<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" id="gmail-m_-6550811220597348659gmail-docs-internal-guid-6b4f7380-7fff-d5c0-e729-bdb5085df040" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:8pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Thank you Maurice for your insights. I was deeply inspired by your two questions at the end of the post. I think that they both go hand in hand. However, first, perhaps we need to disentangle what it means for artists in particular, but also the public in general, to be considered "viruses of social consciousness/awareness." </span></p><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:8pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">One thing that we have been discussing so far is how the virus has affected everyone, in particular nations, but also us, as academics in our pedagogy.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:8pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Our discussions surrounding the virus have been, understandably, on the dire side. Indeed it has been difficult for some individuals, primarily Asians, who have been </span><span style="font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">targeted</span><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> as being the culprits in spreading the virus. It has been a difficult time for them, as the spread of hatred, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:8pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">and discrimination, have also become rampant. With statements like "We Are Not The Virus" coming to the forefront </span><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">to stop the discrimination and/or at least raise awareness of it,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:8pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">it might seem insensitive for us to characterize people, any one for that matter as a virus, and to follow such theorization, albeit provocative.</span></p><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:8pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">However, as it might be obvious from our discussion, the prevalence of virus parlance seems ubiquitous in our use of words such as "spreading," "infiltrating," "crossing borders," "porosity," "networks," "virality," "contagion" among others. With it being part of our language, the virus lexicon may not always have negative connotations for it is a central part of our larger digital culture. This is all to say that we can in fact recuperate the term to think about it in an affirmative manner.</span></p><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:8pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">How can we coopt the virus to think about possible futures? How would it manifest politically? How do we mobilize ourselves to think about care and about making a radical political act? In fact, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:8pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">since it would be despicable to assume once again a sense of normalcy to the morbid inequality and neoliberal violence that the COVID pandemic has rendered so clear to us, we have only one option and that is to push towards a change in mentality and humanity.</span></p><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:8pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In other words, if we can be viruses of social consciousness and awareness, we must act as viruses act. We must infect, run rampant, infiltrate, cross networks, borders so that a renewed notion of humanness can transcend our ideas of the Human to advocate, speak to, all those once considered Others that have now become the bedrock to our society. </span></p><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:8pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">As someone else on the listserve who stated so eloquently, the virus also means vitality. And as a virus we have the capacity to mobilize, infiltrate, and most importantly </span><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">mutate</span><span style="font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(32,33,36);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> endlessly. There is power in the collective, in an assembly, in the multitude (as Negri and Hardt) would say.</span></p><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:9pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">It is in this spirit that I would like to share a draft of the Virus Manifesto, which a colleague and friend of mine Sara Garzon wrote in hopes that this can give us a different perspective as to how to not only re-narrate the virus epidemic, but also the possibility it has granting us to institutionalize a much needed culture of care. Since Sara is still working on this, I thought we could open it up to comments and/or revisions. This is also a place to work collectively and practice what Haraway has eloquently called "tentacular thinking." </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:9pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:9pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I am excited to see what conversations can come about in thinking the virus in a different way.</span></p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:9pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></p><p><b><font face="arial, sans-serif">Constanza Salazar</font></b></p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:1.38;margin-left:9pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">
