Rhizome.org Member: nathaniel stern

the double room

nathaniel stern — 2002-03-05T05:00:00+01:00

the double room is a full length performance piece about the discourse surrounding HIV; it addresses the anthropological otherness we impute on the diseased, and the possibilities in contamination - the different ways we can infect one another. "'Please stop this violent passage of time' pleads a line of poetry that finally emerges from a series of projected footprints imprinted with fragmented words. "Impending death (in this case due to HIV / Aids) and the pressure to find personal closure inform this exceptional dance theatre work…. The symbiotic relationship between all the dancer-choreographers, Nathaniel Stern’s animation, interactive video and performed slam poetry, Lisa Younger's design and Declan Randal’s light is utterly remarkable. "the double room provides simultaneous exposure of two worlds - the conscious and the subconscious. The real and the surreal share the same time frame and thought line. Visual and aural poetry unfurl in truly elastic emotion as limbs and bodies and images disappear and reappear...." –Adrienne Sichel, The Star

standardized

nathaniel stern — 2002-05-08T04:00:00+01:00

The tuning fork, designed for minimal overtones and a closeness to ‘pure pitch,’ is normally an absolute reference point against which all tones can be tested. As such, it may represent any universal standard or ideal against which we measure. The standardized software converts this ordinarily static note into a dynamically altering pitch, questioning absolutism, and creating a relational standard that moves with and against its viewers. The sculpture uses a video camera to read everything that is present or moving in its environment. Computer software exponentially multiplies this detected motion, and, in real time, shifts the fork’s pitch accordingly. The ironic swings of standardized thus depend upon the viewer’s action. After striking the fork and letting its resonant sounds spread across the space, a steady reference point can only be reached if he or she is completely still, but even then, the pitch is ‘wrong.’ To get a perfect, pure note, there would have to be a complete absence of movement, a lack of any human interaction whatsoever. The ‘real’ reference point can therefore never be heard by human ears - it is a fantasy, an unreachable object of desire. standardized suggests that the complex overtones of relationality are indomitable, and that even in the midst of seeming absolutism, we are responsible for creating our own relationship with the world.

stuttering

nathaniel stern — 2004-01-03T05:00:00+01:00

According George Lakoff, author of Philosophy In The Flesh, human communication is always already mediated. Our emotions, our past and the memories it carries, cannot be separated from it. He says, "The mind is inherently embodied." Because of our flesh, our multi-sensory perception, and our personal experiences, our communications convey much more than transparent information. stuttering proposes a space which accents how we effect, and are affected by, conversation and comprehension. It suggests that stillness and stumbling play a role in the un/realized potentials of memory and storytelling. Newsprint is scattered about the floor, containing quotes and passages about stutterers, situations in which stuttering, in its broadest sense, is common, and suggestions of when and where we should "make stutters," in order to break "seamless" communication. Each viewer in the space triggers a large-scale interactive art object projected on the wall in front them. This projection is broken into a Mondrian-like mirror, where each sub-section, initialized by body-tracking software, animates one of the floor-found quotes; every animation is accompanied by an audio recitation of its text. stuttering thus creates a tense environment through its inescapable barrage of stuttering sound and visual stuttering: noise. Only by lessening their participation will the information explosion slow into an understandable text for the viewer. The piece asks them not to interact, but merely to listen. Their minimal movements, and the phrases they trigger, literally create new meaning. The spaces between speaking and listening, between language and the body, add to the complex experience of communication. stuttering is not displaying data, but rather, pushing us to explore these practices of speaking and listening. It suggests that communication comes to and from us, in ways that even we do not fully comprehend.

Compressionism

nathaniel stern — 2005-09-19T04:00:00+01:00

Compressionism is a digital performance and analog archive, where I strap a custom-made scanner appendage and battery pack to my body, and perform images into existence. I might scan in straight, long lines across tables, tie the scanner around my neck and swing over flowers, do pogo-like gestures over bricks, or just follow the wind over water lilies in a pond. The dynamism of my relationship to the landscape is transformed into beautiful and quirky renderings, which are re-stretched and colored on my laptop, then produced as archival art objects using photographic or inkjet processes. I also often take details from these images and iteratively re-make them as traditional prints: lithographs, etchings, engravings and woodcuts, among others. Compressionism follows the trajectory of Impressionist painting, through Surrealism to Postmodernism, but rather than citing crises of representation, reality or simulation, my focus is on performing all three in relation to each other. ——————- Excerpts from an exhibition review by Michael Smith, March 2007 ArtThrob.co.za: "More than a little tongue-in-cheek in reference to the grandeur which history of art confers through its ‘isms', Stern took to calling his creative process ‘Compressionism'.... The references that radiate from this term are numerous, and are backed up in Stern's work...." "To call Stern's images ‘painterly' on the strength of their swathes of colour and digitally rendered striations that recall brushstrokes is to tell only half the story. The tantalising quality of the surfaces of his works comes from the sense that they contain much that they're not readily revealing...." "Stern's entire process expands to encompass fairly traditional printmaking techniques, and a great tension is established by this.... The results are compelling, an amalgamation of visual languages from two very different ends of Western Art history.... While Nude Descension (again a playful gesture to history of art) has a fluid, otherworldly quality, the print which accompanies it, Nude Descension II, accrues a salacious, lo-fi quality that adds another dimension to Stern's formal repertoire.... Jo'burg Boogie Woogie, an image that looks like a cross-section of a grim face-brick wall, is a play on high Modernist Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie. But the optimism in modernity that manifested in Mondrian's confection here morphs into a snippet of urban realism ... the format surely hints at the overcrowding of downtown Jozi living spaces. The image is forbidding in the truest sense of the word, denying spatial access by enforcing the impenetrability of the picture plane. Yet Stern's technique allows for moments of slippage, vertical slashes across the format that give visual and conceptual relief from the rigidity of bricks and mortar...." "The work that remained with me long after I had left the gallery space, however, was Epics and Anthologies... derived from scans of Stern's bookshelf... their spines stretched and compressed to the point of illegibility, the books become like blocks in a warped Tetris game, the layers of creative history piling up so quickly and disjointedly that one is powerless to effectively decode their meanings and implications...." "Stern's performative interests expand to include ‘performing' a relationship to history, a quietly anarchic deconstruction of the creative person's position in relation to history.... [the works] reveal that Stern's is a position of productive paradox, of signalling his debt to the historical archive of creativity yet resisting the impulse to politely replicate its terms."

