<div dir="ltr">Dear Lynne and Margaret and <empyre>,<div><br></div><div>It's so nice to read of the connections you are making between robot poetics, machine dreams, creative kin, race, storytelling, disruption, publishing and the archive. Margaret's facilitation for the month of May has been so generative and thoughtful, and it is wonderful to learn the breadth of Lynne's work. I was so delighted to read that the Guerrilla Grafters has resonance with what has been talked about here. Recently Margaret asked me about my background as an artist, and we spoke of how I moved from poetry concerned with how to communicate more deeply with non-human, to new media art and scholarship concerned with if and how technology changes the stories we tell and how we organize, to art/activist cultivations that seek out technics which facilitate more abundance and biodiversity, and deeper modes of solidarity in ecological contexts. So it's there, and it is heartening to be in such esteemed company. </div><div><br></div><div>Because Guerrilla Grafters (a collaboration between many grafters, especially Tara Hui and Ian Pollock) intervene in the binary between public and private property in order to push against the scarcity in cities, to propose an unruly commons.... we have a contradictory relationship with digital networks. For instance, we share information about what trees are graftable and where, but do not make the location of our grafts public. We also have digital tools which convey contextual information to certain parties -- Ultra violet LEDs that blink out morse-encoded messages that only bees can read, and RFID tags that store information about a graft locally, and that requires a SUPER SECRET code book to read. I wonder if these kinds of engagements can also be understood as a robot poetics, one that is less about representation, and more about relation, intervention, multi-species, cyborgicity, and hopefully, difference.</div><div><br></div><div>Much of my work is uncomfortably informed by networks and systems theory. Part of the discomfort comes from the totalizing view that whole systems design affords and the tension of that totalizing view, with local, intersubjective exchanges of power -- this is, to me, where the real work lies. But the totalizing view always threatens to obfiscate that intersubjective exchange of power... And yet -- it also provides insight about key interventions that might occur. I am wondering if this comes up for you given your background as a designer and as director/ coordinator of the operating system, which I perceive to have anarchist aims.</div><div><br></div><div>I was also taken with your thoughts on the archive, Lynne, and it made me think of an ongoing work in collaboration with the Coastal Reading Group, another art project, conducted with Bibi Calderaro. In this project, we collected materials implicated in major ecological shifts --- the adoption of sedentary and pastoral agriculture and resultant deforestation, in terms of the enclosure movement, and in terms of the settler colonization of North America and elsewhere. We were interested in the ways engagements with some species have facilitated certain extinctions for others, endangered species, or the recession of certain animals and plants from view, resulting in the transformation of landscapes. Our thesis was that through specific ecological transformations of the Western world, largely cemented by capitalization, a kind of relationship with the non-human has become the norm, where distance, landscape and domesticity are prized; this distance effectively prevents an understanding of the value of the numinous relationships in our midst, and in turn prevents the grief process. We were concerned with the distance and inability to grieve so many of us have during the current moment, which some have characterized as the 6th great extinction, and wanted to understand why. Through these assembled materials -- like sheep's wool, Hawthorne, Flanders poppy seed for example -- participants created objects around an all-night fire. In the morning we buried our materials, which are now sprouting in an English meadow. So there is an un-earthing and re-earthing of a spontaneous, and temporary archive of materials.... To us, we wondered if this kind of archival process had a unique kind of power to it -- perhaps more shared, and allowing for the space of loss.</div><div><br></div><div>As ever,</div><div>Margaretha</div><div><br><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Margaretha Haughwout<div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, May 30, 2017 at 11:39 AM, Margaret J Rhee <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mrhee@uoregon.edu" target="_blank">mrhee@uoregon.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------<br>
Hi Lynne,<br>
<br>
