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 ...
SWITCH: Issue 22
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 ...
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.
[-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.state of the planet infographics
a small collection of beautiful information graphics documenting the current state of the planet.
see also gapminder & 3d data globe.
[seedmagazine.com]
Re: the rapture and anti-environmentalism
> don't have to be in a minority for someone to be prejudiced against
> you. You don't have to be non-white for someone to be prejudiced
> against you. You don't have to be poor for someone to be prejudiced
> against you. You simply have to have someone make a prejudgment of
> you not based on fact or logic.
sure, but it's the material results of such prejudice that matter. (i
know, i know - materialism again) do i care if someone thinks i'm
stupid because i'm from the south, sometimes. if i get my ass kicked or
denied a job/healthcare/access to services, i definitely care - all the
time. i don't see how that's a bogey. saying it is, IMHO, is merely a
reflection of the privilege that allows it to be so inconsequential.
the implications of prejudice for a rich white protestant and a poor
catholic immigrant of color (pick your point of origin, and mix the
religions around if you like) are not the same, at least in the
material world we all inhabit at the moment.
don't get me wrong... i'm not denying the reality of prejudice against
Christianity - like Francis, i find myself defending my own beliefs
when they get aligned with things that i'm diametrically opposed to.
and i'm not saying that a little prejudice is needed to balance things
out. but, for the same reasons that i don't want to be aligned with the
christians that seem to be enjoying a great deal of political power at
the moment (and not just because they happen to be in power), i also
don't think we should say "Hey, give them some slack because they're
'Christian' and they feel persecuted." If part of the problem (as one
may see it) is a result of their specific use of religion, i think it's
a valid target.
but as i said before, i think the criticism has to move away from the
"it's because they're 'Christian'" (and i agree with Curt that the
"millions of Christians" statement by Moyers establishes a dangerously
sweeping tone that removes focus from the intended targets) and engage
the problem from both constructive and critical positions. As i keep
mentioning (it seems like) there are many "Christian" movements that
have other perspectives and ideas that the "secular left" (whatever you
take that to mean) could sure as hell benefit from alliances with.
Re: the rapture and anti-environmentalism
> to happen (not even Jesus), so be found obeying God as if you didn't
> know when it was going to happen.
quite a strange discussion for Rhizome, but not that it hasn't been
here before.
as one of the few people, other than Curt, identifying myself as a
Christian here, i'm also weary of the ease with which criticism is
attached to the notion of "Christianity" itself. i read the Moyers
article mentioned a while back... even posted pretty much the same
piece here http://rhizome.org/thread.rhiz?thread748&text0198.
like Jim, i didn't see this as an attack on "Christianity" - mostly
because i've read/heard Moyers discuss religion before, and his
position has never been anti-faith.
i've also seen Pat Robertson's 700 club and it's not too difficult to
make the connections between the political interests represented there
and the Bush Administration (i've mentioned this before, but how do you
make sense of a financial "news" segment that tells you how to prepare
your stock portfolio for the rapture?). It seems a mix of economic,
social and religious mythology that Moyers is taking aim at. The
eco-destructive tendencies of the W Administration isn't exclusively
the domain of profit or spiritual motives.
It's not that "Christianity" asks/orders this of these people - the
same texts and foundational beliefs ground liberation theology and many
protestant and catholic efforts at achieving environmental justice
(they've been the strongest coalitions, in fact). But to say that the
tendencies Moyers is pointing to have nothing to do with a particular
religious mythology seems mistaken. The people Moyers mentions are also
involved in other efforts to follow some kind of prophesy, like
ferrying Jewish migrants to Israel, not for the safety of the migrants,
but for their own narrativized reasons.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/03/60minutes/main524268.shtml
This is not the kind of "preparedness" Curt mentions above, but an
active playing out of prophetic narratives. And one that undeniably
causes a whole lot of suffering.
This is why Moyers' criticism is needed, IMHO, because it is not
attacking "Christianity," but attempting to discuss the contradictions
between a faith and the policies that are being sold through
identification with that faith that are specific to the US context.
many of my critiques of the Bush Admin (and its historical precedents)
are, in fact, rooted in my particular faith. so, i have a vested
interest in trying to dismantle their particular use of religion.
