Re: [-empyre-] public lament and gardening
Thank you Ana for those words. I would love to know more about the Antigona Oriental. p.s. Yes, we have lived through torture since time immemorial but with the Declaration of Human Rights and other international institutions, we had hopes for progress in that area. So, I don't subscribe to the idea that what was there once, is therefore explained today. the problem with the law and its ability to constitute law, and therefore, to go outside of itself, such as was the case with the concentration camps, and such as is the case today thanks to patriot act etc. otherwise under the umbrella of emergency. But there is a deeper underlying notion of "right" that certain powers have, like during Feudalism, the self-assigned right to inflict "law" upon others, including pain and torture, for the sake of "higher goals" or "security". On Oct 3, 2012, at 6:35 PM, Ana Valdés wrote: > HI Monika I checked the links you post and they were stunning > beautiful, as the cry of the mourners in the Greek tragedies. By the > way a group of Uruguayan former political prisoners, many of them my > former comrades, put together a beatiful piece called Antigona > Oriental. It was a contrast between their texts and the text of the > Greek tragedy and it worked perfect. The old crimes and the new > shapes, but as Allan said probably Humanity has lived with torture and > mayhem since Man (and Woman) were born. > I think we deal different with pain and each one of us choose it's own > strategy and have his own array of tools to do that. > For me is writing for others is painting, for others dancing, etc. > Ana > > On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 8:17 PM, Monika Weiss wrote: >> Hi Ana, >> I had the same feeling and wrote about it to Alan >> By the way, can't wait to hear more from you as part of this discussion. >> Monika >> >> Sent from my iPad >> >> On Oct 3, 2012, at 2:13 PM, Ana Valdés wrote: >> >>> Dear Johannes, as I wrote in my answer to Alan, I am sad I don't have >>> a clue how to avoid these ads in my text, I guess this is the prize to >>> pay for a free digital hosting :( >>> I am now poor as a mouse :) moved back from the First World with all >>> it's glamour to the non glamorous and poor Third World. It means I >>> can't afford to pay any fee for a more fancy add free hosting :( >>> But as I said Amazon still sell back copies of the book where the text >>> is included, the Garden of the Alphabet, published by Serpent's Tail >>> in London and New York. >>> Best regards to all of you >>> Ana >>> >>> On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 3:39 PM, Johannes Birringer >>> wrote: Dear all thank you Monika for your text/introduction to your understanding of the system of lament, and "public lament as performative and political act in public domain" -- this is richly evocative and will have to go back to your writing after looking at some of your work (the slides, and the films or film excerpts you include on http://www.streamingmuseum.org/content/monika-weiss/ I am listening to the sound now, of two of your videos. I was struck, entering the site, to also find your reference to Cage's silence. on first viewing/listening, your visual-sonic work has quite a mesmerizing quality. I am just responding now, without thinking, to my listening, and also watching the face(s) of the women in your films. (this listening is now private, at a screen, in the dark of my room). so no public lament this. But you stage these works in public galleries or spaces, and they are visited by the "public". how then does such work function in an art context? can it become a ritualizing space? but i shall look forward to reading more concisely (see below) your position, also in regard to the questions already brought up by Alan, when in his last post he speaks of the "overwhelming suffering of the world," stating that he does "not know how to accommodate all of this". This followed the conversation about pain, torture, memory begun by Ana. This accommodation will concern us, in the coming days, i am sure. Monika, could you expand a little on your reference to Zygmunt Baumann's idea of "gardening" . What idea is this? And Ana, I began to delve into your longer text on the migration from torture. It is a very complex and fascinating text, and i agree with Alan that the "clickable words" are a rather amazing intrusion function of the website. I clicked "perfume" >> We did not find any results for perfume. Search tips: Ensure words are spelled correctly. Try rephrasing keywords or using synonyms. Try less specific keywords. Make your queries as concise as possible. >> with regards Johannes Birringer dap-lab Monika schreibt: >> >>>
Re: [-empyre-] public lament and gardening