odys for your iPod

nathaniel stern — 2005-12-02T05:00:00+01:00

odys for your iPod (2005) is an extension of the odys series (2001-2004). the odys series consists of six short digital video poems / monologues for small screen viewing in an intimate gallery space. By stuttering between odys' actions and words, listeners construct his person. As he attempts to re-member, bringing the past back to his body and calling it his own, listeners attempt to piece together a story for themselves. Viewers are encouraged to re-visit and jump over juxtaposed media, and create a shifting collage of, and in response to, his person. odys for your iPod encourages viewers to download all six of the newly optimized video art pieces from odys.org, and into iTunes and their iPods. It allows for an even more intimate and physical relationship with his character, as well as a continually growing connection with each vignette. odys' name comes from The Odyssey; he is the traveler, the seeker of home (Ithaca). Contrary to both Odysseus and hektor ( see http://hektor.net ), odys is an unconvincing liar and horrible storyteller. His failed attempts to speak the traumatic past are often mistaken for nonsense. Ironically, odys’ poor endeavors at communication can now be largely consumed by a take-away transmission: online at odys.org. odys' language of utterances is about the "spaces between." The space between words, between articulation and inarticulation, between Troy and Ithaca, between judgment and responsibility, and between speaker and listener.

The Blair Bush Project

nathaniel stern — 2003-04-23T04:00:00+01:00

The Blair Bush Project (BBP) is a CITY+SUBURBAN studios initiative. BBP, orchestrated by artists nathaniel stern and Christian Nerf, is a Public Investigation seeking the opinions of world citizens in the current sociopolitical climate. Snippets of evidence are posted to the web in the form of video, audio and sans-copyright (reproducible) images. The Blair Bush Project is a Johannesburg-based, international forum for input and output surrounding the WW-III discourse. It poses an opportunity for world citizens to contribute their opinion in the form of video, sound, images, text or external links. Note that although ownership will remain with the contributor, all content is sans-copyright and available for www distribution. Please contribute!

The Wireframe Series: Sentimental Construction #1

nathaniel stern — 1969-12-31T05:00:00+01:00

First conceptualized for the 2007 iCommons Summit in Dubrovnik Croatia, The Wireframe Series: Sentimental Construction #1 is a site-specific, publicly performed architectural structure made of rope. It is an ephemeral arrangement that, nonetheless, carves out space and frames its context; it is ’sentimental’ in the tensions it creates between sadness and playfulness, nostalgia and possibility, construction and emergence, the pre-formed and the per-formed. “The idea is to haul an Oldenburgized version of a 3-D computer drawing (what might be called “giant soft building outline”) out into the streets of Dubrovnik and photograph people erecting it in the style of an Amish barn-raising. Thus hard becomes soft, virtual becomes actual, private becomes public. The sculpture is not of itself interesting–it is activated through its contact with people (like certain objects by Franz West or Helio Oiticica that were meant to be carried or worn) and by being photographed. In the photos, the softened or molten outlines of the rope building become a classic surrealistically “problematized” image, re-envisioning something hard and artificial as pliable and organic. They also represent a regression or devolution of the CAD-generated modernist box by being juxtaposed against the cobbled streets of an older Mediterranean city, and by their handling by real live human beings.” — Tom Moody

performance 2 (passage)

nathaniel stern — 1969-12-31T05:00:00+01:00

A continuation from The Wireframe Series: Sentimental Construction #1, performance 2 (passage) is a similarly site-specific, publicly performed architectural structure made of rope. The piece, erected in Joubert Park, Johannesburg South Africa (2007), twists the idea of ‘public space’ by its double activation: first, through the volunteers who stretch its form outward and around them; and second, through the communal play of the park’s inhabitants, which gives the structure a performative turn. Although the design is, itself, a passage - several doorframe shapes in series, swinging freely from atop four wooden poles - it can only move between hard and soft, virtual and actual, public and private, through its contact with people. This is juxtaposed with the inconsistencies of South Africa’s major inner-city: crumbling art deco buildings surrounded by crowded streets and busy taxi ranks, all making way for the quiet of the Johannesburg Art Gallery’s neo-classical architecture, and the leisurely games, picnics and ice cream stands in the inexplicably carved-out Joubert Park. The surrounding areas of the park have historically been a bundle of contradictions - before, during and after Apartheid - sustained as civic spaces because of how they’re used by the public. performance 2 playfully mirrors the contradictions of this space and its utility, and further underpins the tensions between work and play, nostalgia and possibility, construction and emergence.

