Re: [-empyre-] transgression anyway

[marc <marc.garrett@furtherfield.org>]

Hi jeremy,


>I mentioned the good hackers in my post, but very briefly,and I realize
>now, in haste, very narrowly. I should have mentioned more examples to
>make it seem more even.

no problem - Regarding your comments on negative hacking by younger 
kids. I have been teaching students who are 18-20 years old (on average) 
who have been inspired by the various things that they can do with such 
methods/activities. Most of them when they first arrive (to lectures) 
are usually commenting on the more sensational aspects of 
hacking/cracking and phreaking, yet they are not that informed of the 
amazing ways of using and exploring such skills beyond the more clich'e 
elements. My job is to point them in the right direction, so that they 
can jump into it with a more enlightened and broader context of what 
type of hacking is happening out there. So, i get them to festivals in 
the UK and also show them much of the work that has been happening 
before and now around the globe that is creative.  

>I thank you for the urban explorer as hack
>examples, I have done that myself and never thought of it in this context.

I really appreciate and respect what urban explorers are doing - They 
are an interesting breed (touching on psychogeography in many degrees) 
opening/unearthing up alternative views and ways of experiencing our 
urban environments. And they tend to that function outside of 
established, curriculum based canons and incentives which is interesting 
in its own right. There is also an uncanny poetics at play with such 
actions that offer metaphors in respect of privacy, space, the unseen 
and much more, and fits well in regard to transgressive happenings, in a 
contemporary sense. Another site which enjoys urban exploration is from 
Brussels, searching underground mines, defunkt coal and steel industries 
(http://bxl2.free.fr/).

>The artists that alter billboards have been around for a long time, this
>is a hacking in a sense, and I have always been impressed by the work that
>really makes commentary out of commodity.

Yes, I have done much of this stuff in my time. in the late eigthties 
and early nineties changing streets signs, creating diversions by 
changing the meaning of the signs. Run pirate radio and tv stations that 
also broadcasted into the streets. One project which I am personally 
proud of is one I did with Heath BUnting and other firends at the time 
on the Avon Gorge, in Bristol UK about 1993. 
http://irational.org/heath/gorge_poster/

>The appeal in advertising has always been what is sexy, alluring,
>mysterious yet somehow possible.  The same is true of subcultures and this
>can be good or bad.  The "black" hacking, or malignant hacking however
>small a sub-sub culture does not need to be glorified in discourse as a
>reaction and empowerment against capitalism.  The kids that have
>repeatedly caused problems and hurt the larger protests of the current war
>in irag and on globaliztion have been the young , overly reactionary, not
>fully informed teens in ski masks breaking windows and looking for a
>direct and strong attack on the larger systems.  Anarchy seemed very sexy
>to me and a million other punks when we were teens in the 80's; when we
>grew up we realized just how impossible and bleak anarchy by definition
>really would be and has been in history.  The signifier changed into more
>subtle and broader needs for action and voice, but the music still sounds
>great.

I feel that we are not able to suspend the passionS of a younger 
generation, even if it is seen as misguided or ill -informed in certain 
ways. The roles models out there are not reflecting successfully a way 
out the trapping of state induced wars...

One of my main beefs is how immature the behaviour is by our own male 
representatives that run our institutions and governments, and there 
over eagerness to kill people due to their own lack of vision and 
empathy for other swho are not from their own culture. As mediation and 
the social construction of our lives have become more evident. With the 
wake up call that many of the issues around de-humanization are not just 
distant happenings, theory or story, written and demonstrated about by 
the politically enlightened who dared to see beyond officially imposed 
vistas. With us all experiencing the everyday upheaval of centuries old 
civil rights being threatened by what now seems to be a perpetual "war 
on terror". Orchestrated by powerful people who are not interested in 
the well being of our world. Such as Rupert Murdoch's 'War on 
Journalism', and the American administration's determination to dominate 
via fundamentalist and dogmatic agendas. As weak willed governments and 
corrupt heads of state fall into line supporting sadist principles not 
just on other states, but also on their own civilians. The trickle down 
effect of this is that our youths are going to be just as extreme via 
reactionary means, because they are being educated that it is ok to be a 
bully and violent, it is officially sanctioned.

marc


http://www.http.uk.net/
http://www.furtherfield.org (offline at present)


