mark cooley
Since 2002
Works in United States of America

ARTBASE (5)
PORTFOLIO (4)
BIO
Mark Cooley is an interdisciplinary artist interested in exploring the intersections of art, activism and institutional critique in a variety of contexts. Subjects of particular interest are U.S. foreign policy, corporate culture, and the political economy of new technologies. Recently, Mark has focused his attention on food production and consumption and the ways in which artists may mediate in these processes.

http://www.flawedart.net


The New American Dictionary


The Boston-based performance group Institute for Infinitely Small Things has published a book called The New American Dictionary.

The dictionary highlights the terminology of fear, security and war that has permeated American English post 9-11. It includes 68 new terms i.e. Preparedness and Freedom Fries as well as terms that have recently been redefined i.e. Torture.

The dictionary also has an interactive dimension. 58 terms are left undefined for the reader to pencil in their own definition. Furthermore, readers are invited to submit their additions to the institute for a possible inclusion in the 2nd edition.

The New American Dictionary is available at several online stores.

www.newamericandictionary.com

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exhaust emissions balloons


exhaust_emissions.jpg
a huge balloon, tied to a car�s vent-pipe, depicting the amount of exhaust emissions a car releases a day.

the "bursting earth" project is similar, but more dynamic. activists attach world globe balloons on exhaust pipes of cars in Berlin. the exhaust gas inflates the ballons. after the message becomes readable, there is a big "bang".

[link: frederiksamuel.com & adsoftheworld.com & 20to20.org]

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WoW!


Aram Bartholl is a german artist renowned for making physical abstractions of the digital world, particularly game-worlds.

One of Aram's not-to-be-missed performances is inspired by the popular computer game World of Warcraft (WoW).

In WoW, the nickname of the player's avatar is constantly hovering above the head of the player so that the identity is visible for everyone else in the game.

Aram took this little feature out of cyberspace to see how it would look if people's names would float above their heads in the physical world too.

WoW has been performed at different locations around the world. Luckily, it is well-documented!


Getting coffee WoW style Workshop in Ghent Project Site

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REALIZING THE IMPOSSIBLE: ART AGAINST AUTHORITY


reaimp.jpg

Aesthetics and Politics

REALIZING THE IMPOSSIBLE: ART AGAINST AUTHORITY by Josh MacPhee, Erik Reuland, editors :: There has always been a close relationship between aesthetics and politics in anti-authoritarian social movements. And those movements have in turn influenced many of the last century's most important art movements, including cubism, Dada, post-impressionism, abstract expressionism, surrealism, Fluxus, Situationism, and punk. Today, the movement against corporate globalization, with its creative acts of resistance, has brought anti-authoritarian politics into the forefront. This sprawling, inclusive collection explores this vibrant history, with topics ranging from turn-of-the-century French cartoonists to modern Indonesian printmaking, from people rolling giant balls of trash down Chicago streets to massive squatted urban villages and renegade playgrounds in Denmark, from stencil artists of Argentina to radical video collectives of the US and Mexico. Lots of illustrations, all b&w.;

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Discussions (102) Opportunities (8) Events (39) Jobs (2)
DISCUSSION

Re: Re: Sociology of the Fading Signal--Can You Hear Me Now?


> 6) Why is the loss of email and TV reception met with frustration and near-hysteria

recently, a trip to Best Buy showed me that television antennae are now marketed as back-up systems to cable and other forms of reception (i guess i've been in a tv time warp). i was buying the thing as my only form of tv reception. it is interesting and sort of sad to think that people would be so upset at the thought of their cable cutting out in the middle of a show that they would actually go out and buy a back-up system.

this is an interesting research topic - sean's not mine.