[odys]elicit & en/traced

nathaniel stern — 2001-10-24T04:00:00+01:00

[odys]elicit is a large scale, interactive installation where every movement of the viewer, small or sweeping, births stuttering text onscreen. The viewer’s motion elicits, character by character, passages from odys’ text. The piece responds to small movements, writing the text onscreen slowly for the viewer to read, or to rapid passersby, whose full bodies birth hundreds of flying characters, impossible to decode. In odys’ work, viewers are forced to look at the spaces between language and meaning, the luxuries of stuttering and silence as communication, and the effects of accelerated and decelerated time. [odys]elicit physically places viewers at the center of co-invented noise, forced to perform - willingly or not. odys’ text has been reduced down to where it no longer has meaning and is re-birthed, with possibly infinite meanings, or none at all. ——————- en/traced, a collaboration with dancer / choreographer Jeanette Ginslov, is a composition of relationships between a highly trained human body, an enfleshed machine, and a real-time programmer. The three fractally realized parts form an extra-ordinary body whose organs are distributed between them. In the en/traced trialogue, the machine watches the form, eliciting text with its motion; the programmer watches the screen, beckoning these characters with his keys; and each answers the other two in turn. The relationship between the three bodies is also a body itself - an/other form of consciousness. This composition disrupts the usual relations of looking. Viewers are invited to see the spaces between and in ’seeing,’ they are eliciting another new body between parts. This fractal composition begs questions of experience, relationships, consciousness and enfleshment.

at interval

nathaniel stern — 1969-12-31T05:00:00+01:00

For at interval, I captured the entirety of Woody Allen’s Annie Hall, then removed all spoken dialogue from the film. Time is slowed down, through emphasis on stutters, gasps, and oral fumbles, and paradoxically sped up, through an immense shortening of the film - from one hour and thirty minutes, to just over thirteen. Here, I’m citing the in-betweens, using time and rhythm to accent the impossibilities within language. “More remarkable work from Nathaniel Stern as he reworks, in the most curious of ways, Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. Interesting that although the working method here seems almost diametrically opposed to the hands on, performative approach found in the odys series here too is that same sense of the fragility & vulnerability of human beings and their bodies & psyches & of the unreliability of the language we use to try & make what we want to happen & to relate or lie about what did.” - Michael Szpakowski, DVblog at interval was produced for the t-minus 2006 festival, an exhibition and DVD produced by Joshua Goldberg and Chris Jordan, New York City. It was the first video produced in an ongoing series of generative works, where I use simple formulas to edit and compress popular movies, revealing secret biases, hidden meanings and complex relationships just below the surface.

enter: hektor

nathaniel stern — 2001-10-24T04:00:00+01:00

enter:hektor is an immersive, interactive installation that combines conceptual and aesthetic principles from traditional installation, interactive art, and performance poetry, to explore the relationships between text and the body. Its participants enter through black and red velvet curtains - a literalized performance space - and into a white interaction area approximately 8 meters long; the width at the entrance begins the size of a doorway and expands to that of a large projection screen. Upon entering, viewer-participants meet with an almost real-time abstraction of themselves - an outline drawn with large black dots; the closer they are to the screen/camera, the larger their image becomes. hektor’s thoughts (in the form of text) float around them, in animated sequence. With this exterior re-presentation of their bodies, viewers-turned-performers can grab and trigger hektor’s text; each word that a viewer’s outline touches will stop, turn red, and recite a line of poetry. enter:hektor asks viewers to “leave behind” their everyday performances of self, and attempts to accent each step and movement as a rich, performative gesture. The enter:hektor software does not work as one would suspect, and pushes viewers to act in ways they normally wouldn’t. Rather than traditional body-tracking software, the code is written in such a way that only the outermost points on the horizontal axis are shown - for example, if you put your arms up in a V, your head disappears. The piece was originally exhibited on an old 8500 Macintosh (2000), which ran relatively slowly; in the updated version (2005), I’ve imitated this minor lag. The lag, combined with the intuitive/unexpected paradox of its awkward “limited body” interaction, creates less of a mirror and more of a “call and response, and response” space - much like that of a poet and his/her audience. Meaning is found in the space between body and text, and the half-second lag becomes that space between. Its intention is to frustrate, excite, and make viewers work harder towards communication, in a complex inter-course. As viewer-participants learn how to perform this space, they move in new ways. Whether they are trying to “speak,” or doing their best to avoid it, hektor forces them to go between the same exaggerated gestures and jerky expressions that he does. I’ve watched some viewers crawl into a ball and lash out at his words with their arms, others dance and play on the fringes in an attempt to speak quickly and all at once, while still others get up close to the screen and squirm around words, so as not to speak. enter:hektor is a recognition of the negotiations and contradictions inherent to the performance of communication, and of self. We are asked to use our bodies as a writing and speaking tool, to create a poetic language of gesture, and to explore what we already know (but do not know we know). Through a fictional “other,” we converse, and are versed, without verse.

hektor.net

nathaniel stern — 2001-02-06T05:00:00+01:00

hektor.net is a navigable artsite of experimental pinhole photography, spoken word and video poetry. Each vignette is in a performative writing style, and the series collectively explores narrative and storytelling, time and memory, multiplicity and identity, anger and trauma, and the labors of communication. I use technologies unique to digital video in order to accent its many historical references and literary allusions. While viewers surf the site, hektor attempts to re-member: embody a past in the present. Floating memories, re-presented as art pieces, congeal in different patterns; from the “ruins of memory,” viewers re-invent the past and its meaning, piecing together a story for themselves. However, similar to Julio Cortazar’s Hopscotch, where readers can tackle any chapter, in any order, to assemble a whole story, this narrative is built by the listener, according to which pieces they have seen, in what context, and in which order. Viewers continually bring new insights to possibility by juxtaposing visited and revisited pieces and ideas several times over. hektor is a fictional character of my own creation, and part of a body of work that explores memory and storytelling. His name comes from The Iliad; he is the inevitable fallen hero. But contrary to the his historical namesake, this hektor is aggressively articulate about his anger at fate, relating it to contemporary issues of class, race, gender and sex. He never approaches his traumatic past directly, but his silence on the topic speaks volumes.

Re: RHIZOME_RAW: Re-launch of Rhizome.org

nathaniel stern — 2007-10-26T10:10:15+01:00

nathaniel stern:
The new site looks great - congratulations.

