PORTFOLIO (1)
BIO
Mark Tribe is an artist and curator whose interests include art, technology, and politics. He is Assistant Professor of Modern Culture and Media Studies at Brown University, where he teaches courses on digital art, curating, open-source culture, radical media, and surveillance. He is the co-author, with Reena Jana, of New Media Art (Taschen, 2006). His art work has been exhibited at the ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, and Gigantic Art Space in New York City. He has organized curatorial projects for the New Museum of Contemporary Art, MASS MoCA, and inSite_05. In 1996, he founded Rhizome.org, an online resource for new media artists. He received a MFA in Visual Art from the University of California, San Diego in 1994 and a BA in Visual Art from Brown University in 1990. He splits his time between Providence and New York City.
Re: Re: [thingist] Steve Dietz Out at Walker Art Center
At 12:37 PM 5/12/2003 -0400, Eryk Salvaggio wrote:
>The archive is clearly not stealing anyones work, but let's be honest,
>Rhizome benefits from having and maintaining the archive whereas artists can
>simply make back up cds and keep the sites up independantly if they wanted
>to. The proof of this is the ratio of cloned objects compared to linked
>objects- almost nothing is cloned. [The one piece I personally gave to the
>artbase is cloned.]
The Rhizome ArtBase currently contains 270 cloned art works and 716 linked
art works.
>The archive is clearly not stealing anyones work, but let's be honest,
>Rhizome benefits from having and maintaining the archive whereas artists can
>simply make back up cds and keep the sites up independantly if they wanted
>to. The proof of this is the ratio of cloned objects compared to linked
>objects- almost nothing is cloned. [The one piece I personally gave to the
>artbase is cloned.]
The Rhizome ArtBase currently contains 270 cloned art works and 716 linked
art works.
Re: Re: [thingist] Steve Dietz Out at Walker Art Center
At 12:37 PM 5/12/2003 -0400, Eryk Salvaggio wrote:
>Rhizome also has a problem with truly archiving work in that the archive is
>not immune to browser changes, a problem that has been brought up when they
>opened the artbase but never really acted on. While they added more than one
>piece a day to the archive last year, the principal strategy seems to be
>"emulation" which is, they will re-write the code to work for new browsers.
Actually, emulation referrs to running old software on new hardware by
installing emulators (kind of like running Windows software on a Mac using
Virtual PC. Imagine, for example, that we are living in the year 2018 and
want to experience a work of net art that was made in 1998. This art works
best on the Netscape 4 web browser (not sure if Netscape for is the right
browser for 1998, but you get the idea), but the Netscape web browser is
obsolete--you can't even install it on your fancy new Macintosh GS11
computer. So you download a Pentium II emulator and install it. Then you
download free copies of the obsolete software you need: Windows 98,
Netscape 4, maybe a particular Shockwave plug-in. After installing all
these, you can enter the URL of the art work, and experience the art. There
are several problems. It will be difficult and expensive to make emulators.
We can only hope that smart people will want to make them and that
institutions with major resoruces will pay for it. Second, nobody that we
know if us archiving operating systems, browsers and plug-ins (not to
mention all the other software that other forms of new media art might
require). Third, nobody is keeping track of the software required to run a
given work of art. We'll probably be able to work that out retrospectively,
but it would be much better to get the information up-front from the
artist. Rhizome does not have the resources to archive commercial software
(we looked into it, and it's harder than it sounds to do it in a thorough
and organized way). Right now, we are focused on the third problem: getting
info from artists on what software is needed to run the art work in an
ideal situation. In order to do that, we need funding. We applied for a
grant from the NEA to cover this, but we got much less than we asked for.
So this might have to wait a while (until the funding situation improves).
Alternatives to emulation include documentation (screen shots, etc.),
migration (updating old code to meet new specs) and recreation (rebuilding
old work from scratch so it would work in a new technological environment).
We have a lengthy questionnaire for artists who submit copies of their work
(what we call cloned objects). For each of the four main preservation
tactics we contemplate (documentation, migration, emuation and recreation),
it asks for permission (i.e. do we have permission to document your work in
the future?), information (tech specs, etc.) and guidance (what's are the
most important aspects to preserve?).
