RHIZOME DIGEST: 2.11.05

discussion

Posted Feb. 10 2005 19:00

RHIZOME DIGEST: 2.11.05

RHIZOME DIGEST: February 11, 2005 Content: +announcement+ 1. Kevin McGarry: FW: A Walk to Remember at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions 2. Reinhold Grether: transmediale awards 3. Marieke Istha: Woody Vasulka improvises +opportunity+ 4. Amy Youngs: 3D Computer Animation Tenure-Track Faculty Position 5. Kevin McGarry: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS/PAPERS: Words, Images, and the Framing of Social Reality 6. Christoph Cox: Call for Proposals – Cabinet Magazine 7. Rachel Greene: Rhizome Net Art Commissions – Call for Proposals +work+ 8. Mard Daggett: Balance Bar +commissioned for rhizome.org+ 9. Kayle Brandon: Kayle Brandon reporting on DIY / CONVERSION / OIL / SHIT / EDUCATION + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 1. Date: 2.07.05 From: Kevin McGarry <kevin@rhizome.org> Subject: FW: A Walk to Remember at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions —— Forwarded Message From: "e-Flux" <info@e-flux.com> Reply-To: "e-Flux" <service@e-flux.com> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 11:18:01 -0800 To: "kevin mcgarry" <kevin@rhizome.org> Subject: A Walk to Remember at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions 02/07/05 <<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.e-flux.com">http://www.e-flux.com</a>> Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions <<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.artleak.org">http://www.artleak.org</a>> A WALK TO REMEMBER Organized by Jens Hoffmann Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions 6522 Hollywood Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90028 t: 323.957.1777 f: 323.957.9025 e: info@artleak.org w: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.artleak.org">http://www.artleak.org</a> Panel Discussion with curator Jens Hoffmann and the artists: Tuesday 8 February 2005 at 7pm Opening reception: Wednesday 9 February 2005 7 - 9 pm Exhibition runs 9 February through 8 May 2005 A WALK TO REMEMBER Organized by Jens Hoffmann John Baldessari, Jennifer Bornstein, Meg Cranston, Morgan Fisher, Evan Holloway, Paul McCarthy, Ruben Ortiz Torres, Allen Ruppersberg, and Eric Wesley. "For the perfect flaneur, for the passionate spectator, it is an immense joy to set up house in the middle of the multitude, amid the ebb and flow of movement, in the midst of the fugitive and the infinite." - Charles Baudelaire A Walk to Remember is an exhibition that invites a group of Los Angeles based artists to conceive and carry out guided tours through neighborhoods and areas of the city with which they have a particular relationship or affinity and that deal specifically with the rich cultural history of the city. The exhibition relates to Walter Benjamin's concept of the flaneur as a figure who derives pleasure from the hustle and bustle of the city streets, who moves purposelessly among the urban crowd with the eye of an artist: a spectator of contemporary life and urban scenes. Yet, A Walk To Remember diverts from Benjamin's idea when it examines a specific European phenomenon of the early 20th century: the postmodern condition of Los Angeles in which walking is clearly a thing of the past. In addition, in giving each walk a purpose and in trying to bring various locations and social and cultural relations of the city to the audience the exhibition reaches beyond what Benjamin described as an "aimless affair." Members of the audience taking part in a walk will each be given a disposable camera to document their individual impressions of the artists' walks from their distinct perspectives. The cameras will be collected at the end of a walk and the developed photographs will be presented inside the gallery space along with maps of the city outlining the different routes. The Walks: JOHN BALDESSARI For John Baldessari's walk each member of the audience is asked to photograph all intersection street signs from his studio at Bay and Main Streets in Santa Monica to his second studio on 6th Street and Vernon Ave. in Venice Beach. The artist will provide a map of the exact route. Dates: 18 February 2005, 11:00am 27 March 2005, 11:00am JENNIFER BORNSTEIN The walk of Jennifer Bornstein is based on the artist's fascination for Griffith Park in North Hollywood, which the artist has described as her "studio." Bornstein will introduce the audience to the history of Griffith Park and lead a tour through the park that will mimic the regular nature walks one can take in the park. Dates: 12 March 2005, 3:00 pm 3 April 2005, 3:00 pm MEG CRANSTON Meg Cranston will take the audience to Sherman Indian High School in Riverside. The Sherman Indian High School is one of three remaining off reservation Indian boarding schools in the United States. The students at the school come from many different tribes and from all over the United States. The school has a rich (sometimes tragic) history which Cranston will relate to the lesser-known parts