On 10/26/07, Pall Thayer wrote:
> I think it's great. Good job, people.
>
> Pall
>
>
> On 10/25/07, 50 EURO wrote:
> >
> > KUNT SEE NO DIFFRENST
> >
> >
> > THIS IS 50 EURO
> >
> >
> > http://suicide-girls.org
> >
> > +
> > -> 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
> >
>
>
>
> --
> *****************************
> Pall Thayer
> artist
> http://www.this.is/pallit
> *****************************

--

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

Image database

nathaniel stern — 2007-10-02T10:03:58+01:00

nathaniel stern:
Hey all:

Have a friend looking for an image database for paintings, prints,
etc, categorized by keyword or subject. Does not need to be free, but
does need to be historical - eg not flickr or google, but something
like a collection or library. Any ideas? Thanks in advance...

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

Begin forwarded message:
> From: Patrick Young
> Date: October 2, 2007 11:27:33 AM GMT+02:00
> To: ns@nathanielstern.com
> Subject: re: Image search
>
> Nathaniel,
> Thanks again for speaking to me on the phone last week, and I'm
> sorry this follow up email is so late in coming. You may remember
> that I'm looking for an image database for some research I'm doing.
> I'm working on an adaptation of Nietzsche's Thus Spoke
> Zarathustra, and I'm looking for images associated with the text,
> particularly in visual art -- for instance, I'm looking for
> paintings of tightrope walkers and midgets. I'd obviously love to
> have access to images, but even a text archive would help, because
> then I could hunt down the images myself. Any suggestions + leads
> you might have of places to look would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks so much for your help, and I look forward to speaking to you
> again soon.
>
> Yours,
> Parick

The Art Happens Here

nathaniel stern — 2007-06-14T08:35:43+01:00

nathaniel stern:
The Art Happens Here

Opens 15 June @ 21h30, Croatian time
Lazareti Art Workshop, Dubrovnik Croatia

Simulcast to Annenberg Island in SL, 12h30 PDT
Second Life

The Art Happens Here is a contemporary art exhibition and
presentation at the iCommons Summit 2007, resulting from an ongoing
artist in residence programme. Six international artists and a critic
were invited to produce physical and virtual work that engages with
fair use, copyright, re-mixing, piracy and/or collaboration on some
level - whether directly or indirectly.

Works on show will include, but not be limited to, art books, murals,
net.art, sculpture, public performance, video and installation -- all
conceptually linked by their engagement with the Commons, by the
artists' time spent in Dubrovnik.

Participants include: Joy Garnett (USA), Ana Husman (Croatia),
Kathryn Smith (South Africa), Nathaniel Stern (USA / South Africa),
Tim Whidden (representing MTAA, USA), Jaka Zeleznikar (Slovenia) and
blog-critic Paddy Johnson (of artfagcity, USA). There will also be a
special appearance in the SL exhibition by Patrick Lichty, aka Man
Michinaga (USA).

Artist Discussion Panel on Creative Commons and its potential uses
and effects in professional arts practice will be a part of the
iCommons main programme in Dubrovnik, 15h00 Croatian time.

More information: http://iCommons.org

Broad Cast Response, 2007

nathaniel stern — 2007-06-04T12:35:47+01:00

nathaniel stern:
http://nathanielstern.com/blog/2007/06/04/broad-cast-response-2007/

Here�s a little preview of one of the pieces I�ve done (produced this
week) for the iCommons Summit in two weeks - it�ll simulcast in SL as
well:

Conceptualized in collaboration with Nicole Ridgway, for Broad Cast
Response, I captured the entirety of the 1990, teen angst, pirate
radio movie Pump Up the Volume, then broke it down into a diptych of
all the spoken �no�s and all the spoken �yes�s in the film,
respectively. The resultant installation, which continuously flows in
and out of a synced, monosyllabic debate, is an ironic testament to
the poor quality of contemporary broadcast news, a tense tribute to
the copyfight and pirate artists, and overall, a playful attempt to
highlight the condescension of any dialectic�s idea of a �third term.�

Broad Cast Response was produced for the iCommons Summit 2007, a
residency, workshop and exhibition programme simultaneously held in
Dubrovnik, Croatia and Second Life. Other Commons artists-in-res
include Cao Fei (China), Joy Garnett (USA), Ana Husman (Croatia),
Kathryn Smith (South Africa), Tim Whidden (representing MTAA, USA)
and Jaka �eleznikar (Slovenia), and there will be coverage and
moderation by arts blogger Paddy Johnson of artfagcity.

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

Fwd: iCommons Summit film screenings: call for suggestions

nathaniel stern — 2007-04-19T03:46:45+01:00

nathaniel stern:

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Tomislav Medak
> Date: April 17, 2007 10:56:25 PM GMT+01:00
> To: icommons@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [Icommons] iCommons Summit film screenings: call for
> suggestions
>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Dear commons community,
>
> The iCommons Summit in Dubrovnik will be intensively involving
> creators
> and presenting artworks. Through the hosting of Summit events, such as
> the Artists in Residence programme, iCommons, and Summit hosts, Mi2,
> have focused on involving creators, artists and musicians from various
> backgrounds, in the commons discussions at the annual iSummit. In the
> iSummit schedule (for draft programme see:
> http://wiki.icommons.org/index.php/Draft_programme) we have assigned
> time around the official conference schedule for creating art or
> showcasing musical talent, and performances. And even our venues
> Lazareti and Revelin, offer facilities that suit for hosting
> exhibitions, concerts and film screenings.
>
> Yet another feature of this year�s iCommons Summit will be the
> film-screening event, to be held on the evening of 14 June. We are
> looking for films that are either CC-licensed free culture works, or
> challenge the boundaries of copyright law. Priority will be given to
> recent releases or works that are yet to be premiered. Due to the
> limited screening time we have available, we will not be screening
> films
> longer than an hour.
>
> We invite you to suggest films or videos that fit the above criteria,
> and that you would like to see screened at the iSummit. If you're a
> filmmaker yourself, feel encouraged to propose your own work. Add your
> suggestions to the iCommons wiki at
> http://wiki.icommons.org/index.php/
> Evening_programme#Film_screenings_-_Call_for_suggestions
>
> Please note that the total screening time is two hours, and we will
> only
> be able to screen works in digital formats from a computer or DVD
> player.
>
> The deadline to add suggestions to the wiki page is Saturday 29 April.
>
> The selection of the films to be screened at the event will take place
> as a public discussion on our IRC channel (#icommons), on the freenode
> IRC server (irc.freenode.net) at 16:00 GMT on Saturday 4 May.
>
> If you're inexperienced with using IRC or having problems finding your
> way around, drop me an email.
>
> Tomislav Medak
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)
> Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
>
> iD8DBQFGJUKJkbN024ZV0z0RAoK4AKCmUNhYE//rsOo0wZKh4WebGYIIywCglhl+
> /GgiXZTvnE3gkA0kjQ8kvBw=
> =R/OL
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> _______________________________________________
> Icommons mailing list
> Icommons@lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/icommons

