dreadscott.mov

More: http://thomasasmuth.com

Many of my left leaning colleagues can tell you what a shill I can be. Such as the way I stood up at a national arts conference and pre-ambled  “I am here to defend the market…” in response to a particularly acrimonious and vicious critique of the excesses of industry and business. And I have debated countless times that the culture of the arts has an automatic and reactionary mistrust of dominant culture directly founded in the Modernist traditions without a truly critical update for this century. And yet I cannot help but feel puny and complicit in seeing the ramifications of Kurtz’s experiences in stepping slightly outside norm.

Kurtz did not immediately cut to his very well-known saga with the NSA and the Attorney General’s office. Instead, Kurtz started by exploring a lineage of his projects that interrogated the edges of the very narrow strip of ‘acceptable behavior’. He brought to light the Foucaultian ideas of the internalized control mechanisms known as micro-fascisms; Kurtz made quite a good case about the tragedy in self-regulation: a tragedy of self-censorship in order to continue to interface the invisible mechanisms that hold society together. 

Stepping over the boundary is really easy, Kurtz contends. And he demonstrated that it doesn’t take much more than an adult man playing with Hot Wheels toy cars on a city sidewalk to elicit an immediate sanction by law enforcement officers. The execution of swift sanctions by the military, police, politics, and the economy against those who step over the border of the hegemony can quickly train the ‘good citizen’. This conditioning can become engrained very quickly because of course the sanction usually leads to a loss or exclusion from the beneficial attributes of belonging to society. 

Thus an internalization of the ‘power’ becomes a selfish survival mechanism that also has a chilling effect on our creativity and freedom: an internal dialogue in which we can limit our own exploration of our discipline. Kurtz told a story about one of his travels in Europe; he had identified the perfect location to site his performance: a tower in the city center and connected with the city government. Immediately, he thought his project, using the tower to release microbes, was an outrageous request and had decided not to pursue it. Within his own mind a small fascist voice said “They’ll never let you do that.” Luckily, the curator assured Kurtz that they should try. The city council did approve it because, they were approached reasonably and understood that it was an artist performance. This is the internalized voice of authority and we can hear it say, “We can’t ask for that! They will never let us into city hall.” 

The automatic silence of the creative, critical, and vital voice by these internal dialogues is tragic; it is a paralysis of creativity. 

“It doesn’t have to be some kind of radical speech, it can be something very simple like we apologize for the sewage flowing around in the harbor.”

Kurtz posited that the spectrum of acceptable behavior is narrowing and is continuing to do so. The rise in fundamentalist sentiment since 2001 is not just confined to religious organizations. The fear of the ‘unknown’ has created ludicrous reactions in secular government as well. Loosely written and even more loosely interpreted acts such as the ‘Patriot Act’ threaten all of our freedoms. The threat is not limited to the novice practitioners like myself. You might have more than a decade of published work using biology and still be detained by the FBI and charged with ‘bioterrorism’ and threatened with twenty years in prison. A reification of the micro-fascisms; another lesson in how to be ‘the good citizen’.

And so I confess to you, the readers and the artists. I am guilty of silencing myself when I should have spoken my mind. I am guilty of asking permission. I am guilty of not asking permission because it was an outlandish idea. I am guilty of fearing to place an electronic device in public. 

It has never been more important to teach critical thought. It has never been more important to practice critically. For my absolution, I promise to play with toy cars on the sidewalk in front of Starbuck’s and release mists from the highest balconies at San Jose State, and leave little mysterious gadgets on the local bus. Please tell me what you will do.

My apologies, 

Thomas Asmuth

p.s.

Steve Kurtz’s lecture at ATC can be watched in it’s entirety at: http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/podcasts/atc/kurtz

CADRE and 01SJ

CALL FOR ENTRIES

POLAR IDENTITY

Global climate change has far reaching ramifications, the world as we know it will not be the world of 100 or perhaps even 10 years.  Armed with a “new” awareness of how our actions impact the environment, how will this effect our ideas of ourselves?  Polar Identity challenges us to take on a new perspective, one that can be both pragmatic and optimistic what is the fallout from new trade routes and passage through a once ice-blocked mass. How will these changes affect cartography, international relations, Easternization, religion, communications, etc. The new perspective upends the world, but what does it mean for the Southern hemisphere?

We are looking for work that relates to our individual & cultural relationships with the poles, how countries relate to the poles and how identity is derived from our polar relationship.

EXHIBITION SPONSORS
The exhibition will be online on the SWITCH Online Journal as well as physical location in the Silicon Valley. This will connected with the CADRE New Media Lab from San Jose State University and the San Jose Zero One Festival on the Edge.

PRIZES:

• First Prize $1000 and physical exhibition representation.
• Second Prize $500
• Three honorable mentions will be exhibited digitally on SWITCH.

DEADLINE
May 30, 2009 5pm Pacific Standard Time

EXHIBITION DATE
August – September
Location, TBA, Silicon Valley, CA and SWITCH.SJSU.EDU

ACCEPTED MEDIA
We will accept most media including papers, performance, 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional digital, multi-dimensional.

WHAT TO SUBMIT

Download the application

Send Submission to:
switch.cadre@hotmail.com

Format:
Submissions must be submitted with the below content in an email and the imagery (video, web, images, pdf’s) as a web link.

For all:

• 100 word bio
• 250 word artist statement of proposed work
• Approximate Timeline & Budget?

Performance/Video/Social Practice: 1(one)- 3 minute video of proposed work. 6 minute video of at least 2 past works that support your capability to do the project.

2d/3d/digital: 3 digital images of proposed work or sketches. 6 images of at least 2 previous works that support your capability to do the project.

Paper: 1(one)- 250 word abstract of proposed paper. 1-2 full text papers that support capability to do the project.

JUDGING
A collective of qualified judges will be invited to participate in choosing the winner.

SWITCH
SWITCH is the new media art journal of the Computers in Art, Design, Research, and Education (CADRE) Laboratory for New Media of the School of Art and Design at San Jose State University. Published since 1995, SWITCH is one of the earliest online journals focusing on art and technology. The mission of SWITCH aims to critically evaluate developments in art and technology with community, research and openness.

SWITCH is interested in fostering a critical viewpoint on issues and developments in the complex, and sometimes opaque crossovers between art and technology through practice, research, outreach, and participation.

CADRE
The CADRE Laboratory for New Media is an interdisciplinary academic and research program dedicated to the experimental use of information technology and art. A theoretical and critical orientation provides a conceptual context in which artistic activities are defined. Faculty and students have participated in the evolution of media technology for over 20 years.

01SJ
An independent nonprofit organization whose primary mission is to conduct a biennial festival that will offer attendees compelling experiences made possible at the intersection of art and digital culture. ZER01 is the producing organization for 01SJ: A global festival of art on the edge.

Danielle Siembieda has been the SWITCH editor since August 2007-February 2010. She has a background in journalism and social justice. Siembieda is currently working on a Masters of Fine Arts in Digital Media at the San Jose State University at CADRE Lab for New Media. Her projects include that involve bio art, green/ sustainable technology, institutional critique, and social practice. www.siembieda.com