mar _24
▲ highlights: new stuff on AlWiki // new artworks // net art inspirations // news, events, calls
love,
ål // ≧◉◡◉≦
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// things to share »
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✏ <postcard from Cyprus/>
eucalyptus trees in the park [Nicosia]
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✏ <new AlWiki updates/> There has been some updated pages and new ones on the wiki. Here are some for you to check:
⊡ big one: finally made a log on the art museums I’ve visited during the recent years. If you want photos from any of those, text me. I’ll send them to you, I documented a lot but don’t want to take so much space online just for the sake of having them online. :D // see the museum log here
⊡ index: it’s updated with some new entries, such as some older projects I’ve done during the last few years (Room for Sound, Nomadways etc.). All the pages published are listed here.
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★ <past present future/>
Liberating the present is a challenge because of the many layers the past had put on it, but also the many expectations the future holds on it. Are we truly living in the moment? Are we able to fully acknowledge the present moment with all of our senses? How much do you think about the past or the future in every given moment? Do you need to force yourself to “live in the moment” or it comes naturally to you?
How do the past, present and future influence each other?
French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir talks about the paradox of our temporal bias:
Instead of fully inhabiting our present, we are too often tempted to regard it as posterity’s past and observe it with the same “tranquil curiosity” of a tourist with which we observe yesteryear’s events and torments.
read on: Maria Popova, The Marginalian
While the now is strongly influenced by the past, the future also plays its role. Living in a highly precarious world, we are forced to consider all sorts of flexible scenarios and train ourselves to be prepared for whatever comes next - more wars, higher inflation, loosing jobs, health issues, global challenges… How much are we really able to enjoy the moment and did we master the art of caring not too much, nor too little?
// digital artwork // 2024 // shop here
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⊗ <body glitches/> Between November 2023 and January 2024, I had a series of spasms in the area of the heart/stomach which happened usually while I was walking on the street. Those deeply disturbing symptoms were so regular, that did not allow me to walk much, not to mention do any kind of sports. After visiting several doctors, doing many medical checks, no doctor could have located the reason for those spasms, nor found the reason for them. Thus, I had to deal with them on my own and find my own way to heal them. After experimenting and self-researching, I figured it was something connected to my gullet and stomach, hence my GERD illness (gastroesophageal reflux disease).
Reflecting on that experience, frustrated for not being able to understand what exactly caused them and why they stopped, I see them now as glitches. I was trying out different ways to visualise them, to explain them - to myself, to the doctors. But no illustration felt right until I saw them as bugs, as errors, as malfunctions, as tired code, of glitches, when the body's system is blocked somewhere and the balance is disturbed. See below »
// digital artwork // 2024
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🖤 <shoutout to some inspiring works/> This month I am sharing three artworks that are created from/for the Internet. Net art can be traced back to some first attempts in the late 70s and early 80s and it’s quite fascinating to discover some older works that are still available online.
net.art means art that uses the Internet as its medium and that cannot be experienced in any other way. It was created from and inside the Internet and feeds on its unique features to live and grow.
In this super tiny selection, you can see some newer works that I discovered recently. Which ones are your favourites?
★ ‘I Am On The Internet‘ by Olivia Bradley-Skill // 2021
On June 28, 2021, sound and radio artist Olivia Bradley-Skill debuted “I Am On The Internet” an episode on her freeform WFMU radio show “Radio Ravioli,” which featured songs that capture the feeling of being online. Songs include “Computer Love” by Kraftwerk, “Siri, Open Tinder” by CHILDBIRTH, “QWERTY Waltz” by The Boston Typewriter Orchestra, and other songs that incorporate computer sounds such as keyboard strokes and instant message pings.
★ ‘REAL_DANCING_GIRL’ by Chiara Moioli // 2013
Dancing since 2013… The artwork is still there, on tumblr. Makes me think once again of how important is to document digital art. Especially for artworks that are placed on platforms that cease to exist at some point.
I’ve been dancing ever since I was created back in the days. With the rise of the internet I became a vernacular symbol of freedom among the net, and a source of inspiration for countless users in the pre-history of the web. The advent of social networks brought a severe change in the aesthetic of the internet; that's why I felt the need to renew my look, giving myself a more “topical” appearance. But don't be fooled by this: my 'hula' remains the same ;-) Feel free—as you’ve always been—to make me dance among your web universe!
★ ‘On your wrist is the universe’ by Adriana Knouf // 2016
Built upon the Pebble smartwatch platform, On your wrist is the universe is a suite of poems that uses real-time information about satellites, rocket bodies, planets, and stars as the basis for generative poetry. Offering a tangible translation between our bodies and otherworldly bodies, the project highlights the possibilities of electronic poetry worn on the surface of the skin, available for short glances at any moment.
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⍟ resource » <Getting Into Fights With Data Centers/> by Anne Pasek is a fun and easy-to-read zine talking about the not-so-fun expansion of data centres. Offers ways to disrupt them and gives an understandable summary of how much we can do to lower our digital impact so it makes sense. Yes, restraining yourself from Netflix-and-chill isn’t the answer, Pasek argues. You can download it from here.
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» <Some links/> and finally, some news & articles I came across during the last month:
_Tumblr and Wordpress to Sell Users’ Data to Train AI Tools.
_Quite excited about these guys starting their own publishing house in Sofia (text in BG) // their insta is here.
_So far my favourite review of ‘Anatomy of a fall’, a movie that was very interesting to watch and to enjoy each scene with the main character. 2 days ago it won a well-deserved Oscar for the script.
_There is an open call for Afterlife residency.
_Also, Transformation Digital Art 2024 (LI-MA’s annual symposium on the preservation of digital art) is taking place soon (21-23 march).
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Thank you for reading! If you love it, hit the <3 - that would make my day. See you next month!
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