97533-mobilizedscreens

7/31/2019 97533-mobilizedscreens

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The idea of screens being mobile is a recent one;we might trace it back authentically to GunpeiYokois 1989 cultural breakthrough the game boy,though this was itself inspired by the LCD pocketcalculators that had grown in popularity over thepreceding three decades. Certainly it has been thecellular or mobile telephone that has been mostinstrumental in making the portable screen a pos-sibility. Yet taking the etymology of the words,we are faced with a vitally different and extraor-

dinarily more militant suggestion. Screen can betraced to the old french term escran, meaning a

barrier against heat, even to skerm in old highgerman, a term connected with the english wordskirmish. As such, a screen is a protection - but,one asks, against what? Also critical is our use ofthe word screening, which itself has two divergentmeanings. A screening is - in the culture of film,documentary and conceptual art - an artistic eventof high order, analogous in cultural significance

to the ballet or ritual sacrifice in alternate socio-historical spaces. Yet a screening is also a biopo-litical process of subject formation and interroga-tion, that one might be forced to inhabit during a

border crossing, job interview or visit to an incar-cerated family member. Screen therefore impliesa barricade, a fortification, an embankment. Yetwhat is the purpose of such a barricade? Whommight it be said to protect? Whom does it obstruct?

The term mobility is similarly loaded and com-plex. In one sense mobility is a capitalist inven-tion; it is only in the increasingly globalised andnetworked we inhabit that there is such a need fortravel, for the movement and flux of bodies andother objects. There have always been forms of pre-carity, migration and exploration, but the vagran-cy of todays neoliberal subjects is indeed novel.It is no longer rare to travel across continents tofind work, receive education or visit family. Not

just speed, but movement itself is now a neces-

sity, perhaps even a construction of an economicand hierarchical system. Yet with mobile - whichcomes from the latin word movere to move - we getmobile vulgus, the common people, the mob.

in the name of the resolution,the double barricade [overview]

REWINDER [2012] - processing sketch

TANGENTS[2012] - processing sketch

BETRAYAL@BARCELONA[2012] - processing sketch

produced at the university of sussex, spring 2012.all rights absolved by the author, whomever they may be.


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So, while the most technologically advanced andcritically acclaimed screens belong to the corpo-rate and governmental interests of the world, it ispossible to discover screens that operate in spiteof - perhaps even in disruption of - this monopoly.Of course, this involves opening up our notion ofwhat we might consider a screen. We might seekto include screens that are animated - rather thanmobile - using the rationale that they are designedwith reference to our own highly and increasinglymobile society. Following a definition of a screenas a certain barricade, we might also include suchthings as walls, billboards, banners and graffiti.Though they are not animated, they animate, act-ing as a space of representation showing the anato-mies of this mobile - perhaps mobilized - society.

One wonders how one might document the tension

inherent in the material culture of this digitalage without hypocrisy. The tension which turnsscreens into a space of contestation - if not out-right domination - also permeates spaces suchas galleries and museums. There is an inherentproblem with works involving large or complicatedscreens, in that these screens are expensive, dif-ficult to transport and access. As such, in addi-tion to expanding a subject matter beyond what isformally constituted screen-related installation, itis proposed that work be displayed unconventionalspace. It is argued that art - particularly screenedart - has the ability to critically arrest and subvertmotion amongst urban architecture.

SOCIALMEDIA [2011] - presentation

USINE DE REVE [2012] - game mod

PONT ST. BENEZET [2012] - game mod

twitter @thisisraddautomated affective labor

- a bot designed to tweet aboutcritical theory

on my behalf.people are ambivalent.STUDENT OF PRAGUE [2012]- social media performance

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK [2012]- social media performance

facebook is deleted.in reasons, one selectsother and posts

the full text

to the controlsociety, by g. deleuze.

this project proposesthat mobile screens are

themselves mobilized asbarricades, both preventingthe commercialisation of art

and life and securing

creative spacesfor the coming community.

