Re: FLUXLIST: The Big Topics
ART BIRTH SEX INDUSTRY MONEY GROWTH DRUGS POVERTY ILLNESS POWER GLOBALIZATION RELIGION ECONOMICS POLITICS NATIONS ART ...
Re: FLUXLIST: Re: imaginary art exhibition
I'd be interested in reading other reviews of this show to see if _anyone_ made mention of Yoko Ono. There's nothing new about this. A more intelligent or knowledgeable reviewer would have picked up on the influence immediately. I'm of the opinion that if you're going to rip off someone's work...at least match or improve upon the quality of it. A. - Original Message - From: Carol Starr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, March 19, 2001 2:40 AM Subject: FLUXLIST: Re: imaginary art exhibition > http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/newsid_1229000/1229586.stm > > anyone else bemused by this 'imaginary' art exhibition > > > -- > carol starr > taos, new mexico, usa > [EMAIL PROTECTED] >
Re: FLUXLIST: AIDS CONSPIRACY
Thanks for this information. I'm suspicious of conspiracy theories...but, I'm also not so naive as to think everything is Pleasantville behind closed doors. It seems like common knowledge that defence departments are developing biological weapons. Don't they need to test those? In the Vietnam war the US government tested "performance" drugs on US soldiers that wreaked havoc. During WWI, the Canadian government tested chemicals in the isolated valley where I grew up. People are still getting cancer and other illnesses. Those aren't conspiracy theories. Those are facts. So we know our governments are pulling such stunts. For further reading on AIDS, I'd recommend Dr. Horowitz _Emerging Viruses: AIDS and Ebola--Nature, Accident or Intentional?_ His argument is complicated and convincing. If he's a liar, he's good at it so read the book to see how it's done. A chapter summery may still be at ftp://ftp.tetrahedron.org/pub/Emerging_Viruses_Chap._Summary.txt (especially recommended for those who hate Henry Kissinger and everything Bush.) The problem with this information though..is what do we do about it other than drink? A. - Original Message - From: LRQ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 8:58 AM Subject: Re: FLUXLIST: Buddhas > AIDS CONSPIRACY - JUST A THEORY? > > by John S. James > for SF Sentinel > Copyright 1986 by John S. James; > permission granted for non-commercial use. > > We keep hearing more today about AIDS conspiracy theories. > While this writer finds problems with most of the germ warfare > scenarios, the other kind of allegation - severe and perhaps > deliberate mismanagement of the public-health response to the > epidemic - is hard to refute. > The evidence supports an urgent call for action by > physicians, scientists, AIDS organizations, church and civic > groups, and others. For the real value of a conspiracy theory is > to wake us up to today's holocaust and to augment ongoing efforts > to save lives. > This article looks briefly at the germ warfare theories, and > then examines in depth the unconscionable neglect and > mismanagement of AIDS treatment research. Related topics, such > as the swine flu theory, official neglect or mismanagement of > prevention, education and patient support efforts, or the drastic > cutbacks in Federal support for public health, are beyond our > scope here. > > GERM WARFARE THEORIES > > These theories view AIDS as a weapon, developed by someone's > germ warfare experiments and released accidentally or > deliberately. Proponents have done an excellent job of > collecting background information on germ warfare and how it may > relate to AIDS. Rather than reviewing this information in > detail, we will tell you where to obtain it for yourself (1). > There are problems with the germ warfare theory. Almost all > the evidence supporting it concerns only the possibility that > germ warfare may have happened, not whether it actually did. The > key technical issue is whether anyone knew enough to have created > the AIDS virus. > The hardest task in generating a new human disease would be > to get it spread as an epidemic. It would be easier to concoct a > disease for delivery to the battlefield, to kill people there and > then die out. It would be even easier to start an epidemic with > an existing disease, which can already spread from one individual > to another - the hardest thing for a disease to do. But creating > the AIDS virus and making sure it worked would have taken many > human experiments which would have killed the people involved. > Every test would have taken months or years because of the long > incubation period. Bureaucrats would be afraid to approve a > project that would kill human subjects. It's hard to believe > that an effort of this scale could have been accomplished by a > small group without management authorization. > The other problem with the germ warfare theory is that it > doesn't lead us to any productive action now. Even if true, it > would be almost impossible to prove. Even if proved, we could > only punish the guilty, not save lives. > The germ warfare theory, then, distracts from a better use > of our energies. There is another possible conspiracy which, if > proved, could wake people up from a terrible silence and neglect > which now prevails. > > MISMANAGEMENT OR SABOTAGE OF TREATMENT RESEARCH > > This writer's previous articles have documented an appalling > consistency of neglected treatment opportunities, leads not > followed up, and lack of priority on saving lives. We don't have > the smoking gun - proof of public policy made for the deliberate > purpose of letting people die. But there is no excuse for > continuing to leave treatment research to "the experts", without > independent monitoring and overview. The experts are focused on > their own specialties and constrained in many ways by those who > control their funding, who have agendas of their own. > When we look a
Re: FLUXLIST: ...lost for words
kiosk
Re: FLUXLIST: ...lost for words
kittle
Re: FLUXLIST: Painting
> 31, British artist, received hordes of free publicity when his collage, The > Holy Virgin Mary, which featured a black Virgin Mary with elephant feces on > one breast and cutouts from pornographic magazines glued in the background, > was part of the Brooklyn Museum of Art's October exhibit, "Sensation: Young > British Artists from the Saatchi Collection." I'm going to be argumentative. While your description of this work was interesting... it said nothing of painting. It sounds as though this work received attention because of the *content* (Virgin Mary/Christ + dung + porn), not *form*. Could this content have been equally provocative as writing, as photomontage, as video, as performance? I don't believe that form should be incidental/secondary to content. In fact, I would say form *is* the primary content of really great work. Simply pissing people off with contentious content seems simplistic. But, it is difficult to imagine painting as newly invented. Newer media doesn't have the history to contend with - but can also suffer from this "advantage". That's the problem I'm grappling with here (as a painter).
