a job possibility slips through fingers greased with imaginations of freedom and non-heirarchic relation. no, slips because the structure of relation is, in the case of that particular institution, not flexible or mutable enough to value my praxis. and under-developed skills of institutional negotiation. c’est comme ça. it’s a bit of a come-down and unfortunate for the committee who invited me to apply some weeks ago, but when one door close, another one open, as Fela Kuti would say.
and the iDC list blows up with a critique of ISEA. hard to know where to start with that. knowing so many of the artists involved, but also feeling a bit puzzled about some of the extreme juxtapositions at the symposium and exhibitions and around town. the term interactive city seems most problematic. at one end of the scale, the project Moveable Types and Instant Spaces which had a direct impact on locals, especially the enthusiastic kids playing in the fountain in Ceasar Chavez Park.
and maybe it’s just that city self-promotion in the US these days — an integral part of the ISEA / Zero-One event — is a shrill and aggressive process that is driven by the same ilk of developers and profiteers who have raped the rest of the land into submission.
a blissful 2 kilometers in the outdoor pool. after a week of imbibing in intellectual stimulation, stretching the body a bit in a turquoise 25 meter x 3-meter-deep pool is an absolute luxury.
