RHIZOME DIGEST: 03.27.04

discussion

Posted March 26 2004 19:00

RHIZOME DIGEST: 03.27.04

RHIZOME DIGEST: March 27, 2004 Content: +announcement+ 1. Richard Barbeau: Planetary vigil of NetArt 2. Tamiko Thiel: MIT's CAVS presents: Beyond Manzanar VR installation 3. Kirsty Boyle: East/West - Robot Culture & Perspectives +opportunity+ 4. Indi McCarthy: CFP // Beall Center for Art + Technology // May 1st Deadline 5. Douglas Repetto: Call for Works: ArtBots: The Robot Talent Show 6. Johannes Birringer: announcement (for the Digest) +comment+ 7. Sarah Oppenheimer: Supply and Demand: a techno tour of Tokyo with Media Artist Shuichi Fukazawa +feature+ 8. Peter Luining: interview with mouchette + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 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 Jessica Ivins at Jessica@Rhizome.org. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 1. Date: 3.22.04 From: Richard Barbeau (barbeari@collegesherbrooke.qc.ca) Subject: Planetary vigil of NetArt The Planetary vigil of NetArt Veille planetaire d'art en reseau French follows ++++++++ Hello It's my great pleasure to announce that the Vigil of planetary net art - edition 03 - is now on line. The Planetary vigil of NetArt is an event in which several members of today's cyber community have been asked to choose an Internet work of art and to comment upon their choice. Thanks to all participants and congratulations to artists/autors of selected sites. ________________________VPAR.VPNA_03_Participants ) selections Wilfried.Agricola de Cologne ) Get real Mateo.Amaral ) Presstube b-l-u-e-s-c-r-e-e-n ) Grandir Roxane.Bernier ) The Struggle Continues Gregory.Chatonsky ) BetaGirl . 02 Nicolas.Clauss ) Vibration Reynald.Drouhin ) GOOGLEHOUSE Nicholas.Economos ) The Bomb Project Fred.Fenollabbate ) SAMSUNG MEANS T0 C0ME Gita.Hashemi ) Survey of Common Sense k-hello.org ) Escher and the Droste effect Patrick.Keller ) ANDREAS*ANGELIDAKIS*ARCHITECTURE Deb.King ) theBot (one infesting the horse) Jeannette.Lambert ) ZeD Barbara.Lattanzi ) MISHAPTIC Abe.Linkoln ) i'm a net.artist Xavier.Malbreil ) :: My Google body :: Calin.Man ) nightScreen_v1 Anne-Marie.Morice ) ADaM-Project Sylvie.Parent ) Life with Father (1994) Matteo.Peterlini ) 4 untitled portraits Catherine.Ramus ) T-deus Sebastion.Seifert ) DELAWARE Michael.Sellam ) UNDER FIRE stephenaustin ) sleeping with amnesia Edward.Tang ) Pro Wrestling Directory Pall.Thayer ) Desktop Subversibles Yours sincerely Richard Barbeau Organizer barbeari@collegesherbrooke.qc.ca VPAR: http:\vpar.net +++++ Bonjour J'ai le plaisir de vous annoncer que l'edition 03 de la Veille planetai= re d'art en reseau est maintenant en ligne. La Veille planetaire d'art en reseau est un evenement o=F9 divers i= ntervenants de la cybercommunaute ont ete invites =E0 choisir une o= euvre d'art en ligne et de la commenter. Merci aux participants et felicitations aux artistes/auteurs des sites s= electionnes. ________________________VPAR.VPNA_03_Participants ) selections Wilfried.Agricola de Cologne ) Get real Mateo.Amaral ) Presstube b-l-u-e-s-c-r-e-e-n ) Grandir Roxane.Bernier ) The Struggle Continues Gregory.Chatonsky ) BetaGirl . 02 Nicolas.Clauss ) Vibration Reynald.Drouhin ) GOOGLEHOUSE Nicholas.Economos ) The Bomb Project Fred.Fenollabbate ) SAMSUNG MEANS T0 C0ME Gita.Hashemi ) Survey of Common Sense k-hello.org ) Escher and the Droste effect Patrick.Keller ) ANDREAS*ANGELIDAKIS*ARCHITECTURE Deb.King ) theBot (one infesting the horse) Jeannette.Lambert ) ZeD Barbara.Lattanzi ) MISHAPTIC Abe.Linkoln ) i'm a net.artist Xavier.Malbreil ) :: My Google body :: Calin.Man ) nightScreen_v1 Anne-Marie.Morice ) ADaM-Project Sylvie.Parent ) Life with Father (1994) Matteo.Peterlini ) 4 untitled portraits Catherine.Ramus ) T-deus Sebasti=E0n.Seifert ) DELAWARE Michael.Sellam ) UNDER FIRE stephenaustin ) sleeping with amnesia Edward.Tang ) Pro Wrestling Directory Pall.Thayer ) Desktop Subversibles Cordialement Richard Barbeau Organisateur barbeari@collegesherbrooke.qc.ca VPAR: http:\vpar.net + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 2. Date: 3.22.04 From: Tamiko Thiel (tamiko@alum.mit.edu) Subject: MIT's CAVS presents: Beyond Manzanar VR installation The MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) presents: BEYOND MANZANAR An American internment camp: Between fears and realities. A 3D interactive virtual reality art installation by Tamiko Thiel & Zara Houshmand (2000) Exhibition dates: April 26 - May 2, 2004 Hours: 12:00 - 5:00pm Artist's talk, reception: April 28, 6:30pm "Caught in the loop: Media hysteria in times of crisis" Tamiko Thiel, CAVS Research Fellow Location: Center for Advanced Visual Studies Massachusetts Institute of Technology 265 Massachusetts Avenue, N52-390 Cambridge, MA 02139 (Entrance on Front Street next to the MIT Museum