MOBILIZED SCREENS [2012]- zine publication


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BUILDING TO BE DESTROYED [2012] - installation piece

with reference to man rays object to be destroyed, this piece treats as a lostwonder the philips pavilion at the 1952 worlds fair, designed by iannis xenakis

and featuring an installation by le corbusier and varlese. the image itself decays.


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TEARS FOR CORDELIA, A CUTE FOUCAULT [2012] - installation piece

in this piece i use a projector to display images onto a banner i stole in a post-superbowl rampage. the images are taken from a site that allows you to order

custom neon signs, but though the words can be changed the images are, well


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TEARS FOR CORDELIA, A CUTE FOUCAULT [2012] - installation piece

misogynist and catered towards a certain pattern of subject formation. i use thispiece to talk about the role of biopolitical design in manufacturing desire. i alsouse it to talk about the role of biopoliticians; not figureheads but rather function-

aries of cybernetic planning and control at the local level. though i was not awareat the time this piece was conceived, my former partner was being subjected tonear lethal doses of carbon monoxide poisoning due to a negligent landlord.


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in this piece i decided to wake up with a catastrophic eye infection requiring avisit to the hospital, and resulting in a temporary near-blindness on my part. onmy way, however, i was presented with a dilemma; the donation-based vegeta-

ble distributor that my friends had established in an abandoned storefront wasbeing evicted. as such, i decided to stop by the defense to lend what i call, fol-lowing the work of sociologist pierre bordieu - my considerable magical capital.

DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS [2012] - installation piece


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DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS [2012] - installation piece

the squat defense - a cultural event equivalent to many a ceremony studied byforensic anthropologists (and more recently conceptual curators such as JeremyDeller) - requires the curators of the squatted building to summon friends, as-sociates and lovers, in order to question the motives and abilities of the baliffsscheduled to arrive. in many cases, the exorcism attempt fails, and squattersfriends help them carry away their posessions and seek refuge. this succeeded.


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From the beginning of the course I had decided tointerrogate the screen as medium for transmissionand control through the staging of an installation.The precise form, location and subject materialof the exhibition has (and to a certain extent yet

will) remain uncertain. Throughout my academicdevelopment I have found my research and par-ticipation in civil dissent to be mutually informa-tive. This began with an oral history project in myfinal year of high school, continuing through mystudies at the historically radical New School inNew York. When I returned to the United King-dom after almost a decade spent abroad, it was justafter the commencement of the Occupy Wall Streetprotests that illuminated the American autumn.

Feeling nostalgic and isolated - still unable to feelcompletely at home in the country of my birth - Ispent large portions of my time with vagrants andidealists at the various Occupy camps around theU.K. The cultural differences were profound; thedemonstrations seemed far more relaxed and regi-mented. The police were unwilling to significantlydisrupt the encampments in most locations; weath-er and substance abuse proved to be far more versa-tile opponents. While there were a fair amount oftraumatising events - including numerous fights,threats and a tragic death - I feel my participationprovided the educational supplement I needed. Itwas perhaps one of the highlights of this experi-ence that provided the inspiration for my currentproject: I had been up late watching the camp,remaining alert to prevent harassment by neona-zis and drunk students alike. Eventually, as thesun started to rise I was relieved and crawled intomy tent for a few hours of sleep. When I awoke, astrange ambient sound permeated the thin walls

of my tent. Grasping glasses and peeking out ofmy tent, I saw the camp was now surrounded byaround a beleaguered mob of one hundred or more.

The Squatters Network of Brighton, as it is for-merly titled, is not an organisation but rather a

loose brand that serves as both mouthpiece and in-formal organizing body for the so-called BrightonSquatting Scene. There is no formal criteriafor membership, with the participants vacillat-ing between three categories: lifestyle squatters,political squatters and affiliated allies. There isa constant flux between these categories: squat-ters become politicised through their proximityto other involved individuals, while others beginsquatting as a political statement and subsequentlyburn-out, becoming less involved in activism.Others begin renting - or move in with partners,relatives or friends - while still remaining in-volved in advocacy around housing. The networkappears to have three major objectives: it is, firstand foremost, a social organisation, responsible forcurating networking events. A small but essentialfunction is to organise rallies against evictions,preventing them if possible but at the very leasthelping to recover belongings and find emergencyhousing for displaced persons. A final function is

