I felt a longed- for solace,

the one that unties your mind,

when I took a sit on a top deck of a bus.

The city was in a sufficiently safe distance

and the planes’ humming nearby.

Triumph of the much needed unfettered solitude

in a disgrace of multilingual promiscuity.

(Szymon Szymajda)

MANIFESTO

It is a call for a new media that would carry on the tradition of Fanzines, not by its look as DIY punky clothes of the seventies and eighties available from high street shops, but as a means of obeying the mainstream culture presented in newspapers and magazines, using Situationist strategy of détournement, incorporating collaborative, reflective practice. We want to focus on two aspects, crucial as shaping modern life:

metropolis flow of digital imagery through global networks.

Electronic media that have global coverage and accessibility are very limited, concerned with everything and nothing, everyone and no one, existing as part of stream of information disabling them from seeing the modernity from its inside, lacking the distance. Media are not interested in people participating in it, even if they do a lot to convince us about that, they want more clicks and attention that means more cash from advertisers.

Blogs and artists’ websites allow us to share our individual thoughts and notions but lack possibility of representing ideas shared by a group of people.

Media clearly represents the order and economic relations of power that our society exist in. We moved from the society of individuals organized by the state to multinational corporations and even more atomized.

The emergence of electronic community deepens disappearance of real interaction between individuals.

Content of global network is organized around two dimensional visual content. The performative arts pioneered by Dadaists and those involved and relating themselves to Fluxus - for both self publishing

was not only essential but crucial (Knowles 2011) - probably the greatest development of the twentieth century is in regress, apparently present and only appreciated as its own remains exhibited in galleries.

Institutions dedicated to arts and culture nonetheless freed from being governed by the state struggle with being more than spaces for exhibiting.

Arts and artists are fetishized more than ever before. Markets has become the highest judge that too many of us look for appreciation.

The electronic media is like a modern city with the amount of discontinued, rapidly changing stimulus of images it generates and projects on human consciousness. We are overloaded with information more than ever before, our minds are limited in processing it.

Georg Simmel an early twentieth century philosopher, sociologist and critic argued that humans protect themselves against it by assuming one of two attitudes, the one of blasé or the one of exaggerated self-display (Smith 1980). The third I would argue is Beaudelaire’s flâneur or Debord’s dériver, both aware of what they are exposed to, trying to record and analyze the flow. Henri Cartier Breton’s images (Figure 1) completely reject it, the idea of decisive moment neglects it, in a desperate or naive attempt stop very nature of constantly changing environment of our presence. Quite opposite attitude, enabling reflexion comes from pictures of Henry Bond (Figrue 2-5) who doesn’t construct his images, but rather records the uncertainty of metropolis and its inhabitants apparent organization.

Figure 1: Cartier Bresson H. (1932) Behind the Gare St. Lazare, Paris

Figure 2: Bond H. (1998) Untitled from The cult of the street Figure 3: Bond H. (1998) Trainers from The cult of the street

Figure 4: Bond H. (1998) Untitled from The cult of the street Figure 5: Bond H. (1998) Untitled from Point and shoot

These mechanisms were observed in the beginning of the century by Georg Simmel, who seen the real tragedy of modern urban culture that emancipates means and transforms them to ends in themselves. Cultural development compounds social forms by its laws resulting in separating organization from the purposes that it served for (Smith 1980).

It could be clearly seen and felt by anyone who has an experience of living in modern cities or parts of it, developed in the second half of the century - a clear example to what extent a standardized, limited and organized human life environment could be.

Wolfe in his From Bauhaus to Our House (Wolfe 1979) stresses on its formal dress and reduction of bourgeois form that characterized the International Style and only mentions the fact of not taking people to an account when designing new dwellings (Figure 6). It was not Gropius intention to create

a closed and complete system, him and his colleagues were motivated by a need of developments through creative experimentation and hoped to gain varied rather than uniformed visual identity. (Whitford 1984) Nonetheless Habermass (Jameson 1983) links modernist impulse with utopian spirit of Enlightenment that was definitely very strong belief amongst Beaurocratic and industrial agents who incorporated functionalistic approach to project their vision on society, making modernization a doctrine. It resulted in locking people in homogenous concrete cells.

