The Rhizome Digest merged into the Rhizome News in November 2008. These pages serve as an archive for 6-years worth of discussions and happenings from when the Digest was simply a plain-text, weekly email.

Subject: RHIZOME DIGEST: 8.06.04
From: digest@rhizome.org (RHIZOME)
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 2004 19:34:12 -0700
Reply-to: digest@rhizome.org
Sender: owner-digest@rhizome.org
RHIZOME DIGEST: August 6, 2004

Content:

+announcement+
1. Jason Scott: Cyborg Art History
2. G.H. Hovagimyan: republican Convention Moblog
3. marc: Live Online Interview with Andy Deck on the VisitorsStudio

+opportunity+
4. Digital Media Centre: Opportunity for Experimentation
5. 220hex: piksel04 - Call for participation
6. marc: NetBehaviour List Residencies - Brad Brace: The 12hr-ISBN-JPEG
Project

+work+
7. mark cooley, Jim Andrews: the world owes you a living
8. Alexander Galloway: Introducing the new "TAC" file compression standard!!
9. doron: new work at computer fine arts

+interview+
10. ryan griffis: Locating Locative Media
Observations from the Mobile Outskirts Workshop, Lofoten Island, Norway June
15-25, 2004

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1.

Date: 8.02.04
From: Jason Scott <jrscott AT purdue.edu>
Subject: Cyborg Art History

Hello all how is the moment?
My name is Jason Scott. I am a student of Philosophy, Art History, and
Computer Technology at Purdue University, with an interest in contemporary
aesthetics and New-Media arts. Currently I am working as an archivist on a
project entitled Cyborg Art History which is the description of an art
history which actively integrates digital media and technology-driven art
forms into the 'canon' NOW, rather than waiting 30 years. Cyborg Art History
involves the creation of an 'art history' for these new forms, the
development of a methodology for examination of these forms, development of
a viewer or reception theory of these forms, a definition of a digital
aesthetic and a post-postmodernism in reference to these forms, as well as
issues pertaining to the display of these new media works both in
traditional and contemporary settings. All too often the experience of art
is dominated by theory. Thus, I work from the specific to the general, that
is to say rather than creating broad speculative categories and then finding
artists to reinforce them, I am looking specifically for artists who define
a Cyborg Art History. Essentially my research requires artists who are
concerned with the integration of New-Media art and other technology-based
art forms which include, but are not limited to: digital art, including web
art, printmaking, photography, video installations, robotic and sensor-based
art, interactive art forms (such as art produced for CAVEs), digital
galleries, and trans-genetic art. The depth of my interest lies particularly
with the use of these forms to reference the human body as I am reassessing
conceptual, body, and performance art as fundamental to an understanding of
the significance of New-Media and technology-based art forms. Artists such
as Lee Bul, Natalie Jeremijenko, Isabelle Choiniere, Eduardo Kac, and Jason
Salavon are ideal. Collaboration is the key to unlocking intelligence and so
I am reaching out to you for suggestions. A list of artists with enough
contact information, such as an Email or Website, to obtain a representative
image would be best. Next galleries (whether physical or digital) who
specialize in New-Media arts such as Postmasters would be excellent. For the
sake of all, art, and artists, please take some time to gel with these
ideas. I look forward to your support as it is vital. Perhaps it would be
best if we speak over the phone. If so, Email me a convenient time to
contact you.
Best,
Jason Scott
jrscott AT purdue.edu

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2.

Date: 8.04.04
From: G.H. Hovagimyan <ghh AT thing.net>
Subject: republican Convention Moblog

Hello,

nujus.net is offering a free photoblog for convention delegates and visitors
to New York City as well as activist groups during the upcoming Republican
National Convention. The site is unfiltered except for obvious spams. A good
use is to upload mobile phone photos quickly on site.

To view the pre-launch website point your browser to;
<http://spaghetti.nujus.net/simsi>
Uploading a photo is simple. You send your image(jpeg) as an email
attachment. The software automatically creates a thumbnail and puts up your
photo.

