text:
Communities, Belonging and the Individual Between Boundaries and Bridges
Lucia Bellucci 9 July 2020
It is a pleasure to contribute to the "discussion", hosted by Reset, on the article of Professors Adam B. Seligman and David W. Montgomery, "The Tragedy of Human Rights: Liberalism and the Loss of Belonging",[1] following the invitation received by Professor Silvio Ferrari. This article, published in 2019 in the journal Society, offers several interesting insights on the topic that prove to be precious for an interdisciplinary debate.
Our thoughts will be organized as a sort of brainstorming and with bibliographic references that are not too copious, to allow a more streamlined reading. Through a methodological approach that is perhaps a bit risky, this contribution aims to build a critical analysis that, starting from quotations from the text, identifies some conceptual assumptions on which the article's argument seems to be based.
Without suggesting "that human rights are a 'bad idea' [the article argues that] human rights are as much the problem as they are the solution to the contemporary challenge of constructing civil society. [The authors are critical towards] half a century of advocating human rights to the exclusion of other components of human good and fulfillment. [They argue that the] rhetoric of human rights [which] has grown increasingly prevalent in political discourse, visions of international cooperation, and the legitimation of a liberal international order [has been used] at the expense of any sense of shared belonging".[2]
We aim to outline a few assumptions from which the argument seems to move and to examine them along with the notion of community which will be considered a common thread. It seems in fact rather evident that the concept of community can be considered among the pivotal points of the authors' work. We will mainly focus on communities' borders, multiculturalism and other models of social inclusion, the agency of the individual within a group, freedom and the emerging of dissent, and the concept of trust.
2. Communities and Borders: The Individual, Acculturation and Dissent
Seligman and Montgomery argue that "communities are circumscribed entities. These, our communities of belonging are not universal but are bounded, just as families are bounded […], […] they do have boundaries which always define some 'us' as against 'them'. And both us and them are group, not individual, categories".[3]
Communities have always had some forms of borders. They are somewhat circumscribed, but their borders are also porous, never defined once and for all. The authors' words seem to minimize that communities, families, and people live processes of acculturation and change their perceptions, customs and opinions. Moreover, even within cultures or social groups where the interests of the group prevail over those of individuals, as it happens in societies, even contemporary ones, which reflect somehow traditional forms of association, a space emerges, albeit variably limited, for individual freedom and dissent.
Bronislaw Malinowski already showed that the members of what were once identified by an ethnocentric expression as "primitive societies" do not supinely, mechanically and rigidly obey customary rules, crushed and dominated by the will of communities they belong to. In these societies norms are obeyed consciously and, while considering the fundamental importance of the group, Malinowski detected in them a relevant space for individual freedom.[4] As Edmund R. Leach underlined, it is indeed true that tradition is in principle conservative, but "what we choose to remember about tradition can quite rapidly be adapted to changing circumstances".[5] Furthermore, as H. Patrick Glenn pointed out, the oral and community nature of the transmission of traditional norms strongly encourages consensus, but historically, dissent has also emerged irrecoverably and entire traditions have been modified by people who rejected their own society, in whole or in part. Even traditions in which the transmission of information is severely restricted cannot prevent opinions from flourishing.[6]
We can agree with the statement "life outside community is not possible"[7] that according to Seligman and Montgomery is inspired by Simone Weil and Hanna Arendt, if it is understood in the sense that we all need, and are part of, cultural and social references. Nevertheless, we could also belong to more than one community. Clearly it is important to think about the difference between normative orders "where individuals are considered as part of a group, a group whose interests prevail over its members [where] the protection of individuals is usually linked to the maintenance of their ties to the group as well as to the respect of gender and status relations within it".[8] However, as Seligman and Montgomery indirectly confirmed through their article, this difference should not be exaggerated, not only because as they claim, communities and their ties are at the core of our lives, but also because individuals retain the power to make decisions that release them from their communities. Of course, exercising this power is often difficult (and at times an enterprise that fails), but it recognizes a crucial role to the individual. Belittling this power would also mean removing the individual's responsibility to exercise it if necessary, which could be a dangerous approach. One needs to think about the cases of a member of a criminal group, or a parent whose partner is abusive to his or her children. In these cases, even if leaving the community is risky, the individual has the duty to do so, first of all to protect others, and the fact that one could enter a different community does not mean excluding the individual's ability to leave his or her community (the criminal group or the abusive partner). This is a capability that would in our opinion not only be obscured, but also weakened if the focus of political and legal reflection were on the community. Moreover, if it seems quite obvious that, as the authors pointed out, "while we can indeed leave any particular community with its obligations and moral ties, such an act can also only replace one set of ties with another",[9] it is also important to highlight the role of the individual within the community not to overshadow the fact that many changes that have improved humanity's living conditions have been the result of individual (and group) struggles against these ties.
Finally, we believe that some writings published in the field of legal anthropology, whose authors have proved aware of the need to challenge and go beyond the dichotomy of cultural relativism versus human rights and attempted to provide conceptual tools to do so, may be a confirmation of the need to overcome the net opposition between the individual and community. We refer, for example, to the contributions by Susan C. Breau and N. Barney Pityana.[10]
3. Community, Trust, Multiculturalism and the Other
The authors' statements "belonging is something that is necessary for existence beyond the individual; that is, for all existence that is social [, as well as ] we must appreciate the implications of trust and confidence"[11] are among the most interesting remarks of the article and we fully share them. The concept of trust is indeed worth attention. The reflection on the concept of trust has not yet been sufficiently deepened. It will be important to further analyze both its positive consequences, for instance those linked to an increase in the reliability of human relations and their predictability, and its negative ones related to the development of feudal or even mafia-type relations.[12]
Moreover, it is possible that multiculturalist policies do not facilitate trust between individuals and communities. On the contrary, they often isolate communities from one another. This might be the greatest weakness of a model of inclusion which, despite its limitations, we still consider among the best models "available", which we support and regard as a form of respect.
Even if the attempt at categorization in the Trust/Belonging-Confidence/Rights table outlined by the authors[13] contains several categories that can be shared, the way in which some conceptual categories are placed in this table is questionable. We refer in particular to the inclusion of only "multicultural values" in the Confidence/Rights column and the concept of "others experienced as a risk" in the Trust/Belonging column. Furthermore, referring only to multicultural values with regard to the inclusion of minorities excludes from the discussion models of contemporary societies which, although liberal, are not inspired by multicultural values. Taking them into consideration will on the contrary enlarge the reflection on the concept of liberal society and the nuances that this expression can assume in our days, which would be useful in the light of the argument that Seligman and Montgomery put forward.
We are referring in particular to the model that inspires French society, which is the republican model of "integration", or "à la française", that does not recognize multiculturalism and to the one that has been suggested in Québec. We propose that the authors enlarge their scope of analysis towards a broader complexity. This will help them "step out" of the Anglo-Saxon borders of the equation "liberal society equals multiculturalism", the latter being a model that privileges the concepts of equal opportunity, cultural diversity, mutual tolerance[14]. It implies the provision of rules expressly designed for ethnic minorities[15] and, more generally, the protection and promotion "of cultural and religious rights of minorities though differential treatment [thus offering] such minorities the option of extra benefits which they are free to accept or reject as they wish".[16] We recall that, according to the French republican model, cultural/religious characteristics are not formally taken into account in the public sphere with regard to the ownership of rights and the fulfilment of obligations. As a result, there are no regulations expressly addressed to communities (e.g. Moroccan or Algerian) and communities cannot therefore make use of particular rights granted to them. From the first report of the Haut Conseil à l'intégration, which has not been in operation since 2012, the egalitarian and above all universalist logic on which this model is based is already clearly visible.[17] The first report of 1991, entitled "Pour un modèle français d'intégration", argues that "the French conception [must] obey a logic of equality and not of minorities. The principles of identity that date back to the Revolution and the Declaration of Human Rights, impregnate [this] concept based on the equality of individuals before the law, whatever their origins, race, religion […] to the exclusion of an institutional recognition of minorities". [18] The following year's report entitled "Conditions juridiques et culturelles de l'intégration" states that: "The logic of equality is opposed to the durable installation on our soil of foreigners or people of foreign origin being sought and lived by pivoting on community groups constituted on an ethnic or national basis and negotiating their own spaces and specific rights". [19]
