anna sullivan for dinner

Anna Sullivan, current finishing her MA research as part of the MA in Art and Media Practice invites you to dinner at TASTY! 09. By combining the traditional art form of painting with contemporary performative practice, Anna Sullivan is making her life as a painter in 1904, on canvas and as a person of the past in everyday life. You are invited to dinner by Ms Sullivan to explore if the life of an artist is more lifestyle than occupation and become a part of her ongoing project “Me Then Now”, that references a social history that seems far different from the present.

Me Then Now,  Anna Sullivan 9th July 2009   Café Crema 7.15pm, Prices £6 / £5 (LBL) & £4 conc – students, JSA, OAP. All ticket prices include dinner. Booking in advance essential, see website for details www.tastydinersclub.com

Filed under: anna, paula roush

situationisnt: works inspired by a society of spectacles

For his MA show, Joe Upton invites the audience to engage in ‘pseudo-activities’ which break the conventional roles of spectatorship through an immersive 3D Film installation and participatory Paint-By-Numbers.

Inspired by the avant-garde movement of Situationism, Upton transposes the theory of The Society of the Spectacle to the modern day. The movement’s theories propose all existing social and cultural conditions are perpetually mediated by image and representation. The institutionalising effects of ‘The Spectacle’ render the individual a passive consumer of fleeting trends and pre-packaged lifestyles.  Upton’s work observes these conditions have never been truer than in the contemporary climate of mass communication and media saturation.

Works Presented:
The Culture of Commodity: Part installation, part visual culture; this unique 3D Film experience plays with the notion of gimmick, alluding to the detrimental effects of our consumerist obsessions.
Man By Numbers: An audience participatory Paint-By-Numbers that encourages social and cultural interaction allowing visitors to contribute their creative expressions towards a communal finished piece.
3-Deerectives: Eye teasing Mixed-Media prints that highlight the fragmented and referential nature of our ideas and inspirations

Time and Place
23rd – 28th June, 12:00 – 18:00 daily / Private View Thursday 25th 18:00 – 21:00
Free Entry, All are welcome and encouraged to participate.
The DegreeArt.com Gallery, 30 Vyner Street, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9DQ
10 Minutes from Liverpool Street Station, nearest transportation;
Tube –Central Line: Bethnal Green, Overground – Cambridge Heath, Buses – 26/48/388

Filed under: degree show, exhibition, joe, paula roush

twister

This thursday the 25th of June is the private view of REALTIONS, Iceberg ’s MA degree show, a live participatory event happening  simultaneously between London and Bilbao, Spain. The eclectic project is composed by two installations juxtaposing the new media with old fashion cinematographic techniques, exploring relations in real space and real time, shifting the roles of audience, artwork and artist; turning the audience into the artwork.

FOUND FOOTAGE is an installation exploring interactive narrative, composed by a B/W 16mm hand processed film metaphor and all the interpretations of it, generated by the subjectivity of the audience.

TWISTER invites the public to become living sculptures creating ephemeral instants and moments. By playing TWISTER and connecting the different spaces sited in London and Bilbao, through the internet, using web-cams and projectors, TWISTER connects and physically entangles all the participants, creating a human-web, in the real, as well as the digital space.

The event can be watched on-line on the following link: rtsp://podcast.wmin.ac.uk/twister.sdp

In London, you can join Twister at the Empire Gallery, 30 Vyner Street,  London, E2 9DQ
In Bilbao (Spain): Espacio Abisal, C/Hernani 14, Bajo, 48003 Bilbao
http://www.espacioabisal.org

FROM 23RD JUNE TO 28TH OF JUNE- Open daily 12-6 pm.
Private view: 25th June 18:00-21:00 pm

Filed under: degree show, exhibition, iceberg, paula roush

I don’t believe we believe the Simulationsof contemporary Hyperrealities and other such constructions

In terms of this sites organisation, despite enjoying the void of relative words floating in a virtual space, and playing with them for quite a while, I was initially confused as I thought they where links to new articles as opposed to a thesaurus/glossary of relative words. So although fun, I found it a little distracting from the point and slightly gimmicky, I also think it would be little use to a person actually looking for useful links/inspiration etc. on the title subject. I’d stick to the old fashioned get a thesaurus in physical book form, and read it.

In terms of presentation as research, I think its slightly simplistic and would be perhaps more useful for younger ages, e.g. as an interactive word association game for school children studying English or Media. But perhaps I’m just being harsh?

Content and it relevance to us!

Straight away the concept of simulation is relevant to me in a big way, The society of the Spectacle is a simulated reality. Not strictly a simulation, because a simulation isn’t real, it’s a test, a prototype of a given situation. The Spectacle is a simulation that cemented itself. One could see it as a capitalist/consumerist test which excelled its expectation outgrew its restriction and made a play for world domination.