If you would like to participate send an email with the subject line
"request" to: admin AT nujus.net

we will send you the directions and the email address.

Sincerely,

The nujus.net team

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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 http://rhizome.org/info/org.php for more
information or contact Rachel Greene at Rachel AT Rhizome.org.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

3.

Date: 8.06.04
From: marc <marc.garrett AT furtherfield.org>
Subject: Live Online Interview with Andy Deck on the VisitorsStudio
Don't miss this once only real-time event.......

Live Online Interview with Andy Deck on the VisitorsStudio

Wednesday 11th August
New York 2 pm, London 7 pm (BST)
VisitorsStudio: http://www.furtherstudio.org/live (Just go to the URL and
log in)

===========================================>
Following the recent retrospective of Andy Deck's work at Furtherfield he
will join Marc Garrett and Ruth Catlow in the VisitorsStudio for a real-time
multimedia interview about his work. This event will combine a discussion of
his work and unique, live, collaborative mixes of images, animations and
sounds sampled from past and current projects.
The interview will explore the following issues and more....

- about artists cultivating a political awareness and taking a political
stance in their work.
- 'Visiting Artists', collective authorship and activating audiences.
- war sim games and the potential to create counter-narratives against the
corporate driven war inevitability myth.

==================================>
About Andy Deck

Creating art software since 1990 and then moving onto the Internet in 1994
Andy Deck displays his digital based explorations at artcontext.net and
andyland.net

'In the net art activist world there have been many inspiring talents who
have shone through the flickering, radiated haze of our computer monitors.
Andy Deck is one of those individuals who, has somehow succeeded in
maintaining a consistent integrity in his work, without glorifying himself
above the work itself. Instead of falling for the whimsical
self-historicizing art = personality myth, he has chosen to position his
work in a socio-cultural context, actively questioning life¹s political
struggles. He also collaborates with other artists and with people who are
not seen or known as artists.' From 'Andy Deck Retrospective' by Marc
Garrett
http://www.furtherfield.org/displayreview.php?From=Index&review_id=86
<http://www.furtherfield.org/displayreview.php?From=Index&amp;review_id=86>

Marc Garrett and Ruth Catlow
are co-directors of http://www.furtherfield.org

==================================>
About VisitorsStudio

The VisitorsStudio is a multi-user online arena for production, display and
discussion of audiovisual, screen based work. Visitors experiment and
respond to each others' dancing-cursors and chat, live in real-time while
uploading, mixing and exhibiting their own compositions.

VisitorsStudio is a Furtherfield project
Concept, design and project co-ordination by Marc Garrett and Ruth Catlow
(Furtherfield)
Concept, programming and design by Neil Jenkins (Furtherfield, Devoid)
Front page and Users Manual design by Chris Webb (Furtherfield)

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4.

Date: 8.02.04
From: Digital Media Centre <martin.franklin AT southhillpark.org.uk>
Subject: Opportunity for Experimentation

The Digital Media Centre in Bracknell will have a loan of a Smart Board
interactive whiteboard system during August and September. These systems,
consisting of touch sensitive board, writing stylus, computer and data
projector, are becoming widely used in Education.

We are offering this opportunity for digital artists to experiment with the
system, which creates a remote touch screen interface for applications,
enables electronic ink and handwriting recognition, allows remote playback
of audio and video files and live recording and playback of actions.

More information about the Smart Board can be found at:
http://www.smarttech.com

Results of research may be offered as training opportunities for teachers if
relevant.
For more information and booking time on the Smart Board, please contact:
Martin Franklin (01344) 416261
email: martin.franklin AT southhillpark.org.uk
web: www.digitalmediacentre.org

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5.

Date: 8.05.04
From: 220hex <gif AT 220hex.org>
Subject: piksel04 - Call for participation

<><><><><><><><><><><><>
-- piksel04 - FLOSS in motion
-- call for participation
-- deadline 15. september 2004
<><><><><><><><><><><><>

Piksel - www.piksel.no - is a yearly event for artists and developers
working with Free Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) for realtime
processing of video and sound. It will take place at BEK - the Bergen Centre
for Electronic Art, in Bergen, Norway from october 29. to november 7. 2004.

