[rumori] unmediated appropriation (was simulacra nation)

Steev [rumori] unmediated appropriation (was simulacra nation)
Tue, 13 Oct 1998 13:19:27 -0700 (PDT) (00908309967, Pine.LNX.4.05.9810131246500.24820-100000atflotsam.detritus.net)

On Tue, 13 Oct 1998, Boster, Bob wrote:


>>But it isn't real
>>to those who have experienced the original.
>
>hate to return to this thread with a nit to pick, but the whole point of
>simulacra is that there is NO ORIGINAL. Just copy. There's nothing
>that Main Street USA (in DisneyMUD) is a copy of. It just seems like
>it's referencing something.

just to pick one more nit to pick on your picked nit:

your statement refers to the "whole point" of the Baudrillardian concept of the Simulacra. However, the word existed before our friend Jean got to
it, and some may not totally swallow his reformulation.


>What about the fact that most of the means of appropriation we practice
>are mediated communication?
>
>You might think, well, it's a reference to the other text, therefor it
>must be mediated.

hmm. well, this is a good thing to discuss. What IS mediation?
( Anyone read Hakim Bey's "Immediatism"? )
I would say it's possible to appropriate without mediation. Mediation has
to do with something being BETWEEN the transmitter and the reciever, so to
speak. It's a relative term, you could say that nothing but straight
telepathic mind-meld is unmediated. But usually i think mediation refers
to an idea of being separated from fellow people by technologies of mass
replication and long-distance communication. Bey proposes people arrange
dinners and quilting bees and sing alongs, for example, as immediast art
projects. None of these would be mutually exclusive with "cultural recycling". In fact traditional folk music is nothing but.

>What about that Beatlemania thing a few years back? What about going to
>see the non-Fogerty version of Creedence Clearwater Revival? What about
>that painter guy who has someone touch up a mass produced print for you
>in his style at the print shop?

the copy as the authentic. yes.
these are all great examples of trying to turn mass culture
replications into something more personal and "authentic". Phenomena like this will continue, I predict, and maybe increase as people
get more repulsed by the cheez whiz culture they are forced to eat.

however, our economy thrives on mass production, economies of scale. So
the cheez whiz will always be there unless something drastic happens.


>It just occurs to me lately that as people become more and more "wired"
>that there will be more of a clamor for actual "live" experiences, and

maybe, maybe not. a lot of people don't care, they just keep eating
wonderbread and cheesewhiz. enjoy it. (Did you know 70% of Americans say
they would not travel even if they could?)


>as such mediated art will start to seem pretty staid. In that mode, I
>wonder what happens to our craft. Are we affected at all? If so, how?

like i said above, i think there will always be cheezwhiz. even when
The Gap starts marketing "simulation hand-crocheted doilies", people will still know it's plastic crap, and they'll fight it. or *some* of them
will.

MTV's "Unplugged" is a perfect example. An attempt to present something seemingly more "real" by supposedly taking away the amps and the keyboards - "But, oh yeah, wait, it's being miked and broadcast to 10 million people"...
So i guess what i'm saying is, Yeah, there will be attempts to sell new
versions of "live" or "real" culture, but most of it will still be crap, and it will still be recorded, and so it will still be a great target
for critical appropriation art.

Burning Man used to be, i thot, an attempt to get "unmediated", but everyone still brings tons of cameras and camcorders and tape machines.
The classic moment was the "Media Free Zone" at the 1997 Burning Man, a small 1-yard square that was fenced off. I saw many people taking photos
of it.....

smh

Steev Hise, Would-be World-Wide Web Wizard (WWWWW)
steevathise.org http://www.cyborganic.com/people/steev recycled art site: http://www.detritus.net -----------------------------------------------------------------
"Nature does not exist to serve humans." -Judi Bari
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