Figure 6: Le Corbusier (1922) Drawing from the Cite Contemporaine pour 3 millions d’Habitants

In Andreas Gursky’s spectacular works like Times Square, New York, which is 180x250cm size or Paris, Montparnasse (Figure 7-8) the buildings’ material and presence being the very central subject. If you look at pictures created by Rut Blees Luxemburg (Figure 9-10) it is the lack of people, whose existence is marked merely with windows, squares lit with electricity embedded on flat surface of buildings’ wall.

Figure 7: Gursky A. (1993) Paris, Montparnasse

Figure 8: Gursky A. (1997) Times Square, New York

Figure 9: Luxemburg R.B. (2001) Towering Inferno from A Modern Project.

Figure 10: (2001) Luxemburg R. B Vertiginous Exhilaration from A Modern Project.

Situtionists’ strategy of détournement was invented against the given order, aimed to make men’s and women’s lives in the city more bearable. Soon many of them gave up any attempts to create a clear vision of their utopia. Debord became more and more reluctant about involving any imagery (Sadler 1990). His being very suspicious about it, became to be true, more than ever, in the early nineties of the twentieth century, when we have learnt that industrial powers are capable of colonizing and exploiting practically any imagery. In fact it was the case of Bauhaus and many counter culture movements of the seventies and eighties and nineties (Klein 2000). Interplay and shifts between culture of production and production of culture usually works to benefit the more powerful player. Marxist theorists didn’t reflect on it, and it was Cultural Studies Movement that have acknowledge the need for examining the complex relationships that individual is bonded to in society by incorporating psychoanalysis, feminist, postcolonial theory and semiology (Watney 1987). Today power of imagery, and its capability of being charged and carrying different and multilayered meanings, becomes relevant more than ever in an era of ubiquitous presence of media.

My respect for fanzine publications comes from two things: one is that it is involves active practice, the other is that by operating in limited circles, it is able to develop own languages not flattening the meaning nor reducing the context.

Here I would like to bring up the works of Simone Nieweg, who has an enormous sensitivity to see the subtle colours and practices taking place on the borders of organized and quantified world because it is very humanistic and deeply informed by the context (Figure 11-12)

Figure 11: Nieweg S. (2000) Rosenkohl, Grevenbroich

Figure 12: Nieweg S. (1993) Bohnenstangen, Krefeld-Vorst

Daniel Schön in his research on learning processes (Schön 1985) stands that creative practices, in which people are participating in the process, are more efficient in gaining experiences and learning by dialogue and problem solving rather than through observation. Interaction helps in developing common language, but at the same time, he finds symbols are gradually and enormously simplified throughout successive mentions. (Garrod S., Fay N., Lee J., Oberlander J. & MacLeod T. 2007)

Flow of the images on the screen of personal computer that is the nature of a modern life needs a reflection but you need to step out of it to see it.

Bibliography:

Szymajda Sz. Text message sent from Dublin, Ireland to: Malicki Sz. on 03 March 2010 at 22:28

Knowles A. (2011) Sandwiches, Silkscreens, Swatches, and Scores: A Conversation with Alison Knowles. Weil H. J. Afterimage v. 38 no. 5. Pp. 15-19

Smith M. P. (1980) Georg Simmel: Individuality and Metropolitan Life in The City and Social Theory. Oxford, Basil Blackwell. Pp 88-122

Wolfe T. (1982) From Bauhaus To Our House. London, Jonathan Cape.

Jameson F. (1998) The Cultural Turn: Selected Writings on the Postmodern 1983-1998, London, New York, Verso

Whitford F. (1984) Bauhaus. London, Thames&Hudson. P. 198

Klein N. (2000) No logo : taking aim at the brand bullies. London, Flamingo

Sadler S. (1990). The Situationist City. Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, The MIT Press

Watney S. (1987). On The Institutions of Photography In: Photographic Workshop (LONDON) Photography/Politics Two. London, Methuen/Comedia. Pp. 187-197

Schön D. (1985) Educating the Reflective Practitioner. San Francisco, Jossey Bass

Garrod S., Fay N., Lee J., Oberlander J. & MacLeod T. (2007) Foundations of representation: Where might graphical symbol systems come from? Cognitive Science (31) pp 961-988

Scruton R. (1983) Photography and representation. London, New York, Methuen

King W. (1992) Scruton and Reasons for looking at Photographs in Neill and Ridley eds. Arguing about Art 32 (3). Pp. 258-265.

