Questions for the new Rhizome staff

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Greetings to all of you who are new to Rhizome in the last couple of years. You have joined an organization which I think is destined to play a major role in the documentation and development of the internet computer revolution's impact on art and society. By way of discussion, I am curious about a few things but feel free not to answer if you prefer not to, as you are in no way obligated.

1. How do you feel about Pop Art? How do you think its meaning has changed from what it was in the sixties, when there was no internet for self-publishing?

2. What is Mark Tribe's role on Rhizome now? I noticed he was on the board of directors, but I don't see him posting features or other items too often. Does he assist with long-term vision, philosophy, and so on, but not operations?

3. Was there some kind of dispute about membership a while ago? I read something about that on another site but don't know what it was about and it didn't go into much detail, but quoted someone saying that Mark was an "evil genius." I don't think that is fair at all, given Mark's history of support for Rhizome and its community.

4. Have any e-mails from the olden days been deleted from the TextBase, such as by member request? I know they do this on nettime and I don't object to it per se but am just curious.

5. Those of you new to a nonprofit arts organization, or with experience in the for-profit world, how do you feel Rhizome is different due to its 501©(3) status? Do you think for-profit or nonprofit organizations are better able to innovate dynamically?

6. How do you view your role in the discussion area of the site? I tend to think of this as more of a members area but back when Rhizome was just an e-mail list the leadership posted pretty often and there was a lot of conversation. Again, a great deal has changed since then.

7. Do you think there are any flaws or shortcomings in Postmodernism as a theory and as an art-historical period, and if so, what do you think might be attributes of a preferable alternative?

8. Do you think Rhizome has a freer editorial policy than for-profit organizations such as ArtForum, which has to yield a profit and accomodate its advertising base? Or, is the greater leeway and freedom to experiment on Rhizome often a function of the membership model in both theory and practice?

Thanks a million for any you might care to weigh in on. I also just wanted to communicate these questions to other users in case they wish to reply as well.

Max Herman
The Genius 2000 Network
Le Cafe online now
http://www.geocities.com/genius-2000

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