[-empyre-] Re: empyre digest, Vol 1 #241 - 1 msg

[Gair <gair@easynet.co.uk>]

> Gair,
> 
> I imagine my self as a spectator aware of the the identity of the
> wandering  flaneur (or performance artist) randomly solicited to take
> on a function or role ...as in a case of mistaken identity..the
> d=E9riveur  engaging with unsuspecting interlocutors - participants -
> folks...in a situation of double-talk, double-entendre from his/her
> and (the spectators) perspective...
> A device that i recall being used in  narratives often in the com=E9die
> d'erreurs  -
> 
> Substituted  in the cityscape  is the  d=E9rive not appealing as a
> means of providing - the trajectory - or the grounds for relational
> works -of art  -> 

> and as was mentioned about social interstices -  are they not by
> default -impr=E9visible - that is not predictable - not foreseen -
> 
> and in d=E9rive ...i will wander off to the ambit platform...where I
> have sometimes crossed your path...how often do you go there?

I think that the problem for curators with institutions is summed up
very well by what you say about curators being the ones who take on the
role of engaged spectator in order to initiate and facilitate dialogue.
I'ts the old problem of lead times and responsiveness, and 
institutional needs to have a show of x type inside y walls.

I got an unexpected dose of institutrional engagement  the other day;
it's opened up an interesting perspective on the relation of art space,
civic space, and economic
factors...see below. the ambit platform which you mention has been a bit
of a sleepy list but this has shaken things up a bit...I wonder if this
is an enquiry into social relations, a bit of satire, or some good
old-fashioned political shit stirring? i just happened to be in
Glasgows' Centre for Contemporary Art while this event was going on. So
is the resulting writing art? I think it's certainly relational!

Some of my work deals with roots of identity and sense of place: the
Index project at meadow Gallery in Shropshire is a case of this, where
texts from the founders of the English Picturesque Movement reflect on
the unacknowledged political side of Landscape Theory- namely fear of
social change as embodied by the French Revolution.
So maybe the mere act of moving texts between different social zones
constitutes the"art" of tactical media.
I wonder if some of the undoubted surprise about the cca event is due to
artists' thinking that somehow artspace and civilspace are immune from
the war forces of the moment...


CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ARMAMENTS

"We glorify war as the sole hygiene....." Marinetti, Futurist manifesto.

The Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow may be modest about its
programme; all the more surprising then that one of the largest recent
gatherings in the building has gone without mention in its October
publicity. A seminar organised by Scottish Enterprise and the Ministry
of Defence on Thursday 3rd October featured Anthony Ingram MP ( Minister
of State for the Armed Forces), representatives from Nobel Industries,
The Defence Export Services Organisation, Defence Supply Service, and
representatives from the Glasgow Universities, mingling with Glasgows'
would-be body bag suppliers and weapons makers. The Defence
Diversification Agency exists to diffuse the expertise from Britains'
defence laboratories into industry, and vice versa.

A session on "the inventor and the MOD" featured exemplary tales such as
that of the man who invented a new hygienic non-piercing syringe, now
used for mass innoculation procedures in the US and UK armies.
Unfortunately the "percent for art" formula was not applied to this
gathering; artists use of the building was strictly confined to the
margins of CCA6 where Bill Drummonds' journey from Southampton to
Dounreay traced oddly parallel lines of state structure.

When the CCA re-opened, many of us felt a bit puzzled: there seemed to
be little extra functional space, and a corporate style atrium cafe
which squeezed artists out. Even more startling was the news that this
mismatch of environment to its expected uses was up for major
architectural prizes. 

Now it's clear that these reservations were due to our complete
misunderstanding of the purpose of Lottery Revamps on arts structures.
The hermetically sealed CCA5 makes a secure and confidential venue for
any number of military-industrial encounters. Assorted nooks and spaces
make for quiet discussion zones, and excellent service from the cafe
sweetens each deal.

It's good to see the CCA devoting its soul to the necessary expenditure
on future mayhem. But why leave artists out? If British Airways can
commission a series of ethnic tailfins, think what contemporary artists
could do with an F16. Defoliants have huge possibilities in Land Art.
And a chic desert camouflage motif on the CCA cafe cups will convey an
ideal zeitgeist punch this autumn. Why shouldn't artists get their hands
on the incredible beauty latent in the apocalypses of tomorrow? Let's
show we mean business when we talk about social inclusion!


remember...

YOU CAN"T HAVE McDONALDS WITHOUT McDONNELL DOUGLAS.