to provide a counter to negative portrayal of squat-ters and their practice in the media. Due to therecent changes around the legality of the practicein England - brought about on the initiative of alocal politician, Mike Weatherly MP - the grouphas been particularly active in advocacy in recentmonths. The aforementioned protest in Novemberand a more recent protest in April both attemptedto educate the public and media about the negativeimpacts, ulterior motivations and unpopularity of

the new clause. In addition, certain Brighton resi-dents decided to host the International SquattersConvergence this May in their town.

this marked my firstencounter with the SNOB.

designer resistance [practice]

april 2012 - photo :schnews


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I have attempted to apply research into mobilescreens, digital material culture and media arts ingeneral towards an intervention into the politicaland cultural ecology of my environment. Specifi-cally, I have attempted to do three things. Firstly,I have attempted to use my skills with desktoppublishing and design to produce a series of flyersin support of affiliated events. I used more tra-ditional methods to produce and design banners.I have been involved as a participant observer inorganising meetings for the Convergence and fordemonstrations, specifically supporting efforts tomonitor and shape media coverage. Building onmy experience in the Bank of Ideas and the BuildBrighton hackspaces, I have assisted with repair-ing and upgrading technology from computersthrough phones to doorbells. Finally, I am hopingto curate my own show on May 19th, to coincide

with the Convergence, the Brighton Fringe festi-val and my 24th Birthday. The material displayedin the gallery will be a mixture of my own recentwork, the work of my friends and accomplices andthe work of contributors. Because of the difficultyof finding gallery space as an inexperienced art-ist, the substantial constraints and pressures thataccompany working with a formal space and thepolitical content of my work, I have decided touse an empty storefront for the show. The demon-

stration of early November concluded with a freedinner in a new community center on North Road.Along with more recent projects such as concerts,an autonomous homeless shelter and donation-

based vegetable distributor elevates the practice ofsquatting from a necessary crime to a critical andpotent act of conceptual architecture. My challengewas not just to assist in motivating further crea-tive action, but also to use (or hack) technology toactively and critically represent such action.

for the april snob demonstration, i wasasked to make a flyer. i chose as a basisthis screen capture from the nintendoclassic river city ransom

unable to find a sufficiently excitingsquatter symbol, i made my own usingphotoshop and a spare processing tex-ture. i used another spare as a reverse.

DREAM CITY RANSOM [2012] - flyercommission for SNOB

SCHNEWS: brighton alternative media

http://www.schnews.org.uk

SQUATTERS NETWORK OF BRIGHTON

http://network23.org/snob/

ADVISORY SERVICE FOR SQUATTERS

http://www.squatter.org.uk/

SQUASH CAMPAIGN

http://squashcampaign.org.uk/

OCCUPY BRIGHTON

http://occupybrighton.co.uk/

BRIGHTON & HOVE ARGUS

http://www.theargus.co.uk/

PRACTICAL RESOURCES CONSULTED


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YOUR PRISON SERVICE IS NO MATCH FOR OUR POSTAL SERVICE [2012]- art intervention, with the assistance of five sussex undergraduatesi was approached by student activists about an impending visit by mr. nick hard-wick, chief inspector of her majestys prison service. sneaking into the buildingbeforehand, we decorated our cells and prepared to give a tour of sussexsbrutalist architecture. we also made sure the visiting dignitary was politiely of-fered an adequate supply of kafka texts, and made to feel welcome in our facility.this action showed the benefits of affective over effective action, and the fallacyof serious political work. while one can offer legitimate and thorough critiques ofsystems of incarceration, one lacks mechanisms to deliver them as a student.