This is all explained in some detail, including a copy of the
questionnaire, at http://rhizome.org/artbase/policy
For a report by Rick Rinehart that talks about emulation and sets out a
plan for gathering information on required software, see
http://rhizome.org/artbase/policy.
>I feel like if rhizome was serious about the artbase they would have
>addressed these issues by now,
We have addressed these issues, Eryk. You just haven't been paying attention.
;-)
>Rhizome also has a problem with truly archiving work in that the archive is
>not immune to browser changes, a problem that has been brought up when they
>opened the artbase but never really acted on. While they added more than one
>piece a day to the archive last year, the principal strategy seems to be
>"emulation" which is, they will re-write the code to work for new browsers.
Actually, emulation referrs to running old software on new hardware by
installing emulators (kind of like running Windows software on a Mac using
Virtual PC. Imagine, for example, that we are living in the year 2018 and
want to experience a work of net art that was made in 1998. This art works
best on the Netscape 4 web browser (not sure if Netscape for is the right
browser for 1998, but you get the idea), but the Netscape web browser is
obsolete--you can't even install it on your fancy new Macintosh GS11
computer. So you download a Pentium II emulator and install it. Then you
download free copies of the obsolete software you need: Windows 98,
Netscape 4, maybe a particular Shockwave plug-in. After installing all
these, you can enter the URL of the art work, and experience the art. There
are several problems. It will be difficult and expensive to make emulators.
We can only hope that smart people will want to make them and that
institutions with major resoruces will pay for it. Second, nobody that we
know if us archiving operating systems, browsers and plug-ins (not to
mention all the other software that other forms of new media art might
require). Third, nobody is keeping track of the software required to run a
given work of art. We'll probably be able to work that out retrospectively,
but it would be much better to get the information up-front from the
artist. Rhizome does not have the resources to archive commercial software
(we looked into it, and it's harder than it sounds to do it in a thorough
and organized way). Right now, we are focused on the third problem: getting
info from artists on what software is needed to run the art work in an
ideal situation. In order to do that, we need funding. We applied for a
grant from the NEA to cover this, but we got much less than we asked for.
So this might have to wait a while (until the funding situation improves).
Alternatives to emulation include documentation (screen shots, etc.),
migration (updating old code to meet new specs) and recreation (rebuilding
old work from scratch so it would work in a new technological environment).
We have a lengthy questionnaire for artists who submit copies of their work
(what we call cloned objects). For each of the four main preservation
tactics we contemplate (documentation, migration, emuation and recreation),
it asks for permission (i.e. do we have permission to document your work in
the future?), information (tech specs, etc.) and guidance (what's are the
most important aspects to preserve?).
This is all explained in some detail, including a copy of the
questionnaire, at http://rhizome.org/artbase/policy
For a report by Rick Rinehart that talks about emulation and sets out a
plan for gathering information on required software, see
http://rhizome.org/artbase/policy.
>I feel like if rhizome was serious about the artbase they would have
>addressed these issues by now,
We have addressed these issues, Eryk. You just haven't been paying attention.
;-)
Re: Re: [thingist] Steve Dietz Out at Walker Art Center
At 09:46 AM 5/12/2003 -0400, t.whid wrote:
<snip>
>The funny thing about the work possibly being lost from the Walker servers
>is that rhizome had set-up a system where they would archive work... the
>artbase clone feature, do they clone any longer?
yup: http://rhizome.org/artbase
as of may 1, the artbase had 984 art works. not sure how many are cloned
vs. linked. in the case of linked art works, the artist has supplied
information about the art work and a link to it, but has not provided a
copy of the work itself. in the case of cloned art works, the artist has
provided information as well as a copy of the work to be stored on our
server for posterity.
>and people were angry that rhizome didn't pay them for the privilege of
>archiving their work. If any other sort of grassroots org or Eyebeam
>offered this service, would people take advantage of it? Or would they
>complain that this org was 'stealing' their work? 'using' them for the org
>admin's advantage?