So Ching-In Chen and I spoke lovingly and warmly about you over the weekend. Cyborg ears ringing! I was traveling in Wisconsin with Ching-In for the Wiscon conference, and celebrate their new publication which also delves in the speculative: <a href="http://www.chinginchen.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.chinginchen.com</a><br>
<br>
I'm thinking right now of how you mention Amanda Ngoho Reavey's wonderful work, their anti-memoir Marilyn, and how it corresponds to the transgressive ways The OS and your teaching projects emerge through a robot poetics in many ways. I loved hearing Amanda's words when her book won the Asian American Studies Association prize this year, and reminded since I first encounter Amanda's work in Milwaukee as well.<br>
<br>
I love how you write, "dialogue has been CRITICAL in our editorial process," which is not always the case for publishing houses. I think it can also shape and intervene with poetics, and especially the kind that veers into experimentalism and play!<br>
<br>
I've been thinking a lot about anthropology/poetry actually, and so I'm glad you brought up your training, and the turn or re-tur to and with art. Well, it's always been intriguing thinking about Ursula Le Guin as the daughter of an anthropologist, Alfred Louis Kroeber. Or with feminists, thinking of Zora Neale Hurston, Gina Athena Ulysses, and Ana Maurine-Lara, who all turned to, or includes the art with their anthropological questions.<br>
<br>
Gina writes in her new collection, 'Because When God Is Too Busy: Haiti, me, & The World':<br>
<br>
"Why do they think so many black women in anthropology keep turning to the arts?"<br>
<br>
*<br>
<br>
I also LOVE Margaretha's work, and I feel it aligns with so much of the politics and aesthetics of your work, in the transgression and paradisciplinary approaches. There is so much poetics in THE OS, and in Margaretha's work of The Guerrilla Grafters. And while not explicitly about the robot in content, I feel the cybernetic organization really lend itself to the robot poetics we've been discussing this month, and love to hear more.<br>
<br>
One thing seemingly different from robot poetics, but feels connected is place. I've been interested in how --empyre-- is an international listserve, and how it connects with various peoples in different places, and connections of work possible. I think of Mark Gurarie's book with The OS, and how science fictional elements, and your interview with him: <a href="http://www.theoperatingsystem.org/reconversations-of-sound-mind-process-and-practice-with-everybodys-automats-mark-gurarie/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.theoperatingsystem.<wbr>org/reconversations-of-sound-m<wbr>ind-process-and-practice-with-<wbr>everybodys-automats-mark-gurar<wbr>ie/</a><br>
<br>
His work includes science fictional elements that align with robot poetics, and he is also a musician, and you both do such amazing curatorial work in NYC, could you talk a bit about how might place, engage with space (or content), and make possible such a dynamic supernova like The OS? I think about this, especially when Mark and Alex came out to Eugene, Oregon to read poetry last year. Upon returning to Oregon, I can't help think about these tropes around utopia, dystopia, and race. Not to end on a challenging note, but am buoyed by the light of The OS, and the work you do. Happy to hear more if you have time, and any thoughts on poetry, robots, and machines.<br>
<br>
warmest,<br>
<br>
Margaret<br>
<br>
On 2017-05-29 14:51, Lynne DeSilva-Johnson wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Hi All! So glad to be here.<br>
<br>
Such great questions! I wasn't verbose at ALL in answering them....<br>
<br>
ONWARD!<span class=""><br>
<br>
To begin, Lynne, I wonder if you can speak to the importance of<br>
dialogue in your editorial process? I was struck by the interview you<br>
had with Alex and other authors you work with, why did you decide to<br>
include dialogues, and how do you approach the publishing process<br>
differently? I, and many others, are all very moved by The OS and this<br>
description:<br>
<br>
"THIS is not a fixed entity. It is an ongoing experiment in resilient<br>
creative practice which necessarily morphs as its conditions and<br>
collaborators change."<br>
<br></span>
HA! No surprise that Margaret should cut right to the heart of the<br>
thing! I’ll do my best to not go on for pages and pages just<br>
answering these intro questions!<br>
<br>
A critical thing to know about what I’ve tried to build with The<br>
Operating System [6] is that it is always meta-aware of its role as a<br>
cultural mediator, not only at present but in the future. Which<br>
perhaps sounds utterly pompous, but it isn’t meant as that: what I<br>
mean is that I’m very concerned about the archive, and ontological<br>
