<nettime> Sergei Teterin: ALL MEDIA ARTISTS GO TO HEAVEN

["geert lovink" <geert@xs4all.nl>]

From: "Sergei Teterin" <teterin@newmail.ru>
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 12:24 AM
Subject: ALL MEDIA ARTISTS GO TO HEAVEN

I believe that after death all true media artists shall go to heaven.

But not to that heaven where the righteous people like nuns come to, and
even not that one where the poets or characters like Timothy Leary depart
for. To my mind the media artists have an opportunity to go to a completely
different posthumous abode, which I designate as the Telecommunications
Heaven.

This is a truly out of this world place. It's naturally connected with the
angels and all sorts of Celestial Manna on one side, and it has an
extraterrestrial gate for connection to the human Internet on the other. And
not only to Internet, but also to any cellular and pager network, to any
means of telecommunication. So after death the souls of media artists, like
happy elusive phantoms, slide in the Web and often reply to the calls from
live people, those who know the right e-mail or ICQ number.

An unimaginable, extraordinary happiness awaits each talented media artist
after death. He (she) will forget the meaning
of  "dial-up" and "poor connection", for there is only one speed for moving
in the Net - the speed of light. He (she) won't have to pay the ISP bills
anymore and no software will be necessary for creating fine masterpieces in
the electronic environment. There he (she) will be able to control the
kilobytes by pure thought or even by simple aesthetic intention. In Heaven
artist procures a chance to miraculously expand his sexual experience - any
telecommunication contact with live people, the shortest ICQ session or SMS
message will become a bright and fantastically intense sexual sense-datum,
transcending any earthly feats. The new virtual body of a media artist will
be created for infinite joy and rapture.
There is no money in the Telecommunications Heaven, it is of no use there
and is soon unlearned, although all bank codes are straight open. Well, this
is understandable: any fantasy here immediately incarnates coming to flesh.
And even though that flesh is electronic - yet it's perfect.

This is the territory for triumph, all unfinished projects being
marvellously accomplished, all creative impulses being carried along the
closed circuits, encompassing the gestalt. There is no work for the life
support here; no work that has to be done in order to sustain yet another
day of life. There are no sponsors there and there is no absence of sponsors
there; moreover, the phrase "no sponsor can be found" becomes absolutely
meaningless.

Having arrived to the Telecommunications Heaven, media artist receives
everything he was looking for - inspiration, freedom, prospects and
opportunities, new horizons, interaction and glory, love and immortality
withal.

At times it seems to me that Heaven for media artists exists on Earth as
well. A couple of  kilobytes of intuition. Just like Peter Pan's Neverland
where everyone stays a happy child forever. If you stare at the monitor for
a long time, especially at night and in solitude, and then close your eyes
and think of  the Telecommunications Heaven, - imagination might create a
sharp outline of a truly miraculous place. It's easy to describe, and
impossible to describe as well.

It's warm, it's luminous. That is - there is sun and sky, a realistic blue
sky. Elegant, ingenious electricity runs through the place, it transfuses
the whole city and people living in it - fast broadband Internet,
state-of-the-art video conferencing, thousands of neoteric services. Did I
say city? Well, of course, this is an immense, beautiful city, a magnificent
metropolis. In clubs and bars they don't speak about money,- but they
discuss Art in the Net, Art on the screens and neotype beauty. Exhibitions
and festivals of new media arts take place in the major halls of the city
round the clock, bringing with them the emotional storms... Flashes and
cheering: Long live media artists! And women are amazingly gorgeous there,
young and so educated that they can see and adore the romantic value of net
art and other neat manifestations of artistic genius. What language do they
speak? To my knowledge, the language of love and telecommunication.

Frames supersede one another with furious speed, it's difficult to discern
anything else: there are many monuments to media artists and their
masterpieces there, and those monuments are always decorated with flowers.
Colourful, variegated, so real fresh flowers, lots of flowers, lots and lots
of  flowers...

It must look like I'm hallucinating. Such a place can't exist on Earth.
Nowhere, never. Nowhere. "Simply understand: never is happiness, simply
believe: emptiness is heaven."

Or else... Or nevertheless may be?

Sergei Teterin
telecommunication artist
http://www.teterin.raid.ru/e/
Russia

P.S. Net-art illustrations to this text - from the best russian net artists.
See page http://www.teterin.raid.ru/elysium/

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