullman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Ullman

Also: 
María Fernández books Cosmopolitanism in Mexican Visual Culture (Texas 
University Press 2014) and with Faith Wilding and Michelle Wright she edited 
Domain Errors: Cyberfeminist Practices.
Trans Desire/Affective Cyborgs (Think Media) Micha Cardenas
Love, Robot by Margaret Rhee

Please add to this list!  Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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[-empyre-] Thanks to Dale. Open -empyre- for the month of May

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks to Dale Hudson and his guests who guided us through the month of April 
on new media documentary practice. Thanks to so many old friends like Craig 
Saper and Patty Zimmermann for joining Dale as well as so many new –empyre- 
subscribers.  We hope you will stay on for the next month! 

We have an OPEN DISCUSSION on –empyre- this month.  Looking forward to having 
an uncurated time for all of our subscribers to write about issues they want to 
share, interesting readings, prescient topics, and more.  

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
 
 

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[-empyre-] Thanks Junting and welcome Dale Hudson for May

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--Thank you Junting for your organizational work in hosting this past month on 
–empyre.  Also thanks to all of your participants for the engaging posts.  I am 
writing from the middle of Taipei where the city’s sounds have been occupying 
my days and nights.
I am going to be somewhat efficient here to introduce Dale Hudson who is 
writing from Abu Dhabi, UAE.  Dale is going to take over moderating duties for 
the month of April.

Thanks to all.  Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

From:  on behalf of Junting Huang 

Reply-To: soft_skinned_space 
Date: Saturday, March 31, 2018 at 10:12 PM
To: soft_skinned_space 
Subject: [-empyre-] Ending March’s Discussion
Resent-From: Renate Ferro 

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
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[-empyre-] getting things started

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

Dear Junting, Xin, Weida, and David, 
 
Our -empyre-subscribers are looking forward to hearing more about your own work 
and research.  Thanks to Junting for sharing the work of Taiwanese poet, Hsia 
Yu’s publication, Pink Noise. For those of you who are not familiar with the 
self-published book of poetry, you might be interested to know that the book is 
comprised of pink and black ink texts on transparent pages.  Bound, the 
collection is stuffed inside of a stiff, transparent covering that is wrapped 
and bound with a transparent band.  
 
The exterior of the book is printed with this text from Hsia Yu, 
I’ve always wanted to make a transparent book, and after I had finished 
composing the 33 poems gathered here, I knew the time had come to make this 
book of poetry filled with “written noise” … Then I put it in an aquarium and a 
swimming pool and left it in the rain for days… This is a book that knows no 
limits and thus knows not to go too far.
 
Interested in how the circulation of found texts are embedded within the 
complications of cultural understanding and translation, I am also fascinated 
with how textual composites resonate within the spaces of the architectural 
confines they find themselves in. While Hsia Yu’s Pink Noise exists on the 
transparent pages of a bound book of hot pink and black, one copy of which was 
submerged in water, my composited text/net /installation Private Secrets/Public 
Lies, assimilates random inputted texts from willing participants in the form 
of secrets. The texts are manipulated, parsed, and construed within the 
networked architecture of a java program. As the piece moved from exhibitions 
in the US to Berlin to Chiapas, Mexico and Lima, Peru, issues of mistranslation 
and misunderstanding emerged.  (Remote users are still able to add secrets via 
the world wild web today at www.privatesecretspubliclies.net as long as they 
have the most current version of JAVA and that they use the web browser 
safari.)   

Thinking as well with you Junting this Sunday morning about WRITTEN NOISE and 
how the implications of these two text pieces can resonate with the concepts of 
slippage, misunderstandings and so much more. How does the architecture of 
reception whether in an aquarium/swimming pool or the vastness of the world 
–wide web has on noise music, noise pollution, and noise signal. 

Looking forward to hearing from you all. 
Signing out for now, 
Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

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Re: [-empyre-] Welcome to the March 2018 Discussion!

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
HI Junting, 
I have signed off all of your guests on empyre.  Week 1 guests should be ready 
to go ahead and post.  I have sent everyone a repeat of instructions, etc.  
Hope all this helps.  More soon via empyre.  Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

On 3/2/18, 1:11 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Junting Huang"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

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[-empyre-] Welcome Junting Huang and Zin Zhou

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Welcome to the March discussion on –empyre-soft-skinned space, Noise: 
Disorientation, Contamination, and (Non)Communication.  We are thrilled to 
introduce monthly moderator Junting Huang who is a new member of the –empyre- 
editorial board and  co-moderator Xin Zhou.. While we see Junting regularly on 
the Cornell campus we are thrilled to include Xin Zhou who resides in Shanghai. 
 Below are their biographies. 
Thanks.  Renate

Junting Huang (CH) is the Assistant Curator of the Rose Goldsen Archive of New 
Media Art and a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Comparative Literature at 
Cornell University. He works in the areas of media theory, media art, digital 
studies, and sound studies. In particular, by examining contemporary literary 
and artistic practices (primarily in China and the U.S.), he has written on the 
issues of machine translation, digital poetry, sound and signification, theory 
of listening, and the aesthetics of noise. He is currently working on a project 
on the noise practices in contemporary Chinese art and media, which 
conceptualizes “noise” as the unstructured, extraneous, and erroneous traces 
that have nonetheless participated in the constructions of the aesthetics and 
politics of Chinese contemporaneity.

Xin ZHOU i(CH) s a researcher, writer and curator of film, video and media 
arts, currently based in Shanghai. He has curated public programs and film and 
video series at Anthology Film Archives (NYC), Carpenter Center for the Visual 
Arts (Boston), Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, National Museum of Modern 
and Contemporary Art, Korea (Seoul), UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art 
(Brooklyn), OCT Loft (Shenzhen), and The Performing Garage (NYC). He was 
co-curator of the 2nd Asian Film and Video Art Forum at MMCA in Seoul, and 
guest curator of the 2nd Shenzhen Independent Animation Biennale at OCT Loft, 
Shenzhen. Recent projects include MONSOON, PRAYERS, NEW ROUTES: URBAN ISLAM 
ACROSS THE INDIAN OCEAN at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, and ODE TO 
INFRASTRUCTURE at META Project Space, Shanghai. His writing has appeared in 
Artforum (China), The Brooklyn Rail, Film Comment, Social Factory: 10th 
Shanghai Biennale exhibition catalogue, and elsewhere. He has a MA in Cinema 
Studies from New York University, and was a Research Associate in the 
Department of Chinese Culture at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University 
(2016-2017).

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

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[-empyre-] ending the discussion and whats up next

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks Nicole for responding to my last email.  I am keeping open this month’s 
discussion until tomorrow for anyone who may want to respond to a previous 
thread or add something new.  Tomorrow night I will be introducing new monthly 
moderators Junting Huang and Xin Zhou who will I introduce our next discussion, 
Noise: Disorientation, Contamination, and (Non)Communication

More soon.  Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

On 2/28/18, 5:17 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Nicole Bansal"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
In response to Renate’s previous comment, I think that blogs that are
affiliated with email listervs are very powerful because they serve as a
way to propel discussions even further. They provide participants with a
more visual approach, which I find useful as an individual in a creative
field of study. I find that “TheArtBlog.org” has  (
https://www.theartblog.org/ ) has very interesting content with critiques
and reviews of powerful art installations. I think that by expanding the
content of forums by adding more visuals, participants are more likely to
be involved as they are captivated by the content and provoked to perhaps
add to the discussion.

​-Nicole​


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[-empyre-] more blogs

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear –empyreans-
I am going to pick this discussion up for wrap up on the 28th.  I have been 
traveling in California this past week but in Ana’s last post she mentioned a 
few blogs that she visits regularly.  Blogs rely on unsolicited visitors.  
There are several blogs that are affiliated with email listservs that deliver a 
synopsis or overview of the blog entries to entice the reader to read. 


Ana’s favorites: 
www.thepoliceblog.org  an excellent blog about art architecture and tech, (not 
updated regularly but with a great archive)
bldgblog.blogspot.co.uk   lots of variation and well written...
contemporist.com   buildings and news
hefunambulist.net  Leopold Lambert, architect, theorist, manages this blog 
Funambulist Magazine. Art, maps, architecture, Palestine...
warscapes.com  lands in conflict, art, poetry, politics. Very enjojable.


My favorite art blog is hands down Hyperallergic.https://hyperallergic.com/

Others: 
http://www.e-flux.com/  more of a publishing platform
Pencil in the Studio   http://www.pencilinthestudio.com/

Would love to hear about more art, technology, and others that you depend on 
regularly. 
Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

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[-empyre-] Week three and thank you to Ana

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Hello empyreans!
 I am just getting back and caught up on the last three days of posts.  I just 
wanted to respond to Sarah’s post to point out that when you reach out to those 
who may have more knowledge, more experience or even a different point of view 
you are connecting through a network of acquaintances.  When Melinda first 
envisioned a soft-skinned space she invited a VIRTUAL network of artists, 
technologists, writers, about fifty in the beginning, all who were friends and 
acquaintances.  -empyre - allowed this group to exchange ideas and even coding 
information during the early days of html.  In the spirit of that early 
network, -empyre- continues to share knowledge, information, and most 
importantly perspectives from many.  A listserv is simply a tool.  It’s a coded 
platform that enables text based sharing.

Jake wrote  
...why one thinks that empyre is a useful resource when conducting research or 
learning from
others. Im wondering, won't the information sometimes be biased or incorrect ...


 Jake that is why the listserv has proved to be useful for so many.  For 
example a few years ago I was interested in learning about wearable technology. 
 I gathered together a list of artists and technologists whose work intersected 
with the topic.  For an entire month the group shared ideas, information, 
links, and images with many of our -empyre-subscribers joining in.  Of course 
not all 2000 subscribers ever participate at any given time but there are 
groups within the membership that self-organize around the topics that are 
featured and interested to them.  

When information is printed or published tt it may contain a bias, take for 
example our news sources today that are being informed and delivered by social 
media.   The listserv platform is a discussion space and in any discussion 
there are always complicated but interesting layers that can be checked, 
discussed, and even debated as Murat pointed out in his post.  

A huge shout out to Ana for joining us this past week.  I know that all of my 
students gained so much from sharing your experiences and you probably noted 
that Lauren has become a Stumble upon fan.  

Thanks also to Alan, and Murat, Johannes, Catherine, Nicole, Craig, Brian, and 
Melinda for adding so many historical references for our newer subscribers who 
may not be aware of the early history of online information sharing.  

More a bit later this after noon.  Wondering if any of you have technology and 
art blogs that you visit or write for regularly. Thanks to all Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

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Re: [-empyre-] -empyre- pyres and family romances

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Many thanks Johannes for your participation over the years.  And thanks Simon 
for postiing again. 
It was never ever my intention to insult Simon Taylor as I mentioned to him in 
a personal email back channel last week.  For those of you that know me that is 
just not in my nature to insult anyone. 
Instead I was using his creative post to riff off, to write generatively from 
what he had written. 

Best to both of you. 
Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

On 2/13/18, 10:23 AM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Johannes Birringer"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

dear all

I am also confused about the less than moderate comments received, and I 
had already exchanged a puzzled letter with Simon Taylor down at Waiheke 
Island, who I felt was insulted, and feeling ashamed a bit that I am/I was not 
more outspoken to express my discomfort with this list that had given great 
impetus, many times, and also caused disappointment at other times.

That was really what I tried to say, I was not advocating passivity at all, 
dear Renate, I was suggesting (and yes, I am older and perhaps, like Ana, tired 
of lists and social media, or like Simon wonder, @youtoo, about the interesting 
and puzzling rejections that are floating, around the field, before 7th Seal, 
or death’s chess player interrupts as it happened last week, unpoetically but 
terminally; having wanted, in my last post, to pay my respects and gratitude to 
Melinda and Christina and the earlier artistic and vibrant intellectual 
exchanges here and on other lists that I like (un-moderated, like Netbehavior, 
without the need of “editorial boards”, a need never brought forward for 
discussion here to us who own this list and ought to have a say whether we want 
it) – so not having actually wanted to say I am overburdened by emails, or 
having no more time for this – on the contrary:

I was trying to ask, others here, whether we can eventually stop fooling 
ourselves, about the 5775 or 2175 followers or subscribers or reactors not 
reacting, if in fact this month only a handful of subscribers bothered to 
write, what nine, or twelve?  so why ask about a listserv and how to justify 
itself for a “new era,” when Simon’s or Christina’s brilliant posts simply end 
up in an empty chamber, without echo. If Ana suggest that she has given up 
waiting for reactions.  If there is not need for echo,  resonance, other than 
self-congratulation, no need for sharper critique and honesty, then I’d say, 
forget the era, it’s over, you (the pyre) were rejected, it burnt up. (And yes, 
a four-year lag is fine, for me, the letter I received was personal and never 
needed to be public.)

respectfully, and without regret,
thanking many and all here with whom I corresponded
over the years on discussions that moved me,
not backwards into a lost era of flaneurs, but forward,.

Johannes Birringer
dap-lab


[Simon schreibt]

I am confused about your introduction to my post: I am verbose? I am 
 also to the point. I am incomprehensible? I am also direct. I am 
 powerfully political. I am nonsensical. Poetic.
 
 ... I write to you as a recent PhD. in the job market, transcendent uber 
 alles. (Perhaps there is a market for the qualities you list? Please let 
 me know.)
[...]
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Re: [-empyre-] digital tools

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear Ana 
Interesting that you referenced Marc Garrett and Ruth Catlow, both of whom I 
reached out to be guests this month, were unable to join us because of previous 
commitments.  
https://www.furtherfield.org/
 
Furtherfield.org, an online platform, was originated collaboratively by both 
Marc and Ruth in London in 1996.  Their mission was to nurture collaboration as 
opposed to the historical assumption that artistic genius was an independent 
venture.  It was in 2004 that Furtherfield touched down in physical space 
inspiring networked media art in a North London neighborhood.  They host 
exhibitions, events, pirate radio, activism, street art but also continue to 
have an online presence that invests in both the theory and practice of digital 
culture and technology.  
 
In looking at your online presence Ana it appears that your last post on 
Stumble upon, if I am reading it correctly, was in 2011. Your writing practice 
has reflected changes and shifts in technology throughout the past 35 years.  
On twitter, you have 5,624 followers and you follow 6,166 today.  I am really 
looking forward to hearing about the reflections of your political voice within 
your early writing and if you were ever fearful about being so open?  How do 
you think your voice has shifted over the years?  I have a few Introduction to 
Digital Media students from Cornell who are lurking in on our conversation.  
Many of them and other new subscribers are not as familiar with the history of 
networked platforms.  Hoping you will share your own perspectives and 
experiences and thanks for this link to Marc’s insightful discussion of your 
online presence. 

More later today.  Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

On 2/11/18, 10:35 AM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Ana Valdés"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

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[-empyre-] digital tools

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Ana wrote: 
Our digital tools give us the illusion of transparency and visibility but 
instead we live in a giant panopticon where every gesture and word are 
monitored and watched.
 
Hi Ana, 
How appropriate to have you as our special guest this week.  Your writing 
practice has reflected changes and shifts in technology throughout the past 35 
years.  You were an early contributor to –empyre- and on twitter you have 5,624 
followers and you follow 6,166 today.  I am really looking forward to hearing 
about the reflections of your political voice within your early writing and if 
you were ever fearful about being so open?  How do you think your voice has 
shifted over the years?  The philosopher Jean Francois Lyotard was known to 
refuse to type his manuscripts on a computer because he felt that the sense of 
the pen and writing on paper changed the way he wrote.  It was only towards the 
end of his life when he finally gave in and used the computer to compose his 
texts.  He with many others had a distrust of the tools of technology.  In 
addition to Virillio, I am reminded by Debord’s The Society of the Spectacle, 
another text that reflects critical judgment on the spectacle of consumer 
society which certainly includes our obsession with electronics. 
 
I will add finally that I am very sorry to hear about the death of John Perry 
Barlow.  Barlow was never a contributor to –empyre- as far as I can tell but I 
was familiar with his writing career.  
Looking forward to hearing more about your experiences. 
Thanks Ana, 
Renate  

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] Beyond the listserv: Welcome Ana Valdes

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Many thanks to Theresa, Tim, Simon, William, Andrea, Melinda, Ricardo, Patrick, 
Ana, Johannes, Christina, Anna, and Sean. An appropriate start to our 
discussion on Digital InterFACING and for also paying tribute to Adrian Miles, 
an –empyre- pioneer who passed away a few days ago. 
 
Digital information moves, shifts and changes more quickly than traditional 
publication methods can keep pace. While last week we reminisced about the 
nature of the listserv. Johannes reminded us about its drawbacks.  Who can keep 
up with email after all? The anecdote he shared about the post that was 
responded to four years later reminds me of the strength of the listserv 
network. The connections we have made through our international network of 
–empyre- has resonated beyond into other virtual platforms and real space.  
Just a couple of weeks ago when I was in NYC at Zach Blas’ opening of his 
exhibition Contra-Internet at Art In General, I ran into two of our subscribers 
who introduced themselves.  And yes, Johannes we are entering into a new era of 
–empyre- as we introduce our new editorial board next month.  

This week I would like to introduce long-time contributor and subscriber, Ana 
Vales.  Ana’s biography is below. Looking forward to hearing about her 
experiences of writing online as we talk about more online InterFACiNG. This 
week perhaps we can flush out the nuances between some of these platforms as 
well as the relevancy of their formats in 2018.  Perhaps in 2018 as Johannes 
suggests, a more passive way of existing with information is preferred to 
generating online discussion.  Or maybe not?  
Renate

Ana Valdes is a writer and translator as well as an Art curator and social 
anthropologist.
She has been writing about social media since the 90: s and participated in 
several online communities as Electric Minds created by Howard Rheingold and 
Under Fire, an online discussion forum about War and Art, curated by Jordan 
Crandall. She has been a member of -empire, Nettime and other online forums as 
Stumble Upon, Twitter, Scoop it and Facebook.

She has written several books about women and Internet and about computer games 
and digital literacy. 

She is born in Uruguay South America but she was deported to Sweden as 
political refugee after spending several years in a high security prison as 
political prisoner.
She spent the half of her life in Sweden now she shares her time between Sweden 
and Uruguay.
In Stumble Upon she is Caravia and in Twitter she is Caravia158.

Blog ubiquity
Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

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Re: [-empyre-] Vale Adrian Miles - -empyre-'s second facilitator

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Appreciate this post Melinda and on behalf of all  –empyre- subscribers we send 
to you, his family and friends our condolences. 
For those of you who were not familiar with his work here is a link to his 
website.
http://vogmae.net.au/


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

On 2/8/18, 8:58 AM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
melinda rackham"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

Today I bear the sad news that our colleague and friend Adrain Miles has 
passed away at the weekend. He had a heart attack while riding his bike.

I have known Adrian for several decades both on and offline. I can't recall 
which conference I met him at, but it was somewhere in the mid 1990’s when we 
were a few of dissident voices of the superhighway hype. His enthusiasm for 
everything was astounding! His generosity to others as a teacher and mentor, 
his love of a good debate, his enquiring mind and his sense of humour. He 
always had a smile and a quirky line. 

Adrian was an original member and active participant of -empyre-. As I knew 
he was smart, trustworthy and equitable he was the first person I approached to 
assist facilitating when -empyre- was growing exponentially in its first six 
months and was too much for one person to manage. 
 
He joined up behind the scenes and first facilitated on his favourite topic 
in June 2002: 
+ Hypertext, Blogs and Video Blogs (vogs)
Adrian Miles and Jill Walker
http://lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/2002-June/date.html

and in September 2002: 
 Alter_Forms  
+ codeWurk with Mez & Methodicist Manifesto with Hideki Nakazawa
http://lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/2002-September/date.html

Adrian left the team as more facilitators joined in 2003, and was a vital 
member of "fibreculture" another Australian listserve and publisher set up on a 
more academic model http://www.fibreculture.org.  However he remained a long 
timr supported of and occasional guest on -empyre-, the last being on Practice 
Led Research in 2013.

Tributes are currently being written by others for ELO, RMIT and other 
places. Our thoughts are with his loved ones.
x
Melinda 

From around the web today:
 
Jason Nelson:
"Tragic news from Australia. Adrian Miles has passed away.
A pioneering digital media artist, thinker and writer, early hypertext 
creator, vlogger and Professor at RMIT, Adrian continued for decades to be a 
force in combining new forms of narrative/writing/communication and media in 
Australia and around the world. Damn"

Lisa Gye:
"Terribly saddened by the news of Adrian Miles' death last weekend. He was 
generous, challenging and thoroughly supportive. I know many Australian and 
international media studies scholars will be shocked and dismayed by this news."

Rosie Cross:
"Vale Adrian Miles, @vogmae on #Vimeo https://t.co/gF5PcpBxzH #RIP #pioneer 
[#geekgirl]"
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Re: [-empyre-] -empyre- in 2002- a trip down memory lane

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks Patrick and Anna for this list.  Appreciated. 
Renate

Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

On 2/6/18, 4:27 PM, "patrick lichty"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
There was also another great one called Mindspace, which was run by early
Cyberspace pontificator Peter Anders.

