ryan griffis
Since 2002
Works in United States of America

ARTBASE (3)
PORTFOLIO (1)
BIO
Ryan Griffis currently teaches new media art at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He often works under the name Temporary Travel Office and collaborates with many other writers, artists, activists and interesting people in the Midwest Radical Culture Corridor.
The Temporary Travel Office produces a variety of services relating to tourism and technology aimed at exploring the non-rational connections existing between public and private spaces. The Travel Office has operated in a variety of locations, including Missouri, Chicago, Southern California and Norway.

Is MySpace a Place?


Networked Performance pointed me toward an interview (download in PDF)with Networked Publics speaker Henry Jenkins and Networked Publics friend danah boyd about Myspace. The site, popular with teenagers, has become increasingly controversial as parents and the press raise concerns about the openness of information on the site and the vulnerability this supposedly poses to predators (Henry points out that only .1% of abductions are by strangers) and the behavior of teens towards each other (certainly nothing new, only now in persistent form). In another essay on Identity Production in Networked Culture, danah suggests that Myspace is popular not only because the technology makes new forms of interaction possible, but because older hang-outs such as the mall and the convenience store are prohibiting teens from congregating and roller rinks and burger joints are disappearing.

This begs the question, is Myspace media or is it space? Architecture theorists have long had this thorn in their side. "This will kill that," wrote Victor Hugo with respect to the book and the building. In the early 1990s, concern about a dwindling public culture and the character of late twentieth century urban space led us to investigate Jürgen Habermas's idea of the public sphere. But the public sphere, for Habermas is a forum, something that, for the most part, emerges in media and in the institutions of the state:

The bourgeois public sphere may be conceived above all as the sphere of private people come together as a public; they soon claimed the public sphere regulated from above against the public authorities themselves, to engage them in a debate over the general rules governing relations in the basically privatized but publicly relevant sphere of commodity exchange and social labor. The medium of this political confrontation was peculiar and without historical precedent: people's ...

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SWITCH: Issue 22



Carlos Castellanos:

HI everyone. Just wanted to announce the new issue of SWITCH:

SWITCH : The online New Media Art Journal of the CADRE Laboratory for
New Media at San Jose State University

http://switch.sjsu.edu switch@cadre.sjsu.edu

SWITCH Journal is proud to announce the launch of Issue 22: A Special
Preview Edition to ISEA 2006/ ZeroOne San Jose.

As San Jose State University and the CADRE Laboratory are serving as
the academic host for the ZeroOne San Jose /ISEA 2006 Symposium,
SWITCH has dedicated itself to serving as an official media
correspondent of the Festival and Symposium. SWITCH has focused the
past three issues of publication prior to ZeroOne San Jose/ISEA2006
on publishing content reflecting on the themes of the symposium. Our
editorial staff has interviewed and reported on artists, theorists,
and practitioners interested in the intersections of Art & Technology
as related to the themes of ZeroOne San Jose/ ISEA 2006. While some
of those featured in SWITCH are part of the festival and symposium,
others provide a complimentary perspective.

Issue 22 focuses on the intersections of CADRE and ZeroOne San Jose/
ISEA 2006. Over the past year, students at the CADRE Laboratory for
New Media have been working intensely with artists on two different
residency projects for the festival – “Social Networking” with Antoni
Muntadas and the City as Interface Residency, “Karaoke Ice” with
Nancy Nowacek, Marina Zurkow & Katie Salen. Carlos Castellanos,
James Morgan, Aaron Siegel, all give us a sneak preview of their
projects which will be featured at the ISEA 2006 exhibition. Alumni
Sheila Malone introduces ex_XX:: post position, an exhibition
celebrating the 20th anniversary of the CADRE Institute that will run
as a parallel exhibition to ZeroOne San Jose/ ISEA 2006. LeE
Montgomery provides a preview of NPR (Neighborhood Public Radio)
presence at ...