entrance.) Information: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://web.mit.edu/cavs/">http://web.mit.edu/cavs/</a> Email: cavs@mit.edu Tel: (617) 253-4415 Fax: (617) 253-1660 Abstract: Beyond Manzanar uses navigable 3D game technology, projected life-sized, to immerse the user in a historical and cultural space and engage them as a participant in history. The piece explores media scapegoating of immigrant groups in times of crisis, drawing parallels between the internment of Japanese Americans at Manzanar, California during World War II and the threatened internment of Iranian Americans during the 1979-?80 Hostage Crisis ? with echoes in post-9/11 discrimination against Muslims and people of Middle Eastern extraction today. A poetic, surreal reconstruction of the historic Manzanar Internment Camp is the framework for interior visions, personal responses to the betrayal of the immigrant American Dream. Users experience the space from the perspective of the immigrant, and their own movements are used to trigger the dramatic inevitability of their own imprisonment. At the heart of the piece lies a vision of the garden as an ancient form of virtual reality, an image of paradise created as a refuge from the outside world, that explores the healing processes of memory and cultural grounding. Beyond Manzanar was made possible by a production grant from the International Academy of the Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS) in Gifu, Japan, plus generous support from Intel Corp., blaxxun interactive Inc., WIRED Magazine and the Asian American Arts Foundation of San Francisco. It has been shown extensively world-wide at venues such as Siggraph, the International Center for Photography in New York and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. One edition is in the permanent collection of the San Jose Museum of Art in Silicon Valley, California, and another edition is currently touring with the group show Only Skin Deep, currently opening at the Seattle Art Museum. Artists' Bios: Tamiko Thiel is an internationally known media artist whose current work focuses on the dramatic capabilities of interactive 3D virtual reality as a medium for addressing social and cultural issues. Past works include the Totem Project, a series of video works influenced by Butoh dance; Starbright World, an online virtual playspace for seriously ill children done with Steven Spielberg; and the design of the physical form for the CM-1 and CM-2 Connection Machine parallel supercomputers. She is a Research Fellow at the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS.) Zara Houshmand is a writer, theatre director, and multimedia artist whose work focuses on cross-cultural issues. She was a founder of Chaksam-Pa, a Tibetan performing arts company, has studied Balinese shadow puppetry, and translates classical Persian poetry and modern drama. Her own plays have been produced in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. As executive producer at Worlds, Inc. she was involved in pioneering development of virtual reality on the Internet. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 3. Date: 3.25.04 From: Kirsty Boyle (boyle.kirsty@abc.net.au) Subject: East/West - Robot Culture & Perspectives Much has been written about eighteenth-century automata, and of the history, culture and language of interaction between man and machine in the West. The Japanese vision of the 21st century is one of "co-existence with robots". Japan's love of robots lies in the history of the Karakuri Ningyo. The word 'Karakuri' means a mechanical device to tease, trick, or take a person by surprise. It implies hidden magic, or an element of mystery. The <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.karakuri.info">http://www.karakuri.info</a> website is an effort to archive and make available information about the Karakuri Ningyo tradition in English. Until now there has been little interest from outside Japan regarding the Karakuri Ningyo craft, and its influence on technology and the arts. Karakuri has influenced many current day inventions and technologies. With its creative blending of tradition, spiritual philosophies and technology, Karakuri continues to inflect Japanese culture in significant ways. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + For $65 annually, Rhizome members can put their sites on a Linux server, with a whopping 350MB disk storage space, 1GB data transfer per month, catch-all email forwarding, daily web traffic stats, 1 FTP account, and the capability to host your own domain name (or use <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.net/your_account_name">http://rhizome.net/your_account_name</a>). Details at: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.org/services/1.php">http://rhizome.org/services/1.php</a> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 4. Date: 3.20.04 From: Indi McCarthy (indi@uci.edu) Subject: CFP // Beall Center for Art + Technology // May 1st Deadline Beall Center for Art and Technology University of California, Irvine Call for Exhibition Proposals 2004-2006 The Beall Center for Art and Technology supports artistic exploration and experimentation in new technologies through a competitive exhibition grant program. We are currently soliciting proposals for exhibition in 2005 and 2006, to fill a total of five exhibition periods. The proposals will be reviewed in June of 2004 by the Beall Center Curatorial Review Committee. Please utilize the pdf application form available at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://beallcenter.uci.edu">http://beallcenter.uci.edu</a> The Beall Center produces exhibitions and performances in the visual arts, theater, dance, and music, and particularly seeks works that successfully integrate new forms or uses of technology with artistic production or performance. In addition, as the Beall Center has an exceptionally well-developed and flexible infrastructure, such as is found in very few art and technology centers, preference will be given to works that can not easily be displayed or performed elsewhere. Eligibility Artists, curators, or institutions are eligible to submit proposals. Priority is given to cross-disciplinary projects. Artists or organizations that have previously received funding from the Beall Center must wait at least two years before reapplying. Women and artists of color are encouraged to apply. Available Facilities The Beall Center is a 2500 square foot black box with a highly configurable network grid, and connectivity to gigabit speed Ethernet. See "Facility" <a rel="nofollow" href="http://beallcenter.uci.edu">http://beallcenter.uci.edu</a> for additional information. Deadline for Spring Application: May 1, 2004 Contact Information Indi McCarthy, Assistant Director (949) 824-6206 indi@uci.edu + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 5. Date: 3.24.04 From: Douglas Repetto (douglas@music.columbia.edu) Subject: Call for Works: ArtBots: The Robot Talent Show ArtBots: The Robot Talent Show Call for Works The third annual ArtBots: The Robot Talent Show, an international art exhibition for robotic art and art-making robots, will take place in New York City in early fall 2004. Creators of talented robots are invited to submit their work for possible inclusion in the show. Proposals and works-in-progress are welcome, provided a detailed production timeline and samples of previous work are included in the application. The deadline for entries is May 1st, 2004. Please see <a rel="nofollow" href="http://artbots.org">http://artbots.org</a> for more information and entry instructions. About ArtBots ArtBots is an international art exhibition for robotic art and art-making robots. Each year we publish an open call for submissions, inviting artists from around the world to send us information about their work. No firm rules exist on the types of work that can participate; if you think it's a robot and you think it's art, we encourage you to submit. The final list of participants is a mix of works selected from the open call submissions and additional artists invited by the ArtBots curators. The ArtBots curators for 2004 are: Douglas Repetto (Columbia University Computer Music Center), Mark Tribe (Columbia University Digital Media Center), and Mary Flanagan (Hunter College Film/Media Department). ArtBots is sponsored by the Columbia University Computer Music Center and Digital Media Center. The first ArtBots took place in May 2002 at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and included the work of ten artists/groups. The show was curated by Douglas Repetto and Philip Galanter (New York University). Nearly six hundred people visited the show during its one-day run, and the show received very positive coverage in many print and online publications in the USA and internationally, including The New York Times, TimeOutNY, BoingBoing.net, and NASA's Cool Robot of the Week website. The second ArtBots show was held at Eyebeam Gallery in Manhattan in July 2003 as part of Eyebeam's summer robotics festival, ROBOT. Twenty two works by artists and groups from six countries participated in the show, which again received extensive press coverage, including national TV (CNN, NBC, NY1), radio (NPR, Future Tense, WBAI, Studio 360), print (Newsweek, Wired Magazine, New York Times, New York Press, Nature), and online publications. About two thousand people visited the two-day show, which was curated by Douglas Repetto, Philip Galanter, and Jenny Lee (Pratt Institute). ArtBots FAQs: Q: Is ArtBots a robot competition like BattleBots, RobotWars, etc? A: No. ArtBots is an art exhibition featuring robotic art and art-making robots. While ArtBots is not a competition, we do give out two awards at the end: the "Audience Choice Award" and the "Artists' Choice