Hi Jeremy,

>>
>> I half agree with your notion regarding the spectacle related notions of
>> hackers. Yet, there are actually many positive things in respect of
>> hacker sensibilties and much more than the singular over-promoted hacker
>> 'sensationalism' mode. Hacking of course, has been filtered and
>> mediated, packaged to a mainstream adience culture (like movies) in a
>> usually non creative way. Not delving or thinking about the more fluid
>> and creative ways that artists have used such (flexible) methods in
>> order to create engagement with the world, as material for art and
>> diversion.
>>
>>  >  Hell, I was one myself; I tested highly gifted and still did the
>> answers
>>  >in my head, was anooyed and tuned out for a while as i still wasn't
>>  >challenged.  I think the academic community really needs to be careful
>>  >about what seems sexy in discourse.  I have had several major virus
>>  >attacks over the years ruin files, require complete re-installation of
>>  >the hard drive etc....
>>
>> Yes, a complete pain in the never regions. Yet, even though we have been
>> hacked at Furtherfield (last October 04) we are open to the wider gamut
>> of hacking and its many different, fluent and imaginative strategies. It
>> is a way out of conforming to imposed ideologies from top down, ruling
>> organizations. Much important work has come out of such actions that do
>> offer creative minds alternative ways in presenting their ideas and
>> work, beyond institutionalized remits and limited, historicized canons.
>>
>> If one views (activist/creative) hacking by its behaviour rather than by
>> its physical tools alone, and the extremely limited propogations and
>> many misrepesentations labeling it. Hacking can be and is to many a
>> transgressive way of playing and finding ways around systems. Hackers
>> are usually mistaken to be Evil, and Crackers are the ones who screw
>> things over as far as creating virus, cracks, spyware, and destroying
>> data.
>>
>> It was Hakim Bey, who put forward the idea of 'poetic terrorism'. Of
>> course to use such a term these days would get many people's alarm bells
>> ringing. But once, poetic terrorism was seen as a positive form of
>> protest using a kind of hacker sensibilty.
>>
>> "Organize a strike in your school or workplace on the grounds that it
>> does not satisfy your need for indolence & spiritual beauty."
>>
>> "Grafitti-art loaned some grace to ugly subways & rigid public
>> momuments--PT-art can also be created for public places: poems scrawled
>> in courthouse lavatories, small fetishes abandoned in parks &
>> restaurants, xerox-art under windshield-wipers of parked cars, Big
>> Character Slogans pasted on playground walls, anonymous letters mailed
>> to random or chosen recipients (mail fraud), pirate radio transmissions,
>> wet cement..." Hakim Bey.
>>
>> Urban hacking is a less discussed mode of activity worth ex0plring as
>> well...
>> "UEM is a small group of urban explorers based in Montreal, Canada. Our
>> particular characteristics such as name or age are not important: the
>> cynosure of our group is a passion for the exploration of urban
>> locations. See the Group section for more information on us."
>> http://uem.minimanga.com/index.php?section=about_us
>>
>> "Urban exploring is the art of going places off limits to most and
>> unseen by many. Explorers are brave souls who often dredge through great
>> dangers for their art. Often they research and document historic
>> abandoned places to accompany pictures and video taken on the locations
>> of sites with enormous history. Otherwise they are simply in search of a
>> beautiful view." The Hacking Quaterly.
>>
>> Hacking possesses many different levels of acting and not all of it is
>> directly digitally connected. Art and activism, has worked well with
>> creative hacking ands transcends structural conformity. And perhaps
>> discussing the more imaginative and variant functions and its
>> transgrssive forms of hacking is more likely to touch upon what hacking
>> really is.
>>
>> Definition of Hacktivism: A person who enjoys exploring the details of
>> programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities" and one who
>> is capable of "creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations".
>> Metac0m (December 2003).
>>
>> "HACK (1) to change a program so that is does something the original
>> programmer either didn't want it to do or didn't plan for it. Hacking a
>> program is not neccessarily cracking, and vise versa.
>> http://www.irational.org/APD/HE/html/H.htm
>>
>> Perhaps others can offer examples, for I just wanted to put across the
>> point that hacking can be a positive and creative action...
>>
>> marc
>>
>> some links below:
>>
>> http://shop.store.yahoo.com/2600hacker/urexhacphysw.html
>> 
http://www.v2.nl/FreeZone/ZoneText/Diversions/Broadsheets/PoeticTerrorismBS.html
>> http://www.hackaday.com/
>> http://www.thing.net/~rdom/ecd/oecd.html
>>
>>  >>What is the line between tech fetish and intellectual rebel 