rhizomers in dublin?

nathaniel stern — 2007-03-25T15:17:20+01:00

nathaniel stern:
Hey all:

Moved to dublin late last year, but only now settled with wife and
little one, and trying to get out a bit. Are there any Rhizomers out
this way who might want to hang out and/or show me around? Best,

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

Re: is art useless?

nathaniel stern — 2007-02-28T15:05:04+01:00

nathaniel stern:
I think Pall and Patrick are saying:

"Is it art?" and "Is it useful?" are ways to mis-equate either of
those terms (art / useuflness) with inherent value on some level.
They're dismissive on the false presumption that "art" and
"usefulness" automatically have value, and (insert binary opposition
here) does not....

Also: blah

And with that, I agree.

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

On Feb 28, 2007, at 4:54 PM, Pall Thayer wrote:

> The fact that the question of usefulness or uselessness even
> arises, is the sign of a grave misunderstanding. Whether or not a
> piece actually has some physical utility or not, doesn't
> necessarily have anything to do with its "artful" usefulness. For
> instance, The Command-Line Pizza Ordering program by Cory Arcangel
> and Michael Frumin (http://www.beigerecords.com/cory/pizza_party/)
> has function and utility. You can use it to order a pizza. But it
> also has an entirely different usefulness and utility as a work of
> art. A usefulness that becomes appearant without even using the
> program. It causes us to reconsider the idea of the computer/
> internet combo as the do-all and solve-all of contemporary times.
> Do we really want it to go this far? Is using the command line to
> order a pizza really any better or more convenient than calling up
> and ordering a pizza? Who knows? I could use it to set up a cron
> job that orders a medium pepperoni pizza for me every Thursday of
> every other month at 6 pm. Am I better off? Am I absolutely sure
> that I will want a medium pepperoni pizza every Thursday of every
> other month? It doesn't try to answer such questions, but proves
> itself useful in an art-sense simply by invoking them.
>
> So, essentially, it doesn't matter one way or another whether or
> not a work of art can be said to be useful or useless in a
> utilitarian sense. That has nothing to do with its usefulness as a
> work of art. This "artful usefulness" is of a much more cerebral/
> philosophical/spiritual nature.
>
> Pall
>
> On 27-Feb-07, at 6:21 PM, Jim Andrews wrote:
>
>> the notion that art is necessarily useless seems to me an
>> exclusionary
>> tactic rather than a compelling argument.
>>
>> what are some arguments for the position that art is necessarily
>> useless?
>>
>> ja?
>> http://vispo.com
>>
>>
>> +
>> -> 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
>>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Pall Thayer
> p_thay@alcor.concordia.ca
>
> http://www.this.is/pallit
>
>
>
>

Re: Re: is art useless?

nathaniel stern — 2007-02-28T13:54:40+01:00

nathaniel stern:
This is a draft excerpt from a paper I'm currently working on; it's a
very first and not yet cited draft I just finished minutes ago, I
might add (and actually has little to do with the paper's central
theme), but I thought it relevant to this discussion....

________________

I worry at things.
I complexify, perhaps even complicate. Sometimes my anxieties are
debilitating, prohibitive, a detriment (my wife would agree). But
I�ve come to realize that, very often, it�s productive. A tension. An
attention.
I involve and revolve, incorporate and extricate, produce ideas and
questions, writing and artworks that only lead to more of the same.
Entwined, engrossed and preoccupied, sometimes to the point of
knotting, I keep pulling and pushing until something emerges; or, at
least, the state of emergence becomes more interesting.
This paper is an invitation to worry, an explanation of my worrying,
a worrying itself, several case studies of how I got others to worry
(or how others worried me), and perhaps a guide on the kinds of
worries artists might produce in the near future. It�s not a new
philosophy, an answer to a question, or a mediation on things passed.
It is, mostly, an artist�s mode of worrying � in various art media,
in text, and in body � as his process of making.

The following is edited from a talk I often gave on my work in 2005
and 2006:

I see myself as kind of snowballing in and around a projectile of
questions and failures, inconsistencies, some good critique from
others, the occasional new computer gadget� I�m really snowballing
down a never-ending mountain, going up ramps and flying over trees,
bashing into things, occasionally loosing bits of myself, sucking in
a dog, more snow, another artist, a book, or some poop here and
there, getting bigger and bigger, too big in fact� and, once in a
while, through my dizziness of failure, I manage to look over my
shoulder and I�m like �Hey! That was curious!� and that�s really
where most of this stuff comes from, and then somebody, usually my
wife, says, �Yeh it was! That WAS curious! Let�s take a closer look,
shall we?� � and then usually it�s crap.
But� sometimes my foot gets caught and drags something along for long
enough that if we don�t get fed up with each other, THEN, I might,
frame it. Or build a space around it� that�s my process. Messy, fun,
anarchic, inherently collaborative, sometimes I miss great stuff that
passes me by, or make crap. Sometimes things lay dormant and I go
back to them years later. But always, the stuff I pick up along the
way comes out, the failures and questions and occasional successes
are always already built into the next snowball fight, otherwise
known as an exhibition or performance.