Award." Q: Then why do you call it a talent show? Q: We call it "ArtBots: The Robot Talent Show" because the robots demonstrate their talents during the show. However, it's not structured like a traditional talent show. It's really an art exhibition with a funny name. Q: How many works will be in the show? A: Fifteen to twenty. Q: I'm not sure if my work qualifies for your show. What exactly are you looking for? A: As the name of the show implies, we're looking for work that is some part art and some part robot. The meanings of "art" and "robot" are left open. Possible formats/media include objects, installations, sculpture, live performance, etc. If you're still not sure, the documentation of previous participants on <a rel="nofollow" href="http://artbots.org">http://artbots.org</a> should give you some idea of the kind of work we're looking for. A: Are the artists that participate in the show compensated in any manner? Q: Each participating artist/group will receive an artist's fee of $500. This fee may be used in any way the artist/group desires. All other costs, including transportation, shipping, lodging, etc. are the responsibility of the artist/group. Q: When/Where will the event take place? A: In early fall 2004, in New York City, most likely in upper Manhattan. The exact date and location have not yet been determined. Q: Is ArtBots open to people outside of New York City? A: Yes, ArtBots is an international art show, and has featured the work of artists from around the world. Unfortunately we're not in a position to offer anything in the way of support or accommodations for out-of-town participants, beyond the artist's fee described above. (Although we can probably help you find a place to stay if needed.) Q: What's the point of ArtBots? A: We started ArtBots because we wanted to have fun and to celebrate some of the creative, non-violent, and not-so-competitive aspects of robotics. People all over the world are making work that combines art and robotics and they're asking interesting, important questions about art, technology, creativity, responsibility, authorship, consciousness, and so on. ArtBots is our way of focusing attention on that work. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 6. Date: 3.25.04 From: Johannes Birringer Subject: announcement (for the Digest) Johannes Birringer artistic director, Interaktionslabor Göttelborn Interaktionslabor 2: interactive architecture - movement - adoptive systems Göttelborn Coal Mine - Saarland, Germany July 5th-18th, 2004. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://interaktionslabor.iks-saar.net">http://interaktionslabor.iks-saar.net</a> directed by Johannes Birringer Interaktionslabor Göttelborn is currently accepting applications for its second international summer workshop in the former coalmine intended to encourage and facilitate transdisciplinary creative practice. A laboratory for new media arts, performance and interactive design is created within the changing landscape of industrial culture. The former coal mine becomes an emergent space for integrative projects in artistic and scientific research. Cost: Full intensive: EUR400 / Single day: EUR 50,- * This cost does not include travel to Göttelborn and lodging. Those arrangements should be made by the participant. The Lab is happy to offer suggestions and/or facilitate room/ride sharing. Send your application with résumé before May 31 to Magalie.Trognon@iks-saar.de or orpheus@rice.edu Magalie Trognon, IndustrieKultur Saar GmbH, Zum Schacht, 66287 Quierschied-Göttelborn Tel. +49 6825-94277-50 Fax. +49 6825-94277-99 ******************************************** Interaktions-Labor 2: Interaktive Räume - adoptive Systeme Göttelborner Bergwerk (Saarland) 5.-18. Juli 2004 <a rel="nofollow" href="http://interaktionslabor.iks-saar.net">http://interaktionslabor.iks-saar.net</a> Leitung: Johannes Birringer Die Werkstatt für Interaktionsdesign, Kunst und Technologien nimmt ihre Arbeit zum zweiten Mal auf und lädt ein zum experimentellen Prozess in der transformierten Industrielandschaft. Das ehemalige Bergwerk Göttelborn wird auch in diesem Sommer zum Raum für Integrationsprojekte in Medien-Kunst, Performance, Technik und Design. Werkstattgebühr für 14 Tag: EUR 400,- / EUR50 pro Tag Anmeldung mit Résumé (begrenzte Teilnehmerzahl) bitte an: Magalie.Trognon@iks-saar.de oder orpheus@rice.edu Magalie Trognon, IndustrieKultur Saar GmbH, Zum Schacht, 66287 Quierschied-Göttelborn Tel. +49 6825-94277-50 Fax. +49 6825-94277-99 Die Werkstattgebühr ist unabhängig von Anreise- und Unterbringungskosten. Das Labor berät Sie gerne bei Fragen zur Unterkunft am Ort. ******************************************** Laboratorio Göttelborn: Laboratorio de Interacción inicia su segundo taller experimental en arte interactivo, tecnología en medios de comunicación y ambientes virtuales. Göttelborn, la antigua mina de carbón–Saarland, Alemania. 