Gerald Raunig
gregg smith
Yahoo! Autos. Looking for a sweet ride? Get pricing, reviews, & more on new and used cars.
shepherd steiner
My name is Shep Steiner, I am an art critic and part time theorist. Allow me
to respond to Gerald Raunig’s excellent and complex introduction by first
acknowledging that his breakdown between art and politics -- and following
from this, his identification of an intermediate stance that bridges this
divide (something it seems he is variously for and against as I will
articulate) -- is played out on the current grounds of art, and inasmuch,
usefully maps out a range or spectrum of possible positions for art at the
present moment. (I will be interested to hear if this adequately represents
the spectrum of practices in South Africa.) If the two poles of contemporary
practice are politically engaged art and traditional aesthetic practices
which value beauty, and I’m sure he is right on this point, then there is no
doubt that practices which attempt to bridge this divide have a certain
currency or use value at the present moment. His cautionary tale that the
value of these latter practices should not however be overestimated is
important: as he puts it even here, “the total state is not far away.”
Thus, his compelling set of questions beginning with the aim to “look at
overlapping forms of art and activism that overcome simplistic ideas of
transcendent transgression;” and his interest in “how transgression (can) be
imagined as both a non-totalitarian and non-transcendental phenomenon, as
transgression in the plane of immanence.” Thus, also, the valuation of a
kind of practice that I can only imagine as one which transparently sutures
a performative and constative moment of overlap, and further that escapes
this dialectical closure. If I have adequately summarized Raunig’s point of
interest here, I am sympathetic to his position (with a few qualifications),
but I would like to know and hear more about how he sees and how others see
certain exemplary practices escaping the clutches of such totalizing
imperatives and sets of ideological closures. I have my own hunch that I
will get to in a moment. To my mind, championing the contingencies of the
momentary or the specificities of place are not enough to secure this double
prerogative. Further, I would argue that rather than simply limiting or only
pinning hope on the intermediate term of a spectrum of practices,
possibility potentially lies within each and every unique practice that
makes up the cultural spectrum. This is not cultural relativism, this
confronts the problem of value in Democracy head on, by recognizing that
potentiality is an aporetic structure, seated in unique and exemplary forms
of practice that entirely escapes systematization. In other words, to take
the example of activist art, because the category of the aesthetic
underwrites the use-value of whatever terms of political engagement seem
urgent at whatever time and place, then that unique aesthetic moment can be
opened up to change -- but not completely, the aesthetic is a slippery fish,
it is variable, changes from moment to moment, and only thrives only in a
hypoxic environment – it never really comes up for air, but only seems to
surface or materialize when constative and perfomative moments find a
comfortable unity.
In a sense then, one of the interesting things Raunig seems to be suggesting
or at least tip-toeing around, and I would like to hear him say more on this
touchy issue, is showing up the paucity of practices that position
themselves vis-à-vis other practices in the cultural field -- simplistic
transgression being presumably a transgression that at least in part takes a
stand against someone or something else. I could be very wrong on this
point, but overcoming interpersonal, and further dialectical oppositions
seems to warrant this. To some extent he shows the designations of Left and
Right to be the leftovers of an older vocabulary that no longer have as good
a purchase on the landscape as they once did, though he is not willing to
entirely dismiss the vocabulary for fear of falling into relativism or the
hands of conservative politics and worse. I for one feel this danger. Given
that Raunig’s vocabulary is rooted in Deleuze and Guattari I would be
interested to hear how artists, curators and critics negotiate this terrain
in the South African context. More precisely I would be interested in
hearing about the ways in which you do so by prioritizing what Deleuze and
Guatarri call in Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature, “an asignifying intensive
utilization of language.”(22) They say unequivocably: “There is nothing
that is major or revolutionary except the minor.”(26) The very literary
origin of their politics interests me. I think it has a purchase on our
experience of narrative in contemporary art, on how contemporary art offers
up a range of ways to live differently, without finally nailing anything
(say meaning) down absolutely. Most interestingly perhaps, it reminds us
that their politics for a minor literature is grounded in a very traditional
and even modernist notion of expression, something that they explicitly
argue is not reterritorializable in sense. So much for dismissing the
highest art in the highest places; even if it is a bourgeois archaism or a
left over of the twentieth century, such practices remain one of a number of
possibilities of what art can be. Moreover, it gestures toward ways of
conceptualizing more recent collective, collaborative, spontaneous, or
intentional projects, etc., that may in fact be mining new forms of
expression, and not targeting new audiences, as Raunig deftly puts it.