FLUXLIST: Painting
Hi Everyone, I'd enjoy hearing your comments about painting. I recall seeing a set of paintings at the Whitney over a year ago of "Divas". The commentary called into question whether painting is still a living language or historical/sentimental like 'opera'. Perhaps Baudelaire would agree that painting is no longer the ideal vehicle for engaged metaphors of modern life. Yet, there remains the compulsion to paint. Do we risk irrelivance? What do you think?
Re: FLUXLIST: avantgarde?
Excellent points, well articulated Ann. I pretty much feel this way too. To not rush "forward" doesn't default to something complacent or apathetic. Fluxus led the way to a Post-Modern way of thinking where there is nothing old and nothing new. "Newness" is a mythology - everything is recycled. However, I as others do get a kind of charge out of something not previously seen or understood - something pre-symbolic - not yet categorized and commodified. There is pleasure in the momentary suspension of the ego. Not so much a political one up, but a more personal one-up for each viewer. Curators have difficulty writing about it. Dealers have trouble selling it. It's not so much newness, as a peeling away. Art is before language. Aaron - Original Message - From: ann klefstad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2000 10:51 AM Subject: Re: FLUXLIST: avantgarde? > I myself would hope that the notion of "progress" in art, an imagining of arthistory to parallel, say, the development of material technologies, could be discarded. Thus the notion of the avantgarde--that is, those out in front, those "most progressive"--could also be discarded. I don't think that an "avantgarde" today is anything but a competitive positivist impulse that unconsciously models itself on technological development, you know, "The Rise of Man" kind of thing. > The thing I always liked about Fluxus was its refusal of narratives of prowess, its ability to mock such narratives (say, the "Twelve Big Names" thing) and its choice of, instead of the slogan "forward!", the slogan "sideways!" Many Fluxus practitioners used the "stupid" relation of the body as animal body to the physical world, and their work (such as Ken's salt projects) used the elemental physical attributes of things. This does not make for forward motion, it makes > instead for a recursion to simple perception, an invoking of thoughtfulness about what conditions the perception, an invoking of memory--in other words, movement back, sideways, in circles, not the forward rush of the avantgarde and its oppositional tactics. Fluxus didn't so much oppose, beat back, fight, as, say, unravel, comb out, or knit up. > > Can we speak in terms of what things do rather than what they oppose? > > AK > > Josh Ronsen wrote: > > > Heiko Recktenwald writes: > > > > >When fluxus began in the Cage class, they were some of the > > >most avantgarde people of its time. Those who call themself > > >"fluxus" today are not. > > > > What does avantgarde mean, today? Who is avantgarde today? These are interesting questions and I do not know how to approach them. > > > > Don't hate me, but I have been reading an article about Online (Internet) Education in a recent issue of the New York Times Sunday Magazine. There is quote from a professor (my copy is at home) who is trying to get "top-notch" universities to let their faculty lecture for his online ed company: to paraphrase-- the avant-garde (in art) and capitalism as similar because they are both concerned with the "new." > > > > I disagree with this statement, or at least with the superficial aspects of it. My conception of the avant-garde is one of overturning established orders and ideologies, which I guess could be considered "new," but it is a new mentality. Capitalism is ALWAYS concerned with producing goods or services at a profit, and hasn't changed at all. There is a drive for new goods and markets and a silly marketing spin on Internet Business as "the New Economy" (tm), but it isn't. > > > > Now the relation between art and capitalism can be scary: is the avant-garde in art just the capitalist quest for new markets? Ack! I hope not. Maybe it has become that. > > > > For me, if the avant-garde is "overturning established orders and ideologies," the one it should be directed against is capitalism. > > > > I'd be interested in thoughts/reactions on this topic. > > > > -Josh Ronsen > > http://www.nd.org/jronsen > > > > > > --== Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ ==-- > > Before you buy. > >
FLUXLIST: Fw: An Albertan Introduces Stockwell Day
> With the US facing certain doom in the form of George Dubya Bush, let us > heed the warning. Pass this along to someone you think should read it. > And don't forget to vote! > > Some background material on Stockwell day, from an Albertan friend who > thinks the rest of Canada should know what we're getting into... > > > > INTRODUCING STOCKWELL DAY > > > > Voters outside Alberta don't have a sense of who Day is and where he > > Comes from. As he woos a national constituency, Mr. Day stresses his fiscal > > record and downplays his social conservatism and evangelical Christian > > background. > > > > He has an excellent advisor and spin doctor -- Rod Love, Premier Ralph > > Klein's associate for two decades. > > > > Mr. Day frequently points to his past record and suggests it speak for > > him If you have friends or family living outside Alberta, may I suggest > > that you forward this email so that they may be better educated about Mr. > > Day's past record. > > > > Add to the following list: the fact that Mr. Day is being sued by a Red > > Deer criminal defence lawyer after Mr. Day (as a government Minister) stated > > to the press that he MUST be a paedophile because he was representing a > > paedophile. This is about the same time Mr. Day wanted to use the > > notwithstanding clause to protect his government from the forced > > sterilization victims when they wanted to sue. Thus, using Mr. Day's own > logic > > he MUST be a Nazi! > > > > > > (Lawyer Darryl Aarbo's comments are in brackets.) > > > > JUSTICE > > > > In 1994, Mr. Day advocated the death penalty for teenagers