In Bauman's writing the "weeds" are what Agamben, and to some extend Zizek, call Homo Sacer (such as G. Agamben "Remnats of Holocaust" and Zizek's "Violence"). The idea of silencing is very important to me, which is also related to disappearing, to making disappear. Lament, which otherwise we could call the communal citizenry, the true citizenship, this is response to the language of silencing power. Lament, lying down (refusing to march like soldiers) are present in my work to somehow direct or connect with this inter-connective tissue that firms itself when we are following our ability to respond, response-ability [The silencing (milczenie) is like book burning -- you can burn Celan, but his work will never burn completely, just like silencing of the voices of those killed and tortured will always leave a stains, like stains on texts of Goethe, like stains of tortured in Guantanamo, shining on our hands as we speak here and now] On Oct 3, 2012, at 9:34 PM, Alan Sondheim wrote: > > Re - weeds - terms like 'weeds' and 'pests' and 'vermin' are very problematic > - they reflect only the speaker, not the spoken-for who often is placed in > the position of a Lyotardian differend, unable to speak, blotted out. > Whenever I hear them, I cringe... > > == > blog: http://nikuko.blogspot.com/ (main blog) > email archive http://sondheim.rupamsunyata.org/ > web http://www.alansondheim.org / cell 347-383-8552 > music: http://www.espdisk.com/alansondheim/ > current text http://www.alansondheim.org/rp.txt > == > > ___ > empyre forum > empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au > http://www.subtle.net/empyre ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] public lament and gardening
Re - weeds - terms like 'weeds' and 'pests' and 'vermin' are very problematic - they reflect only the speaker, not the spoken-for who often is placed in the position of a Lyotardian differend, unable to speak, blotted out. Whenever I hear them, I cringe... == blog: http://nikuko.blogspot.com/ (main blog) email archive http://sondheim.rupamsunyata.org/ web http://www.alansondheim.org / cell 347-383-8552 music: http://www.espdisk.com/alansondheim/ current text http://www.alansondheim.org/rp.txt == ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] public lament and gardening
HI Monika I checked the links you post and they were stunning beautiful, as the cry of the mourners in the Greek tragedies. By the way a group of Uruguayan former political prisoners, many of them my former comrades, put together a beatiful piece called Antigona Oriental. It was a contrast between their texts and the text of the Greek tragedy and it worked perfect. The old crimes and the new shapes, but as Allan said probably Humanity has lived with torture and mayhem since Man (and Woman) were born. I think we deal different with pain and each one of us choose it's own strategy and have his own array of tools to do that. For me is writing for others is painting, for others dancing, etc. Ana On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 8:17 PM, Monika Weiss wrote: > Hi Ana, > I had the same feeling and wrote about it to Alan > By the way, can't wait to hear more from you as part of this discussion. > Monika > > Sent from my iPad > > On Oct 3, 2012, at 2:13 PM, Ana Valdés wrote: > >> Dear Johannes, as I wrote in my answer to Alan, I am sad I don't have >> a clue how to avoid these ads in my text, I guess this is the prize to >> pay for a free digital hosting :( >> I am now poor as a mouse :) moved back from the First World with all >> it's glamour to the non glamorous and poor Third World. It means I >> can't afford to pay any fee for a more fancy add free hosting :( >> But as I said Amazon still sell back copies of the book where the text >> is included, the Garden of the Alphabet, published by Serpent's Tail >> in London and New York. >> Best regards to all of you >> Ana >> >> On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 3:39 PM, Johannes Birringer >> wrote: >>> Dear all >>> >>> thank you Monika for your text/introduction to your understanding of the >>> system of lament, and "public lament as performative and political act in >>> public domain" >>> -- this is richly evocative and will have to go back to your writing after >>> looking at some of your work (the slides, and the films or film excerpts >>> you include on >>> http://www.streamingmuseum.org/content/monika-weiss/ >>> I am listening to the sound now, of two of your videos. I was struck, >>> entering the site, to also find your reference to Cage's silence. >>> on first viewing/listening, your visual-sonic work has quite a mesmerizing >>> quality. I am just responding now, without thinking, to my listening, and >>> also watching the face(s) of the women in your films. (this listening is >>> now private, at a screen, in the dark of my room). so no public lament this. >>> But you stage these works in public galleries or spaces, and they are >>> visited by the "public". how then does such work function in an art context? >>> can it become a ritualizing space? >>> >>> but i shall look forward to reading more concisely (see below) your >>> position, also in regard to the questions already brought up by Alan, when >>> in his last post he speaks of >>> the "overwhelming suffering of the world," stating that he does "not know >>> how to accommodate all of this". This followed the conversation about >>> pain, torture, memory begun by Ana. >>> >>> This accommodation will concern us, in the coming days, i am sure. >>> >>> Monika, could you expand a little on your reference to Zygmunt Baumann's >>> idea of "gardening" . >>> What idea is this? >>> >>> And Ana, I began to delve into your longer text on the migration from >>> torture. >>> It is a very complex and fascinating text, and i agree with Alan that the >>> "clickable words" are a rather amazing intrusion function of the website. >>> >>> I clicked "perfume" >>> > We did not find any results for perfume. >>> Search tips: >>>Ensure words are spelled correctly. >>>Try rephrasing keywords or using synonyms. >>>Try less specific keywords. >>> Make your queries as concise as possible. > >>> >>> >>> with regards >>> Johannes Birringer >>> dap-lab >>> >>> Monika schreibt: >>> > >>> Interesting question below from Alan about the nature of video as a >>> catalyst for memory, pain and lament and later I would like to expand that >>> part of our