Eugene Thacker on Thu, 25 Feb 1999 13:25:16 -0500 |
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************************************************** [techne]W3LAB: works-in-progress/works-in-process http://www.technenet.org/ An online group exhibit of net.art+hyber.theory presented in conjunction with the "New World (dis)Orders" conference at Rutgers University, Feb. 18-19th, 1999. ************************************************** [techne] Conference Report :: New World (dis)Orders: Globalization, Culture, & Identity Feb. 18+19, Rutgers University The fourth annual Program in Comparative Literature conference, whose theme this year was "globalization," was recently held on the Rutgers University campus. Keynote speakers included Homi Bhabha, a keynote panel on global feminism with Drucilla Cornell and bell hooks, and a series of actions by Critical Art Ensemble. Panel topics included "Mapping the metropolis," Nation, Identity, and Intellectuals," "Ethics, Values, Human Rights," and "Cultural Commodification." [techne]'s involvement in the conference took place on several levels. First, the [techne]W3LAB, an online group exhibit, was installed during the first day of the conference at a computer station where users could peruse net.art projects. Secondly, [techne] had invited guests Critical Art Ensemble (hereafter CAE) to perform their piece "BioCom" as part of the conference's technology panel, which also included an installation by Eugene Thacker, and a VRML station by Nikolas. Third, Critical Art Ensemble, along with the Institute for Applied Autonomy, performed a new work entitled the Society for Reproductive Anachronisms (SRA). Both actions and the presentation of the online exhibit all went well, and CAE's BioCom performance generated some scandal within the conference as well... BioCom: On the first evening of the conference, during the technology and globalization panel, CAE performed an action, appearing as the faux biotech corporation BioCom. The action and panel followed a full day of papers and discussions, and was to be concluded with CAE and [techne]. As CAE readers may know, BioCom is a piece which strategically appropriates the discourse of corporate biotechnology to performatively comment on the discursive, scientific, and economic colonialism of the biotech industry. The BioCom presentation involved a lecture and demonstration of BioCom's services and products (via a projected CD-ROM) as well as a Q&A from the audience. BioCom also demonstrated the efficiency of its services by offering an online genetic screening and sperm donor service. Connected via CU-SeeMe video and chat, a BioCom customer, "Susan," who was in the market for a sperm donor, was asked questions concerning the type of genetically-engineered child she preferred. An audience volunteer, "Scott," matched the qualifications and was taken to a separate computer station where he filled out the BioCom genetic screening form online. Though CAE has performed versions of BioCom previously, this was the first instance where live webcasting was utilized. The Biocom action generated a variety of responses from the audience members (most of whom were conference attendees). There were a number of people who actually believed the BioCom action was real, and were, as a result, offended by what one person called the "fascist science" of this "corporation." Others assumed BioCom was a performance and a parody, finding much of it humorous. There were also several professors who stormed out during the action. One professor felt that the issue of fertility was not being taken with enough seriousness, and another professor expressed worry since he had brought with him several prospective graduate students. Several other professors and graduate students voiced their support of CAE and the BioCom piece, not only as a critique of corporate biotech but also as a critique of academia and the conference format. By and large, most of the audience members were, to varying degrees, confused and intrigued by the BioCom demonstration. As a member of CAE stated, "BioCom caused such an uproar partly because it appropriated liberationist discourses of postcolonial theory and demomnstrated how easily they could be turned to authoritarian ends." SRA: On the following day, CAE presented a new piece, this time appearing as the Society for Reproductive Anachronisms (SRA), a neo-Luddite activist group staunchly against BioCom. The action was performed during the afternoon, at a recruitment table in the main lunch hall of the Rutgers Student Center. Joining them was the Institute for Applied Autonomy, who specialize in what they call "contestational robotics," and who presented their pamphleteer robot, handing out SRA propaganda. Many innocent passersby, including students, professors, university and cafeteria workers, and even administration, were all greeted by the SRA. Interested people were invited to take a genetic screening test on one of the computers there, one which informed them of the marketability of their DNA. In addition the SRA, being anti-technology and anti-biotech, proposed several alternative options to that of biotech, including natural aphrodesiacs and homeopathic fertility remedies. Later that day, the pamphleteer robot was transported to the site of the conference, where, inbetween the talks by Homi Bhabha and Drucilla Cornell/bell hooks, conference attendees took the SRA pamphlets and were informed of SRA's intentions against corporate biotech. Discourse/Truth: One of the strongest messages to come from CAE's BioCom and SRA actions was the need for some crticial reflexivity within academic discourse as it is presented in the context of the academic conference. If the academic conference is one of the primary sites at an educational institution (along with journal publications and the classroom) where issues may be critically discussed, then the main question which CAE asked of this context has to do with the transparency of discourse. It is my guess that audience members were taken aback by BioCom both by its content, but also by the radical shift in communicative paradigms, from conference paper (in which a direct, unmediated connection between the speaker and truth is assumed), to the tactical action (in which performance, performativity, and reflexivity are key elements). The BioCom action displayed with great clarity the need for a critical de-essentializing of postcolonial discourse and rhetoric. That biotech corporations are now, currently, incorporating such discourses and rhetorics of postcolonialism into their programmes makes this need for a critical reflexivity all the more urgent. The conference was well attended and each of the papers presented intelligent and insightful perspectives; however despite this, CAE's BioCom action revealed that there was a general inability to "read" the action and to get beyond a response of either offense or dismissal. CAE is certainly not suggesting paranoia as a critical model; what they are suggesting, though, is that critical perspectives can materialize themselves via tactical media and strategic actions. Such media and such actions are most effective in contexts where the question of mediation and action are not questions at all - such as the academic conference. The range and breadth of responses to CAE's actions present us with a redoubled impression: that such actions are effective, but precisely because they are effective they point to a disconcernting inability to think critically and reflectively in relation to such manifestations of theater. Eugene Thacker [techne] ************************************************** [techne]W3LAB: works-in-progress/works-in-process http://gsa.rutgers.edu/maldoror/techne/w3lab-entry.html An online group exhibit of net.art+hyber.theory presented in conjunction with the "New World (dis)Orders" conference at Rutgers University, Feb. 18-19th, 1999. **************************************************