The first Piksel event was arranged in november 2003, and gathered around 30
artists/developers from all parts of the world. It consisted of
artistic/technical presentations, coding workshops and live performances.
All activities were documented in a daily blog:
http://www.piksel.no/log.html

One of the results from the event was the initiation of the Piksel Video
Framework for 'interoperability between various free software applications
dealing with video manipulation techniques' - http://www.piksel.org

<><><><><><><><><><><><>
CALL for PARTICIPATION

An important part of piksel04 is a series of evening events of live art and
audio-visual performance in cooperation with Landmark/Bergen Kunsthall
(www.kunsthall.no/landmark).
Performing artists using open source software in the creation and
presentation of their work are invited to apply. This call goes out to
VJ-crews, live coders, typing divas, virtual actors, noise combos and FLOSS
performers of all kinds.

Please send documentation material - preferably as a URL to online
documentation with images/video to piksel04 AT bek.no
Deadline - september 15. 2004

Use this form for submitting (or go to the online form at
http://www.piksel.no/piksel04/form.html):

<><><><><><><><><><><><>
1. Name of artist(s), email adr.
2. Short bio/CV
3. URL to online documentation
4. Short statement about the work(s)
5. List of software used in the creation/presentation of the work(s)

<><><><><><><><><><><><>
Or send by snailmail to:

BEK
att: Gisle Froysland
C. Sundtsgt. 55
5004 Bergen
Norway

More info: http://www.piksel.no/piksel04

piksel04 is produced by BEK in cooperation with Kunsthøgskolen in Bergen dep
The Academy of Fine Arts, Bergen Kunsthall/Landmark. Supported by PNEK,
Bergen Kommune, Norsk Kulturfond.

--
+--- www.bek.no --+ 47 55233080
---+

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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 http://rhizome.org/info/org.php for more
information or contact Rachel Greene at Rachel AT Rhizome.org.

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6.

Date: 8.06.04
From: marc <marc.garrett AT furtherfield.org>
Subject: NetBehaviour List Residencies - Brad Brace: The 12hr-ISBN-JPEG
Project

NetBehaviour List Residencies
- an ongoing in-house project built by users of the NetBehaviour list.

An in-house, networked artist/curator/writer residency
lasting for 2 weeks where a practicioner's work is seen,
as part of the list experience, adding an authentic sense
of stuff to the list that does not necessarily rely just on
debate alone, but also on behaviour.

NetBehaviour residency No. 1
Brad Brace: The 12hr-ISBN-JPEG Project
http://bbrace.laughingsquid.net/12hr-isbn-jpeg.html
Nominated by:Marc Garrett (list member)

Brad Brace began his residency on the Netbehaviour
list (http://www.netbehaviour.org) 7/10/2004. It ended,
2 days after the prescribed 14 days, residency on
7/26/2004.

Much debate was shared regarding Brace Brace's work
on the list. Which can viewed here with other information:
http://www.netbehaviour.org/Residencies.htm

Who's next up for a Residency?
[[MEZ]] Starts (9/8/04)
http://www.hotkey.net.au/~netwurker
http://www.livejournal.com/users/netwurker/
Lewis LaCook
http://www.lewislacook.com/
http://www.lewislacook.com/xanaxpop/
Tamar Schori
http://www.tamar-schori.net/
http://www.oodlala.net/
Ivan Pope
http://www.ivanpope.com/
http://blog.ivanpope.com/

Brief info about Residencies.
Residencies last for 2 weeks.
Maximum size of image per post- 35k
Maximum number of posts - every six hours
Minimum nuber of posts - one a day

Any member on the list can suggest a potential resident artist.
The list members vote for a resident - it only takes 7 yes votes...
but if there are 8 votes against, the residency does not happen
for that individual/group. Rules change and adapt according to
suggestions by NetBehaviourists - active list members:-)

http://www.netbehaviour.org

NetBehaviour is an open email list community for sharing ideas,
platforming art and net projects and facilitating collaborations.
Let's explore the potentials of this global network.
This is just the beginning.