discussion towards the performative and the circular in terms >>> of the relationships between cinematic mirroring and lament as well as >>> pain. Just briefly for now -- about torture. I am more preoccupied with >>> torture inflicted by governments, institutions and systems that often hide >>> their violence -- as you know only recently in my city of origins, Warsaw, >>> a CIA compound was found in which "suspected terrorists" were kept for a >>> number of years and tortured by US forces, without any real knowledge >>> amongst the civil part of the Polish government. There are thousands of >>> examples of course. Massive, systematic pain and torture systems, the ones >>> that are pre-designed by others, "enlightened", designed by those who are >>> in power or who represent structures of power and hegemony not because of >>> hate, anger or any o
Re: [-empyre-] public lament and gardening
Dear Johannes and all, Zygmunt Bauman's concept of garden is mentioned by him in his "Modernity and Holocaust" - which actually reads better in Polish, "Nowoczesność i Zaglada". I often talk about it in my own writings because it feels still very important today. The idea is that we are like gardeners, we make decisions such as mass-scale industrialized genocides as based on the desire for progress and of creating a beautiful design. He talks about getting rid of weeds not because we might hate them but because we believe they are useless of or the design we are planning, design of the world. More importantly he extends Arendt' assumptions about the danger of contemporary divorcing function and goal - the notion that others make decisions for us and we are basically only responsible for the immediate act or process that is our job. His claim is to return to some nine of, new but nevertheless morality which rests on our ability to think independently... My take on this that it basically calls for our citizenship and active response-ability ann to Levinas. I will continue this thought tonight - unfortunately now have to go back to meetings with my grads. More later and thank you Johannes for your notes, Monika Sent from my iPad On Oct 3, 2012, at 1:39 PM, Johannes Birringer wrote: > Dear all > > thank you Monika for your text/introduction to your understanding of the > system of lament, and "public lament as performative and political act in > public domain" > -- this is richly evocative and will have to go back to your writing after > looking at some of your work (the slides, and the films or film excerpts you > include on > http://www.streamingmuseum.org/content/monika-weiss/ > I am listening to the sound now, of two of your videos. I was struck, > entering the site, to also find your reference to Cage's silence. > on first viewing/listening, your visual-sonic work has quite a mesmerizing > quality. I am just responding now, without thinking, to my listening, and > also watching the face(s) of the women in your films. (this listening is now > private, at a screen, in the dark of my room). so no public lament this. > But you stage these works in public galleries or spaces, and they are visited > by the "public". how then does such work function in an art context? > can it become a ritualizing space? > > but i shall look forward to reading more concisely (see below) your position, > also in regard to the questions already brought up by Alan, when in his last > post he speaks of > the "overwhelming suffering of the world," stating that he does "not know how > to accommodate all of this". This followed the conversation about > pain, torture, memory begun by Ana. > > This accommodation will concern us, in the coming days, i am sure. > > Monika, could you expand a little on your reference to Zygmunt Baumann's idea > of "gardening" . > What idea is this? > > And Ana, I began to delve into your longer text on the migration from torture. > It is a very complex and fascinating text, and i agree with Alan that the > "clickable words" are a rather amazing intrusion function of the website. > > I clicked "perfume" > >>> We did not find any results for perfume. > Search tips: >Ensure words are spelled correctly. >Try rephrasing keywords or using synonyms. >Try less specific keywords. > Make your queries as concise as possible. >>> > > > with regards > Johannes Birringer > dap-lab > > Monika schreibt: > >>> > Interesting question below from Alan about the nature of video as a catalyst > for memory, pain and lament and later I would like to expand that part of our > discussion towards the performative and the circular in terms of the > relationships between cinematic mirroring and lament as well as pain. Just > briefly for now -- about torture. I am more preoccupied with torture > inflicted by governments, institutions and systems that often hide their > violence -- as you know only recently in my city of origins, Warsaw, a CIA > compound was found in which "suspected terrorists" were kept for a number of > years and tortured by US forces, without any real knowledge amongst the civil > part of the Polish government. There are thousands of examples of course. > Massive, systematic pain and torture systems, the ones that are pre-designed > by others, "enlightened", designed by those who are in power or who represent > structures of power and hegemony not because of hate, anger or any other > emotion but becau > se of fulfilling some abstracted and pragmatic goal, akin to Zygmunt > Baumann's idea of "gardening" . >>> > > > > > > > ___ > empyre forum > empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au > http://www.subtle.net/empyre ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] public lament and gardening
