<br />RHIZOME DIGEST: August 11, 2006<br /><br />Content:<br /><br />+opportunity+<br />1. Mark Tribe: Tenure Track Position in New Genres/Video/Sound at Brown<br />2. skulig@email.smith.edu: Faculty position<br />3. Ross Dalziel: SoundNetwork Open Call<br /><br />+announcement+<br />4. Annette Damgaard: International Digital Art Festival in Denmark<br />5. Marisa Olson: Rhizome 10th Anniversary Festival<br />6. Marisa Olson: Faultlines Online Exhibition<br />7. nat muller: Mrabba Electroni[c]que: Global Lebanon Web Jam - 12aug,<br />15:00 - 19:00 PM CEST<br /><br />+Commissioned by Rhizome.org+<br />8. Dr. Edward A. Shanken: Historicizing Art and Technology: Forging a<br />Method and Firing a Canon<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />Rhizome is now offering Organizational Subscriptions, group memberships<br />that can be purchased at the institutional level. These subscriptions<br />allow participants at institutions to access Rhizome's services without<br />having to purchase individual memberships. For a discounted rate, students<br />or faculty at universities or visitors to art centers can have access to<br />Rhizome?s archives of art and text as well as guides and educational tools<br />to make navigation of this content easy. Rhizome is also offering<br />subsidized Organizational Subscriptions to qualifying institutions in poor<br />or excluded communities. Please visit <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/info/org.php">http://rhizome.org/info/org.php</a> for<br />more information or contact Lauren Cornell at LaurenCornell@Rhizome.org<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />1.<br /><br />From: Mark Tribe <mark.tribe@gmail.com><br />Date: Aug 7, 2006<br />Subject: Tenure Track Position in New Genres/Video/Sound at Brown<br /><br />Please post or forward to interested parties<br /><br />Announcement of New Genres/Video/Sound<br />ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN VISUAL ART<br /><br />TENURE TRACK POSITION - New Genre/Video/Sound<br /><br />Position: Brown University Department of Visual Art seeks<br />dynamic and energetic artist to teach New Genre at the undergraduate<br />level.<br />Requirements: Applicants will have earned a MFA, have 3 years<br />full time equivalent teaching experience at the college level beyond<br />graduate school, and must be able to teach Video, Sound, and New Genre<br />(which can include projection and sound installations, robotics,<br />interactivity, digital animation, or combinations of these). This<br />candidate should be able to teach a Digital Foundations course.<br /><br />Qualified candidates must be well versed in contemporary video/sound/ New<br />Genre practice and supportive applications. A strong exhibition/screening<br />record and knowledge of contemporary theory and practice is essential. An<br />interest in developing interdisciplinary courses with the Modern Culture<br />and Media and Music Departments is a strong plus.<br /><br />Starting Date: Appointment to begin July 1, 2007.<br /><br />Application<br /><br />Procedure: Applicants should send paper copies of CV, letter of<br />application, CD/DVD (formatted for Mac) and/or website, a portfolio of 10-<br />20 slides with slide list if applicable, artist statement, teaching<br />philosophy and 3 letters of recommendation, and SASE to:<br /><br />Chair, New Genres Search<br />Box 1861<br />Visual Art Department<br />Brown University<br />Providence, RI 02912<br /><br />Salary: Competitive and commensurate with<br />qualifications and experience.<br /><br />Deadline: To receive full consideration complete applications<br />must be postmarked by: November 15, 2006.<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />2.<br /><br />From: skulig@email.smith.edu <skulig@email.smith.edu><br />Date: Aug 7, 2006<br />Subject: Faculty position<br /><br />Smith College<br />Assistant Professor in Computing and the Arts<br /><br />Smith College invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor<br />position in Computer Science, specializing in computing and the arts. <br />Candidates will be expected to teach a range of courses in computer<br />science, as well as courses conjoining computing technology with one or<br />more of the arts (visual arts, music, dance, theater and performance,<br />etc.) Cross-disciplinary collaboration with a wide range of disciplines<br />and departments throughout the College will be a significant aspect of the<br />position. Smith College, an undergraduate women's college consistently<br />ranked as one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges, expects an<br />exceptional record of research, scholarship and/or creative activity. <br />Applicants must demonstrate a strong interest in teaching; prior<br />experience is preferred. Candidates are required to have significant<br />expertise in and demonstrated knowledge of computer science disciplines<br />and of the visual and/or performing arts. A terminal degree in comp!