practice as it concerns creative practice and practitioners. So a lot<br>
of the decisions that I make are informed by a desire to<br>
simultaneously disrupt / inform / intentionally participate in this<br>
storytelling.<br>
<br>
When I think about the hagiography of creative practitioners (and this<br>
also applies to “geniuses” -- i.e/, hero-storylines across<br>
disciplines, not only in the arts) I do so through the lens of someone<br>
who grew up idolizing what I now realize are largely fictitious<br>
personas -- and who was hurt by that as much as I was inspired by it,<br>
because I didn’t feel it was accessible to me as a person of meagre<br>
financial means...who was told by a post-depression immigrant family<br>
that creative practice was some combination of irresponsible and<br>
selfish as a life-choice. And, while I was rigorous and talented in my<br>
artistic studies, and had some good “ideas” I felt I lacked the<br>
type of “vision” or “inspiration” that would make such a<br>
risky, irresponsible decision a good idea...something I’ve now spent<br>
two decades re-wiring my brain around.<br>
<br>
The hindsighted mythology with which we talk about creative practice<br>
both culturally and (even more problematically) in learning<br>
environments is one which puts inspiration/the muse / as well as<br>
finished product/output on a pedestal -- and is also one of reductive,<br>
dangerous erasure for subject and audience alike.<br>
<br>
While I do think that this is getting better as educators become more<br>
sensitive to intersectional concerns, and while contextual, historical<br>
information as well as personal history might now be di rigeur<br>
inclusions for any curator worth their salt, this doesn’t carry over<br>
yet to how we as a society talk or think about creative work. We<br>
“value” it, but in a way that puts it in a box to be marvelled<br>
over. The notion that poetry like bread is for everyone [7] (a<br>
favorite quote from Salvadoran Roque Dalton) is a critical one -- and<br>
I do mean for everyone, not only in its appreciation but also its<br>
making.<br>
<br>
So many in the arts world tread this fine line where on the surface<br>
there is vocal social justice warriorhood but just below is the fear<br>
that if everyone is encouraged, legitimized as valid, has open access<br>
and the tools to make work, publish work, teach, etc., that somehow<br>
their own legitimacy or value will be lost. And so I think there’s a<br>
certain amount of smoke and mirrors that a lot of people participate<br>
in in terms of maintaining a certain allure or mystery around<br>
creativity, genius, and practice. So there’s still a lot of<br>
gatekeeping that goes on in arts organizations, and publishing, even<br>
amongst those who would seem to be ardently against these things (and<br>
may “be,” intellectually.)<br>
<br>
And, well -- I just think that’s totally bunk. The important thing<br>
for me is that there be open conversation about the fear that folks<br>
have around that (fear of losing legitimacy) -- and to recognize its<br>
root causes. Here, in the United States, I would say that it’s<br>
rooted in a bioprecarious state. But I’m geting away from myself.<br>
<br>
The point is: especially as I look at our production as existing<br>
within a spectrum of ontological storytelling, holding space for how<br>
the work we present is received and contextualized, I feel that I play<br>
the role of curator, and akin to presentation in visual art spaces and<br>
cultural institutions, so too within pages I feel I would be remiss to<br>
not somewhat frame the cultural output we have chosen to enter the<br>
archive with some anchoring information about time, place, social<br>
tenor, and personal practice on the part of the author.<br>
<br>
>From day 1, dialogue has been CRITICAL in our editorial process, as is<br>
self-awareness -- both as organization and as artist. In every book we<br>
produce, we encourage the inclusion / production of substantive<br>
back-matter… as much as the author is willing to engage in. At the<br>
very least, this takes the form of the Q&A you see here with Alex, but<br>
it can be quite extensive -- especially in cases like Amanda Ngoho<br>
Reavey’s poetic anti-memoir, Marilyn [8], or JP Howard’s<br>
SAY/MIRROR [9], a collection of poems focused on her relationship with<br>
her mother, Ruth King, a prominent early African-American fashion<br>
model.<br>
<br>
So we encourage it in and around the books themselves, we encourage<br>
our collaborators and contributors to engage in it, and we extend that<br>
engagement and visibility onto our online platform. In fact, the<br>
online platform has long been a site of this encouragement, with<br>
series like “FIELD NOTES [10]” and “RE:CONVERSATIONS [11]”<br>