5 de julio al 18 de julio de 2004 <a rel="nofollow" href="http://interaktionslabor.iks-saar.net">http://interaktionslabor.iks-saar.net</a> Director del proyecto:Johannes Birringer Cuota de inscripción para artistas y técnicos: E400.00 (taller completo) o E50.00 por día. Fecha límite de inscripción: el 31 de mayo. orpheus@rice.edu o Magalie.Trognon@iks-saar.de Magalie Trognon, IndustrieKultur Saar GmbH, Zum Schacht, 66287 Quierschied-Göttelborn, Alemania Tel. +49 6825-94277-50 Fax. +49 6825-94277-99 ******************************************** Atelier Interactif 2 TECHNOLOGIES DE COMMUNICATION, ARTS INTERACTIFS, ESPACES VIRTUELS Mine de Göttelborn - Sarre, Allemagne 5 - 18 Juillet, 2004 Direction: Johannes Birringer <a rel="nofollow" href="http://interaktionslabor.iks-saar.net">http://interaktionslabor.iks-saar.net</a> Un laboratoire expérimental de recherche sera organisé pour la deuxième année sur le site de l'ancienne mine de Göttelborn. Ce site fait partie du projet de restructuration d'anciens sites industriels mené par la société IKS - IndustrieKultur Saar GmbH. Göttelborn deviendra un espace évolutionnaire pour des projets intégratifs dans les domaines de l'art et de la recherche. Coûts : 400 EUR pour els 2 semaines / 50 EUR par jour Ces coûts ne comprennent pas le transport ni l'hébergement, que le participant doit lui-même organiser. Les organisateurs se tiennent à votre disposition pour vous conseiller dans ces domaines. Informations: Magalie.Trognon@iks-saar.de ou orpheus@rice.edu Magalie Trognon, IndustrieKultur Saar GmbH, Zum Schacht, 66287 Quierschied-Göttelborn Tel. +49 6825-94277-50 Fax. +49 6825-94277-99 Le site: Göttelborn se trouve dans le Land de la Sarre, à proximité de la frontière française et à environ 20 min au nord de Sarrebruck. ********************************************** + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 7. Date: 3.26.04 From: Sarah Oppenheimer (soppenheimer@yahoo.com) Subject: Supply and Demand: a techno tour of Tokyo with Media Artist Shuichi Fukazawa Supply and Demand: a techno tour of Tokyo with Media Artist Shuichi Fukazawa. We begin in Shibuya Station. The heart of the teen scene in Tokyo, we stand encased in glass overlooking "Hachiko" the ever-loyal dog awaiting a long lost master. The street below is densely populated; the crush of pedestrian traffic at the "Scramble" crossing makes the differentiation of bodies impossible. Three large monitors overhang the intersection. Each enormous monitor displays a different pop star. On rare occasions, there is synchronicity between monitors. Matching images are a product of a well-coordinated marketing scheme; screens are owned by different ad agencies. The illuminated characters drown out the flow of bodies below. Young smiling Japanese pop stars. Over and over again. >From the street of Shibuya, we traveled to Akihabara, the "basement" of Tokyo¹s technology universe. We begin in a seven story game center. Similar centers can be found on almost every block inside the Yamanote line. The pick and grab candy colored animal-toys on the ground floor give way to more complex digital games upstairs. Game machines are sophisticated architecture. They vary from surround sound headgear to musical instruments. Drums, batons, buttons and guns are available mediators with the digital universe. We each drop 100Y into FZERO. Shuichi is seated in the low-slung vacuum form car seat to my right. We gear up out separate machines, select our characters, our vehicles, our car characteristics, and we¹re off. Inside the game, while working from different platforms, the machines coordinate our movements. I¹m racing him. My car swerves around the cylindrical roadway, a magnetic tube-like street where gravity takes a back seat to speed. Not familiar with the controls, I swerve again and again into the red line. I lose. Standing is disorienting. The world of the game, in a very short 2-minute race, has disrupted my balance. We scan the room; it is about half full. Walking out, Shuichi points to the clock: 2:30 pm, Tuesday. "At six, it¹ll be overflowing." And out onto the sun drenched street. We cross the street, entering a vast market. In this street level arcade, architecturally reminiscent of the covered markets of Mexico, stalls are jammed with parts. Buttons, micro-cameras, voltmeters, fuses, parallel ports, sensors, dot matrix modules. Men stand in small clusters browsing different stalls. Smaller stores in the adjacent alleys sell used digital equipment not yet in production in the US. Hot off the shelves and already discarded. Storefronts overflow with files resembling used record outlets. Files are crammed with small Ziploc bags, each carefully labeled and highly priced. These DIY shops specialize in small computer kits. Build your own motion sensors, sound sensors, sonic distance measurers, and automatic battery re-chargers. Check out <a rel="nofollow" href="http://akizukidenshi.com/">http://akizukidenshi.com/</a> for available kits. Blank chips and boards line the walls: electronics for the professional and the hobbyist. But as we walk away from this wealth of activity, Shuichi refers back to the games and the anime. The neighborhood is changing, he reflects. It¹s all manga porn now. It¹s all entertainment. Akihabara is still the technology basement of Tokyo, but people no longer make it. They want only to play. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 8. Date: 3.26.04 From: Peter Luining (email@ctrlaltdel.org) Subject: interview with mouchette Interview with Mouchette Of course everybody knows Mouchette or better everybody thinks (s)he knows Mouchette. Here's an interview with Mouchette that I made for the P2P show that momentarily is held at the Postartum galery in L.A. It tries to uncover what's behind Mouchette and focusses amongst others on issues as "the life of a virtual character", copyrights and art institutions. Peter Luining: - Mouchette has been for quite a while on the net. How did you find out about the Internet and are there any specific reason why you started with "Mouchette"? Mouchette: Internet arrived very early in Holland and it was like a democratic revolution. For the first time in the history of information, a medium was created where every receiver could become a sender. There was a sort of euphoria, a utopia of the information age was suddenly made true. Everything you saw on the web was something you could make yourself and put out there for everyone to see. I didn't have much technical background but web technology was very simple at that time, so if I could do a web page, a child could do it too. I was very amused by the phenomenon of the personal homepage, which I immediately experienced as a popular "genre" in that medium. I am the kind of person who thinks that art is never where you expect it, and that art is only in the eye of the beholder: a true descendant of Marcel Duchamp. PL: - By now everybody knows that there are links to Mouchette and the movie by Robert Bresson–you were even in a legal fight with the heirs of the director. Could you tell something more about links inspiration? Mouchette: I knew I wanted to make a young girl's character. There were others I liked. It could have been Alice (by Lewis Carroll) or Zazie (from "Zazie dans le Metro" by Raymond Queneau) but they were too well known (Zazie in France) and their lineage was already claimed so much. I liked the dark aspects of the character of Mouchette. She was not cute, pink and pretty, although I must say I didn't know the film very well at that time, I'd only seen it once. I was very impressed by the art of Robert Bresson. His film making was so pure and minimal, with essential facts like a Greek tragedy. His actors didn't "play" or "pretend", they embodied the character by their physical presence only and plainly spoke out the text, he always chose non-professional (amateur) actors. The work I created in reference to the film (the Film Quiz) is a homage. Too bad Bresson's widow didn't see it like that! She didn't like the spirit of it, a certain cold humour. The dispute ultimately worked out in my favour: I had to remove the work from my site, but through the solidarity of the net.art community it got hosted by more than 50 different sites. PL: - You give shape to a character on the Internet. A lot of art on the net is about playing with identity, especially in the early days. We nowadays see a tendency in art that is called identity art in the true sense, meaning searching for where do I stand, who am I, going back to your roots, through self. Do you think Mouchette still fits in this last category or do you think she is a product of a certain period? Mouchette: For me, identity is something that exists between the "I" and the "you", it's not just a personal investigation. Mouchette is constructed by her public. When they love her, when they insult her, they make her who she is. And I design everything like this: words as questions, identity as an empty space where people project their desire. That is why it is still growing since the beginning, and that is why I never get bored with it because I'm not just looking at my own (artificial) navel; and evolve with the public, with the development of the internet itself. I'm just another drop of water on the Internet ocean, changing with it. PL - Mouchette's website seems to be visited by a lot of people that aren't aware of its art background. Do you think this, crossing over different audiences, is a typical thing of net art? Mouchette: No. I think most net.artists want to throw their CV and artist's statement at your face before you see their work. Their work can usually be understood by a child of 10 (which is a good thing) but they want to force it