In Québec, Canadian multiculturalism[20] (specifically of the English-speaking Canada) has long been widespread with regard to many aspects of ethnic minorities' lives, but for historical and socio-political reasons related to the existence of a French-speaking majority,[21] it has never been consolidated theoretically or rather it has not been officially recognized at the institutional level.[22] In Québec, a model of inclusion or integration or diversity management based on the concept of interculturalism (interculturalisme) was in fact suggested, without being formalized at the governmental level. Unlike multiculturalism, this model considers the existence of a French-speaking majority. It gives this majority a central role/position, intended to preserve its culture and acquis,[23] but at the same time it proposes "a mutual recognition between majority and minorities, which serves as a basis for a dynamic of exchange, rapprochement and partial fusion as a condition for social cohesion. [T]his mutual recognition must go hand in hand with reciprocal arrangements, given that: a) minorities need protection from the majority to ensure respect for their rights; and b) the French-speaking founding majority is itself a minority which must concern itself with its survival and development".[24] In Québec, this model combines, since several decades, with a concept of secularism that differs from active secularism, with the latter implying not indifference towards religions, but intervention in favor of religious freedom conceived in a broad sense.
Going back to the categories defined by the authors in the Trust/Belonging-Confidence/Rights table,[25] we do not see why the category of "Others experienced as a danger", which is actually placed in the context of communities of confidence and rights, could not also apply in the context of communities of trust and belonging, where the authors only depict the category of "Others experienced as a risk". We will not support our statement through examples from contemporary societies because this would require more in-depth analysis to avoid being misunderstood than the space available for this contribution allows. We will instead use some examples from the past, which refer to societies that we can consider without too much difficulty as having the same or similar characteristics to those that the authors associate with communities of trust and belonging. Many artifacts from civilizations that, to roughly use a widespread even if ethnocentric expression, belong to an age that has often been called "pre-Columbian", some of which are exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, show how members of great civilizations of what is now Latin America had prepared great gifts for the Europeans who disembarked on their land because they feared them, they considered them a danger and did not trust them. Moreover, for example, historical evidence reports of African rulers from powerful kingdoms of the past seeing the new European arrivals on their continent as a danger to the independence of their kingdoms. One of the greatest queens of what is now Angola, Nzinga,[26] who fought Portuguese colonialism for decades, considered Europeans as a great danger to her community. As a warrior and great strategist, she obtained a peace treaty with the Portuguese governor in the Seventeenth Century and since the Portuguese failed to respect it, she continued to fight against them. Even further back in time, still in Africa, the one-eyed warrior queen Amanirenas,[27] managed to defeat the armies of Caesar Augustus whom she saw as a great danger.
The idea reported in the article regarding religion, that "not everything can be shared",[28] is certainly to be supported, but the context in which it is used tends to hide inter-religious experiences (e.g. churches that celebrate Catholic and Protestant rites) or coexistence between religions that in history have also led to the fusion of some important elements of different religions. We don't see the constructiveness of such a stress around religious differences. We know this is a slippery slope but for people like the author of this contribution who grew up in countries with a Muslim tradition, was brought up in a family sensitive to the religious phenomenon but not religious, had a spiritual formation of Christian/Catholic inspiration, and that has desco and children in a neighborhood of Jewish culture, stressing religious differences to a great extent, while ignoring social differences, doesn't make much sense. On the other hand, we realize from the North American experiences lived directly, that more and more so-called North American progressives conceive the concept of "identity" in a different way than their European homologues. To many Europeans the concept of identity, whether cultural or religious, is scary, because it reminds them of a horrible, disgusting and inhuman, as well as authoritarian past that we know was driven by ideas and feelings that are always lurking and ready to reappear in Europe. In North America, on the other hand, the concept of identity is often seen as an "achievement", as a positive, collective, social and individual result obtained in a given geographical and temporal context, the valorization and expected recognition of traditions, values, cultures, of a belonging ignored or even often persecuted not only in the past, but also sometimes simply elsewhere. Examples of this are the anti-Semitic persecution that many Jews (or their families) who emigrated to North America experienced in Europe, but also the forms of slavery and segregation that African Americans/Blacks experienced in the United States, as well as the racism that they still experience in this country.
Communities are not fixed and immutable entities and if community life is essential to the human being who is a species in need of sociality, on the other hand there is room for individual freedom and dissent and each individual is not necessarily part of a single community. Therefore, the belonging to which the authors refer could concern more than one community in a synchronic or diachronic way. We could affirm that, if our life is certainly characterized by a series of community ties, it is also characterized by a series of bridges connecting one community to another that the individual can (and often has to decide whether or not to) cross, even against the opinion of his or her community. We could therefore argue that the narratives of human rights leave a space for the individual and his or her agency that still seems important to preserve.
The approach adopted by the authors "that takes collective differences as not simply matters of individual preference but as constitutive of individuals and their communities"[29] is an excellent insight that allows us to reflect on approaches that are too often given as obvious and immutable. Nevertheless, it should be more effectively problematized, for example with regard to the question of who represents communities. Among the most complex questions to address when it comes to communities is who decides which communities we belong to exactly and "Who represents whom and upon which base?"; that is, "Who is the spokesperson of a given community and with which legitimation?". If it is true that "not everything can be shared", these questions could be the starting point for a future and interdisciplinary debate devoted to the development of a multiculturalism and a religious pluralism that both protect and promote cultural diversity by highlighting not the existence of borders, but their porosity, not that of parallel roads, but of bridges that connect them.
[1] Adam B. Seligman & David W. Montgomery, "The Tragedy of Human Rights: Liberalism and the Loss of Belonging" (2019) 56:3 Society 203–209.
[2] Ibid at 203, text and abstract.
[3] Seligman & Montgomery, supra note 1 at 204.
[4] See Bronislaw Malinowski, Crime and Custom in Savage Society (Totowa, A Helix Book: Rowman & Allanheld, 1985. 1st ed. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1926) at 9–84.
[5] Edmund R. Leach, Custom, Law and Terrorist Violence (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1977) at 7.
[6] H. Patrick Glenn, Legal Traditions of the World. Sustainable Diversity in Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, (2000) 2007, 3rd ed.) at 62, text and note n. 14, and at 63. With regard to these three authors see also Lucia Bellucci, Consuetudine, diritti e immigrazione. La pratica tradizionale dell'escissione nell'esperienza francese (Milano: Giuffrè, 2012) at 46, 47 and 53.
[8] Lucia Bellucci, "Customary Norms vs State Law: French Courts' Responses to the Traditional Practice of Excision", in R. Provost (ed.), Culture in the Domains of Law (Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017) at 86.
[10] See Susan C. Breau, "Human Rights and Cultural Relativism: The False Dichotomy", in J. Rehman & S. C. Breau (eds.), Religion, Human Rights and International Law. A Critical Examination of Islamic State Practices (Leiden & Boston: Martinus Nijhoff, 2007) 137–165; N. Barney Pityana, Toward a Theory of Applied Cultural Relativism, in P. Zeleza & P. McConnaughay, Human Rights, The Rule of Law, and Development in Africa (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004).
[11] Seligman & Montgomery, supra note 1 at 207–208.
[12] Among the studies concerning economic development see Richard Ball, "Individualism, Collectivism and Economic Development" (2001) 573 The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 57, in particular at 67–68 and 78–80.
[13] See Seligman & Montgomery, supra note 1 at 207.
[14] See Sebastian M. Poulter, "Ethnic Minority Customs, English Law and Human Rights" (1987) 36:2 International and Comparative Law Quarterly at 592; Kristin Couper, La société multiculturelle version britannique, in R. Gallissot (ed.), Pluralisme culturel en Europe (Paris: L'Harmattan, 1993) at 592.
[15] See on the topic Lucia Bellucci "Immigrazione e pluralità di culture: due modelli a confronto" (2001) XXVIII: 3 Sociologia del diritto 131 at 145.
[16] Poulter, supra note 14 at 608.
[17] On the topic, see extensively Bellucci, supra note 15 at 133–135; Lucia Bellucci, Consuetudine, diritti e immigrazione. La pratica tradizionale dell'escissione nell'esperienza francese (Milano: Giuffrè, 2012) at 104–109.
[18] Haut Conseil à l'intégration, Pour un modèle français d'intégration, Rapport au Premier Ministre (Paris: La Documentation Française, 1991) at 19 [the translation is mine].
[19] Haut Conseil à l'intégration, Conditions juridiques et culturelles de l'intégration, Rapport au Premier Ministre (Paris: La Documentation Française, 1992) at 63 [the translation is mine].
[20] The literature on the topic is very rich. For further details see the "classics" Charles Taylor, Examining the Politics of Recognition, edited and introduced by A. Gutmann (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994); Will Kimlicka, Multicultural Citizenship. A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
[21] In Québec there are also several anglophones who are born native English speakers.
[22] See Gérard Bouchard, L'interculturalisme. Un point de vue québécois (Montréal: Boréal, 2012) at 234.
[23] Ibid at 231–232.
[24] Bouchard, supra note 22 at 230.
[26] Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (1958-1663) known by several names, including Anna de Souza (Ana de Sousa) Nzinga Mbande or Njinga Mbandi).
[27] Also spelled Amanirena. She was the queen of the Kingdom of Kush from c. 40 BC to c. 10 BC.
[28] Seligman, Montgomery, supra note 1 at 208.
[29] Seligman & Montgomery, supra note 1 at 208.
Lucia Bellucci is Associate Professor of Sociology of Law at the University of Milan.
Photo: Nelson Almeida / AFP
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text:
Q: My blogger site throwing some errors in Validator of W3? I have a website on blogger.com (mywebsite.blogspot.com)
When I run validation for my site at https://validator.w3.org. it shows me Errors like this -
Attribute xmlns:b not allowed here.

