Re: [-empyre-] encounter and extension

[su b <suballard@optusnet.com.au>]

Hi all,
danny ended with a brief comment about discomfort with nation-states, 
and something clicked for me.
As a 'group' (even that word is problematic) we are here to discuss 
........new media.....our practice.....something specific about 
aotearoa/nz......I'm not sure...but whatever it is, this is a very 
difficult thing to do.  I have been wondering why, is this a 
particularly nz discomfort with putting yourself out there, and 
speaking? I don't think so. The discomfort also connects across a 
number of the posts over the last few days.
Adam asks how important is international recognition - and i wondered 
what is international anyway? does it mean across nations? between 
nations? nations other than our own? places where we haven't lived? or 
is it simply somewhere where what we do might be recognised as somehow 
different to what has been done before - Whale Rider a complex case in 
point! So we introduce questions of trust, of 'authenticity' (actually 
i'm not sure any of us have used this word but it seems implied) and  
negotiation. And the topic circles around back to location and of 
residence. This discussion becomes an encounter, rather than a 
reflection of the local, or of our particular nation-state. We 
encounter each other, and each other's habits, obsessions, tastes, 
politics.
Maybe its because I'm in Golden Bay, but I can't stop thinking about 
empyre as a b&b (bed and breakfast) welcoming us in, giving us a warm 
room with a beautiful view over the eastury, serving us extravagant 
breakfast that we can't possibly consume, remaining polite, and waving 
goodbye from the letterbox at the end of our stay. Can we do more than 
this? write on the walls....
.
su