of Los Angeles' urban Indian history. Dates: 15 April 2005, 8:00 am 16 April 2005, 8:00 am MORGAN FISHER Morgan Fisher's walk will connect two places in Santa Monica where he has lived for a total of more than 20 years. Along the way, the walk takes a digression to visit the site of a house where a friend of the artist lived, then follows the path that he took each morning to buy a newspaper, and ends with a visit to the former location of an art gallery that helped Fisher to enter the Los Angeles art world. The walk illustrates the cliche that in Los Angeles buildings are liable to disappear. The first place where the artist lived was torn down and replaced by apartment buildings. The second place, although still standing, will doubtless be torn down and replaced with condominiums. The house where his friend lived is already gone. Dates: 16 February 2005, time TBA 27 February 2005, time TBA EVAN HOLLOWAY The walk of Evan Holloway starts at his studio and finishes at the subway station at 7th and Alvarado. The walk includes a great deal of information about Los Angeles' history. Large Victorian style homes, the only evidence of this neighborhood's once glamorous past, form a perverse backdrop to the most degraded and sad prostitution market in LA. Pedestrians are regularly offered opportunities to purchase fake IDs, illicit subway tokens, black market cigarettes, and various illegal intoxicants. The walk will stop on the way at LA's oldest deli to enjoy what is widely regarded as the finest pastrami sandwich in the region. Dates: 13 February 2005, 11:00 am 19 March 2005, 11:00 am PAUL MCCARTHY Paul McCarthy's walk proposes defining the parameters of a walk that could then be "performed" by anyone who cares to do so. The artist is interested in the idea of walking the same route a number of times and how one sees things differently as they become familiar. For McCarthy 's walk the audience will not need to come together as a group but can simply devise a walk for themselves that they will then walk at least ten times. The start and finish for the walk should be Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions on Hollywood Boulevard. Dates: On going RUBEN ORTIZ TORRES In Ruben Ortiz Torres walk we will visit and experience "El Pedorrero" (The Farter) on Whittier Boulevard in the core of East Los Angeles. This muffler shop is also a museum that holds a collection of a "million" items. Its founder and director, Bill Al Capone Mufflers, describes it as a corporation while also functioning as a laboratory and an architectural marvel. At "El Pedorrero" Bill customizes cars, invents new 3D chessboards and self-standing ice cream cones while at the same time developing his own life philosophy. Dates: 10 February 2005, 12:00 pm 10 March 2005, 12:00 pm ALLEN RUPPERSBERG Allen Ruppersberg's walk will be a personal WHATEVER BECAME OF tour looking for glimpses of what was and still partially is. The axis of the tour will be a visit to some of the major sites that figure in his particular history. By looking to compare the What's Here to the What's Gone, exclaiming to each other "Yes, that is the same!" or "No, it's lost forever," the artist hopes the tour can find and enlarge the details of the art and the life that once existed there. Dates: 13 March 2005, 11:00am 2 April 2005, 11:00am ERIC WESLEY Eric Wesley will do a guided walk through a particular section of Griffith Park. The walk will start at the base of the park near Los Feliz and extend upward, to a peak in the park. It will be a midnight hike through the dark wilderness accompanied by the telling of ghost stories based on the rumor that the property which is now Griffith Park was donated to the city by Griffith J. Griffith near the turn of the century as a bribe to get him off attempted murder charges (he shot his wife in the head). Dates: 25 February 2005, time TBA 6 March 2005, time TBA To sign up for the walks, please call 323.957.1777 x12. As space is very limited —— End of Forwarded Message + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 2. Date: 2.11.05 From: Reinhold Grether <Reinhold.Grether@netzwissenschaft.de> Subject: transmediale awards [have not seen the press release on rhizome. the project links are taken from <net art links> <<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.netzwissenschaft.de/kuenst.htm">http://www.netzwissenschaft.de/kuenst.htm</a>> ] press release <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.transmediale.de/page/whatis/detail/detail.0.releases.43.html">http://www.transmediale.de/page/whatis/detail/detail.0.releases.43.html</a> "The jury decided to split the prize, worth 8.000 Euro, between Camille Utterback [us], Thomas Koener [de] and 5voltcore (Emanuel Andel & Christian Guetzer) [at]." Camille Utterback: Untitled 5 <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.camilleutterback.com/untitled5.html">http://www.camilleutterback.com/untitled5.html</a> Thomas Koener: Suburbs of the Void <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.koener.de/bdv.html">http://www.koener.de/bdv.html</a> 5voltcore: Shockbot Corejulio <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.5voltcore.com/index.html?