This article begins by saying essentially the same hing about the media and art, whose expressions and communication of a singular perspective are now commonly mistook and accepted as a truth. These representations and opinions have as
Devin Sandoz’s article on simulation and simulacra suggests become the reality of things

As occupants of the culture industry however what does this mean for us, as artists or observers? I sincerely believe modern society raises the individual with a post-modern awareness of media slant and representation. Children now grow up hearing words like bias, editing, representation and role models and slogans ‘like it’s the medias fault’. We now grow up constantly aware of different angles, Specifically in this country where we now consider political correctness a rampant and destructive force, surely that too simply raises awareness of the simulations, the represented simulacra’s we become accustomed to and challenges us not to be swayed by them.

I think hyper-reality is becoming an outdated concept in a world were we are aware on them, we now chose identity like a cereal and after a few forays into fashion fads as teenager we come into our twenties with an awareness with how constructed these things are. The artificial simulation which dominate todays youth I think now lead to a more objective young adult a few years down the line. I chuckle to myself when thinking of the punk rock 16 yr old me with dyed hair and piercing, and I think this is a symptom of social cultural simulations that all young people now go through, an awareness of the fraud of youth culture.

I could perhaps myself being overly optimistic about contemporary awareness of the semiology and fashions of modern conditions having studied media now for almost ten years. However I don’t think so we’re now getting to the point where we have tv shows about tv shows, such as making of, etc. there is no more illusion to media and art, because we’re aware of the viral nature of marketing and franchising. I think now we’re just happy to accept these things and take them at face value rather than being swayed by the deeper meanings.

But maybe its just me?

Filed under: e-tivity04-0708, joe

The continued search

I have continued my search for artist blogs based around personal cultural interests and ones that might lead to inspiration of my own work, based on Situationism, and like socialist art movements. My previous search turned up the interesting art practice of the mysterious ‘Decapitator’, passing his or her comments (obviously those of rejection and dissent) on mass cultural products such as movies and advertising by ‘vandalising’ billboard posters around East London. I enjoyed this practice as it related to processes of detournment conceived and carried out by the Situationist. My latest search was again equally as unsuccessful in turning up ‘actual artist blogs’ but has once again led to some interesting sites and relevant to my own working interests and research.

Keyword search: Artist blogs Society of the Spectacle

his searched aimed to find likes and comments on Guy Debord’s text the society of the spectacle – the key work of Situationist rhetoric. It turned up little but a few blogging sites with minor references to the work but nothing in depth enough for my search. I wanted to find artists blogs whose work is all about Situationism, not just in the referential sense.

Keyword Seach: Situationist Blogging

Brilliant I have found a hive of Situationist discussion and on our very own wordpress no doubt. Coolios. This site is exactly what I’ve been looking for a forum of Situationism in the contemporary context with grounding in the movements contextual past.

http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/

After skimming and scanning through thesituationist.wordpress I was led to this artist Marc Scheff

This artist’s work and personal interest in both art and science show a union of rationality and creativity that is perfect for for comparison to Situationism. This along with his professional roots in computer programming evokes ideas of computer virtuality. An area with theoretical crossovers to Situationism (in it’s concepts of constructed realities, that are detached from actual real exsistance hence virtual).

Notions of virtuality, and the questions these ideas raise about the perspectives of reality and the immense possibilities that virtual worlds can offer to the cultural sphere. Essentially virtual work exemplifies and embodies a new form of creative expression and possibility which Situationism wanted to encourage. Virtual space is a blank canvass a void waiting for a world. A world waiting for input and manipulation of creative thought by infinite users.

I found these crossovers and ideas in the book Virtual Worlds by Benjamin Wooley. Which I was reading for such inspiration. Although essentially a very dry book on the history of virtual reality and computer software it does offer a few nuggets of poetic, philosophic inspiration in quotes such as

Computers are mostly used against people instead of for people. Used to control people instead of free them. Time to change all that, we need a peoples computer company.

Ted Nelson Compter Lib
(the communist manifesto of computer culture)

The computer technology that would allow this virtual creative forum also embodies Situationism’s desire to harness all technological means in the active creation of culture and situations.

It is worth considering however that there are some underlying contradictions in this idea. For example Situationism believes society has essentially become a virtual existence created by a complex semiology of comsurmeristic means and ends. Is a new virtual world for creativity an viable answer and application of Situationist theory. Or does it descend into further artificial and unlived existences of the masses tied into a cooperate machine.

This point could be debated forever, but at the very least it creates an environment of relatively pure creation, that would enable a talented programmer to create a world the way they saw fit. (but how affected by the spectacle would this world be – how engrained in our psyches is the spectacle – will we ever escape it)

from this site I then looked at the artists works and his methodologies

none of these however were actual blogs but then I found a like to his myspace page.

however no blogs are posted.

