here you find
several texts from several people. all texts are
touching or revolving on subjects and projects within the wide context of
the big social game and the part the net work plays in it.
under each text you'll find a forum please feel free to intervene and widen
the views!
we are happy to present also written reflections from (almost) all bigguests
and want to say thanks to all of you - to all bigguests and to all other friends
and mind-neighbours who took the time to talk, to think and to write for this
occasion, or gave us fresh texts out of their processes -
muchisimas gracias,
thanks a lot,
mille grazie!
c a l c 03-2002
CALIFORNIAN IDEOLOGY
At the end of the twentieth century, the long predicted convergence of the media, computing and telecommunications into hypermedia is finally happening. Once again, capitalism's relentless drive to diversify and intensify the creative powers of human labour is on the verge of qualitatively transforming the way in which we work, play and live together.
more . . .
64245 - an overdue report
50 years ahead -
a long-time introduction
Too much has been said and written about the symbolic meaning of this "attack on America". And mostly it was the simplistic point of all interpretation that these two towers - that allegedly nobody had liked before- suddenly became the symbols of the economic power, and therefore the freedom of the western world. Nothing against a touch of drama, but a statement like this is nothing else but overrating the meaningfulness architecture.
more . . .
SUPERPRISON
Superprison is a project that openes the door to the world of inmates held in prison. By establishing a studio where inmates can transmit programmes to "the world outside", Superprison seeks to break down the walls of prison as an idea of isolation. The Tool of Superchannel.org gives acces to marginal groups of society to express themselves in moving pictures broadcasted at the internet. Superprison takes the full consequence of this Tool by giving voice to the people that society decided should be locked up, hidden away, isolated in prisons round the world.
more . . .
Internet, or a notion beyond nations
one year ago, when a happy Michelangelo Pistoletto came to us - he had just been appointed artistic director of the Biennale of Turin - and asked us which 'host country' he could invite, we found ourselves confronted with a problem.
today, which country could still be considered as the 'legitimate cradle' of 'its artists', and which artist would be willing to represent his nation?
more . . .
FROM THE MYTH TO STANDARD PRACTICE
And a history of the Internet
When in the mid Nineties, the Internet set off on its path to success, expectations were high - too high. So, even before most people knew how to use a browser or surf on the digital network, a myth was born: the myth of a new and wonderful world in which you could go beyond the limits of space and time to create the places of utopian visions and bring them to life. As the technology of the world of the net progressed, it became possible, but also necessary, to break the myth's spell. And that's just one aspect.
more . . .
The Realitylab
Our whole culture is an artificial construction, a user-interface for daily life and our social relations.
We are living in an enormous cultural bubble, created by tools and media throughout human history. From this point of view we should rather say "We established ourselves" or better "we made our world" instead of "we conquered earth and tamed nature". Nature and culture, are both constructions.
more . . .
We are still fleeting, afterall
We are still scared, afterall
Very scared, though sucking
from the great fountain
of knowledge.
more . . .
Artists and agora
I'm not sure if Hannah Arendt was a genius, but whatever is decided : her work deserves to be read by artists. And in particular by artists reflecting their role and responsibility in society. Here a brief example of her thoughts in order to show you how I come to recommend that.
more . . .
MOVEMENTS AND PASSAGES :
THE LESSON OF NET ART
Abstract
Highlighting the strategies and patterns of interaction and creation that net art has been able to inquire and investigate from the very first with a dismantling attitude, this paper stresses how their analysis can lead to a reflection that goes beyond a self-referential criticism and enhance the contemporary debate about more complex philosophical and practical issues, like the design of interaction and the development of socio-technical systems.
more . . .
PETTEK
If you can't beat them join them.
Then beat them.
The "Pettek" project proposes to run a list of its members for the next elections for the Israeli parliament, The Knesset.
"Pettek" project attempts to function on several levels; in the art world, in local (Israeli) politics, on the internet and through mass media and publicity.
The "Pettek" project identified the election campaign as a powerful platform onto which "Pettek" members wish to upload contents and actions.
more . . .
POOR ITALY
Thoughts from an Italian emigrant
I reached adulthood in the midst of the 80s and the 90s, just at the beginning of a " televisual existentialism " that today has produced what we see and read everywhere.
I belong to the " Berlusconi generation ", I belong to that public that has progressively stripped itself of its ideals and is now more and more in search of hedonism.
I am part of a concept : " Italians ", not a location, not a moral model but an ethical and an aesthetic one.
more . . .
About ownership to land
Logic
Most of our thinking and our discussions are conducted on a level where we repeat and repeat our habitual conceptions to each other. We assume that there are no other conditions to decide whether something is right or wrong, except that one does not contradict oneself nor is inconsistent with facts. Beyond this there exists only more or less thoroughly grounded subjective opinions. However, there is a level so basic that it normally does not appear in our conscious mind, where everything does not revolve around subjective opinions. At this level things are simply right or wrong.
more . . .
The importance of amusing a soul for a soul's sake
Internet Archaeology
A proto-history of communication describing how the key ingredients of an Internet philosophy as they are outlined on the horizon slowly came together: the beginning could be traced back before the 20th century, although some Net theorists find it difficult to look back any further than the nineteen hundreds.
more . . .
The museum as a colonialist machine...
What influences does internet have in the practice of contemporary art?
What impact does it have in the imaginary of 21st Century citizens, that
live more and more under an intense flux of images, sounds, messages and
language games? What will then be the role of art networks, through
institutions and criticism in the filtering and displaying of those art
forms that incorporate premisses dependant on the new modes of
representation, information and comunication?
more . . .
INTERNATIONAL FLANERIE IN THE 21st CENTURY:
COMPLETING THE PICTURE
by Gwen Jones
A flâneur is a solitary man, and it is always a man, who wanders through a European city as if it were a luxury assortment of visual treats, lovingly created by hand just for him. As he strolls through the streets, he penetrates the fancy wrapping and ostentatious surface layers, creating an individualised freedom within the constraints imposed by the city.
more . . .
The expert base, a blind date
The expertbase - an electronic pinboard. It doesn't eliminate the paper mess, with notes of telephone numbers, names and little references, but it extends it to include a new dimension. In high-flying jargon, the expert base is a multi-functional data base. Practically speaking however, 'Everyone Is an Expert' alias 'ognuno e un esperto', is nothing more than an agency in the Internet.
more . . .
Modem Drama
The project consists of an interactive net.film which is shown in high schools, much in the way of the old soviet railroad kino, which would go to factorys and speak with the working class about problems happening in society and looking for ways in which to solve them.
more . . .
Our path to Safe Food.
The structure of the SAFE FOOD project was originally defined by an invitation from c a l c to produce a website in response to the c a l c brief for Guestland, i.e. a project that would question the very singular or isolationist properties of so much computer interaction - in this instance on the world wide web.
more . . .
This is the diary of an Advice Bunny at BIG Torino.
22.4.02
We have been here one week already. It has been everything. Exhilarating. Exhausting. Energizing. Aggravating. Surprising. Damning. Frustrating. Enchanting. Tiring. Filling. Confusing. And just dizzying in general.
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etoy.DAY-CARE
etoy.DAY-CARE is in full production mode between april 19 and may 19, infecting the future of torino: 7 days a week etoy.AGENTS train teams of 30 children between 7 and 12 years while they take their first steps on tomorrow's most crucial playground.
more . . .