/content/roboter.html">http://www.5voltcore.com/index.html?/content/roboter.html</a> press release <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.transmediale.de/page/whatis/detail/detail.0.releases.43.html">http://www.transmediale.de/page/whatis/detail/detail.0.releases.43.html</a> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Rhizome is now offering organizational subscriptions, memberships purchased at the institutional level. These subscriptions allow participants of an institution to access Rhizome's services without having to purchase individual memberships. (Rhizome is also offering subsidized memberships to qualifying institutions in poor or excluded communities.) Please visit <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/info/org.php">http://rhizome.org/info/org.php</a> for more information or contact Kevin McGarry at Kevin@Rhizome.org or Rachel Greene at Rachel@Rhizome.org. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 3. Date: 2.11.05 From: Marieke Istha <istha@montevideo.nl> Subject: Woody Vasulka improvises Woody Vasulka improvises Lecture about the history of VJ-Culture February 15, 2005 De lecture will be broadcasted LIVE on: www.montevideo.nl Woody Vasulka will speak about the historical context of VJ-ing culture from the 70s up to now: from illustrated music in the video-synthesizer era to present movements. In addition to some artistic examples from Steina and him, Woody will also present actual artists which can be seen in the context. Start 20.30 h. Entrance 3,50 / 2,50 Reservations info@montevideo.nl T 020 6237101 www.vasulka.org Netherlands Media Art Institute Montevideo/Time Based Arts Keizersgracht 264 1016 EV Amsterdam The Netherlands T +31 20 6237101 F +31 20 6244423 info@montevideo.nl www.montevideo.nl + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Rhizome Member-curated Exhibits <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/art/member-curated/">http://rhizome.org/art/member-curated/</a> View online exhibits Rhizome members have curated from works in the ArtBase, or learn how to create your own exhibit. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 4. Date: 2.06.05 From: Amy Youngs <youngs.6@osu.edu> Subject: 3D Computer Animation Tenure-Track Faculty Position Applications are invited for the position of Assistant Professor in 3D Computer Graphics Animation at The Ohio State University. We seek to find an innovative professional committed to being part of a creative and engaging collaborative team of artists, designers, scientists, faculty and students. This is a joint appointment with the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design and an appropriate department within the College of the Arts. Candidate will be expected to build on the strengths at ACCAD and interface with multidisciplinary programs within the arts and sciences. The position begins September 2005. Responsibilities: Position requires teaching on both undergraduate and graduate level. Teaching at the graduate level is in the interdisciplinary, collaborative environment of the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD) using state of the art resources. Duties also include the development of new curriculum, advising and committee work. Faculty are expected to have active creative careers in their own right. Position Requirements: Applicants must hold a graduate degree in an art or design field, or in a related technical field. University-level teaching experience and a strong record of creative and/or scholarly activities is desired. Advanced training and substantial professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: animation, three dimensional modeling, rigging, surfacing, visual effects, digital lighting, motion capture, digital storytelling. Application requirements: Candidates should show a body of work related to computer animation and indicate a strong research direction. Applications should include 1) a letter of application that addresses applicant's position qualifications 2) a current resume 3) a separate statement discussing the applicant's creative work and approach to teaching 4) 10 examples and descriptions of applicant's work 5) 10 examples and descriptions of student works 6) names, postal and email addresses, and telephone numbers of three professional references, 7) a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Copies of transcripts will be requested of finalists. Send materials to: Computer Animation Faculty Search ACCAD - The Ohio State University 1224 Kinnear Road Columbus, OH 43214 Application review begins January 10, 2005 and will continue until filled. [Still open] To build a diverse workforce Ohio State encourages applications from minorities, veterans, women and individuals with disabilities. EEO/AA employer. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://accad.osu.edu/main/positions.htm">http://accad.osu.edu/main/positions.htm</a> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 5. Date: 2.07.05 From: Kevin McGarry <kevin@rhizome.org> Subject: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS/PAPERS: Words, Images, and the Framing of Social Reality CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS/PAPERS: Words, Images, and the Framing of Social Reality Monday, April 18th, 2005 65 5th Avenue, New York , New York A spring interdisciplinary conference hosted by The New School Graduate Faculty Department of Liberal Studies is seeking paper presentations, videos, visual art, and/or performance pieces that confront the topic of ³Words, Images, and the Framing of Social Reality.² Words and images are the conceptual tools used to ³frame² our understanding of social reality. Oftentimes, these words and images unify our understandings of a concept to be classified as ³truth". Nevertheless, there are also instances when this ³truth² is not objective, but merely a veiled fantasy incapable of fully describing the complexity of the situation it attempts to define. Thus, simulated and psuedo-concrete imagery such as extreme religiosity, political propaganda, mass media, nationalism, etc. are perhaps only manageable, yet illusory attempts of filling this conceptual void. Are we then slaves to the fantasy and seduction of words and images, or, subjects vying to redefine them? This interdisciplinary (and hopefully multi-media) conference will explore the relationship and tension between imagery, metaphor, and rhetoric in creating, maintaining, and framing social reality(s). Please submit paper abstracts or presentation proposals to hsiaoc01@newschool.edu or AllaN562@newschool.edu by February 25th 2005. Some possible topics could be (but are, of course, not limited to*) Image and Sexuality Racism and War: Debasing the Other Terrorist as Auteur Pop Culture as Social Control Spin Cycle: The Framing of Politics Art as resistance Coding War: just vs. unjust violence Willful Amnesia: Choosing to ignore and/or forget + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 6. Date: 2.08.05 From: Christoph Cox <ccox@hampshire.edu> Subject: Call for Proposals – Cabinet Magazine Cabinet magazine is initiating a new series of CD/DVDs. This new series will focus on artist projects, documentary projects, and presentations of unusual ideas or histories. While "musical" work will be considered, the editors are particularly interested in conceptual projects. Media can be audio, video, text, or image in any combination. Send proposals and any other communication to: <brian@immaterial.net> and <ccox@hampshire.edu> Christoph Cox and Brian Conley Editors-at-large/CD Editors Cabinet Magazine <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.cabinetmagazine.org">http://www.cabinetmagazine.org</a> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 7. Date: 2.09.05 From: Rachel Greene <rachel@rhizome.org> Subject: Rhizome Net Art Commissions – Call for Proposals RHIZOME.ORG NET ART COMMISSIONS CALL FOR PROPOSALS + Deadline for proposals: March 23, 2005 + Rhizome.org is pleased to announce that with support from Greenwall Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts, between eight and ten new net art projects (works of art that are made to be experienced online) will be commissioned in 2005. The fee for each commission will range from $1,500 $3,500. Rhizome.org is an online platform for the global new media art community. We are committed to supporting the creation, presentation, discussion and preservation of art that engages new technologies in significant ways. We emphasize innovation and inclusiveness in all of our programs and activities. Artists are invited to submit proposals for new works of internet art. There is no required theme, but these works must be made to be experienced online, thus viewers/participants/players should be able to access the projects online, whether through a web browser, software, or some other use of internet technologies. When evaluating proposals, the jury will consider artistic merit, technical feasibility, and technical accessibility. Although we will provide some technical assistance with final integration into the Rhizome.org web site, artists are expected to develop projects independently and without significant technical assistance from Rhizome.org. + How to Submit a Proposal + The jury will only consider proposals from members of Rhizome.org. To sign up for Rhizome membership, please visit: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.rhizome.org/preferences/user.rhiz?action=1&new=user">http://www.rhizome.org/preferences/user.rhiz?action=1&new=user</a> There are two parts to proposal submission: 1. You must create a proposal in the form of a web site that includes the following key elements: + Project description (500 words maximum) that discusses your project¹s core concept, how you will realize your project and your project¹s feasibility. If you plan to work with assistants, consultants or collaborators, their roles