-Original Message-
From: empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
[mailto:empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au] On Behalf Of Ana Valdés
Sent: Tuesday, February 6, 2018 7:08 PM
To: soft_skinned_space 
Subject: Re: [-empyre-] -empyre- in 2002- a trip down memory lane

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

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Re: [-empyre-] -empyre- in 2002- a trip down memory lane

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Hey Ricardo. 
So glad you mentioned nettime.org and thank you for posting this post from 
February 26th 1998 nearly twenty years ago.  Talking about history I have 
enlisted twelve of my Introduction to Digital Media students to join us this 
month on –empyre-.  A few every week will post tidbits of history and facts 
about online communities and forums.  I thought it would be great to get young 
artists and thinkers involved this month so that they can get a sense of the 
long history but also to share with us their own insights about how online and 
internet based platforms are incredibly networked.  I will be introducing them 
tomorrow.  I am hoping that some of their posts will prompt our subscribers to 
post additional thoughts and recollections. 
Best and thanks.  Renate

Hola Tod@xs,


I do not remember when I was joined -empyre- but it is a part, at least for me, 
of a history and presence of list-servs that have been extremely important for 
the gestures and conceptual disturbances that I have participated in. 
List-servs are an e-form that I continue to see as a core condition for the 
performative matrix for all the collaborations I have been involved in the 
past, now and ones to come.


As I remember the first list-servs I was a part of were based at thing.net in 
the 90's. Probably the most well known list that echoes the deep model of 
-empryre- was nettime.org.


Here is my first call to join a list-serv back in 1998 (riding the memory lane):


  *   To: nettime-l {AT} Desk.nl
  *   Subject:  infowar thread on www.thing.net
  *   From: ricardo dominguez 
  *   Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 13:48:47 -0800
  *   Sender: owner-nettime-l {AT} basis.Desk.nl



InfoWar

"War in our current era is one of reduced tangibility
and soft power."
--Joseph Nye.

"Centralize strategically, but decentralize tactically."
--Mao

This is an invitation to join and participate on
the InfoWar thread moderated by Ricardo Dominguez
on the new Thing bbs system at:

http://www.thing.net

starting on March 5, 1998.

The InfoWar thread will consider how soft power has
redefined command, control, intelligence and resistance.

InfoWar tactics are now moving beyond the theoretical questions
about the rise of "network power" and the end of hierarchies.
Instead, Military and Intelligence groups are now experimenting
with pragmatic hybrid structures that can retain control
over networks, while allowing network autonomy to
expand within a specific types of command structures.
In order to contain the rising soft power of small groups
that can organize themselves "into sprawling
networks" that can threaten hard power structures.

Military and Intelligence communities since the late 80's
have mapped 5 distinct possible structures for understanding
InfoWar:

1)A Game, chess or Go.
  Go has displaced chess as the dominant tactical game
  metaphor.

2)The Wild West.
  Each town makes its own laws and out on the
  range its everyone for themselves and God against all.

3)The Castle/Bunker.
  Enclaves built for security with moats, massive walls,
  drawbridges and loyal Knights who roam the outskirts
  of the fiefdom.

4)A Plant.
  A rhizome made of endless root-structures,with
  poly-spacial connectivity, and a multi-layered linkages
  with non-plant agents.

5)The Hive.
  A bio-diverse system,with the ability to
  rapidly mutate, and capable of swarm like activity.


Each map calls for different types of responses to the
questions of security, aggression, and resistance.
What can we gain from each map as the importance
of InfoWar continues to grow with greater global access.

The thread will also consider the specific case
of the Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico. They have
been able to constrain the Mexican government
from quickly eliminating the movement
since 1994--by building a transnational network
of resistance. How were a group of Mayan
people deep in the Lacandona jungle able to
become the first, "post modern warriors?"

And finally, what happens when War Theory
goes beyond InfoWar to overcome the problems
that arise from the "age of networks?"


Suggested reading list -- (not necessary to
have read them to participate):


CopernicusForward C4I for the 21st Century
http://www.stl.nps.navy.mil/c4i/coperfwd.txt

Cyberwar is Coming. Arquilla and Ronfeldt
http://gopher.well.sf.ca.us:70/0/Military/cyberwar

Electronic Warfare
http://www.dreo.dnd.ca/pages/electwf/electwf.htm

Guide to Information Warfare
http://www.uta.fi/~ptmakul/infowar/iw2.html

In Athena's Camp (John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt, editors)
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR880/contents.html

Information War and Cyberspace Security by RAND
http://www.rand.org/publications/RRR/RRR.fall95.cyber/

Information War Cyberwar Netwar by George J. Stein
http://www.cdsar.af.mil/battle/chp6.html

Information Warfare
http://vislab-www.nps.navy.mil/~sdjames/info_war.html

What is 

[-empyre-] -gifts of generosity, time, and thought-

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Welcome back Melinda, 
It is always such a joy to see you reappear in soft-skinned space.  Glad to 
hear it is hot and humid there as we in upstate NY get ready for a major 
snowstorm tomorrow.  

Yes “Contamination” was an amazing month and I also learned so much that month 
and met new subscribers including Andrea who just wrote a post  a few days ago. 
So happy to hear about your new article and hope you will post the link as a 
follow up when its published.

Melinda in conceiving this online community you intentionally envisioned, a 
third space, or you called it a “soft-space.”  Originally, most of the 
participants were from areas specifically not including the United States and 
Western Europe.  Though now we are a community of 2,059 (as of today February 
5, 2018), our subscribers are world-wide. 

Most of our long-time –empyreans- know that Tim Murray and I have been involved 
as moderators of the listserv since 2007.  We began as co-moderators where we 
worked collaboratively-me with an artist’s perspective and Tim that of the 
theoretician.  Through the multitudes of months that we have hosted both 
collaboratively and individually each one was begun with a hunch or instinct 
for an idea or topic. –empyre- is exhausting to say the least but the brilliant 
collaborators who come and go are what sustain the collective intellectual and 
creative zones of the list.  To agree to be an –empyre- moderator or guest or 
writer necessitates gifts of generosity, time, thought, and so much more. Yes, 
as you write it is a symbiosis, where others words and thoughts meddle 
together, to form new generative knowledge. The remixes are at times 
exceedingly so fast I can hardly catch my breath and at other times painfully 
slow.  Despite the speed, time, flow our mission has been to nurture a space 
where giftedness is nurtured for and by all.  You wrote, “It[-empyre-] 
maintains a policy to not feature only the usual suspects or media stars, 
although some of the guests are very well known, but to provide a level 
platform for artists and theorists working in interesting critical and artistic 
interstices.” 

Thanks as always Melinda, It is wonderful to hear from you. Renate




Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

edu

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Re: [-empyre-] -empyre- a digital unconscious?

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks Simon from New Zealand, 
Your verbose nonsensical yet poetic and powerfully political rants threaded 
together, to the point, never dull but always provocative, sometimes 
incomprehensible, yet direct, welcomed today from Ithaca, cold, blustery, 
freezing, icy, gray upon gray mist.  
Renate

(it's cold and snowy but beautifully sunny in Ithaca, New York, today)
cicadas & humid grey skies Waiheke Island, New Zealand, today. 2 boys killed in 
flashflooding in the Waitakere ranges, Auckland cityside: the persistent 
promise of disruptive events that is now our weather, now our environment. 

<> ... I think of Altavista, the cathode ray tube monitor and 
clicketty-clack keyboard, of the public computer at Brazil cafe before I opened 
the doors most mornings dialing in to engage with the textvoices coming down 
the wire early in the 2000s when I discovered the listserv, starting a blog as 
clearinghouse, again public, winging it, butterflies waiting for the next 
installment, about the same time: squarewhiteworld.com ... halcyon days / 
mornings of digital connectivity, when it seemed to involve and devolve on 
actual and sometimes anxious connections, rather than recognitions, 
reassurances and reaffirmations of the lugubriously sincere (like-able if not 
amiable) variety. When the wire ran hot with debate rains of actual and 
sometimes burning butterflies. More popping bubbles than cognitive ones. And I 
hazard that that's why I like the listserv format still ... the possibility of 
an unforeseen intervention upstarting, derailing more sanguine settled and yes 
conser
 vative (recuperative) discussion ... The risk of going too far, the highwire, 
not preempted by the provision of safetynetting. As for expertise and 
theoretical enterprise, was more like a fleamarket, with barrackers, 
professional and simulacral, in the softskinned space of egalitarian exchange, 
each equally un-niched and in a context the construct of all--permitting that 
is words of other unknown because unknowable provenance (owing to textonly 
format): who does  think she is? who will  be? before personological 
recidivism and identitarian backlash of social online presence. There it is: a 
virtual I have misspelt as "possibility"! 

...there would also be something to say about professional overinvestment more 
recently actively soliciting recognition, remediation, affirmations; rather 
than an increasing reign of expert opinion, the soft sentimental professionally 
bleeding heart's thin skin: so, rather than its lateral level and smooth 
openness to both professional and expert, invited or lurking, <> might 
be lauded for the potential to engage in ... risk. It could be a more dangerous 
place, this smooth one. Reputations might, at least locally, be on line ... the 
long hidden but fragile threads of glass that link us serving in listserv the 
needling of consistency and consensus ... crawling back into the cave of the 
screen after the fall ... grace

taking a certain time to reflect in private vacuole of that's not what I meant 
at all ...

Best,
Simon




Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

On 2/4/18, 11:19 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Simon"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

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Re: [-empyre-] -empyre- a digital unconscious?

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear Therea, 
For sure –empyre- will not be slowing down.  We will be announcing our 
international Editorial Board in just a few weeks and are working on an updated 
and more usable website.  Looking forward to more certainly.  Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

On 2/4/18, 11:19 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Theresa Ramseyer"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Morning,

I have been thinking. I should have added that I don't want -empyre-
to slow down.

Have a good day.
Theresa
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Re: [-empyre-] -empyre- in 2002- a trip down memory lane

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Hello empyreans, 
To all of you historians and fans of early coding I found this post that 
Melinda wrote in describing the technology behind this online community of 
–empyre-.  If you were an innovator in coding early online listserv’s, chat 
spaces, or blogs or perhaps a technologist coding new forms on online 
communities I hope you will comment. 

Melinda Rackham wrote: 

“Empyrean was a multi-user interactive "artistic" virtual community mostly hand 
coded in VRML2 -  sounds crazy -  designed to play in the non-proprietary 
environment of VNET,  a VRML and Java based 3D Virtual World client/server 
system, then freely available under the GNU Public Licence. Empyrean.alpha, the 
initial single user web site, premiered in September 2000 at la Biennale de 
Montreal at the Centre International d'Art Contemporain de Montreal (CIAC)

…virtual space was far more experimental than it is today.  Construction and 
evolution of virtual spaces was taking the same road as every other technology 
.. many many small players, interesting niches, community developments, 
different software solutions.. Then in mid 2003 Second Life - which was sort of 
the money laundering Facebook of VR, appeared on the scene and almost levelled 
that experimentation and difference. 

Promising "Enter a world with infinite possibilities and live a life without 
boundaries, guided only by your imagination"  It had what the discussion has 
already flagged- easy access, low level of tech knowledge to use, instant fun 
avatars. The result however  is that imaginations got narrower.. and the 
resultant space is just a recreation of reality. Ben wrote a few weeks ago “We 
make reality, and reality remakes us. Reality makes us, and we remake reality.” 
The soft spaced world now seems to be a replicant of the hard bodied world, but 
we were idealistic think otherwise.”


Melinda’s intent of hosting an open and equitable space has inspired all of 
–empyre’s- moderators since Melinda hosted her last discussion topic.  Back in 
the early days she recanted that she would invent alter egos, subscribers of 
her invention, that were designed to be “naïve” about the topics at hand to 
intentionally introduce other points of view.  Our longtime moderator Christine 
McPhee  posted under her own name or Nax Mash her alter ego.  As I mentioned in 
my last post –empyre- was never intended to be a highly theoretical space where 
only the voices of experts were encouraged to participate but that it be a 
discussion space for invention and innovation to reflect the emerging qualities 
of the evolution of the technology and its use for anyone interested in 
networked culture. 

In looking at some of Christina’s poetic posts from the archive I found one 
from February 1, 2010--reflecting on –empyre’s- name--
 
 I loved the image of a soft-skinned space, as if one of Ant Farm's
inflatables, escape from the cubicle or the white cube.  Melinda's
slightly nerdy use of lower caps for the name of the list - it was
never 'Empyre'-- but always  " -empyre- " with those little dashes on
either side, made the idea of 'empire' itself as absurd and as pompous
as it may be-going up in flames (pyre or gyre?).


I see that Tim Murray also just posted.  Please feel free to join in. 
Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

On 2/3/18, 12:27 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Renate Terese Ferro" <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
rfe...@cornell.edu> wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
February 3, 2018
Hello Theresa, 
Your comment echoes what Tim Murray, our other long -term moderator here, 
and I have been hearing from so many of our subscribers.  The tempo of the 
listserv can move exceedingly too fast.  We all can acknowledge that there are 
times we just don’t have the time to open and read posts carefully let alone 
respond to them.  The bio-artist Paul Vanouse shared with me his frustration 
that he had intended to respond to a fascinating post and by the time he got to 
writing a week had passed and he felt that his comment was not timely. 
Alternatively, there are other times when it moves at a snail’s pace or simply 
remains silent.  Over the years we have become quite comfortable with the 
pacing that is so inherent in a listserv which is so directly related to the 
ebbs and flows of those who are participating.  That is also why we often take 
the months of August and December completely off.  

I want to add that the anxiety of some over responding to a post later in 
the week or month is not a problem.  Take a look at our archives and you will 
see that the discussion is organized according to SUBJECT, AUTHOR, THREAD, or 
DATE.  The THREAD organizational tool a

Re: [-empyre-] -empyre- in 2002- a trip down memory lane

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
February 3, 2018
Hello Theresa, 
Your comment echoes what Tim Murray, our other long -term moderator here, and I 
have been hearing from so many of our subscribers.  The tempo of the listserv 
can move exceedingly too fast.  We all can acknowledge that there are times we 
just don’t have the time to open and read posts carefully let alone respond to 
them.  The bio-artist Paul Vanouse shared with me his frustration that he had 
intended to respond to a fascinating post and by the time he got to writing a 
week had passed and he felt that his comment was not timely. Alternatively, 
there are other times when it moves at a snail’s pace or simply remains silent. 
 Over the years we have become quite comfortable with the pacing that is so 
inherent in a listserv which is so directly related to the ebbs and flows of 
those who are participating.  That is also why we often take the months of 
August and December completely off.  

I want to add that the anxiety of some over responding to a post later in the 
week or month is not a problem.  Take a look at our archives and you will see 
that the discussion is organized according to SUBJECT, AUTHOR, THREAD, or DATE. 
 The THREAD organizational tool allows a reader now or later or organize posts 
and responses to posts that are delayed.  The only caveat being that we cut off 
all posts not related to the topic at the end of the month. All of our 
subscribers are encouraged to respond to posts at any time in the month just be 
sure subject line in the email is identical to the thread it is in response to. 
 

You wrote
I prefer Empyre as a listserve. I have gone back through previous
discussions and looked up artists, followed threads and ideas when I
had time. I've gone deeper; the list moves fast for me.

I think that everyone agrees that our archive is the jewel of our online 
community.  
http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/
Since 2002 the University of New South Wales in Australia has generously hosted 
our history thanks to Melinda Rackham.  Tim Murray and I are also suggesting to 
our Editorial Board that in the coming year we archive the site at Cornell 
University as well within the Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art.  –empyre- 
soft-skin space reflects the emergence of technology and how artists and 
writers use and think through technology.  One of the things our Editorial 
Board will also be working on is a KEYWORDING system that searches the entire 
eighteen years of discussion topics and is not just monthly.  

You mentioned FACEBOOK.  To subscribers not following us on Facebook here is 
the link.  While it is public you must request to actually post directly.  
https://www.facebook.com/groups/empyrelistserv

And on Twitter
https://twitter.com/empyrelistserv

Just a reminder that although  snip its of posts and photos are launched 
through Facebook and Twitter, the full discussion and its archive can only be 
accessed by becoming a subscriber through our website.  

Thanks Teresa for responding about how slowness even works today. 
I am about to post a bit about the nuts and bolts of Melinda’s early coding of 
–empyre-soft-skinned space in a few minutes. 
Renate



Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

On 2/3/18, 11:39 AM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Theresa Ramseyer"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Evening,

My computer-internet connection is still dial-up. It is unusable for
the moment, for various reasons. My phone is now my main connection,
but I can't get everything. Instagram, for example, is always a blank
page. Many times I'll click on a link and get nowhere.


I prefer Empyre as a listserve. I have gone back through previous
discussions and looked up artists, followed threads and ideas when I
had time. I've gone deeper; the list moves fast for me.


It's much easier to find a post on gmail or yahoo than to dig through 
Facebook.


I know Empyre has a Facebook presence, and Facebook is easy to reach
on my phone. But besides the searching difficulties, Facebook changes
their algorithims so often that I keep lists of my "must read" pages
and communities. It's annoying, to say the least.

Theresa Ramseyer
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[-empyre-] -empyre- in 2002- a trip down memory lane

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Hello all, 
I hope you will take some time away to post a few thoughts.

Is a listserv the most efficient way in 2018 for a group of over 2000 artists, 
media theorists, coders, technologists, curators and others to discuss issues 
evolving from emerging issues in art and technology or is the listserv still 
working for us?  As we head into our new era beginning next month, we usher in 
our first Editorial Board of twelve diverse artists and scholars working in the 
field.  The Board has been mined from a diverse set of past participants and 
moderators. The group will be revolving and we will invite any –empyrean- who 
is willing to put into the time to consider working for the Editorial Board. 

I thought it might be interesting to take a trip down memory lane and write 
about some of the inspirations I have garnered from Melinda Rackham that were 
reflected in her research and the PHD she produced while at College of Fine 
Arts in Australia at the University of New South Wales. Generated as an 
experimental group of only fifty artists, poets, video artists, blog writers, 
technicians, curators and more, Melinda imagined a space where participants 
could write in ordinary language.  At the time, there were online virtual 
communities that were raging with competition and she imagined an equitable 
space.  Interestingly it was NEVER intended to be an academic forum.  She also 
wanted a space where artists were welcomed to converse and share their 
experiences and projects.  She envisioned a wide platform where everyone would 
have an equal voice and feel free and unencumbered to share ideas. 

The technology of the list-serve is an interesting one I think.  Back 2002 
social media
certainly was not as ubiquitous at it is now.  In fact, many of us recall the 
old dial-up interfaces and slow speeds that were so characteristic of the 
internet at that time. Most users spent an average of only 40 minutes on the 
internet the market’s share of internet usage was on Microsoft’s Internet 
Explorer which had 95% of the market share.

Multi-authored blogs were not very prevalent. In 2003 Second Life was 
introduced and Facebook was launched in 2004.  Over the years our moderating 
team
has often discussed the efficacy of –empyre- as a blog or perhaps another forum 
rather than a list serv but all have agreed in the past that the archival 
history of –empyre- and its moderated and curated monthly themes were still 
preferred.

Hoping that a few of you will take the time to share your own thoughts about 
the usefulness of our format over the past eighteen years.  Perhaps you might 
envision another virtual space that –empyre- could live within?

More on this.  A reminder that Ana Valdes will be joining us next week as a 
formal weekly guest.  My fourteen students at Cornell University who are doing 
research on online listserv’s, forums, and other online virtual spaces will 
join us intermittently throughout the month as well sharing some of their 
research but also their ideas on the future of online communication forums.   
Hope all of you will post a few times this month and join in on this month of 
looking both back in time and the future. 

Many thanks. 
Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu
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[-empyre-] OPEN discussion: Digital Interfacing: listservs, blogs, online forums and more

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Welcome back to –empyre- soft-skinned space
February 1, 2018
Digital Interfacing:  listservs, blogs, online forums, and more
Moderated by Renate Ferro (US) with –empyre- subscribers
 
Digital platforms continue to keep pace with the moves, shifts and changes of 
contemporary information more quickly than traditional publication methods. 
Blogs, forums, and many other social platforms allow us to Interface with 
others near and far. This month we invite our subscribers to consider the 
Interfaces they regular use, listserv, blog, online forum and others, to 
discuss the nuances between these platforms as well as the relevancy of these 
formats in 2018. 

The theory and practice of networked technology have been at the heart of 
–empyre- soft-skinned space’s discussion space.  The online monthly 
participatory discussion format provides a platform for technologists, writers, 
artists, theorists and more to discuss current trends in the field.  -empyre- 
soft-skinned space has over 2000 subscribers as it launches its new website in 
March, 2018 and its first Editorial Board.  For the past fifteen years, 
worldwide subscribers have received daily posts delivered via their email 
interface.  Many of our subscribers respond regularly or intermittently while 
others hover. Pondering –empyre- as it moves into the future, what other 
emerging platforms might it morph into?  How has the nature of online digital 
information exchange changed in relationship to the development of the 
Interface, the speed of the net, and our desire for efficiency in online 
writing and communication?  We invite subscribers during this OPEN discussion 
to share their own experiences of how their online writing and communicating 
has changed and shifted via digital information platforms and the process of 
Interfacing in 2018.  Welcome back to all and Happy New Year. 

