Pessimism the New Black

Adam Cohen's editorial piece about the cultural ramifications of continued poor predictions, broken promises, faulty calculations, and just maybe outright lies such as "mission accomplished" and "the last throes" really struck me. See: "What is the Latest Thing to Be Discouraged About? The Rise of Pessimism", New York Times, 28 August 2006.

I have to admit that I am one of those mislead from the beginning of this military "quagmire" (I wonder why the newsmedia hasn't bandied that word in many months??); I tried to give the administration some benefit of doubt. I still experience abject horror when I think of what Hussein did to the Kurdish villages when Bush Sr. declared pseudo-victory in Gulf I. And maybe it was empathy for the Kurds (the white guilt of my generation?) that lead me to swallow the bait of 'Intelligence' the king-makers cast at us. How could they possibly create a credible-false story in the post-Nixon utopia of countless investigative and independent sources? Now I just shake my head and let this be my personal apology to those I called extremists as this was unfolding.

Mr. Cohen hits the nail on the head. The lies don't seem to motivate the members of our society. Instead our legions of pessimists such as me know they are being lied to and know the alternatives suck too. These guys make Dick look like an amateur.

David Kelley Lecture

I had the great fortune of seeing David Kelley speak last night at the Silicon Valley Commonwealth Club in conjunction with ISEA06/ZeroOne. I listen to lectures from this group all the time on the radio. It was a pleasure to attend the lecture and I think I will try to attend more in the future.

See the short article I wrote on this compelling lecture on Design Thinking here on the Switch Magazine Blog coverage of ISEA06/ZeroOne.

Switch Blog: the Festival and Symposium

be sure to check out the Switch Magazine blog as we report the happenin's at ISEA06 and the ZeroOne Festival. link

Rapporteur ISEA 2006
rap-por-teur |ˌraˌpôrˈtər| noun a person appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings : the UN rapporteur. ORIGIN late 18th cent.: French, from rapporter ‘bring back.’orteur |ˌraˌpôrˈtər| noun a person appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings : the UN rapporteur. ORIGIN late 18th cent.: French, from rapporter ‘bring back.’

I have volunteered to assist Edward Shanken as an Assistant Designer/Rapporteur for the ISEA06 symposiums wiki. This wiki will be a record of the symposium content and commentary. Think of it as real-time reporting and ultimately a document of ISEA06. Find the wiki here and make commentary, ask questions, and report on the symposium.

Edward Shanken is Professor of Art History and Media Theory at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He is known for his advocacy of collaborations and syntheses of AST (art, science, and technology). Shanken has also become a proponent in the expanding in move for alternative approach to trans-discplinary graduate eduation. See a lecture Eddie gave on these subjects at UCLA December 2005 here.

My cohort also assisting the rapporteuring, is Christopher Baker. Chris a graduate art student from the University of Minnesota. His research log is here.

A new day and it has been very long time since I visited this diaristic tool. I want to introduce a new project idea I have been kicking around for a few months.
3g Art

This coming August ISEA 2006 will be in San Jose, CA which is very convenient for me being that most of my time is being spent in the South Bay. I had proposed the Oculus Project for ISEA but, I found fundraising extremely difficult as I researched last Dec and January. Additionally the Oculus was not accepted to the festival and I think it would be hard to sneak in ; )
I have decided to shelve the idea for a later date.

I became very interested in mobile technologies after attending a lecture by Dr. Genevieve Bell. Dr. Bell researches ethnographic impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for the Intel corporation. I learned about the ways mobile technologies around the world are used as the primary communication platform (in lieu of PC's). The mobile phone has emerged as an explosively rich instrument of culture because of the portability, infrastructures, and innovative use by the rest of the world. Please read my summary of her lecture Mobile Messaging in the Pacific Rim in SWITCH Magazine Issue 22.

Quite simply the majority of users on this 'connected' planet are using their mobile devices to communicate and participate. The United States' econonmic priviledge has driven the PC platform to thrive here; distancing the US culture from the international community once again(it appears to this commentator). The implications of this distancing alongside the current conservative political climate are suggestive to isolationistic or nationalistic histories best left to their historical placement.

My project involves distribution of digital art on the 3g platform alone. The stills or time based works are made to be seen, loaded, and shared on the personal devices that populate the majority of the world. The work is not to be consumed on the PC, projected on walls, or any other output. It is specifically aligned to be distributable on 3g devices as a new independent craft; it is a techne for and of 3g technology.

Questions and conflicts to confront:

uniqueness
1. Is the purity of the medium pivotal? Should I allow this project to be ephemeral or do I create an archive to capture and save the work to be exhibited after the festival. Is the "archive" an acceptable tool in this conceptual stance?

2. Is the work made, edited, and distributed by 3g devices alone? Can I make digital work and translate it to the project?

How to do it?
1. Set up a server to receive requests and distribute materials.

1a. Specifically made for sites of the festival. Users will find CLUE and will SMS to the address they will receive work that is site specific.

1b. Users SMS the database gumball machine and a protocol distributes an artwork per request. Users will not know what artwork they are getting until they open the reply much like a gumball machine.

2. Compile subscription. Collect addresses from festival goers and provide daily(hourly?!) work through the duration of the festival.

Variable: Despite which distribution model I choose: Do I allow festival goers to make work and upload it to the database?