After searching around for a blog specific enough for me to comment on the artists work and processes I have found nothing useful. However it has lead me to innumerable discussion boards of Situationism which may rovide useful contacts for the future of my project. Hence I am posting all links in this blog to file them for both my use and the uses of others.

Filed under: e-tivity02-0708, joe , Add new tag

E-tivity 6. Performativity and daily life

I intitially found the Theory cards to be full of generalisation and too tabloid-esque for my liking. They do contain a lot of information on some very big and complex subjects, which may serve to be an useful starting point for a serious researcher. However, I fear that, much like the tabloid reader, this information can be taken as gospel and ‘fact’ much like when a student looks in an encyclopedia. There seems to be wikipedia-factor to them in this sense. Whilst they may be an easily digestible light hearted way to begin research upon key writers etc. I would have to stress the importance of seeking out further information on the subjects. You cannot contain the entire theory of say, ‘Karl Marx’ in less than 100 words. After all has his theory not been misread in the past? However, as I continued to browse through the various cards I found a sense of irony to them, particularly the ’special skills’ etc. section at the bottom. This may highlight another use for the cards; light amusement for the sake of the well read theorist who understands the irony.

As regards my own practice and the theme of performativity and the everyday- I feel this is one of a number of umbrella themes within my work which also includes an examination of time and memory, and the relationship between the mediums of drawing and video. My work is underpinned by performativity. When I film someone no matter how relaxed they may be, they are performing in some manner. When I make drawing from the video I too reflect the performance, which I have begun to examine by further recording this process. I also have another idea for creating footage to work from whereby 3 people will be filmed in an audition style talking from memory. This will involve performing in both the ‘natural’ and acting sense, but I fear dispensing any more information on the internet!

Filed under: Performatitivy and Daily Life, e-tivity06-0708, jim, tiip

etivity 5

I found both sites to be interesting and very useful, each having its own editorial slant, they were well presented and user friendly. I have recommended both sites to my GCSE and A’Level students and they have found them a useful way in which to reference single words for example kitsch.

Filed under: e-tivity 05, isabella

Artist Blog

I really like this blog:http://digitaldouble.blogspot.com/

the artist posts his 3D works which song and artistry blends to form a thoughtful, evocative mood.It’s quite exciting to see someone explore an artistic interpretation in this way.Just like one of the comments said:

*How this shows the potential for artistic collaboration across time and mediums.
*How the video has it’s own “the making of” meta data exposed.
*How you down sampled the video in places to a more abstract look.

Filed under: Qian Liu, e-tivity02-0708

Feminism post notes

Susan Hiller is an artist whose work is tied up with gender and at the time she starting working as an ‘artist’ she looked for female role models and found none. For years she cherished a picture of Georgia O’Keeffe which showed the artist holding one of her paintings, very rarely do we see O’Keeffe portrayed as a working artist, instead we see only fragments of her, the curve of her neck, her work hands. Hiller made this connection later in life and it was formative in her photomat self portraits and her work ‘Incognito’.

Why weren’t women artists portrayed as ‘artists’? Were they still playing the role of the muse, this was certainly true of ‘O’Keeffe married to the Photographer Stieglitz. Her work Hiller suggests,”is shown as part of her body.” (Einzig, Thinking About Art – Conversations with Susan Hiller, O’Keeffe as I see her p81)

Hiller says that to label work as ‘feminist’ is “… to box it off into an area which cannot insert itself, cannot contradict mainstream notions of art.” (Enzig, Thinking About Art -Conversations with Susan Hiller, Dedicated to Unknown Artists p27) and she fears that because she is a woman her work will not ,”be seen properly, it wont be seen clearly. And no matter how much validation I receive from the mainstream, I can only see my presence within it as intrusive. And the difficulties that I get into are, I believe, the difficulties of communication and language based on a different perception of the world…….A woman is mute within our culture in that when she speaks she speaks as a man” (p26)

This is a problem that maybe women still face today, maybe we need more women collectors. Today there are many working craftswomen and artists but how many female collectors are out there and known. I suspect many are out there but quietly getting on with it and not making a big song and dance about it.

Hiller concludes “You can seem articulate and feel alienated. You have to suppress your alienation in order to remain articulate.” but as the questioner suggests this is self destructive as when we try to deal with the contradictions that arise from this experience within conventional frameworks we have no language and so no voice.

One of Hillers themes is to mke the inarticulate articulate and it is apparent that she agrees with O’Keeffes opinion that women can say something that a man can’t that, “I feel there is something unexplored about women that only a woman can explore – the men have done all they can do about it.” (letter from Georgia O’Keeffe to Mabel Dodge Luhan, 1925, quoted in Hoffman, An Enduring Spirit (New York:Methuen, 1984) p21.)

So come on girls its our time now.

