[-empyre-] Three more days of Aquarius

[Renate Ferro]

Picking up some threads from this past month and week: 
This has been a month that I could have never anticipated on -empyre- soft-skinned space and one that I am grateful to all of our guests for.  How appropriate we take up week four devoted to intuition.  Weaving the threads of writings from Ann, Jennifer and Adrienne (and so many more) I am reminded of why in 2002 -empyre- soft-skinned space was inaugurated in Australia. 

The mission has been to have a space where all voices are heard, but also a space where ideas are shared despite the expertise. Back in 2002 technology was in its infancy for artists to access and so many times -empyre- was a space to acknowledge what you did not know.  There was an open invitation for instinct in tweeking both ideas and practical technology and code to fit artistic whimsey and intuition.  -empyre- was envisioned to be a third space - a soft space accessible and inclusive to artists and curators, writers and theorists.  Its monthly topics are welcomed to all, but especially those who are invested in topics relating to race, sexuality and gender issues, class and regional biases. 

Adrienne, I have followed your work for years. Your Tarot Ecology project is relevant and important.  How important to acknowledge that your intuition and instincts proved to have direct links to neuroscience.   

Though it was revealed slowly through our mini-conference and this week’s discussion, I can see how Jennifer’s inventive and original her work has been affected by “clairsentience as a form of paranormal touch that involves the perception of energies residing in objects.”
 
While her approach disrupts the art historical resonances of Benjamin’s notion of the “aura” or Barthes “punctum,” Jennifer’s revelation of the inner "shadows” of her past and its relationship to her own writing and research practice reveal passion and an intent that has been unwavering and unequivocally present.  She wrote, “But until now I have held back on speaking directly to these experiences in my writing... I tended to retain these engagements within a kind of shadow trajectory...” 

Thanks also to Ann Cvetkovich whose early work on the “sovereignty of senses” I heard at Cornell.  Her ideas riveted me back then and continue to unlock the potential  “that free body/mind/senses from the way they have been shaped by capitalism, racism, sexism and other forms of systemic oppression that are embedded in our sensory experiences, feelings, practices. – the ways that attention to felt experience takes us into the domain of falling apart, of not being in control.” 

Also, thanks to Bev Pike for sharing Androcene Anecdote Tarot Project.  I have never been to Winnipeg but I am looking forward someday to experiencing the energies of your paranormal city to the North of us. Thanks Cryssane Stathacos for sharing your Aids piece 1-900 Mirror Mirror as well as the references to Robert Flack’s work. Also, thanks to Ruth Skinner, Serena Keshavjee, Erika DeFReitas, and Alex Borkowski for giving us insights into your intersecting practices and writing and the references and artists you shared with us.  

It has been a very long month but it’s NOT over.  We will not be introducing our April discussion until the 1st so please feel free to leisurely post over the next three days on all things related to the energies of the dawn of Aquarius, art, intuition and technology. 
Renate 

Renate Ferro
Visiting Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Art
Tjaden Hall 306
rferro at cornell.edu