Hi Ana, I had the same feeling and wrote about it to Alan By the way, can't wait to hear more from you as part of this discussion. Monika Sent from my iPad On Oct 3, 2012, at 2:13 PM, Ana Valdés wrote: > Dear Johannes, as I wrote in my answer to Alan, I am sad I don't have > a clue how to avoid these ads in my text, I guess this is the prize to > pay for a free digital hosting :( > I am now poor as a mouse :) moved back from the First World with all > it's glamour to the non glamorous and poor Third World. It means I > can't afford to pay any fee for a more fancy add free hosting :( > But as I said Amazon still sell back copies of the book where the text > is included, the Garden of the Alphabet, published by Serpent's Tail > in London and New York. > Best regards to all of you > Ana > > On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 3:39 PM, Johannes Birringer > wrote: >> Dear all >> >> thank you Monika for your text/introduction to your understanding of the >> system of lament, and "public lament as performative and political act in >> public domain" >> -- this is richly evocative and will have to go back to your writing after >> looking at some of your work (the slides, and the films or film excerpts you >> include on >> http://www.streamingmuseum.org/content/monika-weiss/ >> I am listening to the sound now, of two of your videos. I was struck, >> entering the site, to also find your reference to Cage's silence. >> on first viewing/listening, your visual-sonic work has quite a mesmerizing >> quality. I am just responding now, without thinking, to my listening, and >> also watching the face(s) of the women in your films. (this listening is now >> private, at a screen, in the dark of my room). so no public lament this. >> But you stage these works in public galleries or spaces, and they are >> visited by the "public". how then does such work function in an art context? >> can it become a ritualizing space? >> >> but i shall look forward to reading more concisely (see below) your >> position, also in regard to the questions already brought up by Alan, when >> in his last post he speaks of >> the "overwhelming suffering of the world," stating that he does "not know >> how to accommodate all of this". This followed the conversation about >> pain, torture, memory begun by Ana. >> >> This accommodation will concern us, in the coming days, i am sure. >> >> Monika, could you expand a little on your reference to Zygmunt Baumann's >> idea of "gardening" . >> What idea is this? >> >> And Ana, I began to delve into your longer text on the migration from >> torture. >> It is a very complex and fascinating text, and i agree with Alan that the >> "clickable words" are a rather amazing intrusion function of the website. >> >> I clicked "perfume" >> We did not find any results for perfume. >> Search tips: >>Ensure words are spelled correctly. >>Try rephrasing keywords or using synonyms. >>Try less specific keywords. >> Make your queries as concise as possible. >> >> >> with regards >> Johannes Birringer >> dap-lab >> >> Monika schreibt: >> >> Interesting question below from Alan about the nature of video as a catalyst >> for memory, pain and lament and later I would like to expand that part of >> our discussion towards the performative and the circular in terms of the >> relationships between cinematic mirroring and lament as well as pain. Just >> briefly for now -- about torture. I am more preoccupied with torture >> inflicted by governments, institutions and systems that often hide their >> violence -- as you know only recently in my city of origins, Warsaw, a CIA >> compound was found in which "suspected terrorists" were kept for a number of >> years and tortured by US forces, without any real knowledge amongst the >> civil part of the Polish government. There are thousands of examples of >> course. Massive, systematic pain and torture systems, the ones that are >> pre-designed by others, "enlightened", designed by those who are in power or >> who represent structures of power and hegemony not because of hate, anger or >> any other emotion but becau >> se of fulfilling some abstracted and pragmatic goal, akin to Zygmunt >> Baumann's idea of "gardening" . >> >> >> >> >> >> >> ___ >> empyre forum >> empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au >> http://www.subtle.net/empyre > > > > -- > http://writings-escrituras.tumblr.com/ > http://maraya.tumblr.com/ > http://www.twitter.com/caravia158 > http://www.scoop.it/t/art-and-activism/ > http://www.scoop.it/t/food-history-and-trivia > http://www.scoop.it/t/gender-issues/ > http://www.scoop.it/t/literary-exiles/ > http://www.scoop.it/t/museums-and-ethics/ > http://www.scoop.it/t/urbanism-3-0 > http://www.scoop.it/t/postcolonial-mind/ > > cell Sweden +4670-3213370 > cell Uruguay +598-99470758 > > > "When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the ear
Re: [-empyre-] public lament and gardening
