OASN1@BH Week 2 Review

[Novadic transmission from A, September 1, 2012]:

friends. 

this morning i received a sweet letter from a NYC occupier which raises important questions for the struggle. riding on its wave, would like to discuss a bit the Body-Without-Organs (BwO) notion and the hot possibility of mathematically modeling the movement through non-linearity.  

occupier letter.

"The key is in learning to embrace contradiction. It's the only way we can grow. Radical + reformist. Masculine + feminine. Rejecting the system + using the system to implode itself. Outreach + Inreach. The list is endless. I know it's personal for me, but I feel so strongly that if we blow up the binary, everything becomes so much more POSSIBLE. It's a pretty obvious thing that these divisions are created to keep us submissive. What do we do once we dissolve these imaginary lines?"

C.

this brings us to the exploration-experimentation that our collective has been conducting in the movement so far, namely with the use -and abuse, why not?- of pluripotential spaces. these zones are effectively TAZs elicited by organizers, whom "code" a given space with the right inscription (rules) and then present the instructions to the players; through this rune-like operator, trained organizers can optimize the emergence of flow (optimal experience) at any given loci, outdoor or indoor. the consequences are endless. 

         A.

time suspension.                    

~ "When you will have made him a body without organs,

then you will have delivered him from all his automatic reactions

and restored him to his true freedom." ~ 

                         A. Artaud (1947) 

Fibonaci Arena (FA) is any given space coded with instructions that elicit flow (e.g. Salon, Magic Mountain). FAs are intentionally unintentional vortexes, a spiral-eliciting accident, which draws its theoretical basis on anarchy and the notion of BwO that Deleuze & Guattari introduce in their collaborative work. in those instances where play is elicited time is abolished. 

play is flow & flow is play

"what is your name?" dialogues.

(...) existence means exposition to and adaptation of a full range of given norms, structures and boundaries (...)

(...) this does not lead to a loss of personality but to a construction of an artificial one: already before we are born we are categorized based on our genitals, which decide what kind of name is going to be imposed on us, Susan or Tom (...) 

(...) a stratification of our bodies, which is created through the hierarchical order of society (...) Thousand Plateaus (...) continuous power relations amongst members of society (...) power where those at the top oppress the others 

Mark

in illo tempore ~ "in that time" ,  or "once upon a time".

in order to break binaries, and thus promote a revolution in the logical framework that guides -- and ensnares -- Western thought it is suggested: 

(1) that instead of "breaking" boundaries, revolutionaries seek to "dissolve" them by eliciting phase transitions :: from solid to liquid :: liquid time, flow :: ~ this method of engaging Empire discussed by OccupySunTzu acts on the links, on the spaces in between.

(2) this phase transition may be elicited through flash ~ liberations, i.e. collective processes of emancipation in public streets & squares :: similar to ancient tribal hierophanies :: regression to the undifferentiated state of BwO :: 

(3) dissemination of Fibonaci Arenas. 

the resulting kaleidoscopes are #novad-like supernovas. 

occupyMathematics ~ "and they say you always hated math (...)"

to start thinking about how to mathematically model the movement, at this point of maturity and beyond, is probably the last thing that Empire wants us to do. from here on lies the suggestion that we OccupyMathematics. 

check out mathematical approaches to model complex emergent behavior (eg, central nervous system;; ant colony;; traffic jams ;;) and these links with tricks from the trickster: 

• %Cellular Automatta (Turing machine): http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/notabene/cellular-automata.html

• $Network Theory and associated cartographies: http://ijoc.org/ojs/index.php/ijoc/article/download/1136/553

• #Singularities in Pluripotential Theory: http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/~mattiasj/research/ppt1.pdf

Sent from my soul

Mapping the voyage of the Hippo.

∞

[NOTES]:

The dynamics that manifest as revelations in the material zone or phase only comprise a small fraction of the dynamics in play. Most of the dimensional arena is active with immaterial transpects demonstrating what can be described as multiplicity, resistant to epistemology or the recursive. The key for the lead artist is to encourage or facilitate the transiting of evidence, of life, through the spatial layers we designate as free and open to our pluripotential phenomena. 

