[-empyre-] delineations

[ryan griffis <grifray@yahoo.com>]

> I would like to add that firstly, I think that forms of oppression 
> need to
> be recognised and articulated.  I think this passage from a recent 
> lecture
> by Jane Flax at AHRB CentreCATH at the University of Leeds is relevant 
> here.
> ‘Often, however, what is required are ways to delimit
> the system, so that it appears as a perspective rather than inexorable
> truth. However, only certain practices of subjectivity are likely to
> engender a critical skepticism in regard to normalizing processes.’

> Secondly, I think that the processes of transgressing those oppressive
> boundaries should not (to borrow a phrase from Bracha Ettinger) 
> ‘submit or
> fold into’ the oppressive forms themselves.

These two points from Kate are right on, in my estimation. i've been 
thinking about the role of "tactical essentialism" as a form of 
resistance, and its dangers and limitations... on another discussion 
group ( http://www.walkinginplace.org/ ), there have been a couple of 
posts discussing the assimilation/co-optation of notions of "the local" 
- how localization is becoming part of the efficiency of capital and 
read through models of market valuation. with the role that IT is 
playing in this, it seems especially relevant to media-based artists 
concerned with such things, but something that seems to be glossed over 
fairly easily. in what ways should we be considering media/IT as 
functioning within boundaries of oppressive forms? how do we delimit 
that terrain with the knowledge and histories we have access to?
ryan