Dear Johannes, as I wrote in my answer to Alan, I am sad I don't have a clue how to avoid these ads in my text, I guess this is the prize to pay for a free digital hosting :( I am now poor as a mouse :) moved back from the First World with all it's glamour to the non glamorous and poor Third World. It means I can't afford to pay any fee for a more fancy add free hosting :( But as I said Amazon still sell back copies of the book where the text is included, the Garden of the Alphabet, published by Serpent's Tail in London and New York. Best regards to all of you Ana On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 3:39 PM, Johannes Birringer wrote: > Dear all > > thank you Monika for your text/introduction to your understanding of the > system of lament, and "public lament as performative and political act in > public domain" > -- this is richly evocative and will have to go back to your writing after > looking at some of your work (the slides, and the films or film excerpts you > include on > http://www.streamingmuseum.org/content/monika-weiss/ > I am listening to the sound now, of two of your videos. I was struck, > entering the site, to also find your reference to Cage's silence. > on first viewing/listening, your visual-sonic work has quite a mesmerizing > quality. I am just responding now, without thinking, to my listening, and > also watching the face(s) of the women in your films. (this listening is now > private, at a screen, in the dark of my room). so no public lament this. > But you stage these works in public galleries or spaces, and they are visited > by the "public". how then does such work function in an art context? > can it become a ritualizing space? > > but i shall look forward to reading more concisely (see below) your position, > also in regard to the questions already brought up by Alan, when in his last > post he speaks of > the "overwhelming suffering of the world," stating that he does "not know how > to accommodate all of this". This followed the conversation about > pain, torture, memory begun by Ana. > > This accommodation will concern us, in the coming days, i am sure. > > Monika, could you expand a little on your reference to Zygmunt Baumann's idea > of "gardening" . > What idea is this? > > And Ana, I began to delve into your longer text on the migration from torture. > It is a very complex and fascinating text, and i agree with Alan that the > "clickable words" are a rather amazing intrusion function of the website. > > I clicked "perfume" > >>>We did not find any results for perfume. > Search tips: > Ensure words are spelled correctly. > Try rephrasing keywords or using synonyms. > Try less specific keywords. > Make your queries as concise as possible. >>> > > > with regards > Johannes Birringer > dap-lab > > Monika schreibt: > >>> > Interesting question below from Alan about the nature of video as a catalyst > for memory, pain and lament and later I would like to expand that part of our > discussion towards the performative and the circular in terms of the > relationships between cinematic mirroring and lament as well as pain. Just > briefly for now -- about torture. I am more preoccupied with torture > inflicted by governments, institutions and systems that often hide their > violence -- as you know only recently in my city of origins, Warsaw, a CIA > compound was found in which "suspected terrorists" were kept for a number of > years and tortured by US forces, without any real knowledge amongst the civil > part of the Polish government. There are thousands of examples of course. > Massive, systematic pain and torture systems, the ones that are pre-designed > by others, "enlightened", designed by those who are in power or who represent > structures of power and hegemony not because of hate, anger or any other > emotion but becau > se of fulfilling some abstracted and pragmatic goal, akin to Zygmunt > Baumann's idea of "gardening" . >>> > > > > > > > ___ > empyre forum > empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au > http://www.subtle.net/empyre -- http://writings-escrituras.tumblr.com/ http://maraya.tumblr.com/ http://www.twitter.com/caravia158 http://www.scoop.it/t/art-and-activism/ http://www.scoop.it/t/food-history-and-trivia http://www.scoop.it/t/gender-issues/ http://www.scoop.it/t/literary-exiles/ http://www.scoop.it/t/museums-and-ethics/ http://www.scoop.it/t/urbanism-3-0 http://www.scoop.it/t/postcolonial-mind/ cell Sweden +4670-3213370 cell Uruguay +598-99470758 "When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will always long to return. — Leonardo da Vinci ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] public lament and gardening
Dear all thank you Monika for your text/introduction to your understanding of the system of lament, and "public lament as performative and political act in public domain" -- this is richly evocative and will have to go back to your writing after looking at some of your work (the slides, and the films or film excerpts you include on http://www.streamingmuseum.org/content/monika-weiss/ I am listening to the sound now, of two of your videos. I was struck, entering the site, to also find your reference to Cage's silence. on first viewing/listening, your visual-sonic work has quite a mesmerizing quality. I am just responding now, without thinking, to my listening, and also watching the face(s) of the women in your films. (this listening is now private, at a screen, in the dark of my room). so no public lament this. But you stage these works in public galleries or spaces, and they are visited by the "public". how then does such work function in an art context? can it become a ritualizing space? but i shall look forward to reading more concisely (see below) your position, also in regard to the questions already brought up by Alan, when in his last post he speaks of the "overwhelming suffering of the world," stating that he does "not know how to accommodate all of this". This followed the conversation about pain, torture, memory begun by Ana. This accommodation will concern us, in the coming days, i am sure. Monika, could you expand a little on your reference to Zygmunt Baumann's