My process of art-making is not dissimilar to that of Massumi�s
writing (pages 17-18, Parables):

I have tried to take seriously the idea that writing in the
humanities can be affirmative or inventive. Invention requires
experimentation... The writing tries not only to accept the risk of
sprouting deviant, but to invite it. Take joy in your digressions.
Because that is where the unexpected arises. That is the experimental
aspect. If you know where you will end up when you begin, nothing has
happened in the meantime. You have to be willing to surprise yourself
writing things you didn�t think you thought. Letting examples burgeon
requires using inattention as a writing tool. You have to let
yourself get so caught up in the flow of your writing that it ceases
at moments to be recognizable to you as your own. This means you have
to be prepared for failure. For with inattention comes risk: of
silliness, or even outbreaks of stupidity. But perhaps in order to
write experimentally, you have to be willing to �affirm� even your
own stupidity. Embracing one�s own stupidity is not the prevailing
academic posture (at least not in the way I mean it here).

Just as you might imagine the above two quotations to have been, this
whole project is a performance, a tension, and a plea for attention.
After all, what is a successful Work of Art, if not the most worrying
of provocations?

____________________

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

On Feb 28, 2007, at 3:12 PM, curt cloninger wrote:

> Hi Jim,
>
> I won't argue that art is *necessarily* useless, but I'll argue
> that an art practice necessarily needs to be willing and open to
> lead to the production of art that is "useless." Of course,
> uselessness or usefulness are in the use of the user. One assumes
> that an artist's art is at least useful to her. But it seems like
> the most game-advancing art is made by people who are willing to
> let their practice lead to a place where (at least for a season of
> indefinite length) it produces art that is useless even to them.
> There is something culturally invaluable ("useful" is too weak an
> adjective) about a form of inquiry that proceeds without the burden
> of having to arrive at anything the least bit useful, or the least
> bit useless for that matter. To say that art is *necessarily*
> useless constrains the artist to arrive at a specific place that
> excludes usefulness. The most intriguing art practices are not
> obliged to answer to any kind of predicative dichotomy (useful/
> useless, be!
> autiful/not beautiful, political/not political, art/not art,
> commercial/not commercial, conceptual/not conceptual, digital/not
> digital, object-centric/ephemeral, curatable/not curatable).
> They're not even obliged to subvert such dichotomies. If they are
> under any ethical obligation at all, it is simply to keep making
> and see where it leads.
>
> "Work leads to work." (John Cage)
>
> "When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty... but
> when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it
> is wrong." (R.B. Fuller)
>
> "Na na na na na-nia, na na na, na na na na, na na na." (Merredith
> Monk)
>
> peace,
> curt
>
> +++++++++
>
> jim andrews wrote:
>
> the notion that art is necessarily useless seems to me an exclusionary
> tactic rather than a compelling argument.
>
> what are some arguments for the position that art is necessarily
> useless?
>
> ja?
> http://vispo.com
> +
> -> 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: Artists in Residence program launched for iSummit '07

nathaniel stern — 2007-02-09T14:22:16+01:00

nathaniel stern:

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Midori Yasuda
> Date: February 6, 2007 5:21:16 PM GMT+00:00
> To: "ITP Alumni"
> Subject: Artists in Residence program launched for iSummit '07
> Reply-To: "ITP Alumni"
>
>
> http://icommons.org/2007/02/05/artists-in-residence-program-
> launched-for-isummit-07/
>
> Artists in Residence program launched for iSummit '07
>
> At this year's Summit, iCommons will be launching a new and
> improved Artist in Residence program, based on the success of last
> year's undertakings by Nathaniel Stern, the Artist in Residence at
> the iSummit 2006. This year's program will be bigger and better �
> we'll be expanding the program to include more artists, more
> collaboration and a dual exhibition � in a physical space at the
> art workshop, Lazareti and in a virtual gallery in Second Life.
>
> Essential to the success of the program is, believe it our not �
> you. We would like you to suggest an artist from your country, whom
> we will consider when awarding the residency. Or even better, if
> you are an artists, don't be shy, add your name too. All you need
> to do is go to http://wiki.icommons.org/index.php/
> Artists_in_Residence and add an artist's name.
>
> Based on the suggestions from the community, we'll be picking two
> artists from the Croatian region and three international artists to
> participate in the residency. We're looking for artists who produce
> both in the physical and digital world; individuals who engage with
> copyright in some way - either by using Creative Commons licenced
> content as their inspiration, or by licencing their work under CC;
> or artists who simply challenge the boundaries of copyright law.
>
> During the residency, the artists will be exploring different
> themes around what it means to be an artist creating in a digital
> world. The following topics will be investigated during the
> residency, and a workshop will be run by the artists at the Summit,
> based on the following themes:
> � Different working modes: how do artists work with open content
> in their medium?
> � Different presentation methods: what is the archival value of
> art made available online?
> � Sustainability models: how do artists embrace 'copyleft' but
> still manage to pay the rent?
>
> Nathaniel Stern will be coordinating the artists in their
> conceptual journey. The residency will officially start two to
> three weeks before the Summit, as a 'virtual' residency over e-mail
> or chat, when all the artists will start conceptualising and
> discussing these themes. The artists will arrive in Dubrovnik one
> week before the start of the Summit, so as to begin the hands-on
> work of creating their masterpieces.
>
> The deadline for suggestions on potential participants for the
> Artists in Residence program is Monday 12 February.
>
>
>
> --
> Assistant to the Executive Director: iCommons
>
> www.icommons.org
>
> +27 11 327 3155/3201 (Office)
> Skype/Aim: danielafaris
>
> iCommons Summit, Dubrovnik, Croatia: 15-17 June, 2007
> _______________________________________________
> Icommons mailing list
> Icommons@lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/icommons
>
>
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to itp-alumni as:
> nathaniel.stern@gmail.com
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-itp-
> alumni-276419R@forums.nyu.edu