Filed under: isabella, tiip , comment on Fergie, Feminism, gender, isabella

performativity and daily life

Some would say that performativity is in everyones’ daily life, we all perform for different audiences throughtout the day in different roles. I certainly do, a lot of my role as a teacher involves assuming a role.

I love the idea of interrupting daily routine but in ways that add to the delight of the day and not to annoy. I dont like art designed to interrupt the routine but love that that enhances, amuses and enlightens. What we notice is difference, when the posters are changed on the billboards, when the tube platforms are polished, when someone smells. Visual information is quickly assimilated into the routine environment. To remain powerful it needs to be changed everyfew weeks. These days it is changed continually, moving in front of us, adopting a rhythm. So do we no longer look at the image but wait for the repetition?

As for the site suggested, I found the use of the cards a good way of indexing and presenting basic information or thoughts around a person but would have prefered active links and more extensive information. Also I would imagine the site would grow as more people submit more unofficial cards. There are certainly many interesting people that need to go on the site.

Filed under: Performatitivy and Daily Life, e-tivity06-0708, isabella , etivity6, isabella, performativity in daily life

E-tivity 04/ Keywords of Media Theory

I found the site Keywords to Media Theory well designed and comprehensive. It does not have any distracting graphics making navigating through it easy and seamless. Keywords within the texts are highlighted in blue and connected to definition links. Overall a very good, imformative sight. Regarding the two essays on simulation and simulacrum-in my view the first essay by Devin Sandoz, although started off interesting, contained convoluted academic speak conjuring up an image of a dog chasing its tail but never getting anywhere. Joanna Topor essay is the opposite a lot easier to understand and comprehensive. More contemporary, contextual examples would have been a bonus but the examples given served their purpose. Referencing was good although Devin’s bibliography left a lot to be desired. In both essays there was no existance to websites or links that could backup the arguments ie http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/gallery.html.

Filed under: e-tivity04-0708, sousan, tiip

E-tivity 06 Performativity and Daily Life

Theory.org.uk is OK if you want a quick rundown of the philosophers and academics in the world of critical theory, media and arts. I found the trading cards interesting although I was expecting to look at the flip side but to no avail. I looked at the bell hooks one but it didn’t say much, what did stand out is that her weakness is ’she dared to criticise Madonna’??? Maybe they are trying to make the website into a sort of an intro to Media Studies for Idiots. In my opinion it is a promotional website for David Gauntlett. If you want more info then you can buy the book, the cards, the t-shirt etc…. I was a bit puzzled when I read this sentence Academics have found it difficult to establish what identity means, so that at times it has been reduced to a set of categories such as gender, ethnicity, and physical ability (each of which becomes more fuzzy itself, when inspected closely). ‘ Please inspect the text in bold. What does it mean??

Anyway my contribution to performativity in daily life-I don’t know if this is relevant but I once filmed myself working in my studio. I was told by friends that in there view I was becoming a bit OCD about a piece I was working on that involved ripping bits of material and knotting them together onto a a framework to form a web. I decided to film the process for myself. Watching myself work was eye-opening, I suppose I wasn’t expecting to see myself obsess over an artwork in that way. A few days later I was burgled and the camera, tape and all were lost forever. Ironically the work ended up in a skip- but I didn’t get to film that-no camera!!!

Filed under: e-tivity06-0708, sousan, tiip

Performativity and daily life

The site theory.org.uk is very slick and modern, my problem is I dislike these media type sites which promise but do not deliver. In fact this site illustrates succinctly the theory of one of the subjects within the site. Adorno is quoted ‘ that capitalism fed people with the products of a ‘culture industry’ – the opposite of true art- to keep them passively satisfied and politically apathetic’………he also suggested ‘that culture industries churn out a debased mass of unsophisticated and sentimental products which have replaced the more ‘difficult’ and critical art forms which might lead peple to actually question social life.’ (however because this comes from from a site I have no confidence in, is this true?)
The information in the site including the trading cards is reminiscent of those literary sites which summate the works of Dickens into three paragraphs for the illiterate. I would prefer to profess ignorance than mediocrity and painting by numbers, did the art of reading a book and creating your own understanding die out with the world wide web and Wickipedia? Discuss!!

The second part of the task is interesting, I am not prepared to go public with an example of performativity and daily life in my own practice and I will avoid the obvious example of Mathew Barney and ‘the Cremaster Cycle’.

My preference is to direct to the Chisenhale gallery site Here I both listened to Jaki Irvine speak and saw her exhibition ‘In a world like this’. Her multi-screen installation looks at the world of birds of prey at a sanctuary, here she captures the daily relationships between the handler and bird when at rest in private behind the scenes. Then there are the performances which are for the paying public and here the birds and handlers perform daily, different roles which are front of house staged performances. Her work and the nuances of role play that she delicately handles are subtle and reflect our own performativity in daily life.