idea of "gardening" . What idea is this? And Ana, I began to delve into your longer text on the migration from torture. It is a very complex and fascinating text, and i agree with Alan that the "clickable words" are a rather amazing intrusion function of the website. I clicked "perfume" >>We did not find any results for perfume. Search tips: Ensure words are spelled correctly. Try rephrasing keywords or using synonyms. Try less specific keywords. Make your queries as concise as possible. >> with regards Johannes Birringer dap-lab Monika schreibt: >> Interesting question below from Alan about the nature of video as a catalyst for memory, pain and lament and later I would like to expand that part of our discussion towards the performative and the circular in terms of the relationships between cinematic mirroring and lament as well as pain. Just briefly for now -- about torture. I am more preoccupied with torture inflicted by governments, institutions and systems that often hide their violence -- as you know only recently in my city of origins, Warsaw, a CIA compound was found in which "suspected terrorists" were kept for a number of years and tortured by US forces, without any real knowledge amongst the civil part of the Polish government. There are thousands of examples of course. Massive, systematic pain and torture systems, the ones that are pre-designed by others, "enlightened", designed by those who are in power or who represent structures of power and hegemony not because of hate, anger or any other emotion but becau se of fulfilling some abstracted and pragmatic goal, akin to Zygmunt Baumann's idea of "gardening" . >> ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] Sustenazo - Part II
I think torture has always been with us; there are signs dating well back into prehistory, and there have been books written, for example, about the Assyrian murals and what they depict. The Central American ball-games weren't innocent either of course. I think it was Lorenz who postulated that humans have gone awry with the development of tools that allow killing at a distance, in spite of deflection behavior, but torture is otherwise than this; it is intimate; the other's body is not only in reach, but is _reached._ I think all of this is tangled with our primate behaviour as ravaging generalists who began with limited food supplies and over-the-top group solidarity, but I really don't know; I do think there are far too many who take pleasure in torturing. I do want to add there is other pain and suffering to consider - I'm thinking of cancer, of the abandonment of the elderly, even of the wildly different accounting for tragedy between, say, the eternal technophilic optimism of Wired, and the constant reminders of world-wide extinctions, local warfares, etc. etc. For me the accompanying images, sound-bites, and videos of slaughter are intolerable, inconceivable; Azure filters them for me, because they reduce me to catatonia. The suffering of the world is overwhelming, in spite of the promise of a bright and glorious future, etc. I don't know how to accommodate all of this, how to think of it or through it. My work deals with the unthinkingness or abandonment of the world, in other words - and it's something Sandy and I considered in the pain text (which we'll send out in a day or so - would rather the discussion continue online for now without more reading from us!). Thanks, Alan ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] Sustenazo - Part II - links as requested by Alan
http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/163868-monika-weiss http://www.streamingmuseum.org/content/monika-weiss/ http://www.lehman.edu/vpadvance/artgallery/gallery/WeissbyGuyBrett.HTM http://artnews.org/artist.php?i=5752 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7GB_n-rzhA http://www.museodelamemoria.cl/expos/monika-weiss-sustenazo-lament-ii/ http://www.quasha.com/writing-2/on-art/on-monika-weiss http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Contributor,a=W/view-Contact-Page,id=15634/___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] Sustenazo - Part II
The other day I was in a wake. It was a man almost in my age, Universindo Rodriguez. He died of a bone cancer and in his wake were almost twothousand persons. He has belonged as young to an anarchist group. He was in jail, severely tortured and later released. When he tried to come back to Uruguay through Brasil he was kidnapped, severely tortured and jailed again in Uruguay. By the way his kidnapping in Brazil by some Uruguayan officers the Plan Condor was made visible. The Plan Condor was the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's brainchild, a crusade against communism with all the polices and the armies in the region cooperating, kidnapping and killing dissenters in the whole region. Kissinger gave the green light and these uncanny cooperation started. We are a region in pain, that's because I feel that's right than Sustenanzo will be exhibited in Chile, in the Museum of the Memory. We have a similar Museum here in Montevideo and Buenos Aires has another too. It could be a great idea to have the piece showing in all the museums in the region. My pain is still very visceral, I paliated it through writing, now I meet an analyst each week and the pain shows up sometimes. My own personal strategy has been the "flight forward", it means to postpone the depression or the dark moods until later, forward. But the pain is very present in everything I do and to walk my homecity and cross or bump my torturers don't help so