In any case, the provocative call that Raunig puts forth for “transgression…
imagined as both a non-totalitarian and non-transcendental phenomenon, as
transgression in the plane of immanence” remains: I hope to have only
focused his point on the question of expression, and expanded the possible
field of inclusiveness.
Nathaniel Stern
things about my own work - you can visit the link to my site below if
you'd like to know more about me.
Rather than begin or respond in the format that seems to have already
taken shape on this list, I'd like to pose a few questions-as-
provocations that may write across some of the points made thus far -
this is not to devalue anything anyone has said, but rather to
propose an/other discourse, perhaps a stab at the "non-totalitarian
and non-transcendental," a way to further 'complexify' and avoid too
much reduction in face of a good argument... Some notes and things:
Are there no aesthetic choices made, something not spectacularly
beautiful, when we watch Stephen Cohen drinking his own enema?
In South Africa and beyond, is there any mode of art-making, of not-
art-making, of art-labeling, of art relationality that is completely
apolitical, even if aesthetic in origins? In a country where, until
11 years ago, producing art always already meant a challenge to the
apartheid state on some level.... I feel an Agamben "inclusion
through exclusion" coming on.
I think intention, and not passivity, is the only way of completely
avoiding any and all political acts in a work of art - and the
signification of absence would most likely speak volumes here.
Altho I applaud any and all references to Trey Parker, especially
when involving American-government bashing, I wonder about these as
necessarily being diametrically opposed: art-for-sale or public art.
That being said, the word 'transgress' itself, despite its definition
of going beyond or outside boundaries, presupposes said boundaries.
I'd propose a discussion where countries, artists, arts, etc, are
more "boundary projects" (Haraway), emergent and relational.
Incipient, perhaps? An intervention, then, might be said to attempt
'transfiguration,' and aesthetic art-works (verb, not noun) could be
a counter-investment in modes of perception itself (albeit, most
often, looking), on some level; "aesthetic art" has been on this
trajectory since the Impressionists, and I'm not sure anyone is yet
to escape that discourse....
I often surprise myself at how quick I am to jump in, argue, take a
side and debate when two sides are posed, even if beforehand, I never
would have taken either of the two categories to be my choice.
nathaniel (a boundary project) stern
http://nathanielstern.com
Ed Young
WEATHER: 26 DEGREES
LUNCH: HEINEKEN
Good Morning all. Nathaniel, I am really sorry if I made you feel you had to choose a category (was that me?). I am the last to propose such strategies, but I guess my frivolous commentary will be taken seriously from time to time. But, to pick up from yesterday, I wish to outline some of my own concerns surrounding what is commonly known as socially engaging. And I am not so clear about some of these issues so perhaps some of you can shine a torch on the matter.
An artist doesn’t really exist unless they’re having exhibitions in a gallery. And an exhibition never really happened unless it’s been covered by an art magazine. Ad space is taken out in magazines to advertise the shows. And to keep the general communication system going. The system is based on the idea that magazines will cover the shows. It’s not a direct financial relationship, where reviews are actually paid for. But it is nearly. On the other hand, it’s a system that seems to work quite well.
Matthew Collings
The bulk of our knowledge of the international art world, and in many cases within the local South African art scene, is based largely on what we read in magazines, art books and the art press. To most individuals these exhibitions exist mainly in written form and within the viewer’s personal mental constructions. It is a different world to that of international metropolitan art centres such as Paris, New York and London, with their corps of professional critics, curators and above all, internationally recognised artists.
It is interesting to note the international art world’s acceptance of this status quo. However, it also functions within its own structures and complexities. Kendell Geers has commented that:
Life in the art loop is very fragile, even for those you think are secure. Not even the cover of an art magazine is a guarantee for longer than six months.