Here is my HTML Code Demo-
<html class='v2' dir='ltr' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml' xmlns:b='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/b' xmlns:data='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/data' xmlns:expr='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/expr'>
<script src='https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.6.1/jquery.min.js'></script><script src='https://yourjavascript.com/69231961363/jquery-colorbox-min.js' type='text/javascript'></script>

I have been wondering for a long time how I can solve these errors.

A: 1- add the lang="es" in to
2- The xmlns attribute specifies the xml namespace for a document. Note: The xmlns attribute is required in XHTML, invalid in HTML 4.01, and optional in HTML5. Note: The HTML validator at http://w3.org does not complain when the xmlns attribute is missing in an XHTML document.
i hope solve the problem.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
package admin.ui.user;

import java.io.Serializable;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.List;

import javax.enterprise.context.SessionScoped;
import javax.enterprise.event.Observes;
import javax.inject.Named;

import org.aries.runtime.BeanContext;
import org.aries.ui.AbstractTabListManager;
import org.aries.ui.event.ResetEvent;

import admin.User;
import admin.client.userService.UserService;
import admin.util.UserUtil;

@SessionScoped
@Named("userListManager")
public class UserListManager extends AbstractTabListManager<User, UserListObject> implements Serializable {

	@Override
	public String getModule() {
		return "UserList";
	}

	@Override
	public String getTitle() {
		return "User List";
	}

	@Override
	public Object getRecordId(User user) {
		return user.getId();
	}

	@Override
	public String getRecordName(User user) {
		return UserUtil.toString(user);
	}

	@Override
	protected Class<User> getRecordClass() {
		return User.class;
	}

	@Override
	protected User getRecord(UserListObject rowObject) {
		return rowObject.getUser();
	}

	@Override
	protected UserListObject createRowObject(User user) {
		return new UserListObject(user);
	}

	protected UserHelper getUserHelper() {
		return BeanContext.getFromSession("userHelper");
	}

	protected UserService getUserService() {
		return BeanContext.getFromSession(UserService.ID);
	}

	protected UserInfoManager getUserInfoManager() {
		return BeanContext.getFromSession("userInfoManager");
	}

//	//SEAM @Observer("org.aries.ui.reset")
//	public void reset(@Observes ResetEvent event) {
//		reset();
//	}

	@Override
	public void reset() {
		refresh();
	}

	@Override
	public void initialize() {
		if (recordList != null)
			initialize(recordList);
	}

	@Override
	//SEAM @Observer("org.aries.refreshUserList")
	public void refreshModel() {
		refreshModel(createRecordList());
	}

	@Override
	protected List<User> createRecordList() {
		try {
			List<User> userList = getUserService().getUserList();
			return userList;
		} catch (Exception e) {
			handleException(e);
			return null;
		}
	}

	public void editUser() {
		editUser(selectedRecordId);
	}

	public void editUser(String recordId) {
		editUser(Long.parseLong(recordId));
	}

	public void editUser(Long recordId) {
		User user = recordByIdMap.get(recordId);
		editUser(user);
	}

	public void editUser(User user) {
		UserInfoManager userInfoManager = BeanContext.getFromSession("userInfoManager");
		userInfoManager.editUser(user);
	}

	//SEAM @Observer("org.aries.removeUser")
	public void removeUser() {
		removeUser(selectedRecordId);
	}

	public void removeUser(String recordId) {
		removeUser(Long.parseLong(recordId));
	}

	public void removeUser(Long recordId) {
		User user = recordByIdMap.get(recordId);
		removeUser(user);
	}

	public void removeUser(User user) {
		try {
			getUserService().deleteUser(selectedRecord);
			clearSelection();
			refresh();

		} catch (Exception e) {
			handleException(e);
		}
	}

	//SEAM @Observer("org.aries.cancelUser")
	public void cancelUser() {
		if (selectedRecord == null)
			return;
		try {
			BeanContext.removeFromSession("user");
			Long id = selectedRecord.getId();
			User user = getUserService().getUserById(id);
			recordByIdMap.put(id, user);
			initialize(recordByIdMap.values());

		} catch (Exception e) {
			handleException(e);
		}
	}

	public boolean validateUser(Collection<User> userList) {
		return UserUtil.validate(userList);
	}

//	//SEAM @Observer("org.aries.exportUserList")
//	public void exportUserList() {
//		String tableId = "pageForm:userListTable";
//		ExportManager exportManager = BeanContext.getFromSession("org.aries.exportManager");
//		exportManager.exportToXLS(tableId);
//	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Germaine Rouillard (ur. 4 sierpnia 1888 w Argenton-sur-Creuse, zm. 1 września 1946 w Paryżu) – francuska historyk,  bizantynolog.

Doktorat uzyskała w 1923 roku. Była profesorem na Sorbonie. Jako pierwsza kobieta uzyskała katedrę w École pratique des hautes études. Specjalizowała się w papirologii i filologii bizantyńskiej.

Wybrane publikacje
 L'administration civile de l'Égypte byzantine, préface de Charles Diehl, P. Gauthier, Paris 1923.
 Les papyrus grecs de Vienne, inventaire des documents publiés, H. Champion, Paris 1923.
 Actes de Lavru, édition diplomatique et critique par Germaine Rouillard et Paul Collomp, [w:] Archives de l'Athos, t. 1, s. 897-1178, L. Lethielleux, Paris 1937.
 Les taxes maritimes et commerciales d'après les actes de Patnos et de Lavru [w:] Mélanges Charles Diehl, Paris 1932, t. 1, s. 277-289.
 La vie rurale dans l'Empire byzantin, Adrien Maisonneuve, Paris 1953.

Bibliografia
 http://www.idref.fr/03193336X
 http://data.bnf.fr/12305759/germaine_rouillard/

Francuscy historycy
Francuscy mediewiści
Urodzeni w 1888
Zmarli w 1946
Francuscy bizantynolodzy
Papirolodzy

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This project is a game of visual-sonic representation or how we visualize a sound and sonorize an image in our minds. This game is also about memories and what is our sonic representation of a space or a moment, according to our own experiences. In this game, you visualize an image by hearing a sound, that by the way comes from an object which should be for capturing instead of playing (microphone), and you sonorize an image that uses a sound capturing object as a subject, giving it almost human properties.
This project consists on a series of photographs of two microphones in different spaces and environments, exploring the way sound is represented through images in our brains. What do you hear when you see the pictures?
The sound captured in the spaces where photographs were taken will be processed and reproduced in the exhibition space, as a sound installation coming out from the microphones which then will serve as speakers.
Francisco Eme- All rights reserved 2016.


text:
Southville
Former Bristol mayor George Ferguson fractures his pelvis in crash on his bicycle
Mr Ferguson, who doesn't own a car, believes he lost control after hitting a patch of ice
Ian Onions
George Ferguson cycled everywhere when he was Bristol mayor
Former Bristol Mayor George Ferguson is currently using crutches after taking a tumble on his bicycle.
Mr Ferguson, who doesn't own a car and uses a bike to travel about, fractured his pelvis and tore muscles after coming off his cycle in Southville.
He believes he lost control after hitting a patch of ice about a month ago.
He said: "I just lost grip on what must have been black ice. A couple of young guys helped me by picking up my bike which was not damaged and out of bravado, I cycled back home in absolute agony."
How will we travel around Bristol in the future?
Mr Ferguson, who will be 70 in three weeks' time, went to the A and E department at the Bristol Royal Infirmary a few days later where they discovered he had fractured his pelvis.
He said the accident would have been much worse if he had broken his hip because that would have required an operation.
Former Bristol mayor George Ferguson praised NHS staff
He was wearing a helmet at the time and the accident has taught him to always wear one.
He praised the NHS and staff at the BRI who looked after him.
"I was dreading going to A and E after all the stories you hear but I have got nothing but praise for the way in which they dealt with me.
"They do have to deal with some very difficult people and they did so with great sensitivity and professionalism."
The good, the bad and the bizarre: Transport solutions to combat Bristol's traffic nightmare
Mr Ferguson said he was "dying" to get back on his bike but was using the experience of being on crutches as a "great learning curve".
He said: "It's a great learning experience because it's doing wonders for my own patience – I'm discovering clever ways to put on my socks and I am noticing much more as I get around because I have to do everything so much more slowly. I am seeing Bristol in a different light."
Mr Ferguson, who sets off tomorrow for a trip to a conference in Calcutta, is due back at the BRI in a couple of weeks' time.
Bristol Mayor

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


LG G5 is definitely a phenomenon these day. However, besides that flagship, the Korean company has also introduced 2 other entry-level smartphones to launch: LG K10 and LG K4, which will be roll out real soon.
To start off 2016, LG from Korean has just announced their latest smartphones targeted for the entry-level market: LG K10 and LG K4. The company said both devices will start to arrive in many international markets starting this week, with the first region being Europe and CIS, then Asia, the Middle East and Latin America subsequently. Although advancing to 2016 market as budget mobile phones, the K series sport a very premium look and promise decent camera experience for user.
Specs-wise, LG K10 features a handy 5.3 inch HD display with 3 variants of RAM: 2GB, 1.5GB and 1GB. LG K10 will also come with either an octa-core or quad-core processor with 8MP to 13MP back camera and 5MP to 8MP on the front. LG K10 battery will be 2,300 mAH and removable (Yes, we all need this) and the device will run on Android 5.1 Lollipop by release. For internal storage, there will be some variants too: 8GB and 16GB, both are expandable through microSD card slot.
Between the two, LG K4 is more affordable, therefore its specs will be a bit downgraded compared to the counterpart. The smartphone will feature 1GB RAM with quad-core processor and a 4.5 inch display. Together with 8GB internal storage, LG K4 also offers microSD card slot so that you can expand to get more space. LG K4 camera will be 5MP on the back and 2MP on the front, with flashes for both. Last but not least, the handset is powered by 1,940 mAH battery.
LG K10 and LG K4 : LG is making it right!


Chicago Fire fans mobbed new signing Bastian Schweinsteiger in the US this morning.
The German, who cut short his time at Manchester United to join Chicago Fire, was submerged in a scrum of reporters and supporters after touching down in the Windy City on Tuesday.
The Major League Soccer franchise announced a deal had been agreed with Manchester United to sign the midfielder last Tuesday, but he was forced to wait for a work permit to be granted before he could travel across the pond.


Atlanta, GA – June 12, 2013 – Daraka Satcher, Chief Operating Officer of Pendleton Group, joins the 2014 class of Leadership Atlanta. Selected from a pool of hundreds of exceptional candidates, Satcher accepted congratulations from the Georgia-based economic development firm that he helps lead.
As COO of Pendleton Group, Satcher is responsible for managing the company's day-to-day operations, attracting new clients and brokering partnerships. He previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the United States Department of Commerce.
Before his presidential appointment, Satcher served as Chief of Staff to Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Legislative Director in the office of Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN). He earned a J.D. from Emory University School of Law and a B.A. in political science from Morehouse College.
Pendleton Consulting's understanding and knowledge of political and business leaders can also help your company with Branding and Business Strategy.


Templeton, Massachusetts, in Worcester county, is 24 miles NW of Worcester, Massachusetts and 53 miles W of Boston, Massachusetts.
Templeton was officially incorporated in 1762. Its earliest settlements were established in 1751. The city was named in honor of Sir John Temple, who was a part of the British Privy Council in 1751. The Worcester County Government was first established in 1731. However, Worcester County currently only exists in name, as there have been no county functions since July 1, 1998.
Nearby museums include the Gardner Museum, Fisher Museum and the Fitchburg Art Museum. Swimming, boating and canoeing can be enjoyed at Wyman's Beach, Lake Dennison and on the Otter River.
Nearby colleges include Mount Wachusett Community College, Fitchburg State College, Worcester State College and Quinsigamond Community College, among others.
Are you an official in the Templeton government or quasi-government agency such as the chamber of commerce, visitors bureau or economic development council? If so, visit our information page for government officials to see how CityTownInfo can support you.


