Making Spaces

“An echo that recognizes the existence of the other and does not overpower or attempt to silence it. An echo that takes its place and speaks its own voice, yet speaks with the voice of the other. An echo that reproduces its own sound, yet opens itself to the sound of the other.”  - subcommandante marcos 

In Chiapas Mexico, there exists a rich culture of listening and speaking in return. Out of that continual discursive practice, there develops a value and tradition of reflexive pedagogy, where the unalienated labour of idea and lifestyle creation is manifested. The space, social and physical, within and around which people exchange ideas, not as property but as gift and cultural cultivation is one hospitable to radical direct democracies, where the people are not represented but themselves present.  The interest of Encuentro: impermanent structure and permanent praxis is the making of spaces that depart from the hegemony of neoliberal capitalism and its epistemological, cultural and political-economic monopoly while designing practices for alternative practices. 

The Critical Theorists and the Frankfurt school conceived of art practice as isolated acts of resistance. This is true in so far that the acts are enabling of acting, however “isolated” is only accurate in terms of describing distances between flowing collections of individual and particular acts, and is forgetful of decentralized forms of resistance as are not totalizing but unifying in networked “becomings”. As it is difficult to conceptualize change as a singular event, a Deleuzean understanding of an “Ontology of Becoming” nurtures a series of permanent revolutions that are simultaneously destructive of the naturalization of the regime stage, and creative of life and possibility. Likewise this project is not one “Encuentro” but a series of encuentros shifting and adapting to the imagination of participants and the context of use.   

The relationship between structure and tactical praxis requires further articulation than possible here. Structure can be seen as an accumulation of norms regulated by the continual conflict between dominant and oppositional powers, which becomes necessarily oppressive with the expression of a centralized regime power whose means to security is the often the coercive imposition of certain ideal forms. With limited flexibility, static-ness becomes the representation of hegemony. Movement is thus oppositional and fluxes with the possibility of regime change in a way that is both radical and playful. Impermanent structure does not negate the existence of structure but empowers and illuminants the currents of change, resistance and imagination omnipresent in every structure. It means that structures are in place for so long that those who are affecting and affected are not objecting. That means they are to be challenged continuously in the movement of becoming. In the meeting of theory and practice, permanent in its impermanence, alternatives to repressive power can be imagined and realized. 

Encuentro translate literally into encounter or meeting, but is much more symbolically significant. It is a space where people gather as a community to discuss what makes them a community and what acts are appropriate for said community. These practices of exchange and dialogue are characterized by movement, in discourse difference can be highlighted, spoken of, instead of eliminated.   It is through such practices of meeting and sharing that a community creates itself and its culture. 

These encuentros, spaces of gathering, are to be held in the form of a momentarily invasive architecture that is teleologically ephemeral. That is to say their significance is in their practical departures from that which is institutional and "normaled". Though these meetings are site specific, they can not be isolated from structure that already exist. They are rather contingent upon and skeptical of the dominant structures which they speak to. In the appropriation of existing permanent architecture we can set  spontaneous and inviting tented spaces where the encuentros can be held. The tents, materially consisting of fabric, rope and tape reference childhood makeshift forts/sanctuaries of intimacy and sharing where dreams of becoming can activate our social and political-economic imaginaries.  The Encuentros are both a dream space and a practical space or in other terms a praxis. 

It is difficult to propose what these works would look like, for the execution of which is circumstantial and contextual. For instance, the tents can be set up as forums, in the context of the day to day where creating spaces of gathering and intimacy can be facilitated by the impermanent structure. Or they can be set up as political actions subverting the semiotic reign of a particular location and occupation of both the existing space and the spaces in becoming are central. Alternatively they can be set up in the gallery space in which case the tent itself becomes of significance, it becomes the place to which the encuentro goes. The former two possibilities are quite open, so i will speak more on the latter.   Here, in the "art" space we require an exchange even with the absence of the encuentro. There requires an exhibitionary element distinct from the gathering. In other words a use and an engagement that doesn't call for a planned event but a series of spontaneous acts, connections and exchange. 

