[-empyre-] citizens and conflict in flux

Thu Feb 10 17:08:54 EST 2011

Hi Larissa,
I am curious how were the reactions different?
bests
shuruq

On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 2:52 AM, larissa sansour <lsansour at hotmail.com>wrote:

>  Undermining the homogeneity of news coverage is certainly a big incentive
> for media based work. It is, of course, easier for an artist to film and
> record a reality on the ground to expose it in sharp contrast to what is
> being reported ,than, say, paint a picture. Finding ways to address this
> topic is always problematic. I am always tempted to expose the discrepancy
> between reality on the ground to news footage in a stark direct and literal
> manner, but somehow always end up having a more quirky approach to it. In my
> work, I tend to present these alternative takes by accentuating everything
> that is completely missing in news coverage, such as actual Palestinian
> towns rather than the non-descript wilderness-like spaces Palestininas
> usually get depicted in or ordinary people in contrast to, say, the select
> number of vaguely disturbing militant personas that news cameras tend to
> love so much.
> In relation to recent events in Egypt, it is interesting to note the
> polarisation of concerns and perspectives on something like Facebook. It was
> surprising to see curators, artists and others from or related to the Middle
> East in their practice engage with the recent events in Egypt very
> differently from my colleagues whose main practice unfolds exclusively in a
> Western context, even though both groups are following the news from the
> region incessantly.
>
> Larissa
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2011 09:21:01 -0800
> From: isakberbic at yahoo.com
> To: empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> Subject: Re: [-empyre-] citizens and conflict in flux
>
>
> In respect to Tim's assessment that one of the benefits of "overlapping
> platforms and networks of new media" is the availability of multitudes of
> distinct perspectives which in turn undermine homogeneity: I agree that this
> is a most significant aspect that is also the driving force behind much
> contemporary new media art today, including my own practice. It is what
> facilitates an awareness and criticality of the complexities in media
> coverage and contemporary representation as we navigate through the mass.
>
> What was compelling about the Balkan wars in the 1990's is that they were one
> of the first wars mediated LIVE; in the sense that information on conflict
> and war was available through mass media right from the street to television
> sets across the world - instantly. This is in context of technological
> developments, satellite up-links, internet and digital information, portable
> equipment and rapid output, the rise in popularity and commercialization of
> news channels. In the case of Bosnia, the presence of the UN and other
> foreign organizations made available an unprecedented flow of images. Where
> the only true media blockade was happening in Serbia in fact. The Serbian
> general population did not have access to what the world was watching their
> military engage in. Perhaps, to the contrary is the 2008/2009, 21 day
> bombing of Gaza where the cameras are confined to the exterior, and the
> media is coming mostly from authorized and controlled sources, thus limiting
> “the world’s” access to the site of the event. In the case of Egypt (which
> is now proving to be a failed attempt of asserting control on coverage)
> social media and web based tools such as video over IP played a major role
> in media dissemination. Then, it is certain that governments and militaries
> can no longer work behind the veil of information control. Even if
> information is fractured, unorganized, unedited, contradictory; a multitudes
> of singularities; it is still permeating and allowing us an insight into the
> particular.
>
> Isak Berbic
>
> *From:* Timothy Murray <tcm1 at cornell.edu>
> *To:* soft_skinned_space <empyre at gamera.cofa.unsw.edu.au>
> *Cc:*
> *Sent:* Monday, February 7, 2011 7:04 PM
> *Subject:* [-empyre-] citizens and conflict in flux
>
> > Dear Larissa and Isak,
>
> Given the limited news reporting coming out of the Middle East in the past
> couple of weeks, and that most of what we in the US can access via the
> television derives from CNN/ABC through the lens of a only a handful of
> reporters and camera views, I'm hoping the list will weigh in on your
> accounts of the power shifts of conflict and how they manifest themselves
> (or not!)  in the visual sound bites of the media.
>
> One of the benefits of the overlapping platforms and networks of new media,
> as I understand them, has been the ability to make evident, through media
> overlaps, simultaneous texting and tweeting, not to mention video and
> cinematic grabs and recyclings, the "conflicting" images and accounts that
> disturb and undermine the homogenous news coverage flooding the televisual
> airwaves whenever, it seems, the Middle East is concerned (although why
> limit news homogeneity to the Middle East).
>
> Of tremendous importance is how frequently the complex interfaces of new
> media art and installation make manifest the very deep sense of 'conflict'
> and 'citizenry in flux', of which Larissa speaks so forcefully and which
> Isak notes becomes washed out by the homogeneity of commodified news
> footage.
>
> It would be fantastic to hear more about how particular pieces you've
> created or admired address these dynamics of conflict and flux and perhaps
> how you understand their temporal and political relation to current events
> in the Middle East.
>
> Perhaps other members of -empyre- would be interested in weighing in here
> as well.
>
> Looking forward to the dialogue.
>
> Best,
>
> Tim
>
>
> -- 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
> 27 East Avenue
> Cornell University
> Ithaca, New York 14853
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> http://www.subtle.net/empyre
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> TV dinner still cooling?
> Check out "Tonight's Picks"<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=49979/*http://tv.yahoo.com/>on Yahoo! TV.
> _______________________________________________ empyre forum
> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au http://www.subtle.net/empyre
>
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> http://www.subtle.net/empyre
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mail.cofa.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/attachments/20110210/f348739e/attachment.html>