Figure 1: Cartier Bresson H. (1932) Behind the Gare St. Lazare, Paris. Available on: http://seeingphotography.tumblr.com/#1290751489 [Accessed on: 10 Apr 2011]

Figure 2: Bond H. (1998) Untitled . The cult of the street : photographs of London / by Henry Bond Bond H. London, Emily Tsingou Gallery

Figure 3: Bond H. (1998) Trainers. The cult of the street : photographs of London / by Henry Bond Bond H. London, Emily Tsingou Gallery

Figure 4: Bond H. (1998) Untitled. The cult of the street : photographs of London / by Henry Bond Bond H. London, Emily Tsingou Gallery

Figure 5: Bond H. (2000) Untitled. Henry Bond: Point and shoot. Bond H. Ostfildern : Hatje Cantz

Figure 6: Le Corbusier (1922) Drawing from the Cite Contemporaine pour 3 millions d’Habitants. In Sadler S. The Situationist City. 1998, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England, The MIT Press. P 77

Figure 7: Gursky A. (1993) Paris, Montparnasse Available on: http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2001/gursky/montparnasse_pop.html [Accessed on: 10 Apr 2011]

Figure 8: Gursky A. (1997) Times Square, New York Available on: http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=55649 [Accessed on: 10 Apr 2011]

Figure 9: Luxemburg R.B. (2001) Towering Inferno in: London, a modern project : Rut Blees Luxemburg text by Bracewell M. London, Black Dog

Figure 10: (2001) Luxemburg R. B Vertiginous Exhilaration in: London, a modern project : Rut Blees Luxemburg text by Bracewell M. London, Black Dog

Figure 11: Nieweg S. (2000) Rosenkohl, Grevenbroich Available on: http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A26446&page_number=1&template_id=1&sort_order=1 [Accesed on 10 Apr 2011]

Figure 12: Nieweg S. (1993) Bohnenstangen, Krefeld-Vorst Available on: http://www.artnet.com/artwork/426008510/140325/simone-nieweg-bohnenstangen-krefeld-vorst.html [Accesed on 10 Apr 2011]

Review of Rosemarie Trockels Show in Talbot Rice Gallery

Trockel is truly a master of revealing covert tensions braided in the culture and cultural mechanisms. Her practice also stands in opposition to tradition of so called high art, apparently a male domain in which imagery is highly sophisticated, hard to read, insistently coding tabus and relations of power, the most guarded secrets of social order. She is like expressionists 2.0 able to reflect also on the conflicts between individual with the outer world.

Go and grab some bargain stuff, or just try it for free, unlimited offer on:

Eating Spiders. Cheesy missionaries in Africa, ideology of justifying colonization and exploitation branded as Civilizing™ and Education™. How African people are represented. Do You like Feeding swans in a park?

Get: Copy me comforted, a collage, where in a centre we see of a dimmed picture of father and son, men’s culture of domination that is descended for generations like a vicious circle as a Tradition™.

Get a rocket: with free extras: curtains being a symbol of super ego, the coolest fetish of the Cold-War era with men conquering the space, ruling earth is not enough.

If you live in America go for a gun or a few of them: The perfect achievement of male ideology, to control and exercise other’s body.

Finally this may suit your desires: Cabinet with a womb, don’t worry the manual doesn’t mention women going through pregnancy and postnatal disturbances.

Tension between physicality and ideology, popular culture and modes of control screams from her quietly and precisely composed works that preserve the intuitivity driving her in depth inquiries. That’s why her statements cannot be simply reduced to a representational aspect and makes it so powerful. Her practice reminds me a lot the multilayered arts by Dadaists, especially Max Ernst, in his series reworking the ninetieth century drawings.