<br /> uter science or the arts is required (Ph.D., MFA, etc.).<br /><br />Candidates should send a curriculum vitae, samples of creative and/or<br />professional work (DVD, CD, electronic media, Web URLs, scholarly papers,<br />etc.), a list of three references, and a personal career statement<br />covering both teaching philosophy and ongoing professional scholarship<br />and/or creative directions, to:<br /><br />Joseph O'Rourke<br />Chair, Department of Computer Science<br />Smith College<br />Northampton, MA 01063<br />(413) 585-3673<br />orourke@cs.smith.edu<br /><br />Review of applications will begin December 31, 2006, and continue until<br />the position is filled. Smith College is an equal opportunity employer<br />encouraging excellence through diversity.<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />3.<br /><br />From: Ross Dalziel <dalzielross@mac.com><br />Date: Aug 7, 2006<br />Subject: SoundNetwork Open Call<br /><br />Open Call for Submissions: 2 commissions, ?1000 each<br /><br />SoundNetwork @ Home<br /><br />Liverpool Biennial 16th September - 26th November 2006<br /><br />A programme of SoundNetwork events during Liverpool Biennial, including an<br />exhibition of sound works and installation, collaborations, commissions<br />and a series of concerts of live sound art, improvised and experimental<br />music at venues all over the city centre.<br />2 artist commissions for new sound work in collaboration with non artist<br />groups in Liverpool. ?1000 each.<br /><br />Deadline for submissions. 6pm Thursday 10th August. The selection will be<br />made and the artists informed by Monday 14th August.<br /><br />An artist or group of artists must submit a proposal that involves and<br />collaborates with a non-art group based in Liverpool or the North West.<br /><br />The non-art group might, for example, be a school band, a group of<br />scientists, architects, doctors, treasure hunters with metal detectors,<br />fishermen, palaeontologists or dog walkers.<br /><br />The nature of collaboration can take any form but should be clearly<br />defined as part of the proposal.<br /><br />The definition and use of sound is open, but SoundNetwork are particularly<br />interested in proposals that present sound works that do not rely entirely<br />on digital technology and speaker systems. Exploration of performance,<br />presentation, physical transmission of sound and process based work is<br />especially welcome.<br /><br />Both commissioned works will be shown or performed as part of the<br />SoundNetwork@Home exhibition or concert series over the Liverpool Biennial<br />period.<br /><br />Artists must be based in the North West region or work actively in this<br />region.<br /><br />The artists must undertake any project management, with assistance and<br />supervision from SoundNetwork?. This will be outlined in detail in an<br />artists contract following successful application.<br /><br />Download an application form from the Downloads page on this website,<br />here: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://soundnetwork.omweb.org/modules/mydownloads/">http://soundnetwork.omweb.org/modules/mydownloads/</a> and email your<br />completed proposal to info@soundnetwork.org.uk<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />Support Rhizome: buy a hosting plan from BroadSpire<br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/hosting/">http://rhizome.org/hosting/</a><br /><br />Reliable, robust hosting plans from $65 per year.<br /><br />Purchasing hosting from BroadSpire contributes directly to Rhizome's<br />fiscal well-being, so think about about the new Bundle pack, or any other<br />plan, today!<br /><br />About BroadSpire<br /><br />BroadSpire is a mid-size commercial web hosting provider. After conducting<br />a thorough review of the web hosting industry, we selected BroadSpire as<br />our partner because they offer the right combination of affordable plans<br />(prices start at $14.95 per month), dependable customer support, and a<br />full range of services. We have been working with BroadSpire since June<br />2002, and have been very impressed with the quality of their service.<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />4.