Heath Bunting, The Status Project & The Netopticon. Marc Garrett writes about Heath Bunting's Status Project in the age of the Netopticon. Garrett considers the worth and social context of humans as data, submersed in frameworks and protocols, designed by a neo-liberal elite for a generic consumer class. Bunting's work is well placed for observation and practical research into the 'depths' of legal and illegal territories, whilst our contemporary identities are being collected on mass as we ride into the maelstrom of constant surveillance.
"Whether Bunting is climbing trees, skateboarding, canoeing or working with technology he approaches it all with the same critical attention. He hacks around systems, physical or digital. Right from when he built his first computer at the age of 14, his life has been an experimental research project. His practice consists of a dry sense of humour and an edgy, minimal-raw aesthetic, mixed with a hyper-awareness of his own artistic persona and agency in the world, whilst engaging with complex political systems, institutions and social contexts." http://www.furtherfield.org/features/articles/heath-bunting-status-project-netopticon Heath Bunting is a British artist based in Bristol, UK. His work focuses on the development of open democratic and communication systems and social structures on the Internet and in the public space. He came from the street up, passing through and often revisiting graffiti, performance, intervention, pirate radio, fax/ mail art and BBS systems to become an active participant in the explosion of the Internet. He is co-founder of net.art and has created many accredited works. Bunting’s works have been commissioned and exhibited at a range of venues including: The New Museum, New York, Tate Modern, London, Transmediale, Berlin, Documenta X, Kassel, Germany, The Banff Centre, Canada, Lovebytes Festival, Sheffield, England, Art Teleportacia, Moscow, ICA, London, The InterCommunication Center (ICC), Tokyo, Apex Art, New York, Proboscis, London, The Watershed, Bristol, among others. He has lectured at many universities such as: University of West of England, Bristol, Goldsmiths, London, University of Westminster, London, Konstfack, University College of Arts, Stockholm, Mertz Academy, Stuttgart, Royal College of Art, London, among others. The article was written for and will be published as part of Heath Bunting's presentation in Athens 'Workshop How to Build a New Legal Identity', May 5th 2012. During the workshop, Heath Bunting will introduce us to techniques and strategies on how to form new identities. The distribution of the workshop How to Build a New Legal Identity across Europe aims at exploring the characteristics of identity in each country. Artist’s Talk: May 4, 2012 @ 19.00 Workshop How to Build a New Legal Identity: May 5, 2012 @ 12.00 Frown Tails, 6 Paramythias str, Keramikos, Athens Organised by: Katerina Gkoutziouli and Frown Tails http://www.frowntails.com/heathbunting.html -- Other Info: Furtherfield - A living, breathing, thriving network http://www.furtherfield.org - for art, technology and social change since 1997 Also - Furtherfield Gallery& Social Space: http://www.furtherfield.org/gallery About Furtherfield: http://www.furtherfield.org/content/about Netbehaviour - Networked Artists List Community. http://www.netbehaviour.org http://identi.ca/furtherfield http://twitter.com/furtherfield _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