Filed under: Performatitivy and Daily Life, e-tivities, e-tivity06-0708, glenda, tiip , e-tivity06-0708, glenda, tiip

e-tivity 06 – Identity – Performativity and Daily Life

Revisitng my notes from the presentation given by Iceberg on the subject of Identity we raised the issue of how art can be used to disrupt people’s routines so that they think about the everyday differently, using art as a strategy to defamiliarise the mundane, the automatic response to daily stimuli . Thus inviting an audience to consider the extraordinary in the ordinary, to celebrate life and its wonders and realign themselves with what’s truly important about life. Often it is the great events in a life like birth, marriage, divorce, illness and death that cracks our everyday existence and is a potential catalyst for transformation, forcing us to re-evaluate our lives. I know for myself that when I am able to see things differently, I feel expanded, uplifted and empowered to live my values. Being creative through making art, dancing, making music, playing with friends, being part of rituals, witnessing other’s creativitiy are potential pattern interrupts for me. Experiencing the powerful forces of nature and tasting the daily labours and attitudes of societies that are different and less resourced than my own, interrupts my habitual view of the world that I inhabit. It is an amazing wonder that I have this medium called electricity that is conducted into my home so that I can use this computer. It is an absolute gift that I can eat delcious, healthy food without having to labour to plant, tender and harvest it.

So we examined the work of artists like Cindy Sherman who has played with her physical appearance to simulate various iconic images of women from the 50’s and 60’s and the use of dolls, puppets and sculpture to show woman as sex object and hag. Indeed artists like Orlan go one step further to use her own body and the procedures of plastic surgery to make “carnal art”, transforming her face with the aim of attaining unconventional beauty and questioning the role of the body in society and how we identify with our own bodies. More culturally familiar figures that are chameleons are music artists like Madonna and Kylie Monogue, who are constantly reinventing themselves and could be said to be nourishing the media’s lust for the surface and superficial of life, the ‘appearance’. In the past, artists such as Mary Cassatt unusually depicted the everyday world of 19th century women, mothers and children in intimate domestic portraits free from sentmentality and idealisation. Today, artists like Tracey Emin uses all aspects of her life in her work, suggesting intimate autobiographical accounts can be turned into broader statements about everyday life that have value in society.

Theodor Adorno argues that Capitalism and its emphasis on growth and consumption produces a culture where its members are both politically passified and satisfied and I would say, hypnotised into identifying with and justifying the meaning of life through the creation of false needs and its concurrent obsession with commodities (commodity fetishes) As Grayson Perry puts it ‘we are what we buy’ – the focus is on product rather than process. when surely the quality of our lives is about the excitement, gratitude and joy we feel in our daily lives – giving meaning to our daily work and how it shapes our being rather than the having that results from it. So how can we establish a healthy identity in society as we seek to fulfill our roles as siblings, parents, sons and daughters, friends, colleagues, neighbours, business owners, voters…?

Purpose: In the process of further exploring this topic I came across Theory.org.uk – an on-line resource created by our very own professor of media and communications here at westminster university, David Gauntlett. I invite you to study the site, the structure and the content with the aim of thinking about individual testimony and intimate experience ‘v’ the forces of society, history and memory.

Task: Select one of his Theory Trading Cards (official or unofficial) and further explore and present information on this topic in relation to identity, performativity and daily life. I would also like you to describe either a personal experience of performativity in relation to your art practise or briefly refer to an artist’s work you have seen in situ that resonates with this topic for you. Please enclose an image in your e-tivity and I hope you find it useful.
Respond: Come back to the tiip’s blog, read your classmates posts and leave a comment with your feedback.

Timeline:

Task: Friday, February 23rd
Respond: Tuesday, february 26th

Filed under: e-tivities, e-tivity06-0708, esther, tiip

Fergie @ del.icio.us.

I have noticed that my del.icios.us posting has not appeared on the blog. So I’m reposting it, along with my views of how I use the webpage.

My del.icios.us webpage is not going to be just a bookmark page that works within the Tiip blog, it is more of a ‘traveling notepad’ that keeps me up to date with general information I want and need. I guess thats the point of the whole sites agenda, but what makes it a really useful tool, which I now really on, is that I can receive links to other peoples del.icio.us bookmarks where I can find information from other websites I never thought of looking at. So not only is it a tool in itself, it is a tool I use to gain access to other tools. I do use it for artistic information, but I use it to keep up with current affairs, economics, and information I need for my travels.

I also like to think of my del.icio.us. pages as a communication device for others, so we can share information globally. It hasn’t grown it to that kinda of page yet, but its early days. So here is the link – http://del.icio.us/powerferg. Let us share what we find…?

Filed under: e-tivity03-0708, fergie

Simulation/Simulacrum: Media Keywords Glossary.