much. There are are here sharing the same public space than us and they feel themselves victors in a fair war, the war against communism. I still wonder and ask myself all the time: how can someone, in the name of some ideological reason, maim or kill someone with torture? Ana On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 9:15 AM, Monika Weiss wrote: > Hi, > > After posting some visual materials I think my initial "introduction to the > work" is done. I am happy to take it on from there and to form a > dialogue > > Interesting question below from Alan about the nature of video as a catalyst > for memory, pain and lament and later I would like to expand that part of > our discussion towards the performative and the circular in terms of the > relationships between cinematic mirroring and lament as well as pain. Just > briefly for now -- about torture. I am more preoccupied with torture > inflicted by governments, institutions and systems that often hide their > violence -- as you know only recently in my city of origins, Warsaw, a CIA > compound was found in which "suspected terrorists" were kept for a number of > years and tortured by US forces, without any real knowledge amongst the > civil part of the Polish government. There are thousands of examples of > course. Massive, systematic pain and torture systems, the ones that are > pre-designed by others, "enlightened", designed by those who are in power or > who represent structures of power and hegemony not because of hate, anger or > any other emotion but because of fulfilling some abstracted and pragmatic > goal, akin to Zygmunt Baumann's idea of "gardening" . > > Finally, I look forward to the post about Pain and other related posts > expected this week and will hold off with posting major things for now (such > as the City's memory and pain) until maybe later in the week. > > Looking forward to our discussion > > Monika > > > M o n i k a W e i s s S t u d i o > 456 Broome Street, 4 > New York, NY 10013 > Phone: 212-226-6736 > Mobile: 646-660-2809 > www.monika-weiss.com > gnie...@monika-weiss.com > > M o n i k a W e i s s > Assistant Professor > Graduate School of Art & Hybrid Media > Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts > Washington University in St. Louis > Campus Box 1031 > One Brookings Drive > St. Louis, MO 63130 > mwe...@samfox.wustl.edu > http://samfoxschool.wustl.edu/portfolios/faculty/monika_weiss > > On Oct 2, 2012, at 9:35 PM, Alan Sondheim wrote: > > > > Hi - some questions occasioned by what I've been reading here, and also > thinking about torture, living through torture. Lamentation seems to imply > an other, often disappeared or disappearing, that one mourns for, after, or > almost within; torture applies to the self to the depths that there is no > other. They are related by suffering, by anguish, and they both seem > elsewhere than new or other media - they seem unmediated, even though > lamentation may and often does, follow traditional cultural forms. They also > seem to involve a pouring out or into; the self is dissolved. Lamentation > seems to imply, as well, the second (still living or just alive) dissolving > into the third (the dead), in an uncanny way paralleling the second person, > 'you,' dissolving into the third, 'he' or 'she' or 'it' as the body might > be. So how is all this manifest - or is it - through media? Is, for example, > a video then a catalyst - of affect, memory, mourning? I ask myself these > questions in the work I do in Second Life or 3d printing as well - > > Thanks, Alan, and please everyone, join in
Re: [-empyre-] Sustenazo - Part II
Hi, After posting some visual materials I think my initial "introduction to the work" is done. I am happy to take it on from there and to form a dialogue Interesting question below from Alan about the nature of video as a catalyst for memory, pain and lament and later I would like to expand that part of our discussion towards the performative and the circular in terms of the relationships between cinematic mirroring and lament as well as pain. Just briefly for now -- about torture. I am more preoccupied with torture inflicted by governments, institutions and systems that often hide their violence -- as you know only recently in my city of origins, Warsaw, a CIA compound was found in which "suspected terrorists" were kept for a number of years and tortured by US forces, without any real knowledge amongst the civil part of the Polish government. There are thousands of examples of course. Massive, systematic pain and torture systems, the ones that are pre-designed by others, "enlightened", designed by those who are in power or who represent structures of power and hegemony not because of hate, anger or any other emotion but because of fulfilling some abstracted and pragmatic goal, akin to Zygmunt Baumann's idea of "gardening" . Finally, I look forward to the post about Pain and other related posts expected this week and will hold off with posting major things for now (such as the City's memory and pain) until maybe later in the week. Looking forward to our discussion Monika M o n i k a W e i s s S t u d i o 456 Broome Street, 4 New York, NY 10013 Phone: 212-226-6736 Mobile: 646-660-2809 www.monika-weiss.com gnie...@monika-weiss.com M o n i k a W e i s s Assistant Professor Graduate School of Art & Hybrid Media Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts Washington University in St. Louis Campus Box 1031 One Brookings Drive St. Louis, MO 63130 mwe...