TO MAKE A POST TO THE SUBSCRIPTION LIST: 
empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au

 TO ACCESS ARCHIVES: 
http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/  

TO ACCESS THE WEBSITE FROM THE CORNELL SERVER TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT –EMPYRE-: 
http://empyre.library.cornell.edu

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] all call for February discussion on -empyre

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Happy New Year everyone.  We are excited to begin 2018 on –empyre- soft-skinned 
space. I am looking for weekly guests for our discussion on Digital 
InterFACING:  listservs, blogs, forums, and more.  If any of you host other 
online interfaces or are regular writers please email me back-channel. WE will 
begin in a couple of days.  Please pass this on and if you know of anyone who 
might want to feature their experiences please let them know.  

Here is a portion of the topic description: 
This month we open up the discussion to invite listserv, blog and forum 
originators, writers, and participants to join us to discuss the nuances 
between these platforms.  Additionally we will ask  what other emerging 
platforms  you using in the process of InterFACING. All are welcomed. 

You can contact me rfe...@cornell.edu
More soon.  Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

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[-empyre-] See you in January.

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks to Marisa Tesauro, Catherine Grau, Bishnupriya Ghosh, Tim Murray, 
Christina McPhee, Rahul Mukherjee, Andrea Haenggi, 
Amy Sara Carroll, Ricardo Dominguez, Melinda Rackham, Ben Kinsley, and Ian Paul 
for being out invited guests this month.  I’ve attached a photo of the four 
spruce trees I just planted in our expansive acreage where weeds and 
sustainable fruit trees, crops, evergreens, maples, locusts, and more grow.

A sincere thank you for helping to sort through the practical and conceptual 
networks of contamination.  The layered complexities of our discussion only 
begin to unpack the broad implications of the topic.  The world is 
contaminated. From our environment to bio-networks to language, communication, 
and relationships, to governments and financial
markets, to the digital spaces of bits and the virtual, the “digital delirium” 
of the present, both the real and the virtual are mixed together in a bubbling 
stew of contaminated waste.
Contamination is omnipresent and effluvial (thanks Ricardo ). How can we as 
artists, poets, writers, philosophers, theorists, bread makers, 
environmentalists, mushroom experts, coders, weed pullers, and so many more 
continue to think through contamination to imagine how to make effective 
change? A mission for all of us to continue. 

A shout out to Aviva for your post and yes the state of the US  government was 
the subtext for the idea of this topic, but we want to  acknowledge the fact 
that this  contamination has seeped out beyond the US to all parts of the 
globe.  We will have to stay tuned to the news over the next few weeks to try 
to understand the extent of that effect of this Trumpian seepage.  

Wishing all of you and our subscribers on –empyre- soft-skinned space a 
beautiful holiday and New Year with as little contamination as possible. 

I don’t think that I gave a shout out to Melinda Rackham early on in the week.  
–empyre- soft-skinned space was the brain-child of Melinda in the early 2000’s. 
The list serv was conceived as a research forum for Rackham's PhD research at 
the College of Fine Arts, UNSW, Australia.  Tim Murray and I joined –empyre- in 
2007 a bit after Melinda turned the list-serv over to a moderating board who 
have shepherded the group to over 2000 subscribers. 

We are signing off now and will not return until after the New Year with the 
organizational structure of a new Editorial Board for 2018 and a new look to 
the –empyre- website.
Best Wishes to all. 
Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] keeping Contamination open through Sunday.

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Hello all, 
I am keeping the topic of Contamination open one more day through Sunday 
evening in hopes that our guests may feel compelled to add one more comment.  

Thanks to Amy for picking up on so many threads and to Ian for the 
contamination manifesto.  Pop up ads contaminate the interfaces of the web 
similar to the way Ian’s banners of critical phrases do.  My favorites are…. 
Inhabit the polluted, escape enclosure, attack the antiseptic….

Thank you Melinda for writing about the Indigenous spaces of the Australian 
desert reminding us how location, eco-homeostasis, and culture become 
interwoven with issues of contamination, seepage, enclosure, and disclosure.  
The Thunder Raining mages and the Kulata Tjuta images you linked were moving 
and incredibly rich.  

And to Ricardo your posts on effluvia prompted me to successfully find Mauss’ 
In A General Theory of Magic in the Cornell Library. Thanks to your poetic 
posts. 

And to Ben the medicinal and cleansing properties of mushrooms were an 
interesting addition to our discussion on Contamination.  I agree with Murat I 
would love to know more!  

This is a busy time of year for most of us as the semesters are ending but I 
will remind you all that the idea for this month’s topic was inspired by a 
large symposium at Columbia and e-flux in New York City on Toxic Assets.  I 
thought our month was a rich array of brainstormed synapses and I think all of 
you this month for joining in. 

We will be taking the month of December off but we will be back on or around 
January 7th.  Wishing you all a wonderful holiday and brilliant New Year. 
Warmly, 
Renate Ferro


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306


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[-empyre-] oozing

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Crazy day, exhausted from the hurdles that the end of the semester teaching 
brings but thoughts about our effuvian age, hosts and viruses, and mushrooms 
are making me happy to read such incredibly thoughtful and creative. poetic 
responses.  I promise to respond after reading all of my admissions folders but 
wanted you to know that you are all keeping me afloat. 
Thank you. More soon. 
Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

On 11/28/17, 4:46 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Mez Breeze"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

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[-empyre-] Welcome to Week 4 on Contamination: Amy Sara Carroll, Ricardo Dominguez and Melinda Rackham

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Hello –empyre- subscribers and our guests, 

Thanks to Rahul Mukherjee and Andrea Haenggi for sharing their research and 
thoughts during our discussion on Contamination. If either of you have time 
please feel free to continue through this week and join in.  As we enter into 
Week 4 I thought I would offer a few highlights from this month’s discussion 
that have resonated with me. 

 During Week 1 our discussion revolved around issues of the residual 
contamination or the networked ooze of contaminated states that flow from the 
environment to the body and beyond and how there is an invisibility in that 
ooze that can cause effects on health and safety.  During Week 2 we looked at 
the role of media in living viruses. Given research on the Human Microbiome 
Project there is an acknowledgement of the multi-species network of super 
organisms within the human or instances where contamination as contagion 
involve spiraling viruses out of control killing off its host.  Might there be 
theoretical instances as Bishnu so poetically wrote where, “the virus is fêted 
for its ability to contaminate—to replicate through infomatic cutting, pasting, 
and multiplying (the meme). Its simple microprocessuality (the homegrown 
machine); its bottom-up hydra-headed a centered organization (the swarm or 
brood); and its ability to set in motion a series of sudden and unpredictable 
effects (contagion) are all celebrated as machinic possibilities.’  

And during this past week, our discussions focused on the 
[visibility/invisibility of physical contamination through radiation, carbon 
monoxide, and multiple chemical sensitivity then moved through to social 
contamination. Rahul made an interesting post reminding us of the conventions 
of mapping contamination on the body through   graphics such as screen charts 
and X-ray reports as junctures of the circulation and accumulation.  Both 
Andrea and Rahul suggested that interventions of socially unregulated acts of 
contamination on main stream political, social, environmental networks create 
may potentially positive outcomes.  

An invitation for all of our subscribers and guests to comment on any of the 
threads we have discussed thus far.  You can read the entire transcript of our 
discussion here in our archives: 

http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/2017-November/date.html

Welcome to our guests this week:  Amy Sara Carroll, Ricardo Dominguez and 
Melinda Rackham join us for the final week of discussion.  A very warm welcome 
to them.  Their biographies are below. 
Renate

Biographies: 
Amy Sara Carroll (US) is the author of two collections of poetry SECESSION 
(Hyperbole Books, an imprint of San Diego State University Press, 2012) and 
FANNIE + FREDDIE/The Sentimentality of Post-9/11 Pornography (Fordham 
University Press, 2013), chosen by Claudia Rankine for the 2012 Poets Out Loud 
Prize. Since 2008, she has been a member of Electronic Disturbance Theater 
2.0/b.a.n.g. lab, coproducing the Transborder Immigrant Tool, which has been 
included in several art exhibitions, including the 2010 California Biennial. 
With EDT 2.0/b.a.n.g. lab and the University of Michigan interdisciplinary 
workshop, the Border Collective, she collaboratively authored [({})] The 
Desert Survival Series/La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto (The Office of 
Net Assessment/University of Michigan Digital Environments Cluster Publishing 
Series, 2014), that digitally has been redistributed under its Creative Commons 
license by CTheory Books (2015), the Electronic Literature Collection, Vol. 3 
(2016), CONACULTA E-Literatura/Centro de Cultura Digital (2016), and HemiPress 
(2017). In 2015, Carroll served as the University of Mississippi Summer Poet in 
Residence. Summer 2010 and every summer thereafter, she has participated in 
Mexico City’s alternative arts space SOMA. Carroll’s monograph REMEX: Toward an 
Art History of the NAFTA Era is forthcoming from the University of Texas Press 
in December 2017 under the auspices of its Mellon Latin American and Caribbean
Arts and Culture publishing initiative. Currently, Carroll is a 2017-2018 
Society Fellow at Cornell University’s Society for the Humanities where she is 
working on two projects: “Codeswitch,” a mixed genre collection, coauthored 
with Ricardo Dominguez, that undocuments the development and distribution of 
the Transborder Immigrant Tool; and “Global Mexico’s Coproduction,” the second 
volume in a trilogy that she’s composing on greater Mexican art, literature, 
and cinema.

Ricardo Dominguez (US) is a co-founder of The Electronic Disturbance Theater, a 
group who developed virtual sit-in technologies in solidarity with the 
Zapatistas communities in Chiapas, Mexico, in 1998. Dominguez developed his 
recent Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0/b.a.n.g. lab project titled The
Transborder Immigrant Tool (a GPS cell phone safety net tool for crossing the 

[-empyre-] On Contamination: Brooke Singer and Joan Linder

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear –empyreans-, 
In light of our discussion this month on contamination, I wanted to mention the 
work of our fellow –empyre- subscriber Brooke Singer.  Brooke, an artist in New 
York City, has been photographing Superfund Sites since 2006 and has a 
companion database Toxic Sites US. The database charts 1,300 of the most deadly 
Superfund sites that the US Environmental Protection Agency labels as an 
“uncontrolled or abandoned place where hazardous waste is located, possibly 
affecting local ecosystems or people. “ 

Brooke has spent hours photographing toxic hazardous waste sites across the US. 
Brooke read and researched many of these sites but in her quest to find the 
actual site she often found it difficult to actually pin point the locale 
because many of these toxic sites are unmarked. 

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/vvb5xd/many-americans-still-live-on-or-near-toxic-waste
http://www.toxicsites.us/

In nearby Niagra, New York the Love Canal neighborhood is situated on a 
landfill that the Hooker Chemical Company used to dump toxic waste as early as 
the 1920’s.  In the 1970’s the model community and school were built on top of 
the landfill site.  The residents launched  a grassroots uprising   inspired by 
deadly health problems, high incidences of cancers and miscarriages.  

Friend and colleague Joan Linder, the chair of the art department at the U. of 
Buffalo, created a series of renderings from observation at the Love Canal 
site. There is a great article in Art in America that talks about the work in 
detail. 
http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/reviews/joan-linder/

Thought I would point out to our guests and subscribers these two artists 
working on issues of contamination. 
Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

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[-empyre-] Happy Thanksgiving.

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Rahul thanks for reminding me of Julianne Moore’s character in Safe.  The fact 
that contamination can be relational while causing symptoms some times and not 
at others is one reason that it is not recognized as an illness by the medical 
community.  As I understand scented products, cleaning products, perfumes, and 
even the exhaust from vehicles can act as triggers for Multiple Chemical 
Sensitivity.  Moore’s character turns to New Age Religion for answers to her 
own physical symptoms.  

Here is a link on YOU TUBE to the film SAFE by Todd Haynes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaRXgPYF8Tg

Andrea my apologies for the error in my salutation. The freezing weather has 
put an absolute stop to our growing seasons both weedy and otherwise in upstate 
New York.  In the growing season though we are incredibly protective of our 
well water systems. Weeds grow alongside of grass and food crops but we try 
sustainable practices such as mulching, companion planting, weeding especially 
after a rainstorm when the soil is wet, boiling water with a tablespoon of 
salt, or vinegar directly on weeds that are impossible to get rid of. Many 
weeds though we just tend to keep around and they actually become part of our 
landscape.  My favorite are the milk weed pods that the butterflies absolutely 
love.  

It’s been a lazy few days here as we have been celebrating the American 
Thanksgiving.  A great way to unwind and relax from the intense fall schedule. 
We hope that all of our –empyre subscribers in the US have also had a relaxing 
holiday and that we can spend the next two days finishing out Week 3.  Andrea 
and Rahul would love to hear more about your own research and Andrea more about 
your choreography. We will keep Week 3 open until late in the afternoon on 
Sunday. 

Happy Thanksgiving. 
Renate



Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu


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Re: [-empyre-] Welcome to Week 3

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks Rahul, 
I just ordered Living on a Damaged Planet and am looking forward to reading it 
myself.  Hope many of you were also inspired by Cristina and Ellie’s discussion 
last month.  

Rahul can you talk a bit more about MCSers or Multiple Chemical 
Sensitivity/environmental issues and the vishoka/katiya boundaries just to pick 
through this amazingly dense and interesting post? In doing a quick search it 
is my understanding the MCSers can be reactive to an environmental pathogen 
such as paint fumes but the reaction is attributed to the perception of the 
pathogen not actually the chemical pathogen itself.  In essence there may be a 
apparently physical response that is activated by the simulation of a pathogen. 
It’s possible to feign the reaction which I am hoping that Andrea will offer to 
comment about.  

How does the vishoka/kitiya boundaries play out in India?  Hope you don’t mind 
talking just a bit more about the details especially in relationship to 
contamination and media. 
More soon. 
Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

On 11/20/17, 6:20 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Rahul Mukherjee"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

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[-empyre-] Welcome to Week 3

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear –empyre- subscribers and guests,  
Thanks to all of you who have posted this past week.  As I mentioned earlier 
this morning these questions have been lurking in my mind.  Wondering if any of 
you out there have some thoughts. What is the relationship between 
contamination, hazardous conditions, and toxicity.  What condition can our 
bodies and the environments that we live in flush out contamination, toxicity 
and these hazardous entities?   Can the humanities and arts, digital media and 
technology help us to detox from these situations or are there instances when 
they may exacerbate conditions?  
Random threads are always welcomed to be introduces as long as they are on our 
topic of contamination.  This is a list serv so feel free to extend our guests’ 
posts and introduce others that you might have.  

Thank you to Bishnupriya Ghosh, Tim Murray, and Christina McPhee for helping to 
think about media this week.  Welcoming Rahul Mukherjee and Andrea Haenggi to 
our soft-skinned virtual space to continue our discussion through Week 3. Rahul 
is a writer and theorist and this year a Fellow at Cornell’s Society for the 
Humanities.  Rahul will be intermittently chiming in throughout the week as he 
will in and out of range.  We are also thrilled to welcome Andrea Haenggi an 
artist and choreographer.  Looking forward to continuing especially with both 
of their interests and expertise in movement, boundaries, colonization, and 
media. Their biographies are below. 
Renate 

Biographies: 
Andrea Haenggi (CH, US) Andrea s a Brooklyn-based artist and choreographer from 
Switzerland, who has been making work independently and collaboratively since 
1998. She is known for pushing boundaries. Her work deals with kinesthesia, 
affect, perception and sensation in the digital age. Since two years her 
performers and co-creators are with spontaneous urban plants. The choreographic 
practice shoots out to explore themes of feminism, immigration, colonization 
and vegetal philosophies. The
radicle goes into the cracks, looking at value, emotional labor and care. She 
has been commissioned to create performances for Dance Theater Workshop (New 
York), the Queens Museum (New York), MASS MoCA (North Adams), the Transart 
Triennial (Berlin), New Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), SPAN Festival (Lagos, 
Nigeria) among many others. She is the catalyst of the research and performance 
laboratory 1067 PacificPeople in Brooklyn. She taught movement workshops in the
USA, Berlin, Zurich, China and Nigeria and is on the faculty of the 
Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York. Haenggi holds a MFA 
in Creative Practice from Transart Institute/Plymouth University UK and is a 
Swiss Canton Solothurn Dance Price 2008 recipient. http://weedychoreography.com 
 ; http://andreahaenggi.net 
 ; http://1067pacificpeople.nyc 


Rahul Mukherjee (IN, US) Rahul Mukherjee is Assistant Professor of television 
and new media studies at Penn Cinema Studies program. He teaches and researches 
about environmental media and mobile media technologies. His published articles 
deal with mediating chronic toxicities related to chemical disasters (Bhopal) 
and media coverage of debates about nuclear energy in India. 


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] "unpredictable onslaught of triggered memories of violence to my body"

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

Christina wore from C-Theory: : 
“I feel my body is like a border; but, no, it is not itself a cyborg, because 
it (I) exist in some kind of condition of alterity outside technology even 
though I experience its operational architecture from the inside, as if from 
the inside of my body, heart and brain. It's a strange condition, liberating 
and uncomfortable: but better than the old psychotropic condition of 
enslavement, when in former times (before I entered the media labyrinth) my 
mind was hostage to the repetitive, unpredictable onslaught of triggered 
memories of violence to my body.”

Bishnu and Christina and Tim thanks so much for interweaving the notion of the 
network into our discussion again this week. Wondering if anyone has been 
thinking about the contagious reports that have filled the news over the last 
week filling the airwaves of sexual harassment claims against Roy Moore, the 
Senate candidate in Alabama.  The Washington Post broke the story about Moore’s 
sexual encounters with a fourteen-year old and other young girls shortly after 
prompting other women to come forward.  This story follows the expose a couple 
of weeks ago of Harvey Weinstein’s exploits in Hollywood as well as the 
publisher of Artforum , Knight Landesman, in the art world.  All of these 
accounts are of powerful men taking advantage of girls and women who are in 
dependent positions who have been physically violated yet the men’s accounts 
contaminate the truth with layers of innuendo and outright attacks on the women 
victims. 

Hoping a few of you will make connections if you have time. 
Renate


Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

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Re: [-empyre-] Welcome to Week 2 on Contamination

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Hi Renate, Christina, Tim, and others in the contamination conversation,

Last week brought up some really key ideas around contamination and
boundaries that it assumes between organic units or states. My research is
on epidemic media, specifically focuses on how humans have learned to “live
with” pathogenic viruses. I am writing a book titled “The Virus Touch:
Theorizing Epidemic Media,” which essentially looks at the role of media in
living with viruses: that is, how do media modify biological processes so
as to “intervene,” as Anna Tsing puts it, in planetary damage. I’m excited
Tsing’s and Haraway’s pathbreaking works are already in the discussion—they
are central to the project.



After all, the Human Microbiome Project confirms microbial cells weighing
as little as 200 grams outnumber human cells 10 to 1. The “new biology,”
argues Rodney Dietert (*The Human Superorganism: How the Microbiome is
Revolutionizing the Pursuit of Healthy Life*, 2016), suggests humans are
multispecies “super-organisms” and not a single species at all. And yet,
there is cause for alarm when a new species relation endangers one species
at individual and populational scale. This is what happens when new viruses
skip into new populations. At that point, we think about contamination as
contagion. When the imminent takeover of one species by another--virus
proliferation killing off hosts--is at hand, technological interventions
materialize a series of mediatic interfaces. For example, living as
undetectable with HIV is one such interface realized as numeric threshold.
Such interfaces  separate microbial and human life; they are not
ontological barriers but a series of effects (as media theorist, Alex
Galloway calls them) contrused to regulate the existing or the potential
coexistence of different species. Because these interfaces build livable
microbial-human futures; because they enable multispecies accommodations, I
think of them as *environmental media*.



Yet every time I say I’m writing a book on epidemic media, folks think I’m
writing about contagion as purely negative—you know, the contagion media
that enthrone human heroism against pathogenic hordes. There is excellent
scholarship on contagion fiction and non-fiction, movies and television
shows, video games and comic books. Fed a steady diet of realistic
fictional outbreak narratives and apocalyptic futures, we have become
comfortably numb to the horror of coming plagues: to the symptomatic Ebola
infection-like hemorrhage, to the inevitable segregation of the sick and
the well, to the tales of military heroism and scientific triumph. Ebola
plays the phantom microbe in these contagion media; it is the iconic
instance of the resurgent bugs that scientist Joshua Lederberg once
christened “the deadliest threat to mankind.” We have grown accustomed to
its sudden emergences and drug-resistant mutations after the outbreaks of
Marburg, Ebola, and HIV in the early 1980s. The introduction of a new
course in infectious diseases at the Center for Disease Control in 1985,
argues Melinda Cooper, serves as one marker for crossing the historical
threshold into the age of “viral storms. In popular discourse, Laurie
Garrett’s non-fictional *The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a
World Out of Balance* (1994) was the tipping point for public panic. Since
then “living with” such deadly pathogens, living in anticipation of the
next outbreak has become historical necessity.


That panic is now folded into the productive agendas of living as
multispecies. Here, Anna Tsing is a key thinker, urging us to intervene in
the “blasted ruins of the Anthropocene” (*The Mushroom at the End of the
World*, 2017). The idea is not to return to a mythic natural contract, but
to live among the ruins, to act among the ruins, to tend the garden. For
Tsing, even “the most promising oasis of natural plenty requires massive
intervention” (85). The real question is which natural and social
disturbances can we live with? Which ones command our attention?