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7.

Date: 8.03.04 - 8.04.04
From: mark cooley <mgc868f AT smsu.edu>, Jim Andrews <jim AT vispo.com>
Subject: the world owes you a living

mark cooley <mgc868f AT smsu.edu> posted:

http://theworldowesyoualiving.org/

+ + +

Jim Andrews <jim AT vispo.com> replied:

great to see someone post a link to this site. it's by matt fair of canada,
who has been producing work related to this theme for about twenty years.
this site contains a portion of his life's work.

it also links to his audio collages, which are available on a 6 CD set. this
is, i would say, important work to listen to. he has been culling audio from
radio and other sources for twenty years, and his CD's represent twenty
years of continually composing this material.

the first CD has the following table of contents:

1. Advance of Technology
2. World of Unemployment
3. Decline of the Individual
4. What We're Doing to the Children
5. Hate, Murder and Social Ambition
6. Prisons

the basic observation he culls from the audio, made by many people, is that
employment is declining. this is not a temporary phenomenon. machines
continue to replace workers of many kinds. consequently, many people are
either unemployed or are forever marooned in low-level service employment.
this includes many well-educated people, not simply the relatively
uneducated.

so what is to be done in this situation where employment is decreasing but
the population is increasing?

matt fair has been thinking about this for twenty years. check him out.

[...]

i used to think that matt's perspective is unrealistic. but, over time, it
has become more clear to me that (quoting from matt fair's audio cd's):

"economies now grow without requiring more labor. technical progress means
fewer jobs, not more. and the reserve army of the unemployed has been
replaced by a new class of redundant people..."

"in the high-tech society, there just aren't enough jobs to go around, and
there never will be."

"labor, business, and government have not really faced this."

"many of the traditional industries were collapsing...the one sector that
was growing, electronics and electronic communications was growing rapidly
and steadily eliminating jobs from its processes."

"even on farms, where you used to have ten people working a big farm, you
now have one or two, and there's so much food produced people are payed not
to produce."

employment is being eliminated by machines in most sectors of the economy.
so what happens to all these people? what happens to us? and where does the
money go for all the production being done by the machines? do we end up
with a feudal economy, one where there are relatively few rich and oh so
many poor people?

that's a recipe for complete social collapse.

matt fair looks at this situation and proposes the idea that we live in a
society of abundance, not scarcity. abundance of food. abundance of
materials to meet peoples' needs. abundance of computers and
telecommunications and so on. things would operate a lot better if there was
a more equitable distribution of the wealth.

and he backs up his arguments with twenty years of research and audio from
the great thinkers of the last fifty years and much reportage on the state
of society from cbc radio and other radio networks.

matt makes the best use of all that radio that i've ever heard. he turns
that radio into really a very concentrated and eloquent statement, not just
by him, but by so many people over the years.

a very impressive project, inspiring, really. to hear that radio material
put to such intelligent and socially significant use. and to listen to his
conscientous life's work and realize it has been worth it.

i've seen him work with this material for a long time. and it has changed
over time. his audio collages have gone from pretty loose things where the
quotes tended to be too long and the focus got lost and confused to
compositions that are both cogent and informative in their arguments--and
fascinating in their composition.

i have also seen the manuscripts he's put together over the years. he has
about ten book-length manuscripts on the themes of work and play and
philosophy. i'm a big fan of his work.

http://theworldowesyoualiving.org

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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
http://rhizome.net/your_account_name). Details at:
http://rhizome.org/services/1.php

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8.

Date: 8.03.04
From: Alexander Galloway <galloway AT nyu.edu>
Subject: Introducing the new "TAC" file compression standard!!

