delappe.net
http://www.strangethingshappen.org/
no santa for hazelton
http://www.flong.com/

get real real

this is pretty helpful when thinking about our online communities

Saudi Woman Drives for Youtube Protest

esc: Stefani Bardin

esc: Stefani Bardin
Great Taste, Less Theory

Friday, March 13, 4.30pm
128 Forest St. (Behind Lord-Saunders)
http://contrary.info/esc for additional info and directions.

•
Stefani Bardin is a media maker whose work slides between video,
film, installation, performance and net based mediums. She has shown
and presented her work nationally and internationally at venues
including the University of Technology Sydney, UCLA Hammar Museum,
The Slade School of Art, Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center and Alfred
University.

Having spent many years on projects revolving around the writings of
the German cultural critic Walter Benjamin she is now working on a
series of projects on the subject of food entitled Chemical Proust:
Remembrance of Things Pastiche. Great taste, less theory. She is
currently a Visiting Artist in the Department of Media Study at the
University at Buffalo. www.petrifiedunrest.net.
•

response to readings

“Deciding what counts as media technology is a difficult task.” I believe this statement to be highly relevant given the context of the article and what we have been discussing in class. As we become increasingly astute and the velocity at which we can advance our usage and intertwining of the internet with art, culture, media and thus, the human experience in a modern day world advances, we will be on a constant search to refine our concept and usage of media technology. Because the internet is truly still a new prevailing practice, we are still conceptualizing its role within the emerging worlds of art and technology. The idea that new media art is a response to the information technology revolution and the digitalization of cultural forms enables us to understand it as a ground breaking outlet for those who are aiming to delve into what I believe to be futuristic potential for the creative process. Comparing new media art to that of Dada is a fascinating notion due to integrative process in which various mediums that could be seen as arbitrary or random, when combined correctly, are viewed as intricately connected, thus bridging gaps among supposed unlikely combinations. Both forms of art utilize the forces of interactive media or technique, bridging political statement or interactive purpose with the creative process, enticing the interests of individuals from all spectrums and walks of the world.
Another undeniably influential component of media art is its accessibility and thus, it’s cross-cultural input. As one of the articles explain, the new media movement enabled communities to form without regard for geography, enabling varied perspectives and the emergence of a “global village” to contribute and diversify the spectrum of art and expression on the internet. This is an incredibly dynamic component of new media art because it is a form of unification, allowing individuals to have similar technological experiences and generate new and inventive forms of interaction, changing the practice for all those following. The internet allows artists to share their work and presents the constant possibility for intervention with the incredibly popular and thriving blogosphere. As expressed, the internet is a means of modern expression and creativity in which we can manipulate visual and interactive elements of our experience and communicate with a wide array of people, programs and thus, possibilities.

Blogger would totally not let me post yesterday...

These articles give some interesting examples of how to look at and conceptualize digital art (especially from viewpoints predating the technology in question), and I agree with the five characteristics of new media, but I disagree with the percieved "struggle" between the paradigms of marketing/broadcast and free exchange as one of good versus evil. Without going off on a rant, the ability to earn a living from creativity and innovation has been one of the primary motives for technological advancement as well as artistic achievement in digital media and elsewhere and I don't think we should be content with multimedia as we know it as the end-all of artistic practice... anyway, my favorite part of the one article is the idea that this is performance art:

Readings III

Some of the most striking large ideas include 1) how new media is the medium to converge art and life, by providing the tools with which to reveal an alternate world and reach into a person's mind, 2) the shifting idea of artist as facilitator ('interactive' art), 3), the idea that a media that can more thoroughly provide an all-compassing experience, that can somehow converge all the past intellectual and technical advances in the arts, is somehow 'better',  and 4) the overarching optimism about how new media can improve quality of life. 

I think all of these large ideas are both very fertile but also evident of just how new new media is. The history is so short, and all the possibilities are there, but even just art as... the culture, or the institution, has yet to come up with a convincing approach in which to evaluate it. For this reason, new media can strike a sort of populist note that really rings true with what is happening now in the world. It is teeming with creative energy, and its popularity or reception is dependent upon the viewer in its most pure form. All the obstacles that might exist between a person and getting this person to a gallery to see the art, they are gone and are instead replaced by easy anonymity where real consequence are not immediately real. One might not have to worry about what 'image' they present to the outside world while they go to a gallery when they are alone in their room at a computer. 

I also think this is also interesting though because this brings to question ideas of 'taste'- its relevance and its functional significance. When art is suddenly dependent upon so many new people, many of which are not familiar with the history of art or its ideas, the success of a work can suddenly depend on (oh no!) the layman, the everyman, art that pleases the people. I don't think this means new media will evolve to please and entertain, putting pretty girls in the forefront and replacing substance with catchy humor. But I do think this is a new problem that new media will have to contend with. A larger audience is a good problem to have.