This is the ecological angle—I thought it has a good resonance with last
week’s concerns on residual contamination. I’ll post later on how
contamination re virality has been taken up in media studies.


cheers,

Bishnu




Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

On 11/13/17, 2:41 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Bishnupriya Ghosh"  wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

___
empyre forum
empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
http://empyre.library.cornell.edu

[-empyre-] wrapping up Week 1

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--Before I introduce week two I thought I would update our bibliography and 
artist’s list. See below and feel free to update.

A huge thank you  to Catherine and Marissa (and Ellie for chiming in).  To 
recap this past week, I would like to talk about some of the highlights within 
our conversation that perhaps our week 2 guests may want to pick up on. Somatic 
“knowing” or awareness and the practice of making connections between the way 
we live our personal lives and the networked inter-dependent world may help all 
of us to understand “residual contamination.” This bio/environmental network 
that is directly relational affects our health and environment. Residual 
contamination is connected in a rhythm of movement though our bodies and 
everything that that surrounds us.

Can we work through residual contamination through critical transformation and 
intervention?  Can there be a positive side of contamination that emerges 
through art practice?

Can we become mindful and re-familiarize ourselves with the concept of time? By 
consciously connecting with our networked environment we can share mindfulness 
and DIY options creating a linked chain of reactions much less dependent on 
processed and manufactured solutions.

Bibliograph/ Resources on Contamination

Patricia Reed’s recent article "Xenophily and Computational Denaturalization 

Stephen J. Gould’s “An Evolutionary Perspective on Strengths, Fallacies, and 
Confusions in the Concept of Native Plants” (Arnoldia, Spring 1998)
Anna Tsing  "Arts of Living on a Damaged 
Planet":http://edgeeffects.net/anna-tsing/
Edited by Nato Thompson and 
Gregory Sholette, “The 
Interventionists Users' Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life 
(MIT Press, 2004
Marc Auge, “Non-Places: An Introduction to Supermodernity, (Verson, 2009)
http://scorecard.goodguide.com/chemical-groups/one-list.tcl?short_list_name=pest
http://www.debatingeurope.eu/2017/10/24/live-debate-sustainable-agriculture-without-pesticides/#.Wgjh9EFWqaM
Timothy Morton's "Hyperobjects", 2013,

Art work/ Artists
Catherine Grau
http://www.environmentalperformanceagency.com/
http://chancecologies.org/
Marissa Tesauro
http://marisatesauro.com/works/
Rum Cake Brigade
 www.rumcakebrigade.net
http://www.worldofmatter.net/


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Moderator –empyre soft-skinned space
___
empyre forum
empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
http://empyre.library.cornell.edu

[-empyre-] Welcome to Week 2 on Contamination

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
I would like to welcome Bishnu Ghosh, Christina McPhee, and Tim Murray to Week 
two of our discussion.  All of these guests our friends our subscribers all 
know from past years of participation on –empyre- and in their research and 
writing. .  Bishnu Gosh  has been a strong advocate and leader in the fields of 
cultural globalization and humanities.  We were so lucky to teach with her at 
Cornell at the Society for the Humanities when the topic was RISK from 2012 to 
2113  https://societyhumanities.as.cornell.edu/2012-13-risk
Christina McPhee worked closely with us on this –empyre- platform organizing 
and moderating many years of –empyre- discussions.  Her work as a painter and 
artist are simulations of evolving life-forms. Tim Murray ,also a long-time 
facilitator on –empyre-, has created web-platforms, writings, and curatorial 
projects evolving around the issues of environmental risk and contamination. I 
have attached their biographies below. Thanks to all of you for joining in.  

Catherine and Marissa I hope you will also chime in throughout the rest of the 
month when your schedules permit.  Thank you again for getting us started.   
Best to all of you. 
Renate

Biographies
Bishnupriya Ghosh (US) teaches global media studies at UC Santa Barbara’s 
Departments of English and Global Studies. Her first monograph, When Borne 
Across: Literary Cosmopolitics in the Contemporary Indian Novel (Rutgers UP, 
2004) addressed cultural globalization and the market for world literatures; 
and her second,  Global Icons: Apertures into the Global (Duke UP, 2011) 
focused on globally circulating iconic images that constitute media 
environments. Around 2009, Ghosh turned to research on risk media from 
perspectives in the humanities. Both her current projects arise from this turn: 
she is writing her third monograph, *The Virus Touch: Theorizing Epidemic 
Media,* and co-editing *The Routledge Handbook on Media and Risk* (forthcoming 
2018).

Christina McPhee’s (US) images move from within a matrix of abstraction, 
shadowing figures and contingent effects. Her work emulates potential forms of 
life, in various systems and territories, and in real and imagined ecologies. 
Her dynamic, performative, physical engagement with drawing, in both her 
analogue and digital works, is a seduction into surface-skidding calligraphies 
and mark-making. Her work is in the museum collections of the Whitney Museum of 
American Art, New Museum-Rhizome Artbase, and International Center for 
Photography, New York; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City; and 
Thresholds New Media Collection, Scotland. Solo museum exhibitions include the 
American University Museum, Washington, D.C., and Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden. She 
has participated in group exhibitions, notably documenta 12 (Magazine Project) 
with -empyre-, Bucharest Biennial 3, Museum of Modern Art Medellin, Bildmuseet 
Umea,  and Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive at the University of 
California.  A new book, “Christina McPhee: A Commonplace Book,” edited by 
Eileen Joy, is a collection of essays by international critics and artists, is 
out this autumn with Punctum Books. 
https://punctumbooks.com/titles/christina-mcphee-a-commonplace-book/  
http://www.christinamcphee.net 

Tim Murray (US)  is a Professor of Comparative Literature and English and 
Curator of the Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art in the Cornell Library. A 
curator of new media and contemporary art, and theorist of visual studies and 
digital culture, he has been forging international intersections in exhibition 
and print between the arts, humanities, and technology for over twenty-five 
years. He is currently the Director of Cornell Council for the Arts at Cornell. 
He has been a moderator for -empyre since 2007.

A recipient of fellowships and grants from NEA, NEH, Mellon, Rockefeller, 
Fulbright, and Korea National Research Foundation, Murray is currently working 
on a book, Archival Events @ New Media Art, which is a sequel to Digital 
Baroque: New Media Art and Cinematic Folds (Minnesota, 2008).  Among his 
publications are the books Medium Philosophicum: Thinking Art Technologically 
(Universidad de Murcia, forthcoming, 2017), Zonas de Contacto: el arte en 
CD-Rom (Centro de la Imagen, 1999), Drama Trauma: Specters of Race and 
Sexuality in Performance, Video, Art (Routledge, 1997), Like a Film: 
Ideological Fantasy on Screen, Camera, and Canvas (Routledge, 1993), Theatrical 
Legitimation: Allegories of Genius In XVIIth-Century England and France 
(Oxford, 1987), ed. with Alan Smith, Repossessions: Psychoanalysis and the 
Phantasms of Early-Modern Culture (Minnesota, 1998), ed., Mimesis, Masochism & 
Mime: The Politics of Theatricality in Contemporary French Thought (Michigan, 
1997), ed. Xu Bing’s Background Story and his Oeuvre (Mandarin), co-edited with 
Yang Shin-Yi (Beijing: Life Bookstore Publishing, 2016), and ed. with 

Re: [-empyre-] Residual Contamination

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--Dear Ellie, Marisa, Catherine and all,

What a web of information In your posts. There are so many points that I want 
to pick up on and now that it is the weekend I’ll have a bit more time to chime 
in.  For now I will begin here.
Ellie thanks for all of these references.  I am going to begin a bibliography 
as our guests mention readings. See below and I hope you will all add as the 
month proceeds.
I have always been interested in the contamination and slow seepage of bad 
things into our bodies and our environment but like you all these interests 
have intermittently manifested themselves into my art practice.   Over the next 
few weeks we will have both artists, theorists and creative writers and 
performers who want to consider the topic so it will be interesting to see this 
evolve. I am so happy that you mentioned the notion of the intervention in 
relationship to remediation.  For me an intervention comes from a covert place 
and potentially intervenes by affecting  a change.  The Interventionists 
exhibition as Mass MOCA curated by Nato Thompson included a number of artists 
whose work attempted to intervene to create social change or justice.  I have 
added the reference below in the bibliography.

I wanted to interject here that our friend and colleague Ricardo Dominguez who 
will be a guest in a couple of weeks makes a clear distinction between activist 
gestures in the political and social realm and what the artist does.  From 
Ricardo’s point of view artists can critically reflect and compose but 
activists engage and protest.  There is a clear distinction for him between the 
artist and the activist and they have very different purposes.

Fascinating to hear Marissa that you made cakes.  I conceived of The Rum Cake 
Brigade a few years ago in solidarity with the activist Mary Anne Grady.  The 
Rum Cake Brigade was conceived to provide solidarity and support for anti-drone 
activist, peace activist, and culinary extraordinaire, Mary Anne Grady Flores. 
My mission was also to cultivate a grass-roots network to raise awareness of 
military drone activity but also to help Mary Anne who was facing charges 
stemming from her protests.  This small food intervention was a way to raise 
community awareness and support Mary Anne the activist.  Perhaps in response to 
Catherine and Marisa, the sour dough becomes a tool to think through 
conceptually the links between body and the environment and the slow residual 
contamination that has evidenced itself in both. Both the sour dough bread and 
the rum cakes can be thought of as Duchamp  did of his ‘readymades’ in that the 
ordinary object became elevated to critically engage the viewer.

More tomorrow. I will be introducing our Week 2 guests on Sunday.

Catherine you mentioned one of Timothy Morton’s articles earlier?  Can you add 
the reference?
Feel free to add to this bibliography:
Bibliography on Contamination

Patricia Reed’s recent article "Xenophily and Computational Denaturalization 

Stephen J. Gould’s “An Evolutionary Perspective on Strengths, Fallacies, and 
Confusions in the Concept of Native Plants” (Arnoldia, Spring 1998)
Anna Tsing  "Arts of Living on a Damaged 
Planet":http://edgeeffects.net/anna-tsing/
Edited by Nato Thompson and 
Gregory Sholette, “The 
Interventionists Users' Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life 
(MIT Press, 2004

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu

From:  on behalf of Ellie Irons 

Reply-To: soft_skinned_space 
Date: Friday, November 10, 2017 at 4:59 PM
To: soft_skinned_space 
Subject: Re: [-empyre-] Residual Contamination
Resent-From: Renate Ferro 

Hi Catherine, Marisa, Renate, and the rest of you out there,

Thanks for these thoughts and meditations- I’m enjoying the way you are weaving 
in the positive side of contamination alongside its horrors. The contamination 
narrative is omnipresent as toxicity (I just came from a workshop involving 
Hawaii-based artists and ocean plastics- the amount of plastic being ingested 
by phytoplankton and entering the food chain is truly harrowing) BUT, as you 
suggest, it's important to work on reclaiming the contamination metaphor in the 
sense of eschewing the search for/heralding of purity- Tsing gets at this 
nicely in her work (I’ll need to listen to the edge effects interview!) As 
Catherine knows from our work at the Environmental Performance Agency, working 
with weedy plant species we come up against the narrative of “bad 

[-empyre-] time is of the essence

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks you Catherine and Marissa, 
I am fascinated so much by the sour dough DIY bread baking and somewhat 
nostalgic in fact.  My mother was a sour dough enthusiast and made bread a few 
times per week.  She also tended a large garden, made jams, jellies, pickles 
and canned and froze many of the vegetables that she harvested in her huge 
garden.  This all sounds so nostalgic now to me but she worked at home all day 
incredibly hard from morning to night time.  The frost over the last few days 
prompted me to go out to my own garden to pick the very last batch of late 
lettuce I planted in August. I barely had the time to make it to the garden 
before dark because today was a long teaching day for me.  “Rhythms,” “cycles”, 
are at the heart of this presence as you wrote as does “nurturing” and 
“attention.” For me time is of the essence. 

Catherine and Marisa I’d love to hear about  your art practices and how food 
extends from your research through to your art production.   Some month’s ago 
Amanda McDonald Crowley hosted an entire month of guest artists and researchers 
whose practice revolved around food, nurturance, and the environment.  -empyre- 
subscribers Leila Christine Nadir and Cary Peppermint have been doing 
fermenting and fermenting workshops for the last few years. Leila might be 
lurking in perhaps and could share a bit about their work. 

Looking forward to both of you sharing some recent work.  And empyre 
subscribers anyone else doing food as it might relate to contamination? 

Also please feel free to post photos on our FB and twitter pages.  
 
Best, 
Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu





On 11/8/17, 12:23 AM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Catherine Grau"  wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--Just a quick 
>response to Marisa and questioning feasibility of
>remediation...
>Maybe rather than remediation, we can think about transformation.
>Cultivating transformation.
>
>On a small scale (for now), recovering traditional / ancient cultures of
>food-making, such as making bread with sourdough or lievito madre, are a
>path for disrupting the dominant commercial food paradigms of highly
>processed foods that cater to global markets and economic viability. Rather
>than having GMO seed monopolies and a long shelf life of flour, we opt for
>the nutrition and longer shelf life of a handmade sourdough bread, which
>maybe requires returning to local and small scale grain farming.
>Besides the glyphosate tangent, what I struggled with most in making bread
>with natural leaven were the rhythms, cycles, the time commitment, the
>process of nurturing and attention... The form of presence it entices.
>Working with an obviously living agent, a living process. But the fact that
>it is difficult to balance DIY bread baking with precarious contemporary
>urban lifestyle is also what is actually so exiting and promising about it.
>What would it look like to restructure my lifestyle around symbiotic
>nourishment?
>
>I listened to this interview with Anna Tsing today where she speaks about
>her book "Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet":
>http://edgeeffects.net/anna-tsing/
>And, although I struggle, I would love to find the enthusiasm with which
>she engages the subject of contamination.
>What I love about her is this radical openness to the concept of change
>rooted in the celebration of life that is surviving and emerging from the
>"ruins".
>
>I'm just beginning to nurture that narrative. Hope it rises!
>
>xo
>Catherine
>
>
___
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[-empyre-] Residual Contamination

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Catherine wrote: 
Snip
" By way of the dominant western culture, many of us build and enforce these 
mental boundaries where places are labelled and confined as distant / separate 
from us.
…As part of my art practice, I have spent many years (and a long way to go) 
exploring ways of unlearning my western (mis)education - and rooting that
practice in re-weaving the deeper connections or belonging to an 
inter-dependent, living, breathing world.That path for me has been to work
through the body and reclaiming somatic ways of knowing…Marisa and I would like 
to start off this discussion by honing in on the concept of *residual 
contamination* - as a place of linking back to our bodies and a way of 
disruption the narrative of static and confined notions of place.”
Snip


Dear Catherine,
How exciting to hear about how you are  thinking about contamination  related 
to somatic awareness.  I am looking forward to hearing more from both you and 
Marisa but I thought I would share one of my connections to contamination as it 
relates to water.  Those of you who know Tim Murray and I know
that we live in the middle of upstate New York in a small hamlet.  We live on a 
fifteen acre lot, almost adjacent to the forest reserves of New York State. The 
delicate balance of our bodies and our environment are apparent to us everyday 
as we drink water from the deep wells within the earth’s  aquifers below the 
rock strata via our well. 

All of the underground water in our surrounding Ithaca flows into the Finger 
Lakes. The five lakes appear like the five digits or fingers of the hand, but 
the lakes were formed by glacial slow freezes and thaws that gorged deep lakes. 
Ithaca NY sits at the base of one of the middle lakes called Cayuga, the same 
name as the American Indian tribe, part of the Iroquois Confederacy.  The 
history is as deep as is the 435 feet of deep green lake water.

Just this past summer the entire lake was put on lock down literally.  State 
Parks  and private swimming and boating areas were deemed unsafe for humans 
because of blue-green algae bloom contamination that caused skin irritation and 
sickness upon contact.  Environmentalists have been studying the effects of 
high phosphorous leaches into the water that have been known to cause the algae 
blooms.  High lake temperatures also have been proven to also cause the blooms.

There is not a day that goes by that I don’t intentionally think about this 
bio/environmental network that is so directly relational to all of our health 
and safety. From our the health and environment of our bio-networks to 
language, communication, and relationships contamination slowly seeps without 
boundaries. Perhaps the starter dough may be a great place to talk about the 
interrelationship of those factors.  Looking forward to your sharing more 
experiences and resources. But perhaps I also might ask for both of you to talk 
a bit more about “residual contamination.” 

Thanks, 
Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu








___
empyre forum
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Re: [-empyre-] Welcome to Week One: On Contamination-slowness

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu








On 11/6/17, 12:12 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Catherine Grau"  wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
___
empyre forum
empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
http://empyre.library.cornell.edu

[-empyre-] Welcome to November: On Contamination

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Welcome to November 2017 on –empyre- soft-skinned space
Contamination Moderated by Renate Ferro with guests
Week 1: November 5: Marisa Tesauro (DE, US), Catherine Grau (IT, US) 
Week 2:November 12 Bishnupriya Ghosh (US), Tim Murray (US)
Week 3: November 19 Rahul Mukherjee, Andrea Haenggi (DE,US) 
Week 4: November 26 Amy Sara Carroll (US), Ricardo Dominguez (US), Melinda 
Rackham (AU), Christina McPhee (US) 
The world is contaminated. From our environment to bio-networks to language, 
communication, and relationships, to governments and financial
markets, to the digital spaces of bits and the virtual, the “digital delirium” 
of the present, both the real and the virtual are mixed together in a bubbling 
stew of contaminated waste.

Contamination is omnipresent. We ask our  –empyre- soft-skinned space guests 
and subscribers to consider what it might take to detox from contamination on a 
local and regional level but also beyond to our global world. How can we 
consider the theoretical and actual construct of contamination as it relates to 
the flow between real and virtual networks. How can artists, poets, writers, 
philosophers, theorists, and others think through contamination to imagine the 
potentials for the future?
Moderator: 

Renate Ferro  (US) is a conceptual artist working in emerging technology and 
culture. Most recently her work has been featured at The Freud Museum (London), 
The Dorksy Gallery (NY), The Hemispheric Institute and FOMMA (Mexico), The 
Janus Pannonius Muzeum (Hungary), and The Free University Berlin (Germany). Her 
work has been published in such journals as Diacritics, Theatre Journal, and 
Epoch. She is a managing moderator for the online new media list serve 
-empyre-soft-skinned space. Ferro is a Visiting Associate Professor and 
Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Art at Cornell 
University teaching digital media and theory. She also directs the Tinker 
Factory, a creative research lab for Interdisciplinary Research.

Weekly Guests: 
Amy Sara Carroll (US) is the author of two collections of poetry SECESSION 
(Hyperbole Books, an imprint of San Diego State University Press, 2012) and 
FANNIE + FREDDIE/The Sentimentality of Post-9/11 Pornography (Fordham 
University Press, 2013), chosen by Claudia Rankine for the 2012 Poets Out Loud 
Prize. Since 2008, she has been a member of Electronic Disturbance Theater 
2.0/b.a.n.g. lab, coproducing the Transborder Immigrant Tool, which has been 
included in several art exhibitions, including the 2010 California Biennial. 
With EDT 2.0/b.a.n.g. lab and the University of Michigan interdisciplinary 
workshop, the Border Collective, she collaboratively authored [({})] The 
Desert Survival Series/La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto (The Office of 
Net Assessment/University of Michigan Digital Environments Cluster Publishing 
Series, 2014), that digitally has been redistributed under its Creative Commons 
license by CTheory Books (2015), the Electronic Literature Collection, Vol. 3 
(2016),
CONACULTA E-Literatura/Centro de Cultura Digital (2016), and HemiPress (2017). 
In 2015, Carroll served as the University of Mississippi Summer Poet in 
Residence. Summer 2010 and every summer thereafter, she has participated in 
Mexico City’s alternative arts space SOMA. Carroll’s monograph REMEX: Toward an 
Art History of
the NAFTA Era is forthcoming from the University of Texas Press in December 
2017 under the auspices of its Mellon Latin American and Caribbean
Arts and Culture publishing initiative. Currently, Carroll is a 2017-2018 
Society Fellow at Cornell University’s Society for the Humanities where she is 
working on two projects: “Codeswitch,” a mixed genre collection, coauthored 
with Ricardo Dominguez, that undocuments the development and
distribution of the Transborder Immigrant Tool; and “Global Mexico’s 
Coproduction,” the second volume in a trilogy that she’s
composing on greater Mexican art, literature, and cinema.

Ricardo Dominguez (US) is a co-founder of The Electronic Disturbance Theater, a 
group who developed virtual sit-in technologies in solidarity with the 
Zapatistas communities in Chiapas, Mexico, in 1998. Dominguez developed his 
recent Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0/b.a.n.g. lab project titled The
Transborder Immigrant Tool (a GPS cell phone safety net tool for crossing the 
Mexico/U.S. border) with Brett Stalbaum, Micha Cárdenas, Amy
Sara Carroll, and Elle Mehrmand (http://tbt.tome.press/). The project was the 
winner of the Transnational Communities Award (2008), an award funded by 
Cultural Contact,
Endowment for Culture Mexico–U.S. and handed out by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico.

Along with artists Diane Ludin, Nina Waisman, and Amy Sara Carroll, Dominguez 
is also a co-founder of particle group, the creator of an art project about
nanotoxicology titled Particles of Interest: Tales of the Matter Market 

Re: [-empyre-] Closing October, Thank you to all discussants, guests, and participants

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thank you Margartha for organizing and hosting the October month of -empyre 
soft skinned space.  It truly was a packed month of so many rich and lively 
exchanges.  I keep going back to earlier posts in the month and rereading them. 
 A huge thank you also to all of your guests as well.  We look forward to you 
all participating in the listserv. 