TAC Compression
http://www.TACcompression.com
(serial no. RSG-TAC-1)

"Why make files smaller, when you can TAC them"? (TM)

TAC* is the best compression format available for the web today! By
using revolutionary scientific methods, research teams at RSG and the
Beige Programming ensemble were able to a compose a complex software
tool that expels many of the myths that surround modern file
compression techniques. The secret of TAC compression is not that it
makes files smaller, but that it makes files bigger, much bigger.**
This provides the end user with a compression tool to meet almost any
need in today's bandwidth and gig overloaded computing world.

Download the BETA for OsX, and become a TAC believer today! ->
http://www.taccompression.com/download.php

+ + +

* Total A##hole Compression
** Tests have shown TAC to increase file size of a compressed file by
at least 14 times the uncompressed size.

TAC compression is by Cory Arcangel of the BEIge progrmming Ensemble,
with coding by RSG. Thanks to Michael Frumin for coding help, and to
Eyebeam Research.

http://www.TACcompression.com/

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9.

Date: 8/05/04
From: doron <v AT computerfinearts.com>
Subject: new work at computer fine arts

Out of the Ordinary by Jevbratt Lisa (2002) >
a Carnivore client, a network visualization software.
http://www.computerfinearts.com/collection/jevbratt/ooo/

Zabnulvier by De Kok Elout (2004) >
Built with Processing
http://www.computerfinearts.com/collection/dekok/zabnulvier/


netart collection and archive
=========================
http://www.computerfinearts.com

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10.

Date: 8/06/04
From: ryan griffis <grifray AT yahoo.com>
Subject: Locating Locative Media
Observations from the Mobile Outskirts Workshop, Lofoten Island, Norway June
15-25, 2004

Locating Locative Media
Observations from the Mobile Outskirts Workshop, Lofoten Island, Norway June
15-25, 2004
http://locative.rixc.lv/tcm/workshops/index.cgi?Location_Norway
Joni Taylor + Ryan Griffis

Workshop Participants: Timo Arnall, Kristin Bergaust, Sarawut Chutiwongpeti,
Trine Eidsmo, Amy Franceschini, Ryan Griffis, Jason Harlan, Sue Mark
(Marksearch), Nis RØmer, Laura Beloff, Denis Saraginovski, Slobodanka
Stevceska, Stijn Schiffeleers, Joni Taylor

"Mobile Outskirts" was the second in a series of 6 workshops focusing on
"locative media and transcultural mapping" initiated by RIXC
[http://www.rixc.lv/] and Facilitated by the Nordland Kunst 0g Filmskole
[http://www.kunstfilm.no/main.htm], Trondheim Electronic Arts Centre
(TEKS)[http://www.teks.no/] and the Kunstakademiet i Trondheim
[http://www.kit.ntnu.no/]. A group of 14 artists, from as far as North
America, Thailand and Macedonia, (plus a brilliant cook and fearless bus
driver) were chosen to "map" and create a collaborative cartography of the
Norwegian island of Lofoten, situated within the arctic circle.
The landscape itself was breathtaking, the arctic environment and the
constant daylight impossible to ignore, all of which affected everyone in
unique ways. We were in a new and remote place; most of us had never heard
of Lofoten before [http://www.lofoten-tourist.no/].

The themes were explored through images, digital fotos, videos, sound and
text, as well as creating maps with GPS tools. Some also chose to create
"real life" actions. While the technicalities and possible exhibition of
locative media were explored by some, the focus of most of the group was
trans-cultural mapping, which was not just about geographical mapping but
investigating the key areas unique to Lofoten, such as the environment,
culture, history, tourism and the economy. While some felt it was "colonial"
to attempt to "map" this foreign place, in the end all the work did reflect
the environment and people. The final results are still to be seen, with
further research into the actual technical programming of the meta-data
collected ongoing.

J: Just before I went to Norway my friend and I walked across the Polish
Border, without a map or a word of polish. We experienced what I like to
call a "cultural remix", (Polish-Chinese food, Polish-Irish pubs and
Polish-Kolonie houses) all by accident, our derivé. My friend was also
wearing a very short skirt at the time, so she tried to avoid what we sensed
were the "dodgy" areas. It was only after our adventure that I realized that
these ideas of futuristic locative media tools would have been of tremendous
help. Of having some Kool techno phone that could take a picture of the
street, zoom it through a satellite to some databank somewhere, which
through scanning could have told us where we were, and even, where to go.