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On the First of February this year I presented toa mentor and selection of my peers a short sketchof a debate about the nature of Nomadism. Myintention was not to provide an objective analysis,

but rather to explore further the philosophicalperspectives of four authors I admire greatly, inrelation to some more directly relevant readings.The first two authors - Gilles Deleuze and FelixGuttari - speak in their enormously influentialtext A Thousand Plateausof a construct they callthe nomadic war machine. Though not a compo-nent of the state per-se, the energy and flexibility

of such organisms is generally channeled intomaintaining and advancing order. That being said,the nomadic war machine is nonetheless opposedconceptually to the sedentary society of the State.As such, it retains a subversive element that isinspirational for a range of later projects. Againstthis perspective, I would place texts such as Nega-tive Horizonby Paul Virilio and Liquid Moder-nityby Zygmunt Baumann. In these monographsthere are analyses of how contemporary economic

systems privilege speed and flexibility respectively.It is easy to recontextualise this debate in relationto squatting; on the one hand, it is a supremelypolitical act of rebellion, in direct resistance tothe institutions of property and governance. That

being said, however, it also paradoxically gener-ally assumes a certain amount of privilege. Main-taining and inhabiting derelict residences takes acertain amount of time, energy and ability. To beeffective one requires a set amount of social and

cultural capital, including a supportive commu-nity of allies and knowledge of law and of securitytechniques respectively. It is difficult to maintainsuch a lifestyle if one has a disability, dependantfamily or medical condition, for example.

given the popularity of my prior flyer, iwas asked to make a convergence flyer,this time for international distribution. ichose to attempt a project i had beenthinking about for some time. on theway to play football with some squatterfriends, i salvaged some old polly pocketbuildings which seemed intriguing...

it was relatively easy to find a range ofpolly pocket images online. i then pro-ceeded to hack and glitch these im-ages until i developed a character andscenario with a more punk aesthetic.

for the background, i pixellated a crea-tive commons image of the old pier, afavorite hangout spot and historic site.i found poly a dog & skipped groceries.

before after

MALICe APPEAL [2012] - bannerw/ max monterey, for alice diamond

PIER PRESSURE [2012] - flyer

the house is a machinefor living in... - le corbusier

this is how

we learn,

this is how

we fight...[background]


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Further, there is evidence that the creative outputof squatters is beneficial to capitalist economicsin certain situations, perhaps helping to informdesign or fashion while accelerating processes ofgentrification. In certain European cities such asVienna and Hamburg - and to a lesser extent inBrighton itself - squatters have been offered shortor even long term tenancies n exchange for abid-ing by certain conditions or restrictions. There isalways the potential of recuperation by certainforward thinking entrepreneurs or critics. It is inthis context that I am reflexive in my analysis ofcuration and representation in relation to squat-ting. By bringing the network and its practicesunder the microscope of academia, I recognizethat I am myself complicit in the same practice Icriticise. That being said, I have found an almostuniversally warm reception to my projects and

ideas. I was invited to explore a squat that hadrecently undergone an illegal eviction; because ofthe surprising and unconventional method of evic-tion, most property and objects were left in place.As such, it closely resembled a museum, albeitwith none of the disciplinary authority. Throughmy art and my installation of it within a subvertedspace, I would also like to look at a range of ar-chitectural and spatial critique. Specifically, I amthinking of Robert Venturis Complexity and Con-

tradiction in Architecture, a text which supportsheavily the use or identification of tension withinspace. I think also of Constructivist Architecturaltheory, the notion of the Carnivalesque in Bakhtinand the chaotic and provocative architecture of AiWeiwei. Finally, I am interested also in Ais workas a conceptual architect; I find myself drawinginspiration from the work of artists whose worktranscends the boundaries between site-specificand conceptual art. I think therefore of groupssuch as Voina in present day Russia, KollektivnyeDestiyva (Collective Actions) in the late USSR,Fluxus in New York, the Provos in Amsterdam,the Situationist International based out of Parisand British artist Jeremy Deller. I recognize Ihave only begun to sketch a theoretical basis formy work, but I hope the discussions inspired bythe staging and presence of the gallery will allowme to develop a more complex perspective.

I will present theoretical considerations related to this material at

the Taking Up Space postgraduate conference at Goldsmiths, Uni-versity of London on 25th-26th June. I will also be presenting at thePreoccupied conference, Berlin Bienniele from 28th-29th June.