My interest is situated partially within the aspect of how the viewer constructs his/her own mental picture of the events of an exhibition. However, I am also interested in how the artist is able to manipulate and guide the media.
My work has constantly referenced media responses, thus the works developed parallel to the media interest that has frequently surrounded my production.
I believe that the public arena that this work occupies is located in the media, not just in news articles but also in the form of SMS wars with the “but is it art” debate. And this is where it gets really interesting. Because it starts involving audiences and debates from regions one would never dream of engaging, even elderly ladies. And because these responses remain mostly negative, the debate gets heated. I am not interested in a good debate. I am interested in any debate. So when this kind of strategy can be used to engage a wider audience it is good enough for me.
This is what I meant yesterday: when the term “socially-engaged” art gets mentioned, one is immediately reminded of community based work, political work, Stephen Hobbs and urban development with ‘Senegalese man’, and the like. But for me if this term can mean pissing off (or should it be pissing on?) the general public, it is a good start. When I am confronted by a local Long Street street kid saying: “I saw again what you did in the newspaper today, now give me some money, I want to go swim”, then I think something is starting to work. Don’t get me wrong; I am not dismissing community-based work. But in this case I feel that there are so many areas where development can take place. Socially engaging work is a very broad term. And I think that this broad spectrum should be considered as a whole. And what better place than the media…
marion hamm
I'm coming to this debate from a different framework - that of
"artistically engaged activism", if you want. I have participated and
written about Reclaim the Streets in London and the European noborder
network, and am now working with and writing about
http://indymedia.org.uk.
In this framework, art comes in big time, but more as a practice of
appropriating public space; only very rarely as participation in "the
art world". Artistic practice within the framework of radical politics
or "activism" doesn't ask for political correctness, and it doesn't
care much for definitions of "art" or "politics". The criteria is more
one of "efficiency for a social movement".
I guess this approach touches on what Gerald refers to when he asks:
"How could a kind of immanent transgression be imagined, in which masks
cover nothing other than more masks, in which transgression is not a
matter of a prefigured border separating two identities from one
another, nor a matter of destroying that border, but rather of changing
its quality?"
I'll give you three examples of this "artistically engaged activism":
(1) Tactical Frivolity (2001), (2) The Yes Men, (3) Claremont Road
Campaign (1994). I'd be interested to hear your views about this type
of art - does it belong in this discussion? How does it relate to the
practice many of you are engaged in? How does it relate to the artworld
in general, are there connections? Can you point me to other projects
that may have a similar approach?
(1) During the protests against the World Bank meeting in Prague, 2000,
a bunch of frivoulously dressed pink fairies came closest to the
heavily securiced conference center, some of them even managed to enter
and chat to the delegates:
http://www.burngreave.net/~nick/Pinkbloc.htm
A clip on the indymedia-video "Rebel Colours" shows the fairies dancing
towards a line of riot cops guarding the conference center, accompanied
by samba drums. The cops retreat. The carnivalesque play with meanings
of protest, feminity, sexuality caused irritation. Only for a little
while though, the clip ends with the frivolous fairies running away in
all directions, trying to escape the truncheons of the riot cops.
Quoting from Kate Evan's report:
"Doing an action in a carnival costume is mental. For women, facing
all-male riot police, it is a way of exploiting our vulnerability,
making them see that we're people, not just things to be hit. We all
got hit, but there were some charmed moments. Caz hung back when others
ran, walking in her huge silver costume. With her pink confection of
hair and voluminous skirts she was like the figurehead of our march, a
woman, alone. She and the line of pigs met, and they didn't hit her,
it was like for a moment they couldn't hit her; they pushed her
instead."
Art as activist practice: The objective was to shut down a meeting of
the imf and worldbank whose politics are highly objectionable. The
method employed by "tactical frivolity" was unexpected performance,
involving costumes, dance, sound and a resolute determination not to be
stopped. The practical preparation process involved, amongst other
things, communication with other parts of what is now called "global
justice movement", taking material and sawing machines to Prague,
making costumes with many others in the convergence center, talking
about the tactics with hundreds of other activists.
The actions of "tactical frivolity" in Prague could be read as an art
performance - using tools of visual communication, an instinctively
efficient knowledge of the challenging potential of aesthetics, being
able to imagine a visually powerful performance ("the artists gaze"),
the skills to materialise this imaginary performance in real space.