<br /><br />From: Annette Damgaard <info@digitalfestival.dk><br />Date: Aug 10, 2006<br />Subject: International Digital Art Festival in Denmark<br /><br />On the edge<br />In-between function and disruption<br />International Digital Art Festival<br />November 2006, Aarhus, Denmark<br /><br />In November 2006 Denmark's biggest international digital art festival so<br />far, will be unrolled. The festival includes exhibitions, concerts and<br />real-time events in a number of cultural institutions in Aarhus.<br /><br />Theme projects:<br />The exhibition 'On the Edge' and the seminar to match 'Crime and Political<br />Aspects in New Media Art' focus on the human curiosity and need of posing<br />questions. The artists challenge the dominant structure and order<br />represented by society in general, for instance by affecting the very<br />goal-directed results of research and the technological and commercial<br />product development. What is in question is art on the edge, that seeks to<br />tickle and disturb the present order<br /><br />Satellite projects:<br />In a local network of cultural institutions, educational institutions and<br />organisations that hold resources and experience on digital art, the<br />festival and its collaboration partners present an excellent row of<br />exhibitions, concerts and performances. Each location that covers the<br />Festival will, as far as possible, illuminate digital art from their own<br />point of view and proportional to the locations own perspective on the<br />digital field. The satellite projects will among other places be shown at:<br />The Centre for Advanced Visualization and Interaction, The main Library,<br />The Jutland Academy of Fine Art, Aarhus Film Workshop etc.<br /><br />Further Informations: www.digitalfestival.dk<br /><br />Annette Damgaard<br /><br />Curator<br />International Digital Art Festival<br />Skt. Nikolausgade 4<br />8000 Aarhus C<br />info@digitalfestival.dk<br />Mobile phone: (+45) 60 64 18 16<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />5.<br /><br />From: Marisa Olson <marisa@rhizome.org><br />Date: Aug 9, 2006<br />Subject: Rhizome 10th Anniversary Festival<br /><br />It is with tremendous excitement that Rhizome launches our Tenth<br />Anniversary Festival of Art & Technology, this week. We've developed a<br />seven-month season of diverse programs, in partnership with some fantastic<br />organizations committed to supporting new media art.<br /><br />You can check out the Festival, here:<br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.rhizome.org/events/tenyear/">http://www.rhizome.org/events/tenyear/</a><br /><br />Though this Festival is really about looking ahead, this is a good moment<br />to reflect and say thanks. We're proud of what Rhizome's done and become,<br />in the last ten years. The organization has grown from a mailing list to<br />an active membership organization serving a wide audience with multiple<br />programs. We have our community, especially our members, to thank for<br />this.<br /><br />Speaking of community, we also want to encourage you to participate in<br />Keylines, the Festival's collaborative writing project in which seed posts<br />on the topics of new media histories & genres, feminism, the environment,<br />politics, communities, and innovation have already been planted. We hope<br />you'll help these lines of discussion grow…<br /><br />Other Festival highlights include Time Shares, a series of online<br />exhibitions co-presented with the New Museum of Contemporary Art to<br />emphasize our ongoing commitment to internet-based art, and a number of<br />offline exhibitions, performances, panel discussions, book launches, and<br />more.<br /><br />A big thank-you to all the artists, writers, venues, and sponsors who've<br />leant their support to the Festival.<br /><br />We'll be sending out individual announcements about programs as they come<br />up on the calendar.<br /><br />With thanks,<br />The Rhizome Team<br /><br />+ + +<br />Marisa Olson<br />Editor & Curator<br />Rhizome.org at the<br />New Museum of Contemporary Art<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />BNMI Announces International Co-production Labs<br />BNMI has launched its new co-production residency model which includes<br />three exceptional programs led by three peer advisors. Apply today for one<br />of these outstanding opportunities!