seeking to open up process from a wide range of practitioners and<br>
facilitate archiving of ephemeral presentations.<br>
<br>
That facilitation also guides our editorial process on the catalog<br>
level -- manifesting in a desire to seek out, encourage, and document<br>
hybrid work that often falls between the cracks of easily publishable<br>
or marketable work (but that represents some of the most brilliant,<br>
avant garde practice of our time), seeking out and making possible the<br>
translation and publication of silenced and/ or out of print voices<br>
via our Glossarium [12] series, and facilitating full performance<br>
volumes to like There Might Be Others [13] or A Gun Show [14].<br>
<br>
And as far as not being a fixed entity is concerned: woof! I, we, are<br>
SO imperfect (and yet so biologically / chemically / magnetically<br>
fascinating / intelligent). It’s not doing us any good to put up<br>
fronts the way we do. We exhaust ourselves, we set up false<br>
expectations, we encourage others to feel less capable. I’d prefer<br>
to start at humble, from the outset make it crystal clear we intend to<br>
evolve and know we must, and encourage others to feel akin in our<br>
shared struggle, to come aboard and work together.<br>
<br>
Somehow, I missed the lesson on how free market competition is going<br>
to help us, probably somewhere around the time it clearly began<br>
fucking the environment and everyone on it over. So I’m legit here<br>
to share everything I learn along the way. Better you learn from my<br>
mistakes than make them again, save your money and your time, and so<br>
on. We’ll all be better resourced -- in physical ways and in trust,<br>
so sorely needed.<span class=""><br>
<br>
I love how alive The OS feels, and how you begin with THIS. It reminds<br>
me that The OS is alive. And this has resonance to a recent<br>
conversation I had with really amazing artist Margaretha Haughwout and<br>
my class on art/activism last week. I first "met" Margaretha on empyre<br>
as participants in Kyle McKinley's social practice forum too, and<br>
Margaretha's work has also been a constant inspiration, and she<br>
described collaboration with humans and (non) humans as well in her<br></span>
work: <a href="http://www.guerrillagrafters.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.guerrillagrafters.o<wbr>rg</a> [15]<span class=""><br>
<br>
I'm feeling some resonance here, and I am moved to think about the<br>
(non) human, but also human and living elements of The OS, and both of<br>
your collaborative practice. Could you share more about The OS, and<br>
the intersections of organic, technological, and poetic in your work<br>
as an artist and editor?<br>
<br></span>
Oh man do I have ALL THE FEELS for what Margaretha does with<br>
_guerrilla grafters_! And, absolutely, is there resonance here. You<br>
are absolutely right to intuit that there is intention around human /<br>
nonhuman / living systems work with the OS, and I don’t often speak<br>
to it that directly, but I’m happy to.<br>
<br>
I sometimes mention in interviews that my roundabout academic path<br>
took me through anthropology and fine art (manifesting in social<br>
practice art / installations, this in about 1999-2002), then to a<br>
masters in urban design (manifesting in intermediary books /<br>
installations as well), then back to a PhD in cultural anthropology<br>
with a focus on space and place (which I sort of went rogue on after<br>
finishing 5 years of coursework) -- the reason I mention this though<br>
is because I’m doing all of these things via The OS. And because<br>
it’s all art and activism -- a personal practice manifest as an<br>
organization. Social practice art as public social experiment. And,<br>
absolutely, always, as performance. And: this performance / art /<br>
activist experiment is very specifically _now -- _ in so far that the<br>
way it engages with public culture as both virtual and print media is<br>
tailored to this time, and will continue to evolve as those platforms<br>
do.<br>
<br>
The way the books are designed and operate, the work I choose is<br>
always in conversation with the fact that we're making, producing, and<br>
documenting work NOW. Which means also that even though I seek to<br>
carry on the tradition of print, I also seek to learn from systems of<br>
organization, from nonlinear formatting and information architecture,<br>
in creating print documents for _this_ time which correspond to and or<br>
informed by the new ways we see and learn and read and experience,<br>
acknowledging and even welcoming those challenges, and understanding<br>
that many people are coming out of school not reading or reading<br>
differently, or doing so while texting or taking in other media.<br>
Working across media is necessary. Evolving the page is necessary,<br>