With the absence of a physical community at times, the space will need to enable an imagined community - an alternative encuentro will need to be made possible. An important element of radical tactical praxis is the exchange and gifting of ideas and reflections. In addition to  and in absence and the human occupation of the tent, the human thoughts and feelings can occupy the space.  The giving and taking of one note for another or x number of notes for another x number, abstracted from commodified exchange value accompanies oral dialogue in the maintenance of a fluid and changing gathering, even when there is no physical gathering. Notes and thoughts can be written on pieces of paper that will collage the inner walls of the tented space These notes are encouraged to be taken, removed, added to etc...,so that for the notes that are taken, new ones are given.  

Second Life offers a different kind of community and possibility in the globalization of dialogue and imagination. In the centre of the tent is a computer logged onto Second Life, a networked hyperreality simulating the hyperreality of real life. The “second life” is projected on to the ceiling of the physical encuentro space upon a stringed galaxy of signifiers, much like the process of the notes.    Here people can send invitations to second life users in the simulation to join our encuentro. In doing so, the two hyperrealities are connected in the work of shaping practice and possibilities. 

These encuentros can happen anywhere, in different contexts and different designs. They can be re-imagined, re-appropriated, and re-theorized.

Pecha Kucha - the sound of casual conversation

Mundane acts of conversation carry in them the most radical manifestations of praxis. Listening and speaking in turn, each person with 6 minutes and 22 seconds engages in the experiment of reflexive pedagogy with their peers. Pecha Kucha can be understood as a discursive practice brought into day to day life, an  interaction of people in a non commodified intellectual gift exchange. The experiment in the classroom turned out on the contrary quite distant from that understanding of Pecha Kucha.  The concept of  sharing in the slideshows, simple yet pregnant in thought, revealed itself to be of an absurd difficulty in practice, well telling of the externalization and atomization of the modern human condition.  Listening... really listening proved difficult and speaking for oneself even more so.    By the last of the four weeks of powerpoint presentations,  the shivers induced by the mere mention of Pecha Kucha became observable.  Why is it so difficult for us to speak to one another? Does what we learned about one another even matter? our collections of 20 slides remain within a cycle of production, consumption and disposal. our 6 minute 20 second identities are produced, condensed and packaged, consumed by others with an apathetic obligation, reviewed, graded and dragged by habit into the trash. If a problem arises in that distance between our experiences with the Pecha Kucha and what it means, how are we to bridge the gap?  How can we realize the theoretical richness of the Pecha Kucha in practice? In practice there appears to be a solution.


                     With my 6 minutes and 20 seconds, i spoke about Tactical Media and its challenge to various boundaries including state territoriality, identity politics, power relations, and political-economic repression.

                                       

                 "This pecha kucha is about a contemporary movement this is not easily summed up in nominal terms. It involves collaborations with a textured variety of disciplines and technologies. It is sometimes called tactical media. There are other names for it. But the terms are only suggestive. This is what makes this movement interesting for me. 

Crossing Boundaries is not a temporally restive act, rather it follows a continual and contextual development of ideas, events, relationships, and acts of resistance. Boundaries can be understood as something imposed upon another body - a movement restricting obstacle upon which mental and physical experiences are formed. They necessary imply the exertion of force and a corresponding structure of hierarchical power relations.  

An immediate boundary is that of state territoriality, which is privileged with a power to shape our identities, economies, government policies and the way we think about one another. They tell us who is one of us and who is not. They are developed by a specific set of historical processes which dictate nationhood and the functioning of a system based upon inclusion and exclusion. They actively enforce the notion of the other, while criminalizing human movement in a multitude of ways. 

One way to look at boundaries is by means of “ the Wall” which in both in its metaphorical sense and physical sense, separates us by force. I am interested in examining how these walls are constructed, who they are built for, who they affect and most importantly how they can be torn down.  

Identity can be seen as the production of constant fluxes, which are complex, multidimensional. It is not singular, nor homogenous just as history is not a static objective. A dialectical history allows us to account for more inclusive and realistic narratives. The illumination of alternative histories and practices such as living on Turtle Island rather than a now cultivated Terra Nullus empowers people who have traditionally been disenfranchised.  Language and culture is powerful in challenging colonialism and neoliberalism. 

