128kbps objects EDITED on basic.fm and at the The Meter Room, UK

February 20th, 2013

This is an edited version of 128kbps objects radio exhibition first broadcast on basic.fm in October 2012. This version of the original 60-hour show has been put together for Grand Union‘s participation in the gallery project Floor Plan for an Institution: The Gallery at The Meter Room in Coventry, UK.

Over the course of 12 hours from 8AM to 8PM GMT, both on the internet radio basic.fm and at The Meter Room, the audience will be listening to a combination of sound works, readings, music and playlists that responds to the theme of The Gallery; what a gallery might be and how objects might be displayed and experienced within it, outside it, or in-between.

Featuring:
A—Z, Angus Braithwaite, Helen Brown, Rob Canning, Daniela Cascella, Osvaldo Cibils, Patrick Coyle, Beth Collar, CuratingYouTube.net [CYT], Tim Dixon, Steven Dickie, Benedict Drew, Anne Duffau, Extra-Conjugale, Claudia Fonti, Jamie George, Graham Harman, Emma Hart, IOCOSE, Juneau Projects, Irini Karayannopoulou, Scott Mason, Tamarin Norwood, Sara Nunes Fernandes, Ciarán Ó Dochartaigh, Chiara Passa, Radiomentale, Yannis Saxonis, Salvatore Sciarrino, Richard Sides, Maria Theodoraki, Simon Werner, Richard Whitby.

TUNE IN on Thursday 28 FEBRUARY 2013 from 8AM to 8PM GMT
at http://www.basic.fm/radio/

128kbps-EDITED-

At 8PM, at The Meter Room, artist Scott Mason will present “of a final account in formation”, a live DJ mix formed of room-tone recordings he has undertaken at exhibitions around the UK. The essential sonic documentation mix, bringing you a survey of the hottest exhibitions nationwide.

For more details about Floor Plan for an Institution: The Gallery project, which is curated by Grand Union, go to The Meter Room website.

Full RADIO SCHEDULE below (download PDF here)

08:00 AM  >  Welcome to 128kbps objects EDITED
08:03 AM  >  Helen Brown: There’s no story (2012)
08:09 AM  >  Richard Sides and Simon Werner: And it was all greasy (2012)
08:41 AM  >  Daniela Cascella: Reading of an excerpt of En Abime (2012)
08:55 AM  >  Selected by Emma Hart: Baldessari’s Dorit Cypis attempts to insult in a second language (1977)
09:01 AM  >  Maria Theodoraki: The moving of the fountain (2012)
09:11 AM   >  CuratingYouTube.net [CYT]: acoustic diaries: no Silence (2012)
09:28 AM  >  Radiomentale: D-Trains Part 1 and 2 (2012)
09:50 AM  >  Tim Dixon: Words Concerning Some of the Objects on my Work-Table (2012)
11:11 AM   >  Steven Dickie: The importance of record keeping (2012)
11:23 AM  >  Jamie George and Richard Whitby: This Walk Is Repeated You Can Split It To One (2012)
11:29 AM  >  Jamie George: Other Space # (2012)
12:37 PM  >  Patrick Coyle: Empty Grey Squares (Registration) (2011)
12:45 PM  >  Salvatore Sciarrino: Efebo con Radio (1981)
12:57 PM  >  Osvaldo Cibils: Sounds in a roll of paper (2012) – La pratica quotidiana della Pittura
01:02 PM  >  Irini Karayannopoulou: Transmission (2012)
01:06 PM  >  Sara Nunes Fernandes: The sideways boy and the levitating granny, The frontal man and the backside woman, The upside-down man and his wife who had her feet on the ground  (2012)
01:48 PM  >  Chiara Passa: Tales from Space (2012)
01:55 PM   >  Scott Mason: of a final account in formation (2012)
02:00 PM  >  basic.fm presents:  Hearspool : A Humble Gardener by Momus 
03:03 PM  >  This is Not a Pipe.Neither: dis·in·te·grate (d s- n t -gr t ) curated by Anne Duffau and Marialaura Ghidini
04:54 PM  >  Tamarin Norwood: My House and Other Inventions (2011)
05:17 PM   >  Benedict Drew: A Folding Table (2009) – Some Legs
05:39 PM  >  Graham Harman: The Third Table – Read by Nazim Kourgli (2012)
06:03 PM  >  IOCOSE: A Crowded Apocalypse: On Air (2012)
06:09 PM  >  Yannis Saxonis: 1 of 22 soundtracks for Immaterial (2010)
06:12 PM   >  Juneau Projects: Welcome to the Federation’s Headquarters (2012)
06:34 PM  >  Yannis Saxonis: 1 of 22 soundtracks for Immaterial (2010)
06:38 PM  >  Angus Braithwaite and Beth Collar: The English House Through Seven Centuries – 1 Episode of 7 (2012)
06:45 PM  >  Richard Sides: Stop killing my buzz (expanded edition 0.5) (2012)
07:17 PM  >  Ciarán Ó Dochartaigh: Echolocation (2012)
07:22 PM  >  A—Z : E—Eponym: The Shell filled with Planets (2012)
07:37 PM  >  Rob Canning: RadioKulturo
07:49 PM  >  Extra-Conjugale: di tropical
07:59 PM  >  128kbps objects EDITED Finale