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Art & Mapping



The North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) has released a special issue of their journal, Cartographic Perspectives:
Art and Mapping Issue 53, Winter 2006 Edited by Denis Wood and and John Krygier Price: $25
The issue includes articles by kanarinka, Denis Wood, Dalia Varanka and John Krygier, and an extensive catalogue of map artists compiled by Denis Wood.

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[-empyre-] Liquid Narrative for June 2006


Christina McPhee:

hi all, I am not sure we got this message out to Rhizome!

Please join our guests this month, Dene Grigar (US), Jim Barrett
(AU/SE), Lucio Santaella (BR), and Sergio Basbaum (BR) , with
moderator Marcus Bastos (BR), for a spirited discussion of "Liquid
Narratives" ----- digital media story telling with a dash, perhaps,
of 'aura' .

Here's the intro from Marcus:

The topic of June at the - empyre - mailing list will be Liquid Narratives. The concept of 'liquid narrative' is interesting in that it allows to think about the unfoldings of contemporary languages beyond tech achievements, by relating user controlled applications with formats such as the essay (as described by Adorno in "Der Essay als Form", The essay as a form) and procedures related to the figure of the narrator (as described by Benjamin in his writings about Nikolai Leskov). Both authors are accute critics of modern culture, but a lot of his ideas can be expanded towards contemporary culture. As a matter of fact, one of the main concerns in Benjamin's essay is a description of how the rise of modernism happens on account of an increasing nprivilege of information over knowledge, which is even more intense nowadays. To understand this proposal, it is important to remember how Benjamin distinguishes between an oral oriented knowledge, that results from 'an experience that goes from person to person' and is sometimes anonymous, from the information and authoritative oriented print culture. One of the aspects of this discussion is how contemporary networked culture rescues this 'person to person' dimension, given the distributed and non-authoritative procedures that technologies such as the GPS, mobile phones and others stimulate.

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state of the planet infographics


stateoftheplanet.jpg
a small collection of beautiful information graphics documenting the current state of the planet.
see also gapminder & 3d data globe.
[seedmagazine.com]

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Discussions (909) Opportunities (8) Events (16) Jobs (0)
DISCUSSION

Re: doron golan animation movies and qtvr works


> -I contend that Doron's latest work
> lacks sentiment in this sense -the thing that gives it
> its mysteriousness is the impossibility of determining
> precisely at any point the directorial viewpoint -the
> viewer has to contruct a relationship to the folk in
> the films herself. In the end the films seem to me to
> leave us with a complex( because hard won, or better
> *worked for*, by the viewer)kind of empathy for their
> subjects and from this emerges a sense of great warmth
> for *actual* human beings engaged in living their
> complex and mysterious and messy lives.
> best
> michael

point taken, Michael. i certainly don't argue with your definitions and
qualifications of sentiment vs empathy (i'm not wearing a party hat for
postmodernism :) ). but i do see the tension as irresolvable... i don't
think it's possible to erase sentiment, which i think i read you as
defining as the use of conventions for affective ends. i guess this is
what makes Doron's movies more than "documentary" or "journalism" for
me - there seems to be a critical engagement with that tension. making
that line between "sentiment" and "empathy" (and i would even add
"indifference") almost visible. maybe it's just me ;)
thanks for the conversation.
ryan

DISCUSSION

Re: doron golan animation movies and qtvr works


On Sep 2, 2005, at 8:19 AM, Michael Szpakowski wrote:
>
> shining out from the screen. Lastly, warmth. These
> pieces, entirely devoid of sentimentality, seem to me
> to be suffused with a warmth that arises out a
> response to , an understanding of and an empathy with
> fellow human beings.