Best, 
Renate

Dear -empyre-,

One final note --

It seemed so fitting to attend Maria Thereza Alves' keynote and exhibition
yesterday at the New School. It was a perfect ending to this past month's
discussion. For those of you in New York, it is not to be missed. Alves'
work Seeds of Change tracks capitalism through slave ships and the ballast
that was dumped at harbors, specifically the dormant seeds that would take
root in new harbors and create new ecologies beneath our feet that we still
tread upon. The soil of capitalism is perfectly shown as history, material,
living networks, and metaphor. I've attached a few raw snaps from the show
and there are a few more here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbDxRy8DNpS/?taken-by=the_doctor_and_the_spy.

Warmly and once again thank you,
-M


--
beforebefore.net
guerrillagrafters.org
coastalreadinggroup.com



Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu








On 11/4/17, 10:43 AM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
margaretha haughwout"  wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
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[-empyre-] Wrapping up October and and all-call for guests for November on Contamination

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
It has been an incredibly rich and robust month thanks to Margaretha Haughwout 
and her guests.  The  month’s discussion, Radical Aesthetics of Multispecies 
Worlding, Eco-Art, and Solidarity in a More-than-human Capitalocene, will be 
open for last comments, wrap ups, final musings, and more until Saturday 
November 4th.  October guests, participants and all of our subscribers are 
encouraged to leave last thoughts.  It truly has been such a dynamic 
discussion.  

On Sunday the 5th the topic of Contamination will be introduced.  Broadly we 
will look at the topic from the perspectives of digital and physically real 
contamination.  Some of the considerations might relate to the environment to 
bio-networks to language and communication to  thinking through contamination 
to imagine the potentials for the future.

If you are interested in being a weekly guest please email Renate back-channel. 
Looking forward to it.  
 


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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Re: [-empyre-] Has mediated natures changed your ideas of what communication is?

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks Mararetha for these questions that have been looming in the back of my 
mind as well.  I am traveling but have been captivated by the thoughtful 
responses and thrilled that our subscribers Norie and Melinda chimed in last 
week from Australia. My experiences in China this past week I hope to share 
with you—after I recover from jet lag —but please know to all of you what an 
engaging beginning this topic has been.  Cross-species communication 
theoretically and practically thinking through eco-consciousness and networked 
culture has resonances far and wide not only in the west but also the east. 
Hope to hear what you all have to say.
Best,
Renate


Renate Ferro
-empyre managing moderator-


Sent from my iphone
On Oct 11, 2017, at 9:05 PM, margaretha haughwout 
>
 wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Greetings in this soft_skinned_space,

I often find myself frustrated by theories and descriptions of cross-species 
communication that fit a 20th-century/ early cybernetics model of information 
(aka Claude Shannon's flawed model that elides the meanings of transmission and 
of communication, establishes information as quantifiable and able to lose its 
materiality).

I'm wondering -- Benjamin and Julie especially, and Elaine & others may pitch 
in as well -- if your work with media and animals has led you to new 
understandings of communication, and what theorists you look to back up your 
experiences and ideas.

-M



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[-empyre-] all call: October on -empyre-Radical Aesthetics of Multispecies Worlding

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Any subscribers interested in being featured as a weekly guest should contact 
me back channel.  I will forward your name to our October moderator Margaretha 
Haughwout.  Margaretha is organizing the monthly topic tentatively entitled,  
“Radical Aesthetics of Multispecies Worlding, Eco-Art, and the Possibilities 
for Solidarity Beyond-the-Human in the Capitalocene”.  

Let me know back channel and I can put you in touch with Margaretha. 

Looking forward to October. 
Renate


Renate Ferro




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[-empyre-] launching a new -empyre

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear -empyre-subscribers, 

As we are assimilating our new Editorial Board for -empyre and re-organizing 
the website we would like to announce that the roll out will be delayed until 
well into October.  We hope you have had a restful couple of months and that 
you stay tuned for more announcements about the new -empyre- soft skinned 
space. If you have any questions please feel free to send them back channel. 

Best to all of you. 
Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] taking a break to reorganize: See you in September

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Hello empyreans, 
Here is hoping that you are having a great summer if you are on this side of 
the world or a productive winter if you are in Australia or South Africa.  We 
are busy here reorganizing the structure of -empyre- and updating the website 
and archives.  We be taking the remaining months of July and August off to do 
those tasks and look forward to launching a new and improved 
-empyre-soft-skinned space in early September. 

FYI
TO ACCESS ARCHIVES USE THIS URL: 
http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/
TO ACCESS THE WEBSITE GO TO:  http://empyre.library.cornell.edu/


Best to all of you, 
Renate Ferro
Tim Murray
Soraya Murray
Derek Murray
Moderating Board

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] Fake News, Propaganda, cinema, and more

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

Ana thanks for your post. I always appreciate your writing  as it provides  us 
all with a sense of the practicality of political injustices and prison 
sentences.  Fake News is propaganda as I wrote in my first introductory post at 
the beginning of the month and it is not a new phenomenon at all.  Historically 
your experiences in Uruguay are liminal in that similar patterns have happened 
in contemporary and historical contexts all across the globe. My point is not 
to diminish your suffering but to push us to differentiate the current 
situation today. The interesting twist on the US story is how the American 
press is a being linked as a vehicle, a pawn so to say.  Social media 
complicates the equation even more evidently.   

Patrick I just arrived back in the US from being away for an extended time and 
I agree with your rather comical but sad description of the breaking news 
phenomenon.  During my recent travels in Europe these past few weeks and my 
travels in Asia in the spring I was getting such a different perspective and 
broader one on on worldwide news.  To realize that in China I was able to 
access more global news via BBC and CNN global than in the states is 
frightening.  While Anderson Cooper plays in the early 9 am hour it is prefaced 
by and hour or two from 7 to 9 of global coverage by global anchors and 
reporters. Your Middle East global perspective and your vast experience with 
fabulation has been notable over the years of your life as an artist. (thanks 
to Ana Munster for introducing that concept….I love the word and think that it 
is especially a notable one for us as artists and creators.) 

Randall your mention of cinema’s role is one that I think perhaps some of our 
cinema specialists may want to chime in about.Thanks to Mathias for adding the 
name of Brecht into our conversation.  I have heard from cinema specialists 
that the US State Department engages the help of movie and cinema professionals 
and actors to fabulate about the future to help them think and anticipate about 
future conditions that they may face in real life.And what about the gaming 
industry?  Anyone care to elaborate? 

Randall I’m wondering what your experiences are living between Singapore and 
the US?  

Ana Munster what can you fill us in on your one day conference on Fake News 
over the next day or so. 

We will be continuing out discussion through Sunday, July 2nd.  Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu







On 6/28/17, 10:00 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Ana Valdés"  wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
>Dear fellows I was thinking about how to start this week. It has been a lot of 
>interesting things discussed here and I remembered the time I spent in jail 
>four years in the 70.
>During the four years I was in prison we were feed with fake news we didn't 
>have access to newspapers or to radio or to tv. The only scarce news come 
>through the short visits of our relatives and lawyers heavy monitored by 
>soldiers and recorded by cameras.
>Yesterday was the 44th anniversary of the state coup and I was already in 
>jail. During a day we listened in the loudspeakers military march music and 
>the speech of the Junta leaders who justified the coup arguing they needed 
>free hands to fight the leftist guerrilla and defend the democracy.
>It was bad rethoric and it was a part of the Cold War being fought between US 
>and Soviet. Uruguay Chile and Argentina were proxy wars and the victims were 
>civilians trade union leaders students.
>They told us Brasil was going to invade us and they asked us to be prepared 
>and take weapons if our jails were compromised.
>News and rumours were part of the propaganda strategy they needed to establish 
>as truth bearers.
>Our families were the receptors of fake news as well someday they called home 
>to our relatives and they said we were dead killed in a riot other days we 
>were shot on the run when we tried to escape.
>Fake news were powerful weapons of destruction at that time.
>Ana Valdes 
>
>
>Enviado desde mi iPhone
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Re: [-empyre-] Week 4: Welcome Lindsay Kelley, Anna Munster, Randall Packer, and Ana Valdex

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks Randall for posting this.  I’m not sure if you were following last week 
but Byron Rich, Kevin Hamilton, and myself were talking about the tactics and 
methodologies that artists employ to create resistance.  In Byron’s work 
particularly as a bio-artist with interests in politics, global climate change 
and others he uses (intentionally) imagery both still and video that has been 
“constructed” and humor to push against the system.  Many artists actually use 
irony, satire and other forms to comment and critique cultural and political 
issues. We have talked about a number of artists from the YES Men to others 
that use these strategies as art practice and theory. This is no way diminishes 
the seriousness of the issues but it does highlight some of the injustices that 
are actualizing before us critically. 

So I mention these just briefly just in case you were not able to sign in last 
week.  I’m hoping that Ana, Lindsday and Ana Munster will also chime in to talk 
about some of their own work and resistance.  

Thanks Randall for starting out this week.  Appreciated.  Renate



Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu








On 6/27/17, 4:14 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Randall Packer" <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
rpac...@zakros.com> wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
>Dear List:
>
>Since August of 2015, I have been chronicling the TRUMP phenomenon, which I 
>refer to as XTreme TRUMPology. Here are 50 posts I have written to date: 
>http://www.randallpacker.com/category/xtreme-trumpology/
>
>I see the developing fake news issue as the catalyst of a much greater 
>problem: the intentional distortion of reality for the purpose of gaining 
>political control. Fake news is a means to an end, what happens when morally 
>bankrupt demagogues are in pursuit of absolute power. 
>
>To this end, it beholds us to construct critical “weapons” that we can use to 
>deconstruct and defuse this diabolical fakery, and it is my hope, that during 
>this next week, the empyre list can serve as both a virtual roundtable for 
>discussion, as well as a space for developing tactical methods we can employ 
>as media artists, theorists, and educators in our everyday lives and work. 
>Some of these methods have already been identified in past weeks… I hope to 
>see more! 
>
>These are dangerous times and I am interested in the kinds of critical tools 
>we can develop collectively to combat the torrent of fakery and disinformation 
>that is consuming our government, our country, and the world. 
>
>It’s time for action.  
>
>Best, Randall
>
>
>On 6/27/17, 8:48 AM, "Randall Packer" <rpac...@zakros.com> wrote:
>
>Greetings all… I am gathering my reportage on this critical issue, one 
> that threatens to engulf our collective grip on reality. Here in Washington, 
> DC, the tension is palpable as we see democracy hanging by a thread in the 
> face of the steady, hypnotic torrent of disinformation emanating from all 
> corners of the government. I don’t take this responsibility lightly as an 
> empyre reporter, and will be posting my first dispatch later in the day.  
>
>Best,
>
>Randall  from the underground studio bunker in Washington, DC
>
>On 6/26/17, 5:17 AM, "Renate Terese Ferro" 
> <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of rfe...@cornell.edu> 
> wrote:
>
>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
>Thanks to Kevin, Byron, Murat and Aviva for participating this week as 
> we reflected on the notion of the fake in regards to science and art.  I 
> realized about midway through the week that the questions that arose were 
> important and thoughtful ones that actually would make an excellent month 
> long topic in the near future on -empyre-.  Kevin reminded us of the trend 
> where truth-claims of scientists have been undermined for political causes. 
> It also reminded me of the  fraud that big science and the pharmaceutical 
> industry have been accused of where research studies have been manipulated 
> for economic gain.  Artists can provide the critical space using  the tools 
> and methodology of science to create critical spaces where the public can 
> pause, reflect, and activate a sense of resistance.  
>
>Welcome to Randall Packer, Ana Valdes, Ana Munster and Lindsay Kelley. 
>  Ana Munster and Lindsay were our guests during week one and we welcome them 
> back as we close down our topic.  Ana Vales has been a long time participant 
&

Re: [-empyre-] Week 3: Science, Technology, Art and Fakeness

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

Thans Aviva for writing in.  If I am understanding you, you are not happy with 
the human body centered, biologically based science to the exclusion of broader 
problems such as climate change, global warming, and broader politically 
engaged practices.   I’m so sorry you were unable to attend the CAA panel on 
Bio-art  Though titled as such our very narrowly convened group featured 
artists that I believe broadly took on cross-disciplinary conceptual issues.  
Natalie Jermenjenko for example reached across the broad areas of ecology, 
climate change, and animal robotics.  Your point is well taken though and I’m 
hoping that in this short week some of our subscribers might take the 
opportunity to also respond.  We can leave this open and invite others to 
comment. College Art Association is always so rushed I agree.  The question you 
raise might be an interesting one for an entire month on -empyre.  Maybe we can 
talk about that back channel. 

Best to you.  Renate

On 6/24/17, 9:26 AM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Aviva Rahmani" <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
ghostn...@ghostnets.com> wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
>I’m just dipping into this important discussion on bioart and changing 
>paradigms. 
>
>Re: this, “How can we as artists, writers, technologists make sense out of the 
>current shift in politics as it reflects on science through our practices and 
>living”
>
>I have been saying for years, that we are witnessing a biological correction 
>on a species problem. In that view, as horrific as I find certain current 
>political realities, they might also be seen as accelerating that inevitable 
>amoral correction on an amoral situation. As an artist, I see that this is a 
>systems problem. What has brought us here- specialization, etc., is what must 
>be deconstructed without losing the bodies of knowledge. One way the danger of 
>specializtion is expressed is in the globalized fragmentation into refugia we 
>are witnessing, whether on the human political or species spectrum. I see that 
>as much here as anyplace else. So the question I see underlying the original 
>question, is if my premise is correct, what kinds of systems change could 
>redirect that biological imperative? I would suggest, straddling a paradox of 
>continued drilling down vertically into knowledge, and horizontal linking and 
>layering between systems.
>
>Which leads to another question. 
>
>My question is about why there seems to be such a huge divide between artists 
>interested in the human body centered epistemologies and those, as myself, who 
>are obsessed with large environmental systemic issues? It seems ironic that 
>most ecological artists are omitted from the aspect of this discussion of 
>climate change and global warming that has asked what might be learned from 
>bioartists, since systems analysis in environmental science is equally 
>biologically based.  At CAA, tho I was very interested in the Bioart panel, I 
>never got there. There’s always that issue at CAA about competing panels, but 
>even so, the audience was clearly a diff audience than a panel I was on 
>(Infiltration Art), which also addressed systems change from the art out.  My 
>hunch is that very few in those audiences overlapped panels.
>
>The three threads I see that relate to the original question are environmental 
>justice (socially-racially-gendered centered), bio-neuro art, and ecological 
>art (looking at large biogeographic relationships). This is a disconnect I’ve 
>observed for years. I see this as a problem that needs some solution. I could 
>speculate about anthropocentric self-centeredness but I’m curious what other 
>explanations people might have? 
>
>
>“What the world needs is a good housekeeper.”
>Aviva Rahmani, PhD
>Affiliate INSTAAR, University of CO. at Boulder
>https://www.nyfa.org/ArtistDirectory/ShowProject/1446ef3a-0a9d-4449-96be-74023eb9c376
>Watch “Blued Trees”:  https://vimeo.com/135290635
>www.ghostnets.com <http://www.ghostnets.com/>
>www.gulftogulf.org
> 
> 
>
>On 6/19/17, 11:37 AM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
>Renate Terese Ferro" <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
>rfe...@cornell.edu> wrote:
>
>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
>Many thanks to Talan Memmott and Mark Marino for being our guests during 
> Week 2. This week on -empye- I am thrilled to introduce Kevin Hamilton.   
> Kevin has been a guest moderator and participant for a number of years.  As 
> well as being an artist and writer, Kevin is the editor of Media-N, the 
> journal of the New M

[-empyre-] Humor

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear Kevin and fellow empyreans 

Thanks Kevin for mentioning the panel at College Art Association on BioArt.  
Fake or constructed images are a huge part of many  artists who work between 
the areas of Science, Technology, and Art.  You mention Paul Vanouse’s work and 
that of  Byron Rich and Mary Tsang Maggic’s  project, Open Source Estrogen. 
http://maggic.ooo/Open-Source-Estrogen-2015.  Using photography and videography 
are most certainly appropriate in Rich and Tsang’s diy kitchen and laboratory 
tactics to “emancipate” the hormone estrogen.  Kevin the defining 
characteristic in so much of this work is humor as well.  Whether ironic, 
satirical, political, humor streams throughout this work which allows viewers 
and experiencers another chance to stop and reflect critically on the issues.  

Kevin your insightful reflections on critique inspired me to add this bit.  I 
am in Venice at the Biennale and want to share one work I saw today but it is 
very late right now and will do so  tomorrow.  Ciao.  Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu







On 6/20/17, 2:02 PM, "Hamilton, Kevin"  wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
>Hello all - 
>
>The questions I raised yesterday emerged for me in a panel Renate co-organized 
>at last year's College Art Association conference for the New Media Caucus, on 
>Biology and Art.
>
>At this panel we heard from some great people, including Maria Fernandez, Paul 
>Vanouse, Natalie Jeremijenko, Byron Rich and Mary Tsang. I was struck by the 
>role of representation, of image-making, at the center of so many of the 
>projects discussed. That shouldn't be surprising for artists of course, 
>especially given the aesthetic and theoretical lineages these artists draw 
>from. But images may be a surprising plane on which to argue with science.
>
>One might explain that through constructing their own "fake" images using DNA, 
>for example, Paul and his collaborators reveal the way these "fingerprints" 
>gain legal and scientific authority as cultural products. Such a "reveal" of 
>how science builds credibility can then help introduce a larger conversation 
>and critique about how, for example, the criminal justice system relies on 
>particular approaches to identity and personhood.
>
>This is one way in among many one might take to critique, reimagine or abolish 
>contemporary trial and sentencing structures. Some critiques of the same 
>system start with how little the victims of crimes figure into retributive 
>justice models. Others take a more historical approach, and narrate the roots 
>of American trial and sentencing culture in slavery.
>
>The dislodging of unjust structures solely through revelation of root causes 
>and origins will likely get us nowhere. So a critique of the science of 
>identity as applied in criminal prosecution that is based solely on revealing 
>the subjective, constructive nature of its images will likely get us nowhere. 
>Thankfully, I don't think that's where Vanouse and his colleagues stop.
>
>It might be where the deniers of climate change stop. Such revelation and 
>critique is certainly is where a lot of "creation scientists" spend their time.
>
>I'll keep going on this line tomorrow, but would of course also welcome other 
>thoughts, examples, and questions!
>
>All best,
>
>Kevin Hamilton
>
>
>
>On 6/19/17, 12:33 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
>Hamilton, Kevin" k...@illinois.edu> wrote:
>
>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
>Hi all - 
>
>Thank you for the introduction Renate! And thanks to all for a good month 
> so far on the subject. I'll ask a question to get things going.
>
>Here on empyre, we can point to a lively and expansive lineage of art, 
> activism and scholarship that questions basic epistemologies of modern 
> science. Much of this work builds on science studies, feminist theory, and 
> postcolonial critique to illuminate and re-imagine the role of "big science" 
> in the structuring of biopolitical regimes across medical, military, and 
> agricultural domains. 
>
>**What do these practices offer our efforts to reduce climate change, at a 
> moment when the truth-claims of scientists have been undermined for very 
> different reasons?**
>
>As in so many other moments this century, we find ourselves with some 
> structural homologies among the efforts of groups working towards very 
> different political ends. Climate-change deniers and critics of big oil and 
> big pharma have been taking similar swipes at the foundations of western 
> science for years. 
>
>It matters who is doing the swiping, and to what ends, so I don't mean to 
> draw a false equivalence. 

[-empyre-] Week 3: Science, Technology, Art and Fakeness

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Many thanks to Talan Memmott and Mark Marino for being our guests during Week 
2. This week on -empye- I am thrilled to introduce Kevin Hamilton.   Kevin has 
been a guest moderator and participant for a number of years.  As well as being 
an artist and writer, Kevin is the editor of Media-N, the journal of the New 
Media Caucus.  We are currently working on a short publication for that journal 
that encapsulates a recent panel on Bio-Art that was held at the College Art 
Association. We thought it might be interesting to consider truth and fiction 
at the  intersections of Art, Technology and Science.  Within this convened 
panel issues of politics and ethics were a part of the discussion.  

Considering world views on climate change, The Environmental Protection Agency 
has removed all data on global warming from its website a sign of fake news in 
itself. the US Environmental Protection Agency will experience a budget cut of 
by 31 percent over 2017, according to records of the Office of Management and 
Budget.. Cuts in science and medial research, health and welfare will be 
slashed. More than 50 EPA programs will be impacted. Among them  Energy Star a 
guide to consumers that  support energy-efficient products (your home 
appliances) and buildings.  Also affected are  targeted Air Shed Grants (a 
program that assists in controlling air pollution at the local level); and the 
medical programs that  screen for endocrine disruptors, such as mercury and BPA 
that impact humans’ hormone systems.

I pause here to think about the legacy that Beatriz Da Costa left for us. 
http://blog.creative-capital.org/2013/01/remembering-beatriz-da-costa-1974-2012/


How can we as artists, writers, technologists make sense out of the current 
shift in politics as it relfects on science through our practices and living.  
A serious question for the beginning of the week.  
Here’s Kevin’s bio. 
Renate.  