Claudia Fonti: 128kbps Ident will play in between the works listed above.

More details about each piece can be found by browsing the archive of the original exhibition on basic.fm.
Announcements voiceover and sound by Jenny Hodgson and Kieran Rafferty.

128kbps objects original project was supported by Arts Council England in partnership with basic.fm. The broadcast of this edited version is supported by Grand Union and The Meter Room.

The Digital Dimension of Le Petit Néant

February 4th, 2013

It seems impossible today, even if you are obstinately attached to paper,  to ignore the possibilities offered by the web. At first sight, the internet is a low-cost platform that potentially allows you  to reach anyone in the world. And thus, it seems that any project could have an echo that just a few years ago was absolutely unimaginable.

A project like the Le Petit Néant could not exist without the internet, even if it is primarily a printed magazine. The contact with the artists, for example, is done mainly via Facebook and Flickr. Without these tools, it would have been much more difficult to contact them. Without the internet, we would have used conventional means of distribution such as newspapers, advertising, presentations and exhibitions, and of course word of mouth. This would have increased the cost and required more effort and energy we could not have not dealt with.

Let’s  explore the digital “life” of Le Petit Néant through screenshots of its web presence to see how the space of the internet is being used in parallel to that of the printed page.

 

1. The Website

Le Petit Néant Homepage

Le Petit Néant Homepage

 

The website follows a very standard structure, e.g. presentation of the project, artist bio, news, links, contacts and a paypal link to order the publication online.

 

News and Reviews

News and Reviews

 

It contains basic information and is only updated to convey general information about the overall activity of magazine, with little interaction allowed to the audience.

 

2. Facebook 

Facebook Page

Facebook Page

 

Unlike the website, the Facebook page is updated several times a week. Its main function is to expand the audience by posting events and presenting the work of the artists featured in the publication. Its purpose is to promote the artists or introduce new ones to the public as well as providing snippets of their work.

 

Henrik Drescher drawings for Le Petit Néant

Henrik Drescher drawings for Le Petit Néant

 

The Facebook page also presents works by artists who are not featured in the publication. We do this just for pleasure. However, it attracts new visitors who have similar tastes and iterests and who we might not be able to attract via the the publication.

 

We Love Roland Topor !

We Love Roland Topor !

 

We Love Le Bus by Paul Kirchner

Bus by Paul Kirchner

 

We consider this space  a kind of “extension” of the magazine, a tool for keeping the attention of the audience alive. We also use drawings created specifically for the page, a space of social promotion. Below are some examples.

 

Le Petit Néant Launch - First Poster

Le Petit Néant Launch – First Poster

 

Le Petit Néant Launch - Second Poster

Le Petit Néant Launch – Second Poster

 

Le Petit Néant Launch - Third Poster

Le Petit Néant Launch – Third Poster

 

...Under the water...

…Under the water…

 

...In the Dark...

…In the Dark…

 

Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012

 

3. Vimeo

Recently, we have created a Vimeo channel, for wich we invite animators or filmakers to imagine small idents for Le Petit Néant. The format of these works draws on that of the well-known MTV videos of the 80’s and 90’s. But through this initiative we are able to observe how a printed drawing magazine might inspire creators working with other media, see for example “Tomato Soup”  by Peter Millard, an artist working with animation  recently graduated from the Royal College of Art, London (UK).

 

Peter Millard ident on Vimeo

Peter Millard ident on Vimeo

 

 

 

 

The different time and content of the “digital life” of LPN complement the activity of the publication, creating a flux of new content and information that expands on the annual printed publication.

That said, the idea of Le Petit Néant would not exist without the printed publication, because it only make sense as a whole. In the magazine, the narrative is created page after page, through the encounter between the images. When one separates the images the rhythm and the continuity are lost, so it is the narrative. This is what happens in the Facebook page, for example, where the drawings are presented individually.

