Re: [-empyre-] noise- boundary-empire

["James Barrett" <jim.barrett@humlab.umu.se>]

contempory interest for digital culture seems to me to be world wide (even
from outside the so-called technological bubble). the story behind the
australian experience seems related somehow to concept of noise. having
left australia in 1996 i have watched from afar as it attempts to assert
itself as a regional power. drawing in and appropriating talent from the
region and then presenting it to the world as "Australian". exceptions to
this weight of cultural hegemony are to be found but they, like all the
most interesting art, exist on the fringes, the (e)peripheries or (at risk
of historical complicity) the Frontier. here comes the noise. the
relegation of material as noise or content is dependant on the degree to
which a 'centre' is able to assert itself. the australian body politic has
pretensions to that power at the moment. under the radar of this is
perhaps some of the most interesting work emerging from .nz (and .au) as
those artists who remain demagnetized to a centre and pursue their own
agendas (as much as that is possible in a multimedia connected world). the
improvised-psych-folk music scene in .nz is one such example i can think
of that has managed to reach me here in the far north of scandinavia.
however looking back over my links it seems most cyber art spills over
geopolitical boundaries, but perhaps not economic ones and also moves to
resist noise as classification. i think specifically of Avatar Body
Collision (I am a fan) who include cyberspace as a residency as well as
Aotearoa/New Zealand and elsewhere. Are we building a new country? Or is
it outside the boundaries of that term?




> i should come out at this point as being half australian (a first
> fleeter even ; ) ... many kiwis do live between nz & australia, or
> move to australia, to study, develop careers or find the elusive
> audience. the internet gives us opportunities to find those audiences
> without leaving the country, which is great, altho su's point about
> our work being isolated from new zealand audiences is still true. but
> i wonder if it's changing - if the increase in festivals & other
> initiatives are starting to generate audiences here for digital art -
> maybe someone who has more recent experience than me can comment on
> this?
> h : )
>
>>Hi everyone,
>>The point about isolation is a valid one, but I do think the more
>>significant issue is the economic and social infrastructure of nz
>>arts. It is like the artists are not themselves isolated, as most of
>>us operate within some kind of international sphere,  but our
>>practice is isolated from new zealand audiences. This is the key
>>difference I have noticed between nz and Australia.  Living between
>>the two countries has been interesting and has tested my
>>preconceptions of both. I feel confident that nz is a pacific
>>country, australia I am not sure, it's eyes seem directed elsewhere.
>>Particularly in terms of mainstream politics, it can be a very long
>>way from nz. Historically, I can go into the galleries in sydney and
>>see paintings by nz artists labelled as australian, and I even found
>>Len Lye claimed as Australian! The tug of war  seems to be about
>>nationalistic ownership, I'm not sure if this is something
>>particularly antipodean!? The demise of new media funding in .au is
>>absolutely tragic. Hopefully it does not have the same impact that
>>the shunting around of funding for film did in nz during the 80s and
>>90s.
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>empyre forum
>>empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
>>http://www.subtle.net/empyre
>
>
> --
> ____________________________________________________________
>
> helen varley jamieson: creative catalyst
> helen@creative-catalyst.com
> http://www.creative-catalyst.com
> http://www.avatarbodycollision.org
> http://www.writerfind.com/hjamieson.htm
> ____________________________________________________________
>
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>
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-- 
Doctoral Student, Umeå University
The Department of Modern Languages/English
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