re.sonance.network.mission.007 Book Presentation
Claudia Bosse
23rd November 2007
Bauermarkt, 9 Wien
I think I'm overwhelmed with giving a commentary over this book.
I tried to surf my way through this book and was first of all impressed by the quantity and variety, and then I asked myself which kind of approach is this where basically you don't apply/have/use selection criteria in the form of how art methods are presented, not present products, but furthermore orient yourself by working methods, approaches, analyses in which context you're inscribing yourself.
So perhaps a couple of comments, questions, and I don't see myself as an expertwhat I find interesting is this form of network structure and in how far these network structures try to undermine knowledge paths and appropriate resources. What really impressed me were exactly those projects that, e.g., through mailing lists, tried to insert this kind of knowledge transfer into country that are not necessarily close. For instance these projects in Kenya, or for instance these network projects in Tallin and Helsinki. These projects give me a first-hand impression of what these projects can actually achieve.
And the part of it that I'm interested in is how far, based on a situation of scarcity, or personal interests, you introduce yourself into countries, develop completely different projects, where non-utilisable projects arise, as for instance Economy Class, but at the same time challenge the value-adding economy of the art market.
The other thing I find interesting is ... well sometimes it's a question of drawing the limits/borderlines/boundaries by/to institutions. Institutionalised limtations of intents and trials/attempts to undermine again the distribution hierarchy of the art market in order to like in the same way the book is structured, value-free without idealogic quality control, present materials. This for me is absolutely striking.
And then I continue asking myself which systems are there, then in place to order this, then, as an archive of artistic and political productions. On the other hand, what I found interesting, in a lot of texts where methods were presented, it was always about communities. And I asked myself, what is this community idea that prevails here so much.
It seems as if in these cooperation projects, especially in these cooperation projects with Austria, that a project format, organisation structure from here, to convey / transfer for instance to Kenya, and there/then a neutral questioning is started. And I had the impression that for instance, a workshop that took place, for instance for the technology that has a certain automation process for certain media and on the other hand what is interesting of these approaches/procedure, the same approach here in Vienna, or in our areas, in the same way would not be fruitful.
I had the impression, and I think that's an interesting question, how this provision of access to possibilities, in focal points where network structures do not exist, how this questions and makes more precise the prevailant art strategies of the here and now. That means, basically, not to say that we can offer knowledge anymore, but, based on the different needs and different knowledges, how you get completely questioned in your own organisation, in your transfer of knowledge, where you operate from. And this raises the question, how can you still transmit it? Which strategies do you utilise?
Beyond the community idea/notion (which by the way, was not always very clear to me) I asked myself which form of inclusion and exclusion is community based on? How far certain social limitations were a criteria? And this would be a question for each individual project. I really have to question what is the definition of "free art" and/or I would be really interested which analysis procedure would work beyond this constraint or these anti-images? Because there are all these projects called No- or Not- or This-is-Not-so-and-so . . . so these definitions are done very often by negating processes through which you draw your limits and through which you try to apply appropriation techniques.
And I ask myself what is the free-artist term under which you operate? And perhaps those organisations or these ideologies of these knowledge transfers that happened within these projects, perhaps what has to be asked as well is which other power-relationships get transmitted again? Or, even in how far they get re-transported?
I understood the methods in most cases, and the applications, and this is the huge quality of this collection. And, but, what I'm missing is the critique of these approaches, or rather, the absorption of how these strategies again get used, understood, and amplified, and in how far in a feedback sense, this poses questions on your own self-concept of your artistic praxis.
As far as I know it, from here, Vienna, you go out to certain frontiers, and where "open source" is understood as a model for analysis of society. You can suddenly look at certain limits or non-communicative areas, like for instance, between Tallin and Hellsinki, and how basically through a view from outside, through this networking, control and initiatives from other organisations can take place. And how through that again material can come back into the net structure that we are all so at home in.
Or to explain it another way, with which self-concept are we working, in which are we moving, under which underlying conditionings, under which regulations? These are the questions I could pose. And so if information, a lot of time, very political information, can be distributed so easily, if everybody is organising him or herself, if the autonomous net-space is available, where is this moment when you say if everybody participates in a network, what would be the perspective of this if the information transfer takes place all over the place?
Where does that lead to if this moment of multiplicity of this expansion that I find really great, where does that lead to? And where is this information, content, media intervention, application, usable or, capturable? I have to annex that this system of consciously curating through non-curating, a collection of material, that I see in opposition to that which I would call art-piece art-market-administration into which we are progressively moving in the sense of curatorial competence that thankfully adds and subtracts symbolic capital, is absolutely important, essential, awesome.
And all this applies to the collection in this book. I really can't say more! I think it's amazing that this book exists.
Vienna, 23rd November 2007. Translated from German.
Tagr.TV video of the Presentation in original German.