convicted of > > first-degree murder. > > > > He has advocated American-style work camps for some young offenders. > > > > In 1997, he drew condemnation from all political stripes when, in a > > speech, he suggested serial-child killer Clifford Olson should be dealt > > with by fellow prisoners. > > > > "People like myself say, "Fix the problem. Put him in the general > > (prison) population. The moral prisoners will deal with it in a way > > which we don't have the nerve to do.'' > > > > ABORTION > > > > In 1988 Mr. Day said granting greater access to abortion would prompt a > > Rise in child abuse. > > > > "The thinking is," he said, "if you can cut a child to pieces or burn > > them alive with salt solution while they're still in the womb, what's > > wrong with knocking them around a little when they're outside the womb." > > > > (Mr. Day fought hard to have abortion in Alberta de-insured by Medicare.) > > --from the Calgary Herald, June 12, 1995 > > > > Labour Minister Stockwell Day's comments arising out of the > > legislature's all-Tory community services committee may have provided a > > defining moment in the debate over abortion funding in Alberta. > > > > The Red Deer Tory, who proudly wears his Christian fundamentalist > > principles on both sleeves, declared Alberta health care should only > > pay for abortions required to save the mother's life. > > > > Asked if that excluded a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, he > > did not waver, answering that medical necessity is the only grounds he > > would accept. > > > > "Women who become pregnant through rape or incest should not qualify for > > government funded abortions unless their pregnancy is life-threatening." > > > > *** > > > > GAYS > > > > (Mr. Day, a leading opponent of gay rights, was bitterly opposed to > > the Supreme Court's decision to force Alberta to include homosexuals in > > its human rights act. He tried to get his government to invoke the > > notwithstanding clause to overturn the Supreme Court decision writing > > protection of gays in the human rights code.) > > > > --Calgary Herald, April 9, 1998 > > > > "The freedom for homosexuals to choose their lifestyle is there. But > > when I'm asked to legislate, in some way, approval of their choice, then I > > have a problem,'' he says. "How can I do this without a mandate to alter in > > public policy a centuries-old definition of what a natural family is?'' > > > > "The homosexual issue is a real source of concern because they don't > > know how far it's going to go,'' Day says. "There is a concern, yet to be > > determined, that it can't be stopped. These type of unknowns have > > people alarmed. > > > > "The same people who don't want to see homosexuality in their sex > > education curriculum and same people who don't want to see gay parades in > > their city also say people shouldn't be fired just because they're > > homosexual. You know what? People miss this, but people are not being fired > > because they are homosexual.'' > > > > "Homosexuality is a mental disorder that can be cured by counselling." > > > > He has said homosexuality is "not condoned by God'' and maintains > > being gay is a matter of choice. > > --The Edmonton Journal, August 16, 1997 > > > > Alberta Treasurer Stockwell Day wants the Red Deer museum to return > > $10,000 in lotteries money because it is doing a study
FLUXLIST: Fw: enjoy the recipe
If you have friends in the US, you might want to send this back there. > > THE ACTUAL RECIPE IS AT THE END OF THE STORY - LEAVE THE STORY INTACT > > Subject: COOKIE RECIPE > > A little background: Neiman-Marcus, if you don't know already is a very > > expensive store i.e. they sell your typical $8.00 t-shirt for $50.00. Let's > > let them have it!!! > > THIS IS A TRUE STORY: > > My daughter and I had just finished a salad at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in > > Dallas and decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us are such > > cookie lovers, we decided to try the "Neiman-Marcus cookie." It was so > > excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe and the waitress > > said with a small frown, "I'm afraid not but, you can buy the recipe." > > Well, I asked how much, and she responded, "Only two fifty, it's a great > > deal!" I agreed with approval, just add it to my tab I told her. Thirty > days > > later, I received my VISA statement and it was $285.00. I looked again and > I > > remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20.00 for a > > scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, > > "Cookie Recipe -$250.00" That was outrageous! I called Neiman's > Accounting > > Dept. and told them the waitress said it was "two-fifty," which clearly > does > > not mean "two hundred and fifty dollars" by any *POSSIBLE* interpretation > of > > the phrase. Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my > > money, because according to them, "What the waitress told you is not our > > problem. You have already seen the recipe. We absolutely will not refund > you > > money at this point." I explained to her the criminal statues which > govern > > fraud in Texas. I threatened to refer them to the Better Business Bureau > and > > the State Attorney > > General Office for engaging in fraud. I was basically told, "Do what you > > want, it doesn't > > matter, we're not refunding your money." I waited, thinking of how I could > > get even, or even try and get any of my money back. I just said, "Okay, > you > > folks got my $250, and now I'm going to have $250.00 worth of fun." I > told > > her that I was going to see to it that every Cookie lover in the United > > States with an e-mail account has a $250.00 cookie recipe from > > Neiman-Marcus...for free. She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this." I > > said, "Well, you should have thought of that before you ripped me off," > and > > slammed down the phone on her. > > So here it is!!! Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can > > possibly think of. I paid $250 for this...I don't want Neiman-Marcus to > > *ever* get another penny off of this recipe > > NEIMAN MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved) > > 2 cups butter > > 4 cups flour > > 2 tsp. soda > > 2 cups sugar > > 5 cups blended oatmeal *** > > 24 oz. chocolate chips > > 2 cups brown sugar > > 1 tsp. salt > > 1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated) > > 4 eggs > > 2 tsp. baking powder > > 2 tsp. vanilla > > 3 cups chopped nuts (your choice) > > * Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder. > > * Cream the butter and both sugars. > > * Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking > > powder, and soda. > > * Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two > > inches apart on a cookie sheet. > > * Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. > > Makes 112 cookies. > > > > PLEASE READ IT AND SEND TO EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW WHO HAS AN E-MAIL ADDRESS > > THIS IS REALLY TERRIFIC. > > Have fun!!! > > This is not a joke-this is a true story. Ride free, citizens! > > > Hi everyone, > > > > > > I got this from my cousin in Kelowna and she has tried the recipe and > says > > > they are great. Read the story and enjoy. > > > > > > Louise > > > > > > > > > > > >
Re: FLUXLIST: Re: What actually IS wrong w/ the Art World
Terence, This was an interesting post. Thanks. Do you think artists should keep an audience in mind when making work? Or do you think art can be made without regard to others, and then finds its market later? Maybe its not an either or. I've said this before, but as someone who's fresh out of art school, I can tell you that we spent a great deal of time studying "visual culture" (not even art history anymore) including post-modern theory, modern theory, Marxist theory and the studios were emptying. I think a lot of artists (my age at least) are responding to this with a kind of concretism or aesthetic Puritanism - almost a swing back to modernism, but less confident or Absolute.. I think that's what my posted Manifestos (I haven't heard any remarks about the Ludic Stratagem Post) were motivated by. It's not (always) an attitude of apathy, just a reaction to being overwhelmed, paralysed by theory and an insistence that art is something other than literary criticism. If I felt that I could write or say something clearly enough, then I'd just say it, not make art about it. Do you think this idea corresponds with the "This is so as the essential > techno-nomadic criticism aims for the rhizomatic emotional movement - that > of replacing social criticism with social aesthetics." as said below? Every aesthetic operates socially in some capacity as long as it's seen. What I tend to see though, is politically motivated art that illustrates a theory or politic in an instructive way. Many others agree though, that red beside orange can also be socially invested. Unfortunately, that's an idea being lost in art ed. today as I have experienced it. So I'm struggling to understand it and develop a concrete/abstract visual language of my own. I've been listening to a lot of new music instead of looking art, trying to sensitize myself to the material, temporal and the concrete. I rely too much on representations and have difficulty reading art that I can't locate in the theory/history that I have learned. hmmm. there's no real solution to that. Aaron, what a ramble. - Original Message - From: Terrence Kosick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; alex galloway <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, November 03, 2000 10:30 AM Subject: FLUXLIST: Re: What actually IS wrong w/ the Art World Terrence writes; To achieve such ends it could be merely the application of a network way of thinking. Formal application of art for culture has ended up in museums that protect it from the people. Most of the largest institutions are buildings whose donators are from periods where there was a a nationalistic bent and great wealth was generated. Their lasting presence house not only art work but the idea of the passive end of wealth. It is a matter of seeing a goal for creative works that will keep their ideas more active. What better place then here to establish such ends? The West's democratic achievements of the free flow of information and the rights for many groups to be herd could easily be drowned out by commercial onslaught and the success blur caused by ever increasing rewards for art works. Rewards that stifle the voice from the work as it is placed in the din of success and rewards. How great the reward and where it is placed but never much of the message of the work or the realization that its very success is an attention concentration that removes the focus of the media and thus the eyes of the greater audience from the multifarious voice. What have you got to say to the greatest number of people? Do you want to speak to the ever widening Network Audience or a few collectors and institutional bodies and critics, the clamor of a few? Do you want to hear what many more are saying? Perhaps it is the foil for art, that catalyst that interfaces culture that needs to be widened to accommodate this evolutionary faze of the network mind. It is about seizing the idea of values for art as ever widening network commincation and not falling back to the sweet silent end of traditional form in the rich tombs that represent past ideas and ends of culture. The passive efiigies of the wealthy. Artnatural + network catalyst please forward Joseph Nechvatal wrote: > ethic-aesthetic redemption*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* > > This morning I agree with the general tenants of Blackhawk's call for an > ethic-aesthetic redemption (It is only too true that the techno-mediacratic > developments in art recently offer no inherent lasting freedoms, no inherent > widening of aesthetic horizons, no inherent democracy and no inherent wealth > of art) - but this means that we have to develop an ability to transform > the info-productive circuit of the net-artworld into a circuit of cultural > and social aesthetic evaluations. > > In these terms, what I think the NYC-based artworld lacks is a > techno-nomadic mode of thought - because techno-nomadic thought analyses > ca
Re: FLUXLIST: WARNING virus + HEEEEEEEELLLLLPPPPPPP!!!!!!