and (if possible) names should be included. + You are encouraged, but not required, to include a production timeline and a project budget, which should include your own fee. If you have other funding sources for your project, please indicate this in your budget. + Your resume or Curriculum Vitae. For collaborative groups, provide either a collective CV or the CV¹s of all participants. + Up to 5 work samples. Note: More is not necessarily better. You should include only work samples relevant to your proposal. If your proposal has nothing to do with photography, don¹t include images from your photography portfolio. Please provide contextualizing information (title, date, medium, perhaps a brief description) to help the jury understand what they are looking at. The work sample can take any form, as long as it is accessible via the web. When designing your web-based proposal, please note that the jury will have limited time for evaluations, so try to make your site clear and concise. When your web-based proposal is complete, you are ready for Part Two of the proposal process: 2. Submit your proposal for a Rhizome.org Net Art Commission via an online form at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/commissions/submit/">http://rhizome.org/commissions/submit/</a>. We do not accept proposals via email, snail mail or other means. Proposals will be accepted until 5:00pm EST (that¹s New York time) on Friday, March 15, 2005. The form at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/commissions/submit/">http://rhizome.org/commissions/submit/</a> requires the following information: + Name of artist or collaborative group + Email address + Place of residence (city, state/province, country) + Title of the project (this can be tentative) + Brief description of project (50 words maximum) + URL of web-based proposal + Jury + Proposals will be reviewed by a jury consisting of Rachel Greene, Executive Director of Rhizome.org and author of Internet Art (Thames and Hudson, 2004); Francis Hwang, Director of Technology at Rhizome.org; artist Eduardo Kac, Professor and Chair, Art and Technology Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Sydney-based artist, writer and curator Melinda Rackham, also of the empyre- forum; and the head of Tate Digital Programmes, and Net Art curator at Tate Online, Jemima Rellie. Rhizome.org members will also participate in the evaluation and awarding process through secure web-based forms. In this phase of evaluation, Rhizome.org members will be directed to the submitted web-based proposals. While this more open jurying process does mean that proposals could possibly be discussed publicly, there have been no reported conflicts or abuses of information reported. + Winners + Winners will be contacted on or after May 1, 2005. Each winner will be asked to sign an agreement with Rhizome.org governing the terms of the commission. Commissioned projects will be listed on the main Rhizome Commission page and included in the Rhizome ArtBase. Winners will be announced on or before May 1, 2005. Commissioned projects must be completed by December 1, 2005. + Questions + If you have any questions about the Rhizome.org Net Art Commissions, please contact Francis Hwang at francis@rhizome.org or 212.219.1222 X202. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 8. Date: 2.07.05 From: Mark Daggett <mark@markdaggett.com> Subject: Balance Bar The "Balance Bar" is a easy to use browser extension programmed to allow any user to editorialize any web page anywhere on the Internet. Once you have an account (which is free) you can use the "Balance Bar" to literally insert your comments/article/rant directly onto whatever web page you would like to expound on. The "Balance Bar" was developed because of the increasing need to "balance" the one-sided and isolated world view that much of our media sources produce. The Balance Bar can be downloaded here: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.collcoll.com/balancebar/">http://www.collcoll.com/balancebar/</a> The current version of the tool bar is developed for the PC and Internet Explorer only. I am working on an extension for the firefox/mozilla browser but that is several months away. The source is available for anyone who'd like to help out. Best Regards, Mark Daggett + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 9. Date: 2.11.05 From: Kayle Brandon <kayle@irational.org> Subject: Kayle Brandon reporting on DIY / CONVERSION / OIL / SHIT / EDUCATION Kayle Brandon reporting on DIY / CONVERSION / OIL / SHIT / EDUCATION at DIY_Culture 2005 January 21st-23rd: Birmingham UK <a rel="nofollow" href="http://irational.org/kayle/DIY_culture/DIY_culture_images.html">http://irational.org/kayle/DIY_culture/DIY_culture_images.html</a> Lots of people I know love abit of DIY, weather its putting up a shelf or making their own teeth. DIY_Culture 2005 was organised by Steve Crozier and Simon Griffiths, offering a programme of how-to-and-why in DIY domestic infrastructure, encompassing a broad range of