[-empyre-] "Networked Catastrophe and Artistic Response"

[Timothy Murray]

Welcome to the November discussion of Networked Catastrophe and 
Artistic Response.   Renate and I decided to focus on this theme in 
the wake of -empyre-'s cosponsorship of the recent San Francisco 
conference  on Paul Virilio,  "Trajectories of the Catastrophic," 
October 24-25, 2008,in San Francisco, California, 
(http://www.trajectoriesofthecatastrophic.net/index.html).  This was 
a collective enterprise that was organized by Peter Maravelis of City 
Lights Books with the assistance of Arthur and Marilouise Kroker of 
CTHEORY and Lynn Hershman of the San Francisco Art Institute. 
Virilio appeared virtually through a video interview, just as Stelarc 
and DJ Spooky appeared via Second Life and video streaming.

When we first discussed focusing on networked catastrophe, we were 
"taking stock" of the catostrophe of networked economics that was 
seizing the news and that changed the direction of the American 
presidential election for the good.  We also have been thinking about 
Virilio's work on war and cinema in relation to a year-long Cornell 
University workshop on militarization in everyday life.  Our sense is 
that the virtual global economic crisis is not unlinked to the issues 
of technological militarization that are so important to Virilio's 
writings.   You might also recall that Virilio is highly ambivalant 
about networked culture, believing that its collapse of distance and 
"pollution of speed" is prone to the kind of catastrophe that we see 
in war and economic collapse.

While not wanting to limit the month to Virilio per se, we hope that 
you'll share our interest in dialoguing about these issues.  At the 
San Francisco event, many of us also shared our optimism for digital 
technology's contribution to the arts and to the arts' potential 
intervention through the activist work  of preemptive and activist 
media.  This is certainly an issue that Ricardo Dominguez will raise 
when he posts his guest statement later in the month.

We would like to spend the remainder of this week in general 
conversation before introducing our guests start posting next week. 
We note, for instance, the paradox that the catastrophic meltdown of 
the global economy not only opened the door to a different kind of 
political thought in the US, but that the Obama campaign profited 
immeasurably from the affirmative benefits of digital machineries and 
culture, from fundraising to blogging to amateur video (these are 
possibilities that are global in nature and not limited to the 
specificity of the American political context).  Indeed the very 
collapse of international space and distance that so horrifies 
Virilio seems to have provided a discursive and visual alternative to 
standardized political narratives (while still noting that Obama 
himself ran on a promise of more effective militarization!).

I hope that this thoughts will prompt your discussion and response as 
a way of providing  a discursive frame for the participation of our 
guests, Verena Andermatt Conley, Ricardo Dominguez, Navjotika Kumar , 
and Steve Redhead.

Best,

Tim



>Dear empyreans,
>
>We hope you will understand our decision to postpone the beginning 
>of this month's discussion for a few days in order for us to engage 
>in political work prior to today's American elections.  Given the 
>frightful results of recent American presidential elections, we have 
>been concerned that the beginnings of our discussion of networked 
>catastrophe might be consumed by depressing verifications of Paul 
>Virilio's skeptical hesitancy in the face of networked culture.  We 
>are delighted to report, as of the past hour, that catastrophe has 
>not repeated itself, at least at this moment, at least from an 
>American perspective.
>
>We  will post our thoughts individually about our plans for this 
>month's discussion in the next day or so, after we finish 
>celebrating and clean our tables of calling lists, regional election 
>calculations, and tabulated results.  A little more than a week ago 
>we were in San Francisco discussing the insights of Paul Virilio and 
>the alternate, affirmative approach to speed and networked culture 
>recommended and practiced by many of the artists who joined with us, 
>from Stelarc and Lynn Hershmann to D. J. Spooky, Jordan Crandall, 
>and Ricardo Dominguez.  This month we'll be joined by Ricardo as 
>well by other theoreticians of speed culture--Verena Andermatt 
>Conley. Navjotika Kumar, and Steve Redhead who may well now frame 
>their discussions in a different light.  We are also hoping for 
>brief visits from other participants, from Jordan Crandall to Arthur 
>and Marilouise Kroker.
>
>For now, we hope that you all share the delight and guarded optimism 
>that overwhelms us this evening.
>
>With warmth, and in the spirit of last month's discussion, lot's of love.
>
>Renate and Tim
>
>
>>Renate Ferro and Tim Murray
>>CoModerators, -empyre-
>>Department of Art/Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art
>Cornell University
>--
>_______________________________________________
>empyre forum
>empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
>http://www.subtle.net/empyre


-- 
Timothy Murray
Director, Society for the Humanities
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/sochum/
Curator, The Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art, Cornell Library
http://goldsen.library.cornell.edu
Professor of Comparative Literature and English
A. D. White House
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York 14853