Kevin Hamilton (US)
is a Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he holds
appointments in the School of Art and Design and the program in Media and
Cinema Studies, and serves as Senior Associate Dean in the College of Fine and
Applied Arts. He works as an artist and scholar to produce artworks, archives,
and scholarship on such subjects as race and space, public memory, history of
technology, and state violence. His articles with Ned O’Gorman on Air Force
film production have appeared in Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Visual Culture,
and Communication & Critical/Cultural Studies. Their book-in-progress and
accompanying digital archive traces the history of the Air Force’s most famous
film unit, Lookout Mountain Laboratory, from 1948 through 1969. Kevin’s
artworks in digital form have appeared in Rhizome, Turbulence, Neural, and the
ASPECT DVD series.
 



Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] Critical Questioning in relationship to Ant Farm

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
In response to Tim—
Thanks Tim for posting the link to the Ant Farm intervention. I always love 
going back to look at these old tapes from Ant Farm.  Such a physical stunt 
with such conceptually and politically charged content. 

In response to Mark and Talan—
Mark and Talan thinking about Ant Farm in relationship to your 
intervention—that of classifying and “teaching” how to write “fake news.”  I 
need some help here.  Let me ask some very basic questions here because I am 
sure that our readership might be somewhat confused. 

When Margaret Rhee first introduced me to you she explained that you and Talan 
had taught a course on fake news.Who is it that this “class” was geared for?  
Who ended up taking the class?   Do you see this project as a “stunt” as in 
driving a car through a wall of televisions as a conceptual gesture to 
critically look at the present day state of creating and interpreting the news? 
  If you are teaching how to write Fake News do you also have to teach how to 
write credible news or accounts?   In light of the fact that libraries, 
educational institutions and a host of others are setting out to educate the 
public on discerning fake from credibly news sources, how do you see this 
course in relationship to these trends?  

What’s fascinating here is that the boundaries between real and fiction are so 
blended today— but to get back to Ant Farm— where is the critical questioning 
in your mind in relationship to your teaching the class in retrospect?  

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu







On 6/13/17, 6:38 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Mark Marino"  wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
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Re: [-empyre-] Speaking of Fake...

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks Mark, 
What I think is so interesting is the fact that in order to write fake news you 
have to be able to discern between what is truth and what is not.  It’s a 
matter of framing and contextualizing. Can you talk about the production of the 
link you’ve uploaded?  Thanks for sharing.  Also just wondering what kinds of 
students signed up for your course!  Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu








On 6/11/17, 2:21 AM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Mark Marino"  wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
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[-empyre-] Warhol legacy-- How Real is Real?

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear all, 
Thanks Anna and Lindsay for telling us a bit about your upcoming event at the 
University of New South Wales on Friday.  I wish we were a bit closer so we 
could attend but for now will rely on your reportage.  Really looking forward 
to it as the month unfolds.  I would like to pause a bit for this post at least 
on the question you post early on in this morning, 

Anna wrote 
Is it the case that (the)media and arts are located in completely different 
spaces and are responding with totally different tactics or strategies in the 
wake of ‘post-truth’ politics? 
It seems as though so much old media is caught up within an epistemological 
chasm, flung back and forth between being a pack of liars and defending the 
‘facts’. Being duly investigative. 
The social media scape, on the other hand, feeds itself on more and more 
elaborate stoushes around ‘lies’, rumour and ironic irony…


In the March 2017 issue of Frieze magazine, writer Pablo Larious, wrote a 
hilarious” letter” to Andy Warhol in his essay “How Real is Real? From Donald 
Trump’s post-truth to Andy Warhol’s philosophy, and back again.”  In essence 
the essay takes the form of a letter to Warhol that sets the stage of life, art 
and politics within the pro-wrestling world.  That world was one of Warhol’s 
favorite where in 1985 he was interviewed after a Wrestling-Mania event in 
Madison Square garden.  Larious, an Berlin based art critic trained in 
comparative literature, reminds us that the root of the  word wrestling 
actually means to ‘steal’ or ‘distort the meaning of.’ 

Larious asks questions to Warhol as if he were alive today in 2017 in the 
middle of a rigged world:
“Would you like to talk to me sometime about how daily life became so 
spectacularly news worthy, so fake…I’d like to ask you about the sad irony, in 
2017…Is it okay if I ask you about your relationship to a man named Donald 
Trump—“  Ironically, it was Warhol who wrote twenty plus years ago a potential 
script for Donald Trump, “the president has so much good publicizing 
potential.” In fact Warhol intersected with Trump on several occasions over a 
silkscreen print. In turn it was Trump who quoted Warhol’s writing “good 
business is the best art” printed in two of Trump’s books.  

Given the legacy that Warhol left, the convergence of life and art, business 
and brand, I ponder over how old and social media has been archived, 
fragmented, re-used to such as extent that both create gaps of innuendo for all 
facets of our existence including politics.  Larious critically asks his 
readers if it is possible that we discern “fakery” and “mockery” from the 
“real” in an age where everything is layered with the discrepancies of digital 
re-production and  social media.

Tim and I are looking forward to more discussions on fake news especially 
through the lens of our global subscribers.  Hope you will all feel free to 
post. 
Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu







On 6/6/17, 4:51 AM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Anna Munster"  wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
>Thanks Renata and Tim!
>
>Lindsay and I are pretty interested in asking about what art might do in the 
>global fakescape currently permeating the atmosphere.
>
>Is it the case that (the)media and arts are located in completely different 
>spaces and are responding with totally different tactics or strategies in the 
>wake of ‘post-truth’ politics? 
>It seems as though so much old media is caught up within an epistemological 
>chasm, flung back and forth between being a pack of liars and defending the 
>‘facts’. Being duly investigative. 
>The social media scape, on the other hand, feeds itself on more and more 
>elaborate stoushes around ‘lies’, rumour and ironic irony…
>
>What powers might art hold to do something different? Isn’t art built upon the 
>fake, upon reflexivity about its own performativity: The Yes Men, Pierre 
>Huyghe,AUDINT (http://audint.net/n2017/deadrecordoffice/), The Museum of 
>Jurassic Technology….all deploy the fake in another spacetime than in 
>opposition to the ‘real’ or the ‘true’…..
>
>We are about to run an event: FAKE NEWS from the Art and Politics Bureau’ as 
>Renate mentioned…..we’ll let you know what we have to ‘report’ (already a 
>problem and questioned by new and experimental forms of documentary)…
>
>cheers Anna
>
>Professor Anna Munster
>UNSW Art and Design.
>Sydney, Australia
>
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[-empyre-] Welcome to Week 1: an overview

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Welcome to Week 1 of our discussion on Fake News in a Global Climate.  Tim 
Murray and I will be hosting this week on -empyre.  We are pleased to welcome 
Lindsay Kelley whose week was featured in this year’s topic in February during 
our discussion on Bio-Art. Anna Munster has been a long-time friend and guest 
on -empyre-.  We are thrilled that they will be joining us for a few days this 
week and then again during Week 4.  Both Anna and Lindsay are collaborating at 
the University of New South Wales to host a day-long event this Friday the 9th 
of June, Fake News  from the Art and Politics Bureau: A One Day Event.  We are 
looking forward to both of them framing their event. 

http://www.niea.unsw.edu.au/events/fake-news-art-and-politics-bureau-one-day-event
 

In the meantime we hope that all of our subscribers will join us in 
conversation. 
Best, 
Renate

Moderator’s Biography:
Renate Ferro’s (US) creative work resides within the areas of emerging 
technology, new media and culture. Her artistic work has been featured at the 
Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), The Freud Museum (London), The 
Dorksy Gallery (NY), The Hemispheric Institute and FOMMA (Mexico), and The 
Janus Pannonius Muzeum (Hungary). Ferro is a Visiting Associate Professor of 
Art at Cornell University.  She has been on the moderating team of -empyre- 
soft-skinned space since 2007 and is currently the managing moderator.
 

Timothy Murray (US) is the Director of the Society for the Humanities at 
Cornell University and a Professor of Comparative Literature and English.  
Additionally he is the  Curator of the Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art. 
He is the Cornell Principal Investigator of the Central Humanities Corridor, 
generously supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and he 
sits on the International Advisory Board of the Consortium of the Humanities 
Centers and Institutes (CHCI) and the Executive Board of the Humanities, Arts, 
Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory (HASTAC). He is Co-Moderator of 
the -empyre- new media listserv and the author of Digital Baroque: New Media 
Art and Cinematic Folds (Minnesota 2008); Zonas de Contacto: el arte en CD-ROM 
(Centro de la imagen, 1999); Drama Trauma: Specters of Race and Sexuality in 
Performance, Video, Art (Routledge, 1997); Like a Film:Ideological Fantasy on 
Screen, Camera, and Canvas (Routledge, 1993); Theatrical Legitimation: 
Allegories of Genius in XVIIth-Century England and France (Oxford, 1987). He is 
editor of Mimesis, Masochism & Mime: The Politics of
Theatricality in Contemporary French Thought (Michigan, 1997) and, with Alan 
Smith, Repossessions: Psychoanalysis and the Phantasms of Early-Modern Culture 
(Minnesota, 1997). His curatorial projects include CTHEORY MULTIMEDIA and 
Contact Zones: The Art of the CD-Rom.

Week 1 Guests: 


Lindsay Kelley (AU) Working in the kitchen, Lindsay Kelley’s art practice and 
scholarship explore how the experience of eating changes when technologies are 
being eaten. Her first book is Bioart Kitchen: Art, Feminism and Technoscience 
(London: IB Tauris, 2016). Bioart Kitchen emerges from her work at the 
University of California Santa Cruz (Ph.D in the History of Consciousness and 
MFA in Digital Art and New Media). Kelley is a Co-Investigator with the KIAS 
funded Research­-Creation and Social Justice CoLABoratory: Arts and the 
Anthropocene (University of Alberta, Canada).


 Anna Munster (AU) has been at UNSW Art and Design since 2001 on a full-time 
tenured basis. She is an active researcher with two sole published books: An 
Aesthesia of Networks (MIT Press, 2013), and  Materializing New Media  
(Dartmouth College Press 2006). Her current research interests are: networked 
experience, media arts and theory, data and radical empiricism, nonhuman and 
perception, new pragmatist approaches to media and art.

Anna regularly collaborates artistically with Michele Barker in the School of 
Media Arts, COFA. Barker and Munster are working on a large-scale multi-channel 
interactive work, HocusPocus, which explores the relations between perception, 
magic and the brain. They have been awarded a New Work Grant, 2010, from the 
Australia Council for the Arts to realise this work. Recent collaborative 
projects include: Duchenne’s smile (2-channel DV installation, 2009), The Love 
Machine II (photomedia installation, 2008–1¬0), Struck (3-channel DV 
installation, 2007).

She is a partner in a large international project, Immediations 
, hosted by Concordia University, 
Montreal and funded by the Social Science and
Humanities Research Council, Canada. She has held two ARC Discovery research 
grants in new media and art: ‘The Body-Machine Interface in New Media Art from 
1984 to the Present, 2003–5’ and ‘Dynamic Media: Innovative social and artistic 
uses of dynamic media in Australia, Britain, Canada and 

Re: [-empyre-] Welcome to June on -empyre: Fake News in a Global Climate

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

Just a quick correction see below: Ana Valdes’ name was inadvertently left off. 
Week 4: June 23: Randall Packer, Ana Valdes, Lindsay Kelley and Anna Munster






On 6/5/17, 10:28 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Renate Terese Ferro" <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
rfe...@cornell.edu> wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
> 
>Welcome to June 2017 on –empyre- soft-skinned space
>Moderated by Renate Ferro (US) and Tim Murray (US)
>Fake News in a Global Climate
>With invited guests:
>Week 1: June 5:  An overview Renate Ferro and Tim Murray, Lindsay Kelley and 
>Anna Munster
>Week 2: June 9:  Mark Marino and Talan Memmott
>Week 3: June 16: Kevin Hamilton and more TBA
>Week 4: June 23: Randall Packer, Ana Munster, Lindsay Kelley and Anna Munster
>
> 
>This month on –empyre- soft-skinned space we will discuss why fake news has 
>intensified globally in 2017.   While we’ve been hearing a lot about fake news 
>coming from Russia, more often the government’s role as a news source has been 
>displaced by lay writing that has spiraled misinformation via the algorithms 
>of social media.
>
>Educators, news outlets, and social media platforms are revisiting their 
>strategies for discerning fact from fiction. Whether through education or 
>algorithm tweaking, the combat of disinformation is almost as prevalent a 
>topic of news as news itself.  We will spend this month dissecting some of the 
>ramifications from the perspective of art and technology. 
>
>On November 9th, 2016, Erin Tucker took a series of photos of buses in 
>downtown Austin, Texas. Thinking that it was odd to see that many busses he 
>did an initial google search to see if perhaps there was a conference in the 
>downtown area.  The empty search prompted him to conflate the fact that 
>anti-Trump protestors in the area must have been bused via the busses that he 
>had photographed.
> 
>
>Tucker tweeted
> “Anti-Trump protestors in Austin Today are not as organic as they seem.  Here 
> are the busses they came in. #fakeprotests #trump2016 #austin
> 
>In the New York Times article “How Fake News Goes Viral: A Case Study,” 
>https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/business/media/how-fake-news-spreads.html?_r=0=email
> 
>reporter Sapna Maheshwari recounts the timeline as to how this one tweet, 
>despite Tucker’s efforts to set the facts straight, were tweeted across social 
>media 5000 times
>(including 3000 Facebook users and Donald Trump’s Twitter feed) with the help 
>of right-wing news outlets.
> 
>
>James Carson of the UK’s Telegraph, wrote a short history of the origins of 
>Trump’s usage of the words FAKE NEWS in March of this year reporting that, in 
>his first news conference after
>his election, Trump pointed to CNN’s Jim Accosta while declaring,  “You are 
>fake news!” 
> 
>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/0/fake-news-origins-grew-2016/
> 
>
>Embellishment or manipulation of the truth for gain has been skillfully 
>realized by government entities for centuries. Carson tracks its usage from 
>Marc Anthony during the final war
>of the Roman Republic to Britain’s use in motivating its citizens against Nazi 
>Germany, to Nazi Germany’s use of mass media and stereotyping against Jewish 
>citizens.  In World War Ii propaganda was a tool targeting popular culture and 
>mass communication.  We invite empyreans to reflect on the particular 
>significance of fake news in the digital era.
>
>
>This month we will look at the notion of fakeness in relationship to news in a 
>global climate through the critical lens of  artists, writers, theorists, and 
>technologists. 
>
>Each week of the month I will be introducing the weeks’ guests and then 
>posting their bios.  Looking forward to the month. 
>
>TO MAKE A POST TO THE SUBSCRIPTION LIST USE: 
>empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au 
>TO ACCESS ARCHIVES USE THIS URL: 
>http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/
>TO ACCESS THE WEBSITE FROM THE CORNELL SERVER TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT EMPYRE GO 
>TO: http://empyre.library.cornell.edu 
>
>Renate
>
>
>Renate Ferro
>Visiting Associate Professor
>Director of Undergraduate Studies
>Department of Art
>Tjaden Hall 306
>rfe...@cornell.edu
>
>
>
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[-empyre-] for June: Fake News in a Global Climate

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Hello all,
A bit later today Tim Murray and I will be introducing our June topic:  Fake 
News in a Global Climate. 
If any of our subscribers are interested in being a weekly guest please let me 
know backchannel.  
We will post the Introduction a bit later today. 
Thanks 

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] Thank you Margaret Rhee

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

From Mark Marino
These machine dreams, not quite nightmares, but haunting impressions.

It is not a raceless, egalitarian utopia.  Nor is it a Platonic ideal on
some frictionless, unblemished grid.

It is broken, glitchy, it is pimpled, it is lossy, it is partial.



A huge thank you to Margaret Rhee for organizing, hosting and moderating the 
May topic Robot Poetics, Ephemera, and Other Concerns. We as an -empyre- 
community were thrilled that Margaret agreed to host a month inspired by her 
book of poetry RADIO HEART; OR, HOW ROBOTS FALL OUT OF LOVE and her zine 
MACHINE DREAMS.  It’s been a rich month with thanks to all of you who 
participated: Sun Yung, Ana, Margaretha, Keith, Saa, Chatter, Sunny, Susan, 
Murat, Sean, Sarah, Mark, Betsey, Tung Hui, Davin, Babak, Christopher, Lynne, 
Ben, Ann, Lawrence, William, Dimitry, Ruth, Neil and especially Margaret 
(hoping I did not forget anyone!).  So many of you were new contributors to 
-empyre- and we hope you will continue to stay involved.  

Last night I caught a bit of television and saw this commercial on TV sponsored 
by Hewlett Packard:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT2eRiAFjrg

The advertisement is one in a series of advertisements featuring the character 
Michael a hybrid robot/employee who symbolizes YES technology a hybrid 
platform. Thanks Margaret and all for providing the critical lens for thinking 
about affect and robotics, dreams and technology, writing and popular culture.  
I pulled out Mark Marino’s post from a post he made on May 27th that catalyzes 
that lens. 

I’d like to remind all of our -empyre subscribers that The Machine Dreams Zine 
is up and running at: https://machinedreamszine.tumblr.com.
The zine is a compilation of creative work and critical theory on the machine, 
arts, and difference. Contributions are largely drawn from the conference, 
Machine Dreams: A Symposium on Arts, Robots, and Difference held at UCLA in 
2015 which was co-organized by Lucy Burns, Neil Aitken, and Margaret Rhee.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Margaret with hopes that she will consider 
again guiding us through her work and interests again soon.  
Renate Ferro




Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Ar
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] May, 2017: Welcome Margaret Rhee__Robot Poetics, Ephemera, and Other Concerns

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
It is with the greatest of pleasure that I introduce new media artist/poet 
Margaret Rhee to the -empyre- listserv.  Margaret has agreed to shepherd the 
May discussion on empyre and I could not be more excited.  Her book, Radio 
Heart or How Robots Fall Out of Love (Finishing Line Press, 2015)” caught my 
eye a few months ago when I noticed my old friend and poet Cecil Giscombe’s 
blurb about Rhee’s RADIO HEART.   Previously, I knew of Margaret’s work both as 
a gifted writer but also an artist engaged in the complications of technology, 
race, gender and the body.  I was thrilled when she agreed to be our guest and 
to organize a group around her interests.  This month our discussion “Robot 
Poetics, Ephemera, and Other Concerns” will bring together writers, artists, 
activists, technologist’s and more. I want to thank Margaret for her creative, 
open, spirit and invite other empyreans to join in.  I hope you enjoy this 
month.
 
Margaret Rhee is a poet, artist, and scholar engaged in the poetics and 
technologies of difference. As a poet, she is the author of chapbooks Yellow 
(Tinfish Press, 2011) Radio Heart; or How Robots Fall Out of Love (Finishing 
Line Press, 2015), and the forthcoming full-length collection, Love, Robot (The 
Operating System, 2017). She is the recipient of poetry fellowships from
the Squaw Valley Poetry Workshop, Les Figues Press, Hedgebrook, and Kundiman. 
Her academic writing has been published in Amerasia, Cinema Journal, and GLQ, 
and she is completing her monograph How We Became Human: Race, Robots and the 
Asian American Body. With Dr. Brittney Cooper, she co-edited a special issue of 
Ada: A Journal of Gender, Technology, and New Media on “Hacking the Black/White 
Binary.” As a new media artist, her project The Kimchi Poetry Machine was 
selected to exhibit at the Electronic Literature Collection Volume 3, and in 
2014, she was awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Public Service for her 
collaborative and social practice feminist HIV/AIDS digital storytelling 
project in the San Francisco Jail(www.ourstorysf.wordpress.com).

 Currently, she is a visiting assistant professor in the Women’s and Gender 
Studies department at the University of Oregon. In 2014, she earned her Ph.D. 
in ethnic and new
media studies from the University of California, Berkeley.  

Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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Re: [-empyre-] WH vs sanctuary cities

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks Frédéric for writing in. Wars: military, social, psychological, wars 
between families, technological war.
will you moderate ? Tomorrow I am teaching my students a bit about Augmented 
Reality.  What about a war in virtual space?
Best to you, Renate


Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 27, 2017, at 11:02 PM, Frederic Neyrat 
> wrote:

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Concerning the occupation - "many of us feel that this is no longer "our" 
country or "our" government, but a kind of occupation or doubling/doppelgange"r 
- let's think about The Man in the High Castle (the TV show at least, for I did 
not read PKD's book).

So, on the one side, the High Castle = the WH; on the other side, Sanctuary 
Cities that the WH tries to turn into Obituary Cities.

I don't know what will be the result of this war. But it's a kind of war, 
right? Maybe Empyre forum could devote a month to that topic: Wars.