As W. J. T. Mitchell explains in the home page of the Glossary of Keywords of Media Theory of the University of Chicago, “the terms are organised within the structure of the interface like tiles”, and by clicking into them you can dive into the essays written, and very well argumented and referenced by the students of the University of Chicago. What it draws the most my attention of this lay out is the clarity and the easy navegation of the site, in which, as Mitchell remarks the “keywords are hotlinked within the body of the essay as well as by a quicklinks menu. These hotlinked terms lead the reader from one essay to the next in a crawling network of terms”. Also, the terms are activated as tags and, therefore, can be easily found through the use of engine searchers as Google.

The website constitutes an interactive matrix of key terms in Media, researched by the students of Chicago University, which can be used like a first step to fully understand contemporary concepts of Media practice, and from which following the links of the chain you can find the bibliography, and therefore gain access to the original sources in which the arguments of the essays are based on. Therefore, this site is a good point of reference for researchers and learners in general that aim to understand Media theories, and to develop a personal point of view.

D.Sandoz and J. Topor in their definitions of Simulation/simulacrum, draw an historical journey of the evolution of these concepts, starting from the Greek Classics, Plato and Aristotle,until the Contemporary thinkers and authors, such as, Gilles Deleuze and Jean Baudrillard.

Devin Sandoz starts his argument giving to us the offcial definitions of these terms from the Oxford English On-line Dicitionary:

Simulation is defined as “the action or practice for simulating, with an intent to deceive”, whereas Simulacrum is defined as “ something having merely the appearance of a certain thing, without possessing its substance or proper qualities” and as a mere image, a specious imitation or likeness, of something”.

D.Sandoz carries on defining theses terms analysing the article written by Michael Camille
“Simulacrum” in the “Critical terms of the Simulacrum” depicting Plato’s theories. In this paper, M. Camille exposes Plato’s ideas regarding simulacrum, through the analysis of the “Allegory of the Cave” (The Republic: Book VII. 360 BC), from which Sandoz concludes that, “The simulacrum uses our experience of reality against us, creating a false likeness that reproduces so exactly our visual experience with the real that we cannot discern the falseness of the imitation.”.

D. Sandoz also overviews Michael Camille’s text analysing Gilles Deleuze’s essay “Plato and the Simulacrum” in which he focuses the simulacrum as something positive within the art context”

“the simulacrum is not a degraded copy. It arbors a positive power which denies the original and the copy, the model and the reproduction” (Camille: 33).

Furthermore, Deleuze by the deniying this relationship of original and copy, highlights the identity of the simulacrum as an original in its own ends.

“The artwork, then, is neither an original, nor a copy nor a representation. It is a simulacrum a work that forms part of a series that cannot referred to be an original beginning”.

(Kelly, D Ed. (1998). Encyclopedia of the Aesthetics. Oxford:UP)

This point of view was already proposed by Plato in the “Cratylus Dialogue “
(360, BC) in which the philosopher starts developing a theory of the Semiotics exploring the nature of language and the arbitrary relationship whithin the signs between signifier and signified, as Ferdinand de Saussure theorises two millenniums after “in Course in General Linguistics” (1915).

“SOCRATES: Let us suppose the existence of two objects: one of them shall be Cratylus, and the other the image of Cratylus; and we will suppose, further, that some God makes not only a representation such as a painter would make of your outward form and colour, but also creates an inward organization like yours, having the same warmth and softness; and into this infuses motion, and soul, and mind, such as you have, in a wordcopies all your qualities, and places them by you in another form; would you say that this was Cratylus and the image of Cratylus, or that there were two Cratyluses?

CRATYLUS: I should say that there were two Cratyluses.”

http://philosophy.eserver.org/plato/cratylus.txt

In this text, Plato denies the existence and the relationship between an “original” and a “copy” admitting the existence of “two originals”. This point taken by Deleuze as something positive within the art context, has been critisized by the Simulationists, such as , Baudrillard, Humberto Eco and Jorge Luis Borges that denounce, in the social context, the lost of the contact with the reality, that has been replaced by its representation, by its hyperriality.

For Baudrillard, according to Sandoz “the signs are not exchanged for meaning, but merely for another sign”. Or, as Joanna Topor highlights regarding this author’s point, “the world, as we know it now, is constructed on the representation of the representations”.

Jorge Luis Borges in 1960 writes the short story “Rigor in Science” in which establishes a metaphor of this hyperreality in which the cartographers of one Empire draw a map of it in scale 1:1, in a way that the map, the representation, ends up substituting the real territory of the Empire.