<br /><br />Co-production Lab: Almost Perfect<br />Program Dates: November 5 - December 2, 2006<br />Application Deadline: July 15, 2006<br />Peer Advisors: Chantal Dumas (CND), Paula Levine (CND/US), Julian Priest<br />(DK, UK)<br /><br />Co-production Lab: Liminal Screen<br />Program Dates: March 5 - March 30, 2007<br />Application Deadline: October 2, 2006<br />Peer Advisors: Willy Le Maitre, (CND) Kate Rich (UK), Amra Baksic Camo (Bih)<br /><br />Co-production Lab: Reference Check<br />Program Dates: June 24 - July 21, 2007<br />Application Deadline: December 1, 2006<br />Peer Advisors: Andreas Broeckmann (De), Anne Galloway (CND), Sarat Maharaj<br />(Sa/UK)<br /><br />For more information visit: www.banffcentre.ca/bnmi/coproduction<br />or email <bnmi_info@banffcentre.ca><br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />6.<br /><br />From: Marisa Olson <marisa@rhizome.org><br />Date: Aug 9, 2006<br />Subject: Faultlines Online Exhibition<br /><br />Coinciding with the launch of Rhizome's Tenth Anniversary Festival of Art<br />& Technology is the opening of 'Faultlines,' a Rhizome-curated online<br />exhibition that is the first in Time Shares, our joint series with the New<br />Museum of Contemporary Art. Details below…<br /><br />FAULTLINES<br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.rhizome.org/events/timeshares/">http://www.rhizome.org/events/timeshares/</a><br /><br />Over the past decade, as the Internet has become a mass medium, a number<br />of large, dynamic communities have sprung up online. For instance, social<br />networking sites like MySpace and Xanga boast millions of subscribers<br />(mostly teenagers or young adults) and Second Life, which is both a game<br />and a virtual civilization where players can do anything from organize art<br />shows to buy condominiums, currently has upwards of 366,662 residents.<br />Rhizome, itself, was founded as a global, Internet-based community in<br />1996. Here, as in societies offline, community is expressed as a dynamic,<br />complicated, disharmonious and productive place. The works in Faultlines<br />consider the desires, fictions and anxieties embedded in online<br />communities and also reveal how "real-world" issues, such as commerce and<br />international politics, drive relationships in the virtual sphere just as<br />they do offline.<br /><br />Artists: Mauricio Arango, Anil Dash, Takuji Kogo, Golan Levin with Kamal<br />Nigam and Jonathan Feinberg, Guthrie Lonergan, Warren Sack, Jon Thomson<br />and Alison Craighead.<br /><br />Faultlines is a parallel program with ISEA2006/ZeroOne San Jose (01sj.org).<br /><br />TIME SHARES<br />Organized by Rhizome and co-presented the New Museum of Contemporary Art,<br />Time Shares is a series of online exhibitions dedicated to exploring the<br />diversity of contemporary art based on the Internet. Every six weeks,<br />Rhizome and invited curators will launch a new exhibition featuring an<br />international group of artists.<br /><br />+ + +<br />Marisa Olson<br />Editor & Curator<br />Rhizome.org at the<br />New Museum of Contemporary Art<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br />Rhizome.org 2005-2006 Net Art Commissions<br /><br />The Rhizome Commissioning Program makes financial support available to<br />artists for the creation of innovative new media art work via<br />panel-awarded commissions.<br /><br />For the 2005-2006 Rhizome Commissions, eleven artists/groups were selected<br />to create original works of net art.<br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/commissions/">http://rhizome.org/commissions/</a><br /><br />The Rhizome Commissions Program is made possible by support from the<br />Jerome Foundation in celebration of the Jerome Hill Centennial, the<br />Greenwall Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and<br />the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional support has<br />been provided by members of the Rhizome community.<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />7.<br /><br />From: nat muller <nat@xs4all.nl><br />Date: Aug 11, 2006<br />Subject: Mrabba Electroni[c]que: Global Lebanon Web Jam - 12aug, 15:00 -<br />19:00 PM CEST<br /><br /> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><br /> >>>Mrabba Electroni[c]que: Global Lebanon Web Jam. Stop the war!>>><br /> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><br />!!!!please note time change!!!!!!!<br /><br />Saturday, August 12 2006, 15:00 - 19:00 PM CEST [–> 16:00 - 20:00 EEST]<br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://beirut.streamtime.org">http://beirut.streamtime.org</a><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://streamtime.org">http://streamtime.org</a><br /><br />Live audio/video streaming transmission from Waag Society in Amsterdam, in<br />direct connection with Beirut and surrounding localities. The event was<br />initiated by Streamtime, a web support campaign for Iraqi bloggers.