My best,

Frédéric

2017-03-27 20:48 GMT-05:00 Alan Sondheim 
>:
--empyre- soft-skinned space--

Sanctuary Cities (apologies if I'm just repeating the obvious)

This may be of interest only to US residents, for which apologies.
It does give some indication of the brutality of a regime which
pays little attention to protest. The result for refugee and
immigrant communities - even for families legally in the country -
has been devastating.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/27/politics/jeff-sessions-trump-sanctuary-cities/
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/25/politics/sanctuary-cities-explained/

(Sending it out because we're in a sanctuary city and state; both are poor, 
and, being pessimistic, I'm waiting for the resulting havoc. What's so strange, 
uncanny, for so many of us, is the speed with which the tenor of the US has 
changed; we've gone from more traditional protests (against police brutality, 
military engagement, women's rights, BLM) to protests based on a different 
atmosphere - that of overt racist acts, and potential or real federal attacks 
on the poor, Blacks, Latinos, the environment etc. - attacks from the very 
institutions that are "supposed" to protect us. So in a very real sense, many 
of us feel that this is no longer "our" country or "our" government, but a kind 
of occupation or doubling/doppelganger, and that's hard to come to grips with. 
I'm speaking of course from two positions - that of being white, middle-class, 
and "educated," and that of being Jewish and "senior," and witnessing, for the 
first time in years, acts of anti-semitism on the increase, even in Rhode 
Island (I won't even describe the destructive ageism I'm dealing with). So I'm 
privileged on the whole, not having to deal with what a friend here calls 
micro- aggressions against minorities - micro-aggressions that occur 
constantly, that have only increased as well. On a plane of 
sociality/communality, the US is a foreign country for many of us, located 
nowhere, going nowhere but towards a brutal and militarist future, at least for 
the time-being.)


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[-empyre-] Welcome to Alan Sondheim

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear -empyreans, 

It is with great pleasure I introduce our moderator for this open month of 
empyre Alan Sondheim.  Alan is a new media artist, theorist, musician, writer, 
and performer concerned with issues of violence, virtuality, and the stake that 
the real world has in the virtual. His most recent cd, with Azure Carter and 
Luke Damrosch, is LIMIT, based in the inconceivability of time reversal. His 3d 
printed distorted avatars are currently in a show in Spain; his writing, videos 
and soundwork are available widely. He has co-moderated -empyre- (with Sandy 
Baldwin and Johannes Berringer) on topics of Pain, Suffering, and Death in the 
Virtual; and Absolute Terror, ISIS, and Performance.

The election of the Donald Trump has sent shockwaves across the arts, media, 
and cultural global landscape not to mention the political one. Many of us who 
live in upstate New York and beyond have spent many hours organizing, attending 
political rally’s and marches, writing and calling our representatives.  In two 
days, March 8th, International Women’s Day, many women will act together for 
equity, justice and the human rights of women and all gender-oppressed people, 
through a one-day demonstration of economic solidarity. In solidarity women 
artists at Cornell are hosting an exhibition of work donating the proceeds to 
Planned Parenthood and the Women’s Advocacy Center.  Amidst the gut wrenching 
news that we tune into daily, good things are happening and will continue to do 
so despite the circumstances.

Looking forward to what each of you have to say both near and far. 
Warmly,  Renate  

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu








On 3/6/17, 9:22 PM, "Renate Terese Ferro" <rfe...@cornell.edu> wrote:

>Welcome to March  2017 on –empyre soft-skinned space
>Moderated by Alan Sondheim (US) and Renate Ferro (US) 
>
>Open Call to our subscribers. 
>The Global Trump Effect: Culture, Arts,Humanities and More at Risk
>Week 1: March 6
>Week 2: March 13
>Week 3: March 27
>Week 4: March 27
>
>On January 20th the presidential candidate Donald Trump became the 45th 
>President of the United States.  In over a month Trump has revised policies 
>that have affected global politics, the
>environment, health, security and so much more. During the month of February 
>we will take time talk about the rippling global effects that these policies 
>have had on global culture, arts, humanities
>and so much more. In lieu of any invited guests we open this month up to all 
>–empyre- subscribers and encourage them to post freely.
>
>Biographies are listed below.
>TO MAKE A POST TO THE SUBSCRIPTION LIST: 
>soft_skinned_space <empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
>TO ACCESS ARCHIVES: 
>http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/  
>TO ACCESS THE WEBSITE FROM THE CORNELL SERVER TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT –EMPYRE-:
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>
>Moderator’s Biography:
>Alan Sondheim (US) is a new media artist, theorist, musician, writer, and 
>performer concerned with issues of violence, virtuality, and the stake that 
>the real world has in the virtual. His most recent cd, with Azure Carter and 
>Luke Damrosch, is LIMIT, based in the inconceivability of time reversal. His 
>3d printed distorted avatars are currently in a show in Spain; his writing, 
>videos and soundwork are available widely. He has co-moderated -empyre- (with 
>Sandy Baldwin and Johannes Berringer) on topics of Pain, Suffering, and Death 
>in the Virtual; and Absolute Terror, ISIS, and Performance.
>
>Renate Ferro’s (US) creative work resides within the areas of emerging 
>technology, new media and culture. Her artistic work has been featured at the 
>Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), The Freud Museum (London), The 
>Dorksy Gallery (NY), The Hemispheric Institute and FOMMA (Mexico), and The 
>Janus Pannonius Muzeum (Hungary). Ferro is a Visiting Associate Professor of 
>Art at Cornell University.  She has been on the moderating team of -empyre- 
>soft-skinned space since 2007 and is currently the managing moderator.
>
>
>
>
>
>Renate Ferro
>Visiting Associate Professor
>Director of Undergraduate Studies
>Department of Art
>Tjaden Hall 306
>rfe...@cornell.edu
>
>
>
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[-empyre-] The Global Trump Effect: Culture, Arts, Humanities and More at Risk Week 1: March 6

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Welcome to March  2017 on –empyre soft-skinned space
Moderated by Alan Sondheim (US) and Renate Ferro (US) 

Open Call to our subscribers. 
The Global Trump Effect: Culture, Arts,Humanities and More at Risk
Week 1: March 6
Week 2: March 13
Week 3: March 27
Week 4: March 27

On January 20th the presidential candidate Donald Trump became the 45th 
President of the United States.  In over a month Trump has revised policies 
that have affected global politics, the
environment, health, security and so much more. During the month of February we 
will take time talk about the rippling global effects that these policies have 
had on global culture, arts, humanities
and so much more. In lieu of any invited guests we open this month up to all 
–empyre- subscribers and encourage them to post freely.

Biographies are listed below.
TO MAKE A POST TO THE SUBSCRIPTION LIST: 
soft_skinned_space 

Moderator’s Biography:
Alan Sondheim (US) is a new media artist, theorist, musician, writer, and 
performer concerned with issues of violence, virtuality, and the stake that the 
real world has in the virtual. His most recent cd, with Azure Carter and Luke 
Damrosch, is LIMIT, based in the inconceivability of time reversal. His 3d 
printed distorted avatars are currently in a show in Spain; his writing, videos 
and soundwork are available widely. He has co-moderated -empyre- (with Sandy 
Baldwin and Johannes Berringer) on topics of Pain, Suffering, and Death in the 
Virtual; and Absolute Terror, ISIS, and Performance.

Renate Ferro’s (US) creative work resides within the areas of emerging 
technology, new media and culture. Her artistic work has been featured at the 
Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), The Freud Museum (London), The 
Dorksy Gallery (NY), The Hemispheric Institute and FOMMA (Mexico), and The 
Janus Pannonius Muzeum (Hungary). Ferro is a Visiting Associate Professor of 
Art at Cornell University.  She has been on the moderating team of -empyre- 
soft-skinned space since 2007 and is currently the managing moderator.





Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] ONWARD!

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
 Quoting Margherita and Kathy
“What are the implications of such radical Otherness at an ethical, political, 
and aesthetic level?² Questions that remain unanswered but to be pursued for 
sure…

What a great way to end.

This month has been incredibly interesting for me and many of our subscribers 
to get to learn more about all of your research, interests, and projects.  I am 
looking forward to seeing more of them and you  in real space.  

How can I thank all of you for your generosity in talking about the logistics, 
the conceptual underpinnings, and the political ramification of all that you do 
between Biology And Art.  

Best to all of you until we meet again. 
Warmly,  Renate




Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] Fourth Industrial Revolution and DIY

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

Welcome to -empyre- Soyo. 
Wonderful to hear you were one of Kathy’s students at nearby Troy, NY. Your 
account of moving to Seoul and setting up a DIY lab in your kitchen in the 
middle of Seoul is an absolutely incredible story.  I can imaging now your 
kitchen with the kimchee refrigerator filled with biological tissue.  What a 
wonderful description you have written of the working space and environment you 
have provided for us.  I know many of my own students return to Seoul and feel 
the pressure to go into design oriented fields.  You seem to have resisted that 
trend and I’m wondering if the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” initiative by the 
government has helped to nurture niche. DIY interventions into art and 
technology?  Is there an entepreneurial spirit within this DIY community or is 
it more of a resistance.  I am hoping to travel to Korea again soon and I hope 
that I can visit you and so many others that are doing this kind of work.  
Hoping that is is within the year or so. 

Hope you will post more within the next few days not only about your work but 
about the new publication.  Thank you.  Renate

 I collaborate with other makers and independent researchers from all fields of 
art-science-technology rather than just ‘bio’ people, because our number is so 
small and we need solidarity. At the start of this year, I started an 
independent press + artist-run-space called Lifeforms in Culture to publish and 
exhibit artist research projects. The type of techniques I can perform in this 
setting is rather low tech and primitive at the moment, but I also feel the 
information and resources I can access and share as a regular citizen is 
expanding as I work…We are seeing more citizen-run maker labs and open labs 
each year, and institutional scientists or professional engineers are sharing 
protocols and materials through online and offline platfoms. Just last month, 
young bio-medicine students and researchers in Seoul held a meeting called the 
“Mad Scientist Festival”. It was a self-organized Pecha Kucha night in which 
anyone interested in the biological sciences do a 2-minute presentation about 
their work. The event brought together about 150 participants talking about 
their research as well as various issues they encounter within academia. I hope 
this ‘movement’ will continue to expand upon an independent spirit, but funding 
is always the biggest issue as a lot of our work rely on government grants.








Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] Conceptual medium, visceral materiality, aesthetic formality

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear Margherita, Soyo, Antoinette and Tarsh,  What amazing posts you have made. 
My mission is to address each and every one of you  during this last week on 
empyre I am hoping as we tease out a few more issues that might be percolating 
between your practices  As we work through those issues I am so looking forward 
to your posting links and articles about your work. Our listserv is archived 
and it is important for us to include as much information about each of you as 
possible.  

 I am curious Marguerita if you could clarify  my reading of your post that 
understands that microbial cellulose is a conceptual medium where memory Is 
mapped?  So does that mean that this is a participatory work and how are you 
archiving? The method of archiving then must be connected to the helix of the 
DNA?  I may be way off base here but this appears so poetic.  The poetics of 
memory and the poetics of DNA seem like potentially interesting pairings. And 
what about the notion of aesthetics?

Tarsh I am such a huge fan of your work on Candida albicans.  You wowed me with 
your work at the Hong Kong ISEA this past summer.  What also interests me is 
how seemlessly you move from the material to the theoretical/philosophical with 
such ease. By weaving bodily ecologies as the self/other as double is it 
possible to replicate further? Hope you will unpack this a bit for our 
subscribers. 

Thanks to Paul and Erin for extending our conversation on aesthetics.  The 
tension between conceptual underpinnings, visceral qualities of the material 
and the aesthetic formalities of vision seem to create tensions  that open 
interesting gaps for critique.  Curious how you all feel.  

To the rest of you more soon I promise.  I just got home after a long day and 
am hoping to write more a bit later but I hope this spurns some conversation 
between the four or five or six of you!  Looking forward to our extended 
conversation. 
Renate




Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] Knots and nest

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks William I will follow through with the word search and may contact our 
local Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  Thanks for the link to the article as well. 
Renate

William Bain wrote: 
Thank *you* for sharing. On Nietzsche: I 
seem to have mixed apples and oranges:What I meant was that Nietzsche 
relatesthe devlopment of ancient Greek tragedyto earlier lyric poetry. In *The 
Birth of Tragedy*As lyrics often deal with life, death, nature,bio-art seems 
referenced... On bird nesting and language: Some biolinguists haveexplord 
relationships between the knotssome birds tie to create nests and the 
development of human language. If you playaround on a search engine with terms 
likeevo devo knots in bird nests *or* 
biolinguistics bird nesting language development you should get back a numberof 
interesting hits. The main one I'm familiarwith is *Pere Alberch's 
DevelopmentalMorphospaces and the Evolution of 
Cognition* an article by Sergi Balari andGuillermo Lorenzo. This is 
atThe
 Stiglitz is at the link below. He has severalarticles in *The Guardian* which 
can be foundby searching there. If the links don't ome through,please let me 
know. Thanks again for sharing, 
William (stiglitz link 
>>
-- next part --
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: 


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] Week 3: Thanks to Kathy and Lindsay and Welcome Soyu, Paul and Yiyun

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
I have been trying to sort through some glitches in our system but am going to 
plod on in hopes you are getting our posts.  Just a reminder that you can check 
on what has been posted by going to our main archived space here 

http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/


I want to take this opportunity to thank Kathy High and Lindsay Kelley for 
helping me through Week 2 while I was traveling to NYC.  The discussion was a 
great beginning into the nuances of doing interdisciplinary work that is so 
meshed and intertwined with politics, the environment, health, and so much 
more.  I appreciated Kathy’s early post last week when she wrote:


I am very aware that my role as an artist, feminist, educator, queer person, 
and provocateur is essential more so now than even before! As so-called 
bio-arists (and I say that because the term “bio-art” is such a terrible “catch 
all” term that needs to be examined as it needs to serve for “eco-artists”, 
"genetic-artists” “transgenetic artists" "synthetic biology
artists” and so on, all terms needing to be unpacked), ― and generally we, as 
bioartists, work with living materials and we make decisions about the ethics 
that we apply to these materials. 



My hope is that we can use the base that both Kathy and Lindsay provided for us 
to deconstruct the layers within “Bio Art” that manifest themselves today 
BETWEEN BIOLOGY AND ART. For me its the between maybe that holds the key to our 
examination?  Not sure but would love to hear from more of you. 

Welcome Soyo Lee, Paul Vanouse and Yiyun Chen.  It is with great pleasure that 
we welcome you to our -empyre- space and hope that you will post.  Realizing 
that Soyo and Yiyun are sleeping right now (they in Australia and Singapore) we 
will wish them sweet dreams and look forward to their contributions a bit 
later.  Paul I know is awake and probably in his Coalesce Lab right now or 
teaching at U. of Buffalo but hopefully he will have time to write in when he 
gets a chance. 

And to you lurkers….hope you will be inspired to write even short posts.  This 
is a conversation and without you in this space I feel lonely sometimes 
thinking that there is absolutely no one out there. So if you are reading this 
please be inspired to write.  I will refer to the question that t Tim Murray 
and I wrote last month.  Is the listserv -empyre no longer relevant if our 
subscribers do not participate.  Something to think about for sure.

Biographies are below.  Looking forward. 
Warmly,  Renate

Soyo Lee(KR) is an artist who is interested in changing social and ethical 
conceptions about various living organisms in human culture. Her recent project 
Ornamental Cactus Design, looking at the cultural history of a popular 
horticultural product, was presented at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary 
Art(Seoul), Museum of Contemporary Art(Sydney), ISEA(Albuqerque), and 
SLSA(Perth). She holds a Ph.D in Electronic Art at Rensselaer Polytechnic 
Institute, Troy, NY, and runs an independent art space and publisher Lifeforms 
in Culture in Seoul, Korea.

Paul Vanouse has been working in emerging media forms since 1990. 
Interdisciplinarity and impassioned amateurism guide his art practice. His 
electronic cinema, biological experiments, and interactive installations have 
been exhibited in over 20 countries and widely across the US. Vanouse is a 
Professor of Visual Studies at the University at Buffalo, NY.
 

Yiyun Chen is an artist currently based in Shanghai. She graduated from MA 
Design Interactions at Royal College of Art in London, and obtained a diploma 
of Traditional Chinese Medicine at
Shanghai University of TCM. Drawing and film are main mediums of her narrative 
works, which often based on fictional scenarios, aiming to provide alternative 
prospectives by raising dilemmatic questions through proposing critical 
concepts. She currently interests in the realms where art, psychology and 
medicine connect, and her work now mainly concerned with the human body under
the topic of disease and wellness as an ideology. Her work ‘Sick Better’ is 
nominated by The Helen Hamlyn Design Awards and currently exhibiting in 
London.Yiyun just finished her bioart residency in SymbioticA, Perth, Australia.





Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] for William

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks for this post William.  I am wondering if you might not give me the 
citation for the Nietzsche quote about the birds and nests. I am doing research 
on a project “Eye Spy a Storm” in Augmented Reality and the citation is just 
what I’m looking for.  I would not mind the Stiglitz as well.  Thanks for 
sharing.  Renate

One of the first things to hit me when Istarted thinking about the topic was 
the relationship perceivable in theearliest lyric poetry between life and art. 
Nietzsche nd others derived the artof tragedy from it. Updating a bit I began 
to think about the (little) I’veread on biolinguistics and the proposed 
relationship biolinguists find betweenknotting procedures used by birds in 
creating nests and what we could considerknitting procedures used by humans in 
creating tools. Today’s *Guardian* (theBritish paper) carries an article by 
Joseph Stiglitz that expresses hope thatthe deep sociological stages of 
globalism will be met and worked through bypeople in a variety of disciplines. 
No easy task... An economy of mind perhaps. Thanks for yourideas! Best 
wishes, William



Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] test

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Just testing our server and system.  sorry

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] Welcome to Week 2: Kathy High and Lindsay Kelley

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear empyreans, 
Thanks to Byron for starting the first few days off.  I am hoping he will stay 
on at least for a couple of more days to make the transition toWeek  2 but I 
want to thank him now for being such a sport. 
I am so happy to introduce artists Kathy High from nearby Troy, New York and 
Lindsay Kelley from Australia.  We look forward to hearing about their own 
respective practices and also continuing our discussion on humor, irony and 
public reception. Looking forward to it.  Just a note to apologize to you all 
for being a bit behind.  I am on my way to the College Art Association in New 
York whetr this coming Friday, the 17th I will host a round table discussion on 
Bioart.  More information about that in a day or so.  Hope to see some of you 
in New York! 

Welcome Kathy High and Lindsay Kelley. 
Renate

Biographies: 

Kathy High (US) is an interdisciplinary artist, educator working with 
technology, art and biology. She considers living systems, empathy, animal 
sentience, and the social, political and ethical dilemmas of biotechnology and 
surrounding industries. She has received awards including Guggenheim Memorial 
Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and National Endowment for the Arts. Her 
art works have been shown at documenta 13 (Germany), Guggenheim Museum, Museum 
of Modern Art, Lincoln Center and Exit Art (NYC), UCLA (Los Angeles), Science 
Gallery, (Dublin), NGBK, (Berlin), Fesitval Transitio_MX (Mexico), MASS MoCA 
(North Adams), Para-site (Hong Kong). High is Professor in the Arts, at 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.

Lindsay Kelley (AU) Workingin the kitchen, Lindsay Kelley's art practice and 
scholarship explore how theexperience of eating changes when technologies are 
being eaten. Her first book
is Bioart Kitchen: Art, Feminism and Technoscience (London: IB Tauris, 2016). 
Bioart Kitchen emerges from her work at the University of California Santa Cruz 
(Ph.D in the History of Consciousness and MFA in Digital Art and New Media). 
Kelley is an International Research Fellow at the Center for Fine Art Research, 
Birmingham City University as well as a
Co-Investigator with the KIAS funded Research­-Creation and Social Justice 
CoLABoratory: Arts and the Anthropocene (University of Alberta, Canada).



Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] Humor/Irony

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--

Dear Byron and all, 
We are thrilled to have you be part of our February discussion “Between Biology 
and Art.”  As I said in my post earlier there is a critical space that I see 
between any kind of cross-disciplinary venture.  Your robotic intervention 
between ecology, technology, and mapping is great example of this. 

I have observed that within such  critical spaces there are many artists who 
work with irony and humor to magnify the critical issues that the artist is so 
intent on highlighting.  At least for now I’d love to hear more about how you 
manipulate humor or irony further and if you think there is a limit or what the 
boundaries are for you?  

Also what about your audience?  Do you think that ordinary audiences realize 
and understand the nuances between the serious underlying intent of your robots 
yet their ironic missions to transport the ragweed back to North America.  
Maybe I am simplifying the role that the audience may play but I’m wondering 
how you have conceived of their role. 