into the art context that way. I think net.art is a form of public art, art for the public space, it should be accessible for any kind of public, at any level. Let the curators and the art institutions see Mouchette as art if they can, but if they can't, it's only their problem. I'm not going to exhibit my artistic pedigree and references to make my work fit into their frame of mind. They are the ones who should change their frame of mind and understand what the Internet public already sees very clearly. So if there is some crossing over to be done, it's on the side of the art institutions, who should find a new place between the net.artists and the public. PL: Interesting. The point that you make about the "institutional" art world sounds very similar to ideas of a lot of early "net artists" that saw/see themselves not as artists (Michael Samyn, Heath Bunting, Graham Harwood) but tried/try to get this different "frame of mind" through too. What's your stance/view on this? Mouchette: It's nice to know that on Internet you can propose your work outside of ANY art context and that surfers who stumble on it by chance will have some fun, some pleasure, some first-hand emotion without having to relate to any known work of art or to any critical theory. Yet, if your work can still function on that level and offer analytical content to those who have an artistic or intellectual background, if your work can be approached on several levels at the same time, then you know you have the right frame of mind. Yes, that's the best of both worlds, an ideal position. I know it doesn't always work like this, so if I choose to ignore one type of public, it's the artistic public. When they're smart enough they get the intellectual content by themselves, without having it explained. And I know this analytical approach is going to come out in my work one way or another because it's present inside of me. PL: Something related to this is that I know Mouchette won some art prizes on festivals you had to apply for. If you do enter this for competitions, do you just send your url or are you going for the full form? What I mean with this is: does Mouchette adapt on this level to get her "frame of mind" through? Mouchette: In the very beginning I didn't connect to the art world at all, but the art world connected to me at some point. Takuji Kogo (Candy Factory, Tokyo) was the first one to pick it up as art in 1997, he made collaborative exhibitions in his gallery, he introduced my work to Rhizome. Net art people had no difficulty in seeing it as the creation of a grown up and developed artist although nobody told them. They spread it, commented it, linked it. So it was easy for me to enter my work in net.art competitions. Besides, most of them didn't request any artistic references, you only had to send your URL. When I have to give more details, I never break the rule of the anonymity of the author and never disclose my gender. I'm still within my rules in this interview. I like it when my work participates in the art world and I would make the effort to bring it to them if I can stay within my rules. I want to add here that this "mystery of the author" serves no personal purpose, only an artistic purpose. But it makes it all the more difficult to connect to the world of art as much as I would want to. PL: And linked to the question above: do you see yourself as an artist or net artist? Mouchette: From the beginning I always saw myself as an artist, not a net.artist or a something-artist, just an artist. For me net.art is not separated from the rest of the arts. It should be brought to the public by museums and other art institutions. PL: Above you say that net art should be seen as a form of public art, art for public space, yet to bring it in the white cube is something different. Explain. Mouchette: Art in the public space should be enjoyed by the passing people without any reference to the art context, that's what I meant. It can be integrated in the street context to such a point that it's not even seen as art, but still experienced as something meaningful, or useful, or disturbing etc… When envisioned through the art context, the standpoint is different and what makes it an artwork is a particular mixture of the work itself and the public participation to the work. That's why I don't see a contradiction between general public and art public: it's just a different standpoint for the same work. mouchette: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.mouchette.org">http://www.mouchette.org</a> p2p: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.postartum.org/p2p/">http://www.postartum.org/p2p/</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 Feisal Ahmad (feisal@rhizome.org). ISSN: 1525-9110. Volume 9, number 13. Article submissions to list@rhizome.org are encouraged. 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