And these actions could be read as "socially engaged" - not just
because they were participating in a big protest, but also because the
process involved engaging and skill sharing with a global activist
community, thereby building a positive environment for creative
activities.
But then, this doesn't work if we apply the definition provided by Ed
Young quoting Matthew Collins ("An artist doesn't really exist unless
they're having exhibitions in a gallery etc").
And I doubt that Tactical Frivolity would have been prepared to
perform, say, in the London Barbican. I guess this would not be seen as
particularly efficient from a direct action point of view. It might
have turned the Tactical Frivolity Crew into well-acclaimed performance
artists, but I would assume that this was not part of their objectives.
(2) The actions of the yesmen are another example for "transgressive
action", that is not a matter of destroying the border between art and
activism, but rather of changing its quality. They are much closer to
the artworld than Tactical Frivolity - have had lots of media
attention, exhibited in "official" art spaces etc.
Check them out:
http://www.yesmen.com/ ;-)
and here:
http://www.theyesmen.org/
(3). A third example would be the use of art practices within "Reclaim
the Streets" in London. If you want some background about this
"imaginative form of political articulation", you could browse their
website
http://www.reclaimthestreets.net/,
or have a look at an article I wrote a while ago:
http://republicart.net/disc/hybridresistance/hamm01_en.htm.
Art practices were especially visible during the campaign against the
building of the M11 link road in London, 1994, one of the precursors of
"Reclaim the Streets". For months, people occupied Claremont Road, one
of the roads earmarked for demolition. A quote from the magazine
"aufheben"
http://www.geocities.com/aufheben2/auf_mckay.html
in an article that was published in Steve McKay (ed): DiY Culture:
Party & Protest in Nineties Britain, 1998), describes the use of art
practices within the framework of "reclaiming space":
"People took over the tarmac of the street itself, and only part of it
was open to vehicles. (...) One of the elders of the campaign initiated
the closing of the main part of the street to traffic by building
artworks on the actual tarmac. These works of art were made from
objects in the natural and artificial environment: tree stumps, chains,
bicycle parts etc. This was followed by the turning of the street
itself into a 'living room' by using the furniture, carpets, fittings
and other objects from some of the houses on the street to make actual
rooms on the street. Each had its own character. These rooms did not
simply operate as art - they were functional as living spaces. This
came to be seen as a deliberate echo of (idealized) pre-car communities
where children could play in the street, neighbours socialize etc.
without fear of being knocked down. As more objects filled the street,
and more people took over the road, Claremont was also becoming a
virtual no-go area for the police. In the early days, a local sergeant
would patrol regularly and knock down the artwork each time he went
past. But eventually he stopped going down the street at all. At the
time, we felt we had excluded the police through our own numbers and
power etc.; but in fact part of it was that the police were being
diplomatic. When they deemed the time to be right they came in when
they wanted - as on the 2nd of August when four of our houses were
evicted and demolished with the aid of riot police. Throughout,
however, people led the police to believe that all the artwork and
other objects in the street were easily movable, but in fact many of
them were cemented into the street, or filled with earth and rubble so
they could function as barricades.
In sum, this daily existence of thoroughgoing struggle was
simultaneously a negative act (stopping the road etc.) and a positive
pointer to the kind of social relations that could be: no money, the
end of exchange values, communal living, no wage labour, no ownership
of space."
I was trying to find some pictures of these artworks on the web. This
is the best I can come up with:
http://www.geocities.com/londondestruction/claremont.html
Looking forward to your comments
Marion
Nathaniel Stern
first sentence/email, so no need to apologize - but I'll gladly bank
that apology for the inevitable day when I am insulted by something
you say or do.
;),
nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com
gerald raunig
Absender: rau...@eipcp.net
Betreff: immanent transgression / spacing the line
eine Werbemail (Spam) ist. Bitte löschen Sie die angehängte Nachricht ohne sie
zu öffnen, es sei denn, Sie sind sich sicher, dass diese Nachricht
fälschlicherweise als Spam identifiziert wurde. Das Öffnen von Spam-Nachrichten
könnte Spammern erlauben, Ihre E-Mail-Adresse zu verifizieren.