Really looking forward to hearing more about GARRy’s missions.  Thanks Byron 
for being such a sport to start this out over the next couple of days. 
Cheers to all.  Renate





On 2/11/17, 12:31 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Byron Rich" <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
br...@allegheny.edu> wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
>Greetings everyone. I’m pretty happy to be a part of the conversation.
>
>I’ll start with a bit about what I do. 
>
>I’m really most into designing absurd solutions to ecological and social 
>problems. I like pushing back against the idea of “techno-solutionism” as I 
>find it has a weird relationship to Libertarianism as it’s practiced in 
>Silicon Valley. I worry about the insertion of non-holistic approaches into 
>culture without careful consideration of the context and consequences of them.
>
>For instance, when in Germany for a residency two summers ago I was working 
>quite a bit with invasive species, specifically Ragweed. Ragweed runs rampant 
>throughout Germany and was particularly bad in the area of Leipzig where I was 
>living. Every effort at mitigating the ragweed was failing, so I developed a 
>terrible robot to help. What I was sort of struck by was the irony of the 
>panic over this North American species in a way colonizing Europe. What I did 
>was create a robot that could access weather data and Google Maps to plot a 
>course to the port in Rotterdam where theoretically the robot could board a 
>ship and carry a couple ragweed plants back to North America. Of course on the 
>way it would inevitably spread ragweed only making the problem worse. 
>Additionally, the robot could only travel 1 km on a full charge, then would 
>have to wait as a small solar cell tried to recharge the battery pack. 
>
>Needless to say, GARRy (GPS Assisted Ragweed Robot) didn’t really work as a 
>solution. It did however function exactly as designed in that it could 
>autonomously plot a course and navigate to it’s intended destination. I’m now 
>using the same technology to develop nomadic ecosystems that travel on 
>dirigibles. Aesthetically they are loosely based on La Minerve, a 19th century 
>vision of the future of air travel. I love the idea of extending the 
>capabilities of non-human actors as a kind of reaction to climate change. I 
>can talk more about this project later.
>
>Currently I am artist-in-residence at The University at Buffalo’s Coalesce lab 
>where I am working on developing a transgenic bioluminescent yeast biosensor 
>for the detection of estrogen and estrogen mimickers in water samples. There 
>are some problems with the complexity of the transformation in that there are 
>two plasmids in play, one for reporting and one for detecting. It’s still a 
>bit beyond me, but should be doable. 
>
>Perhaps that is enough of a first post? Please forgive any grammatical or 
>spelling errors as I’m on my phone. 
>
>Thanks for reading!
>
>
>> On Feb 10, 2017, at 8:14 PM, Renate Terese Ferro <rfe...@cornell.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> --empyre- soft-skinned space--
>> We will begin our Introductory posts for the topic Between Biology and Art 
>> this weekend joined by Byron Rich.  Byron and I will be setting the 
>> foundation for our discussion over the next three and a half weeks. These 
>> generative iterations create grounds of tension for creative and critical 
>> engagement within the fields of biological and artistic research and 
>> production.
>> Historically we all recall the case of Steve Kurtz, SUNY Buffalo and 
>> Critical Arts Ensemble member who in May of 2004 was accu

[-empyre-] Biology, Art and Life to begin: a nod to Beatriz

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
It was in February, 2013 
http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/2013-February/date.html 
that -empyre hosted a topic related to biology, art and life.  During that 
month we dedicated a month long tribute to the life and work of bio-artist, 
Beatriz DaCosta who had passed away a mere month before. Shani’s life partner, 
Robert DiNeffer, wrote this introductory post,  

“It somehow feels appropriate to begin at the end, and start by reflecting upon 
her final body of work, which encompassed a series of projects she’d  entitled 
"The Cost of Life." I'll focus, for the
moment at least, upon “Dying for the 
Other,” her last completed 
project (though she had many others in various stages of
development, some of which may also make sense to discuss). She was always good 
at titles. Her work, even though she used herself and her disease as
subject matter, was never just about her, or her illness. That, for Shani, made 
all the difference. She created a complicated, nuanced, and at times 
uncomfortable space for reflection, which could function as a catalyst for 
change, A more politically committed and socially engaged artist you’d be hard 
pressed to find.”


It is appropriate right now for me and us I think to reflect on Robert’s post 
because through Beatriz we remember how the intersections between Biology and 
Art can be a personal, public, political, and social catalysts for change where 
the boundaries of truth and the imagination become dynamically complex. 

(Incidently, I am also reminded that I had been introduced to an incredible 
group of bio-artists including Beatriz in San Jose ISEA2006.  
http://isea-archives.org/sample-page/isea2006/
Paul Vanouse another guest for this month was also on that panel. )

So a nod to the past at the beginning in order to remember where we have come 
from and where we are headed into the future.  
Best to all of you.  Renate

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] Introduction: Between Biology and Art Welcome Byron Rich

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
We will begin our Introductory posts for the topic Between Biology and Art this 
weekend joined by Byron Rich.  Byron and I will be setting the foundation for 
our discussion over the next three and a half weeks. These generative 
iterations create grounds of tension for creative and critical engagement 
within the fields of biological and artistic research and production.
Historically we all recall the case of Steve Kurtz, SUNY Buffalo and Critical 
Arts Ensemble member who in May of 2004 was accused of bio-terrorism because 
Homeland Security agents mistook his biologically based performance inspired by 
the global GMO contaminated food system.

This is not the first time we have hosted bio science artists into our 
–empyre-soft skinned space. In February 2013 we hosted a memorial discussion in 
honor of artist Beatriz DaCosta. Beatriz was a leading voice in socially 
activist artistic work in the areas of biology, engineering, and technology.

I was inspired to host this topic this month because at this past summer’s ISEA 
conference in Hong Kong I noted so many young artists who were doing research.
Inspired by all of them empyre invites new media artists, researchers, 
historians and others to join us to investigate current topics such as germs,
fermenting, probiotics, skin, ecologies and many more intersections between 
biology, technology, and new media practices.

Hope these comments will inspire some of our subscribers to write in. And I am 
thrilled that Byron has so valiantly agreed to start things out with me.  Here 
is his biography: 

Byron Rich (CA) is an artist, professor and lecturer born in Calgary, Alberta, 
Canada. His work exploring speculative design, biology futures and tactical 
media has been widely shown and spoken about internationally. He pursued a 
degree in New-Media at The University of Calgary before finding himself in 
Buffalo, New York where he obtained an MFA in Emerging Practices at The 
University at Buffalo. He now teaches Electronic Art & Intermedia at Allegheny 
College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. 


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] Welcome to our new -empyre topic: Between Biology and Art

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Welcome to February 2017 on –empyre soft-skinned space
Between Biology and Art

 
Moderated by
Renate Ferro (US) with invited discussants 
 
 
Introduction:  Byron Rich (US)
 
Week 2: February 13 Lindsay Kelley (AU), Kathy High (US)
 
Week 3: February 20 Soyu Lee (KR  ) Paul Vanouse (US)
 
Week 4:  February 27 Tarsh Bates (AU), Antoinette LaFarge (US), and Margherita 
Pevere

 
Within the hybrid interventions of BIOART, the tools of the citizen artist and 
new media technologies converge. This month –empyre- subscribers and guests 
will inhabit the territories
between biology and art. Between the boundaries of truth and the imagination 
the cross-disciplinary discipline relates to such conceptual issues as 
politics, race, feminism, ethics, and scientific methodology, among others.  
Networked technology, social media, new media practices, participatory 
practices, performance, sound, video and a host of other new media and 
networked practices
have been at the center of communicating this research.

 
A side note: A few of our guests will converge in real space as part of the 
College Art Association’s New Media Caucus Round Table.  The title of the round 
table, Between Biology
and Art, will convene on February 17th from 3:30 to 5:00 pm in at the New York 
Hilton Hotel, 2nd Floor in the Gibson Suite.  If you are a part of the College 
Art Association hope you will drop by but in the meantime for the entire month 
of February we will include an international group of artists whose research 
resides in this cross-disciplinary

Biographies are listed below.
 
 TO MAKE A POST TO THE SUBSCRIPTION LIST: 
empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au 

 
 TO ACCESS ARCHIVES: 
http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/  
 
TO ACCESSTHE WEBSITE FROM THE CORNELL SERVER TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT –EMPYRE-:
http://empyre.library.cornell.edu 
 

I will introduce our guests weekly.  Looking forward to this discussion.  
Renate Ferro

Moderator’s Biography:
Renate Ferro’s (US) creative work resides within the areas of emerging 
technology, new media and culture. Her artistic work has been featured at the 
Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), The Freud Museum (London), The 
Dorksy Gallery (NY), The Hemispheric Institute and FOMMA (Mexico), and The 
Janus Pannonius Muzeum (Hungary). Ferro is a Visiting Associate Professor of 
Art at Cornell University.  She has been on the moderating team of -empyre- 
soft-skinned space since 2007 and is currently the managing moderator.



Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] all call: would you like to be a guest moderator in 2017?

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Hi all, 
We are hoping you have had a wonderful holiday and New Year.  -empyre- 
soft-skinned space has been a vibrant listserv founded by Melinda Rackham in 
2002.  -empyre-  has traced the history and theory of emerging topics in 
networked culture practices.  While this month we celebrate -empyre’s fifteenth 
year, it was ten years ago in 2007 that Tim Murray and I came on the moderating 
team to help steer the energies of -empyre-.  

In 2017 we send this all call and invitation to all of -empyre-’s 1,987 members 
to consider guest moderating one of the upcoming months of 2017. Just send an 
email to Renate at her Cornell email address below  with your idea for the 
topic, your bio and what month or two would be good for you to moderate.  We 
can help you with writing your Introductory posts, rounding out guest list 
should you need more participants, and how to negotiate the monthly duties of 
being a moderator.  All of the chosen topics will be archived on our official 
archive site

http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/2016-November/date.html

Best to all of you. 


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu



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[-empyre-] Thank you Murat

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Thanks Murat for agreeing to organize and moderate this past month @empyre 
soft-skinned space.  It was wonderful to hear new voices as well as a few of 
our familiar subscribers over the past month.  Just a reminder to all that the 
entire transcript for this past months discussion can be accessed at our 
permanent archive site 
http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/2016-November/date.html

Best Wishes to all of you and thank you again from Tim and myself. 
Renate Ferro and Tim Murray

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu








On 12/2/16, 5:26 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Murat Nemet-Nejat"  wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
___
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http://empyre.library.cornell.edu

Re: [-empyre-] net art and finance

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Anna in 2015 at the College Art Association there were two Media Lounge Panels 
on Economics/ Finance.  The panels, 
Identity, Configurations of Outsiders in Economic Order and Explorations of 
Alternative Economies brought together as I remember a large number of artists 
working with new media and economics and finance.  Not all of the pieces were 
net based but as I recall many of them had net components. I particularly 
remember a few from the second panel but the link here will catalog all of the 
artists that participated.  
 
http://www.newmediacaucus.org/events/2015-caa-new-york-events/


I’ve been enjoying lurking in on everyones conversation and promise to post 
something soon in relation to my own netting….
Renate


On 9/14/16, 6:22 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Anna Munster"  wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
>I see I have no takers on naming a contemporary net.art/finance project! I am 
>wondering if this is because the engagement by artists with new forms of 
>networked finance is really only starting to kick off…or is it?
>
>Has anyone on this list done any artworks involving blockchain or any alt coin 
>forms? I’d be interested to hear what everyone is doing before I suggest a 
>couple of interesting works in this area?
>cheers
>Anna
>
>Anna Munster
>Associate Professor,
>Faculty of Art and Design
>UNSW
>P.O Box 259
>Paddington
>NSW 2021
>Australia
>a.muns...@unsw.edu.au
>http://sensesofperception.info
>Anna Munster
>Associate Professor,
>Faculty of Art and Design
>UNSW
>P.O Box 259
>Paddington
>NSW 2021
>Australia
>a.muns...@unsw.edu.au
>http://sensesofperception.info 
>
>
>___
>empyre forum
>empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
>http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
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[-empyre-] LAST WEEK: OPEN CALL TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS: What’s on your bookshelf?

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Last week of June.  Hope more of our subscribers will take the time to post a 
few of the books of their summer reading lists.  I am reposting the call below. 
THANKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE POSTED THUS FAR!  Renate




On 6/8/16, 12:26 PM, "empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
Renate Terese Ferro" <empyre-boun...@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on behalf of 
rfe...@cornell.edu> wrote:

>--empyre- soft-skinned space--
>Welcome to June, 2016 on –empyre- soft-skinned space June 7th to June 30th,
>An an all-call for our -empyre- subscribers: What’s on your bookshelf?
>
>Whether you are heading into the slower pace of summer or are gearing up for a 
>winter semester on the other side of the world, we thought it might be 
>interesting to have an open call on –empyre-- soft-skinned space to ask each 
>of our subscribers to respond to this question: What’s on your bookshelf?
>
>A few days before the end of May our regularly scheduled moderator wrote to 
>say that it was going to be impossible for her to host this month’s 
>discussion. That happens on our listserv every once in a
>while and when it does the moderators scramble to find something current to 
>fill in for the month’s discussion. Thanks to Soraya Murray and Derek Murray 
>for suggesting the perfect solution: an open call to ask all of you to share 
>the titles of books that are you have been wanting to read. Similar to what 
>Art Journal is doing in their “OPEN BOOKSHELF project,” this month we ask our 
>subscribers to
>gather their favorite titles together. List the grouping and bibliographic 
>information to share but also tell us a why they are your top picks. Are they 
>inspiring a new research project, or a new project? Or perhaps the title is 
>just something you want to read for pleasure. Make sure to change the subject 
>line in your post to read BOOKSHELF: YOUR NAME.
>
>Let’s share our lists on the –empyre- list serv and for those of you on 
>FACEBOOK add a photographic post of your assemblage.
>https://www.facebook.com/groups/empyrelistserv/
>
>Just this morning I happened to have a phone meeting with a colleague that is 
>in residence at McDowell. We had to schedule the meeting for promptly at nine 
>because he explained that there was no Wi-Fi or phone service except in the 
>main building’s library. Every morning after his early breakfast at the 
>residency he heads to the library to spend his early hours of the day reading. 
>What an inspiring luxury and one that I think I might appropriate for summer 
>myself. Happy reading everyone.
>Renate Ferro
>
>TO MAKE A POST TO THE SUBSCRIPTION LIST USE:
><empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au>
>TO ACCESS ARCHIVES USE THIS URL:
>http://lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/
>TO ACCESS THE WEBSITE FROM THE CORNELL SERVER TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT EMPYRE GO 
>TO:
>http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
>
>
>Renate Ferro
>Visiting Associate Professor
>College of Architecture, Art and Planning
>Department of Art
>Tjaden Hall 306
>rfe...@cornell.edu
>
>
>
>
>___
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>empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
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[-empyre-] Bookshelf: READ ME

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Dear Susan and Ana, 

Susan thanks for reminding me about Lucy Lippard’s book Wildride.  I want to 
grab a copy soon and read it again.  And Ana 7000 titles and a cat is quite 
something.  Tim and I have never counted our joint collection of books but I 
can say that OWNERSHIP as to who owns what is sometimes an issue. Thanks for 
pointing us to Guy DeBord’s biography.  Looks interesting for sure.  

You have the entire month of June to share titles of what you want to read but 
also what you have read that is worth sharing.  Hope you will also share who 
you are at the bottom of your post. 
Looking forward to more. 
Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
College of Architecture, Art and Planning
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306





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[-empyre-] BOOKSHELF: Renate Ferro

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Bookshelf:  Renate Ferro

 
Summer for me in upstate New York is all about catching up with everything two 
semesters of teaching has side-tracked me from.  While Tim and I try to spend 
some down time on Lake Cayuga, in my studio I am in the midst of two new studio 
projects.  Gathering together a grouping of books that I have intended to read 
cover to cover has been a cathartic practice to begin my summer. I hope that 
many of our -empyre- subscribers will join in and share their own personal 
favorites. 

 
Here’s my list: 
Social Works by Shannon Jackson (Routledge, 2011)
Tactical Media by Rita Raley (University of Minnesota Press, 2009)
Feminist Consequences by Elisabeth Bronfen and Misha Kavka (Columbia University 
Press, 2002)
Performing Mixed Realty by Steve Benford and Gabriella Giannachi (MIT Press, 
2011)
Astro Noise: A Survival Guide for Living Under Total Surveillance by Laura 
Poitras (Whitney Museum and Yale University Press, 2016)
Listening by Jean-Luc Nancy (Fordham University, 2007)
Digital Baroque by Timothy Murray (University of Minnesota, 2008)
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan (Random House, 2002)
Rainbow’s End by Vernor Vinge (Tom Doherty Associates, 2006)

 
Over the last year I have crossed personal (real and virtual) paths with 
Shannon Jackson and Micha Kavka inspiring their two titles to be included on my 
list.  Rita Raley’s Tactical Media I have read parts of but want the chance to 
read in its entirety.  It seems to be a favorite read by so many of my students 
and I just wanted to give it a bit more time.
 

My recent panel at the College Art Association on augmented reality and a 
studio project, Eye Spy a Storm, inspired me to include Benford and Giannachi’s 
text as well as the popular novel Rainbow’s End.

 
I lived through Tim Murray’s Digital Baroque while it was being written so 
while I have read it in bits and pieces while it was being written I thought it 
might be time to read it from cover to cover before his
new one comes out. 

 
Listening by Jean-Luc Nancy is another title that many colleagues from Cornell 
reference so I thought I would add that one to the list.
 

Perhaps the best exhibition I have seen in New York City thus far in 2016 is 
Laura Poitras’ Astro Noise at the Whitney Museum.  There is an interesting 
round table discussion online with Laura and the contributors here:  
http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/LauraPoitras   but I am really looking forward 
to reading the catalog.

 
And lastly, The Botany of Desire will be a great companion to me this summer as 
I did in my vegetable garden.

 
 
 
There are a few other titles that are on my purchase list: 
Mass Effect:  Art and the Internet in the Twenty-First Century by Lauren 
Cornell and Ed Halter
Domain Errors: Cyber-feminist Practices by Fernandez, Wilding and Wright

 
And of course last but not least Ashley Ferro-Murray’s recent dissertation from 
Berkley, Choreography in the Digital Era:Dancing the Cultural Differences of 
Technology.
That one is getting extra special attention. 

 
Happy reading to all. 
Renate Ferro

 
Short bio: 
I am a conceptual new media artist who toggles between the creative skins of 
old and new technologies. My artistic practice embraces critical interactivity 
incorporating social and theoretical paradigms
of the psychological and sociological condition with networks of technology. By 
aligning artistic, creative practice with critical approaches to 
cyber-configurations, I actualize emerging creative skins whose resulting 
configurations include installation, interactive net-based projects, drawing, 
text, and performance.
 

I have taught in the art department at Cornell University since 2004.  My 
strong interest in collaborative research inspired me to found the Tinker 
Factory Lab, a creative research lab to enable
new collaborative initiatives. 
 

I am the managing moderator for –empyre- soft-skinned list-serv and have served 
on their moderating board since 2007.
 
 
 


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
College of Architecture, Art and Planning
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306





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[-empyre-] -empyre at ISEA today 11:00 AM

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
Just a quick email with apologies to Kyle for the interruption.  


For those of you at ISEA Hong Kong 2016 I will be presenting a special 
presentation about -empyre soft-skinned space in Room 2 on FLOOR 6F Future 
Cinema (M6094)at CMC at 11:30 am this,,morning.  For those of you who wish to 
MEET UP both Tim Murray and myself will be on the 7th floor during the lunch 
break afterwards.  Hope to see those of you who are here in real space. 

LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU. 
Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
College of Architecture, Art and Planning
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rfe...@cornell.edu




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[-empyre-] Welcome Kyle McKinley

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
A warm welcome to Kyle Lane-McKinley who will hosting our next discussion topic 
on -empyre-, Social Practice and Social Reproduction: the politics of 
participatory art.  I heard Kyle speak just this past February on a panel at 
the College Art Association on Social Practice and Art and I knew then that he 
would make a great addition to our soft-skinned space.  We are thrilled that he 
has agreed to organize and host this upcoming month on -empyre- and very 
grateful. Thanks so much Kyle. 

His biography is below.  

Kyle Lane-McKinley is an artist and an educator in Santa Cruz, California, 
where he lives with his partner Madeline Lane-McKinley, and their daughter 
Tuli. Kyle completed an MFA in Digital Art and New Media at UC Santa Cruz in 
2010, where he continues to work as a lecturer, research associate, and as 
associate-director of the Social Practice Arts Research Center (SPARC at UCSC). 
Kyle's pedagogy is informed by his background in worker collectives, popular 
education projects, and grassroots social movements. His research interests 
include theories of representation and reification, critical spatial practice, 
revolutionary feminism, speculative futurism, and counter-cultural history.

Renate


Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
College of Architecture, Art and Planning
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306

-empyre soft-skinned space moderator
empyrelists...@gmail.com




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[-empyre-] -empyre-soft-skinned space at ISEA HONG KONG 2016

[Renate Terese Ferro]

--empyre- soft-skinned space--
We are excited to announce that -empyre-soft-skinned space will manifest itself 
in physical space for the upcoming ISEA Hong Kong Conference 
http://isea2016.isea-international.org/  -empyre- will  be featured in a panel 
discussion but we are planning a Meet and Greet as well!  See below about the 
specifics of both. 

1.   May 20th, Friday 11:30 to 12:30 in CMC Room 2:  PANEL F2.2- E-discourse In 
Online Networked Communities: Structure, Timing, Tone, And Affect. 

https://isea2016.scm.cityu.edu.hk/openconf/modules/request.php?module=oc_program=program.php=program


Renate Ferro, Cornell University: the list-serv –empyre- soft-skinned space
Timothy Murray, Cornell University: e-curating: global networks and curator
Maurice Benayoun, City University of Hong Kong: the blog-the Memory Dump, the 
disregarded power of undone art
Randall Packer, Nanyang Technological University: the e-conference- Collapsing 
the Walls of the Arts Conference

2.  May 20th, Friday 12:30 to 2:30 in the CMC Lobby, for Lunch,  LOOK FOR THE 
-empyre buttons on attendees.  

Follow us on TWITTER and FACEBOOK for more information. 

LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING MANY OF YOU.  
Renate 

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
College of Architecture, Art and Planning
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306

-empyre-soft-skinned space moderator
empyrelists...@gmail.com



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