exciting. And -- we are in the first time in history where far more of<br>
our documentation is _born digital_ -- something that greatly impacts<br>
my concern and thinking around the archive and the impact of creating<br>
manifold documents to potentially carry story into the future.<br>
<br>
The OS is absolutely grounded in methodology from my anthropological<br>
training -- research methods in participant observation, the value of<br>
field notes, and rigorous documentation and facilitation are all<br>
things years of engagement in these texts gave me highly valuable<br>
takeaways from.<br>
<br>
However, I found social science as a professional discipline deeply<br>
troubling, especially given the current state of the academy, and<br>
I’m glad I’m not held to its strictures. I had chosen the field<br>
because much of what I read mirrored the kinds of questions I thought<br>
everyone desperately needed to engage in, and as such I found the<br>
reflexive work of Pierre Bourdieu viscerally necessary, the work of<br>
Mick Taussig deeply inspiring, the work of Bateson and other systems<br>
thinkers heuristically life changing, and it’s where I found Chris<br>
Marker, and so many other people asking vital, difficult questions<br>
about the world and the self and how to talk about / represent it<br>
responsibly. Also: there are also so many courageous anthropologists<br>
helping to facilitate indigenous people’s movements all over the<br>
world -- how to use these tools for social and cultural good has<br>
taught me so much.<br>
<br>
I may not be physically grafting ecologies, and I may no longer be<br>
presenting 70,000 person satellite city plans to the planning office<br>
in Hanoi (hello, life circa 2005) but I will never stop caring about<br>
our lived places, thinking and writing about how what we build and<br>
create manifests in our bodies and how the relationship of space and<br>
place shifts us individually, as a culture, and as a planet in<br>
infinitely meaningful ways -- both good and bad. And I will never stop<br>
planning and theorizing systems change, and how that can play out in<br>
physical environments. But I found the field exhausting and too often<br>
wildly misogynist -- and not necessarily where I would make the most<br>
change. I’ve taught in architecture schools in myriad settings,<br>
which I find extremely gratifying, and hope to continue to affect<br>
architecture education on a curricular level -- something that would<br>
have greater impact than I could have ever had independently as a<br>
designer.<br>
<br>
With The Operating System, I’ve continued my life-experiement of<br>
auto-evolution, which I’ve been sideways writing a book on for about<br>
a decade. I believe deeply that we can rewire ourselves, that we can<br>
hack into our programming -- including the diminishing, crippling<br>
impact of epigenetic and lifetime trauma on the body (which I’m<br>
currently battling) -- and that we will do this strategically through<br>
system design. On a daily basis, the hacks that will enable the larger<br>
scale rewriting and rewiring include intentional, attentional work<br>
with language / communication, physical actions and reactions,<br>
meditation / mindfulness / brain training, gender and body<br>
modification, and a continued awareness of / engagement in ecosystem<br>
concerns.<br>
<br>
My ability to do what I do with The OS should frankly not be possible,<br>
defies logic, and I know it reads as impossible to a lot of people --<br>
or, they perceive me as hiding resources (no such luck) or having some<br>
sort of super-human power (I don’t, in fact I’m deeply chronically<br>
ill) -- and I know that a lot of what I’m proposing requires leaps<br>
of faith and a sort of evolutionary availability that is hard to<br>
access right now. So: modelling.<br>
<br>
I’d like to move what we’re doing with The OS into more direct<br>
action but I also have learned along the way, (back to the hagiography<br>
of art / archive) that freedom for creative practice is one of the<br>
most revolutionary tools at our disposal as humans. And I see as my<br>
role a facilitation of creative freedom and possibility, a radical<br>
opening, that intersects with social justice, ecology, and our<br>
continued race toward cyborg-intelligence. I am the system and the<br>
system is me, you know? Sort of like in the night kitchen [16], but<br>
with lithium ion milk.<br>
<br>
Lynne DeSilva-Johnson<br>
Managing Editor<br>
The Operating System<br>
<a href="http://www.theoperatingsystem.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">www.theoperatingsystem.org</a> [17]<br>
Brooklyn, NY<br>
<br>
“IN ORDER TO CHANGE AN EXISTING PARADIGM YOU DO NOT STRUGGLE TO TRY<br>
AND CHANGE THE PROBLEMATIC MODEL. YOU CREATE A NEW MODEL AND MAKE THE<br>
OLD ONE OBSOLETE.”<br>
<br>
- R. Buckminster Fuller<span class=""><br>
