one view of the PORT installation in the Reference Gallery, MIT List Visual Arts center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, January 25 through March 29, 1997

Proposal:
To establish Dialogues through the mediating effects of Technology.

Description:
In this project I scheduled a series of eight two-hour dialogues with a series of individuals. These individuals responded to a general call for participation that I made to people with whom I have an intimate personal or professional relationship, or strangers with whom the possibility of establishing a new dialogue existed. The dialogue series was presented live as both form and content on the projection screens of the PORT gallery space.

The project utilized a basic Internet technology for two-way communication -- that is, live text-mediated IRC (Internet Relay Chat). This is an ideological choice based on, among others, the following two factors:

• As a marginal participant in institutionalized art culture, (being either under-employed or unemployed for much of the preceding 20 months) I have limited access to stable connections and higher-band-width technologies such as video-conferencing and VRML. Depending on my location (which is not determined at the moment), I will be making my connections either from a local dial-up on an old Apple Powerbook, or via other dial-up networked connections. IRC is a technology that can be implemented on far less than state-of-the-art computers.
  
  
• The vast majority of what is itself a minuscule world-minority of on-line people has low-bandwidth dial-up access and I want to limit the expression and mediation in my project to a level that invites the greatest accessibility. The learning curve for IRC client software is moderate -- a critical factor as many of the people that I am working with have no experience with IRC.

Mediation introduces an overwhelming oppositional force to the power of face-to-face contact primarily through the element of Loss. Loss of the sensual Presence that informs a dialogue can diminish the energy flow inherent in this essential human activity. Mediated communication is easiest at the more practical level of provision of information (and noise). The greater the mediation, the greater the probability that information is the goal rather than substantial and genuine dialogue. By pressing technology into service of this activism, I would formally seek to explore the limitations and mediations that technology applies. Content, however, will not be limited to any particular subjective parameters, but rather will be spontaneous and will spring from the richness of presence (-in-absence) and the infinite possibilities of personal connection.

We live in a time where the value of two-way dialogue is higher than ever, and yet, sumultaneously, the pressures on the very existence of that dialogue increase proportionately. We are conditioned by the dominant public forms of interaction that communication is best left to a barrage of one-way platitudes eminating from the seats of Power through the Legion voices of print-media, film, television, and now, the Internet. We are allowed to respond as only the market dictates, with expressions of commerce -- what we buy, what we consume.

Participation by the 'audience', both virtual and real is a complex issue that will be dealt with depending on the contingencies of the moment. It can be a negative or positive intrusion into the intimacy of a bipolar dialectic, and so, cannot be mapped before-hand. There is always the possibility of intrusion with the largely public domain of the Internet. Built into IRC technology there are limited controls for the operator of a channel to ban certain users, and to generally control the space.

As a basic tenet of existence and as an artist, I intentionally seek to inhabit all spaces that I encounter as personal spaces of genuine dialogue and interaction -- where humane interaction based in a mutual recognition and engagement of the Other might take place.

The following is an essay introducing documentation of an earlier networking project -- a photocopy/post-art collaboration that I edited with contributions from 100 artists:

The way that Art is defined, created, and shared is a temporal and cultural reality. This cultural reality must be constantly confronted and critically examined so that both the culture and Art might evolve. By bringing our critical Life energies into productive, honest, and consistent Dialogue with the members of our community, we act as catalysts for cultural change and (r)evolution. Through this open contact we must take responsibility for both our human rights and human obligations.

Dialogue causes important spatial and temporal genesis in the Language of Art -- it is a revolutionary Art itself when in critical juxtaposition to silence. Dialogue, as pure expression of heart and soul, is the core of all meaningful activism. Even as the literal and visual icons of culture carry dynamic social values, so Dialogue actively carries and transmits the social consciousness. Dialogue is critical at all times. Dialogue is historic in that word and meaning change in the time and space of ideology -- Dialogue is ahistoric in that each coming day brings a new imperative for communication.

For Dialogue to operate freely within all subjects and modes in our community, we must provide some physical and/or intellectual and/or spiritual space for it to exist within. As humans, we must seek to create a community space wherein anyone might freely propose subjects for humane Dialogue as well as begin that Dialogue."

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Technology support:

The four machines should have a stable IRC client installed. I will be running "IRCle" on a Mac-platform. I will activate channels as operator and communicate this to the various individual partners as well as the gallery tech-support, so they can tune in.

Regarding the exhibition space, two of the central screens are dedicated to the simple scrolling text/content of the dialogues. The text will be archived, compiled, and printed out for inclusion in the installation of 'content' on the walls. There are no special needs anticipated at the moment.

A Short IRC Primer
IRC Help

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Dates and participants:

Each dialogue will take place between:
1400-1600 (2-4pm) Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5 Boston, New York City)
which is the same time as:
1200-1400 (12-2pm) Mountain Standard Time (GMT-7 Prescott, Arizona)
1500-1700 (3-5pm) Eastern Maritime Zone (GMT-4 Halifax, Santa Domingo)
2000-2200 (8-10pm) European Standard Time (GMT+1, Amsterdam, Netherlands)
2100-2300 (9-11pm) Eastern European Time (GMT+2, Helsinki)

The contents of each dialogue are posted on the Dialogue links to the upper right of this page.

January 29 - an introductory test session with some of the dialogue participants...

February 5 - Dialogue 1 - Alexandra Thurman - am924 (at) chebucto.ns.ca - Nova Scotia, Canada
February 12 - Dialogue 2 - Josephine Bosma - jesis (at) xs4all.nl - Amsterdam, Netherlands
February 19 - Dialogue 3 - Leslee Broersma - lbroersm (at) carbon.cudenver.edu - Boulder, Colorado, USA *
February 26 - Dialogue 4 - Joy McManus - ibidem (at) boisdarc.etsu.edu - http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/2929 - Texas, USA *
March 5 - Dialogue 5 - George Saunders - George_Saunders (at) radian.com - Syracuse, New York, USA *
March 12- Dialogue 6 - Lily Diaz - lily (at) mlab.uiah.fi - Helsinki, Finland *
March 19 - Dialogue 7 - Willa Cline - willa (at) willa.com - http://www.willa.com - Overland Park, Kansas, USA *
March 26 - Dialogue 8 - Terhi Penttila - terhi (at) avalon.icon.fi - http://www.kuva.fi/users/terhi.html - Helsinki, Finland *

Alternates:

Scott Hopkins - scooter (at) u.arizona.edu - Tucson, Arizona, USA
Adrianne Wortzel - sphinx (at) inch.com - NYC, New York, USA
Heather Wagner - wag (at) slack.net - NYC, USA
Steve Bradley - sbradley (at) umbc.edu - Baltimore, USA
Mark Stahlman - stahlman (at) radiomail.net - NYC, USA


Special thanks to Erez Segal (for helping Alexandra), and, of course, Remo and Robbin for inviting me to join this project...

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