Readers have identified the person at left in the portraits (below) from March 24, 2019. She is Theresa Kidman, a member of the Canandaigua Academy Class of 1975. The person at right has been identified as Jon Bridgeman, a member of the Canandaigua Academy Class of 1975.
And going back a few weeks, the person at left has been identified as Roberta Watson (far below). The person at right has been identified as Michelle Ribaudo, a member of the Canandaigua Academy Class of 1977.


text:
Emilie Charmy (* 2. April 1878 als Emilie-Espérance Barret in Saint-Étienne, Département Loire, Frankreich; † 7. November 1974 in Crosne, Département Essonne) war eine französische Malerin der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts.

Leben
Charmy wurde im Alter von 5 Jahren Waise, ihr älterer Bruder Jean wurde zu ihrem Vormund bestellt. Sie genoss eine bürgerliche Erziehung an einer katholischen Privatschule. Als Heranwachsende zeigte sie ein großes Interesse an Musik und Malerei, Talente, die von ihrem Bruder gefördert wurden. Ihre berufliche Ausbildung war die als Lehrerin. Die Geschwister zogen 1898 nach Lyon. Dort studierte sie bei dem Maler Jacques Martin und lernte Künstler wie Louis Carrand und François Vernay kennen, die beide für ihre Blumenstücke in Lyon bekannt waren. Nach einigen Jahren gingen Émilie und ihr Bruder nach Saint-Cloud, Département Hauts-de-Seine, westlich von Paris.

Charmy stellte in den folgenden Jahren wiederholt in Paris aus, so mehrfach im Salon des Indépendents der Société des Artistes Indépendents, sowie 1906 im Salon d'Automne der Société du Salon d'Automne aus. 1910 bezog sie zwei Künstlerateliers in der Nr 54, Rue de Bourgogne in Paris in denen sie bis zu ihrem Lebensende lebte und arbeitete. 1912 hatte sie ihre erste größere Einzelausstellung in der Galerie Druet. Im gleichen Jahr traf sie den Maler George Bouche. Das Paar hatte 1915 einen Sohn, Edmond, heiratete jedoch erst Anfang der 1930er Jahre. Seit dieser Zeit wurde die Pariser Galeristin Berthe Weill eng mit ihr durch Ausstellungen verbunden.

1919 lernte Charmy den Grafen Étienne de Jouvencel kennen, der ein Bewunderer ihrer Arbeit wurde und sie in die literarischen und künstlerischen Pariser Zirkel einführte. 1922 machte sie Bekanntschaft mit Colette, die eine Einleitung zu einem Ausstellungskatalog für eine Ausstellung mit zwanzig ihrer Gemälde schrieb. Einer der Geschäftsführer der Zeitschrift Le Petit Parisien, Eli-Joseph Bois, machte sie in den Folgejahren mit Personen aus der Politik wie Édouard Daladier, Aristide Briand und Louise Weiss bekannt.

Anfang der 1930er Jahre wurde Charmy zum Ritter der Ehrenlegion ernannt. Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg stellte sie nur noch selten aus, sie war von der Öffentlichkeit und den Kritikern vergessen.

Weitere Ausstellungen
 1913: Armory Show, Manhattan, New York City USA. Teilnahme mit 4 Bildern.
 1921: Canvas, Galerie Œvres d'Art, Paris. Katalog unter anderem mit Beiträgen von Roland Dorgelès und Pierre Mac Orlan.
 1922: Teilnahme an der Ausstellung Female Nude mit Gemälden von Eugène Delacroix bis Henri Matisse. Das Vorwort zum Katalog schrieb Louis Vauxcelles.
 1926: Einzelausstellung in der Galerie Barbazanges, Paris.
 1987,1991, 1995: Einzelausstellung im Kunsthaus Bühler, Stuttgart. Katalog.
 2013: Einzelausstellung Fralin Museum of Art, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.

Weblinks

 Webseite des Nachlasses der Künstlerin (französisch)

Mitglied der Ehrenlegion (Ritter)
Maler (Frankreich)
Franzose
Geboren 1878
Gestorben 1974
Frau


Campaign for A Living Venice announces a new e-mail campaign to coincide with the final two months before the UNESCO deadline in February. Venice will be placed on the World Heritage Endangered Site list if progress is not made on a list of pressing concerns facing the city (to review the actual UNESCO document click here). So far indications are that little will be done in time.
Please copy us at cflv2015@gmail.com when you send your message!
Here is the image: Just copy, paste, add your own comments and mail. Then forward it on to your friends! Let's fill up some inboxes and let the government know: #VeneziaAspetta #Veniceiswaiting.


As growers continue to replace wheat in their rotation with chickpeas to capitalise on higher market prices, there's a growing need to update fertiliser programs – or face nutrient run down. Bede O'Mara, Incitec Pivot Fertilisers' sub-tropical farming systems agronomist, says one of the major differences between growing wheat and chickpeas is that chickpeas remove significantly more potassium.
Last season, Mr O'Mara arranged grain testing to provide up to date guidance on nutrient removal from chickpea crops. The test results showed that one tonne of chickpea grain removed 10.7 kg of potassium – nearly three times more than one tonne of wheat (3.7 kg).
The chickpea crop also removed more nitrogen, phosphorus and zinc per tonne of grain than wheat.
Chickpeas were shown to remove 37.4 kg/t of nitrogen, 4.1 kg/t of phosphorus and 35 g/t of zinc in the tests, conducted by the Nutrient Advantage laboratory.
"When you multiply these figures by the high yields that many growers achieved last season, it could well have been a high removal event for those paddocks," explained Mr O'Mara.
He added that there were some confirmed and suspected cases of potassium deficiency in chickpeas over the last few seasons on soil types known for being on the lower side of adequate.
These included many box soils and other variable soil types. Acting on these insights, Incitec Pivot Fertilisers has created a new fertiliser blend for chickpea crops, called ChicKP (S)Zn.
Mr O'Mara encouraged chickpea growers to consider rates of around 100 kg/ha of ChicKP (S)Zn at planting on 50cm or narrower row spacings rather than using their standard cereal starter fertiliser, which contains no potassium.
On wider rows, lower product rates of around 60-75kg/ha should be applied in contact with seed.
"ChicKP (S)Zn will better meet the nutrient requirements of chickpea crops and ensure longer term sustainability in the cropping system," said Mr O'Mara.
"Another strategy to improve potassium inputs may be to drill 50 to 100 kg/ha of muriate of potash as a test strip eight or more weeks prior to planting.
Muriate of potash is not recommended for use at planting in contact with seed. Alternative organic sources of potassium such as manure and compost could also be used, but they need to be broadcast and incorporated at the beginning of the preceding fallow for seed safety and nutrient availability reasons.
"If you're growing chickpeas where you haven't grown them before, soil test first to determine starting soil fertility and check for any subsoil constraints," he said.
Mr O'Mara also cautioned growers against expecting high levels of nitrogen to be available following the 2016 chickpea crop.
"In a lot of cases, particularly in the north, the nitrogen hasn't mineralised yet due to the drier than usual summer fallow," he said.
For more information and advice on nutrition for chickpeas in 2017, see your local Incitec Pivot Fertilisers Dealer.


text:
.. role:: php(code)
   :language: php

.. _conjunctions:

============
Conjunctions
============

Conjunctions are used tie your *subject* to your *assertions*. They control whether the :ref:`assertion <assertions>` is "positive" (ie, assert that subject *is* a certain value) or "negative" (subject *is not* a certain value). There are also "neutral" conjunctions that do not change whether the assertion is positive or negative; they can be used to make your tests more readable. The default set of conjunctions are:

Positive
    -  :php:`is()`
    -  :php:`will()`
    -  :php:`does()`
    -  :php:`has()`

Negative
    -  :php:`isNot()`
    -  :php:`willNot()`
    -  :php:`doesNot()`

Neutral
    -  :php:`and()`
    -  :php:`be()`
    -  :php:`have()`

Descriptions
------------

Conjunctions also allow you to pass a description of your assertion to BeBat/Verify. If your assertion fails, PHPUnit will use this description as the failure message. For example:

.. code-block:: php

    verify($myObject->isValid())->will('pass validation')->be()->true();

If this assertion fails, you will see :samp:`Value will pass validation` in PHPUnit's output. BeBat/Verify uses a generic term by default (:samp:`Value`), as well as the conjunction to create the full description. If you would like to use a more descriptive name for your subject you can pass that to :php:`verify()` as well. For example:

.. code-block:: php

    verify($gpa, 'Student GPA')->isNot('failing')->lessThan(2.0);

The description in this case would be :samp:`Student GPA is not failing`.

Custom Conjunctions
-------------------

Conjunctions are configured through a set of static arrays of strings in :php:`BeBat\Verify\API\Base`. This allows you to further customize the description messages, as well as tailor the conjunctions to your own writing style. You can manipulate these value like you would any other array. For example:

.. code-block:: php

    BeBat\Verify\API\Base::$positiveConjunctions[] = 'to';
    BeBat\Verify\API\Base::$positiveConjunctions[] = 'should';

    BeBat\Verify\API\Base::$negativeConjunctions[] = 'shouldNot';

    BeBat\Verify\API\Base::$neutralConjunctions[] = 'also';
    BeBat\Verify\API\Base::$neutralConjunctions[] = 'or';

This should be performed somewhere in your test suite's bootstrap code so that it is done before any assertions are called and is shared across your tests.