Wenn Sie Fragen haben oder glauben, diese Nachricht zu Unrecht erhalten zu
haben, kontaktieren Sie bitte die Systemadministratoren.
pts rule name description
---- ---------------------- --------------------------------------------------
0.0 BAYES_50 BODY: Bayesian spam probability is 40 to 60%
[score: 0.5000]
2.0 RCVD_IN_SORBS_DUL RBL: SORBS: sent directly from dynamic IP address
[62.178.197.175 listed in dnsbl.sorbs.net]
3.8 RCVD_IN_DSBL RBL: Received via a relay in list.dsbl.org
[<http://dsbl.org/listing?62.178.197.175>]
0.1 RCVD_IN_NJABL_DUL RBL: NJABL: dialup sender did non-local SMTP
[62.178.197.175 listed in combined.njabl.org]
Ed Young
Jeannine Diego Medina
To summarize, this means that the “hosti” – from which the English word “ghost” stems, as well as the German word “Gast” which designates the invitee – signifies the stranger or foreigner, one who may be hostile or foe (and hence must be defeated until the death or subjugated as slave), but also one who may be a friend or friendly. Therefore, the face of the guest remains ambiguous until it is deciphered.
As can be inferred, from this simple womb of Indo-European nomenclature, stem infinite understandings: those related to war, for example, whereupon fearsome strangers are, if not murdered, domesticated as slaves; also those related to economy, since the stranger can become benevolent via the rituals of exchange of offerings and counter-offerings; those related to psychology, because in psychoanalysis, the crucial notion, of the “ghost”, finds its enclave in the subtle margin between the familiar and the unfamiliar; those related to religion because it is an understanding that attempts to reconcile the distant and the near, the ordinary and the extraordinary.”
Do You Yahoo!? La mejor conexión a Internet y 2GB extra a tu correo por $100 al mes. http://net.yahoo.com.mx
gregg smith
Relax. Yahoo! Mail virus scanning helps detect nasty viruses!
gregg smith
i was born in south africa, and i lived in that country till i
was twenty one years old when i moved to amsterdam, in the
netherlands.i grew up in a palce called bakenberg , a place that
was formely in a homeland called lebowa, then the northern
province , then now the limpopo.i left bakenberg to go to a
place called mooiplaats,to start my middle and high school.it
was 1989.at that time the place was called the max stibbe
waldorf school.it has since changed its name and is now called
the ubuntu centre.
i am an artist.
as a child growing up in bakenberg, there was not much that
i had to do to garner attention, whether i was playing football
or house, there was an anomaly to my being there(in either of
the places where these scenes took place), my voice was very
high for the longest time-it broke when i was almost 20.
i manifested myself by being there.i remember that grace jones had
taken part in a film , and she was featured in a magazine
called true love.i had not yet seen this film(i saw it recently
when it was on tv here in amsterdam), but i was referred to as a
kin to grace jones.
it was not easy to undestand the meaning of this comparison at
the time it certainly did not become easier when i saw grace
jones as mayday in the film ' a view to kill'.i loved grace's
participation in that film also!
when i matriculated in 1993, i took some time off to think about
things, to reflect, and to decide what i wanted to do.one of the
most visible things i did was to create forms in the garden of my
home, using metals and barbed wire, working with discarded cement
bags and plastics.i was not woking in a social space, but i
was working in place that people could see me from as they
walked along the street.i was collecting materials from the street
and the veldt which i intended to use to make my pieces, my
artwork.this was an activity not socially engaged, but it was a
public and a very private act nonetheless. peolpe in my
surrondings commented on what i was doing, they were curious,
they came forth to talk to me.but there was very little in
their reactions that said that they understood , or wanted to
understand what i was doing.they simply wanted to talk, and the
talks were very lively too!
when i went to amsterdam, i was now in a situation to work,
shielded from people, even from my colleagues, everything i did
was private until the moment of revelation- the opening...
in that short space of time when people were huddled together, adn
drinks were flowing, it was possible to have a go at what i
did-or did not do.this was 1997.it was not very long after
that, that art and engagement topic /flashword in artspeak.it
was something that i heard frequently amongst people involved in
the porduction of art.suddenly it was possible to be directly in
touch with people through not life, but art!!!!