I don't understand what I'm supposed to be looking for to delete. "visual basics script?", is there another name for these files. I'm not getting anything in a find file. All play vs. work rhetoric aside, I make a living on this computer. If viruses are a problem on this list I'm gonna have to sign off pronto. Is anyone on this list having any success getting rid of, or preventing this thing from blowing their files? I'm not noticing anything do far...and don't want to. Aaron - Original Message - From: Markku Nivalainen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, November 03, 2000 7:08 AM Subject: Re: FLUXLIST: WARNING virus + HLPPP!! > > I fear that you cannot retrieve your mp3s etc. I had a similar experience > > with a brand new seagate scsi hd. Just after I had moved 1 GB of files to > > it, it went nirvana. One year of musicmaking etc was gone, only very few > > things on floppies. > > It also does something I don't like to all the menus. > > > First thing I would do is to remove this "scripting host", dont know how > > this control panel is called in english, but it is in the > > "software" panel, where you can install and deinstall additional parts of > > the "system software". Please do it at once. This is to dangerous. > > What's the name of it? I cannot find it on the list. > > Any other suggestions? > What antivirus software I should use? I have none and am not willing to > download tens of megabytes with this slow connection. > > mn >
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H. MANIFESTO
Cecil,
I'm not sure there are definitive answers to any of your questions but I'm
sure they will stimulate interesting debate. Debates like these tend to
bring up to the surface our values and assumptions - that's what I like
about them.
Personally speaking, I'm more interested in compassion than power. Somehow
that gets lost, even in Buddhism which speaks so much of it. It can turn
into a cool compliance and apathy, especially in the hands of the privileged
who want to be told "it's ok. You don't have to care about anyone else."
Unfortunately though, many political movements, as well meaning as they are,
are so invested in "Power" that they end up just alienating someone else in
the process. I've come to a point where I can't prioritize my concerns and
can't be everywhere at once. turning to my own psychology to test whether or
not I can really eliminate thinking which involves categorization and
evaluation seems adequate. But that involves engaging in the world not
withdrawing from it.
I think what's perhaps getting lost is the "play and fun". Why do we need
the validation of "work" to feel that art is worth making? This is a
question of *attitude* not activity. The fact that these ideas have
stimulated debate at all is because I think we're all struggling with this.
We're being told in our commodity society that we all have to be units of
productivity, in some way, and that art isn't productive. Rather than argue
"yes it is!" for eternity, why not take the strategic position that it's ok
to NOT be useful by those standards. Who's values are those? Try bottling
passion and beauty. Eternity already comes in one.
A.
- Original Message -
From: cecil touchon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2000 1:57 PM
Subject: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H. MANIFESTO
"Art should problematize popular relationships: work/play,
usefulness/uselessness, public/private, engaged/dis-engaged etc. For
example, art creates tension where it is both commodity ("valuable") and
non-work ("useless" play). Art then, does not escape capitalism,
replacing it with a powerless utopia, but can problematize it with a
continuous re-negotiation of its power. Art has the potential to be a
constant thorn in the side of the status quo and, above all, to have
enormous fun while being there." Quote from A._S.L.O.T.H. MANIFESTO
Question #1 So did you write this document Aaron?
some comments/questions
Why should it problemize? And to whom would it become a problem?
Where's the tension between commodity and "useless play"?
It can only be a commodity when this useless play is happening within a
comodity driven society. I think the real tension is when EVERYONE is
engages in useless play and there is no way to sell, trade or barder
your objects because nobody has anything except their own useless
objects to trade you and we all eventually starve to death (which is a
possible solution for regaining a balance in the world.)
To be useless (engage in useless activity - I am not sure I would place
art in any form in this catagory) and to aspire toward revolution or
power do not go hand in hand.
To be useless means to have no value/use to others which can be
exploited. The best example I can think of is the old story (Taoist?
Zen?) of the old guy who sits under an old tree who comments that the
best thing is to be like the scraggily old tree that has so many knots
and the wood is so poor that no carpenter ever cut it down due to being
useless, thus it has its own life and lives to an old age due to its
'uselessness' to others. Its uselessness preserved it from harm.
The most potent form of revolution is changing one's self without regard
of others' actions or surrounding conditions. Thus, the pursuit of the
goals espoused by s.l.o.t.h. , it seems to me, are strictly individual
and should not encourage group effort or group support.
What would then constitute the desired change? Toward what would one
aspire if anything that would be worth the bother of changing one's
self? Once one has disengaged one's self from 'work' and livelihood,
what then does one do with one's time? I already know the "whatever one
want's" angle. I mean more specifically, what is worth doing. What is
worth engaging one's self in? What is worth aspiring toward?
