Huge thanks to everyone who came to #FEEDFEED and/or participated/watched online. I loved the diversity of folks who showed up, how many of you I hadn’t met before, and what GOOD people you all are. As a result the vibe was overwhelmingly positive. I am grateful to know you all, and grateful for your presence, sharing together. It was a reminder to me of the power of positive IRL social exchange, coupled with a rather whimsical virtual exchange. But beneath the whimsy and positivity is a ceaseless and sometimes manic desire to…well…connect.
As the concept for this event was formalizing a couple months ago, I was going through a difficult time in my personal life. The type of difficult time where nothing is worth it, Art is worthless, life is meaningless, nothing really matters, etc. Couldn’t sleep or eat. And it was during this time that a rather snarky article came out against the type of art myself and others are making, titled “Don’t Follow Twitter Art.” One of the charges was that the work presents a “worst-case-scenario movement for Relational Aesthetics.” I wanted to find a way to both respond to that article, and to get myself out of the deep depression I was in; hence a DIY version of RA with an aim of connecting people. To that end, I feel last night achieved varying levels of success. I was thrilled with the vibe and turnout in New York and Sydney, but felt that the engagement with the online audience of people who weren’t present in either of these locations was lacking. And this was no fault but my own, for not having the proper parameters in place. This challenge has presented itself to me time and time again with these performances, and I will continue to work to connect the various types audiences.
Ok. I could ramble on forever but have to return this empty keg of PBR that’s staring at me. Thanks y’all for finishing it! Easier on the arms.
Thanks to Portal creators/curators Janis Ferberg and Stephen Truax for their hard work, creative contributions and especially for their patience with me. Peloton Gallery in Sydney for hosting us there. Conal McCullough for supplying the tech skillz and streaming bandwidth. To all the anonymous and non-anonymous contributors to the open Google Doc (especially Jason Eppink). And my roommates Anais, Dave, Dylan and Joe for being into the idea, inviting their friends, helping prepare, manage, and clean.
In other news, not much downtime here in Manland. I’m leaving for London on Tuesday for alpha-ville festival, where I’ll be presenting #GreyMatter, and moderating a panel on post-digital creativity. Later in October I’ll be giving a talk about my practice for Congress of the Collectives at Flux Factory, and in early November I’ll be giving a lecture at Pratt. Lastly some other exhibitions/performances are in the works, but no dates yet, and mum’s the word.