[-empyre-] Closing our discussion on Wearable Technologies: Cross-Disciplinary Venues

[Renate Ferro]

This week has been crazy.  My apologies for not wrapping up our discussion
but on this unusually quiet morning I will attempt the task.  The last
several posts especially the one from Johannes prompted me to reread again
the entire month's archive this morning. See

https://lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/ with many thanks to COFA.



-empyre soft-skinned space uses a list-serve format.  It is a
non-hierarchical space that invites practitioners and theoreticians, artists
and programmers, to come together to discuss various issues each month.
 Whether our over 1200 subscribers are actively participating or lurking all
of our monthly discussions are archived and have been for the past ten
years.  For many the list-serve is a construction of the past but in our
discussions with Melinda Rackham who began -empyre close to ten years ago
and other moderators the ebb and flow of the system is what makes it so
distinctive and still currently viable as a venue for our purposes.



Over the past few years Tim Murray and I as well as many of our moderators
have been working hard to entice a more diverse, global group of
participants and have done so by introducing discussions that would invite
new interests and points of view especially those in which we do not
ordinarily hear from.  This past month of all of our invitees only two were
already subscribers. I also felt that it was the right time for a more
practically applied discussion.


So for me this month's discussion opened up a wealth of threads,
perspectives, new artists/designers, and interesting links to not only
practical issues but also theoretical references from Turkle to Kozel,
Heidegger to Bourdieu, to new theoreticians that I had never heard, V.
Dureschu and L. Neri Belkaid from Geneva. This is the nature of a list-serve
where threads are introduced and articulated and others are left to float.
This venue is unlike the crafted conference presentation or the edited
published paper, as it is one that invites discussion in real time about
issues that are emerging. It is a research platform, a receptacle, a place
to return to perhaps in the future for ideas and information.



I am so thankful to our guests this month *Janis Jefferies* (UK), *Valérie
Lamontagne*  (CA), *Ashley Ferro-Murray* (US), *Sabine Seymour* (US), *Susan
Elizabeth Ryan* (US), *Danielle Wilde* (AU/FR), *Sarah Kettley (UK), Lucy
Dunne* (*US). * Our early discussions of performance and spectacle to
materiality that both Janis and Valerie introduced were followed by Ashley's
contributions about choreography and sensor technology in her piece
Noisense.  Sabine's introduction to us of her seminal book *Functional
Aesthetics* was appreciated.  In her post she extended the definition of
technology broadly including biotechnology to nano, digital, and textile
technology.  At mid-month Susan discussed wearable technologies and the
social dimension and reminded us of Susan Kozel's writing.  And finally this
last week, Danielle asked us to think about and contextualize what we mean
by wearable siting her work with performance tools and finishing with her
interests in speculative design.  Sarah pointed us back to previous
discussions about wearables dispersed in the everyday vs. those in spectacle
and performance and the social dimension of wearable technology.  Lastly,
Lucy brought up issues of security and privacy in particular those of
personal data and the control of inner states.



Thanks to Johannes Barringer for playing such an active role in our
discussion this month as well.  He shared valuable insights about the posts
and information about his own work and perspectives from the point of view
of performance studies. David Heckman and Melinda Rackham mentioned how
interesting it might be to continue this venue in Istanbul at ISEA.  It
looks like Tim Murray, Simon Biggs, Patrick Lichty and myself will all be at
ISEA. Looks like Melinda and David will also be there and perhaps others of
you?  We will be hosting our discussion in September influenced by the
conferences events and will keep all of you posted on that later this
summer. Perhaps we can organize an -empyre get-together during the
conference for those of you attending.



For now though, Tim Murray and I will be jointly hosting a discussion to
commemorate the opening of the 54th Venice Biennale and other biennales
happening throughout 2011,  "Biennales Plus and Minus" in considering global
interfaces, digital environments, and contemporary arts. If there are any
subscribers who would like to be featured as special guests for this
discussion please contact Tim or Renate via -empyre as soon as possible.


Simon Biggs will be hosting our July discussion and then in August -empyre
soft-skinned space will take a break for the month to re-open in Istanbul at
the 2011 ISEA in September.  More information about those discussions a
little later this summer.


Thanks to all of you again.  Renate Ferro



> Tim Murray and Renate Ferro, -empyre soft-skinned Moderators
> empyre forum <empyre at gamera.cofa.unsw.edu.au>


-- 

Renate Ferro
Visiting Assistant Professor of Art
Cornell University
Department of Art, Tjaden Hall Office #420
Ithaca, NY  14853
Email:   <rtf9 at cornell.edu>
URL:  http://www.renateferro.net
      http://www.privatesecretspubliclies.net
Lab:  http://www.tinkerfactory.net

Managing Co-moderator of -empyre- soft skinned space
http://empyre.library.cornell.edu/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empyre

Art Editor, diacritics
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/dia/
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