a few activities that implied a public participation and, you
were on your way to touch humanity-reach out and touch a hand
in the dark, and make a friend in the process, just do not dare
to meet your friend in the light!the art project remaines just
that, with lip service, concepts, and discussions.perhaps it was a
mere framing device which i took at face value-little did i
know.
i became more hardened when i was confronted by policemen when i
wanted to visit an exhibition of some other artworks , and here
they were at the gates, re-creating something of a pass-law
situation.before i entered the palace of exhibitions, i had to be
photographed and if memory serves me well, i had to be
fingerprinted, and then i was ready to go in, i now had a
pass.words fail to express how i felt at this intrusion, but in a
spirit of participation, i did what had to be done, and all was
well..EXCEPT THAT THIS WAS A SITUATION THAT REPLAYED ITSELFTIME AND
TIME AGAIN WHEN I TRAVELLED FROM THE NETHERLANDS TO ANY OTHER
PLACE INCLUDING SOUTH AFRICA, WITH DELAYS AND DETENTIONS FOR HOURS
ON END IN SOME CIRCUMSTANCES!
i was more confused by this activity and others which were to
follow in the name of art.i found meself troubled by this
parallelism between the activities of art and of real life.i was
myself asked to tkae part in other projects of art that were
to activate some kind of engagement between the life and art,
and what ireally found interesting was that real life experience
was a lot more vivid than being in a situation to respond to an
artwork that responded to acts in real life.that sometimes some
of the most engaged processes happen behind drawn curtains, and
i developed a series of doubts as to the extent of the impact
of socially engaged art to real life.
as for my projects, i developed one project in helsinki, finland,
in an area called vuosaari, it was part of a bigger project
called 'under the same sky' , the project was called
appearance and disappearance ,from view disappearance and appearance.
it was a public art project with potential for people to be
dis-engaged or engaged. i had three mirrors that were created and
put in the parcours of vuosaari.i had to intention of being there
beyond the date of my project, and so the work was placed
there, latently,it was a very well to do area, i was not a part
of the social fabric, and i wanted people to use the mirrors ans
some kind of obkects literally for reflection,and since iwas not
there to witness this i supose that they did.the mirrors were later
moved to an island called suomenlina, were they are now
probably very well preserved.people understood that this was art,
and that maybe they ought to keep away from it.
i did a second project with the museum for ethnolgy in leiden,
nad in these one sees three figures running forever and
ever.again, the piece is in a place on a street level, it is
nearby the station, and i suppose if there are any feelings of
engagement, it is something that i am not privy to, people
probably have a moment of reflection and move on about their
daily lives, because what they see is art, and it is not a
confrontation that they would like to have with their daily life,
only that which is ingrained in their social fabrice, that which
does not appear strange to them, that which if it is strange
they can name.
i understood that mayday was a social phenomenon that people
could relate to, but apeearances and disappearances are a little
more too hot, too strange, and perhaps remain so for people that
have nothing to do with the cult of art.
Yahoo! Mail
Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.
Ed Young
I AM A POST-COLONIAL, RACIST, HOMOPHOBIC, MISOGYNIST, ANTISEMITE:
How to tolerate other people’s shit-marks on the toilet wall
“Certainly there is enough anecdotal evidence to support perceptions that art in South Africa remains centred on white privilege, and that in the post-apartheid era the gatekeepers of art often act in ways that can at best be described insensitive to the barbarism of our imperial and colonial heritage. In my view the most vivid example of this is provided by Ed Young’s Bruce Gordon, and the generally favourable reception of this ‘very clever and very entertaining’ work received in the art media. White South Africans staged a mock auction centred on the notion of selling someone as art (the ‘work’ was later ‘donated’ to the South African National Gallery). They did this less than a decade after the black majority acquired rights not to be treated as the property of whites. They did this a short walk from where human beings were sold into slavery. They did this in a context of increasing awareness of trafficking of woman and children. Yet we are expected to discuss this cheap act of self-publicity within the context of Western art and theory. If one of the premises of ‘real time’ work is to bridge ‘art’ and ‘life’, then Bruce Gordon presents a strong indictment of the failure of elements within the white art elite to bridge that gap.”