<br>
On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 1:51 PM, Margaret J Rhee <<a href="mailto:mrhee@uoregon.edu" target="_blank">mrhee@uoregon.edu</a>><br>
wrote:<br>
<br>
</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><span class="">
Many thanks again to Keith, Sun Yung, Jenny, and Saba for the rich<br>
threads generated by the conversation this week!<br>
<br>
To add to the Machine Dreams, I'm very happy to e-introduce Lynne<br>
DeSilva-Johnson, who is a dynamic and inspiring artist, activist,<br>
professor, and publisher. Lynne is also the founder and editor of<br>
The Operating System, which will be releasing my full length poetry<br>
collection of robot love poems this Fall. We are thrilled she can<br>
join us for the last few days of the dialogue, and look forward to<br>
hearing more about The OS, and her alchemist work as an artist and<br>
editor.<br>
<br>
I actually first met Lynne through a digital into to The OS by dear<br>
mutual friend poet and activist Ching-In Chen, and Machine Dreams<br>
contributor Alex Crowley, who is also my editor at Publisher's<br>
Weekly, and has a wondrous poetry chapbook published by The<br>
Operating System titled Improper Maps.<br>
<br>
Alex's drone poems are in the Machine Dreams Zine (pg 20)<br>
</span><a href="https://issuu.com/repcollective/docs/machine_dreams_issuu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://issuu.com/repcollectiv<wbr>e/docs/machine_dreams_issuu</a> [1]<span class=""><br>
<br>
You can read more about Alex's collection with The OS in a fantastic<br>
dialogue with Lynne here:<br>
<br>
</span></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.theoperatingsystem.org/reconversations-of-sound-mind-process-and-practice-with-improper-maps-alex-crowley/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.theoperatingsystem.<wbr>org/reconversations-of-sound-m<wbr>ind-process-and-practice-with-<wbr>improper-maps-alex-crowley/</a><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
[2]<span class=""><br>
<br>
Lynne is also the co-editor of this recent anthology of resistance<br>
poetry: <a href="http://www.spuytenduyvil.net/resist-much-obey-little.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.spuytenduyvil.net/r<wbr>esist-much-obey-little.html</a><br></span>
[3]<span class=""><br>
<br>
and you can read a Wave Composition interview with Lynne here:<br>
<br>
</span></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.wavecomposition.com/article/issue-11/an-interview-with-lynne-desilva-johnson/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.wavecomposition.com<wbr>/article/issue-11/an-interview<wbr>-with-lynne-desilva-johnson/</a><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
[4]<span class=""><br>
<br>
----<br>
<br>
To begin, Lynne, I wonder if you can speak to the importance of<br>
dialogue in your editorial process? I was struck by the interview<br>
you had with Alex and other authors you work with, why did you<br>
decide to include dialogues, and how do you approach the publishing<br>
process differently? I, and many others, are all very moved by The<br>
OS and this description:<br>
<br>
"THIS is not a fixed entity. It is an ongoing experiment in<br>
resilient creative practice which necessarily morphs as its<br>
conditions and collaborators change."<br>
<br>
I love how alive The OS feels, and how you begin with THIS. It<br>
reminds me that The OS is alive. And this has resonance to a recent<br>
conversation I had with really amazing artist Margaretha Haughwout<br>
and my class on art/activism last week. I first "met" Margaretha on<br>
empyre as participants in Kyle McKinley's social practice forum too,<br>
and Margaretha's work has also been a constant inspiration, and she<br>
described collaboration with humans and (non) humans as well in her<br></span>
work: <a href="http://www.guerrillagrafters.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.guerrillagrafters.o<wbr>rg</a> [5]<div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
I'm feeling some resonance here, and I am moved to think about the<br>
(non) human, but also human and living elements of The OS, and both<br>
of your collaborative practice. Could you share more about The OS,<br>
and the intersections of organic, technological, and poetic in your<br>
work as an artist and editor?<br>
<br>
Lynne's bio is below:<br>
<br>
Lynne DeSilva-Johnson is a queer interdisciplinary creator, curator,<br>
educator, and facilitator working in performance, exhibition, and<br>
publication in conversation with new media. Now a visiting assistant<br>
professor at Pratt, Lynne was previously an adjunct at CUNY, and<br>
teaching artist for over a decade. She is the founder and Managing<br>
Editor of The Operating System, as well as Libraries Editor at Boog<br>