Last season started so well for the Giants. November rolled around and they found themselves 10-1 with victories over each of their divisional rivals. Then, star receiver, Plaxico Burress, shot himself in the leg (by accident of course! Dummy)…at a nightclub. Yes, that actually happened. I know, I know, I still don't quite yet believe it either. The G-men went on to lose three of their next four games. Eli Manning threw only one TD pass during that stretch and was sacked 12 times. GM Jerry Reese and many Giants are however, optimistic that the new group of receivers will be able to fill the void.
I don't buy it. Burress gave Manning an escape route on every play. Bad pass? Don't worry, Plax would use his height (6'6'') and make something out of nothing. Did Eli Manning just miss high again? He never does that (not)! Oh wait, there goes Plax, snatching the ball from the sky like the play was drawn up that way. His threat forced defenses to double team him, leaving receivers like Steve Smith, Amani Toomer, and Domenik Hixon open. Defenses were also cautious of committing too many players to the rush, as Plaxico's downfield threat was too great a risk.
Now, he's gone for good. The Giants are left with a WR corps of Steve Smith, Domenik Hixon, David Tyree, Sinorice Moss, Mario Manningham, Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden. Smith, although he lead the Giants with receptions last season, does not pose the same type of scoring threat as Burress, as he only had one TD last season. He functions as possession receiver, and I feel the transition from the slot to the Number 1 spot will be too much for him to handle. Hixon provides the Giants with an exciting young prospect, but after Burress's…accident he struggled to make an impact. His buttered-finger play against the Eagles cost the Giants a touchdown, (and maybe a playoff win as the Eagles probably wouldn't have made it) and shows he still has a lot to learn. Tyree is back this season, but let's face it, his only contribution to the team will be the reading of his autobiography (yea, even he has one now…) to the rookie receivers in a feeble attempt to prove he's important. Moss and Manningham I can't see making any decent impact, as Moss has underperformed thus far and Manningham didn't get any meaningful playing time last season. The two rookies are promising and are "full of potential", but then again, when are they not? Even so, there's always a shot that one of them will come good this season.
However, I think that player who will surprise the most people in the upcoming season is (drum roll please) Ahmad Bradshaw. The unsung hero of the Giant's Superbowl run in 2007. Anybody remember him? I'm not saying Bradshaw will make up for Burress's loss single handedly, but rather that he will be the player that rises to the challenge. He was rarely used by Coughlin last season, which was a little weird -well okay, maybe if he didn't steal PlayStations and laptops in college, and violate parole, Coughlin would have looked on him more favorably. We all know what a stickler Coughlin is for the rules. I guess Derrick Ward rushing for over 1,000 yards didn't help either. But with Ward gone, Bradshaw is a lock for much more playing time. He will enter the game after Jacobs pounds the defense into the ground and use his agility and speed to give the offense a new dimension and the defenses a different type of headache. His talent is there and he can use it. This is evident through the playoff run of '07, where he led the team in yardage (no easy feat), including an astonishing 42 in the Superbowl. This also proves he can play when it really matters. You heard it here first, Ahmad Bradshaw (Fire of the Earth, Wind and Fire trio) to leave behind the demons of last season and become a vital part of the Giants offense.
This entry was posted on Saturday, June 6th, 2009 at 7:40 am and is filed under NFL.	You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
i agree he didn't have a great season number-wise, but just having plax out on the field changes the way teams defend the giants. they had to go through a steep learning curve without him those last few games.
You are an idiot. Hixon's drop happened in regular season game #2 against the Eagles — not in the playoff game — so it could not possibly have cost us the playoff game. God I hate bloggers.
that's why i said maybe.
Woulda beaten the Eagles???? The game was 3-0 Eagles in the 2nd quarter when that happened. How do you figure we automatically beat the Eagles if we go up 7-3 in the 2nd quarter???
because we didn't get another scoring opportunity the whole game until a meaningless TD at the end. nothing is automatic, but that put would have put us right back in the game. you can't tell me that drop wasn't significant. instead, the opportunity was gone, and we didn't get another chance. i have faith we would have beaten them. we were a better team. the loss threw the NFC race back into the open and it gave the Eagles the shot at making the playoffs, which they did.
this is beside the point though, the point is i'm a little scared the giants will struggle at receiver. this point on hixon is def a stretch and that's my bad but i think my fears are justified by the record/numbers after burress. it is absolutely undeniable the giants still have to prove themselves after his departure. i want them to do it, and i think they eventually will but at the same time I think people are being overly optimistic which is typical for fans to do in the offseason.


The Chris King Inset 7 Tapered Headset combines seamless design and legendary quality in a 44mm headset with an external lower cup that is a precision headset option for your 1.5'' tapered steerer fork. The Chris King Inset 7 Tapered Headset is equipped with Chis King's exclusive built-in-house bearings and Chis King's patented GripLock system for precise fit and function. Engineered, manufactured and assembled in Portland, Oregon.


Annexed from Rowan County in 1788, Iredell County was named in honor of James Iredell, North Carolina attorney general and one of the first Supreme Court appointees. Iredell was an offshoot of Eyredale, meaning "a valley of flowing air." Statesville, founded in 1789, is the seat of government, and other communities in Iredell include Love Valley, Troutman, Turnersburg, Harmony, and Barnum Springs.
The Catawba and Cherokee lived in present-Iredell before war and disease, carried by Europeans, drove them away from the land. German and Scotch-Irish settlers moved to Iredell in the mid-eighteenth century, attracted by the soil and freshwater of the region. Today, Lake Norman, described by many as the largest freshwater, man-made lake in the nation, reaches into Iredell County. With over 520 miles of shoreline in Iredell County, Lake Norman remains the most popular tourist attraction and physical trait of the region.
Fort Dobbs, constructed in 1756 during the French and Indian War, remains the only North Carolina historic site that commemorates the precursor war to the Revolution. In 1756, Arthur Dobbs, the royal governor of North Carolina during the war, was commissioned by the British crown to build a fort to protect colonists who lived in the western wilderness of the North Carolina colony. Dobbs selected Colonel Hugh Waddell and his fifty soldiers to be garrisoned at Fort Dobbs (named after the royal governor). The only attack of Fort Dobbs occurred on February 26, 1760: Waddell and his company repelled approximately seventy Cherokee. Fort Dobbs was abandoned after the war in 1766.
In the middle of the nineteenth century the railroad initiated major economic growth in Iredell County. The Western North Carolina, constructed in 1858, and the Atlantic, Tennessee, and Ohio Railroad all crossed through Iredell in the late nineteenth century. The railroads increased trade flow in and out of the region, and tobacco, herbariums, and liquor businesses prospered in Iredell. One industry, the Wallace Herbarium, became the largest facility of its kind in the world during the economic railroad boom. However, the stimulus subsided after the mid-twentieth century. Today, farmers in present-day Iredell County raise many different types of livestock, but the county is most well-known for its stock of breeder chickens.
Some important tourist attractions include the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame or Race City USA and the popular western-style campgrounds in Love Valley. The Ole Time Fiddler's and Bluegrass Festival and the National Balloon Rally are two cultural events held year-round in Iredell County.
Several important North Carolinians were born or resided in Iredell County. J. P. Caldwell (1853-1911) was born in Statesville, and he eventually started the Charlotte Observer. William Sharpe (1742-1818), although born in Maryland, resided in Statesville, and he was one of the first to advocated for a university in North Carolina. Even though he proposed an unsuccessful bill in 1784 to establish a public college in the state, construction of the University of North Carolina was started on 1793 much to Sharpe's work in the North Carolina legislature.
"Iredell County." William S. Powell, ed. Encyclopedia of North Carolina (University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, NC 2006).
"Iredell County History." Iredell County government website. http://www.co.iredell.nc.us/about.asp, (accessed November 25, 2011).
"Fort Dobbs; J.P. Caldwell; William Sharpe." North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program website. A Division of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. (accessed November 25, 2011).