The artists included in the publication work primarily with ink, paint, printing techniques, or animation. We do not look for people working with the web, or digital tools as such. However, because nowadays these artists are all used, like myself, to seeing their work in digital format, the various internet spaces mentioned above are considered as potential spaces and tools for extending their activities. These spaces are not seen as an alternative reality but as a complementary dimension.

Today the publishing industry seems to be moving towards digitization. At least this is the general perception. And perhaps in the near future all drawing publication will be exclusively online. But we decided to take a different route, against current trends. When working on the first issue of LPN we were thinking about the pages, the paper, the binding, the smell of ink. We had a fixed idea: to produce a physical object in which to create a narrative. But we did so while  keeping a watchful eye on the possibilities offered by the digital age. At present, we just consider them useful tools.

 

Terminology and the Draw to the Unknown

December 26th, 2012

Internet or internet: as a proper noun the ‘Internet’ is a specific place, and refers to one specific Internet Protocol Network where as the common noun ‘internet’ refers to the larger inter network of Internet Protocol Networks that we generally think of when we use the word internet. Language for that large part of our lives (the internet part) is made up of metaphor and metonym, to reach into a reality that at its outset couldn’t be comprehended without use of terminology that related to physical experiences, which the general public was already familiar with. At this point I’d like to refer to Ben Vickers’ project introduction for ATARAXIA: Survey #1 below:

“A note on networks. “Networks are not a thing, they are a way of understanding and representing the world. A social networks perspective seeks to understand the way in which discrete units – nodes – are connected and affected by the relationships between them.” Ben Vickers, http://www.or-bits.com/08accordance/087bv.php

Recently I heard a student do a lecture at Goldsmiths University, during which he said that we no longer surf on the internet, but swim, there are currents and we are submerged; a metaphor that relays how the relationship between who is a resource to who: internet content -> <- user, has become mutually balanced in the last five years, due to the amount of receptive content, thus repositioning the users self, in context of the data stream.
Data stream.
Swimming in a stream of content.
We can take ‘walks’ (swims), (basically just whole journeys) on the internet, in so many different ways. Look at Bernhard Garnicnig Soundwwwalks, where he leads the viewer through a sequence of online sites that combine to build a complex audio texture that is then peeled, back page-by-page to silence, he calls these online performances ‘walks’.

Tron, The matrix, both are extended metaphor representations of what is behind the internet interface, because our brains can’t comprehend what dark matter is without subjective narrative and physical architectural identity. As our generation has grown up with this technology, I want to grasp it in real terms, dark matter included. I want to be able to understand it’s true, coded, electrical and invisible form, and not to rely on fictional illustrative allegory. I’m feel frustrated at how much I lean on the right, creative cerebral cortex of the brain and how little my left hemisphere gets involved in comprehending what must be a complex coded system of O and I’s.

Leaning through these physical metaphorical terms, also extends to social network theory, where identity of the internet is analogized from theory of place. For Certeau, it’s a practice space, an extension of the space of experimentation with practical function or without. Marc Augé ‘s theory of non-space has been posthumously protracted to a forth stage, by myself and others, to include non-space on the internet, such as the search engine home page, frequently updated news sights, image search listings; these places are transient and lack any solid or static sense of place, such as a chat room or online archive does.

George Lakoff argues that ‘metaphors can create realities’ ‘cultural change arises from the introduction of new metaphorical concepts and the loss of old ones’ [Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. Metaphors We Live By (IL: University of Chicago Press, 1980),]. Is this true? We have metaphorised the space of the internet and now there are virtual realities and technological systems that begin to bring the physical place of the internet to the room you are sitting in. Has the metaphorical language has built the use, or the other way around?

Over use is what happens to a word when it means too much. What does it mean to talk about the internet when we are on it, in it, constantly. Doesn’t it become redundant and, like saying ‘ I’m on earth’ totally standard. What would happen if we didn’t have this word – the internet – would we all get specific; speak about spending time in live video communications, online broadcasting, email servers, specific news streams, archive sites, or even just a specific YouTube video. Wouldn’t that necessity, force open the web to be less of the mystery place we all go to for hours, and over time, make our negation of it more transparent and comprehendible.

Then I realise – this is exactly what we do want : the MYSTERY place –  the nameless void of knowledge.  When you say ‘I spent the day in the library’ the reply isn’t always followed with ‘which books did you look at’. Like this, the phrase ‘I’ve been surfing the net’ affords the researcher secrets. This over used, broad term ‘the internet’ lends us a closed door; you could be reading Heidegger or you could be looking at cat memes, nobody needs to know where you’ve been on your screen.

