Pod Pals

Why do you ask?

J

Matthew Mascotte wrote:

> i'm wondering where the Pod Pals project fits into the
> overall scheme of things. ok, the project calls attention
> to the importance of digital gear in our daily lives
> and is utilizing popular modes of connectivity (podcasts,
> inNetworks, etc) but is the material recently haked from
> Ms. Hilton's cell phone Art? As significant (and cool) as Mandiberg
> and Steinmetz are what is it about their upcoming moblog/podcast
> and emails that is important? What exaclty are we being
> asked to contemplate here? Not the content of the
> project (nothing has been made yet really) and as far as the
> conceptual plan is concerned I don't see how what they're doing is
> unique.
>
> Matthew

ivan-

I see no difference in how the project is being
established and all the other moblogs/podcasts
out there both in terms of content and concept.
i'm questioning why pod pals has been
elevated to the status of art… Turbulence funding
and a Net Art News review is what I mean by important it
has been contextualized into the Art scene before its
even happened and as far as i can tell its gonna
operate just like a mom and pop blog.

A running critique throughout the project's run
(especially a formalist one) would be very interesting indeed…
I'm game if you are.

respects,

Matthew


On Wednesday, March 02, 2005, at 04:24PM, Ivan Pope <[email protected]> wrote:

>Is this a question you always ask about art, or does this bother you for
>some reason? Why does it have to be 'important'? Why do you think we are
>being asked to 'contemplate'?
>We can do an online crit if you like, might be fun?
>Cheers,
>Ivan
>
>Matthew Mascotte wrote:
>
>>i'm wondering where the Pod Pals project fits into the
>>overall scheme of things. ok, the project calls attention
>>to the importance of digital gear in our daily lives
>>and is utilizing popular modes of connectivity (podcasts,
>>inNetworks, etc) but is the material recently haked from
>>Ms. Hilton's cell phone Art? As significant (and cool) as Mandiberg
>>and Steinmetz are what is it about their upcoming moblog/podcast
>>and emails that is important? What exaclty are we being
>>asked to contemplate here? Not the content of the
>>project (nothing has been made yet really) and as far as the
>>conceptual plan is concerned I don't see how what they're doing is
>>unique.
>>
>>Matthew
>>+
>>-> post: [email protected]
>>-> questions: [email protected]
>>-> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
>>-> give: http://rhizome.org/support
>>-> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
>>+
>>Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
>>Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
>>
>>
>
>

Ivan and Matthew

I agree that this piece might serve well as a starting point for critique -
only I would ask not "How is this art?" but "How is this unlike commerce?"

I'm curious about how exactly this work will differ from the dreams of
telepresence marketed by the telecom industry. Is 24-7 telepresent
connection the pure fulfillment of these dreams, or, like Marinetti's car
crashed in the ditch, an absurd manifestation that reveals their inevitable
failure?

From the proposal and description, I suspect that it's more the former than
the latter - though even with Marinetti it's hard to tell. The project could
perhaps learn a bit from Tehching Hsieh and Linda Montano, who lived
together for a year tied by a short rope. (I always heard that they ended up
requiring legal mediation.) There is plenty sinister in companionship, and
plenty of obstacles to connection in even the clearest line.

I'll be following with interest.

Kevin Hamilton



On 3/2/05 3:41 PM, "Matthew Mascotte" <[email protected]> wrote:

> ivan-
>
> I see no difference in how the project is being
> established and all the other moblogs/podcasts
> out there both in terms of content and concept.
> i'm questioning why pod pals has been
> elevated to the status of art… Turbulence funding
> and a Net Art News review is what I mean by important it
> has been contextualized into the Art scene before its
> even happened and as far as i can tell its gonna
> operate just like a mom and pop blog.
>
> A running critique throughout the project's run
> (especially a formalist one) would be very interesting indeed…
> I'm game if you are.
>
> respects,
>
> Matthew
>
>
> On Wednesday, March 02, 2005, at 04:24PM, Ivan Pope <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Is this a question you always ask about art, or does this bother you for
>> some reason? Why does it have to be 'important'? Why do you think we are
>> being asked to 'contemplate'?
>> We can do an online crit if you like, might be fun?
>> Cheers,
>> Ivan
>>
>> Matthew Mascotte wrote:
>>
>>> i'm wondering where the Pod Pals project fits into the
>>> overall scheme of things. ok, the project calls attention
>>> to the importance of digital gear in our daily lives
>>> and is utilizing popular modes of connectivity (podcasts,
>>> inNetworks, etc) but is the material recently haked from
>>> Ms. Hilton's cell phone Art? As significant (and cool) as Mandiberg
>>> and Steinmetz are what is it about their upcoming moblog/podcast
>>> and emails that is important? What exaclty are we being
>>> asked to contemplate here? Not the content of the
>>> project (nothing has been made yet really) and as far as the
>>> conceptual plan is concerned I don't see how what they're doing is
>>> unique.
>>>
>>> Matthew
>>> +
>>> -> post: [email protected]
>>> -> questions: [email protected]
>>> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
>>> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
>>> -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
>>> +
>>> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
>>> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
> +
> -> post: [email protected]
> -> questions: [email protected]
> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
> +
> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php

Ricardo Miranda Zuniga's "virtual landscape" is another, much less
techno-utopian (yet more theatrical), exploration of the long-distance
relationship caused by the required mobility of the culture industry.
http://www.ambriente.com/net/mount/mount.html
Of course, the techno-utopianism of IN Network is part of its subject
matter, the perceived lack of options requiring complete subservience
to the IT order. it's "you've got mail" hyper updated to account for
the dream/nightmare of 24hr connectedness/separation. it allows them to
be "together" only by forcing them to be apart. the family-plan gives
the illusion that distance is really closeness.
Or as AT&T predicted/ordered, "You will."
http://ad-rag.com/114815.php
if only shulgin's fuck-you-fuck-me device had been made commercial…
http://www.fu-fme.com/

Matthew,
I think I agree with you as to the significance of Pod Pals project. It is ostensively presented–if I understand it correctly–as technological application that blurs the boundaries between "art" and "life." I think it's just as likely that the opposite is true, that the perpetual blurring of art and life (yawn) is simply a pretext to support and legitamize new technology products. The intent seems to be a rhapsodic mediation on presence and absence…in the life of middle management academics. Actually I like it better now….
Anthony Craig




Matthew Mascotte wrote:

> i'm wondering where the Pod Pals project fits into the
> overall scheme of things. ok, the project calls attention
> to the importance of digital gear in our daily lives
> and is utilizing popular modes of connectivity (podcasts,
> inNetworks, etc) but is the material recently haked from
> Ms. Hilton's cell phone Art? As significant (and cool) as Mandiberg
> and Steinmetz are what is it about their upcoming moblog/podcast
> and emails that is important? What exaclty are we being
> asked to contemplate here? Not the content of the
> project (nothing has been made yet really) and as far as the
> conceptual plan is concerned I don't see how what they're doing is
> unique.
>
> Matthew

i dont think that it is about thier connectivity with each other through technology.
when they project thier personas into this space, thier personalities are skewed even when they had known eachother as long as they did. it is like the natural space skewing the contiousness of the supernatural. the hyperspace is skewing the contiousness of the natural, or maybe vice versa.


ryan griffis wrote:

> Ricardo Miranda Zuniga's "virtual landscape" is another, much less
> techno-utopian (yet more theatrical), exploration of the
> long-distance
> relationship caused by the required mobility of the culture industry.
> http://www.ambriente.com/net/mount/mount.html
> Of course, the techno-utopianism of IN Network is part of its subject
> matter, the perceived lack of options requiring complete subservience
> to the IT order. it's "you've got mail" hyper updated to account for
> the dream/nightmare of 24hr connectedness/separation. it allows them
> to
> be "together" only by forcing them to be apart. the family-plan gives
> the illusion that distance is really closeness.
> Or as AT&T predicted/ordered, "You will."
> http://ad-rag.com/114815.php
> if only shulgin's fuck-you-fuck-me device had been made commercial…
> http://www.fu-fme.com/
>