<br /><br />After one month of violence and carnage, this Global Web Jam brings<br />together live interviews and conversations, video clips, cartoons and blog<br />blurbs, soundscapes, DJs and VJs, a lively mix of information, art,<br />protest, party and reflection. We feature the voices, images stories,<br />reports and initiatives from Lebanon and beyond, with participation of<br />activists, artists, bloggers, journalists, musicians and many others.<br /><br />This is a call for an immediate end to the violence and destruction, in<br />defiance of war, and in search for solidarity.<br /><br />With contributions and participation of: Wahid el-Solh, Mounira el-Solh,<br />Sonya Knox, Naeem Mohaiemen, Kanj Hamadi, Jim Quilty, Randa Mirza, Mazen<br />Kerbaj, Raed Yassin, Charbel Haber, Nathalie Fallaha, Henri Gemayel, Fadi<br />Tufayli, Tariq Shadid, Peter Speetjens, Chalaan Charif, Martin<br />Siepermann, Arjan El Fassed, Ruud Huurman, Kadir van Lohuizen, Thomas<br />Burkhalter and Anna Trechsel, Beirut DC, Tarek Atoui and many others.<br /><br />This Global Web Jam is an initiative of Jo van der Spek, Geert Lovink and<br />Cecile Landman (from Streamtime), Nat Muller, Paul Keller and Denis<br />Jaromil Rojo in Amsterdam; and Tarek Atoui and Rawya el-Chab in Beirut.<br /><br />info: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://beirut.streamtime.org">http://beirut.streamtime.org</a> | mail: beirut@dischosting.nl<br /><br />This project is supported by Waag Society, Novib (Dutch Oxfam) and X-Y<br />Solidarity Fund<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />8.<br /><br />From: Dr. Edward A. Shanken<br /><br />+Commissioned by Rhizome.org+<br />For Keylines, a Project of Rhizome's Tenth Anniversary Festival of Art &<br />Technology<br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.rhizome.org/events/tenyear/keylines.rhiz">http://www.rhizome.org/events/tenyear/keylines.rhiz</a><br />Historicizing Art and Technology: Forging a Method and Firing a Canon<br /><br />Defining the Problem: Canonocity, Methodology, and Historiography<br /><br />The development and use of science and technology by artists always has<br />been, and always will be, an integral part of the art-making process. <br />Nonetheless, the canon of western art history generally has not recognized<br />the centrality of science and technology as co-conspirators, ideational<br />sources, and/or artistic media. Bound up in this problem, there is no<br />clearly defined method for analyzing the role of science and technology in<br />the history of art. In the absence of an established methodology (or<br />constellation of methods) and a comprehensive, canonical history that<br />would help clarify the interrelatedness of art, science, and technology<br />(AST) and compel revision, this exclusion or marginality will persist. As<br />a result, many of the artists, artworks, aesthetic theories, institutions,<br />and events that might be established as the keystones and monuments of<br />such a revised history of art will remain relatively unknown to general<br />audiences.<br /><br />Indeed, there is no comprehensive scientific/ technological history of<br />art, as there are feminist and Marxist histories of art, for example. <br />This leads one to wonder what a history of art written through an<br />interpretive lens that emphasizes AST would look like. What would be its<br />monuments? How would they be related through historical narrative? What<br />similarities and differences, continuities and discontinuities, might be<br />mapped onto the use of technology for artistic purposes throughout the<br />history of art? In other words…<br /><br />How would the story go if standard survey texts, such as Janson's History<br />of Art, were re-written with an emphasis on the entwinement of science and<br />technology in the history of art?<br /><br />Leading art historians have contributed greatly to the understanding of<br />AST during the Renaissance, Baroque, and Modern periods and in<br />photography, though their work seems to have little impact on mainstream<br />canonical discourses as measured by survey texts (1). In this regard, the<br />sharp new two-volume set, Art Since 1900, written by Hal Foster, Rosalind<br />Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois, and Benjamin Buchloh, ignores the history of art<br />and technology to such an extent that Billy Klüver and E.A.T. are not even<br />mentioned. Such exclusion from a text that clearly aspires to gain<br />canonical status has significant, deleterious ramifications for the<br />history of AST.