text:
Missing the Point About #Don't Follow Twitter Art
by Paddy Johnson on July 9, 2011 · 30 comments Opinion
Man Bartlett's #24hPort. Photo: Christopher Kissock
Hyperallergic's Hrag Vartanian thinks my L Magazine column on Twitter Art is off the mark. As Vartanian tells it, the term itself indicts the author. It's a cheap ploy for headlines that fails to accurately describe these artist's practice. Also: Why oh why, did Johnson write a column about bad twitter art and then fail to discuss the most significant artists! I'm exaggerating here for effect – Hrag wasn't nearly so dramatic — but you get the point. Vartanian believes the examples I chose weaken an already thin case against twitter art (Joy Garnett's #lostlibrary, An Xiao's The Artist is Kind of Present, and Man Bartlett's #24hPort).
Vartanian's probably right that I could have come up with a better term than "Twitter art", though the idea that this was a traffic friendly hook used to bring together work with no real commonality is a little far fetched. The truth of the matter is, I don't believe the pieces have anything to do with one another past their engagement with Twitter. I never made any claims that they did, though I doubt Vartanian would have interpreted much of the article as he did had I more clearly expressed why I chose each artist.
Joy Garnett, #lostlibrary
The point of the article was not to build a case against all Twitter art/artists who use Twitter but simply to select three works that were topical and discuss them. (Yes, I wrote "Twitter art bums me out", but this was followed by "most of it is bad", which is not the same as "all of it".) I chose artists whose work had received attention recently, or were currently running projects. For example, while Joy Garnett doesn't often use Twitter for performative based work and seems an unusual inclusion, I discussed her work because I believed it likely that she would still be working on #lostlibrary when the article was published. That only nominally worked out — she stopped the project the day my article ran — but at least I had a few hours. Garnett was also an appealing subject since she's been working online since the late 90's. This allowed me respond to work from a different generation of artists than Man Bartlett or An Xiao.
An Xiao's "The Artist Is Kind of Present" was similarly selected for its newsiness. Xiao herself was recently quoted by Christopher Knight at The L.A. Times, the work discussed recently cited in ARTnews. In this case, Vartanian believes I've done a disservice to the work. I didn't mention its critique of the Abramovic online media circus nor our need to connect virtually as much as in person. Also, I didn't personally experience the piece and didn't report that she also texted.
On that last bit Vartanian has me — I didn't sit down and tweet with Xiao — a complaint that would hold more water if I'd never seen any of the artist's works. But that's not the case. Just last fall, I participated in Xiao's "Being Telepresent", a web cam work which allowed Xiao to "virtually" attend the opening and closing and chat with viewers. Once the performance was completed she posted screenshots of her conversations on Facebook. At the closing party, it turned out she was actually in the gallery office. Surprise!
Nate Hill and friend at the Social Graph opening. Image via: Hyperallergic
Now, obviously this is a different piece, and it doesn't involve Twitter, but one is clearly just as vacuous as the other. Art that does little more than demonstrate how technology works isn't very interesting, and there's a lot of that in Xiao's work. It's for this reason, that I don't think Vartanian's point about how both virtual and physical connections are things we need is any kind of evaluation of the work. This reality is made self evident every time I IM with an intern who's sitting across a desk from me. I don't need or want art to further illuminate that for me.
As for Xiao's take on the social media frenzy surrounding Marina Abromovic stare-off, it's worth asking what is being said with this piece. Is it that hype about intimacy can perpetuate a false sense of intimacy over these mediums and in real life? Unlikely given that Xiao's description of the piece always trumpets precious shared moments. Maybe it is a message about how social media experiences change with context. Maybe it's about how hard it is to generate the same excitement for a work inspired by Abramovic without MoMA's press team. Whatever the case, I can think of more poignant work.
This lack of clarity, however, isn't something Vartanian has a problem with, who instead misinterprets my complaint that ARTnews had evaluated Xiao's success by how many people the artist meaningfully tweeted and text with that day, as a complaint about artists networking to get ahead! He then goes on to describe the mechanics of twitter use. "Artists who use Twitter…are more like conductors." Vartanian writes, "They use the medium to tap into a group and explore what they are willing to contribute to the work. Sometimes it can be powerful, but other times a missed opportunity that functions better as an abstract idea."
Call me idealistic, but I think art should be more than a leadership retreat. Yes, it's about engaging the community around you, but there's not much value in it if the ideas themselves are flimsy. As I mention at the L Magazine, this is the core criticism I have with a lot of the work I have seen on twitter recently. There are a lot of ways to address this, but probably the most effective is through a strong work ethic and willingness to evaluate one's work harshly.
Obviously that's a good sign for Man Bartlett, who based on his tweets must live in his studio, though I haven't spoken to the artist enough about his practice to know whether he's critical of it. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Vartanian's likes this inclusion; Bartlett's very active and has a large following. "He's getting to the point where he could benefit from a thorough assessment", the blogger opines, promising the feature for another day. In addition to the reasons already noted by Vartanian, Bartlett's recent commission as a Creative Time Tweets artist this spring also prompted his mention. (David Horovitz and Jill Magid also produced projects.)
Man Bartlett's 24hKith
At this point, it will likely not be shocking to read that Vartanian's take is slightly different from my own: Vartanian cites the artist's inclusion of other media as a strength in the work, and again, I don't see this attribute as particularly consequential if the concept itself is weak. For this reason, I never cared much for #24hKith, a piece Vartanian cites as amongst Bartlett's better works. Here, Bartlett asks Twitter followers to complete the phrase "I am", while a live video stream of the artist is projected onto a gallery wall. Bartlett then repeats the tweets aloud, while pinning a feather per tweet on a mannequin as he does it. Over the course of the performance the mannequin is covered.
The problem with this piece is that it's lob ball information aesthetics whereby the mannequin, the tweets, and the feathers all represent the idea that consciousness and physical presence is made up of countless interactions virtual and real. #24hPort is a better work because he leaves the trite metaphors out of it, but the only reason asking a bunch of people where they're going has any appeal at all is because the cumulative effect of Bartlett's tweets is compelling. Now that only occurs when if the Tweeter in question is skilled, but I'd also argue that it's completely common to see this happen. I read Melissa Gira Grant's Twitter updates from Europe religiously when she got stuck in Europe last year due to ash erupting in Iceland, even though objectively speaking they weren't that interesting. Event- and news-based Twitter commentary can be bizarrely addictive.
I don't know how Vartanian feels about this, but given that artist is simply exploiting Twitter for what Twitter does, I, for one, would be more satisfied if Bartlett's projects offered a little Steve Lambert-esque punch. Offering another perspective, Hypothete, a popular commentor and artist, thinks artists working within said medium who want to make a point about it should not complicate the form with other mediums. Of course, since Bartlett often uses different media, by this rationale this wouldn't make Bartlett a Twitter artist so much as a performance artist with a great knack for self promotion. I don't see anything wrong with this, though I'd add that this is sometimes an undesirable quality that I've come to associate with many Twitter accounts, my own included.
Tagged as: An Xiao, ARTnews, Christopher Knight, Hrag Vartanian, Hyperallergic, Hypothete, Joy Garnett, Man Bartlett, twitter
Hypothete July 9, 2011 at 6:10 am
Just to be clear – I said what I did in the context of "artists working within said medium." That is, if you claim to be using Twitter to talk about Twitter, you are obfuscating your message by not having the art "take place" on Twitter. To go back to Bartlett again, most of his work reads as about the interaction and not the platform, and this is made more clear by the "action" happening over ustream, or in a pile of balloons, or both.
Maybe ASCII tweets could be considered a more direct confrontation of the qualities Twitter itself. Also Cortright's Injuries was a great example of this – abjection is unexpected in the filtered world of my Twitter feed, at least. I can think of plenty of ways one could comment on the nature of Twitter outside of Twitter as a medium, but if you have to abandon the qualities that make Twitter "Twitter" you're probably missing the point.
Art Fag City July 10, 2011 at 1:26 pm
Sorry about that. I've made that more clear in the text.Â
Will Brand July 11, 2011 at 3:40 pm
I think one of the fantastic things about net art in general is that this kind of medium-specific content can occasionally actually be digestible by the mass public. Painting-about-painting isn't very interesting to me because, frankly, I'm not a painter – the extent of my connection to paint-specific issues is a few hours a week in galleries, and I have to draw on experience and a lot of art history books to figure out what's going on (after which I often still don't care). I think that's roughly the position of most people in the world. Twitter-about-Twitter, though, I can understand: I use Twitter all the time, so I understand intuitively its features, its hashtags and retweets and follows. I can pick out what doesn't fit quickly, so I can spend more time trying to figure out why it doesn't fit, and what the implications of that are.
If you make a painting that convincingly reimagines the brushstroke, I'll look real hard at it and maybe eventually decide that based on my research it's an interesting painting. If you make a Twitter account that convincingly reimagines the Tweet, I and 200 million-odd other people will instantly be capable of grasping it. That's why this stuff matters: it's not because you can communicate instantly (telephones are nearly 150 years old) or with a mass audience (television is nearly 80) or reciprocally (the internet can almost legally drink), but because the limited features and context of Twitter mean that for once the audience understands the medium precisely as the artist/producer does. That doesn't really exist in any other sphere of online art (how many art viewers understand HTML, or PHP, or even anything but the basics of Photoshop?). That, to me, is the potential (and ultimately the failing) of art on Twitter; it's a lot more interesting than all these works where it was just cheaper and easier for the artist to Tweet instead of finding a more fitting medium.
Anonymous July 9, 2011 at 7:59 am
Paddy: Thx for the extra thoughts.
I live in an apartment and a have studio. I spend a lot of time in the studio making the various kinds of work I make. But what are you wondering what I'm critical of? My studio? My practice? The work? Not sure where that was directed, but regardless I'm critical of everything. I just don't usually play that hand. For a while though I didn't have time to be too critical. That's beginning to change as I can afford (figuratively) to take on fewer projects, and be more selective about what I take on. One thing I will add, is that similar to an individual projects' cumulative effect, I believe (or hope) that there is a similar effect on the entire body of performance work. I plan them to be progressions, in many ways. They each build on what came before it. Seeing what worked, discarding what didn't. One big challenge is that no two audiences are alike. They are unpredictable. And my obligation is to my audience. To create something from my own experiences that hopefully compels them in some simple, small way. In that regard I lay my process bare.
I'm surprised that you're saying you never much cared for #24hKith. Your reaction to it when I saw you in person after it was finished (at the sound of art release party), was quite positive. I don't remember the exact words you used, but we talked about it at some length. I remember because I was actually shocked that you seemed to be so into it. You also participated:Â https://twitter.com/#!/artfagcity/status/8376002107412480 … Is it more convenient now to dismiss your initial reaction? Has your opinion changed over time? Was your initial reaction insincere?Â
