To all Rhizomers

Dear Rhizomers,
Here are some personal thoughts and ramblings as yet another year draws to a
close. As some of you know, a couple of years ago I decided to go back to
school for my MFA (like a few other long-time Rhizomers). The one I was
going to get about 10 years ago. I'm very happy with my choice of schools
and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the fields of art common to
Rhizome. The school is Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. They have a
lot going for them, not least of which is Hexagram, a well-funded research
institute that focuses on new media and the arts. As far as I can tell, it's
similar to the MIT Media Lab. However, whereas the Media Lab appears to sway
a little more towards the engineering side, Hexagram sways a bit more
towards the art side.

My reasons for mentioning this are not to boost Concordia's enrollment, but
rather as an intro to another subject nearer to us all. Before moving to
Montreal two and half years ago, I did a lot of research. The impression I
got was of a city with a very lively art-scene and especially open to recent
developments in electronic arts. Although Montreal does have centers
dedicated to electronic arts, I still feel, after having spent two years
there, that my original impression was somewhat skewed. The more traditional
forms of art-creation still prevail. But I guess this is to be expected.
It's hard to break from tradition.

I always have this feeling that there's so much happening in our fields
wherever I'm not. But then, when given the chance to actually visit the
places where I think everything is happening, I see that it's little more
than an illusion and it makes me wonder why this is. I think I know the
reason. From where I'm sitting, there is a lot going on out there but when
it comes to pinning it down to a location, there is only one. And that
location is Rhizome. Every day my mailbox fills up with notices about
exhibitions, lectures, conferences, etc. that are happening all over the
world. It's reassuring since it shows that someone is paying attention to
what we're doing, I think. Anyway, I'm still convinced that if they aren't
now, they will be at some point in the future. I am also convinced that we
are revolutionizing a lot of fundamental ideas regarding art, its creation
and the public experience of it. It just takes a while for the rest of the
world to catch on and understand just how we're doing that.

As I look around, searching for a real-life art community that I fit into
and see little more than my five or six fellow members of Lorna, the only
official Icelandic organization for electronic arts (hooray for us!), I
would like to extend my thanks to the entire Rhizome community for for being
just that, a community. Without the support and comraderie of Rhizome, I
probably would have given up on the art-form that has given me so much, long
ago.

Best holiday wishes to you all and good luck in the coming year.

Pall Thayer
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Pall Thayer
artist
http://www.this.is/pallit
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