>
>it would be nice if someone, The Thing or Rhizome, could organize a huge
>archive of the web/internet work, Rhizome tried and people bitched and
>moaned about it. Perhaps it was the way Rhiz went about it?
there was a bit of bitching and moaning, but there has also been a lot of
participation.
>So maybe a new grassroots org could rise to handle just archiving, storing
>work. It ain't cheap, the disk space, bandwidth, searchable index,
>interface development might cost you more than 5 bucks a year. Rhizome has
>all of this going on already of course, but they don't push the cloned art
>objects much anymore, people didn't want to 'give' away their files.
we don't push it, but we do give each artist the option. artists can also
change their minds later. so if you've submitted a linked object and would
like to give us a copy for safe keeping, you can do so at any time.
<snip>
>The funny thing about the work possibly being lost from the Walker servers
>is that rhizome had set-up a system where they would archive work... the
>artbase clone feature, do they clone any longer?
yup: http://rhizome.org/artbase
as of may 1, the artbase had 984 art works. not sure how many are cloned
vs. linked. in the case of linked art works, the artist has supplied
information about the art work and a link to it, but has not provided a
copy of the work itself. in the case of cloned art works, the artist has
provided information as well as a copy of the work to be stored on our
server for posterity.
>and people were angry that rhizome didn't pay them for the privilege of
>archiving their work. If any other sort of grassroots org or Eyebeam
>offered this service, would people take advantage of it? Or would they
>complain that this org was 'stealing' their work? 'using' them for the org
>admin's advantage?
>
>it would be nice if someone, The Thing or Rhizome, could organize a huge
>archive of the web/internet work, Rhizome tried and people bitched and
>moaned about it. Perhaps it was the way Rhiz went about it?
there was a bit of bitching and moaning, but there has also been a lot of
participation.
>So maybe a new grassroots org could rise to handle just archiving, storing
>work. It ain't cheap, the disk space, bandwidth, searchable index,
>interface development might cost you more than 5 bucks a year. Rhizome has
>all of this going on already of course, but they don't push the cloned art
>objects much anymore, people didn't want to 'give' away their files.
we don't push it, but we do give each artist the option. artists can also
change their minds later. so if you've submitted a linked object and would
like to give us a copy for safe keeping, you can do so at any time.
Re: Steve Dietz Out at Walker Art Center
This is a real loss for the Walker and for the field. Steve did terrific
work. Interesting to note that Jon Ippolito (Guggenheim) and Benjamin Weil
(SFMOMA) have both transitioned from full-time to part-time in the past
year or so. Taken together, these three changes represent a major reduction
in the commitment of American museums to new media art. I may be forgetting
someone, but I think no American museum now has a full-time new media art
curator. This comes as no surprise--during tough economic times,
institutions focus on their core activities. It will be interesting to see
what happens as the economy recovers.
At 11:06 AM 5/9/2003 -0400, Rachel Greene wrote:
>Well, I know art orgs are suffering, but Steve was doing such interesting,
>varied work -- for a long time. Totally sucks!! Steve was really one of the
>first museum curators who was a pillar of net art culture. I hope he can
>keep up some of his projects as an independent, or maybe he'll hop to
>another institution....
>
> > It's the beginning of the end...
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "t.whid" <twhid@mteww.com>
> > To: <list@rhizome.org>
> > Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2003 11:54 PM
> > Subject: RHIZOME_RAW: Steve Dietz Out at Walker Art Center
> >
> >
> >> fwd w/out permission.
> >>
> >> Begin forwarded message:
> >>
> >>> From: Murphy <murphy@thing.net>
> >>>
> >>>> Walker Art Center announced the layoffs of 5 percent of its staff
> >>>> Wednesday
> >>>> afternoon, becoming the latest local arts organization forced to
> >>>> downsize in
> >>>> difficult economic times.
> >>>> The Minneapolis museum said it would lay off seven members of its
> >>>> staff of 149
> >>>> full- and part-time workers. The cuts came at all levels and included
> >>>> Steve
> >>>> Dietz, the center's director of New Media Initiatives. The Walker was
> >>>> one of
> >>>> the first art centers in the country to have a curatorial position in
> >>>> the
> >>>> nascent artistic field of new media.