@samfox.wustl.edu http://samfoxschool.wustl.edu/portfolios/faculty/monika_weiss On Oct 2, 2012, at 9:35 PM, Alan Sondheim wrote: > > > Hi - some questions occasioned by what I've been reading here, and also > thinking about torture, living through torture. Lamentation seems to imply an > other, often disappeared or disappearing, that one mourns for, after, or > almost within; torture applies to the self to the depths that there is no > other. They are related by suffering, by anguish, and they both seem > elsewhere than new or other media - they seem unmediated, even though > lamentation may and often does, follow traditional cultural forms. They also > seem to involve a pouring out or into; the self is dissolved. Lamentation > seems to imply, as well, the second (still living or just alive) dissolving > into the third (the dead), in an uncanny way paralleling the second person, > 'you,' dissolving into the third, 'he' or 'she' or 'it' as the body might be. > So how is all this manifest - or is it - through media? Is, for example, a > video then a catalyst - of affect, memory, mourning? I ask myself these > questions in the work I do in Second Life or 3d printing as well - > > Thanks, Alan, and please everyone, join in - > > > > == > blog: http://nikuko.blogspot.com/ (main blog) > email archive http://sondheim.rupamsunyata.org/ > web http://www.alansondheim.org / cell 347-383-8552 > music: http://www.espdisk.com/alansondheim/ > current text http://www.alansondheim.org/rp.txt > == > ___ > empyre forum > empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au > http://www.subtle.net/empyre ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
Re: [-empyre-] Sustenazo: related URLs
Hi, good morning, as per Alan's suggestion, here are a few of URL sites: http://search.wn.com/?results_type=videos&language_id=1&search_type=expression&search_string=category+1944+compositions&sort_type=-pub-datetime&template=cheetah-search-adv%2Findex.txt&action=search&corpus=current http://www.streamingmuseum.org/content/monika-weiss/ http://www.museodelamemoria.cl/expos/monika-weiss-sustenazo-lament-ii/ http://www.lehman.edu/vpadvance/artgallery/gallery/WeissbyGuyBrett.HTM http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/163868-monika-weiss?tab=ARTWORKS http://www.quasha.com/writing-2/on-art/on-monika-weiss On Oct 2, 2012, at 8:07 PM, Monika Weiss wrote: > Monika Weiss--Sustenazo (Part III) > > In Sustenazo the timeless gesture of lamentation is confronted with the > archive of a specific historical event—the forced overnight evacuation of the > Ujazdowski Hospital’s eighteen hundred patients and staff on August 6, 1944. > > In Part I of the video, the woman appears as two persons moving in opposite > directions—simultaneously presented in real time and reverse motion, thanks > to video and film editing technologies. Her body is present, although it > exists outside of specific time. I choreographed and directed the performer’s > movements. Her slow-moving gestures of lamentation or mourning are at once > theatrical and minimal. They do not tell a historical narrative: the viewer > does not know the reasons for her mourning. Lament—performative and > communal—becomes a shared emotional experience. I decided not to perform in > Sustenazo (or in my other recent works) to avoid autobiographical > interpretations. Sustenazo is not solely about Poland or Polish history or > European history. It is more broadly about the loss of lives inflicted by war > and by other political and organized acts of violence and oppression. For me, > war is not only devastating: it is unacceptable. > > > > Note: > > I employ the ternary form of Lament in the video and sound composition of > Sustenazo. In Part I, German speakers read several passages from Goethe’s > Faust II and from Paul Celan’s Schneepart. In Sustenazo, Celan, whose poetry > was burned by German Nazis, represents the opposite symbolism to that of > Goethe. During my artist residency in Berlin (2009), I invited a group of > Germans to slowly recite passages from Faust II. Later that year, during my > residency at the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, I recorded > the voice of a survivor of the Ujazdowski Hospital’s expulsion, who at the > time of the Uprising was a teenage nurse. Her elderly and fragile voice is > heard in Part I of the video, as it overlaps with the young and well-defined > female voice reciting in German fragments from Goethe. The Polish voice > represents a “sonic stain,” a trace that cannot be erased. For Part II of the > video, I recorded a countertenor whom I asked to sing short fragments of > laments—formal compositions that exist in classical music—however without any > accompaniment. Later, I digitally cut single notes and words, even syllables, > and moved them around, creating a sense of language and melody that > disintegrates into indecipherable sound, becoming lament.[i] > > > [i] Etymologically, the word lament derives from Greek leros – “nonsense.” > Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (C. & G. Merriam Company: Springfield, > Mass., 1977), p. 645. > > > > > > > > M o n i k a W e i s s S t u d i o 456 Broome Street, 4 New York, NY 10013 Phone: 212-226-6736 Mobile: 646-660-2809 www.monika-weiss.com gnie...@monika-weiss.com M o n i k a W e i s s Assistant Professor Graduate School of Art & Hybrid Media Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts Washington University in St. Louis Campus Box 1031 One Brookings Drive St. Louis, MO 63130 mwe...@samfox.wustl.edu http://samfoxschool.wustl.edu/portfolios/faculty/monika_weiss ___ empyre forum empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
