:: Sunday, January 18, 2004 ::
This essay is available in both French and English. Click here to view the French language version.
NEW WRITING: On arteonline.arq.br
BY: Isabel Saij
2003 is past, a short come back on arteonline.arq.br
a site I like to visit again and again:
- elevation plan as a map of this museum's map
- openness, attraction to the difference
- critical and funny creations
- care for details, humor to shift the seriousness of a subject... still serious
- freedoms, in a multitude of esthetics
- place of meetings : exchanges, effervescence of ideas, winks.
Mixture of images and texts, ludic interactivity, pleasure, unexpected events.
Needing to be surprised in this garden of labyrinths, looking for my favorite drug:
laugh!
Topographical concept as an invitation to glance over,
friendly email as an invitation card,
virtual acceptance, small report
01.04.2004 - for the new year:
virtual dinner at the "Museum of essential and beyond that"
A wonderful evening in Rio de Janeiro.
Particular honor: to be among the guests of Regina Célia Pinto.
I arrive at 8 p.m.
The hall! Shall I describe?
-marmor, doric columns, stuck, statues, fountains, an atrium,...
-exotic and aquatic plants,
-discreet lighting, soft ambience music
At the far end: the huge staircases (red carpet, banister... Cinecittà!)
Heading for the penthouse, I use the elevator...because of the view!
The glazed sides allow almost a 360° view: on the bay of Rio
and on the different floors of the museum.
Arriving on the terrace, I get a warm welcome.
I go to the bar. Pablo P. doesn't seem to be so hungry.
I saw him by accident 2 hours before, near the beach, eating with Jean-Paul Gaultier
(because of the shirt) some delightful fishes (cook: Joeser).
I take successively: a "rivera spritzer" + a"bikini" + a "perfect long"- Yes !
(prepared by Muriel and Santiago ),
in addition "piñons appetizers" by Lia.
Many people there, talking together: Judith, Marcelo, Marcello, Conceição,
Isabel "Yto", David, Eric, Clemente.
Whisper of coziness, stealthy paces, decoration with an aquatic touch.
The cocktails: excellent! Conversations are lulling me, I speak too,
I feel good.
As continuation :
a turtle soap? No thanks!
Perhaps a "miget" with French wine?
Paulo suggest to me a great vintage (for the best diet, the one you never
begin with)
On a photo, French dish, typical drawings of a faience from Quimper - France.
You're right Martha!
Nothing more on my menu : secret! Failure of memory, not at all!
Just a nice torpor...
For tomorrow, may be a picnic... Thanks Brad, it will be all right with the diet
of the day after.
Suddenly, a shock: a weird loud cry!
The cake of Carlos?
It comes from the bathroom!
Any lost curator raving, alone in front of the micro?
Vegetal encounter...
A sharp stinging detail...
A cactus perhaps?
Actually authentic!
I tell the truth, don't I?!
ORIGINAL POST: Fri Jan 09, 02:22:52 AM
BY: Eduardo Navas
Empty Folders, by 100luziano testi paul, is a piece presenting (as the title explains) empty folders ready for download. The folders contain folders within folders. The user is encouraged to add and delete folders, as well as to adjust the already existing folders to then redistribute. Definitions is another interesting piece by Testi Paul, using denotation as the subject of art. Here, the term "definitions" is presented with numerous links to search engines providing further information on the names of the search engines themselves. Meaning is inevitably created with the website presentation and links.
Both pieces rely on conceptual strategies made popular in the seventies. While Empty Folders recalls Michael Asher's strategies to expose ideologies supporting naturalized environments and structures of the art institution, Definitions allegorizes Joseph Kosuth's Conceptualism dependent on text to deconstruct the object of art. Both web pieces are good examples that there is more to art than a good idea -- Conceptual art is no exception. The implementation of established strategies can often be a welcomed breath of fresh air when reinterpreted through a new medium; however, Testi Paul's project falls into the realm of Pastiche. This is because self-referencing is now part of the art vernacular. Late postmodern artists are known for creating copies from copies, for referencing and exposing the supporting structures of discourse, something that by now should be very carefully exercised or it quickly becomes an acoustic readymade--a formula. The real challenge facing these online pieces by Testi Paul is how to displace appropriation itself, how to make it more than an allegorical exercise.
ORIGINAL POST: Wed Dec 31, 11:23:21 AM
BY: Lora McPhail
Shilpa Gupta's blessed-bandwidth.net invites visitors to choose a religion and get blessed. The artist went to the several places of worship with an internet network cable which she asked to have blessed by the priest or authority. The blessings are to bring peace and happiness to anyone who comes in contact with a specific bandwidth generated via the cable. The worship sites representing a range of faiths include: Buddhist Worli Temple; Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Guruj; Saint Michael's Church; Sri Dashmesh Darbar; Mausoleum of Saint Hajiali; and Lord Ganesh of Siddhivinayak Temple. Once you have selected your faith, users are offered the chance to receive their own blessings online. All one has to do is follow the basic given instructions:
Sit Straight. Don't Lean.
Bend Slowly Forward. Concentrate
Now touch your forehead to the computer screen on the Spot X
Users are then invited to print a certificate of blessing to mark the occasion.
Visitors can also view photographs and video of the artist visiting each worship site with a network cable. However, if you are a Mac user, you will be consoled with a prophetic Java script, such as: "Do not go where you have no business. Do not enter with Arrogance."
There are additional take-aways for viewers in the downloads section, and library that invites users to upload their own sacred images of personal gods. Although playful and often tongue-in-cheek, the stated purpose of blessed-bandwidth.net is to act, "as a space for visitors to reflect on religion and its role in a world that is often divided by faith. The site juxtaposes real and virtual worlds and encourages visitors to consider how these worlds might overlap and merge."
This net art project was commissioned by the Tate and is optimized for a PC, windows 95 (or later) platform and MS IE browser.