This idea led me on to thinking of the information I as a person would like
to know, such as the history of a place. Living in Berlin, I am constantly
asking myself about the stories of the buildings around me, what they served
as under different regimes, who owned them, who wants to buy them now, and
this kind of information would be advantageous and very interesting to me.
So I went to Lofoten with this in mind, with an idea to trace the history of
urban structures, but also map according to my own feelings, in the psycho
geographic way. I thought the workshop would be somewhere between creating
a time machine and a heavy metal disco! (My previous knowledge of Norway was
embarrassingly limited to its atheistic black metal scene.)

R: I'm drawn to your short-skirt-in-Poland anecdote, and the potential for
locative media to assist your desire to avoid "'dodgy' areas." The
successfulness of the technology in assisting you depends on the "matching
up" of both your desires and those of the technology's creators - your
definitions of "dodgy" would have to match. Locative media may be nothing
more than ever-present street signage pointing you to sanctioned vistas and
commercial venues. Or it could be a counter archive that's open to
manipulation by those on both sides of the binoculars. But I would be
hesitant to accept any utopian statement that the technology tends toward
the inclusive by nature.

J: Exactly, and who are or will these creators be? Corporations getting hold
of locative devices in supermarkets and advertising certain brands. Telling
you where to go. "Location-based services." Scary.
At times I find all this excitement a bit techno fetishistic, about "huge
databanks in the sky" that still don't have a sense of place or personal
experience at all. Can locating ourselves through these methods of
surveillance be turned around? Ideas of surveillance critique is nothing
new, (especially in new media art, eg Surveillance Camera Players
[http://www.notbored.org/the-scp.html], Blast Theory
[http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/]), and PVI
[http://www.pvicollective.com/art/projects] or the ideas of
self-panopticonism.
Ricardo Dominguez had an interesting project in Australia
[http://channel.creative-capital.org/project_70.html] a few years back
working with Aboriginal people using surveillance cameras to monitor their
land against uranium mining, like Jabiluka.
The "E911-capable" phone
[http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,9502,00.html] can still be
traced by anyone - there are no particular security levels.
(Hackers are now working with GPS jamming techniques, and fair enough).

R: The (non)image of a "big data bank in the sky" is, i think,
representative of both sides of the surveillance utopia/dystopia you
mention. In US and European popular culture (and yes, i think this whole
endeavor is Eurocentric and in need of more complexity), surveillance is
always perceived as coming from above (the indy-Hollywood film "The End of
Violence" comes to mind
[http://www.wim-wenders.com/movies/movies_spec/theendofviolence/theendofviol
ence.htm] ), almost in layers - first the cameras, then the towers, and
finally the satellites. And of course, critical responses can't help but
acknowledge this perspective (the Surv. Camera Players as you mentioned, as
well as the IAA's "iSee" [http://www.appliedautonomy.com/isee.html] for
example) But i don't know if this is necessarily based on new technologies.
Maps and diagrams are all ways of picturing a situation from the omniscient
perspective of God. All of this mapping, of geography and the body (the
Visible Human Project
[http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/visible_human.html] ) has been
argued by many, as a repositioning of visual "truth" from illusionistic
pictures to forms of representation not seen as dependent on the eye, like
graphs, charts and UV processes. i tend to associate the trend in GPS and
meta-data with these tendencies.

J: Ok, so moving away from the visual, where personal aesthetics gets in the
way, and relying on something more scientific, mathematical. But there must
also be the potential for social networking via these tools, alternative
"utopian" uses, such as the use of mobile phones in organizing demos on a
private network, for one example, or organizing homeless people as Nis
mentioned with his communal garden project [http://www.org-urb.dk/]. The
free network movement is one, and making mobile phone technology open
source. Is it possible to take control of one satellite? Pirate satellites,
very utopian. I did read some interesting statistics about mobile phone use
in developing and war torn countries like Afghanistan, much larger than
cable based phones.