City. Lynne is the author of GROUND, blood atlas, and Overview<br>
Effect, co-author of A GUN SHOW with Adam Sliwinsk/Sō Percussion,<br>
and co-editor of the anthologies RESIST MUCH, OBEY LITTLE: Inaugural<br>
Poems for the Resistance, and In Corpore Sano: Creative Practice and<br>
the Challenged Body. Recent or forthcoming publication credits<br>
include Drunken Boat/Anomaly, The Brooklyn Poets Anthology, Gorgon<br>
Poetics, Supplement, Live Mag!, and a Panthalassa Pamphlet from Tea<br>
& Tattered Pages Press. She performs often, resists always, and<br>
lives in Brooklyn NY.<br>
<br>
--<br>
Margaret Rhee, Ph.D.<br>
<br>
Visiting Assistant Professor<br>
Women's and Gender Studies<br>
University of Oregon<br>
</div></div></blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Links:<br>
------<br>
[1] <a href="https://issuu.com/repcollective/docs/machine_dreams_issuu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://issuu.com/repcollectiv<wbr>e/docs/machine_dreams_issuu</a><br>
[2]<br>
<a href="http://www.theoperatingsystem.org/reconversations-of-sound-mind-process-and-practice-with-improper-maps-alex-crowley/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.theoperatingsystem.<wbr>org/reconversations-of-sound-m<wbr>ind-process-and-practice-with-<wbr>improper-maps-alex-crowley/</a><br>
[3] <a href="http://www.spuytenduyvil.net/resist-much-obey-little.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.spuytenduyvil.net/r<wbr>esist-much-obey-little.html</a><br>
[4]<br>
<a href="http://www.wavecomposition.com/article/issue-11/an-interview-with-lynne-desilva-johnson/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.wavecomposition.com<wbr>/article/issue-11/an-interview<wbr>-with-lynne-desilva-johnson/</a><br>
[5] <a href="http://www.guerrillagrafters.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.guerrillagrafters.o<wbr>rg</a><br>
[6] <a href="http://theoperatingsystem.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://theoperatingsystem.org</a><br>
[7] <a href="http://cappuccinosoul.blogspot.com/2009/04/como-tu-like-you.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://cappuccinosoul.blogspot<wbr>.com/2009/04/como-tu-like-you.<wbr>html</a><br>
[8] <a href="https://squareup.com/store/the-operating-system/item/marilyn" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://squareup.com/store/the<wbr>-operating-system/item/marilyn</a><br>
[9] <a href="http://www.spdbooks.org/Products/9780986050527/saymirror.aspx" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.spdbooks.org/Produc<wbr>ts/9780986050527/saymirror.<wbr>aspx</a><br>
[10] <a href="http://www.theoperatingsystem.org/category/community_content/fieldnotes/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.theoperatingsystem.<wbr>org/category/community_content<wbr>/fieldnotes/</a><br>
[11]<br>
<a href="http://www.theoperatingsystem.org/category/community_content/re_conversations/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.theoperatingsystem.<wbr>org/category/community_content<wbr>/re_conversations/</a><br>
[12] <a href="http://www.theoperatingsystem.org/unsilenced-texts/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.theoperatingsystem.<wbr>org/unsilenced-texts/</a><br>
[13]<br>
<a href="https://squareup.com/store/the-operating-system/item/there-might-be-others-rebecca-lazier-and-dan-truman?square_lead=item_embed" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://squareup.com/store/the<wbr>-operating-system/item/there-<wbr>might-be-others-rebecca-lazier<wbr>-and-dan-truman?square_lead=<wbr>item_embed</a><br>
[14]<br>
<a href="https://squareup.com/store/the-operating-system/item/a-gun-show-so-percussion" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://squareup.com/store/the<wbr>-operating-system/item/a-gun-<wbr>show-so-percussion</a><br>
[15] <a href="http://www.guerrillagrafters.org/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.guerrillagrafters.o<wbr>rg/</a><br>
[16] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Night_Kitchen" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/<wbr>In_the_Night_Kitchen</a><br>
[17] <a href="http://www.theoperatingsystem.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.theoperatingsystem.<wbr>org</a><br>
</blockquote><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5">
<br>
-- <br>
Margaret Rhee, Ph.D.<br>
<br>
Visiting Assistant Professor<br>
Women's and Gender Studies<br>
University of Oregon<br>
______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
empyre forum<br>
<a href="mailto:empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au" target="_blank">empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.ed<wbr>u.au</a><br>
<a href="http://empyre.library.cornell.edu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://empyre.library.cornell.<wbr>edu</a></div></div></blockquote></div><br></div>