[-empyre-] Life imitating art imitating media?

[Ferry Biedermann]

Hi Marc,
It was good to read your comments. Just a few points. I had no intention of questioning the validity of crossover practices, that would indeed be very silly. But without getting into a 'what is art' discussion, I do look for a particular added value in anything that seeks to attach to itself the art predicate. If the crossover is so thorough that we cannot detect that added value anymore, then I wonder what the point is.
As for the role of social media, from what I have seen, the way they have been used by artists is mainly as a platform rather than anything else. Text and a photo on facebook is still text and a photo, but maybe I am wrong and there are more interesting uses? Maybe you can point out a few to me? Also, in terms of the impact in Egypt, I wonder if indeed we would not have heard these voices were it not for the social media. I have a suspicion that the same people who had access to the social media would have had access to foreign reporters and other outlets. Indeed, most of the interviews by CNN and BBC on Tahrir square seemed to be in English. I know that this may be slightly besides the point but I wonder if the social media are not doing even more to skew the image that we are now getting of countries because the people who are active on them are usually relatively educated and politically active. Call me old fashioned but a good reporter snooping around in all kinds of places, talking to a great variety of people, may still give a better picture of the real situation than what you glean from twitter and facebook.
Best,
Ferry



On 13 Feb 2011, at 16:13, marc garrett wrote:

> Hi Ferry,
> 
> I read your post and think that there are some essential arguments which need investigating...
> 
> >But I do wonder about the added value of artists when
> >they become just like other journalists or activists
> >or commentators. Art seems to me intrinsically subjective,
> >personal, idiosyncratic. Does it not become just one
> >voice among many if artists insist on participating in
> >other disciplines on the terms of those disciplines?
> >Don't they then run the risk of being absorbed by
> >those disciplines, in the way that let's say in
> >advertising commercial artist is just a fancy term
> >for designer?
> 
> What has happened since the Internet and networked technology (and actually before), is that many artists have discovered new skills which include re-evaluating their own contexts and ideas in reflection/relation to and as part of, the medium they practice in. Artists have always discussed their medium and how they apply it, look at it, think about; through processes of critique, whether it is a painting or a networked artwork. The difference now is, that people in everyday culture also use the same technological materials in their work environments as artists. Because of this a natural crossover occurs.
> 
> And even though there is a tradition of artists and thinkers who prefer to engage in digital art as a finite, absolute 'object' in its own right; there are many others out there who's influences and needs do not fit into the same mold of 'given' art histories. So their work is more likely to be following, reintroducing and expanding new forms of expression beyond traditional (fine art) gallery orientated behaviours and demands.
> 
> Many artists have not only created work which confuses the role of what an artist was once supposed to be, but they are also playing with the very infrastructures which once bound them. Post-modernist theories have engaged in critiquing social and cultural institutions, yet many artists have moved further in order change the very fabric of culture on their own terms, whether this be as individuals or collectively. We can see this as a reality by observing activism and the different strands of media-art that uses technology in order to either comment on politics, or intervene in culture on-line and off-line, or change everyday situations and its environments local or international.
> 
> The idea that there is a particular professional activity which is deemed above an artist's consideration or appropriation, is not necessarily a contemporary approach. Yet, it is important for all to appreciate skills regarding their own merits. But it is not only everyday journalism, publishing or politics being appropriated by artists happening here. It is also turned other way round; where engineers, scientists, writers, curators, architects, bio-technologists, gamers etc, have crossed over into the art world to express their own creative voices and ideas contextually introducing new exciting genres for all to explore.
> 
> The blurring of different practices, need not be a negative thing. In fact, such crossovers have introduced new ways of seeing our world which have introduced and incorporated new meanings and understandings of our in many different ways, which can be seen as not only useful but also evolutionary. In regards to my own history in the UK, when punk came along and caused a storm, cultural crossovers occurred that allowed (so called) amateurs to claim their voices and positions as part of something than larger than themselves. This was important, not only because it challenged the mono-cultural and suffocating hegemony of the day, but brought about a more dynamic and inclusive culture where artists, film-makers, musicians could take control of the reigns in respect of human-contexts. They changed and recreated their culture with others from the bottom up, and distributed it to and for others to take further.
> 
> >Social media played a huge role in spreading anger
> >about issues such as police brutality. It is no
> >accident that the facebook page that is credited
> >with starting the protests was called we are all
> >Khaled Said, the youth who was allegedly killed by
> >police in Alexandria. But the social media are a
> >tool, a very effective one but therefore not much
> >more than a tool, and not the reason behind what
> >is happening in parts of the Arab world.
> 
> Very true, in this context, social media was used as a tool very effectively. But tools can be used for many different reasons, processes and activities. But we must not forget that traditional journalism and corporate media television in the West, has been dragged into accepting on-line and networked information as news. It is a relatively new inclusion to their field. The worry of losing revenue and influence, due of the rise of the Internet has brought about this shift in newspapers incorporating news from outside of their own usual circles. Without this technology, not only would the voices of the protesters in Egypt not be heard, news corporations may not of covered the revolution so extensively. This is another example where technology has forced a shift in how we all engage with each other, changing the very fabric of how we receive information and relate to each other. It can also go in many different ways.
> 
> If artists, on the whole had decided to ignore connecting with such a medium, their work would be in danger of not taking responsibility of a cultural expansion, left isolated and lacking credibility in reflecting not only contemporary contexts in relation to what is happening in the world, but also aesthetically and philosophically. Artists are everywhere and they are people experiencing the same problems as anyone else. The issue we have here is that these tools are not just enabling possibilities of information, knowledge and involvement with political situations and revolutions; they are also allowing different forms of activity such as art to transcend traditional barriers.
> 
> Yet, as you propose, technology itself did not spur on the revolution in Egypt. And we do need to be careful in respecting what the context of things really are. I would say that we are experiencing a complexity where we are being influenced by many different factors and they all collide, and how they effect us is in accordance to who we are and where we are at that time. Each tool user has their own agenda, the other interesting thing here is that there was a clear agenda which got through even though the despotic government of Egypt tried its best to close down options, and what counts is people's collective desires for change on their own terms, not any government's or corporation or even newspapers.
> 
> Wishing you well.
> 
> marc
> 
> www.furtherfield.org
> 
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