> >>>
> >>> http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/entertainment/5809781.htm
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Part of the problem is that the article calls new media a "nascent
> >>> artistic
> >>> field". That's a pretty old baby -- 40, maybe 50 years old? I would
> >>> date its
> >>> inception from the founding of the concept of Cybernetics. Perhaps the
> >>> real
> >>> problem is that the Walker had invested its endowment in "new media
> >>> stock"
> >>> and took a bath and so took revenge. I would think with such grand
> >>> building
> >>> plans they would pay someone like Dietz to stick around and advise
> >>> them on
> >>> how to incorporate new media forms into the construction of the
> >>> building.
> >>>
> >>> murph
> >>> offshore|online
> >>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> t h i n g i s t
> >>> message by Murphy <murphy@thing.net>
> >>> archive at http://bbs.thing.net
> >>> info: send email to majordomo@bbs.thing.net
> >>> and write "info thingist" in the message body
> >>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>>
> >>>
> >> --
> >> <t.whid>
> >> www.mteww.com
> >> </t.whid>
> >>
> >> + ti esrever dna ti pilf nwod gniht ym tup
> >> -> post: list@rhizome.org
> >> -> questions: info@rhizome.org
> >> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> >> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> >> +
> >> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> >> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
> > + ti esrever dna ti pilf nwod gniht ym tup
> > -> post: list@rhizome.org
> > -> questions: info@rhizome.org
> > -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> > -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> > +
> > Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> > Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
>
>+ ti esrever dna ti pilf nwod gniht ym tup
>-> post: list@rhizome.org
>-> questions: info@rhizome.org
>-> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
>-> give: http://rhizome.org/support
>+
>Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
>Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
work. Interesting to note that Jon Ippolito (Guggenheim) and Benjamin Weil
(SFMOMA) have both transitioned from full-time to part-time in the past
year or so. Taken together, these three changes represent a major reduction
in the commitment of American museums to new media art. I may be forgetting
someone, but I think no American museum now has a full-time new media art
curator. This comes as no surprise--during tough economic times,
institutions focus on their core activities. It will be interesting to see
what happens as the economy recovers.
At 11:06 AM 5/9/2003 -0400, Rachel Greene wrote:
>Well, I know art orgs are suffering, but Steve was doing such interesting,
>varied work -- for a long time. Totally sucks!! Steve was really one of the
>first museum curators who was a pillar of net art culture. I hope he can
>keep up some of his projects as an independent, or maybe he'll hop to
>another institution....
>
> > It's the beginning of the end...
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "t.whid" <twhid@mteww.com>
> > To: <list@rhizome.org>
> > Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2003 11:54 PM
> > Subject: RHIZOME_RAW: Steve Dietz Out at Walker Art Center
> >
> >
> >> fwd w/out permission.
> >>
> >> Begin forwarded message:
> >>
> >>> From: Murphy <murphy@thing.net>
> >>>
> >>>> Walker Art Center announced the layoffs of 5 percent of its staff
> >>>> Wednesday
> >>>> afternoon, becoming the latest local arts organization forced to
> >>>> downsize in
> >>>> difficult economic times.
> >>>> The Minneapolis museum said it would lay off seven members of its
> >>>> staff of 149
> >>>> full- and part-time workers. The cuts came at all levels and included
> >>>> Steve
> >>>> Dietz, the center's director of New Media Initiatives. The Walker was
> >>>> one of
> >>>> the first art centers in the country to have a curatorial position in
> >>>> the
> >>>> nascent artistic field of new media.
> >>>
> >>> http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/entertainment/5809781.htm
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Part of the problem is that the article calls new media a "nascent
> >>> artistic
> >>> field". That's a pretty old baby -- 40, maybe 50 years old? I would
> >>> date its
> >>> inception from the founding of the concept of Cybernetics. Perhaps the
> >>> real
> >>> problem is that the Walker had invested its endowment in "new media
> >>> stock"
> >>> and took a bath and so took revenge. I would think with such grand
> >>> building
> >>> plans they would pay someone like Dietz to stick around and advise
> >>> them on
> >>> how to incorporate new media forms into the construction of the
> >>> building.