issues from Linux computing to shit composting. "The intention was to create an atmosphere of practical hobbyism combined with theoretical apocalyptic preparations. DIY could be seen as the hidden side of resistance in a confrontational and obvious manner, and acting as if ourselves and the environment around us is independent of any power structures. Ignoring through existing rather than resisting in the traditional sense. There was also a breakdown between workshops, participants and audience, which was interesting and is one area that should be pushed as far as possible. Otherwise this becomes another commodified area of entertainment for people to attend and consume." Steve Crozier <a rel="nofollow" href="http://stuffit.org/diy/">http://stuffit.org/diy/</a> CONVERSION Many of the workshops in DIY_Culture were about converting from one process to another, replacing defunct damaging systems with processes and approaches that clearly represent attempts at more sustainable symbiotic relations. The alchemy of conversion can be a radical learning experience. Changing and trying things out on ourselves and surrounding, enables us to analyse and reconsider the total effect a process is having on a situation. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.onlineconversion.com/">http://www.onlineconversion.com/</a> OIL The diesel engine was originally designed to run on peanut oil. So the conversion process is more about revisiting the inventors intention rather than rethinking it. Conversion of the engine is relatively easy depending on the vehicle type. The action liberates the user from crude oil agents. We may endlessly dispute the oil companies ethics and protest the detrimental effect of using such a fuel, but until we stop buying, stop using we are aiding and abetting. The user and instigator for the change detaches from auto pilot. Relations to vehicle, supply and politic all shift. Maintaining and committing to the new situation requires a level of responsibility that most may find undesirable. The decision to go against the norm tends to place the user in a minority position, access to materials, information, and support may be in shorter supply. During DIY_culture Hannah got her diesel engine converted, it took Ian all-day. After a day of mechanical manhandling the van was ready for test drive. Kayle Brandon: What's changed since the conversion? Hannah Searnley: My exhaust smells like pakoras, which is great, nice to be different. Hopefully, my particulate output is less. In a well-functioning car running on new veg oil (rather than filtered used veg oil) the particulates are considerably less, which is cool because they are a big problem, especially in towns, for people's breathing. And of course the emissions are much cleaner and don't include greenhouse gases. So I guess I can feel better driving about now. I have to start the van on diesel and get the engine up to a certain temperature to ensure that the veg oil is thin enough to pass through the engine without clogging the pump up. This can take about 15 mins, so I'm starting to think that if I'm not doing a long enough journey to be able to turn over to veg, then maybe i should be walking or cycling it. It's not illegal to run your car on veg, but you have to make sure that you are up to date with paying the fuel tax. Apparently, it's very rare that you will be pulled over, but it's best to have a receipt for oil with the taxed pre-paid in your glovebox. www.vegburner.co.uk www.bio-power.co.uk SHIT Will maintaining my own shit make me a better person, more whole, more pure more real, more able to deal with my own death ? The dominant waste disposal system is a shit to filth process; the compost toilet is a shit to fertiliser process. Social constructs of perceived civil society keep us from engaging with natural symbiotic relations. The popular misconception of shit as 'waste' instead of 'resource' necessitates replacement of a high functioning bio-dynamic system with a waste control and management process. Kayle Brandon: has the experience effected ways you view your own body ? Graham Burnett: Not really, but i think it has made it more tangible for me the awareness of how we have broken the cycles of nature, IE that we flush perfectly good quality fertiliser out to sea, thus creating a problem rather than using a solution. I knew this on an intellectual level, but our compost bog project has made that realisation more 'solid' if you like… KB: Can a city dweller do it? GB: I don't see why not as long as you have a reasonable sized garden, probably not very practical if you live in a block of flats or something. We need more sensible broad scale sewage solutions in cities rather than flushing shit out to sea. It could be returned to the land via larger scale composting projects. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.weblife.org/humanure/default.html">http://www.weblife.org/humanure/default.html</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.gb0063551.