In OAS we discovered in Week 2, for example, that a course need not exist to exist in substantiated iterations. We found, additionally, that timing can pronounce the extended, even epic, duration of a 4D artistic project, given a dedicated locus + chronos, as long as the witness(es) and presenter(s) share the space with a focal media array, including networked electronics attached to the web and database. As such, the spectacle is only activated by a combination of hard-, soft- + wetware [LOL], in the actual stage, with the virtual as both accompaniment and archive. In relation to experience, the transmission is conducted in a flux of casual and formal micro-environments. The environment has a time feature, and it is easily translated as "a moment" itself, although such a designation is incomplete. 

The technical evaluation of the phenomena is hardly encompassing of the experience. 

Another interesting anecdote involves the act of preparation for the transmission. Is such activity not also an invitation, or a calling? What if the calling IS the event? 

∞

Super Lucky Cat reappears to connect OASN1 & AFHGC.

{Imagining the Scenario (Coffee Painting)}:

1. Lead artist wears a "red dirt" shirt from Kauai, to initiate a discussion of source material for artistic, organic staining processes.

2. Today's business section of the NY Times is provided as a substrate, but also as an acknowledgment of timeliness, and other relevant considerations affecting (or not) the artistic enterprise. The subject of materials is expanded to include "non-artist" materials.

3. The lead artist displays a large set of many types of painting tools, mostly brushes. Students are encouraged to choose several for painting with the coffee. The brushes serve as the point of origin for a conversation about the "life" of the artist's tool, and/or the partnership between the artist and the tool + the history of making that may be thought of as embedded in the tool through usage and application. [Introduction to Techne, time, craft traditions... (+)]

4. Many types of papers are introduced. Experiments on viability as substrate for medium, "pigment" and expressive means.

5. An array of large format (mostly floral) photographs are mounted around the classroom. We will paint on the museum board cut into window mattes, enclosing the photos. Many considerations. One of the photos (a rose) is displayed on a nice Italian easel at the door.

6. "Final" exercise will be to paint on very fragile light paper (multi-hued), which will buckle and otherwise dramatically respond to the coffee-paint. 

7. Discussion about artists who use coffee as an important part of their exhibition practice (like Sara Sun, who has a show going currently at Governor's Island Art Fair - thanks for the heads-up Andrea; and Jayson Musson + Manning Williams). Discussion about coffee growing (political/economy). 

Clemens Poole + Shane Kennedy & other Hippo crew members talk story to a full Haus, Friday, August 31 at OASN1.∞

OASN1 reached an important marker with the "Voyage of the Hippo" program on Friday, August 31. The evening presentation, which consisted of a fantastic, compelling slideshow/movie sequence + Q&A + commentaries facilitated by Clemens Poole and long-time AFH anchor Shane Kennedy, realized our vision of how our "class" format would work in practice. At the conclusion of the talk, many of us walked to Tandem, a few blocks down Troutman in Bushwick, to continue the vibrant concourse over libations. 

∞

Interior shot of Pickthorn in Bushwick.

We continue to make friends in the neighborhood, like Jayson Musson, AKA Hennessy Youngman and the amazing ladies of Pickthorn. We are also beginning to establish strategic partnerships. OASN1 is now sponsored by both Wyckoff Starr and the vaunted Brooklyn Rail. JenJoy Roybal is already proving invaluable, as she begins the process of scanning the domain for artist-teachers and relevant organizational/mission comparisons to/for our enterprise. She sent Chris & I links that reveal possibilities neither of us had entertained prior. JenJoy is gifted with big vision. 

∞

The discourse that is percolating in the novad pool is providing us with tremendous inspiration and seed-thought, moving forward. Coming in multiple forms (poems, images, sounds, movies, links, texts, notations, forwarded correspondence, system schematics, references, citations, equations, juxtapositions... [+]) the novadic inputs are fueling some OAS movements, refining threads, introducing new seams, expanding horizons, shifting PoVs & frames of reference [+]. Thank you, gamers!

∞

The occupationalartschool [dot] com nexus is weekly undergoing facelifts, as we assess the proper format for that organ. For now, the preponderance of notices and documentation is being sited on the OAS Tumblr and in the OwA/OAS Facebook pages. The OAS Twitter, Pinterest and other social media are functional but rudimentary in our usage of them for a bit longer. The question at this point is whether to invent an entirely new framework for the virtual / actual interplay. 