> >>>
> >>> murph
> >>> offshore|online
> >>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> t h i n g i s t
> >>> message by Murphy <murphy@thing.net>
> >>> archive at http://bbs.thing.net
> >>> info: send email to majordomo@bbs.thing.net
> >>> and write "info thingist" in the message body
> >>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>>
> >>>
> >> --
> >> <t.whid>
> >> www.mteww.com
> >> </t.whid>
> >>
> >> + ti esrever dna ti pilf nwod gniht ym tup
> >> -> post: list@rhizome.org
> >> -> questions: info@rhizome.org
> >> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> >> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> >> +
> >> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> >> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
> > + ti esrever dna ti pilf nwod gniht ym tup
> > -> post: list@rhizome.org
> > -> questions: info@rhizome.org
> > -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> > -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> > +
> > Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> > Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
>
>+ ti esrever dna ti pilf nwod gniht ym tup
>-> post: list@rhizome.org
>-> questions: info@rhizome.org
>-> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
>-> give: http://rhizome.org/support
>+
>Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
>Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
Fwd: ITP show Announcement
>From: Midori Yasuda <midori.yasuda@nyu.edu>
>ITP Spring Show 2003
>May 13 and 14 at ITP
>5 to 9pm
>
>An exhibition of innovative student work including multimedia
>installations, physical computing and interaction design, sound and video
>design projects.
>
>Special performance of New Interfaces for Musical Expression at TONIC on
>May 13 only (details follow).
>
>ITP Spring Show, May 13 & 14, 5-9 pm:
>Interactive Telecommunications Program
>Tisch School of the Arts
>New York University
>721 Broadway at Waverly Place
>4th Floor, South Elevators
>New York, NY 10003
>Free and open to the public
>http://www.itp.nyu.edu/springshow03/show.html
>
>
>Special Performance @ TONIC, May 13, 10 pm
>New Interfaces for Musical Expression
>at Tonic, 107 Norfolk St (between Delancey and Rivington Streets)
>Door at 9:30 pm, show begins at 10:00 pm
>Free with NYU ID, $10 general admission
>http://www.tonicnyc.com
>
>Please call 212/998-1880 or email itp.inquiries@nyu.edu with questions.
>There is no need to RSVP.
>
>Please feel free to forward this message far and wide to interested parties!
>
>
>--
>Midori L. Yasuda
>Admissions, Special Events, Alumni Coordinator
>Interactive Telecommunications Program
>Tisch School of the Arts
>New York University
>721 Broadway, 4th Floor
>New York, NY 10003
>phone: 212/998-1882
>fax: 212/998-1898
>http://itp.nyu.edu
>ITP Spring Show 2003
>May 13 and 14 at ITP
>5 to 9pm
>
>An exhibition of innovative student work including multimedia
>installations, physical computing and interaction design, sound and video
>design projects.
>
>Special performance of New Interfaces for Musical Expression at TONIC on
>May 13 only (details follow).
>
>ITP Spring Show, May 13 & 14, 5-9 pm:
>Interactive Telecommunications Program
>Tisch School of the Arts
>New York University
>721 Broadway at Waverly Place
>4th Floor, South Elevators
>New York, NY 10003
>Free and open to the public
>http://www.itp.nyu.edu/springshow03/show.html
>
>
>Special Performance @ TONIC, May 13, 10 pm
>New Interfaces for Musical Expression
>at Tonic, 107 Norfolk St (between Delancey and Rivington Streets)
>Door at 9:30 pm, show begins at 10:00 pm
>Free with NYU ID, $10 general admission
>http://www.tonicnyc.com
>
>Please call 212/998-1880 or email itp.inquiries@nyu.edu with questions.
>There is no need to RSVP.
>
>Please feel free to forward this message far and wide to interested parties!
>
>
>--
>Midori L. Yasuda
>Admissions, Special Events, Alumni Coordinator
>Interactive Telecommunications Program
>Tisch School of the Arts
>New York University
>721 Broadway, 4th Floor
>New York, NY 10003
>phone: 212/998-1882
>fax: 212/998-1898
>http://itp.nyu.edu