<br /><br />Much of the pioneering historical, critical, and theoretical English<br />language literature on AST has been written by artists (2). A great deal<br />of influential current literature on new media is being produced by<br />scholars who apparently know little about the history of AST or the<br />history of art in general. Rather than argue for the primacy and<br />originality of the innovative theoretical positions that characterize<br />AST's history, as embodied in works of art and articulated in artists' and<br />historians' theoretical writings, much recent criticism, both within and<br />without the discipline of art history, is dominated by citations of the<br />usual suspects: Baudrillard, Benjamin, Derrida, Deleuze, Latour, and<br />Virilio. Summoning such demi-gods to lend authority to an argument,<br />however, reifies existing structures of power and authority in academic<br />writing - a result that not only diminishes the importance of AST but<br />conflicts with the aims of the aforementioned gurus of post-structuralism.<br /><br />As Suzanne Stone Maretto, the psychopathic TV journalist played by Nicole<br />Kidman in the film To Die For stated, "you're nobody if you're not on TV."<br /> The same logic applies to any form of public discourse: You're nobody<br />unless you're footnoted. The historic monuments and historiography of AST<br />will continue to be excluded from the canon of art history and broader<br />intellectual history unless their theoretical contributions to critical<br />and discourses and popular culture are underscored. I'm not suggesting<br />that writers gut Benjamin from their footnotes but that they highlight<br />AST's own monuments and cite them as them as the aesthetic and<br />intellectual core of critical and historical practice.<br /><br />Art, Science, Technology: Towards Forging a Method and Firing a Canon<br /><br />>From the invention of one-point perspective and the creation of oil paint<br />to the development of photography and interactive virtual reality<br />environments, technical innovation and the use of emerging scientific<br />ideas and technologies as themes and media have substantial continuity<br />throughout the history of western art. Similarly, various aspects of<br />sociology, economics, psychology, and philosophy have been employed in<br />artistic practice for many years. Yet, while the discipline of art<br />history has embraced the integration of insights from the humanities and<br />social sciences in works of art and developed its own interpretive methods<br />based on them, it neither has recognized the centrality of science and<br />technology to artistic practice nor developed methods for interpreting the<br />integration of art, science, and technology. This leads me to ask:<br /><br />How can art history develop a more comprehensive understanding of AST<br />without appropriate methods designed to bring this subject into relief? <br />What would such methods consist of? What insights might emerge into the<br />interrelatedness of art, science, and technology, particularly with<br />respect to contemporary practice?<br /><br />In the absence of established methods to interpret the history,<br />theoretical content, and practical applications of science and technology,<br />the canon of art history exhibits an impoverished understanding of both<br />the role of science and technology in the history of art-making and the<br />contributions of artists who have been important innovators in that<br />regard. This is a slippery slope. On the one hand, if one takes<br />post-structuralism seriously, the reconstruction of a master narrative is<br />theoretically problematic, if not ethically corrupt. Moreover, many of<br />the distinguishing characteristics of contemporary AST projects, such as<br />decentralization, non-linearity, collaboration, self-organization, and<br />hybridity, would seem to challenge the epistemological foundations that<br />legitimate grand narratives. In this respect, the canonization of AST is<br />arguably tantamount to ensuring its failure by its own criteria.<br /><br />At the same time, canonical revision that reflects the importance of<br />technology throughout the history of art implies a critical<br />reconsideration and recontextualization of artists, artworks, art-making<br />practices, and historical narratives that previously have been excluded,<br />marginalized, or not understood to their fullest potential. Indeed, this<br />double-edged sword is not unique to AST but characterizes the conflicts<br />inherent in the struggle for legitimacy of any subaltern position.