fetish and
>>  >
>>  >the discussion of this "new" voice?     The good hacker works with
>>  >security systems and tests bugs and holes but is benign.  The bad
>>  >hacker......well, i'd be a fool to even bother to redundantly define
>>  >this.  Isn't it really dangerous to glamourize this outlaw stance and
>>  >shadow mythology?  This is what creates the malignant hacker ( the
>>  >manifesto even says so).  The dangerous rebel is exciting to 
analyze at
>> a
>>  >distance, but that distant voice if reiterated in publication 
seems very
>>  >dangerously equivalent to just making this invisible netherworld and
>>  >impotent virulence seem that much sexier to more awkward 15 year olds
>>  >bored in school.
>>  >
>>  >  Hell, I was one myself; I tested highly gifted and still did the
>> answers
>>  >in my head, was anooyed and tuned out for a while as i still wasn't
>>  >challenged.  I think the academic community really needs to be careful
>>  >about what seems sexy in discourse.  I have had several major virus
>>  >attacks over the years ruin files, require complete re-installation of
>>  >the hard drive etc....
>>  >
>>  >This manifesto is a call to arms, nothing more.
>>  >
>>  >jeremy
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > We have to reinvent; if we went out of the era of the production (of
>> the
>>  >
>>  >>criticism of the political economy) then let us take place beyond the
>>  >>question of the technique as resource of class: which possesses 
it, who
>>  >>produces thanks it, who fires his resource from it, etc...?
>>  >>
>>  >>But ubiquity of hypermedia and the recent laws of control which
>> accompany
>>  >>it: what do you think of? What transgression (malpractice) is 
possible
>>  >>which
>>  >>can be otherwise watched or only of the mist expert hackers? 
(thus far
>>  >>from
>>  >>the common social practice shared in the every day life?)
>>  >>
>>  >>We are far from situtationnists in that case.
>>  >>
>>  >>I know well that there is a position at the same moment new, poetic,
>> but
>>  >>ambiguous
>>  >>at the same time -traditionally political- of McKenzie Wark in A to
>> hacker
>>  >>manifesto (of which personally I get ready to publish the long 
version
>> to
>>  >>French-speaking territories with his agreement; because I 
followed the
>>  >>development of this text since the first version in subsol - that we
>> have
>>  >>translated to our symposium in 2002- until the publication by Harvard
>>  >>Press -in any case) and moreover: what do you think of it concerning
>> the
>>  >>theme of this debate?
>>  >>
>>  >>http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/WARHAC.html
>>  >>
>>  
>>http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&q=a+hacker+manifesto&btnG=Recherche+Google&meta=
>>  >>(but I am sure that you know of Ken -ever you feel good ever you feel
>> bad
>>  >>of
>>  >>him - personally he sis a friend of me but I can hear any criticisms
>> - and
>>  >>I
>>  >>make so for any one by myself)
>>  >>http://www.criticalsecret.com/n10/A%20HACKER%20MANIFESTO/index.php
>> (short
>>  >>version and translation)
>>  >>
>>  >>http://subsol.c3.hu/subsol_2/contributors0/warktext.html
>>  >>
>>  >>His conference during our symposium
>>  >>http://www.criticalsecret.com/n10/McKENZIE%20WARK/ (bi-lingual) "
>> Escape
>>  >>from the dual empire "
>>  >>
>>  >>http://www.criticalsecret.com/n10/index.php#sommaire
>>  >>
>>  >>
>>  >>Frankly what you do think?
>>  >>
>>  >>""You will go at the church and say of your voice: "God is dead" " of
>> the
>>  >>Stasbourg manifesto is far from us... Or say: hypermedia -that of the
>>  >>early
>>  >>time of Free media- is dead and say it online. Could you imagine
>> that? -or
>>  >>not possible.
>>  >>
>>  >>We are addict with the hypermedia, addict with the transitive
>>  >>communication
>>  >>in real time and all that... But for another part it is our peculiar
>>  >>knowledge, this way to invent of a part of us, this way to meet
>> together
>>  >>with this part and to meet all anyway from East to West and from 
North
>> to
>>  >>South of the planet and much more: so what right now?
>>  >>
>>  >>And this another vision of the hacker as the mentor?
>>  
>>http://cybercrimes.net/Property/Hacking/Hacker%20Manifesto/HackerManifesto.html
>>  >>where transgression is the subject.
>>  >>
>>  >>(all the contrary of the situationnism: so what? which changes and
>>  >>differences of our times is it designed in such texts?)
>>  >>
>>  >>A.
>>  >>
>>  >>
>>  >>
>>  >>
>>  >>_______________________________________________
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>>  >>empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
>>  >>http://www.subtle.net/empyre
>>  >>
>>  >
>>  >_______________________________________________
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>>  >empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
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>>  >
>>  >
>>
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