Hey all, I just wanted to echo Adam's comment about the descent into grumpiness - that was a bit unfortunate.
For the record, I think the positions which Julian Oliver and Damian Stewart put forward have been mis-categorised by other posters. Rather than skimming over them, I read their postings, plus those by Douglas, and subsequently Zita and others, closely. I didn't see either of them preaching from their lofty positions in well-funded Europe, as has been characterised in some postings. If some of you detected vitriol in their voices, it was perhaps defensiveness in reaction to Douglas' responses, to what I read as well-intentioned suggestions. If we're going to be a productive list of divergent practitioners and thinkers, who share a common interest in Aotearoan digital at practices, from our myriad geographical and cultural perspectives, then I think it would be helpful if we have mutual respect for one another's position. It has always been an important part of mailing list etiquette to read one another's messages carefully, and try to offer criticism constructively. It would be nice if we could remember that here. As to the topic in question, I think to a certain extent, ADA and the "media-lab/hackspace" phenomena are not divergent in their functions as catalysts to bring people together to exchange ideas, connect and experiment. The only difference is that ADA doesn't currently have a physical space. But it does certainly carry out some of the same functions as the spaces that Julian and Damian discussed. It was also fantastic to hear Stella speaking about the artist-run-spaces, such as NONE, in this context. I can well imagine a DIY hacklab at NONE. I am sure they have one most days of the week anyway, but they just wouldn't necessarily call it that. The think the take-home point in this discussion is that we all are actually on the same page. We agree that some sort of collective vehicle which helps bring people who share an interest in digital culture together to collaborate, share, exchange and learn from one another is a good thing. We may differ in our views of how and where that should happen, but I don't think we disagree that it should happen. Otherwise, we're on the wrong mailing list. In a geographically-elongated context (such as New Zealand), such a vehicle might better be conceived of as virtual, rather than physical, distributed rather than centralised. Or perhaps we might consider an entirely new model, designed explicitly for the unique context of New Zealand. Perhaps our 'knowledge-space', could be peripatetic, moving cyclically from one host-body to another, according to available resources and energies? One could well imagine such an entity 'in residence' at Makerspace in Wellington, Greenbench in Wanganui, None in Dunedin, Creative Space in Christchurch, and in a range of other places and spaces no doubt. I'm not talking about Howl's Moving Castle, but you know, you get the idea. As a coda, I am really pleased that Adam brought up Julian Priest's fantastic work in Wanganui (hey Julian), and it was also very timely that he mentioned Zoe Drayton and the Audio Foundation, which has of course provided a towering support for sound culture in New Zealand for some time. There's never been a time where Zoe has needed support from the community more than now ... Here's hoping we can continue to have a fruitful and respectful discussion about this. Best, Honor Harger hey ah man. why did it all have to get so nasty? I was enjoying this conversation until it hit a gnarly bitter bend. Anyways, I want to take this down another road if I can. No one has also mentioned the amazing work Julian is doing in Wanganui. Hes getting involved on the local scene and inviting local and 'over-the-seas' artists to come and do cool stuff. this is what i (dimly) remember of NZ - it takes someone to step up and do something. The big problem here tho is that, often when that person walks away the whole thing collapses. I shudder to think what would happen if Zoe had walked away from AF in the last years...who would have taken over? So, my point is, I think an interesting strategy is to see what could be done to support people already doing things, with the hope that with some support they can keep doing it...why not, for example, an ADA app to rally behind and support Julians work? He clearly has the motivation in this area and is (in my opinion) a very community minded and generous guy - so it might be nice to get behind him. Of course, I can't speak for Julian, and I dont know what discussions may have already taken place within ADA about this, so its just a on-the-fly thought. Also, thanks Zita for pointing out the non-acknowledgement of Leons amazing offer. Pretty fantastic. I hope there is someone to take it up. I would if I could but wellys a bit of a long commute for me at the mo (see next email...)... adam -- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . honor harger present location: zurich airport, .ch recent: sideralia live performance, 12.09.09: http://tr.im/xA7f email: [email protected] -> w e b bio: http://www.radioqualia.net/honor -> w o r k guest curator of transmediale.10: http://www.transmediale.de - > a r t r a d i o q u a l i a: http://www.radioqualia.net -> l i s t e n radio astronomy: http://www.radio-astronomy.net -> r e s e a r c h mphil at z-node, ch: http://www.z-node.net/ _______________________________________________ Ada_list mailing list [email protected] http://aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz/
