Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 06:29:50 -0700 (PDT) From: Steev Hise To: europe2000ATdetritus.net Subject: report 2: various late nights My 3rd day in europe. I'm still in Brussels, writing this from a place called StarLab. My friend Chris Salter of sponge.org is working on a project here involving an art installation that uses wearable computers. StarLab is abit like the European version of Xerox Parc or something. A pure research company with ties to the art world and corporations and the Free University of Brussels. Their office is in a beautiful house in the center of Brussels. Anyway, on to a summary of the last couple days - the Cultural Resistance event turned out really great, it was a success overall. Lots of very interesting presentations and people, and the room was pretty full. My talk and performance went fine, seemed to be well-received, though it was probably the most academic of all the presentations. At the end was a sort of panel discussion where everyone went up on stage and talked together about various relevant issues. It ended up to be mostly about the difference between "old" and "new" style activism, with Zai of Etoy representing "new" and Rtmark representing "old", to put it simply. I'm going to keep this short because I'm very tired and can hardly keep my brain paying attention to one whole sentence. At least they have a computer with an american keyboard. Anyway, now to explain why I'm so tired. After the event friday night, it was about 1 am, and everyone decided to go out for dinner. Dirk, the project director from Brussels2000, played tour guide and lead us through the winding streets of central brussels in search a place that was still open and that would seat 18 people together. It was a long search. Finally we ended up at a vietnamese place. Ernest of Rtmark had the sizzling frog legs, which sizzled in a really entertaining way. That was the only interesting part about the food. But the conversation was great. It was actually amazing just being there with lots of great people you normally only contact over Net, sitting there chatting about art and the internet and everything else. It turns out that Jos Smolders who was sitting next to me was a big fan of the Simpsons. I guess it didnt suprise me that much, except the fact that they don't watch dubbed versions. He said the Simpsons is horrible when translated to Dutch. heh. Anyway, at about 3 am we finished at the restaurant and hit the street again. I was suprised I was still concious and was ready for bed so I headed back to the hotel, but at least half of the group, including Zai and Ernest, were heading off to a bar to get more drinks. I slept like a log and awoke suddenly at 10:30 Saturday morning. The hotel had wonderful superthick curtains so the sun could not penetrate into the room. It turned out to be a beautiful and warm day, which is unusal for here. I got dressed and went to find out what the others were up to. Zai still fast asleep judging by the lack of reply from my knock on the door. At the sidewalk cafe in front of the hotel the 2 Rtmark operatives were settling money matters with Dirk. I had dealt with that the previous afternoon, but i was still a little annoyed that we had to be paid by direct transfer into our bank accounts, rather than getting cash right there. I still have doubts that the transfer will actually happen anytime soon. The efficiency of the Brussels2000 organization is somewhat lacking. But anyway, I said hi to them and to Roger Malina of Leonardo who was also sitting there. He was waiting for Guy to pick him up for the drive to Rotterdam. (It turned out Guy never showed up, was too busy to go, so I think Roger just caught a train back to Marseilles.) I had already decided not to go to Rotterdam, not only because I was no longer on the program for the show there, but also because I wanted to just relax and see a little of Brussels. I went to breakfast, and started practicing my pidgin French. "I'll have une ommelette du champignons". The first day I was very much in shock about language and didnt even try. but now I was having fun and also more concerned to speak what little French I remembered from high school as a way of paying respect to the "brusselonians". Of course some of them speak Flemish, but I couldnt do much about that. Actually most speak English, French and Flemish, and some also German. It was amazing at these various gatherings hearing a mix of several languages going on at once and many times people switching effortlessly between them (or seemingly effortlessly) depending on the context and who they were addressing (and who they wanted to include in the discussion). I felt handicapped and like I was putting people out, forcing them to speak just one language if they wanted to include me. But they didnt seem to mind, and many people seem to enjoy talking in english and learning a few new words from me ("uh, how do you say in english....?") and each other. So much to write about. I will be even more brief. running out of steam. Anyway, After breakfast, went and woke up Zai. it was 1:15. We ended up spending the rest of the day together and had lots of fun. Everyone else that was not from Brussels was heading out, Rtmark to Amsterdam, Guy back to Ghent, Jos to Rotterdam. So it was just me and zai left. He is from Switzerland and had never been to Brussels except to change planes or trains, so it was interesting exploring with him, and he would offer comparisons of how Brussels was the same or different from other parts of Europe. We went to the Grand Place where all teh oldest gothic architecture is. Then to the Atomium, a sort of 50s idea of the future, a giant metal model of an iron atom, 10 stories high. you take elevators up into it and can see all of the city from the top. Cheesy exhibits explain how the made it and show strange surreal cartoons about the structure. It was all very funny and we had a lot of fun laughing at how dilapidated it was. Belgium evidently doesnt have the money to keep things like that in shape, so there were broken escalators and pollution-grimed windows and that sort of thing. Anyway we eventually headed back to the hotel and we contacted Zai's belgian friend Jorn, who works as an architect in brussels. We went over to his apartment for a late dinner and then he took us to a couple parties. It was a great time and we ended up staying out till about 6 in the morning. Zai was a tireless party animal. Never try to outdrink an Etoy agent! I did teach Jorn and Zai the right way to drink tequila shots, but with lemon as there were no limes. The second party turned out to be at this secret underground late night club that was actually a squat (the bartender and DJ both lived there illegally). There was pounding dance music and people dancing and drinking. Jorn knew the bartender, Katia, and it turns out she also works at Nova Cinema, a place I'd already been told about that is supposed to be a cool alternative movie house and performance space. Jorn and Zai ended up getting handcuffed together on the dance floor by a friend of Jorn's and they had to agree to buy the friend drinks before they could be freed. Soon after we walked back with Olivia, who had thrown the first party we were at and then come with us to the second, to her house. Jorn stumbled toward home, very drunk, and Zai and I caught a cab back to the hotel, where some guests were already starting breakfast donstairs. I slept for 3 hours and then woke up to go meet Chris for brunch. I checked out of the hotel and lugged my bags over to the train station. Now I have to wrap this up, talk to chris and joel some more about what they're doing here at Starlab, and then catch a train to Amsterdam. Where I will probably go find my hotel and fall asleep. There are many more details but they can wait. Till the next time, smh Steev Hise, Infoserf steevATdetritus.net http://detritus.net/steev ----------------------------------------------------------------- "The American economy cannot exist unless Americans regard as neccesities what other people regard as luxuries." -Wendell Wilke -----------------------------------------------------------------