November 22, 2009 at 12:34 pm · Filed under Events, Thoughts
PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN FROM MY PHONE
After spending a good deal of Friday participation in protests at UC Berkeley I wrote the following letter to contribute to the conversation on viral networks happening on the -empyre- list this month. I wrote this letter soon after Friday’s events without much time for reflection. It has since become clear in comparing stories with friends and reviewing video footage of the event that we can always continue to strengthen networks. Where the networks felt strong on Friday there were other places where those networks were weakened by police brutality and a lack of communication between University Administration, law enforcement officials, faculty, and students. I hope to hold onto my words below and my immediate feelings of strength in community as we continue to think about potential weakness in and between certain networks and how to strengthen forces.
Letter written at 10:30am on Saturday, November 21, 2009:
Good morning from Berkeley,
I wasn’t participating in yesterday’s discussion about viral networks/UC protests because I was standing in the rain with close to 2,000 Berkeley protesters while we waited outside of Wheeler Hall as friends and colleagues occupied the building. So, please forgive me if I am returning to an already closed conversation, but allow me to indulge in a reflection on yesterday’s successful and widespread strike activities.
At Berkeley there are four groups representing different populations of the campus. As far as I know, there are two faculty groups, one graduate student group and one undergraduate group. With representatives from each group serving on all other committees, these four groups are in close communication and have used what is being referred to here as “grassroots” activism to successfully hold a 5,000 person walk-out in September, several events in October and a three day strike this week. Starting from the four groups email is used to communicate with departmental representatives who then communicate with departments. Whether organization is departmental, building wide, or committee based, the word hasn’t stopped there.
The fact that the students involved in yesterday’s building occupation were communicating with fellow organizers and activists via email, twitter and facebook seems significant. Of course there are debates regarding whether or not viral networks and online activism have replaced the need for physical protest. It is, after all, easier to sign an online petition (of which there have been many connected to the UC Strikes) than it is steer clear of office resources for three days, or stand in the rain for hours on end. I am sure that we are all well aware of examples supporting both sides of that argument. Still, twitter and facebook updates kept a good deal of protesters mobilized yesterday. Consistent updates from the inside of Wheeler assured a wet crowd that their support was indeed necessary, building occupiers’ view from the top floors of Wheeler Hall were shared through twitter accounts to help students spread evenly around the building to block police movement, and facebook updates alerted crowds immediately when arrests were taking place and how to best continue supporting the occupation efforts.
Just like anything else it seems that they way a viral network is organized and implemented corresponds directly to its efficacy. I think here of artist
Zach Blas’ proposed GRID project. The movement from one GRID to the next produces new GRIDs. It is the movement between networks that produces the change. It seems that in the case of the UC protests the efficacy of the system depends on successful movements between different networks. It is the movements between online networks such as email lists to online petitions, between different physical networks such as departmental meetings to banners hanging outside of buildings, and between online and physical networks such as buildings occupiers to their twitter followers. This is what has felt like the viral aspect of the system.
In solidarity,
Ashley
November 17, 2009 at 3:23 am · Filed under Artworks, Link
Maurice Benayoun has been in residence at the San Francisco Art Institute for the kick-off of his new project, The Art Collider (TAC). After attending the final workshop this evening and learning a bit more about this new digital art collaborative network I have decided to enter the viral network of art creation with my next project. I am composing a third fragment (the first being my labrun performance at UC Berkeley in Fall 2008 and the second being my performance at the Milk Bar this past August 2009) that will be performed this December 11, 2009 representing the Berkeley Center for New Media at the CITRIS Gala at UC Berkeley.
Keep an eye on my project wiki for information! In short, here’s a brief and rough description of the project…
The conceptual context of this piece is based on accelerometer sensors. I have used wireless accelerometers in rehearsals to inspire and create the choreography. These sensors will not be worn in performance in hopes of demonstrating a spectral digital presence. I am working lately to explore the possibility for a digital tone without digital technology, so hope to explore this concept more by presenting this choreographic material.
Using a live camera feed I will input real-time performance information into The Art Collider (TAC). I will simultaneously take visual images from the collider that will be projected in the performance space. The dancers will respond to these images live. A second projection will display the visual representation, or “monitor,” of the interaction within the larger networked TAC.
Photographs courtesy of Daniel Bruggemeyer