thanks for that comment helen... I have to agree that sustainability is the key. I'm aware of how long and hard we've worked (6 years so far) to get ADA into a shape that will have continuity and robust back- end systems that support all the interesting stuff in the front (like su adding up all those receipts and making groovy-coloured spreadsheets), and so I have to assume that other similar things by other people will require that level of slog and commitment. Unfortunately in the current climate, CNZ seems to be cutting support for paying actual humans to do this kinda stuff (personnel being the most expensive ongoing cost for organisations), and the board all having at least one day job is probably a limiting factor (but also often in other ways an enabling one) on the kind of stuff that ADA can take on.
This is not to say we shouldn't 'think big' (though muldoon-era infrastructure projects might not be the model we're after), or that submissions to a CNZ strategic plan are all things that ADA itself might achieve, but helping people to keep doing the really interesting stuff they're already working on and connecting them up to other people is a valuable and do-able thing that ADA as a whole should be able to come up with ways to make happen (and it seems like some dream dates have alreay been set up). Is that what you mean by marketing, Rachel? I have to say that this conversation is sprawling beyond my ability to keep track of the main ideas and information, so it might be useful if people who've put up links or specific strategic suggestions could put them on the wiki: http://ada.greenbench.org/pmwiki.php/CNZ-2009/Ideas Love that Douglas Bus... Interesting to see there's a piece about Raqs and Sarai in this month's Artforum. Artworld collectivism is still fashionable! best, Stella On 8/10/2009, at 8:23 AM, helen varley jamieson wrote: > julian's post brings to mind access space in sheffield, which has a > public lab with (totally?) recycled computers. they've just redesigned > their web site & i can't find specific info about the recycling, but i > understand that they collect computers from individuals rather than > companies (or is it the other way around?), & give them a refit > (http://www.access-space.org/). closer to home there are things like > the 20/20 trust, computers in homes, & porirua e-learning trust that > already do a lot of computer recycling. i've donated a few things to > porirua e-learning & they seem to take just about anything. > > as for the rest of the current discussion - i haven't been able to > follow it closely because i'm completely overwhelmed with a project > (http://www.creative-catalyst.com/letmego). from what i've skim-read > it > seems like there are many great & worthwhile ideas; but with all of > these ideas, it takes a really motivated individual to actually make > something happen & to keep it going; even when there is a team of > people > on a project, there's usually one or maybe two who are really driving > it, & when that person or people either get burnt out or for whatever > reason leave the project, it soons disintegrates. > > this is not to say that things shouldn't be attempted, but maybe we > could also consider ways to support the people who initiate & put the > hard work into making stuff happen, so that they don't burn out or > when > they leave they can hand over the reins to someone else. i don't have > any answers, i'm just conscious of the whole reinventing-the-wheel > thing > that seems to happen so often in the arts in nz, & the constant > emphasis > on "new" rather than developing existing projects. > > h : ) >> >> As I mentioned last post, I wonder whether the digital arts scene >> in NZ could >> benefit here from a corporate computer recycling program akin to >> that of >> http://recycle.lowtech.org/ >> >> Lowtech has donations of hundreds of computers at a time - often >> just a couple >> of years old and - sent from corporations and government offices >> rather than >> shipped off to China or India for 'recycling' (or simply made into >> landfill). >> They throw on a modern Linux distribution and distribute them to arts >> organisations in turn. A formalised recycling program like this >> could pump PC >> hardware - at the least - into events and workshops where needed, >> reducing the >> portion of the budget otherwise spent on this hardware. >> >> Cheers, >> >> Julian >> >> > > > -- > ____________________________________________________________ > > helen varley jamieson: creative catalyst > [email protected] > http://www.creative-catalyst.com > http://www.avatarbodycollision.org > http://www.upstage.org.nz > http://www.writerfind.com/hjamieson.htm > ____________________________________________________________ > > _______________________________________________ > Ada_list mailing list > [email protected] > http://aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz/ _______________________________________________ Ada_list mailing list [email protected] http://aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz/
