[-empyre-] the netopticon

[marc garrett]

Hi Simon & all,

 > For the past few years I've been arguing against a materialist
 > deconstruction of media (as was undertaken by early video artists,
 > deconstructing mass media, for example) as I've considered our 
culture, in a
 > post convergence era, to have moved to a situation where the focus 
should no
 > longer be the media but the conceptual and social territories that 
determine
 > how media exist as social spaces (eg: cinema is still cinema, a mode of
 > making and experiencing stuff, but it is no longer film). However, 
with the
 > standardisation of web protocols that govern social interaction and
 > therefore social formation, we see media determining social space. 
Perhaps
 > it is, again, time to undertake a materialist deconstruction of a
 > post-convergent media in order to challenge the normalising protocols 
of the
 > net. This implies artists, once again, as they did in the early 
development
 > of the internet, could usefully develop new protocols for their work,
 > sans-web.

Well, what is interesting here is that, we are experiencing a complexity 
where 'innovation' has now become a byword for 'conformity', especially 
when much of it all relies on aspects of how amazing the technology or 
gadgetry is for its main selling point. The commercial interface of 
(new) media art, demonstrates a 'lifestyle' choice now, alongside 
products designed and produced for creative industries. This may not 
necessarily be a troublesome thing, but if, as you say, we need artists 
to once again "undertake a materialist deconstruction of a 
post-convergent media in order to challenge the normalising protocols of 
the net..." and some are doing this out there. In the background, 
alongside all of this we'll need a dynamic, critical and focused 
dialogue helping it along. But, if we agree that the netopticon does 
expand its tendrils outside of the net, then our re-invention and 
re-contextualizing of it; also need to ride its wave but on our own 
terms. We can ride it but not respect it, challenging its behaviour and 
the culture which blindly supports it - all the way. We can create 
ruptures in netopticon!

Wishing you well.

marc