“… In that Empire, the Art of Cartography reached such Perfection that the map of one Province alone took up the whole of a City, and the map of the empire, the whole of a Province. In time, those Unconscionable Maps did not satisfy, and the Colleges of Cartographers set up a Map of the Empire which had the size of the Empire itself and coincided with it point by point. Less Addicted to the Study of Cartography, Succeeding Generations understood that this Widespread Map was Useless and not without Impiety they abandoned it to the Inclemencies of the Sun and of the Winters. In the deserts of the West some mangled Ruins of the Map lasted on, inhabited by animals and Beggars; in the whole Country there are no other relics of the Disciplines of Geography.”

http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2005/07/-google-maps-ac.php

Therefore, for Baudrillard our experience of this hyperreal world is mediated by the media, and simulation becomes the essence of mediation. As J. Topor points out:

“Films attempt to depict reality, thereby dictation what reality should look like. In the end it becomes impossible to know what came first, the filmic depiction of reality of reality itself.”

Or as D. Sandoz exposes quoting Bautdrillard, “the dissolution of the tv into life, the dissolution of life into media.”

As matter of fact, the other day I went with my friends to a concert in central London, and I had the pleasure of finding on my way five Madonnas, three David Bowies and seven Blondies.

Filed under: e-tivity04-0708, iceberg, tiip

Postcolonial Studies – e-tivity 05

The site created at Emory University for its students in postcolonial literature and theory is extensive. It is a great way to gather seeds of inspiration about this and related topics. The design though is very basic and quite old fashioned in web terms, however the sprinkling of images does help to break the text up and give more space to the theme. This is a site that has grown over the last 11 years with the vision of not merely being a resource for students at Emory but to aid the investigation of the theme for anyone interested. It clearly includes reference sources and likewise establishes strong boundaries about the use of content of its own pages. Personally, I am not keen on being given a Warning! and the amount of information elements to include in a reference (if given) seem over the top, especially with regard to date of access, network and length, but then I am a reference virgin. I do understand that it’s important to credit peoples’ ideas and writing so that students can delve deeper and follow a credible and progressive avenue of thought.

I think the grouping of authors/critics/terms and issues/journals is a good structure but I get a bit bored with the list approach. Especially for Issues perhaps there is a way to present the links in a mindmap formation which would give us a bit more information about the timings and connections of various subtopics. The biographies of the authors and critics were sufficient but not necessarily very inspiring. I personally think it always adds power to quote actual text to illustrate various ideas from the authors and critics referred to. I also feel that a consistent approach is important ie. to illustrate major works and themes for all persons mentioned – at times there were major disparities in the length and quality of information presented. Having said that the referencing and links was generally of a very high quality and would serve any potential postcolonial investigation.

I welcome this genre of collaborative writing that seems to have been catalysed by academia. As tutors have sought to create a shared resource for their students they have realised that the collating and sharing of that information can be beneficial to many others in their pursuit of knowledge. With the introduction of internet technology and blogging, in effect we are able to present one another and often total strangers with our ideas (?) about other people’s ideas and our own research and experience. This new platform of self expression then enables discourse and discussion. I personally welcome any medium that supports and encourages us to write both spontaneously and methodically about ideas and values we are being asked to examine or hold in the world. Writing is a great skill and I suspect the more we do it and relax and enjoy the process, the more fluid and eloquent it can become.

Certainly as an artist it appears that to compete in the ‘art world’ on any real level, it is imperative that one find one’s voice outside the art. These days it is an integral process in making and exhibiting art, to be able to articulate your ideas about it, framing and contextualising them. Artists have to be sophisticated beings groomed to appear on a world stage, touched by the scent of celebrity. Art has also had to compete for resources nationally and through business sponsorship or patronage. From my limited knowledge it appears that whilst the whole debate about what art actually is or could be, has opened up dramatically over the past half century, it has become an ever competitive, dynamic and potentially lucrative market. There is more at stake – greater press coverage, celeb status, more prestigious art prizes, sophisticated and entrepreunarial collectors and dealers to contend with. The pressure to appear professional and authoratitive, indeed ‘a specialist’ is ever present in a bid to stand out and be noticed.

In addition in this age of postmodernism where art is seen not to be original, instead a simulacram, a copy, a representation or combination of existent elements, it becomes a higher priority to explain the work, piercing its surface and apparent superficiality. So the practice of writing and articulating ideas becomes ever more important. The gleaning of the writing talents of others through internet sites and blogs, through e-publishing and forums as well as more traditional media acting as potential catalysts, references and authorities for our own ideas, perception and interpretation of so called ‘reality’. I am really appreciative of this vision of sharing, cooperation and potential collaboration. I also like the more open academic approach to licensing as seen on www.creativecommons.org whereby you can choose to waive some of your rights over the authorship or creation of work. It could be construed that such licensing which can give people permission to use work for academic or commercial activity promotes creativity and success breeds success philosophy. Yet I do have reservations about l businesses such as photographic, design and advertising agencies using work for commercial projects without due recompense.
We live in a world where science and technology are extremely dominant and sophisticated elements of our everyday lives. As our lives grow in complexity and the business of science competes with the arts for resources, it appears that art whether it chooses to reflect the state of culture in the present day or not, must at least contribute a coherent, analytical debate.

