Hi Kevin,
I too have been surprised the focus on questions of reception, as
well as well as a persistent assumption that spatial representation
can function in a socially compelling or politically productive
way. My use of "spatial representation" could index here all of the
various modalities of artistic representation in space that have
been discussed so far: kinesthetic activity and sound in PED ("Here
the 'user' is asked to perform an unwitting political/utopian
action riding conscicuous bikes?" - Johannes Birringer), or
interactive installation as in "trans-border: primitive man @edge
of virtual forest / hyaku-take", or public installation and
performance in "Chrysalis Bridge", or Millie Chen's interest in
sound in public space. My questioning of the inherent possibilities
in anyone's "critical spatial practice" circulates around the
"critical" part more than the "spatial practice" part - in other
words I question the assumption that art can significantly
instantiate questions in the mind of the "user" that are
politically transformative and thus progressive. (I don't deny some
influence - see "significantly" above...)
I take my question to be a gross summary of the strong critiques
presented here by Birringer, ("For the digital to affect and
transform us politically, what could it do?"), or as Catherine
Ingraham just said in another post, criticality "remains the word
most used in describing studio teaching in architecture but is less
and less influential as a idea or methodology." So my question
finally is, why criticality at all? What can it do for us that we
couldn't do much better by *productive* political practices -
things that do something useful instead of trying to "message" the
public? (And, for Birringer, I do in fact think that there are
things that digital media can do... but I will not be in a position
to discuss that possibility until present research is complete...)
But, in the spirit of good examples... off the top of my head... I
met Raquel Rennó in Sao Paulo recently and we had a long talk about
this... she is working in Spain and turned me onto the following
projects that are actually helping immigrants negotiate borders -
Technological Observatory of the Straits (http://www.fadaiat.net/)
and LavapiesWireless (http://lavapieswireless.net/). Of course,
activities such as these are by necessity experimental and
ultimately tactical (and yes, maybe not entailed in the self-
referencing and delusionally forward oriented whirligig of the
artworld that Saul Ostrow so well described...), but could these
potentially be thought of models that should not replace, but
rather taken as the primary nexus of practice over memes like
"critical cartography" or "Critical Spatial Practice"?
Finally, although getting ahead of the discussion I see a lot of
what I think I am trying to support here my colleague Teddy Cruz's
work, but we will hear from him later... so maybe to revisit at
that time.
Kevin Hamilton wrote:
!-snip-
/// Broad Questions
These are some questions I keep coming back to in my engagement
with the topic:
1) I've been surprised to see the thread so far focussed so much
on questions of reception. As such, it's also been largely a
discussion of Art, with some (to me) familiar assumptions about
Art's capacity for fostering at least personal transformation, if
not social change. How might we talk about examples of CSP without
resorting to avant-garde models in which enlightened cultural
producers educate, influence or enhance through "secular
spiritualism" (phrase from Chris' posts) or perceptual/ethical
superiority?
2) How can we understand and influence the material, social and
political specificities of temporary or habitual perceptual
practices without instrumentalizing sensation in the service of
aesthetic affect or political effect? Can we talk about particular
sensoria as more or less free or rich outside of an ends-oriented
approach?
3) What about Art has been, or continues to be, useful to
"Critical Spatial Practitioners"?
!-snip-
--
Brett Stalbaum, Lecturer, LSOE
Coordinator, Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts Major (ICAM)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
Department of Visual Arts
9500 GILMAN DR. # 0084
La Jolla CA 92093-0084
http://www.c5corp.com
http://www.paintersflat.net
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