Apparently these occurrences are typical in Cape Town’s avant-garde circles, apparently the thief acted on behalf of an art collaborative known as FlashArt [i.e. Galerie Puta], and apparently Cape Town’s art world is dangerously incestuous, a self-sustaining playground for rich kids posing as artists.
Adam Leech
the "so far" note that gregg wrote seems to touch on many of the basic
strategies artists have come up with when it comes to "meaningful
communication" and "letting the world happen as a fluid form in which
difference floats..." in relation to social art.
the idea of people becoming implicated in their own narrative was also
mentioned
some issues come to mind -- it has something to do with the
conditioning process one must go through to "let the world happen as a
fluid form... AND... to be implicated in ones own narrative...
in some ways they are at odds...
i guess it seems to ask people to sustain a high level of
representational understanding of the world (implicated in ones one
narrative) and a high level of 'ebb and flow' behavior.
on the one hand sustaining these seemingly contradictory behaviors is
what we do every day in our lives. but in this context it is more
complex...it seems to be asking for a level of enchantment.
adam
gregg smith
Jill Magid
would have liked to.
I have been following the emails thus far, and like Gregg, I too was
caught on the word enchantment
that Adam brought up.
Hmm, the issue of enchantment...
As I have understood it, enchantment is a result rather than a device.
Enchantment is what happens when
the imaginary or the phantasy somehow begins to take over- or grow
forth- from reality. I think it is fair to say that this is the moment
I long for, and that all the research I do that is 'socially engaged'
is to get to this point, where enchantment
takes over. I think Gregg is referring to this moment as well.
Adam brings up the quotes of "let the world happen as fluid form"...
AND... "to be implicated in ones own narrative..." as being somewhat at
odds.
Perhaps this is rather a linear experience: One begins following along
as things are happening (observation), then steps inside of the process
(engagement), gets lost, and at a certain moment becomes self-conscious
again. By self conscious I mean finding a kind of recognition of
oneself, in this new position (after having gone through a process).
A few entries have discussed the idea of intimacy. For example,
Jeannine Diego Medina's text wrote about the danger of engaging in
these
practices "via the utilization of the social as a stage, a scenario, a
landscape" in that once doing so, it is possible to fall prey to "an
exploitative use of the 'marginal'
taking it to the plane of the aesthetic, yet disengaged, in actual
fact, from the 'problem' itself..." and that this kind of practice can
lead to distancing. I agree that this
can happen, when a 'problem' is lifted out of the social as a kind of
banner or empty referent, but I also think there is a valuable strategy
in here as well.
Taking the social as a kind of stage or scenario or landscape can be a
way to see it fresh, as a kind of phantasy or game. When reality is
understood momentarily as a stage or game,
the artist can become, respectively, an actor or a player: In doing so,
the Law changes, from Law to Rules of a game. Unlike the law, rules are
arbitrary. we can assign our
own meanings to them; they need not make sense outside of the game. As
artists, we set the rules. In a parallel field such as this, the same
structures are present but the
consequences are different, as well as the causes and effects. Somehow
this distancing can enable creativity, to play the world and the social
in
another way. In this situation, intimacies and understandings between
people can emerge that would not make sense or even be permissible if
reality was not being distanced,
or played in this 'other' game.
I am not referring here to the carnivalesque, which is more of a total
upheaval or reversal of roles, for a moment, in the social realm. I am
talking
about a much more subtle shift. This shift appears to me as closely
related to the 'expanded boundary' Gregg mentions.
As for the communication of this process, I find it sometimes difficult
how to move from a social engagement (which is experienced)
to a work that is legible for the viewer-- as a work of art. Especially
when the whole process (the game, the rules, the moves, etc) is part of
it.
What is left are traces, and sometimes they are not visible.
In my own work there is the story to recount. Yet, I am often not
satisfied with the story itself as the medium. I wonder how other
artists working in this manner deal with this.
How do you communicate your process or actions? Is the enchantment of
the work in the experience of following the process,
or can it be distilled in the traces? or do the traces become something
else (without falling victim to becoming illustrations?).