Second Lifers?

nathaniel stern — 2007-02-09T11:56:12+01:00

nathaniel stern:
Hey everybody:

I'm working on a proposal for the new Turbulence / Ars Virtua / Arts
Interactive commission, and am pretty excited about the whole concept:
http://transition.turbulence.org/comp_07/guidelines.htm

I've got a basic idea of what I'd like to do (still very flexible and
in brain-stormy stages), but need someone fluent in Second Life who'd
like to either collaborate, work for cash, or at least give me a
little advice. Any takers? Please mail me off list.

Thanks in advance,

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

Compressionism @ Editions | Artists' Book Fair

nathaniel stern — 2006-10-29T09:38:37+01:00

nathaniel stern:
Some of my handmade Compressionist prints - iterative etchings,
engravings, aquatints, etc, which use plates that were inspired by
details from my scanner performances - will be at the Editions |
Artists� Books Fair in NYC, next week. A small box set from this
series will be featured @ the David Krut table, alongside William
Kentridge, Penny Siopis, and Colbert Mashile - good company! Please
check it out if you can, November 2nd - 5th, The Tunnel, New York,
261 Eleventh Avenue.

http://www.eabfair.com/

http://compressionism.net/

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

The Upgrade! Johannesburg presents our first Panel Discussion: Collecting Digits

nathaniel stern — 2006-10-02T15:14:14+01:00

nathaniel stern:
Sorry, that one got away from me before I finished.

Friday October 6, 2006 @ 3pm:
Panel Discussion: Collecting Digits
WSOA Digital Arts. Map: http://digitalarts.wits.ac.za/artworks/
contact/map.htm

The Upgrade! Johannesburg presents our first Panel Discussion:
Collecting Digits

This panel and discussion on the possibilities and problems with
collecting new media art will include presentations by:

* Warren Siebrits - founder of one of Johannesburg's most
prestigious contemporary and modern commercial art galleries
* Franci Cronje - curator of several collections & competitions,
including Sasol New Signatures
* Nathaniel Stern - digital and interactive artist, in several
public & private collections
* Clive Kellner - Director of the Johannesburg Art Museum

http://warrensiebrits.co.za/
http://nathanielstern.com/blog/franci-cronje/
http://nathanielstern.com/
http://www.joburg.org.za/2004/sep/sep10_jag.stm

About Upgrade! Johannesburg
About once per month a group of new media students, artists and
curators gather in Johannesburg, South Africa. At each meeting one or
two artists present work - theirs, or a favorite's - in order to
foster critique, dialogue and collaboration in our growing digital
arts scene. The Upgrade! Joburg grew out of Professor Christo
Doherty's (WSOA Digital Arts; Map ) regular Friday 'Digital Soirees'
at Wits School of the Arts, and artist Nathaniel Stern's atjoburg
initiative, both founded between 2002/3 and still ongoing. They
wanted to invite a larger, participative audience into their space,
and be plugged into a more diverse and international network. Our
first official Upgrade! featured Daniel Hirschmann, a South African
Wits alumnus who alsostudied at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications
Program, and went on to help shape the Physical Computing studio at
Fabrica. At number two, Stern presented MTAA's brilliant work
remotely (with their permission), rather fitting given their initial
involvement in the first NYC Upgrades....

http://atjoburg.net/upgrade/index.html

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

the Upgrade! Johannesburg presents our first Panel Discussion: Collecting Digits

nathaniel stern — 2006-10-02T15:03:25+01:00

nathaniel stern:
the Upgrade! Johannesburg presents our first Panel Discussion:
Collecting Digits

This panel and discussion on the possibilities and problems with
collecting new media art will include presentations by:

* Warren Siebrits - founder of one of Johannesburg's most
prestigious contemporary and modern commercial art galleries
* Franci Cronje - curator of several collections & competitions,
including Sasol New Signatures
* Nathaniel Stern - digital and interactive artist, in several
public & private collections
* Clive Kellner - Director of the Johannesburg Art Museum

http://warrensiebrits.co.za/
http://nathanielstern.com/blog/franci-cronje/
http://nathanielstern.com/
http://www.joburg.org.za/2004/sep/sep10_jag.stm

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

The Upgrade! Johannesburg and WSOA Digital Arts present: Andre SC

nathaniel stern — 2006-09-13T10:07:46+01:00

nathaniel stern:
The Upgrade! Johannesburg and WSOA Digital Arts present: Andre SC
TECHNOGRAFFI: Drawing the pixel curtain

In /*technoGraffi* - drawing the pixel curtain/, Andr� SC will show
and discuss some of his recent �stuff� involving generative
procedures, pseudo neuro-biological theory, ridiculous amounts of
pornography, �post-digital abstraction� as well as �netVerse� - the
current interactive online project that N. Stern describes as �a
noteworthy feat �a cross between fridge magnet poetry, geeky guy
gluttony, snot flinging, and surrealist games��

New media manipulator (read pixel-maniac), Andr� SC a.k.a. Clements
completed a BA at the University of Pretoria in �95. Since then he
has been a designer, corporate consultant, experimental artist,
studied some more stuff and lectures in Media Design Technology. He
is the web-editor/developer of davidkrutpublishing.com and keeps a
personal blog site at pixelplexus.co.za. also see his net.art
project, netverse.