I think the model of the sufi dervish is a good example of someone who
has withdrawn from work. Then there's the Buddhist idea of equinimity or
looking on all things with the same indifference, work, play, making
money, not making money, whatever.
As I said in a previous post, I basicly live like this I think but I
don't especially like being in abject poverty so I do devise ways of
working which allow me to make money. I don't ever try getting money
from sources which do not directly exchange one thing for something of
mine based on the other's desires. In short, people desire art, some of
them desire my art, I do not mind fulfilling that desire by them paying
for the art wh
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
> Interestingly Fluxus extols hard work as a means to an end. Maciunas > considered work important to fund the art projects carried out in one's > "leisure time". > > cheers, > Sol. Very true Sol. (and thanks for the additional resources) But then the art itself wasn't considered "work". Besides, how much did Maciunas really represent what every Fluxus artist felt and practiced? It's an interesting problem. Can art be only play if we need to make a living? Do we live on the backs of those who do "work"? As a buddhist, I've asked this about buddhist practice as well. When monks and nuns rely on lay people to survive, do they ensure that not all people access an enlightened path? But A._S.L.O.T.H. is trying to resist in some way the whole work/play dualism. It isn't proposing inactivity. I probably shouldn't post the entire A._S.L.O.T.H. text. It's quite long, but I can send it directly to whoever is interested. (As a MS Word attachment preferably) Aaron
FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
A._S.L.O.T.H. MANIFESTO Artist’s Society for Leisure and Other Thoughtful Hooplah or, Artist’s Society Against Labour and Otherwise Tedious Humdrum... (EXCERPTS) No One Should Ever Work. Work is the source of nearly all the misery in the world. Almost any evil you’d care to name comes from working or from living in a world designed for work. In order to stop suffering, we have to stop working. That doesn’t mean we have to stop doing things. It does mean creating a new way of life based on play; in other words, a ludic conviviality, commensality, and art...Play isn’t passive. -- Bob Black In the spirit of play, we submit this Manifesto: A._S.L.O.T.H’s Mandate is simple: 1. We reject all forms of work on the basis that they are not necessary components of a productive and fulfilling society; and accept that “to work” is to participate in the hierarchical structures in which we are alienated and alienate others. 2. We resist the ways in which current activist models reinforce problems on a structural level by failing to give up work. 3. We dedicate ourselves, above all, to the fine art of play. --cut-- IV. ART AND A NEW SOCIAL ORDER Art is useless. For this reason, we pursue art inexhaustibly. Many art movements of the past and present have situated themselves either in alliance with, or in opposition to, work. Da Vinci was a renowned procrastinator who was slow to complete paintings and who invented hundreds of useless objects. His notebooks overflow with accounts of time spent staring at clouds or plaster walls. Marcel Duchamp preferred chess to work. The few hours he would spend in his studio involved little more than the haphazard placement of art elements and it would take him years to complete a project such as the Large Glass. His “ready-mades” especially epitomize a bold hypothesis of work that anyone could replicate. Greenberg’s camp of Modernists also made useless art but isolated themselves with a strict “high art” vs. “kitsch” distinction. Rather than inspiring the working classes to be less “useful”, they alienated them and so did not problematize their relationship with any dominant order. Because the dominant voice is central, their art too quickly became ordinary. Every oft-repeated act will eventually become “ordinary”. The best ones, though, change us in the process. In contrast, current Activist Art often becomes too usefully engaged, insisting on itself as work much in the same way as Liberalists lobby for equal economic opportunity. Because many of these movements emphasize their activist, rather than aesthetic merits, they undervalue the very transgressive nature of the aesthetic itself. The aesthetic IS a sensibility, IS a philosophy, IS political and need not, should not, be collapsed into any specific ideology. --cut-- What Marxists call “Creative Labour” is a similar concept applied to all forms of activity. Creative Labour is an endeavour of passion and is therefore fulfilling. Einstein believed that while, at best, science could provide a means to an end, only personality could provide an end. In our society, individual personalities are muted by industry. Art can serve as a model for creative livelihood---a glimmer of humanity. We believe that better communities aren’t mass produced, but are created slowly, by passionate means and together by individuals. As an Artist’s Society, we are dedicated to the aesthetic change of communities. The physical environments in which we live greatly influence the quality of our existence. The aesthetic and functional decay of our surroundings is internalized by individuals and communities, thus leading to social decay. Passionate play should be built, literally, into our lives. For this reason, A._S.L.O.T.H. calls upon the union of architects, engineers, gardeners, musicians, writers...anyone whose activities contribute aesthetically to our environments... to quit work and devote their skills to play. V. MODELS OF BETTER COMMUNITIES Co-operatives, collectives and the like are models of a new order. However, we provide this warning: not every organization that claims to be a co-operative actually is one. Many reproduce old distributions of power in new ways. It’s difficult to shed this tendency as these are often our only models of behaviour. Decisions made by consensus, for example, may, out of a sense of obligation or impatience, prevent full individual expression. Such residual effects, or “withdrawal symptoms”, will eventually be eliminated with patience and commitment to the process and not to the product. VI. A._S.L.O.T.H. SUMMARY “Play is always voluntary. What might otherwise be play is work if it is forced.” (Black) - We defy compulsory production; - We don’t want to end employment discrimination, we want to end work; - We don’t want full employment, we demand full unemployment; - We don’t care if bosses are men, women, black or white; we w