On a tangent, Michael, i wonder about the tension between
sentimentality (negative) and empathy (positive) that is implicit in
you saying Doron's work is "entirely devoid of sentimentality." i find
Doron's recent movies suffused with sentimentality, as they hint (to
me) at something idiosyncratic and emotional (as opposed to
"universal," but it's hard to get past the surface of that emotion, as
there remains an element of unknowability (existentialist, if you
will). i don't say this to negate the presence of humanist empathy,
which i also find there in an interestingly critical way. i just
question the negative connotations attached to sentiment. i.e.
sentiment == manipulation, empathy == understanding, which seems a
rather arbitrary and ideological value judgment.
the tension between these ideas is what makes documentary interesting
to me...
the Diebenkorn analogy is interesting in this, as critics of figuration
considered this move to be "sentimental" but in retrospect, RD's work
was a pretty "cold" use of figuration towards abstract ends, compared
to others of the same group, like David Park, who went for a much more
material and "fleshy" aesthetic.
best,
ryan

DISCUSSION

Fwd: Multimedia instructor position at LA Mission College


Begin forwarded message:

> Los Angeles Mission College invites you to apply for Multimedia Tenure
> Track Faculty Position.
>
> Closing Date: October 13, 2005
> Please fax or email submissions to:
> Leslie Milke,
> Chair of Arts, Health, and PE
> Institute of Arts and Multimedia
> Los Angeles Mission College
> Tel. 818-364-7765
> FAX 818-833-3307
> Email: milkel@laccd.edu
>
> Submission requirements: Cover Letter, Resume, and Teaching Philosophy
>
> From the finalists the following additional items will be required:
> letters of recommendation (2), transcripts, syllabus example, examples
> of student work (if available), and examples of art practice - either
> on CD Rom, Internet, DVD, or VHS (no slides or prints please)
>
> Minimum Qualifications: MFA in related field, or a BA with two years
> full-time working experience in the field
>
> Job Description: The Multimedia Studies division of the Institute of
> Arts and Multimedia (IAM) at Los Angeles Mission College is hiring a
> full time faculty position to commence in the Spring 2006 semester.
> Multimedia at IAM involves a range of subjects, including digital
> imaging, graphic design, interactive design, digital video and
> animation. Applicants qualified to teach in more than one of these
> areas are encouraged. Candidates with an MFA in a field related to
> Multimedia and with at least two years of teaching experience are
> encouraged to apply. Job responsibilities will include a full-time
> teaching schedule and working as the Vice Chair of Multimedia in areas
> like fundraising, scheduling of classes and recruitment. The
> Institute of Arts and Multimedia was founded on the principles of art
> as the foundation of successful digital art. Therefore, any candidate
> should have a strong grounding in art.
>
> Salary Range: $41,300 - $64,300, although hourly teaching assignments
> or a doctoral differential may increase the salary
>
> Email to: jobpostings@laccd.edu

DISCUSSION

As if we needed another reason...


to have an opinion about the administration.
i just watched Tom Friedman on Charlie Rose last night, giving his
utopian spin on globalization and communications technologies as they
"flatten the earth." his utopianism aside, he offers an interesting
appeal to the Bush Administration and the neocons in general in terms
of their ideas and policies surrounding technology, global trade and
energy. He expressed hopes that Bush will surprise critics and change
policy directions for the better. If the admin's approach to FEMA is
any indication, we're in for a surprise, but certainly not for the
better.

Begin forwarded message:

Destroying FEMA
By Eric Holdeman
The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/29/
AR2005082901445.html

Tuesday, August 30, 2005; Page A17

SEATTLE -- In the days to come, as the nation and the
people along the Gulf Coast work to cope with the
disastrous aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we will be
reminded anew, how important it is to have a federal
agency capable of dealing with natural catastrophes of
this sort. This is an immense human tragedy, one that
will work hardship on millions of people. It is beyond
the capabilities of state and local government to deal
with. It requires a national response.

Which makes it all the more difficult to understand
why, at this moment, the country's premier agency for
dealing with such events -- FEMA -- is being, in
effect, systematically downgraded and all but
dismantled by the Department of Homeland Security.')