∞

Finally, the ripple effect from DisciplineAriel [Event 1, August 25, 2012] has only begun to evidence itself in our secondary co-lab phase. Stay tuned.

Neighborhood Metal [OASN1@BH][August 24]

Clif Hawkins. Click the image to visit Clif's Tumblr.

Some reflections on Clif Hawkins' visit to Occupational Art School.

By Paul McLean

Friday night, and the Bushwick sidewalk and street outside Bat Haus are quiet. We haven't really got a handle on the traffic flow in the neighborhood, yet. The conversation around it reminds me of gallery talk in Santa Fe, which relies, or did when I was there, on a significant walk-in demographic. Gallerinas and -rinos would pass the time conjecturing on what might responsible for a slow spell, and what the duration might be. I thought of it as an equivalent to dowsing. The lights in BH are low. It's an altogether pleasant moment. Clif and I and some friends sat in the ergonomic office chairs and carried on a relaxed conversation.

First, Clif passed me the obituary for Manning Williams. Clif apprenticed with Manning, who became a lifelong inspiration, mentor and friend to Clif. The first lesson in Clif's "Neighborhood Metal" teach-in is the value of the community artist. We go through photos on the laptop, briefly summarizing a life of art and culture. While scrolling quickly through images, Hawkins quietly interjects anecdotes about Williams, what his studio looked like, the kinds of tasks Clif would carry out for him. Eventually, a picture begins to emerge of an exchange that over years helped Clif shape his relationship to art, craft and the artist's life.

Clif enjoyed describing his first metalwork occupations, which he took in his teens. Now Hawkins reached into a beautiful leather bag and produced several portfolios. We leafed through them, stopping at this or that print for my questions or compliments. Clif shares very quickly a progression through his past creations, and after a few minutes of this, it's clear that by his late 20s he had amassed an impressive catalogue of pieces, created for many applications, from stage sets to puppet shows, architectural conservation to sculpture, his own and others'.

We covered territory that for a mid-career artisan, artist, craftsman, tradesman is fairly common, especially after the gloss and ambitions of youth-driven desire for recognition has settled into a programmatic endurance. Again, the discussion revolves around examples of experiences, changing ideas about the fields and options available to a technician, the effect of the economy on culture. It isn't a philosophical talk, as such. It isn't about theory. Clif talks about making things, about people and projects, and the social currents that flow through a life in materials, a life in the shop, a life of manifesting ideas as things.

One can sense respect for fine work, and a keen limit for bullshit, particularly the sort that derives from a desire for great output unaccompanied by recognition of its real cost. It's clear Clif doesn't begrudge a haggler. It's more than this. The sensibility is attached somehow to Clif's willingness, even pride in being a neighborhood shop guy. Ash, his partner at AWS shares this local boy headset. I can verify on my account, having stopped in a time or two with little jobs that Clif and Ash have attended to. Neither one grew up in Brooklyn, but both spend time and energy serving the community.

The last thing I'll mention about "Neighborhood Metal" are Clif's closing thoughts. He seemed genuinely to have enjoyed the evening. I asked him why. He told me that the kind of talk we had seems lost in today's wired world of ever-texting creative classers barhopping and posting about it on Twitter in real time.

Steel Plant Stands

CO-OP/Occufest, OCCUPY: "Corporations Can't Cry at CAC"

Crowd on hand for the screening of Liza Bear's "Corporations Can't Cry" at Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, LI

It was a special evening, thanks to the contributions of many people, and the hospitality of Cinema Arts Centre staff and admin. Chris Moylan, Occupy with Art co-organizer, did much of the heavy lifting in coordinating the events, which included the screening of "Corporations Can't Cry" in the big theater (which was nearly packed), a brief Q&A with filmmaker and longtime artist-activist-filmmaker-writer Liza Bear, followed by a mixer with food, free art, music and poetry, and a roster of activist organizers presenting information on their activities. Special thanks to Dylan, Charlotte, Brian, the Occupy Screenprinters, and all the other good people who made our first CO-OP/Occuburbs festival a memorable one. 

Occufest at the CAC Skyroom, post-screening.Another view of the Occufest audience, as the band plays on at CAC.