FLUXLIST: From the Ludic Strategem
TOWARDS A MANIFESTO OF THE MEANINGLESSNESS IN ART be playful meaning is not created nor injected meaning is discovered invent art does survive on originality create for the senses be well informed about theory but do not create from it set your own rules know your art history and your philosophy without art there is no art theory be obsessive compulsive and understand the nature of paranoia be quick there is no time for the contemplative do not look for origins start from the middle do not have a just idea just have ideas risk to be impertinent and irrelevant to the world do not look for truth know that truth is a fascist idea avoid verticalism further is more interesting that higher do not moralize or capitalize on the ignorance of the viewer know that you are privileged but do not feel too guilty about it do not try to educate the masses do not make pedagogical art do not seek accessibility abstract politics are more subversive be aware that your ideas might eventually be absorbed by the institutions avoid trying to say but attempt to show do not re-present but present stay away from dualism avoid all binary logic do not be afraid of the words beautiful seek a second innocence cynicism belongs to the gods have fun! --the Ludic Stratagem Movement
Re: FLUXLIST: Take offense? That's intriguing. Over what? That's an interesting idea -
Cecil, Thank-you for this post. It is (oddly) comforting. We are supposed to be beyond Modernism. There is nothing old; there is nothing new. If that is paralysing, make art about paralysis. Anyone who has ever attempted a reproduction of any kind knows that it is never the same twice. Photo realists would attest to this I'm sure, when people say "why bother?" Aaron - Original Message - From: cecil touchon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 8:16 AM Subject: FLUXLIST: Take offense? That's intriguing. Over what? That's an interesting idea - > > Hi Allen. > I don't know what Heiko was refering to but you said some very thought provoking > things. Take offense? That's intriguing. Over what? That's an interesting idea - > to be accused of or to take offense about the similarity, even direct link > between one artist's work and another especially in the context of fluxus where > this sort of idea - doing other people's works, redoing, redesigning, adapting > etc. is a tradition. I should think that, in this context, one could abandon any > original work whatsoever and ONLY reenact, reinvigorate, the whole thing and > everyone's work in it (fluxus) like an actor or musician, who never do their own > work, just perform other's works and even call it your own. And so many things > in fluxus are designed in such a way - as a score - to encourage a continual > re-enactment - perhaps even performing a score in many cases will be it's first > performance. Like copyright law: the part under protecting is the actual > expression of an idea, not the idea itself which is freely available to > everyone. Also thinking in scientific terms , that is a great test - to rework > all of the older pieces to see which ones are actually valuable and which are > just stupid (many are I think) I notice a lot of sets of pieces are basically > brain storming session records with not all of the works having that much value > (which is another interesting issue) Also, I have noticed a certain political > imperialism in the earlier works which, like the brecht work...- > > Three Aqueous Events > ice > water > steam > > George Brecht 1961 > > That the simplicity of it causes literally any action that includes these three > states of water to be a variation on his work. That's kind of like staking off > wilderness, one stake in each of its four corners, and saying that because you > have placed these four stakes anything that happens within them is trespassing. > Hogwash! > > Philip Corner " plays anybody's piece and says it is by Philip Corner " > > One of my maxims is, "If I have not done it, it has not yet been done." Very > often artists hold themselves back because they are told - oh, that's been done, > that territory has been mapped already. So does that mean no one need go from > Miami to Seattle any more because, not only has it been mapped, its even had a > few highways built to it, so why bother to go? It's been done. And if you take a > trip from Saint Louis to Pitsburg, using a highway, did you take your own trip > or was your trip just a variation of the archetect's concept of what that trip > would be and not your own trip at all? Should tourists say, "I don't want to do > someone elses journey! I want to do my own so I am going to just strike out > accross these fields and make my way to Albuquerque without a road and without a > map, those are other people's things. > Were all of the artists before us so good or so bad that what ever they did is > now meaningless and, we need not rework any of those idea, techniques, etc.? > This is what we say when we do not take up what has gone before. We send it into > extinction at least for ourselves. We are the ones deciding those things: what > is valuable from the past, what is vital, what is meaningful, by whether or not > we take on the work of embodying those things and keeping them alive or not. > This determines whether their work continues to live, to have meaning, currency > or if they are obsolete, ephemeral, peripheral, temporary (not that one is > better or worse than the other). Most people's work disappears with them when > they die. So be it. > Cecil > > > > > > > > > > > -- > .<.<.<.<.<.<.0.>.>.>.>.>.> > Join the Collage Poetry group > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > a list for posting and reading poetry > created in a constructive manor > like a collage. > .<.<.<.<.<.<.0.>.>.>.>.>.> > >
Re: FLUXLIST: for those who missed Jarryd Lowder ...