On an end note to this rumination-out-loud (i do have a fever now so
excuse me if this is a dream-like entry) I do think that having an
effect on the real world, outside of the game/stage/landscape proposed,
comes from the viewer's desire to enter the parallel world
offered by the artist or the work. And of course the work must find a
way to construct the invitation.
This fantastic world within or parallel to the real world is not
actually separate from it, it is rather a tangent out from a seemingly
closed system. And there lies our enchantment...
Adam Leech
can't easily be commodified.
and for some artist, finding a form that is not easily placed into the
reduced logic of production and consumption is important.
in other words - experiences outside a capitalist logic can manage to
generate and sustain new meanings - or what usually happens - is that
they are not recognized as meaningful because they are not in accord
with the capitalist structure...and disappear into the background...
the big exception to this is love...i think love is a form of
enchantment that, in its essence, resists capitalist logic. but
only in its essence. the rest of love is in accord with capitalism.
Happy Valentines Day
adam
shepherd steiner
Hi Everyone:
I just wanted to chip in on the ongoing discussion. And not wanting to
entirely destabilize the emerging front for enchanment, (Im only half
kidding, as I did count 3) I'd like to ask whatever happened to the great
category of disenchanment. Becuase if enchanment comes at the cost of
disenchanment then I become nervous. Even if enchanment is being used here
(and probably in a number of ways) in a negative or imaginative sense (say
as a modest proposal), I think one can't dispose of the threat of
totalization. Love and magic is one thing, and I have no problem accepting
these terms into a critical discussion, but as a belief structure that is
duplicitous and seducing one I think needs to complement these with a good
measure of the old melancholy--which in no way prohibits one from enchanting
as one wiches. Otherwise one simply falls too with other sorts of optimisms
that the left seems to continually forget. Perhaps Im out of line here? And
perhaps you are reacting to modernities disenchanting power? Can someone
explain if this uncertainty or rhetoricity is built in or not.
No doubt there is an argument to be made for ordering contemporary art
practices according to their varying emphases on enchanment and
disenchantment. Im ok with this as long as one kind of practice keeps the
other safe and buried away --socially engaged art not excluded.
best
shep
gregg smith
I did have a friend (who is not present in the discussion), a few months ago, championing a new cause apparently smouldering in somewhere in the undergrowth of the post-idealist morass, which has been labelled as 'passionate belief'. Be it a provocative stance or a genuine throwback to romanticism and sincerity, i don't doubt that it is a calculated stance, bearing in mind the painful lessons of modernism and also at times the numbing ennui of post-modernism. i agree that its difficult to stomach such a stance without a dose of humour, irony, melancholy, or some other derisive element. for contemporary artists, idealism may be difficult to embrace, but i don't doubt it continues to exist in many violent forms in society at large.
From what I have understood of the talk around 'enchantment' thus far, I would agree that such an idea can only be useful if, in the process it reveals an illusion or deception, and/or otherwise enables a level of direct or intuitive engagement which is not otherwise normal. personally i am for forms of engagement which ground the individual in their own reality and perhaps also an awareness of the human tendency to have personal projections onto events, which distance one from what is happening.
G
Yahoo! Mail
Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.
Jeannine Diego Medina
gregg smith
Today is officially the end of the discussion series. Thankyou everyone who has taken part in this group either actively or quietly, it has been a very interesting and worthwhile group. As there may still be people with things to say, the group will not abruptly go offline. I will leave it up for a while and let you know by way of final conclusion when it is about to be switched off for good. After that the website will provide an archive of all contributions.
thanks hugely for all your inputs and exchanges,
Gregg
Jeannine Diego Medina
ad...@adamleech.com
adam
Ed Young
joseph gaylard
Rgds etc
Joseph
--
Joseph Gaylard
Research Associate
Johannesburg Centre for Cultural Policy and Management
WITS School of Arts
University of the Witwatersrand
+27 82 598 4107 +27 11 624 1186 +27 11 717 4667
coela...@iafrica.com
Jill Magid
took care of
our group as well as two others.
Now rest!
Thanks to everyone else too- I enjoyed the readings.
Best, JIll