Links:
http://www.davidkrutpublishing.com
http://www.pixelplexus.co.za
http://netverse.andresc.net

More:
http://atjoburg.net/upgrade/15sept06-SC.html

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

interactive arts lectureship post

nathaniel stern — 2006-09-07T03:08:54+01:00

nathaniel stern:
Hey all, and sorry for cross-posting.

I worked in this department (at the top University in Africa) as the
part-time core lecturer for over 3 years, but it seems timing has
worked against me - now that they have a full-time position, I'm
about to pursue my own advanced degree in Ireland. I HIGHLY recommend
considering this job - even if, rather than looking to settle here,
it's just an adventure in Africa for a couple of years (or if you
want some tenure-track, full-time experience). It's a very small
department - three full-time posts - and the interactive MA degree
would be yours to control, with about only 10 grad students per year
(the undergrad courses are new, so I'm not sure how those would run).
Christo, head of the division, is game for all types of
experimentation in practice and curricula, and a master at cutting
through red tape, alternative methods of presentation, and finding
funding and equipment - especially considering this is third world.

I've put a pdf of the post ad at http://atjoburg.net/wits-post.pdf -
and note that if you know any 3D-ers, there is also a post for them
(separate MA degree, in same department) ;)

Contact Christo, email address below, with any q's (and unofficial
ones can come to me, should you want a scoop). Best,

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

PS note that application deadline is a bit tight - 29 September

WITS UNIVERSITY, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
DIGITAL ARTS (FULL-TIME LECTURESHIP)

LECTURESHIP IN INTERACTIVE MEDIA DESIGN

The successful candidate will be a producing artist working in the
area of interactive/digital arts.

Qualifications: MA, MFA, MPS, MSc or equivalent qualification.
Experienced with at least one interactive development environment and
qualified to teach creative web design and at least two of the
following: multimedia performance, video art, sound art or net.art.

Duties: Teach both production and theory to postgraduate and
undergraduate classes. Supervise postgraduate research projects,
collaborative exhibitions and assist with course administration.

For further information contact Professor Christo Doherty, Head of
Digital Arts, christo.doherty@wits.ac.za or visit
www.wits.ac.za/artworks

Renumeration: This is a tenure track position or can be a short-term
(two year) contract. A competitive package with excellent benefits
will be offered, dependent on qualifications and experience.
Appointment: Incumbents will be required to assume duty in January
2007, or as soon as possible.

To apply: Submit a covering letter and detailed CV with names
addresses and e-mail addresses of 3 referees, as well as certified
copies of degrees and identity document to - Molly Orr, Human
Resources Manager, Faculty of Humanities, University of the
Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS, 2050, South Africa.
Tel: +27 11 717 1411
Email: orrmg@hse.wits.ac.za
Closing Date: 29 September 2006

retro-Compressionist upgrade

nathaniel stern — 2006-08-09T08:38:47+01:00

nathaniel stern:
There�s some newly updated Compressionist documentation on
Compressionism.net. The latest video reflects, both, some of the
performative aspects of the series and the current hand-made
editions; the latter are being created with the help of printmaker
Jillian Ross at David Krut Workshop in Johannesburg. For those who
have not been to the site in a while, the text has also been updated
site-wide, and I am continually uploading new images.

Latest Sound Byte:

Compressionism is a "digital performance and analog archive.� I
traverse bodies, spaces and objects with my scanner face, while its
head is in motion. After being Compressed into digital images the
size of a small sheet of paper, the files are then stretched, cropped
and colored by hand, then printed as editioned, archival works. The
latest pieces in the series further transform details of these prints
into hand-made art objects: etchings, engravings, aquatints,
lithographs, spit bites and more.
Compressionism is an exploration of media and perception, a
transfiguration in time and seeing.

Best,

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

the Upgrade! Johannesburg presents: Catherine Henegan

nathaniel stern — 2006-07-25T02:49:11+01:00

nathaniel stern:
http://atjoburg.net/upgrade/28july06-Henegan.html

the Upgrade! Johannesburg and the Wits Digital Soiree present:
Catherine Henegan
Dada goes digital - Media Art in a Theatrical Space

Amsterdam-based multi-disciplinary artist, Catherine Henegan, is the
director of The Shooting Gallery, the controversial performance/media
art work currently showing at The Market Theatre. Aided by a computer
and a projection screen, Catherine is also a performer in the work,
editing live content from the Internet into the performance by Aryan
Kaganof and against the sound design by James Webb. In this way she
tracks in real time the way media constructs and reconstructs news
and fiction. She will talk about her approach to the design and
direction
of this challenging multimedia production.

Images available at:
http://www.the-shootinggallery.com
http://kaganof.com/kagablog/category/the-shooting-gallery/

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com

Hektor goes CC

nathaniel stern — 2006-06-18T14:53:59+01:00

nathaniel stern:
hektor.net, my old skool (2000), award-winning and recently archived net.art
project (say this ten times fast: The Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media, a
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, of the Cornell University
Library) has just been re-released under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. I say something like this
on the site:

--------------
Sorry to say that since I made this site, I've lost all my source flash
files (dude, I was like, 23, and just starting out, you know?), but you are
welcome to import and re-mix with whatever technologies you see fit / are
able to... download this entire site in one zipped up file (30 MBs of movs,
swfs, and html - I can't believe I ever made sites without CSS).
--------------

Why, you ask? Well, it's in celebration of the first iCommons iSummit, of
course! I'll be heading to Rio (w00t!) as the "Creative Commons Artist in
Residence" on Wednesday. Watch nathanielstern.com for live blogging, and a
CC/GPL re-release of [odys]elicit, too (will give compiled Apple/PC versions
as well as source code, but you'll need Director and the TTC-Pro Xtra - or
their demo versions - for the latter).

Later y'all,

nathaniel
http://nathanielstern.com