into the NextFiveMinutes conference. I have been burned out for much of the time for some reason, almost catching a cold yesterday evening, then this morning, spraining my back with the most minimal movement zipping up my suitcase, I wasn’t even bending over. scared the shit outta me. my panel presence (Tactical Education/Media Competence) was shortly after, and that went quite well, but by mid-afternoon I hobble back the the hotel, barely able to walk because of the sciatic pain. missed an appointment with Nan which I was quite looking forward to, not to mention several dialogues with new contacts. really don’t believe it, that I have done something serious. been stretching all afternoon and evening between bouts resting in bed. nothing else to do! Faugh! miss a dinner with an interesting artist. following are notes for the Tactical Education presentation (on the neoscenes occupation project):
sotto voce: introduction: start by restating my conviction that:
venues like this can, by their nature, only mirror or document what is happening “out there” — and although this precise venue here — me speaking to you is probably not anyone’s first choice of interaction — but I was eager to participate in this part of nextfiveminutes as an opportunity to open some dialogues on methodologies and experiences. I would wish that the expressions here will represent ideas so vital that there will be nothing to do after our brief time together but to ACT. but I suppose that the most one can hope for is that some of these thoughts would be on a level fundamental enough that some of you might share these dialogues at future times. or at least be entertained by my ignorant display of polarized generalizations.
put neoscenes occupation within a larger context of praxis, personal philosophy, and reality.
Introduce self (without a base for four years, relying on my personal network, and living by an extensive human network. By definition, I am something of an outsider, as I have no social security net to fall back on, nor medical insurance, nor institutional sponsorship. I have been, however, employed, through my personal network, at more than 30 educational institutions in Europe, Scandinavia, and North America for periods from days to months during the last decade. more so during the last four years (evidence of the reality that people are desparate to know what the hell is going on ‘out there’)
re-defining terms — education, learning, teacher, student, dialogue, media and mediation, network, community, communications and so on… these things are and should be in flux and discussions/forums such as this one are critical to this process.
neoscenes occupation:
neoscenes occupation as presented is a fragment, and a distillation.
First the Framework:
as one activist in the process of learning, I find it essential to collaboratively create multiple situations, conceptual spaces where all participants might grow in their own way. the project I will outline briefly for you is part of one such space.
Introduction — neoscenes occupation is a grass-roots project with no aspirations of progressing from the bottom up — rather is has the goal to remain on the ground, embedded in the immediate material world, connected to life. it is about actively engaging through all available means. neoscenes occupation is the collective and (mostly) immaterial whole of the network of individuals who are currently involved.
It came about in response to several fundamental conditions and observations:
— much of the formal educational system in the developed world (I say that as that is where my experience lies), is irrelevant, and controlled by ideological forces of tradition, centralized power, and the silence of controlled communication. The primary means of indoctrination is through a forced discourse defined by fear — very few things presented in this widespread context lead to wisdom or even a basic knowledge of life. There are other more positive models to follow — (Paolo Friere) where the role of teacher and student are interchanged.
— a definite lack of positive dialogue and spaces where open dialogue might take place within these institutions and even in the society as a whole. I do have a high degree of faith in the idea that dialogue is the core of all meaningful activism. By dialogue, I do not mean words aimlessly thrown about amongst a group of people, but dialogue as a dynamic combination of word and action where both parties are in open respect and trust of the Other. this requires a situation! The accumulation of energy moving between the two becomes a living source or source of life. That synergy I would label a revolution that positions the dialogue as a crucial element in human spiritual and social development.
— Several large assumptions — that we are spiritual beings in a material world. Facing each other, we also face a gap of mediation across which we must send and receive our energies. the body is the primary mediation, and “technology” — as the cumulative creation of humans: material and ideological — is an additional mediation. All forms of mediation may ultimately be carriers of human energy from one human to another. Contemporary telecommunications is one such mediation which happens to be available to be used as a carrier of this energy. Not better or worse, but just there as another of a vast array of mediations…
— practically, being involved in Art Institutions, there is a very serious lack of understanding, knowledge, and interest in the very real opportunities offered through new media — from basic production and distribution tools (for this mythical beast called CONTENT) to networking and communications applications — especially of delivery/reception or collaboration with the accompanying concepts of community development.
— the possibilities of contemporary tele-communications as a constructive tool for dialogue, communications, and collaboration. I think you can see that the idea of constructing dialectic spaces is not limited to the use of new telecommunications mediums, but is rooted in something more basic. However, it has always been my conviction, having worked some years ago as a member of the imperialist vanguard as an engineer, that to leave these particular tools to those technocrats is at best, a dangerous move. It takes only a brief panorama at the present moment in history to confirm the absolute level of societal danger we are living within.
neoscenes responds to these conditions by energizing participants in an open environment of shared experience. it opens a door out of the institutional hierarchy into a zone of relative opportunity.
Project itself:
from the minimalist technological view, the project could be described as nothing more than packets of information crossing the internet in the form of email, listserv, irc, video conferencing, ftp, html, and so on. There have been several online events which themselves are perhaps culminations of localized and de-localized community-building. For example, last November, from a physical base in Finnish Lapland, we ran a 24-hour occupation of IRC, iVisit, and a continuous real audio/real video broadcast with people participating from five different schools. the primary mode for communication at the moment is email (listserv). as with any open network, these manifestations are simple and small steps in the formation of a larger space for energetic action. Later this year, I am organizing a one-month workshop with participants from ten schools that will take place again in Finnish Lapland. There will be no particular agenda or thematic, but more a situation where the reality of community context, cohabitation, and cross-cultural mediation can evolve the network.
seeks to establish a situation where the lowest common technical denominator becomes a common link between groups of people some who happen to be students in various institutions of higher education in the arts (despite the broad media hype, many of these schools have low or non-existent connectivity, computers are presented as tools for producing the same art as has been produced before — text, audio, video, and 2-D images)
There are two complementary aspects — the first being explorations of the environmental conditions which control the energizing contents of dialogue, and the second would be exploring methods to influence the quality of these dialogues — that is, to touch on what exactly allows for understanding to deepen between any two humans. And to touch on the ways that the individual might become more the activist within their own lives.
Problems:
There are several fundamental challenges which vary widely between institutions:
— necessity of wide-ranging dialogues on the socio-political issues that new media is certainly embedded in
— the existing power structure — communications problems, ideological issues RE: STRUCTURING THE PROCESS!
— the experiential knowledge-gap of the students — huge problem, but one that is beginning to shift, slowly.
— connectivity (although hardware is minor) — many major schools still do not understand the issues surrounding connectivity, relying on old models for information distribution and control…
neoscenes occupation cannot operate until basic discussions can take place regarding the nature of mediation, and the needs for communication to begin with — answers to the question of “Why engage in a dialogue”? are first answered…
I realize that there are significant and important socio-political structures within which neoscenes is operating — so part of the process of the project is to identify the position of the participants within that matrix, and once understanding that position, charting new pathways movement, new connections, and new configurations. I have no doubt that this project is deeply infiltrating institutions who control the cultural patrimony of their respective countries. And this represents an opportunity as well as a danger, — but I also believe, given the overwhelming positive responses I have gotten from students, that there is a whole of group of young people who are ready to deal with these issues.
networks that are true communities take time to establish and grow — they do not follow the deadly pace of technological development and commodification. Instead they are a life praxis formed by long-term and trusting relationships between human beings.
I appreciate that Eric was patient enough with my rhetorical style to involve me in this panel…
@ 1300 in the Kleine Zaal deBalie, I will be available for further discussion of the topics raised today.