[-empyre-] FW: empyre January 2013 wrap: International Art English

Mon Jan 28 22:05:40 EST 2013

  “When [art] becomes the object of academic disciplines as it is today,
discourse can become a site of struggle among the factions and interest
groups that compete for the cultural authority to speak about [art]. The
expert critical and technical languages that these groups invent can foster
a social bond among those who share them, but they can also alienate and
exclude outsiders.”  Korsyn (2003:6)

On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 11:02 AM, D Ryan <digimaton at gmail.com> wrote:

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> *From:* empyre-bounces at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au [mailto:
> empyre-bounces at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au] *On Behalf Of *Simon Biggs
> *Sent:* 28 January 2013 09:37
> *To:* soft_skinned_space
> *Subject:* Re: [-empyre-] empyre January 2013 wrap: International Art
> English****
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> IAE (on closer inspection) seems to stand for International Art English.
> Language functions to establish difference and exclusivity. Being able to
> speak a certain way marks you as a member of a group - whether a class, a
> sub-culture or a club. Art schools have always been an entry point to the
> art world - although not the only entry point. At this point in time the
> PhD does not appear to represent such an entry point. To some extent it
> seems to be lead to another door, with the art world rather keen to keep
> it's door firmly closed to those who might knock on it from this direction
> of entry. The door the PhD leads to is also closely guarded by guardians
> who seem rather nervous about what might happen if they let these new
> arrivals in. Every group has its gatekeepers (often self-appointed).****
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> Don't we all love human behaviour?****
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> best****
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> Simon****
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> On 28 Jan 2013, at 08:52, Phi Shu wrote:****
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> Thanks Simon.****
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> and finally for me, an item in the news today that sums up part of the
> problem with writing about art:****
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> IAE always uses "more rather than fewer words". Sometimes it uses them
> with absurd looseness: "Ordinary words take on non-specific alien
> functions. 'Reality,' writes artist Tania Bruguera, 'functions as my field
> of action.'" And sometimes it deploys words with faddish precision: "Usage
> of the word speculative spiked unaccountably in 2009; 2011 saw a sudden
> rage for rupture; transversal now seems poised to have its best year ever."<http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2013/jan/27/users-guide-international-art-english>
>
> IAE has made art harder for non-professionals.In fact, even art
> professionals can feel oppressed by it. The artists who've responded most
> positively to the essay, says Rule, "are the ones who have been through
> master of fine arts programmes" where IAE is pervasive.****
>
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>  ****
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> *From:* empyre-bounces at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au [mailto:
> empyre-bounces at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au] *On Behalf Of *Simon Biggs
> *Sent:* 27 January 2013 16:51
> *To:* soft_skinned_space
> *Subject:* [-empyre-] empyre January 2013 wrap****
>
>  ****
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> As we approach the end of the month of January we bring the month's theme
> on research and practice in relation to the artist's PhD to a close -
> although informal discussion can continue. In the next couple of days
> Renate and Tim will announce the empyre theme and our guests for the month
> of February.****
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>  ****
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> We would like to thank this week's discussants Keith Armstrong, Wendy
> Kirkup, Mike Leggett, Daniela Alina Plewe and Miguel Santos, as well as the
> invited discussants for the prior two weeks, Cécile Chevalier, Laura
> Cinti, Talan Memmott, Maria Mencía, Anne Sarah Le Meur, Maria Grade
> Godinho, Sue Hawksley, Donna Leishman and Bronwyn Platten. We would also
> like to thank all those members of empyre who have contributed to what has
> been a lively and intriguing debate and everyone who has been following the
> discussion. Empyre continues to be a dynamic living community of people who
> continue to find the listserv environment one that can facilitate critical
> and discursive exchange.****
>
>  ****
>
> To place this month's discussion, on the relationship between research and
> practice in connection with artist's PhDs, in something of an historical
> context it might be relevant to remind ourselves that the empyre listserv
> was, itself, developed as part of an artist's PhD project. Melinda Rackham,
> who's PhD titled Empyrean: Soft Skinned Space was awarded in 2003,
> established the empyre listserv as part her doctoral research in order to
> seek clearer insight into how creative practitioners actively form
> themselves within the nebulous and motile spaces that are the internet and
> consider how that discursive space can foster more motile and fluid
> properties that often absent in other structured contexts. In a sense our
> discussion this month has, over ten years later, seen a revisiting of some
> of the themes Melinda was engaging and which, as we have seen, other
> creative practitioners, seeking to understand how research can inform their
> work, have continued to query. Over the decade the internet has changed
> enormously, with the advent of Facebook, Twitter and other mediating layers
> and protocols that have functioned to remediate the internet, forming what
> is sometimes called Web 2.0 or the social web. In this context Melinda's
> model of what the social might be continues to be highly relevant.****
>
>  ****
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> It remains apparent that the circle is not closed and the debate
> concerning research and creative practice remains open, active and
> disputed. Given that as artists and researchers we wouldn't want it any
> other way we can assume we agree this is generally a good thing.****
>
>  ****
>
> Many thanks to all for this month's enlightening and engaging discussion.*
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>  ****
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> best****
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>  ****
>
> Simon****
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>  ****
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> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> http://www.subtle.net/empyre****
>
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>
> Simon Biggs
> simon at littlepig.org.uk http://www.littlepig.org.uk/ @SimonBiggsUK skype:
> simonbiggsuk
>
> s.biggs at ed.ac.uk Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh****
>
>
> http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/edinburgh-college-art/school-of-art/staff/staff?person_id=182&cw_xml=profile.php
>
> http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/simon-biggs%285dfcaf34-56b1-4452-9100-aaab96935e31%29.html
>
> http://www.eca.ac.uk/circle/  http://www.elmcip.net/
> http://www.movingtargets.org.uk/  http://designinaction.com/****
>
> MSc by Research in Interdisciplinary Creative Practices
> http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/degrees?id=656&cw_xml=details.php
> ****
>
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>
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