I need to warm up to this blog and just start writing – that’s how these things work, right?
I ran into my friend Evan on the street today and we quickly talked about my thesis project. It was encouraging because he was involved with Who’s Emma back in the day and seemed supportive of my project. This is probably the third time I’ve run into people who volunteered or who knew of the space/collective, mentioned doing this documentary exhibition thing, and received a very positive response.
Okay, I don’t think I’ve explained the thesis project idea. Here is the quick description as of today: I’m going to curate an exhibition on Who’s Emma – an anarchist and punk record and book shop that also served as a music venue and workshop multipurpose space. I’m collecting artifacts, photographs, bits of film, and video documentation of the space and I plan to interview people who were volunteers. Clips from these interviews will be incorporated into the exhibition as some sort of interactive video installation. I want to exhibit this project in a storefront in Kensington market where Who’s Emma was situated and hold a meeting/reunion/event for people from the Who’s Emma community can get together with whoever is interested to celebrate and remember Who’s Emma (this of course involves remembering Emma Goldman as well – very important). I am still in the very initial stages of this project. I have to do some serious social networking or out reach to contact those who volunteered at Who’s Emma. I’m a bit nervous about this part, but I guess I just have to be brave and get to it. Send emails and post something on the Toronto Hardcore message board… which I’m having trouble finding…. I also need a camera person…
I’m much too busy these days. I’m involved with the Students’ Union at Ryerson, I’m the Deputy Chairperson Education for the Graduate Council. This responsibility is taking up quite a bit of time and energy right now, which probably will continue until next May. Guess I’m committed to the student movement, to representing grad students at Ryerson where we seem to have little visibility, hardly any funding, and basically no dedicated study or social space. Tomorrow morning Jermaine (Grad Chairperson) and I have to meet with the VP Finance of the University to talk about the need for more dedicated grad student space on Ryerson’s campus. Then Wednesday it’s off to Ottawa for a National General Meeting of the Canadian Federation of Students. I won’t be back to my semi-normal routine (school and work) until Monday.
Here are some thoughts on the Eduardo Kac reading on “Telepresence Art”:
This article is so 1990s. I think the idea of real time taking prevalence over real space is very interesting. Time always seems to trump space – this is tied to many dichotomies and systems of oppression, I don’t want to get too theoretical, I’ll just mention “time is money” and maybe you get the picture. But what is space? It’s ambiguous and therefore really exciting (to me at least). It’s not easily pinned down. In Kac’s article though, real space seems to represent “reality”, non-cyberspace space in the real world. When considering modes of communication and the art context in which Kac is writing, physical locations don’t seem to matter as much as timing or the idea of real time. Where individuals are situated may be irrelevant because the new context is online or constructed through a real-time interactive installation. Place, or the space represented, is then considered an image – this makes so much sense to me. We construct images of places, we can imagine places, and so create spaces and places that form a context for identification. Art practices evolve from this process. Great. But the term “telepresence art” seems a bit clumsy or maybe just outmoded. Terms like interactive, intermedia, and yes – new media, seem more practical and effective these days. The word telepresence is frightening, like telepathy, teleology – its too all knowing or all encompassing. However, real-time art can be rather encompassing and usually involves some kind of embodiment. But we’re cyborgs anyway – right? I really want to re-read Donna Haraway’s Manifesto for Cyborgs, it seems so relevant to new media art and interactive forms.
I hear fireworks outside. I’m distracted by real-space.
1 Comment
December 3, 2008 at 5:02 pm
hello.
I’m a second year pol sci student at of t.
I’m not sure if your still involved with your project, but i would love to help. iv been interested in starting a collective/space similar to who’s emma but thats for another time. i could be a camera man but i would really like to help you meet these people and see what they would think about a who’s Emma revival.
anyway much respect for doing this by the way. Toronto needs more eyes on its real culture.