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<p>Dear resourcers,</p>
<p>[ sorta long post, sorry, feel free to dive in if you have time ]<br>
</p>
<p>I haven't posted to resource-net for some time... And in Sept., I
switched to this mailbox.org for better security. <br>
</p>
<p>So, I have been out of the conversations here for quite awhile,
though i did return to a meeting at the Apartment Galerie several
weeks ago.</p>
<p> There I noticed that some bit of struggle and tensions between
resource members+participants and Transmediale team still existed.
Kristoffer thereafter also wrote to some of us ( who were part of
the network at its very early stages) a long email clarifying the
precise origins and intentions of this network from Transmediale's
perspective... <br>
</p>
<p>This was helpful, but what was not included in that account was
individuals who also had brought their energies, skills, concerns,
needs to those meetings to provide inputs, collaborations, and
connections for all of us who work, play, build, research, analyze
and resist in the fields of digital arts + culture year round in
Berlin. <br>
</p>
<p>Venues like Panke + Art Laboratory Berlin wanted a network that
provided a community + information on all the goings-on about town
in these fields. That was an interesting element for me, so i
went to some "extra-resource" meetings that focused on the "TBA
platform". That online platform now exists, but... probably due to
all our over-abundance of online stuff ... and a number of other
factors... it didn't bring the community to a closer and cohesive
entity. One of the problems being is that the majority of online
communications has been colonized by the social media giants. Just
one of many dilemmas in our digital culture realities. <br>
</p>
<p>My own personal interests in A Beyond-The-Transmediale-Festival
Community was that, while i greatly appreciate the complexity of
investigations at the festival, there are not enough tangible nor
local resonances from these 3-4-5 day convergences... Little
lasting effect from the knowledge and revelations... And no
working groups to follow up, to transform theory into praxis and
as on-the-ground or day-to-day manifestations. <br>
</p>
<p>And in my humble opinion, there is an important new genre of arts
taking shape over the last years... An ARTS+PRAXIS-oriented
MOVEMENT or a TACTICAL ENGAGEMENT. Perhaps there's better language
already out there for this, so excuse me if this sounds too
simplistic. [ I don't spend alot of time reading arts+culture
theory. ] ... <br>
</p>
<p>One can see this happening in a variety of places from HKW's own
thematic seminars + workshops (related to Anthropocene +
Technosphere issues ), Supermarkt workshops, festivals like
Elevate, Subversive and Memefest?, hacklab working groups, ongoing
Cryptoparties, Hackathons, conferences like Chaos Congress... <br>
</p>
<p>As the resource network began to take shape, i saw this as an
opportunity to encourage and push Transmediale to invest in local
community, as much as they do in bringing international stars ,
academics, and specialists for a quick visit to drop some
impressive ( and/or showy ) knowledge... downloads. <br>
</p>
<p>Especially in the digital realms, the art world is in many places
feeling the need to be engaged with our unprecedented and quite
disturbing social crises and challenges ! ( climate change and
trumpydom to name just two ). <br>
</p>
<p>Transmediale is very aware of this, and yet still has not really
invested in the local spaces and the local actors who attempt to
construct local infrastructures for ongoing year-round engagement.
I consider them a little stuck in the festival + showtime formats,
and obviously are a small team which has to remain focused on
pulling off a very sophisticated and intellectually pioneering
showcase each year. And of course their budget is limited. And
yet it is highly disappointing that they have not been able to
assist or provide or facilitate a hunt for A LOCAL BUDGET to build
the local VORSPIEL events ... now in it's 5th? YEAR. But maybe
this won't be able to come from Transmediale
(internationally-focused funds), and other means need to be
evolved. <br>
</p>
<p>In my own humble opinion, ANOTHER FESTIVAL, a parallel festival,
like Vorspiel isn't even really the best possible use of resource
and its local energies, and our artists and curators labor ...
which currently, if i may be a little critical, could be much more
than this exploitative crowd-sourced web 2.0-ish model that is
currently playing out now. Though it is great to see it grow into
a project involving over 35 venues ! <br>
</p>
<p>There's an opportunity here for a platform, a network, alliances
which could perhaps help build infrastructures for more
collaborations on a regular basis, assistance + strategies for
local spaces and local artist + curator LIVELIHOODS ... In the
midst of producing works which confront, challenge, escape the
narrow confines of the commercial arts+culture industry ... and
away from all the window dressing and exhibitions (-ism)... and
become a part of this praxis movement ! <br>
</p>
<p>Alot of this thinking and my concerns comes from witnessing a
city like San Francisco, with a history of vibrant alternative
arts, destroying its own fertile soil by allowing the neo-liberal
trends and tech sector economy to dominate. Thereby constructing
very superficial and transient environments, and extremely
vulnerable communities. <br>
</p>
<p>This is a long conversation about themes like gentrification,
disruption, digital colonialism, and cybernetic regime change (
XLterrestrials wink )... but to sum up quickly, this was all
tragicly summed up in a horrible warehouse fire in Oakland last
week, where over 30 people were trapped and killed. Almost all
were artists from the alternative arts scene, already suffering in
the midst of a severe housing crisis and a massive loss of
cultural spaces killed off by neo-liberal-driven market
real-estate games and AirBnB-type invasions. <br>
</p>
<p>Not to sound overly dramatic, but there are probably some good
analogies to make here with ALL OF US. And probably on a planetary
scale. We are all likely to find ourselves, metaphorical or
literal, in that burning house, if we are not strategic in these
times in using our creativity to build new social
infrastructures... and/or alternative paths which deviate from the
predatory + competitive forces + trajectories around us... <br>
</p>
<p>Maybe we can come together and think about using our creative
communities and the resource network more on these levels in
2017... And if anyone's seeing this from a similar perspective,
let's discuss further.</p>
<p>I've wanted to attempt trigger this conversation for a longer
time, but been to busy to do so... Also did not want to agitate in
the midst of organizing Vorspiel... but now maybe this is also a
good theme to take with us ... as the Transmediale High Season
arrives.</p>
<p>Respects,</p>
<p>Paolo Podrescu<br>
</p>
<p>
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0----O----o<br>
<a href="http://www.xlterrestrials.org/plog" target="_blank">www.xlterrestrials.org/plog</a><br>
arts + praxis organisms<br>
o-----O------0</p>
<p>Co-founder of XLterrestials + CiTiZEN KiNO project<br>
</p>
<p> @podinski<br>
</p>
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