>
> It's easy to pick on a group that everyone generally despises and no
> one knows very much about. Do a little research, make some facile
> conclusions, and then declare whatever you like... (blacks are prone
> to drug abuse, muslims are prone to terrorism). Politically correct
> people aren't allowed to say either of those things (and well they
> shouldn't be), but say anything you like about Christians and the
> general response is, "that may or may not be true, but I wouldn't put
> it past 'em."
Sensitivity is in order here curt, but come on... Christianity hardly
suffers from the same oppressions that either blacks or muslims do in
the US. but critics should take note of the ability of a small group of
Christians (that seem to be using the religion to its most effective
political ends) to use the apparent "widespread" attacks on their faith
to shore up support - not unlike the disgruntled white male syndrome.
The critics need to drop the polemics that seem to see only one shade
of "Christian" and make some coalitions.
Fwd: Glowlab news
> Welcome to the shortest newsletter ever...
>
> We re-launched today!
> Have a look:
> http://www.glowlab.com
>
> cheers,
> Glowlab
Bruce Sterling
a "futurist" at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena
California.
some discussion about design and sustainability, among other things
real audio and podcast avialable here:
http://www.kcrw.com/show/de
Fwd: [war news digest 3.15.05] war at home in the age of the fake
> Hi,
> Excuse this interruption of viagra spam and online dating tips.
>
> Since lumpen is concerned about your mental health and information
> diet we
> thought we would alert you to a major problem in your consumption of
> news.
>
> There is already a huge problem with bias and misinformation in the
> mainstream media. But the ugliness has been amplified recently.
>
> In the past few days a small blip regarding state sponsored domestic
> propaganda in the NYT and the alternative media has erupted. The
> problem is
> centered around the practice of fake news being issued via government
> video
> news releases to mainstream television media outlets. the hunt for WMD
> perhaps the most famous of the fake stories. The video news releases
> often
> plays without letting the viewer know that a government agency or
> corporation created the content.. Since most american's get their news
> form
> tv this is a big problem...
>
> A democracy now broadcast on Monday March 15 is perhaps the most
> interesting
> place to start investigating the matter:
> State Propaganda: How Government Agencies Produce Hundreds of
> Pre-Packaged
> TV Segments the Media Runs as News
> http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid/03/14/152202
>
> fake news is now replacing the already biased "real " news. here are a
> few
> articles that will help us see what is happening.
>
> To learn more about this not so surprising but totally out of control
> practice start here:
> http://www.freepress.net/propaganda/
>
> The Age of the Fake
> http://spinwatch.server101.com/modules.php?
> name=Content&pa=showpage&pid41
>
> Administration Rejects Ruling On PR Videos GAO Called Tapes Illegal
> Propaganda
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A35010-2005Mar14?
> language=printer
>
> The Propaganda Czar from Paris + Texas
> http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0314-21.htm
>
> - its happening in the uk too...
> The Ministry of Defence in the Control Room
> Did the BBC Broadcast Fake News Reports?
> http://www.counterpunch.org/miller03142005.html
>
> So what can we do about it? Check out this petition and let everyone
> know
> what is up.
>
> From the freepress site:
>
> Stop News Fraud
> The White House is infiltrating local news broadcasts with
> taxpayer-funded
> covert propaganda. At least 20 federal agencies have produced and
> distributed fake news stories touting Bush administration policies.
> Last
> Friday, the Bush administration told government agencies to keep on
> producing the bogus broadcasts -- even after Congress' Government
> Accountability Office declared these "video news releases" to be
> illegal.
>
> Together we forced an investigation of pundits on the government
> payroll.
> With your help, we can force Congress, the Federal Communications
> Commission
> and local broadcasters to crack down on covert propaganda and keep
> fake news
> off the air.
>
> Once you've signed the petition, Free Press will let you know in the
> coming
> weeks about others in your area working to forge "citizen agreements"
> with
> local TV stations to ensure broadcasters always identify their sources.
>
> WANTED: 250,000 Americans to Fight Fake News & Government Propaganda
> http://www.prwatch.org/node/3365
>
>
> Ok back to your regular email consumption.
>
> Hit delete.
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