[-empyre-] Introduction and discussion

[Kathy Rae Huffman <kahuffm@attglobal.net>]

Dear Empyre Community (posters and lurkers),

Sorry for taking so long to join in, I've been relatively 'off-line' since 
the discussion began, but working on a very important topic that has been 
discussed here quite a lot already. Mailing list development vis a vis a 
web portal for FACES, an all-female mailing list that began in 1997.  We 
are planning to re-launch the project in Autumn (a bit more about that later).

As one of the co-founders of  the list (which we also feel strongly is a 
community) I can say a lot about the gender dynamic on lists (it is one of 
the reasons we began FACES in the first place) as well as the importance of 
real as well as virtual connections between list members.  There is some 
information and history at www.faces-l.net.  Today, women from around the 
world subscribe, and we can't hope to meet everyone -- but I believe that 
the fact that there are personal connections, and that women are so willing 
to share their information among list subscribers, is a sign of trust and 
respect of this community.

OK, FACES started off very innocently as a way to keep in contact -- 
between a small group of women from different Middle European cities, who 
were interested to speak to each other in an all female space.  Some of us 
were tired of not being 'heard' in the dominant male lists at the time, and 
others were curious about the differences between male and female 
communication on-line.  This communication difference was the topic of an 
net.art project called Face Settings (this story has been told a few times 
and need not be repeated here) which was launched outside of the official 
programme at the DEAF festival, in 1997, it then moved to a 'communication 
dinner' in Vienna.

Something very special happened when we begin...what started as a group of 
12 women, quickly became 50, then 100, (we still knew most of the 
subscribers) and then, grew beyond our personal contacts.  The only thing 
we can figure out, in retrospect, is that there is a real need for women to 
connect in an all female environment.  FACES is basically not (NOT) a 
discussion list - although from time to time things definatley do get 
discussed!  It is more of an open sharing environment, where opportunities, 
offers, announcements and ideas get distributed between women.  We all seek 
out this understanding about how much activity is going on internationally, 
and what we don't necessarily see reported on in other forums, newsletters, 
etc.  (there is of course some overlap -- we can't ever make such blanket 
statements).  THe moderation is very (extremely) light, we have only had 
need to unsubscribe two people since the beginning.  We hope that list 
reaction to abusers is strong enough to discourage bad behaviour (which 
comes up from time to time).

We began with no money but a lot of energy -- using majordomo at first on a 
free art server, then moving to an all female server in NYC that was free, 
changing over to Yahoo (but we got tired of the ads and etc.) and now are 
sitting at Servus.at in Linz, Austria - where we receive tremendous support 
and very good reliable service.  We just got our first funding, very modest 
for our ambitions...but we will try anyway to react to the needs expressed 
by the FACES community, our subscribers, and also to the ideas we have as 
moderators after observing the list for so many years.

Back to the beginning.

As moderators of the list, three of us (orignially myself, Diana McCarty 
and Valie Djordjevic organised many ways to meet up IRL: at conferences, 
events, and festivals (which were very important IRL gatherings for the net 
community in the 90s, don't forget).  These were fun, ad hoc and always a 
bit frustrating get togethers (some people didn't get the information soon 
enough, others expected a more formal platform, etc.)  But, this way, FACES 
became a kind of 'bridge' between the project meetings, dinners, 
presentation opportunities (especially at festivals where not so many 
females were present on the programme -- thankfully the message has been 
received and this is no longer quite the desperate situation it once was).

We all continue to 'mind the shop' so to speak, but all of us have become 
very busy with our lives and work obligations, as often happens in long 
term volunteer projects.  Remember, FACES exists outside of any sponsored 
situation, it has been done without pay and as a private project -- not 
many people realise that it has grown and thrived despite our various 
personal ebbs and flows.  Ushi Reiter, a designer, programme organiser and 
activist feminist participant in FACES from Linz, joined the moderator 
group after the 2001 FACES event at Ars Electronica, and has been 
instrumental to bring some cohesion to the project.  We have since formed a 
Verein (a not for profit - charity - 501C3) in Austria.  This will give us 
the umbrella to fundraise in the future, if our new plans take off.

What we want to do:
We will have a web portal, with a public face and a private members only 
face (for FACES only).  The public side will allow women to post their 
announcements and job opportunities, exhibition calls for participation, 
etc...as well as the texts and reports that they have and want to 
publish.  We are currently awaiting more response from the members on our 
plan, and Diana and Valie have promised to join in and post to Empyre on 
this topic as well (they are both subscribed and are reading the discussion).

Phew, sorry to take so long, this only gives you a bit of background.  I'll 
try to pick up on parts of the discussion this week, then will be at ISEA 
(where we have been promised connectivity).  Also, the FACES list is hoping 
to receive reports and updates from the ISEA conference, after a lengthy 
discussion on the list about the fact that ISEA is rather restrictrive 
financially -- and many can not attend in person.  We'll do our best to 
give a good window to the goings on!

Q: Do people think that we live in a network society? I subscribe to many 
lists and rarely post (it's true, I lurk too).  However, I do feel 
connected by this fact.  It is amazing to me that such a huge dialogue 
exists around so many net issues, and that they come off as being SO 
IMPORTANT...now that I'm in an Art environment where on-line issues are 
relatively unimportant and not influential at all.  Mostly, for this 
Communmity -- lists and websites exist totally for Pnd marketing, as well 
as a cheap way to distribute information.  I do my part to introduce new 
ideas about the Net, and artists working within that environment to my 
institutions exhibition programme .. it is a slow process, but things are 
changing (please don't think I will give up on the more traditional arts, 
installation, conceptual, live-art, and video -- etc.).

I think it is time to stop here...I'm happy to enter a dialogue about 
issues being brought up here.... thank you for inviting me to participate, 
Melinda.

Kathy