Ph.D. Candidate<br>Department of the History of Art and Visual Studies<br>GM08 Goldwin Smith Hall<br>Cornell University<br>Ithaca, NY 14853<br>(646) 861-8152<br><a href="mailto:cs2293@cornell.edu" target="_blank">cs2293@cornell.edu</a><br></p></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Apr 21, 2020 at 10:07 PM Maurice Benayoun <<a href="mailto:benayoun.maurice@gmail.com">benayoun.maurice@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------<br>
When they barter their VoV (value tokens) they contribute to defining<br>
the relative value of human values: if they need to give PEACE and<br>
LOVE to get POWER, they clearly state than for them, POWER is more<br>
than PEACE and LOVE together.<br>
This is where we generate the Transactional Poetry. The virtual poet<br>
generates automatically an interpretation of the actual transaction.<br>
It can be literal: “I give SEX for MONEY” or more elaborate “I was so<br>
eager to get POWER, I would have given all my PEACE, and even my LOVE”<br>
…<br>
When it comes to trading, value collectors want to keep some values<br>
and give away some other.<br>
They define their scale of values, and in a way, they define<br>
themselves as a set of values.<br>
They can determine a price or offer a token for auction.<br>
As a real trading platform, charts are displayed showing the values<br>
ranking. The final price reached at auctions tells us how people<br>
consider the value of each human value. We know this for a City (where<br>
the show happened), for a Country, and for a Continent. It becomes<br>
possible to compare the hierarchy of values in UK, China, USA, France,<br>
Italy…<br>
More about Value of Values (VoV): <a href="http://www.v-o-v.io" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">www.v-o-v.io</a><br>
<br>
This brings us back to the present pandemic. Most of us noticed how<br>
the crisis led the power, and the people, to take positions, to make<br>
choices and to prioritize values:<br>
Human Life vs Money<br>
Elderly vs young<br>
Shareholders vs workers<br>
Religion vs Science<br>
Family vs company<br>
Solidarity vs individualism<br>
<br>
In the Shock Doctrine, the Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Naomi Klein<br>
explains how capitalism and totalitarian power use crises to move the<br>
lines: more surveillance, less regulations, lower environmental, less<br>
protection for the poor and the weak. Taking advantage of the criseis<br>
Trump limits immigration, China consolidate the surveillance/tracking<br>
system, Hong Kong arrests 15 democrat leaders. May we eventually<br>
expect a different scenario?<br>
<br>
It was rather surprising to hear recently the German President saying:<br>
"No, this pandemic is not a war. Nations do not oppose other nations<br>
nor soldiers against other soldiers. It is a test of our humanity,"<br>
Steinmeier said, notably countering a view that French President<br>
Emmanuel Macron gave in March. Steinmeier implored Germans to show<br>
solidarity with others and with Europe. This crisis "brings out the<br>
best and the worst of people. Let us show others what is best in us,"<br>
he asked his fellow citizens. (Quoted in Euronews, 11/4/2020).<br>
<br>
And, a more moderate position, but even more surprising from a banker:<br>
« The coronavirus announces "the end of neoliberal capitalism",<br>
according to the chief economist of the bank Natixis” (…) Patrick<br>
Artus does not predict a radical upheaval in the existing social<br>
order. By the end of neoliberal capitalism, he means a change in the<br>
way capitalism works today. A capitalism that has bet on<br>
"globalization", "the reduction of the role of the state and the tax<br>
burden", "privatizations", and "the weakness of social protection" in<br>
certain countries, such as the United States. (article in the French<br>
newspaper Marianne, 1/4/2020)<br>
<br>
This position contrasts with the one of Boris Johnson, Donald Trump<br>
and Jair Bolsonaro on the one hand, and China on the other hand.<br>
Industry and private interests first, and MORE Control and submission<br>
(China).<br>
<br>
In 2016, a research led in 2 universities mentioned the possibility<br>
that a virus would be at the origin of<br>
memory/consciousness/intelligence<br>
(<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5884693/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5884693/</a>).<br>
Of course, it took something like 500 M year before becoming the<br>
stable mind of our brilliant leaders. As we can’t wait that long for<br>
modification of individual human mindset, could we imagine,<br>
metaphorically, that epidemic of this nature could trigger societal<br>
mutations in a shorter-term?<br>
<br>
I would like to get your feedback on 2 questions raised by these considerations:<br>
1/ Could we expect a constructive fight for values as a possible<br>
outcome of the crisis?<br>
2/ can the artists be considered as viruses of social consciousness/awareness?<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
empyre forum<br>
<a href="mailto:empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au" target="_blank">empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au</a><br>
<a href="http://empyre.library.cornell.edu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://empyre.library.cornell.edu</a></blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p><b><font face="arial, sans-serif">Constanza Salazar</font></b></p>
Ph.D. Candidate<br>Department of the History of Art and Visual Studies<br>GM08 Goldwin Smith Hall<br>Cornell University<br>Ithaca, NY 14853<br>(646) 861-8152<br><a href="mailto:cs2293@cornell.edu" target="_blank">cs2293@cornell.edu</a> <p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial"><br><br></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>