Blessings esther

Filed under: e-tivity 05, esther, tiip

Post colonial vs keywords

A comparison of two sites is consistent with Anna and Jim’s comments, in that the Emory site is very old fashioned in construction , however that does not detract from its clarity of navigation and use. It also states very clearly that that there will be limitations in links as it does not repeat what is freely available elsewhere. My thoughts are that the construction and navigation was like our own LRC infolink and it responded quickly. what I also liked was that the linkages were external and provided further linkages rather than the internal links of the keywords site and I felt a more robust research tool. The only downside was that in some sections the linked sites were fairly repetitive and limited however that was its caveat. I also liked the simplicity of the ‘how to cite our pages’ section.

By comparison although the Keywords site was more contemporary it was fairly simplistic with the only a few external links, its main interactivity was between its own content. It was easy to use, I found irritating to read with the distraction of of the moving words across the top of the site. I think it’s intended audience it more internal than the Emory site and I also found the lack of a consistent level of research annoying. I do like the collaborative approach that both sites have however I think they should both be constantly updated and monitored for quality of content if they wish to become an authoritative resource channel. I think there is a need for sites of this type and perhaps Google could fill this market gap on its ’scholar’ site. My favourite site for a starting point is del.icio.us as it often has some good leads for research, however my preference is to use primary research sources and books for inspiration and use the web to validate.
Our own site is a challenge as we are currently only blogging in response to an e-tivity or to post a comment where we can assist someone’s research. I think the discussion sites for the topics should be utilised more and perhaps our essays published on the site after submission. I also like the use of linked http: sites.

Filed under: e-tivity 05, glenda, tiip , e-tivity05, glenda

Simulation/Simulacrum, Keywords site

The site is an interesting concept and it is always easier to critique, however I had some issues and possibly a different opinion to some of the feedback. I think the site is more excited about the conceptual format, and it is a good concept, than the execution of it’s content and context. I explored a selection of links that I either have an interest in and have some knowledge of, as well as the two set texts. Generic to all that I examined I found that often the blue links to be followed were often not relevant or intelligent to the context they were applied to ( a question is; do the authors link the words or is it automatic within the site?) In the two simulation/simulacrum texts I found both to have a paucity of references especially compared to other entries and neither used any references that were contemporary so for me the academic content did not surprise or inform could be compared to one of Wikipedia’s better pages. Comparing the two entries S/S (1) Devin Sandoz used his references to only to paraphrase and did not contextualise to contemporary media. I felt the essay had a poor construction and I need to go to the conclusion to understand his discourse. S/S (2) for me had more clarity and more considered own thinking, also more references and annotated notes, the style however was more journalistic than academic. She did attempt to contextualise more of the material but again could have cited more examples and then discussed them in relation to the theory. Neither discussed the theory in terms of the full range of contemporary media art work or original thought. What was interesting about the site is that like wikipedia it appears to be self regulated and there was not a consistent level of understanding or research across any of the keyword entries. So as an information or research interface it would be a lucky dip.

Filed under: e-tivity04-0708, glenda, tiip , e-tivity4, glenda, tiip

Postcolonial Studies – e-tivity 05

On entering the  Emory University Postcolonial site I was immediately struck by its uncanny resemblance to the ‘Encarta encyclopedia’  software that seemed to be used by everyone prior to the internet’s arrival. No doubt it was the basis for the aesthetics and design of this site when it began in 1996.

However, I did not find the information; of which there is alot, to be as sparse as the general backdrop of the site itself. The site is very thorough in covering all the bases of the subject, including all recognised authors of the time etc. However, it feels much like the old Encarta format; an encyclopedia, full of dry and ‘factual’ information. This in turn led me to boredom and scan reading. True, the University of Chicago site still operates in a similar manner, filling the page with textual information. Yet it remains more discursive throughout, which engages the viewer when reading.

 I find that both sites reference texts etc. very throughly, but still favour the more modern University of Chicago approach; placed alongside the text, as they are instantly attainable at a glance. Thus the flow of reading is undisturbed. A strong point of both sites are the links on words of importance, or that are referenced elsewhere in on the site. This allows the reader to jump back and forth easily between links in theory and opinion. This is a tactic that I feel we could utilise on our site, and is something I wish to do with my own writing on the tiip site.

 As regards the collaborative nature of both sites I am still undecided of the implications upon the researcher. I feel this is mainly because I did not distinguish between 1 writer to the next, particularly on the Postcolonial site. They are overly formulaic in my opinion. To dry and factual, and with it authoritive. I do not feel this is how we should be working on our site: We are researchers, not encyclopedia writers. I feel we should set about pulling things apart, picking at them and then making connections and working them in as links between our pages.

Filed under: e-tivity 05, jim