Eryk Salvaggio wrote:

>
>
> These are some great points. I like that you look at signal abscence
> vs the
> signal overwhelmed by noise. Is there a "drop to signal" ratio rating
> on par
> with "signal to noise?" Dropped signal may have its broader meanings
> as
> well.
>
> There's a Rufus Wainwright song called "Vibrate" that has a line I
> think is
> pretty clever:
>
> My phone's on vibrate for you
> But still I never ever feel from you
>
> I personally feel like apologizing for the signal breakup actually
> stems
> from some embarrassment that comes from owning a cell phone in the
> first
> place. I am landline-locked, and that is how I always take my friends
> apologies- "Oh, look at you with your landline, and me, with my frilly
> convinience and its making us unable to communicate." In my circle of
> friends the cell phone was always a symbol of yuppie indulgence- and
> then
> overconsumption in general. And then, everyone bought one. When you
> talk to
> a landline on a crappy cell phone, there is responsibility for the
> breakup
> of the conversation.
>
> -e.
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sean Capone" <sean@mvmt.us>
> To: <list@rhizome.org>
> Sent: Saturday, November 08, 2003 2:57 PM
> Subject: RHIZOME_RAW: Sociology of the Fading Signal--Can You Hear Me
> Now?
>
>
> > Hi all. While chatting with a friend in SF from my location in
> Chicago,
> his signal suddenly died. While the implications of mobility and
> nomadic
> enabling telecommunications has been written about quite a bit, I am
> interested if anyone has conducted any artistic or anthropological
> research
> on the telecommunications reality of the Faded Signal. There seem to
> be some
> implications here on the way in which theses technologies have
> sculpted new
> social landscapes, but in which the glitches inherent in the
> technology are
> taken for granted by the users, whose navigational instincts then
> guide them
> through the anxieties of Sudden Potential or Actual Communication
> Loss. I
> mean it seems obvious, but I think that's only because we have so
> seamlessly
> adopted (adapted) our habits around the inevitability of the Glitch.
> >
> > Some quick scattered thoughts:
> >
> > 1) Can Total Information Loss provide comfort in a paranoid age of
> Total
> Information Awareness?
> >
> > 2) Episode of Friends: Phoebe fakes her way out of a phone
> conversation by
> pretending that she was on a mobile and 'just about to go into a
> tunnel---(makes static noise with mouth)--OK bye now!'. A good comic
> bit,
> but also a riff on the social phenomena (batteries dying, signal
> cutout,
> needing two hands to do something) of deceit which is enabled by
> taking the
> Glitch for granted.
> >
> > 3) Is anyone else struck by the sadness of the "Can You Hear Me Now"
> guy--a rootless lonely cell-phone ronin endlessly repeating his mantra
> to
> the electronic void...
> >
> > 4) Business etiquette as practiced by international executives has
> the
> severity and rigidity of bushido. I wonder what mannerisms and
> professional
> attitudes of conducting business have emerged as a result of having a
> potential signal loss wiping out a delicate deal-in-progress. What
> ethnic
> and cultural biases come into play as different countries'
> incompatible cell
> networks and methods of social protocol compete?
> >
> > 5) STD-ISD: You will never get lost in India no matter what--it is
> THE
> most wired nation in the world. I was impressed that literally
> everywhere,
> on practically every street corner, were booths that allowed one to
> make
> cheap, clear, and fast phone calls to anywhere in the world. To say
> nothing
> of the frenzy of the (now increasingly regulated) cell industry out
> there. A
> sane response to an otherwise glitchy and congested society.
> >
> > 6) Why is the loss of email and TV reception met with frustration
> and
> near-hysteria, but cell phone signal loss is met with, at best, mild
> aggravation and more often than not, if you think about it, mild
> relief at
> the outside interruption of what was a (good but) banal conversation?
> What
> are the statistics on resuming conversations following a signal loss?
> What
> does this say about the flexibility of our habituations?
> >
> > 7) Everyone experiences 'dead zone' areas in cities--certain places
> that
> are clearly delineated-- where one's cell simply will not get a
> signal.
> These electromagnetic topographical black holes create anxieties once
> encountered and perhaps permanently alter one's desire to return to
> the area
> or skirt the virtual perimeter. But at the same time they offer zones
> of
> retreat and reflection, a telecommunication Zen garden deep within the
> city's canyons.
> >
> > 7a) In other words, these 'Dead zones' produce yet another
> psychogeography
> overlaid on the several we carry already navigating our urban
> habitations,
> but rather than a social or technological map, it is one of neuroses.
> The
> ability to be gotten ahold of at all times creates a neurotic
> condition
> about being out of touch, even if it's just for minutes at a time.
> >
> > 8) Why do we apologize when our signals fade or are crappy? I
> believe this
> is leftover cultural collateral anxiety along the lines of, say,
> choosing a
> crappy car or buying a cheap TV set. Picking an inferior wireless
> provider
> or a cheap phone is, by nature, indicative of a careless or
> insuficient
> identity/personality as manifested through its consumer choices.
> >
> > 9) The potential Loss of the Signal is the perimeter around any new
> works
> or social acts. The new activist phenomena of spontaneous, cell-phone
> motivated organizations and happenings is undermined should there be a
> sudden relay power loss, or should the targets of protest engage in
> the
> counter-practice of picking-or creating- 'dead zones' in which to
> house
> their activities. Or, in terms of art practice, Golan Levin conducted
> a
> cellphone symphony by casting his own frequencies at the audience (is
> this
> correct?), eliminating the need to stage the event in a universally
> receptible location..
> >
> >
> > 10) The Matrix, among other things, creates a world where survival
> depends
> upon clear signals and defined 'exit points' via the Operators. These
> 'real
> people' diving into the Matrix are the metaphorical Initiates
> embodying
> present-day cool 'Wired' individuals-- Infonauts spelunking into
> consumer-zombie society along the lines of privileged demands for free
> and
> instantaneous access to technological communication. Is Neo the
> equivelant
> of the cell-phone yapping, SUV driving Silicon Valley millionaire,
> creating
> the need for science-fiction-like access to technology for a society
> he
> secretly holds in contempt?
> >
> >
> > Feel free to add to this list of observations. Again, while the
> implications of mobile empowerment is interesting, I'm even more
> compelled
> to explore what's happening on the ragged edges and empty spaces--
> >
> > Look around and see how you and others around you seamlessly absorb
> signal
> loss into your daily existence.
> >
> > :sean
> > +
> > -> post: list@rhizome.org
> > -> questions: info@rhizome.org
> > -> subscribe/unsubscribe:
> http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> > -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> > -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
> > +
> > Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> > Membership Agreement available online at
> http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
> >
>