Apparently homeland security now consists almost
entirely of protection against terrorist acts. How
else to explain why the Federal Emergency Management
Agency will no longer be responsible for disaster
preparedness? Given our country's long record of
natural disasters, how much sense does this make?

What follows is an obituary for what was once
considered the preeminent example of a federal agency
doing good for the American public in times of
trouble, such as the present.

FEMA was born in 1979, the offspring of a number of
federal agencies that had been functioning in an
independent and uncoordinated manner to protect the
country against natural disasters and nuclear
holocaust. In its early years FEMA grew and matured,
with formal programs being developed to respond to
large-scale disasters and with extensive planning for
what is called "continuity of government."

The creation of the federal agency encouraged states,
counties and cities to convert from their civil
defense organizations and also to establish emergency
management agencies to do the requisite planning for
disasters. Over time, a philosophy of "all-hazards
disaster preparedness" was developed that sought to
conserve resources by producing single plans that were
applicable to many types of events.

But it was Hurricane Andrew, which hit Florida in
1992, that really energized FEMA. The year after that
catastrophic storm, President Bill Clinton appointed
James Lee Witt to be director of the agency. Witt was
the first professional emergency manager to run the
agency. Showing a serious regard for the cost of
natural disasters in both economic impact and lives
lost or disrupted, Witt reoriented FEMA from civil
defense preparations to a focus on natural disaster
preparedness and disaster mitigation. In an effort to
reduce the repeated loss of property and lives every
time a disaster struck, he started a disaster
mitigation effort called "Project Impact." FEMA was
elevated to a Cabinet-level agency, in recognition of
its important responsibilities coordinating efforts
across departmental and governmental lines.

Witt fought for federal funding to support the new
program. At its height, only $20 million was allocated
to the national effort, but it worked wonders. One of
the best examples of the impact the program had here
in the central Puget Sound area and in western
Washington state was in protecting people at the time
of the Nisqually earthquake on Feb. 28, 2001. Homes
had been retrofitted for earthquakes and schools were
protected from high-impact structural hazards. Those
involved with Project Impact thought it ironic that
the day of that quake was also the day that the
then-new president chose to announce that Project
Impact would be discontinued.

Indeed, the advent of the Bush administration in
January 2001 signaled the beginning of the end for
FEMA. The newly appointed leadership of the agency
showed little interest in its work or in the missions
pursued by the departed Witt. Then came the Sept. 11
attacks and the creation of the Department of Homeland
Security. Soon FEMA was being absorbed into the
"homeland security borg."

This year it was announced that FEMA is to
"officially" lose the disaster preparedness function
that it has had since its creation. The move is a
death blow to an agency that was already on life
support. In fact, FEMA employees have been directed
not to become involved in disaster preparedness
functions, since a new directorate (yet to be
established) will have that mission.

FEMA will be survived by state and local emergency
management offices, which are confused about how they
fit into the national picture. That's because the
focus of the national effort remains terrorism, even
if the Department of Homeland Security still talks
about "all-hazards preparedness." Those of us in the
business of dealing with emergencies find ourselves
with no national leadership and no mentors. We are
being forced to fend for ourselves, making do with the
"homeland security" mission. Our "all-hazards"
approaches have been decimated by the administration's
preoccupation with terrorism.

To be sure, America may well be hit by another major
terrorist attack, and we must be prepared for such an
event. But I can guarantee you that hurricanes like
the one that ripped into Louisiana and Mississippi
yesterday, along with tornadoes, earthquakes,
volcanoes, tsunamis, floods, windstorms, mudslides,
power outages, fires and perhaps a pandemic flu will
have to be dealt with on a weekly and daily basis
throughout this country. They are coming for sure,
sooner or later, even as we are, to an unconscionable
degree, weakening our ability to respond to them.

The writer is director of the King County, Wash.,
Office of Emergency Management.

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DISCUSSION