As far as art being more than leadership retreat, totally agree. However don't underestimate the power of the conductor. The parameters are very strictly set, a lot of decisions have been made, and considered. My work is squarely NOT in the participatory field. They are often very personal acts that are bolstered by contributions from people. But to successfully manage a huge room full of mostly strangers and their whatever-they-haves takes a lot of leadership. Especially over time. Speaking of time…
Fun times!
P.S. The top photo should be credited to Christopher Kissock
P.P.S. I know you didn't title it, but #Don't Follow Twitter Art = #Don. Lulz!
I figured you were critical of your practice based on how you respond to online comments but not having talked with you directly about any of it I felt it more accurate to just say I didn't know.Â
It's true that I spoke to you about #24hKith and was positive though I think you spent more time talking to my mother than you did me about the work. I was happy for you because you'd been included in the show and you'd finished the piece. Also, you'd been up for more than 24 hours and it was your closing party, so this was not the time or place to go into various weaknesses of the piece. I did not think I was going to write about the piece seeing as how we were in the same show. So maybe my reaction was disingenuous, but I'd likely do the same thing again.
I'll fix the caption – thx for the heads up.Â
Hey Paddy,
Got it re: criticality. Thx.
Haha, I spoke with you about the project for as long as I felt like you were interested to talk about it. Despite my typical online behavior of LOTS OF INFORMATION/SELF-PROMOTION ALL THE TIME, I am very sensitive to how much I talk about my work IRL with people. That said, whether or not you plan on writing about a work or not shouldn't change your reaction to it. Regardless, I appreciate the thought, and look forward to reading more.
@powhida:twitter raises some great points. As far as the relationship to "liking" goes, while it's hard to parse the artist from the person, there are minor distinctions. When I am "performing" it is a meta-version of myself. I draw a parallel to hyperreality (in the Baudrillardian sense). An invisible mirror. Quick! Someone register invisiblemirror.tumblr.com! 😉
Lastly, I am a sensitive/emotional artist but I wouldn't be posting here if I didn't genuinely care about the work, furthering the work, and especially expanding the larger context within which it's placed. Regardless of the distinction between art and artist and how people feel about me OR my work. I have an amazing, supportive and evolving audience, the vast majority of which will probably never see this page and any of our comments. My ultimate commitment is to them, and to my vision. However limited or expansive.
J. Doug Hastings July 9, 2011 at 9:02 am
Everyone agrees on the need to be critical, but so much of this comes down to taste, and taste to personal experience. So much reaction to social art period comes down to how someone reacts to social interaction as a whole. I'm a pretty deep introvert and any art piece that relies on the importance of social interaction to human life turns into an exercise in alienation. Abramovic's piece, which I experienced in lesser form, recreated at the SF Abramovic Institute by a disciple, just struck me as something I felt guilty for not being struck by. I spend 90% of my life pretending that those who are present aren't.
That doesn't mean I dismiss any artwork that appeals to a more social sensibility. In fact, Xiao's work appears to be from an introverted framework (as she tweeted a sort of defense of introverts a week or 2 back separate from her work). However, her work is still a form of expressive introversion. An attempt to connect. On an intellectual level I can connect to it and to the more (seemingly) extroverted works of Bartlett. I'm actually not claiming to be critical here, but presenting an alternative view.
Rather, the social media work that has struck me most viscerally wasn't intended to be art at all, but is a computer science competition that shows the fallibility of the social networks: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20928045.100-fake-tweets-by-socialbot-fool-hundreds-of-followers.html In this competition engineers designed algorithms that could control twitter profiles, infiltrate networks of friends, gain followers and responses. The article exaggerates the effect had, and to what degree the computers "fooled" humans, but to me the exercise is as important as any of the human's work in the field. Where 1 brand examines the nature of human interaction this examines the fallibility and shallowness of the same. Neither is complete without the other. However, 1 is being conducted in a fine art context, while the other is a computer science experiment.
William Powhida July 9, 2011 at 2:06 pm
The photo of Nate Hill and friend smiling along with An Xiao really captures the overall mood around social media art in the months leading up to Paddy's article #Don. Â It was a pre-critical moment where the social aspect of the work and the relationships established between artist and audience made for some good times all around. Look how happy everyone is in that screen shot, grinning from ear to ear. Â That was part of the festive mood of Hrag's show, the Social Graph. I also contributed a sketch (so analog) of how the art world is a highly organized set of personal and business relationships. Â It's roots are in the Internet and access to information, not social access the artists, collectors, and dealers depicted. Â
What sets apart Man and An's (mAn) projects from my Jurassic contribution is that both pieces offered social access to the artists. Â mAn work earnestly, ostensibly as themselves in their projects without much pretext. Whether An is in the gallery or California is not much of a pretext. Â The only thing separating either artist from the viewer is the interface. Â What's sort of new and also part of the problem is that there are not many other genres or mediums that require so much access to the artist socially during the work. Â In order to participate in either An's Skype piece or #24kith, the viewer has to make contact with the artist, and of course establishes a social relationship. Â Somewhere, floating in the viewers mind, is an emotional 'like' button, which they either press or do not press about the artist as a person. Â It seems invariably for mAn that their personalities become intertwined with the work. Â So, any critique of the work also implicates who they are as people. Â This makes it hard to then say 'look, this isn't about you…it's about the work', which is what professors try and teach sobbing art students during even the most gentle of critiques early on. Â Many artists find it difficult to separate themselves from the objects they produce, 'my art is personal, it's my soul…', which is all but impossible with mAn's work. Â If there were a list of materials for either of these pieces they'd include Artist, web cam, Internet access, and other people. Â These works don't happen without the artist, and unlike performance art, where Brecht's 4th wall still holds, both of them are hanging out waiting for you to talk with them. Â They aren't wearing masks, despite the layer of technology.Notice, in the photo again, Nate Hill. Â He's wearing a milk man outfit. Â I have met Nate and I still don't know Nate. Â I'm not sure who Nate Hill is or what he believes. Â Maybe he's a total asshole or a great guy. Â I'm glad I don't know, because Nate's performances call into question identity and creating a critical distance for appreciating the performance and the artist. Â I've never experienced that distance with An's work, sunglasses not withstanding at Escape from New York. Â (I couldn't bring myself to sit with An, I had already begun to loathe my own participation on twitter and all social media, and I really didn't think it was a critique of Marina, just a way of getting the art into #artstech). Â Man on the other hand does apply certain boundaries to his performance, but through my interactions with him personally and in projects like #24hPort, I know I am still interacting with Man, not some enigma like Nate's strangely frightening "Punch Me Panda." Â This intimacy that An and Man's social media projects require and perpetuate after the duration of the projects (they continue to tweet and interact as people in between projects) has created an awkward relationship for critique of the work. Â To critique the projects also invites personal judgment. Â Personally, having met both An and Man before experiencing most of their twitter and social media projects, I have had a hard time saying anything critical of their projects. Â The fact that some of the loudest criticism so far has been from anonymous douchebags claiming that Man and An have gotten 'ink' is absurd. Â When you do something new or experimental, that should be acknowledged and discussed. Â
Now we have begun the second part, the discussion of the works themselves. Â The moment captured in the screenshot has passed, it's not all going to be smiles from here on out, and for mAn, it's going to be particularly rough in that it involves them socially. Â This is the awkward part of social media art, there is no way to separate the artist from the work. They are the medium as much as the technology. Â If you don't like Man or An, you might not like their work or conversely, if you aren't moved or engaged like Paddy, there's no way to politely assign the blame to an inanimate object. Â Any discussion of the works necessarily involves both artists, who are accessible probably at this very moment to respond to the discussion. Â Carolina Miranda asked on twitter something like "what artist can you tell is an asshole just by looking at their work?" Â I get that alot, "I thought you'd be a total asshole…" which I definitely can be. Â With mAn's work, they are such nice people and what I think Paddy is saying, is that they make very polite work. Â It's nice. Â For most of us, nice means bland. Â So, this the beginning of a longer discussion that other critics and viewers will start to discuss. Â
I've written this long response, in part, Â because I think social media also poses a broader problem that Paddy started to get to at the end of her post when thinking about self-promotion. Â Building networks requires a lot of 'liking' and positive affirmation. Â Critique, criticism, negativity, cynicism…not so much. Â I feel like my ability to critique anything has been compromised by the relationships social media fosters. Â This is counter-intuitive, 'social media brings people together!" Â Well, Â perhaps the artist and critic should not be so engaged, so part of the community if it means we start to lose our ability to see clearly and have honest discussions without worrying about upsetting somebody or losing a few hundred followers. Â
Man and An, you're awesome people and young artists. Â Welcome to the second part of your careers. Â
Tim Whidden July 9, 2011 at 8:33 pm
 "the viewer has to make contact with the artist, and of course establishes a social relationship."
Self-promotion or whatever but…Â
MTAA's TIME!® should be understood as a precursor and/or early foray into 'social media art.' http://mteww.com/time/ (from 1998)
Stephen Truax July 12, 2011 at 7:16 pm
As per usual, Bill, you effectively reject any work that does not mire itself in the harsh economic realities or the horrifying (and sometimes even evil) nature of the social networks of the commodity market we're (artists) all participating in. You cite Nate Hill's unidentifiable public personality to his credit, his slightly scary work (#PunchMePanda is but one terrifying example, the bouncing Subway riders and gargling milk women are probably more scary) more interesting than An happily waving from the other side of the screen, or Man ruminatively — his voice cracking with exhaustion — reading Tweets and carefully sticking them to a mannequin.
The idea that any public critique of an artist's work is EVER taken with a professional level of emotional distance is absurd. The awkwardness you feel about criticizing An and Man's work is evident in any critique of any artist — and in my experience in New York, take it with less professionalism and critical distance than any critique I ever had in art school.
Cynicism, irony, negativity, and critique are not the only methods to effectively make work. An and Man are excellent examples of where positive energy, and a genuine attempt to make something new, (I believe you refer to this as nice, and therefor bland) are successful contributions to contemporary culture. Their success is evidenced by the enormous reaction their work draws from their audience; you yourself wrote 1100 words on the subject. I would further posit that new media might be one of the best places to make this kind of an attempt — the new technology is not weighed down by 3000 years of Western art history to fuck it up.Â
What An waving and smiling from behind the camera, inciting Nate and Rose to wave and smile back, or Man walking through Port Authority (arguably the most soul-crushing building in all of New York) earnestly trying to engage people to interact with him represents to me — PERSONALLY — is the possibility of something new, and happy, and positive, might actually have the potential to be successful in the 2010s.
Anonymous July 12, 2011 at 10:11 pm