DISCUSSION

Re: Re: Re[2]: RHIZOME_RAW: finding net.art in the rhizome artbase


-e
i shouldn't have to say that my presence or lack of presence in the artbase didn't have anything to do with my comments, but for you eryk i guess that explanation is needed. nice way of avoiding the content of my comments - shoot the messenger - kill the messege. maybe i should leave the discussion to heavyweights like you eryk. leave it to you to turn everything into a juvenile cock fight. the forum is yours -e - Strap it on and Go for it.
the end.

> Eryk Salvaggio wrote:
> Someone was left out of the Artbase?
>
> -e.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "mark cooley" <mgc868f@smsu.edu>
> To: <list@rhizome.org>
> Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 11:19 PM
> Subject: Re: Re[2]: RHIZOME_RAW: finding net.art in the rhizome
> artbase
>
>
> > just a comment on voting as part of the rhizome filtering process.
> >
> > let me preface that I have respect for the wishes of artists
> represented
> in the artbase and feel that there individual interests should be met
> with
> whatever structure this whole thing takes. i'm wondering though, is
> the
> artbase not already a competition? artists submit and some artists are
> chosen over others. editors of sites like rhizome share a big
> responsibility in that they are in fact writing future chapters of art
> history with their decisions. some are included, some are left out,
> as with
> the writing of all history, depending on the values of the archivists.
> assuming all of this, my question is - why does the inclusion of
> voting
> necessarily cheapen things and automatically make this whole thing
> into a
> bad reality tv show? given the rhetoric around the supposed openness
> of
> online communities, it seems ironic that some would rather stick with
> a few
> editors judgements than open up the decision making process to more
> people.
> to the extent that rhizome works within a !
> > system of cultural capital it is already a competition (of unwilling
> competitors). if we assume this, as i do, the question perhaps should
> be -
> is it better to have more or less people making decisions about what
> and how
> content is archived (how history gets made)?
> >
> > Roman Minaev wrote:
> >
> > > And how about top 5, bottom 5 and middle 5?
> > > The most important thing trashconnection would appear somewere.
> > >
> > +
> > -> post: list@rhizome.org
> > -> questions: info@rhizome.org
> > -> subscribe/unsubscribe:
> http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> > -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> > -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
> > +
> > Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> > Membership Agreement available online at
> http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
> >
>

