[-empyre-] on feminism and the cyclical nature of tools and technologies

Thu Feb 26 09:44:44 AEDT 2015

To unpack this a little:

Our relationship with technology is not simply as technology being a tool, whether as an extension or augmentation of self (even taking into account Heidegger). That's because both people and technology are social things. We exist in a complex set of relations which can be considered a socio-technical system - confusing, as the acronym for that is STS, which is the same as Science and Technology Studies - which is also relevant here. Assemblage theory is also useful in approaching this subject.

There are technicians who can teach technical systems within a theoretical and artistic context, just as there are theorists and artists who can teach high-level technical skills. The problem is that these people remain relatively rare occurrences in academe. If you move to a model where technique, practice and theory are all taught separately you will quickly lose sight of how everything fits together as a whole and de-skill individuals through a process of silo-isation and specialisation. Multi-skilled, knowledgeable and thoughtful people will become even rarer.

Those at Cornell who would separate key aspects of a program should re-consider their rationale from scratch.

best

Simon

> On 26 Feb 2015, at 08:14, Simon Biggs <simon at littlepig.org.uk> wrote:
> 
> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> Having the technicians teaching the technical side of things isn't only instrumentalising the technology but also saving money. I think the latter concern will be driving such a proposal.
> 
> best
> 
> Simon
> 
> 
>> On 26 Feb 2015, at 08:11, Renate Terese Ferro <rferro at cornell.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
>> Dear Melinda, 
>> Your voice is an important one to me and to many of our -empyre-
>> subscribers and thanks for sharing your recent interests and projects. It
>> is ironic that you write this generous post just as I return from a
>> two-hour faculty meeting where our discussion centered around a proposal
>> to separate digital tool learning from the context of art studios just as
>> we do with our shop technology requiring all of our first year students to
>> attend bootcamp taught by technicians. Yikes. My colleague and I (both
>> women by the way) who are broad cross-disciplinary artists but teach
>> digital media were horrified at this proposal for the reasons that both
>> Anne and you cite: 
>> WHO you earn with is as important as what you learn.
>> 
>> I do not want my young artists to think of digital tools in terms of use
>> value only but to think through them no differently than any other tool
>> they use in a studio setting, that is critically with implied social,
>> political, and cultural implications.  Learning which for me includes
>> stumbling, researching, problem-solving, a messy venture and one that
>> technicians do not find very efficient. Sorry, I acknowledge my biases.
>> 
>> You also wrote: So tools and technologies don't need to be new,
>> specialised, expensive or complex, and often the more straight fwd the
>> longer lasting and more far reaching their outcomes. Thats why I used the
>> rather daggy list serv format for -empyre- with plain text messages. It
>> was, and still is, easy to use, easy to contain, easy to search, and has
>> no distractions. In 2002 I was hoping
>> ---empyre- would a space were it was safe to make propositions which left
>> one a little giddy or vulnerable - but I guess the reality is text based
>> interaction becomes performative in a knowledge based economy and status
>> anxiety precludes these sorts of risks. Maybe I’m wrong?
>> 
>> Our current moderating team has discussed the possibility of transitioning
>> -empyre- over to a blog based site.  We have collectively decided thus far
>> to keep it as a list serve for the many reasons you list but safety was
>> not one of them. Many of our subscribers are avid readers but choose to be
>> lurkers and do not post because they fear being judged or perhaps they
>> feel that more responsive writing and discussion may be held against them
>> at some point in the future.  Our mission remains though as often as
>> possible to curate a wide-variety of viewpoints and topics and to be as
>> inclusive as is possible. We encourage all of our guests not to post
>> previously published papers or long written conference papers so that
>> discussion is welcomed and anyone who feels up to it will join in the
>> discussion.   The hope for a space that can and will work out new
>> potentials is a utopia but I think most of us do not want to let go of
>> that ideal. Our own list-serve acknowledges that the tension between
>> writing as a performative gesture and one that is conversational, probing,
>> vulnerable or giddy provides an interesting interstitial space. A space
>> that can be informative but also one that is inquisitive and questioning.
>> To manage -empyre- is a tremendous amount of work and we really do hope
>> that younger empyreans will step up to take over some of the logistics of
>> running the list-serv.  Melinda is -empyre- the longest-running list-serve
>> on new media and networked culture?
>> 
>> Thanks also for the historical background on its conception.
>> Renate
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Renate Ferro
>> Visiting Assistant Professor of Art,Cornell University
>> Department of Art, Tjaden Hall Office:  306
>> Ithaca, NY  14853
>> Email:   <rferro at cornell.edu <mailto:rtf9 at cornell.edu>>
>> URL:  http://www.renateferro.net <http://www.renateferro.net/>
>>     http://www.privatesecretspubliclies.net
>> <http://www.privatesecretspubliclies.net/>
>> Lab:  http://www.tinkerfactory.net <http://www.tinkerfactory.net/>
>> 
>> Managing Co-moderator of -empyre- soft skinned space
>> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu/
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> empyre forum
>> empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
>> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
> 
> 
> Simon Biggs
> simon at littlepig.org.uk
> @_simonbiggs_
> 
> http://www.littlepig.org.uk
> http://amazon.com/author/simonbiggs
> 
> simon.biggs at unisa.edu.au
> Professor of Art, University of South Australia
> http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/staff/homepage.asp?name=simon.biggs
> 
> s.biggs at ed.ac.uk
> Honorary Professor, 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
> 
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu

Simon Biggs
simon at littlepig.org.uk
@_simonbiggs_

http://www.littlepig.org.uk
http://amazon.com/author/simonbiggs

simon.biggs at unisa.edu.au
Professor of Art, University of South Australia
http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/staff/homepage.asp?name=simon.biggs

s.biggs at ed.ac.uk
Honorary Professor, 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