I think the hope is that there's some level of professional distance, at least with regards to the use value of criticism. I remember Brian Sholis lamenting a while back on artforum that as a critic, he really wanted to engage artists in discussion, and found it frustrating that most shunned away from it. One success of social media is that artists are actually much more willing to engage in criticism. If you believe in the value of criticism, and I'd guess most critics do, writing about social media should be immensely rewarding.Â
In any event, I did not read William's comment as being so blinded by his own interests that it distorted his view point. If there have been disputes between the two of you, maybe that's for a different thread.Â
Nate Hill July 9, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Guess since my name came up here and picture, I'll chime in.
I like to go where the people are. If I had found popularity quickly in the traditional gallery world, I may not have found it necessary to perform in the street, subways, people's apartments, and promoting it on twitter and blogs. But it didn't happen that way for me, and once I saw that an alternative route of dispersion was working, I went that way even though I never made much money.
Some people call this "attention seeking" or "self promotion". That's
fine. My ideas are out there, and at the end of the day that is the most
important thing to me.
Personally, I don't have any grand message about Social Media. I put my art where people see it. (Is that a message?) When I have an idea, I channel it in a way that the most people possible will experience it. Man has also mastered this, and I hope he finds this to be a compliment! 🙂
Of course, galleries and critics can push work forward intellectually, but all too often those communities are closed, and I want everyone. That means you, your sister, and your mama too.
I think what Bill started to touch on by talking about "nice means bland", and something that I enjoy thinking about a lot, is striking a balance in art-making between creating something intellectually interesting without making it intellectually intimidating. This is a tricky balance that I live by with my work and that, again, I admire Man for.Â
Mark Billy July 9, 2011 at 3:51 pm
#twitterart is so June 30th 2011. Â
Thx Nate! Right backatcha.
Magdasawon July 9, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Social media also brings change to the of formerly unchallenged "critic's voice" as Paddy's post gets immediate response from Hrav, other commenters and artist, forcing her into "explaining herself." Some of it is pushing the discussion forward, some not so much.Â
Gretta Louw July 9, 2011 at 6:58 pm
I have been following this debate on Twitter and social media art unfolding with great interest. I believe that this critical engagement with recent trends in this new branch of art practice is crucial to its development and ongoing improvement. This is true of art practice in any medium. So kudos to artfagcity for getting the ball rolling, there's probably a lot of people who have waiting for it.
In the first place I believe that there is something valuable in breaking new ground, even if there is still far too much emphasis placed on the primacy on newness, a state of affairs which is a particular blight for new media art forms. I remember watching Man's #24hkith, my first experience with his work, and feeling the jolt of being at my home in Berlin, late in the evening, contributing something absent-mindedly on Twitter and immediately having it fed back to me through the live video stream of his performance, knowing that it was simultaneously being received by an unknown number of other internet users as well as a live audience in New York City. There was something unexpectedly powerful in this immediate, intercontinental feedback loop and also something a little scary in how easily the internet and this technology can amplify off-hand comments, seemingly giving them more importance than they are due. The artists who identified this potential in the technology at their disposal deserve recognition for that.
Of course, as commentators have pointed out, the art practice cannot then remain at this exploratory level. It needs to then rapidly move beyond testing what the medium is capable of and into the territory of deeper content. I think in this way it becomes less relevant to talk about it as a practice based on a particular technology and more useful to examine it critically in the same way that we would evaluate other forms of performance art or public intervention/ art actions. As ultimately, most of the works that have been mentioned in the debate so far would fit comfortably into one of these two categories (to the extent at least to which it possible to categorize any art pieces according to these labels).
Based on this premise, I am looking forward to seeing work that utilizes the new developments in social media and online networking in a way that comments more strongly on these developments themselves and the impact that they have on society. Above all I think that even performance pieces that exist predominantly in the online world need to adhere to the same standard of discipline and commitment that we have come to expect (or if not, then that which we should expect) from performance artists working in more traditional ways.
Previous comments have insightfully pointed out that explicitly making these demands and being critical of artists with whom we have a social connection of some kind is much more difficult than it often is with artists in other genres. It is, however, crucial that we overcome this awkwardness because otherwise the discussion around this important work becomes nothing more than a round of back-slapping; which is why I find this debate so encouraging. I believe it should be and is possible to have a sensitive yet constructively critical discussion about performance art (in which, after all the body and person of the artist is also inextricably linked to the piece) and online performance art (as Nate Hill has referred to it) or social media art. This seems like the right time to perfect this form of critical discussion within the relatively new realm of immediate, online feedback rounds.
Joshua Johnson July 9, 2011 at 8:27 pm
I think there is a question as to locating the consequences of the medium via its essence as a medium, versus what the artists are locating (or adding to) that essential quality through the medium. Paddy seems to have a point when she questions the value of exposing the difference between a physically present communication and the mediated interaction provided by the technology. In a readymade sense, simply by picking up video chat or Twitter you are acknowledging a technical media screen between you and the other person you are conversing with, since by placing something within the realm of art, you are separating it from its casual social function and regarding it as a thing to be reflected upon. For that reflection to occur, hoever, it seems only necessary to do it once. To not over-simplify, one should notice that there have not been a great deal of Fountains since Duchamp, or at least not ones whose rupture is instituted as a generic signifier of the status of the object qua its cultural reception. To add to the language of the readymade since Fountain is to comment on the particularities of that object as it relates to its structural significance in the present, and thus once the medium is displayed reflexively as an object, we must find new ways to challenge its limits in relation to what the culture will tolerate — the question, it seems to me, is are these artists challenging the limit of the medium, or are they merely re-iterating the qualities already inherent in the medium without further reflection? Does framing a Twitter conversation in relation to the interaction with a famous performance artist make me question the boundaries of how Twitter functions as a medium, in particular ways that were not already evident merely through reflection on the medium from personal experience? Personally, throwing in Marina Abramovic's history and work adds little to my consideration of the medium, or at least, it seems to be a simplistic investigation of the medium in a 1+1 art kind of way.Â
Jesse P. Martin July 10, 2011 at 6:58 pm
Dear To Whom It May Concern,
Is it archaic – and redundant – to end blog comments with a valediction (especially if the comment-software clearly and firstly furnishes your comments with your name, photo, links to your blog/profile/etc.)? Or is this another exciting way for an artist to exhibit/express the "SELF-PROMOTION ALL THE TIME" (ironic?) practice-tactic mentioned above? For artists who are supposed to be at that heady threshold of the "second-part of (their) career" (and torchbearers of "new or experimental" Twitter &/or Social Media Art movements), it seems like a rather conservative tic/throwback to the quill & papyrus days of yore.
Style & syntax matter – especially since these are text-based programs/forms/forums. This is what I get from what Hypothete wrote above – and a Tweet he sent to AFC regarding this also makes me wonder what kind of Twitter Art (TwitArt, or TwArt) that a resurrected/zombie Greenberg would fancy (prob. ASCII, Weiner's sexytweets, any shortened URL, etc.).
Also, one of the reasons that the conversation about the types of TwArt above so quickly turns into conversations about (what I'd call) the fake-y, cloying "positive affirmation" culture that permeates much of the conspicuously-ambitious ArtWorld is because the work itself is supersaturated with the tone & veneer of a that very careerist lifestyle/worldview/lemming-hording mentality (and is already "tak(ing) place" in those physical spaces). It kinda makes me want to respond to it full-throttle in sarcastic-hater-troll-asshole mode, because that's the critical gag-reflex that work & conversations like this trigger.
Warmest Regards & Truly Yours,
BitterTwitter69
Anonymous July 10, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Dear http://jessepatrickmartin.blogspot.com/,
Thank you for taking the time to point this out.
[Unsigned]
OMG PLEASE REMOVE THE COMMA FROM THE LINK TO MY WEBSITE IN YOUR SALUTATION!!! ITS INCLUSION FAILS TO REDIRECT THE VIEWER TO MY BLOG!!!
Jesse P. Martin July 10, 2011 at 10:58 pm
*whew* & *thank you*
Does the rainbow-feathers- & Mac-bearing table in the 24hKith pics have taller legs at one end, or is it keystoning as the result of digital photography magic (and/or wonky flooring)? Also, why a suit and no shoes?
John Pyper July 11, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Now we get to the important questions: Why a suit and no shoes?
Jennifer Chan July 10, 2011 at 8:25 pm
"Art that does little more than demonstrate how technology works isn't very interesting."Â
Patty I could not agree more. I have been to a few openings where I have seen with skype/twitter feeds with people sitting in front of the camera and saying "hi" to the audience or doing random things, and running out of things to do. While that is still real time performance the act of being present via a remote camera is not that novel or amusing and does little to show what the artist's relationship or opinion on widespread use of the technology is. For the same reason I am hesitant to livestream openings of exhibitions of web-based media in gallery spaces, as that image of people just walking around a normative exhibition space looks real boring, distantiated and actually non-interactive on webcam.Â
Dear "Jennifer Chan",
I am here at 108.21.235.99Â and transmitting a message mediated by Disqus to you. Please reflect on the implications of this transmission.
Guest July 10, 2011 at 8:30 pm
here's the real twitter art:Â http://twitter.com/grey
Shamus Clisset July 11, 2011 at 3:35 pm
I just see this stuff as the necessary baby steps taken when new formats and media are introduced and when artists start to incorporate them into their work. I think it's kind of inevitable for people to just incorporate and juxtapose the technology into these kinds of works before it progresses further.Â
there's nothing wrong with the way the works mentioned have incorporated the technology so far, but hopefully it builds toward something more. and when someone finally really flips the script on it, it could potentially become really compelling.Â
the key is to do or make something that really transforms and creates something new out of what's currently possible. just inserting Twitter, or any other platform, into a gallery or studio context is only the beginning.
Jonas D Dodge July 12, 2011 at 6:22 pm
BULKKAâ"¢ July 13, 2011 at 12:45 am
We are looking for new artists to feature!
http://www.facebook.com/bulkkamag
http://www.bulkka.com
Ardmara July 12, 2011 at 6:25 pm
http://twitter.com/#!/On_Kawara
Joy Garnett July 14, 2011 at 1:54 pm
I wonder if now, after Paddy's posts and the various threads, since folks have had a chance to think about it all some more, whether it might be a cool thing for each of the artists here (me, An, Man) to engage in something more formal like a round table, or better yet, a series of interviews, to flesh things out. There's a lot more to discover and uncover about each artist's work, including with regard to our distinctly different uses of social media (twitter included)…. It would be interesting, and definitely useful, imho, to be able to focus on specific questions /challenges, not on the fly but in a way that would allow some thought and reflection before answering….just a thought 😉
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