DISCUSSION

Re: Re[2]: RHIZOME_RAW: finding net.art in the rhizome artbase


just a comment on voting as part of the rhizome filtering process.

let me preface that I have respect for the wishes of artists represented in the artbase and feel that there individual interests should be met with whatever structure this whole thing takes. i'm wondering though, is the artbase not already a competition? artists submit and some artists are chosen over others. editors of sites like rhizome share a big responsibility in that they are in fact writing future chapters of art history with their decisions. some are included, some are left out, as with the writing of all history, depending on the values of the archivists. assuming all of this, my question is - why does the inclusion of voting necessarily cheapen things and automatically make this whole thing into a bad reality tv show? given the rhetoric around the supposed openness of online communities, it seems ironic that some would rather stick with a few editors judgements than open up the decision making process to more people. to the extent that rhizome works within a system of cultural capital it is already a competition (of unwilling competitors). if we assume this, as i do, the question perhaps should be - is it better to have more or less people making decisions about what and how content is archived (how history gets made)?

Roman Minaev wrote:

> And how about top 5, bottom 5 and middle 5?
> The most important thing trashconnection would appear somewere.
>

DISCUSSION

Re: Materialism/Mysticism (was Re: No Web Art in the Whitney Biennial?)


just wanted to throw something in... a response to... > If a spiritual world exists, but I don't allow for its existence, I will wrongly attribute spiritual influences to material causes. If a spiritual
world doesn't exist, but I believe one does, I will wrongly attribute
material influences to spiritual causes.< Curt. There is, of course, the third position (and many others besides) that allows for both the existence of "a spiritual world" and a materialist way of finding social relations meaningful. I don't think this should be a chicken OR egg thing. It is possible to believe the existence of an unattainable (at least while we are in our bodies here on earth) transcendence and a view that human social relations always work within political/economic contexts. Personally, I have a lot of trouble attributing material situations with universal/transcendent causes, simply because every situation takes place within relations of power in society... unless you say that power relations are somehow divinely sanctioned... and I'm not about to go there.
One can believe in the existence of a spirit world and, at the same time, have no faith in it.

Eryk Salvaggio wrote:

> (weirdest change of subject I've seen in a while)
>
> Curt;
>
> The problem with a lot of moderate views of Marxism and Socialism is
> that
> they react to a very base element of spirituality (which many people
> do).
> This is really true with any secular movement. The interesting thing
> though
> is that revolution serves the same function that religion might.
>
> Erich Fromm suggested that there were two types of religion-
> humanistic and
> totalitarian; and that totalitarian religion is an escape from
> freedom,
> while humanistic religion allows an individual to look at their own
> freedom
> and not be afraid, but to embrace freedom for positive action. I think
> a lot
> of secular movements, like Marxism, look at totalitarian religion and
> mistake it for *all* religion- certainly Marx did. Totalitarian
> Religion is
> the opiate of the masses, indeed- but humanistic religion shares its
> aims
> with Marxism: Liberation of the human spirit. The underlying
> disagreement is
> unfortunate for both.
>
> Humanistic religion sees God as an idealized state for humanity to
> struggle
> towards; Revolution is about the struggle for an idealized state. God
> is
> within each follower and allows each individual to reach their
> greatest
> potential in Religion; just substitute "revolution" with "god" and you
> get
> the same thing. The key difference, from what I see, is that I see far
> more
> happy religious people than happy revolutionaries. Revolutionaries
> fall so
> quickly into totalitarianism; it is hard to turn down the power over
> others
> that comes with equating oneself with a state of righteousness, be it
> political or spiritual.
>
> Situatationists, Dadaists, and your beloved Conceptual artists; at
> their
> best, take the ideas that Fromm took as well- that the evidence of
> liberation is in spontaneity; which is a different realization from
> much of
> religion, though much-abused Zen thought lends itself towards
> understanding
> enlightenment as spontaneity as well. Have you read Meister Eckhart?
> He's a
> Christian Mystic from the 13th century, and a lot of the translations
> I have
> of him are decidedly Marxist. Here's his poem, written here in prose
> form to
> emphasize its Marxist nature:
>
> "Commerce is supported by keeping the individual at odds with himself
> and
> others, by making us want more than we need, and offering credit to
> buy what
> refined senses do not want. The masses become shackled, I see how
> their eyes
> weep and are desperate- of course they feel desperate- for some remedy
> that
> a poor soul feels needs to be bought. I find nothing more offensive
> than a
> god who would condemn human instincts in us that time in all its
> wonder have
> made perfect. I find nothing more destructive to the well being of
> life than
> to support a god who makes you feel unworthy and in debt to it. I
> imagine
> erecting churches to such a strange god will assure the endless wars
> that
> commerce loves."
>
> It strikes me as interesting that anyone with religious views would
> hold
> such a strong disregard to conceptual art, when I have always seen it
> as an
> extension of religion. I get in trouble for using the word "mysticism"
> in a
> secular way now and then, so maybe my pov hasn't allowed me to see how
> someone who is *truly* religious could find it offensive. Do you think
> conceptual art is challenging the position of actual faith in God? (I
> mean
> this in all sincerity- it has always been my understanding that
> conceptual
> art ala Cage, Beuys, Tzara and Duchamp is all about mysticism- I know
> Cage
> and Tzara say it pretty explicitly.)
>
> -e.
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "curt cloninger" <curt@lab404.com>
> To: <list@rhizome.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 9:05 PM
> Subject: RHIZOME_RAW: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: No Web Art in
> the
> Whitney Biennial?
>
>
> > Michael Szpakowski wrote:
> >
> > > All marxism at bottom asserts is that ideas don't come
> > > from nowhere but arise out of how we reproduce
> > > ourselves and the necessities of life - food,
> > > clothing, shelter.
> > > I'm not trying to fluffify it here - the consequences
> > > of these ideas are far reaching, but the ideas
> > > themselves are pretty straightforward.
> > > It's indubitably the case that without the things
> > > above listed then
> > > "love and intimacy and thanksgiving and
> > > creativity and celebration and barbaric yawpin'"
> > > which I too value in all their glorious human
> > > particularity and enormously varied manifestations
> > > throughout history, would not occur.
> >
> > Hi Michael,
> >
> > I'm not so sure that's true. There is no denying that
> reproduction,
> food, clothing, and shelter are ever with us on this earth, but I
> don't know
> whether their persistent presence makes them the underlying (or even
> prime)
> cause for every other thing we do. I've always had two eyeballs in my
> head,
> but not all my actions derive from that fact.
> >
> > If a spiritual world exists, but I don't allow for its existence, I
> will
> wrongly attribute spiritual influences to material causes. If a
> spiritual
> world doesn't exist, but I believe one does, I will wrongly attribute
> material influences to spiritual causes.
> >
> > I believe a spiritual world exists.
> >
> > local mileage may vary,
> > curt
> > +
> > -> post: list@rhizome.org
> > -> questions: info@rhizome.org
> > -> subscribe/unsubscribe:
> http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> > -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> > -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
> > +
> > Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> > Membership Agreement available online at
> http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
> >
>

DISCUSSION

Re: [0100101110110101.ORG] FOR SALE


hi curt,
just adding to the not so exquisite corpse.

>The medium is the valium.
it always was the "massage" ...
http://www.t0.or.at/dery/wired.htm
ryan