live art, right now

So I'm in the crate re-enacting herny box brown's escape from 19th C plantation. He shipped himself by post to Philadelphia. I chose to take my phone with me and twitter, FB, blog while inside. How different would brown's journey had been had he had this technology. Twittering as he stopped at locations or riding on a cargo train knowing that as each day went he'd be closer to being free. And we'd be keep up to date, by the mintue reporting of an astonshing event

Live art, Live stream

My piece, "Illegal Art" streaming live from Soapbox Gallery 9/25 btwn 6:00 & 7:30 pm EST http://www.ventatsoapbox.com/live-feed.html

Manovich has been sitting in the bathroom for a few days now. The book stares at me when I go in to relieve myself or just get a quick mommy break. I've been getting these pains of guilt too ever since I walked into the bathroom with a Maire Claire magazine that I was force(well, just a little) to accept a free subscription of after purchasing a pair of shoes and dress at my local consignment store. Anyway, I read this article about women and technology. Apparently, many women are well below keeping up with their tech saaviness when compared to men. Rather than trying to figure out a solution ourselves, we will call a male colleague, IT guy, spouse, partner, friend whoever to fix whatever computer issue is plaguing our happiness at the moment. I'm having a hard time believing it. Say it ain't true Jo! I guess I'm having this reaction because so many of Manovich's examples are from women artists hacking away at new media projects. Was this just part of the craze during the late 90's? I mean, hey, the MOMA is still slow in catching up. Or are women just being overlooked, discouraged, etc from truly getting their hands dirty with technology. Maybe it's the Russian in Manovich that actively sought out women artists as examples. I found out recently that a good 45% to 50% of work shown in Russian museums are by women. MOMA still hasn't caught up and I'm a member.

"A Draft"- a piece of hyperlinks

Inspired by Manovich's rant on hyperlinks and my psychedelic visions of hyperlinks thereafter, I created this small piece consisting of links making up "The Gettysburg Address". I used this piece in the documentation of my last project "Illegal Art" for Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. The speech has so much relevance today it makes me sick. Link to piece below:

A Draft

Hypermedia, Hyperlinks, Manovich

Some good friends were over this past weekend and we got on the topic of motherhood. Basically, most mothers forget about themselves. I know I have. At times, there isn't a minute during the day to put on a clean shirt. I find I'm most comfortable in a pair of baggy and would love to think about myself for an hour while indulging in a manicure/pedicure. Something has re-programmed in me to not think of me the individual but as me the group member.

I also don't think about what a hyperlink is anymore, I actually just look for them automatically when reading an online article, Tweeting, etc. It is interesting how Manovich asks how to analyze what a hypermedia link is. For me, it became mildly trippy experience. For instance, I don't think of hyperlinks at all in relation to Hypermedia and how hypermedia is “a network of information containing nodes interconnected to be relational links”. Nor have I considered hyperlinks to be independent from the contents in a document, separating themselves from all other elements and keeping their identity from blending in. (Manovich, p.41) Now looking at a page I see these hyperlinks reluctantly agreeing to be on the page free agents on loan almost. It wouldn't surprise me if we'd need to pay patent or royalties even for using them. New Media it seems reflects our individualistic society, our longing to be unique. Everything is customized to make us feel as if it were so. We receive recommendations from Amazon, Google, etc. based on information we've typed in and reconfigured through a game of what will most likely be perfect for us. It is easy to get lost behind the computer, on the Internet looking through our particular reading list, followings, and friends. We get into a zone: It is our time.

The Internet and revolution of interactivity was meant to give us more freedom. That's how it was billed. With the shift from constants to variables Manovich mentions came “choice” and “freedom” restructuring live assistance to menus of options and automated machines. This drive towards choice has led to many having no choice in the reconfiguration of their jobs. Makes me think of Jason Reitman film Up in the Air and the plot by the junior exec to have people fired over a web cam- easy, cost effective, and clean.

Our world today seems to be calling for a group consciousness, one that has to be fully aware of what is occurring around us. Social networking sites have really played a part in combining our post-modern tools and attitude with the constant to collaborate for greater good. Yet, I know one a many people who dislike it when their Friend on Facebook puts up a cause he wants to get everyone fired up about. Is it because our “me” time is being interrupted?

Where does art stand in all of this? I'm up to the part where I re-think what I'm seeing on screen as data.....