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/bog/compostbog.htm">http://www.gb0063551.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/bog/compostbog.htm</a> EDUCATION Ultimately DIY culture is about self governed learning. Autonomous, education via independent study and research. Experimenting, playing and producing to enrich daily life and challenge the status quo. "DIY_Culture 2005" is one example of events, projects and situations set up by groups and individuals with DIY ethics. "The human mind is inquisitive, enquiring; it is stimulated by the process of learning new skills and knowledge. There is really nothing all that special in feeling empowered enough to teach ourselves some new skill or piece of knowledge. This is what the mind does, how it functions. Unfortunately in much of western society, this is often not the case. A direct correlation can perhaps be discerned between this situation and the manner in which learning comes to be institutionalised under the banner of education. If we perceive of our society of mass production and consumption in terms of a system, we can note that in order for such a system to be predictable, manageable and therefore efficient, the units that it depends upon need, in themselves, to be regular, calculable and predictable. The production of such units is the service that institutionalised education or school provides for modern society. It achieves this by nurturing an environment of low-level anxiety and fear. The use of continual examinations, competitive grading systems, divisions according to age, separation from the adult world and any meaningful responsibilities, and an enforced elongation of the period of childhood, all serve to foster an immaturity of thought and emotion that extends well into adulthood. Schools, in this manner, are able to produce, for industrialised society, people, or workers, who have been leveled off, deliberately stunted in their growth as human beings, denied the opportunity to learn to think and feel for themselves. In other words a regular, calculable and predictable workforce, fit for the requirements of industrialised mass production and consumption. In this sense educating both yourself and your children through means other than school is perhaps one of the most radical acts possible. " Simon Griffiths The University of Openess (UO) is a self-institution for independent research, collaboration and learning. Lottie Child is a UO producer and user, working specifically in the faculty of Physical Education. Kayle Brandon: I've been considering going into further education would you recommend UO? Lottie Child: I think it depends what kind of people you've got access to, the way I'm approaching my MA (master of arts) at the UO is to use it as a contact to people I want to talk to, and as a framework for the research that I'm doing… If you you want to carry on developing your work, you can conceptualise an MA at UO in anyway you want. KB: Does UO have tutors available that I could access? LC: No it doesn't, its got a mailing list and a Wiki, the Wiki is edited anonymously and the people on the mailing list are hard to know who they are. You can use those places to put info share info ask questions that kind of thing. Its not difficult to get in involved and figure out who everybody is and find it if anyone has anything to offer you. The way I do it is by creating links with people I come across as I research and work. KB: How does UO work exactly? LC: I don't know, how it works, I suppose via the mailing list, Wiki, there's people. I don't know all the people involved, and I don't know what all the people involved in it think it is. Whatever your collective imaginations come up with that's what it is. It works in lots of different ways. LC: the great thing about the Wiki is that its an ever expanding thing, that is practically unknowable; it grows because people us it. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twenteenthcentury.com/uo/index.php/">http://twenteenthcentury.com/uo/index.php/</a> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Rhizome.org is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization and an affiliate of the New Museum of Contemporary Art. Rhizome Digest is supported by grants from The Charles Engelhard Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Rhizome Digest is filtered by Kevin McGarry (kevin@rhizome.org). ISSN: 1525-9110. Volume 10, number 7. Article submissions to list@rhizome.org are encouraged. Submissions should relate to the theme of new media art and be less than 1500 words. For information on advertising in Rhizome Digest, please contact info@rhizome.org. To unsubscribe from this list, visit <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/subscribe">http://rhizome.org/subscribe</a>. Subscribers to Rhizome Digest are subject to the terms set out in the Member Agreement available online at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/info/29.php">http://rhizome.org/info/29.php</a>. 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