ENOUGH [BASTA][Field Scan, Illustrations & Notes][Draft/BETA]

Updated on Sunday, July 1, 2012 at 10:38AM by admin

Painting by Manning Williams (d. 2012)

ENOUGH [BASTA][Field Scan, Illustrations & Notes][Draft/BETA]
By Paul McLean

Homemade guillotine (see links below).<[PLATFORM]: TIME IS THE ONLY OBJECT. EVERYTHING ELSE IS THE (A) SUBJECT.

Ale at the G20 conference

>>
Way to go, Ale! I can't read everything but I do like the idea that the appearance of an analog object in digital time is what people need to awaken their poetic sensibilities.
<<
- Jez Bold [response to Ale's revGames/DA Flaneurs performance at the G20]

Installation View, 1995
Chema Alvagonzalez, SITE Santa Fe
Available

>>
SITE Santa Fe lies on the edge of town by the railroad tracks, at a welcome distance from the schlock art malls of Canyon Road and the tourist-friendly museums in the town center.  It’s a relief to enter a white box environment and discover some challenging art. As the title of the current exhibition suggests, Time-Lapse showcases pieces that either address the subjective experience of time or rely expressly on the passage of time to achieve full realization. Works accrue gradually, offering visitors a unique viewing experience every day, if not every minute. Despite the variety of media employed and the evolving nature of the work, many of these individual pieces gather in force to represent some of the paradoxical concerns of our collective human existence.   
...
Time-Lapse achieves its goal of deconstructing the notion of artwork as static and immutable. Along the way, it highlights how some thoughtful artists search for an understanding of global forces while others elect to deal with the mundane physical and emotional needs that shape daily life. Still other artists investigate the elastic and subjective nature of time, asking the viewer to participate in the exploration. The work on view here is revealing, both in its methods and in its conclusions about humanity, individual, and universal.

<<
- "Time-Lapse" by Corina Larkin [review of SITE Santa Fe for Brooklyn Rail]

"Red Canvas" by Richard Tuttle

[INSTRUCTIONS]: Over the next few days I'll be correcting/modifying the following field scan, editing for content, grammar, typos, all the usual imperfection crap, and revisioning, continuing the linking process, etc. Initially, a small team of collaborators will be helping, reviewing, critiquing, etc. These include Chris Moylan, Jez Bold, Alex and a few others. The meta--text we're going to think of as a wireframe, an armature, a skeleton, a trunk (as in, of a tree)... that resolves with time. [Stopping here for tonight - PJM/6-27-2012]

Click to read more ...

WS2MS: April 28-9

This project would not be possible without the support of the Catskill Arts Initiative.  Thank you to the participating artists for their powerful work. Thank you to Catskill's generous building owners, merchants, the Village of Catskill, artists and neighbors. Immense thanks to the Hudson Valley's best digital printers; Frank Cuthbert, BRIK Gallery; Richard Edelman for Woodstock Graphics Studio; Chad Kleitsch Rhinecliff Printing Studio; Danette Koke Fine Art; Gilbert Plantinga Photo Graphics.  Thanks to the hardworking Jane Toby, Jenjoy Roybal, Ruth Leonard, Kico Govantes, Taha Awadallah, Adam Price, Sarah Barker and Paul Smart. Endless gratitude to interns, Chris Lannes, Sarah Brady and Kathleen Mentzer. The "It Takes a Village" prize goes to Pat Ruck, Laura Morgan, Nina Sklansky, Norma Tan, Ann Forbes Cooper and David Chmura.  We are grateful for grants from Art Is My Occupation and the Puffin Foundation. 

Extra special super duper thanks to the Wall Street to Main Street curators Geno Rodriguez, Paul McLean, Fawn Potash, Kate Menconeri, Jacqueline Weaver, Imani Brown, Boo Lynn Walsh, Sam Truitt and Arthur Polendo. 

Click here for a preview of next week's events...

Curators are available for group tours and special appointments.  Call Fawn Potash, Director, Masters on Main Street to reserve at 518/943-3400.

Download your Catskill Main Street Tour here or pick one up at the GCCA Catskill Gallery, 398 Main Street.

Check out the Wall Street to Main Street Message, a news guide to exhibits and events.

Check out our photo album.



WS2MS A14 Fun

Mark Skwarek's WS2MS Augmented Reality project documentation video.

Sat, April 14, 3-5 PM, The public is invited to a Family Sing-along from 3-5 PM with an open mic hosted by Marilyn Miller and Occupy Hudson Busk musicians.