Re: [-empyre-] cultural, organizational and technological performance

[Helen Thorington <newradio@turbulence.org>]

Michelle R. --

"Perhaps the multivalent concept of performance as cultural, organizational
and technological can inform a typology of current networked practice."


Can you give us an idea of what this means?  A new way of categorizing types
of networked practice...  what would you put in each of the above
categories?  And wouldn't one spend hours arguing what work belongs where?

-- Helen




on 7/14/05 6:28 PM, Michelle Riel at michelle_riel@csumb.edu wrote:

> In Jon McKenzie?s book Perform or Else he presents a case study approach
> demonstrating the current cultural use and understanding of ?performance?.  He
> cites the parallel developments emergent from the 50?s and 60?s of Marcuse?s
> claim that
> post-industrial societies are ruled by the ?performance principle? (oppressive
> / repressive sublimation, or conformance to social acceptance), concurrent
> with the rise of both a theatrical concept of performance from ritual and
> social interaction
> and the development in art that would become performance art.
> 
> Specifically, he looks at three facets of performance: the efficacy of
> ?cultural performance? as in the performance of dancers, singers, musicians
> and actors in the traditional performing arts and experimental art; the
> efficiency of ?organizational
> performance? such as workplace productivity of companies, business management,
> economic power; and the effectiveness of ?technological performance? such as
> the technological functionality of objects or systems.
> 
> While seemingly disparate, and certainly broad, expanding performance to be
> inclusive of these cultural uses enables us to understand as ?performance?
> buildings made of fog and tables that follow you, tools that are sociable and
> engage you to become
> performative through their use and, the more familiar notion of performance,
> interactions by artists with technology in an event presented to others who
> observe.  
> 
> But unlike Schwitters? imagined Merz conception, the blog is chronicling
> _current practice_ which, like the openness of its premise (any live event
> that is network enabled), means that there is a really broad range of realized
> work. From lo-fi to
> DIY art to academic and commercial institutionally funded research to
> commercial tools and experiences. And an equally broad range of practitioners
> from artists and performers, of course, to engineers, computer scientists,
> social scientists,
> humanities researchers, architects, and undoubtedly others.
> 
> One aspect of the blog as a database of works is to note patterns of practice
> as a means to understand the expanding definition of performance. The breadth
> of this scope points out that both definitions of terms (performance,
> liveness, embodiment,
> presence, agency, etc.) as well as a typology are needed.  We began with the
> categories Telematic, Locative, Wearable, and Environments. Perhaps the
> multivalent concept of performance as cultural, organizational and
> technological can inform a
> typology of current networked practice.
> 
> ..........................
> michelle riel, mfa
> asst. prof. new media & dept. chair
> teledramatic arts & technology, bldg. 27
> california state university monterey bay
> 100 campus center
> seaside, ca 93955, usa
> v: 831.582.4665
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> http://www.subtle.net/empyre
>