R: Of course, there's also the commercial aspect we need to be critical of,
as you suggest. Ricardo Dominguez has talked about the influence of the IT
industry on cultural production, whether it's overt manipulation or utopian
desire.

J: Where do borders fit in within all these ideas of mapping and location?
One of the most "unnerving" things for me (as an Australian too), to find in
the dreamlike environment of Lofoten, were the refugees from Angola waiting
on that particular "outskirt" for political asylum. This "prison" island,
and it was an island, was only accessible by boat or by paying for the
ferry, both options which were denied to them. I think interesting
cartography examples could be formed, or new ways of mapping that are not
based on borders. (They Rule being one [http://www.theyrule.net])

R: For me, the most interesting aspect of the Mobile Outskirts workshop was
its relationship to tourism as an active practice. i think it is a very
US-Eurocentric belief that travel is done either for tourism or business, or
some merger of the two (as the workshop was). i think you're totally right
to bring up the refugees from Angola as "unnerving." When we talk of
cultural mapping and site specificity, there's this dominant tendency to
attach terms like "native" and "outsider." But where do refugees fit into
this schema? They're not there to experience "otherness" as tourists, and
remain "others" to both locals and visitors. Where are they placed into the
2D terrain created by our GPS devices or 3D psychogeographic maps?

J: Did we create a "collective cartography"?
That was one of the aims, and in the end I think everyone did create some
kind of personal map, just through their own ideas and creative drives and
desire to reflect the place. Kristin's love of flowers came out in her
cataloguing and mapping of exotic "foreign" plant species in Lofoten. Your
fear and focus on foreign species (the evil King Crab) and genetics came out
in you Emergency Tourist Kit
[http://www.yougenics.net/traveloffice/NO/lofotenKit.html]. Nis', Amy's and
Stejn's love of playing and reclaiming public space came out in "Lofoten:
Game of the Future" [http://www.futurefarmers.com/survey/lofoten.html], Sue
Mark's interest in old stories and superstitions had her interviewing
fishermen out on boats, Sarawut made video documentary of the incredible and
fantastic local youth population, Dana and Dennis found a secret to tell
through their mock-umentaries, Lara followed the whaling process and Jason
and Timo captured and data-mapped their daily experiences
[http://aware.uiah.fi/packet/?id=TCM]. I found horses and ruins. And heavy
metal! .And I'll quote Marx here, because I just read it somewhere..."Men
can see nothing around them that is not their own image; everything speaks
to them of themselves. Their very landscape is alive. "

R: All of this brings me back to the title of the workshop series, and
something the US critic Lucy Lippard once wrote: "I prefer cross-cultural to
transcultural, although they mean the same thing, because "trans" to me
implies "beyond," as in "transcend," and the last thing we need is another
"universalist" concept that refuses once again to come to grips with
difference."

I'm not sure that the title "Trans-cultural" is really a problem, but the
ideas expressed by Lippard then still seem crucial to consider in such
projects, and your question about our "collective cartography" is right on.
I think everyone's concern in the workshop was to create a "collective" that
kept differences in tact and didn't flatten out multiple agendas into one.
Hopefully that remains true for how the Lofoten Islands will be reflected in
all our projects as well.


Refrences:
Your Cellphone is a Homing Device
By Brendan I. Koerner
Lippard, Lucy, "Mapping" in Mixed Blessings 1990
MacCannell, Dean, Empty Meeting Grounds: The Tourist Papers, 1992
http://www.kystentilkamp.com/
http://www.lofoten-tourist.no/

Joni + Ryan would like to thank all the workshop participants, especially
Kristin Bergaust and Trine Eidsmo for organizing Mobile Outskirts, Kjell
Tomter (our fearless bus driver), Martin Musto (our culinary companion),
Lena Hamnes, Brødrene Arntzen and Trygve Steen for discussing the politics,
culture and economy of Lofoten with us, and Liv Brita Malnes for the use of
the art school facilities.

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