The DeLillo chapter that Marialaura Ghidini and the Accordance show reference also depicts the ‘invisible system’ and the surrounding mythology that has grown around that; the myth of what we cannot see to understand. So there are two unknowns, how the system works, and on a personal level, how our neighbors interact with it. Rather than trying to pin down the language and make everything transparent, I think these ambiguities and unknowns are employed by users of the internet. The specifics lost in analogous and loose terminology leave spaces for creative development.

(ON) ACCORDANCE exhibition | Grand Union | 1.12.12 – 19.01.13

December 1st, 2012

(ON) ACCORDANCE was a collaboration between Grand Union and or-bits.com, exploring the possibilities of working across sites of production and distribution through the presentation of new online commissions and offline versions of web-based artworks.

While we launched the online exhibition Accordance, Grand Union presented a gallery exhibition of artworks on display on or-bits.com (1 December 2012 – 19 January 2013).
(ON) ACCORDANCE  presented offline versions of a selection of artworks produced for previous or-bits.com online exhibitions. Five artists, Irini Karayannopoulou, M+M (Marc Weis and Martin De Mattia), Rosa Menkman, Damien Roach and Richard Sides, and their respective artworks were selected by Grand Union curators in response to the Accordance editorial.

Richard Sides The Joyful System (the Usual Suspects rendition), 2012 Found material, various poster designs, rug, dimensions variable

Richard Sides
The Joyful System (the Usual Suspects rendition), 2012
Found material, various poster designs, rug, dimensions variable

or-bits_on-accordance_irini-k
Irini Karayannopoulou
Immaterial, 2010
One film and 22 soundtracks, 4 min 7 sec (looped)
or-bits-on-accordance_m+m

M+M (Marc Weis and Martin De Mattia)
Autobahnschleife (Motorway-Loop), since 1996
Logo of the motorway loop transferred on wall

or-bits-on_accordance_rosa-menkman
Rosa Menkman
Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Into the Tulgey Woods), 2011
Digital video, 3 min 40 sec (looped)
Damien Roach Michigan parachute/Kitchen/Arp 147, 2012 Digital video, 10 min 48 sec (looped) - Screenshot

Damien Roach
Michigan parachute/Kitchen/Arp 147, 2012
Digital video, 10 min 48 sec (looped) – Screenshot

As part of (On) Accordance Open File, a curatorial project by artist Jack Brindley and curator Tim Dixon, presented the event and torrent file Hashfail, featuring works by Rhys Coren, Polly Fibre, Joey Holder, JK Keller, Yuri Pattison, Pil & Galia Kollectiv and Oliver Sutherland (Fri 14 December, 7pm at Grand Union and online).

More details about the project can be found on Grand Union website.

 

Le Petit Néant – The Small Nothingness

November 30th, 2012

 

Nothingness – the state or condition of being nothing; nonexistence / complete insignificance or worthlesness

Le Petit Néant is a new annual publication devoted to the the art of drawing and is one of the current guest bloggers for the Accordcence programme. Over the course of 3 months a series of contributors to the publication will explore the fluidity and constant transformation of the art and practice of drawing; they will look at what drawing might be in relation to digital mediums, focusing on its relationships with the art world, the market, the paper and the screen.

To open our series of blog post we would like to give you some information on the first issue of Le Petit Néant

Published in September 2012 the First Issue of  Le Petit Néant includes the work of 28 international artists from diverse backgrounds, but united by the practice of drawing. A practice which proves to be fluid and which always surprises us, especially with its evocative nature.

The first Issue is non-thematic, subsequent issues will further explore the possibilities of pictorial narrative. Artists present in the first issue: Andrzej Klimovski, Bayrol Jimenez, Cyop & Kaf, Kottie Paloma, Charlie Duck, Josephin Ritschel, Benjamin Monti, Ericailcane, Miguel Angel Valdivia, Brecht Vandenbroucke, Sergio Gutierrez, Gianluigi Toccafondo, Giacomo Monti, Gaël M. Minne, Alejandro Garcia Contreras, Firenze Lai, Barthélémy Schwartz, Francesco Cattani, Bernhard Fuchs, Claudio Parentela, Henrik Drescher, Frédéric Coché, Diego Miedo, Edoardo de Falchi, Giacomo Nanni, Thomas Dowse, Gabriel Leger, Sam 3 and Marc Brunier Mestas.