[-empyre-] Why US DAT is Virtual

[Randall Packer <rpacker@zakros.com>]

The notion of whether or not art should or can 
affect real change in the world has been a 
motivating idea behind the US DAT project. I 
believe that artists can bring about change but 
it may not necessarily be through direct action. 
I believe that artists can mediate change, be a 
medium for change, by introducing new models, new 
ways of seeing the world. The artist awakens us 
to new possibilities, proposes new ideas, turns 
us around to what "could be," rather than simply 
"what is." This change may not be immediate, but 
it might permeate our collective consciousness 
and gradually emerge as a transformative force 
over time. That is what art can do, that is what 
makes art unique. If US DAT were to be a real 
entity, an object or a thing or a place, it would 
cease to be an artwork and it would immediately 
lose its effectiveness, in my opinion. US DAT is 
virtual and must remain that way. The definition 
of virtual according to the media theorist Pierre 
Lévy, is that which has the potential of coming 
into being. The potentiality of an idea is, for 
me, more powerful than an action that causes an 
immediate result. An idea can percolate over 
time, it can gain momentum and depth and perhaps 
eventually really change the way we view the 
world, perhaps even end wars. As Williams 
Burroughs said, "Weapons that change 
consciousness can call the war game in question."

> Randall
> Beyond  the traditional interventionist strategy of EPDC -- what is its
> politics -- does it seek to empower its audience or does it merely
> inform -- does it organize or merely leave people as they were before
> having been informed
>
> As you might suspect from these questions my  I view  politics as
> constituting the performative rather than the informational  -- Its all
> fine and well to believe one is engaged -- yet that engagement must
> extend beyond the relative freedom of the cultural sphere
> Saul
>
>
>
> >  >
> >  > I wish you could have seen our recent installation, the Experimental
> >  > Party DisInformation Center, installed at LUXE gallery right in the
> >  > heart of the 57th St. gallery district in NYC during the Republican
> >  > Convention. Also the heart of the NYC Gucci neighborhood. Not a
> >  > typical place for political art.
> >  >
> >  > In any case, we had everyone from students to activists to red meat
> >  > Republicans, etc. going through the gallery. Around 5,000 people in
> >  > two weeks. There was one group of students from a New School
> >  > sociology class that had been given the assignment to view the show
> >  > and interview me. The Professor said the show had "opened the eyes"
> >  > of her students to the current political climate and the use of
> >  > propaganda by the Republicans. These were kids not at all experienced
> >  > with contemporary new media art, so this struck me as particularly
> >  > compelling.
> >  >
> >  > To get to the point, US DAT is a form of "performance art" that
> >  > dissolves the border between the virtual and physical realms of
> >  > galleries, Web sites, press releases, live performance, etc. It is
> >  > intended to reach people viscerally in its use of fantasy and satire,
> >  > which I believe, has been effective in drawing a large audience into
> >  > thinking about complex issues that might otherwise be inaccessible.
> >  >
> >  > I believe that if art has a political message, it needs to touch
> >  > people, it needs to connect with people and the world they live in.
> >  > Otherwise, you are right, it comes off being not only humorless, but
> >  > colorless and ineffectual.
> >  >
> >  > Randall
> >  >
> >  >
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