<br /><br />Although theoretical challenges to master-narratives and grand schemes<br />constitute a valuable corrective to naturalized discursive strategies and<br />methodological models, the problem of defining a data-set remains. <br />Discourse depends on and necessitates that participants in it agree that<br />they have a more or less coherent subject to respond to or talk about. <br />Canons provide that common ground, a shared database of generally accepted<br />objects, actors, and moments that are held together by virtue of their<br />participation in the construction of an evolving discourse. Practically<br />speaking, a canon can be only so large. It must have sufficient critical<br />mass to demonstrate its authority, yet its significance is predicated on a<br />certain exclusivity. So, for each work newly admitted to it, another must<br />be removed. The sorts of judgments that administer this gatekeeping<br />function cannot be separated from ideological agendas, personal and<br />professional ambitions, and financial interests. The elevation of a work<br />as a canonical monument requires strenuous and ongoing negotiation to<br />compel and sustain inclusion.<br /><br />Critics and historians working in the field must not only exhume monuments<br />of AST from the rubbish-heap of history and develop appropriate methods<br />for justifying their historical import, but they must become involved in<br />the process of negotiation and gatekeeping that will enable AST to gain<br />canonical status (or to enter into the discursive domain of whatever will<br />replace traditional canonical structures). Such involvement includes<br />attaining positions of authority in professional organizations, funding<br />and exhibition institutions, the academy, publishing, and so forth. In<br />many respects, the AST clan, such as it is, has already begun to<br />infiltrate these ranks but has a long way to go to achieve a leveling of<br />the playing field.<br /><br />–<br /><br />1 These include Jonathan Crary, James Elkins, Linda Henderson, Martin<br />Kemp, and Barbara Stafford.<br /><br />2 These include Roy Ascott, Jack Burnham, Critical Art Ensemble, Douglas<br />Davis, Mary Flanagan, Alex Galloway, Eduardo Kac, Margo Lovejoy, Simon<br />Penny, Peter Weibel, and Steve Wilson to name just a few. Notable<br />exceptions include the work of Jonathan Benthall, Marga Bijvoet, Dieter<br />Daniels, Charlie Gere, and Frank Popper, the media-archaeological<br />scholarship of Oliver Grau and Erkki Huhtamo, and the criticism and<br />editorial work of Tim Druckery. Survey texts, including Christiane Paul's<br />Digital Art and Rachel Greene's Net Art, together with anthologies, such<br />as Ken Jordan and Randall Packer's From Wagner to Virtual Reality, Noah<br />Wardrip-Fruin and Nick Montfort's New Media Reader, and Judy Malloy's<br />Women, Art, and Technology (MIT, 2003), as well as the web-based resource,<br />Media Art Net, also have helped to historicize the field, though it must<br />be noted that of these works, only the essays in Media Art Net are written<br />by art historians with doctoral training.<br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />Rhizome.org is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization and an affiliate of the<br />New Museum of Contemporary Art.<br /><br />Rhizome Digest is supported by grants from The Charles Engelhard<br />Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the<br />Visual Arts, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the<br />Arts, a state agency.<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br /><br />Rhizome Digest is filtered by Marisa Olson (marisa@rhizome.org). ISSN:<br />1525-9110. Volume 11, number 30. Article submissions to list@rhizome.org<br />are encouraged. Submissions should relate to the theme of new media art<br />and be less than 1500 words. For information on advertising in Rhizome<br />Digest, please contact info@rhizome.org.<br /><br />To unsubscribe from this list, visit <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/subscribe">http://rhizome.org/subscribe</a>.<br />Subscribers to Rhizome Digest are subject to the terms set out in the<br />Member Agreement available online at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/info/29.php">http://rhizome.org/info/29.php</a>.<br /><br />+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<br />