The Internet has been successful in democratizing access to information and expression.  Despite recent corporate attacks on net neutrality, the internet thus far remains a free and  open space. The network is a kind of non physical common space which transcends state boundaries. Of course there are various things governments and their partners can do to censure access. but there are also things the people can do with the this technology to break those censorships. Tactical media is a method 

The term digital commons refers to this phenomena of non locality and collective ownership and authorship. 

Seeing that history and reality is not singular, art reflects a similar ephemerality. It is not fixed to a particular history. The work is often interdisciplinary, incorporating the sciences, social and political theory, theatre, writing, agriculture, etc... It is complex and layered and interconnected, much like the real world and the virtual world.

Critical Art pushes for the creation of decentralized collectives rather than hegemonic power houses commanding the direction of “the movement” It is more like a symphony of diverse movements, with different parts conveying different ideas but more or less coherent in direction. Here the art is not only art. It is not an object created and possessed by the artist, but a communal work strengthened by diverse voices, skills and tactics to challenge power.  The work is likely not a physical object, but an experience of sorts. Further more it is often given agency and meaning by participation from those who have created it and those who ensure it. 

This movement is generally critical of oligarchic organizations, centralized institutions war, and thus neoliberal globalization and state control. 

Brandon is an example of a participatory, critical, and experimental work. It is essentially a multi-writer narrative lived out in real time through an internet based installation. The initiator/artist Shu Lea Cheang based the project on the biologically female Brandon, who  upon two men’s discovery of his female body was raped and murdered.  The multi-narratives emphasizes the complexities on of event and Brandon’s incapacity to be free of the social binaries defining him. A part of the work included a series of forums discussing issues of gender, crime and punishment. 

Evo and Franco Mattes work primary with iconography, semiotics and covert actions that are imitative and mocking of popular culture. United we Stand was a fake movie poster, distributed around LA. It is so realistic and stereotypical that it was believed to be a real film. which looked at the relationship between the State and Hollywood Propaganda films in the military-industrial-media complex. 

Tele-garden was a virtual and communal garden that was grown consistently for 9 years. Participants actively feed and watered the plants through controlling the robot from their home, the events were translated in realtime onto webcams. This works played on the internet as a common, public domain in which the people had a shared responsibility to maintain the garden.  

Relational Architecture is another example of new media. This examined the role of architecture is hierarchical systems of power. Rafael Lorano and his collective attempt to remove the context from the building and places it a situational environment.  

Critical Art Ensemble is a collaborative that has generated huge base of work, questioning existing power institutions.  In addition to pop cultural appropriation , the ensemble works as an investigative and scientific research unit. The work is a mixture of science, journalism, theory, art, media studies and activism. 

They advocated direct action in preference to imitative or simulated action like distributing signs and subversive messages through traditional communication processes. To directly attack and infiltrate the systems of ruling institutions to push towards direct change in policies over displays of public spectacle.  That is the nature of electronic civil disobedience. It is believed that effective disturbance is made in anonymity through clandestine activities. This has provided much of the theoretical framework for spurts of Electronic Civil disobedience to come. 

The Electronic Disturbance Theatre is an initiate lead by Ricardo Dominguez along with a network of activists and workers of other disciplines. This group does not negate the theatrical aspect of performance when conducted as an idea under a band of people.  The EDT is most notable for its work with the Zapatista movement in Mexico, and dedicated much of their attention to the plight of the indigenous under violent state repression. In response to an assault by the military, the EDT called for a virtual sit in, which is the simultaneous and repetitions refreshing of targeted sites causing the sites to shut down. They are namely government and corporate websites symbolic of neoliberal pursuits in the South.  

Tactical Media gives the people a place in art, turning away from “high art” and encourages  “amateur art” and input from people of different geographic and social localities.  It encourages and gives way to the assembling of social movements without essentializing or necessarily limiting aspects of a broad diverse global community.  This movement takes advantage of technologies and democratizes the ways in which we engage with each other and turns the arena into a common space of discourse.  It has given us new methods of mobilizing, organizing and acting. 

Tactical media is by no means the be it end all of activism, but only the beginning of a medium and approach. The network or what some call “artware” are only a part of a more expansive global movement for human dignity, social justice, environmental justice and peace.  It is novel in framing digital networks dialectical and complementary to the human networks.  This type of action and theoretical work will be the focus of my research. "