Please direct suggestions and enquiries to [email protected]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AI, WEIWEI. 2011. AI WEIWEIS BLOG.Cambridge: MIT PRESS.BAUMAN, S. 2000. LIQUID MODERNITY.Cambridge: Polity Press.BOGOST, I. 2006. UNIT OPERATIONSCambridge: MIT Press.DELLER, JEREMY. 2011. JOY IN PEOPLE.London: Distributed Art Publications.DELEUZE, G and F. GUTTARI. 2004.

A THOUSAND PLATEAUS.London: Continuum.DERRIDA, J. 1994. SPECTRES OF MARX.New York: Routledge.FRIEDMAN,K ed. 1998. THE FLUXUS READERChichester: Academy Editions.GUTTARI, F. and A. NEGRI. 1990.

COMMUNISTS LIKE US.New York: Semiotext(e).KAYE, N. 2000. SITE-SPECIFC ART.New York: Routledge.LOVINK, G. & R.S. MILES. 2011. VIDEO VORTEXREADER 2:moving images beyond YouTubeAmsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures.MENKMAN, R. 2011. THE GLITCH MOMENT(UM)Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures.BISHOP, C, ED. 2011. EMPTY ZONES: AMONASTYRSKI AND COLLECTIVE ACTIONS.London: Black Dog Press.

PAWLEY, M, ed. 1970. LE CORBUSIER.London: Thames and Huson.VENTURI, R. 2002. COMPLEXITY AND

CONTRADICTION IN ARCHITECTURE.New York : Museum of Modern Art.VIRILIO, P. 2008. NEGATIVE HORIZONS.New York: Continuum Publishing.WARK, M. 2004. HACKER MANIFESTO.Cambridge: Harvard U. Press.--- 2011. BEACH BENEATH THE STREETNew York: Verso.

KOLLEKTIV DEATH TO FASCISM [2012].gif and poetry performance


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In terms of my practical output I draw most heav-ily from the work of Rosa Menkman, author of theGlitch Studies Manifesto and more recent text TheGlitch Moment(um). I have always been fascinat-ed by the aesthetics of broken and malfunctioningtechnology, whether pleading with my parents notto return the malfunctioning VHS tape they hador experimenting with unreliable audio conver-sion software. I find whether working with codeor digital media software, I produce my best workwhen I set out to actively break the object I amworking on or with. Recently, I have discoveredelements of a glitch subculture forming; certain

breakthrough works such as the Scott Pilgrimseries of graphic novels and film, or the first twoCrystal Castles CDs have attained mainstreamacceptance. I feel that the aesthetics of the glitchcomplement perfectly the politics of the squat and

of the hack. Whether one discovers a unique andinnovative bug in a piece of software, a back entryinto a derelict building or a flaw in network archi-tecture, one is completing the same fundamentaloperation of subversion.

XOPOS IS EVERYWHERE [2012]animated .gif based on a banner read-ing xopos is everywhere at all times.xopos is the chorus, the schizotypicalnarrator of classical tragedy. also aresearch squat in nycs pratt instituteevicted in the first days of 2012. as it issaid this is how the world ends.

society for galactic alignment.

- guy debord, 1989

in the zoneof perdition wheremy youth went

as if to completeits education, one would

have said thatthe portents of an

imminent collapse of thewhole edifice of civilisationhad made an appointment.

permanently ensconced

there were people whocould be defined only

negatively, for the goodreason that they had no job,followed no course of study,

and practicedno art.


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CAUSE && AFFECT [2012] - artists talk / THE EVENT [2012] - workshop

over the past term i have also been involved in several pedagogical experiments.attached are flyers for a theory talk held at the university of sussex, and for azine-making workshop at the brighton radical institution the cowley club.


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THE ][ BARRICADE [2012] - flyer / MASONIC YOUTH [2012] - video art

i have also been experimenting with feedback, distortion, incompatability andchaotic randomness within video art. my work, though based in glitch art,

also references poets of juxtaposition, such as eisenstein and tchaikovsky.


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Documents

97533-mobilizedscreens