Yesterday was a day filled with panel presentations and two wonderful keynote speakers. The panels were mostly on the relationship between art and ecology and most of the work involved social practice. There was so very interesting stuff going on, but as always, it was somewhat difficult to understand what was research and what was the work (because sometimes there was a distinction). The two panels I went to were in the Natural History Museum, and throughout the talk we could all hear the T-Rex roaring nearby. And everybody seemed to be bringing up the Arctic territorial situation in their talks (everyone read the NYT that morning apparently). The day revolved walking back and forth between the two museums, through a lovely park with soccer players and dogs that looked like deer to me (no one else thought so). Again, blaming the altitude (which hereafter will also be the cause of any typos and omissions).
I ran into Paul, and as usual met tons of people through him. Annette is one of his colleagues from Columbia College, a very nice lady, and we all sat together in many presentations, and also shared a lunch in shade from a lovely Taco truck. The heat was intense, even though the morning started cold (high 50s) - by the end of the day it was almost 90 degrees. Between sessions we ran into Margaret Dolinsky, who is also a fellow member of the NMC Board, a real nice gal (we have been Facebook friends for a while, so she called me Vanger, a reference to a recent post, very tongue in cheek, I loved it). Paul suspected this lovely lady with tattoos was Meredith Hoy, another fellow member (she is based in Boston, we know some people in common), and through her we met Martin Rieser, a well-known guy from the UK, a nice chap.
There were two very different keynote addresses yesterday, and both were excellent in their own merits. The morning one was given by Mark Hosler from Negativland, and it was a great antidote to the more dry, dooms-day like presentations that preceded and followed it. It was great seeing a room filled with very smart people laughing out loud. It was in the auditorium that I ran into Sean (cannot recall his last name), an incredible artist I met during an artist residency at Ragdale, ten years ago. We both recognized eachother's faces and it took a bit to figure out where he had met. I remember him being both smart, funny, and kind, and his sound work was pretty incredible back then, so I imagine it still is (need to check to see if he is presenting this time around). I remember him being very nice to me, a 28 years old artist who was a bit lost (I ended up reading 18 mystery novels, making two drawings, one video of me shaving in my studio and writing a long and dry poem about love while in residence, my first one). Seeing him made my day. We also ran into Pat Badani, another NMC Board member (she's responsible for the wonderful Media-N journal). It is so nice to see familiar faces in strange contexts. Because she's been to ISEA 4 times (this is her first time not presenting, making her, in my view, the third "audience" person in the entire conference - not really true, there are about 600 people here, but it feels that way).
The afternoon keynote was very different from the first one. A keyword in yesterday's events was "appropriation". That term, defined in many different ways by different people stuck in my head, and made me realize the limited scope in which I considered it. In fact this conference has been really very much like being in school, and having intense college-like experiences without it being overtly academic. It is really refreshing some of the things I have in my mind and giving me a lot of food for thought as we head towards a new media search at OU. Rick Prelinger talked about the grid, and its many cultural and social and economic ramifications (from phone grid, to power grid to urban grid), while working with the archive, and appropriating vernacular and found 16 mm footage. He showed us snippets of what he is going to do with them, interspersed with seemingly random images that he never explained to us, but that juxtaposed by his speech, created some interesting conclusions. Both speakers were engaging in different ways, smart and yet humble, no airs, it was both inspiring and refreshing (they would be great guest speakers anywhere). It was also interesting for me to notice the role of experimental cinema and single-channel video in the context of this conference (which I assumed was mostly into social practice, augmented media and robotics), and this makes me like the electronic art nomenclature even more (because I see a place for my work here).
By then it was almost 4 pm, so Paul and decided this was the time to take a break, so we went to our respective rooms to take it easy. I went over today's programming, found out Joe DeLappe was heading to town, noticed a bunch of people in the program I know (Charlie Lindsay whom I met at SFAI, Jody Zellen whom I curated into an exhibition, to name a few). Unfortunately I did not sleep. We eventually met at the Tech Lounge, ISEA's version of a trade show, which was extremely small, kind of a bust really (we did not even get a free flashdrive). At least they had water and cookies. There I ran into Paul Hertz, someone I am friends with on Facebook (he recognized me), the nicest guy ever, and I am looking forward to seeing his presentation today. All of a sudden I became extremely tired, and I think Paul noticed, so we sat at the patio for a bit before heading to the museum. There would be a conference welcoming bit, and afterwards a reception, though we noticed right away it was a cash bar. I was too tired to drink, so Paul and I wondered around the ground (the address was taking place in a lovely outdoors auditorium, surrounded by terraces with art works, something that is completely doable in a place that almost never has any rain). Most prominently amidst the works were robotic birds who responded to movement and sounds made, by chirping computerized sounds and moving (three of them, do not remember the name of the artist, but recognized the name seen in a badge at some point, so the artist was present). There was also an isotopic fountain, by a Brazilian artist, who placed sensors inside the pool of water, on top of stones, connected with wires and salt piles, all of which was hooked up to a computer nearby. After reading the artist statement, we found out that the sensors captured the passage of satellites above the area, and each time one passed, depending on its coordinates, a fountain spray was triggered. We waited a few minutes to watch it happen (one could see how close the next one was via the computer monitor), and the effect was both anti-climatic and whimsical, if that makes any sense.
Eventually we dragged ourselves to the seating area, and found two seats in the middle (and we all agreed how uncomfortable they were, though of course I thought the squats were the cause for my sore ass). The opening statements were long winded, very political, and numerous. A senator and a consulate representative spoke, in addition to local government and local art institutions. It was the thank you part of the event. By the time Andrea Polli came to the stage, she is the one I met the previous day, to introduce the themes and the theme-leaders, it was already 8:00 pm (when the reception was supposed to start). Paul and I were starving, and quickly fading, but managed to stay for the majority of it. People in the nearby area were very noisy, and we realized that there were more people there than in the seating area. Eventually we decided to go get something to eat, and slowly made our way to through the bar crowd. At the museum's lobby we realized that the food reception was taking place, confirming my earlier smelling of coconut shrimps. The food was abundant and delicious, and I had a small plate with three of each item, and two mini cup cakes. It was there I ran into Joe DeLappe, always the nicest guy ever, and he introduced me to a bunch of people, because he knows everyone and everyone loves him. I hope we get to hang out more, I am dying to ask him what happened to his daughter's work with James Franco (specially given a professor at Columbia University, her program, got fired). Always wanting the inside scoop.
In the lobby there was an electronic forklift type of thing (one of those raising platforms used to clean buildings, etc), which I assumed was there due to construction. But midway through the reception, an artist, with two huge remote controls began manipulating the machine (which had been customized), in what he described as a dance performance. It was very Sterlac without the nudity and the hybridity. The whole thing was both fascinating and completely scary (imagine something 30 feet up in the air, spinning real fast, 6 feet away from the crowd), and I was really glad a disaster did not take place. Paul and I got separated, and eventually found each other, and by then we were about to crash. He was still hungry, so we walked back to the hotel, got his rental car, and looked for a restaurant still open at that time (Albuquerque seems to be one of those places where everything closes at 9 pm). We eventually found a diner and ordered greasy burgers, and I can't believe I ate the whole thing.
We got back to the car, drove back, and said our good nights. I am really looking forward to the artist talks today, these 20 minute presentations, most of them actually taking place in the hotel. I will try to fit in as many panels as possible, but I really want to see these talks, as I imagine this is how I may participate in ISEA in the future. The upcoming days also seem very promising. I will keep you posted.
- posted via iPad
Location:Hotel Albuquerque, Rio Grande Blvd NW,Albuquerque,United States
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