Ricardo Bello on Fri, 1 Nov 2002 23:36:12 +0100 (CET)


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<nettime> Cyborg Festival II Phase



Cyborg Festival first phase is over. The links are there, anyone
visiting our website can take a look and check them out. We are
just a small group, living in a farm near Caracas that had no
use, so far, for printed newspapers, radio or TV. We sent out
invitations these last few weeks using only CMCīs: e-zines, mailing
lists and BBS. We receive submissions from many countries: Australia,
Canada, Germany and Holland, France, Argentina, and others. The
more dedicated and serious Venezuelan digital artists are there,
but you canīt trust us on that point, go to the links. See whatīs
going on in Ernesto Leonīs mind or in Yucef Merhiīs, an artist
who hacked Caracas Museum of Contemporary Artīs  website and
took it away from them to show his work.

In this second phase we must start to think, starting with the
experience of what happened this past few weeks. The first thought
would be there are no reasons for those categories: Net Art,
Communication or Virtual Communities. What I thought to be an
excellent art website, was a communication one, and viceversa.
It all belong to one category: the ability to communicate; one
urge, the will to power in the Nietzschean sense, the will to
create and express yourself and get in touch with others, no
restrain whatsoever unless it refers to your technical ability.
I just finished Thomas L. Friedmanīs new book: Longitudes and
Attitudes. Exploring the World After September 11, and he is
right in several ways. The end of the Cold War opened the door
to a globalization system build around three balances that affect
one another, and one of them, the newest and most radical of
all, is the balance between individuals and nation-states. No
artist needs today the support of a powerful Minister in his
home country, especially if he or she lives in the South. The
mediation between artists and society escapes completely the
responsibility of the State, competent government agencies or
Museums alike, although sometimes they can help. It all revolves
around a personal choice, the will to communicate and the decision
to listen and see, even against our most cherished beliefs. We
are opening up a conference at our website – www.cyborgfestival.com
-, in case anybody feels the need to talk about or raise such
or other issues.



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