Can someone please tell me a little more about what was happening in this performance. The webcast at the URL given focuses mostly on the projection. It's difficult to make out what's going on in these small and delayed images. It looks really interesting though, so I'd like to know more. Thanks, Aaron - Original Message - From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, October 30, 2000 3:40 PM Subject: FLUXLIST: for those who missed Jarryd Lowder in a live performance of "Autoharp" and "Frid > for those who missed Jarryd Lowder in a live > performance of "Autoharp" and "Friday the 13, Pt. 666" > here it is online: > http://netart-init.org/ > http://netart-init.org/webcast-event/jarryd.html > it kind of reminded me of laurie anderson and john > cage all over again...
Re: FLUXLIST: NYTimes.com Article: Yoko Ono: Painter, Sculptor, Musician, Muse
Roger, Yoko was involved in music long before Lennon was. Lennon started in visual art school while Ono had been learning Western Classical music throughout her childhood. I like Lennon, don't get me wrong but I think her work suffered from meeting him-- that's my personal opinion. I like her earlier sound collage stuff (ala Cage) more than the later pop stuff. I'm not afraid of a good scretch! Aaron > > >> > The music is unbearable, and let's leave it at that. > I think that, in common with many others, when an artist enters another > field > success can be patchy - sometimes brilliant, sometimes not so good > >
Re: FLUXLIST: e-mail my body
> Have you seen my soul? I lost it quite a while ago. > The last sighting was in Austin, Texas about a month ago. > > It's dark and probably possessed. > > There's a small reward! _ I see so many lost souls...you'll have to be more specific. Aaron.
FLUXLIST: Yoko Ono Show
If anyone is fortunate enough to see this show, let us know what your impressions are (please). I'll have to make due with the catalogue. : ( Aaron
FLUXLIST: RE: Bigamy
- Original Message - From: Narcissus In Paradys <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > You may engage us all, Aaron, but I think you can only marry one of us! > Of course, there is the option of divorce! > Personally, I do not think there should be a legal punishment for Bigamy. Having two mothers in law is bad enough. > ~Davide Streever > I think I shall add an "E" to the end of my first name, and become an artistic sensation. > Who loves it already? (Next comes the big ego!) __ I'm still trying to decide which of you to marry. Perhaps a dating game? 1) which would you rather be: a> a particle. b> a wave. c option > explain 2) which would you rather have: a short line, or a long dot? Explain. 3) What colour are you in April? 4) You are at a point in life where you? 5) How much can you say with two characters? 6) Go to a gallery and touch a painting. Tell us how it feels. 7) Ask your own questions.
FLUXLIST: Zen and Fluxus
Cecil touchon wrote: > Hi Aaron Kimberly, > So tell us what you found regarding the connection between Zen and Fluxus. I > would love to hear about that. > Cecil Touchon Hi Cecil, What I learned in a brief survey of texts I had to condense into a 20 page paper. As with all things Fluxus, it wasn't an easy thing to pin down. But there are so many fleeting references to Zen in regards to Fluxus, that it was an issue in need of expansion. Not all Fluxus members were into Zen, and not all artists/performers who were into Zen were Fluxus. It was important to me to not centralize the movement too much in the US since the contributions from Europe and Asia were important. I had to look, on one hand, to the phenomenon of Buddhists monks leaving Asia to teach in North America and Europe - and the challenges that posed to modernism. Then I also had to look at the introduction of the "avant garde" in Asia where Buddhism was already readily available. I began the paper with John Cage: - his studies with D.T. Suzuki - his use of chance and the I Ching - indiscriminate use of sounds (which included audience participation) - how this related to other art like Abstract Expressionism Then I talked about the George Maciunas paradigm: - cohesively organized, documented and charted - his public/social interests and Leninist influences - I discussed, with the use of a few Maciunas quotations how he used the lingo of Zen, but really didn't embody it. e.g.. his miss-use of words like "Ego" where Buddhism is concerned. However, he also coined phrases like "Neo-Haiku Theatre" which were most useful for my topic. The portable, humorous, elegant, repeatable, iconoclastic, anti-sublime, implicative qualities of Fluxus is where I dive in to Zen. I compare the Fluxus aesthetic of eloquent humour with Zen teaching practices where humour is both an arrow penetrating the ego, and a signifier of understanding. Then, I discuss at length Haiku - especially in conjunction with Yoko Ono and her Instructions. Ono's conceptual use of language is paradoxically used to rest the mind. The viewer must respond intuitively. The empty state, she suggests, is beyond duality. Likewise, the Zen koan is language meant to penetrate beyond the semiotics of language. That's it in a nutshell...a "boy this got long" nutshell. Cheers, Aaron
FLUXLIST: Introduction
Hello All (how many would that be?) I've just joined the list so wanted to begin with an introduction. I'm a recent Grad of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (Canada). Fluxus quickly became a huge influence on my own thoughts and practices and I spent one semester on an independant research project on John Cage and Fluxus (My paper was narrowed down to Cage, Yoko Ono, Takiguchi Shuzo and the "Maciunas based paradigm".) In particular, I was intested in exploring the connection between Zen and Fluxus. I joined this list to link with other folks who love this stuff...learn more about Fluxus old and new...and ultimately, I always have my own art in mind. I look forward to engaging with all of you (Is anyone from the Vancouver area). I assume that if you're here, you're with me. Cheers, Aaron Kimberly
