 | Article by
fratha (12/11/07)
About
artist Mez Breeze and artist mez breeze
 |
| VIEW PROJECT |
mez, netwurker, data[h!]bleeder, ms post modemism, mezflesque.exe, ova.kill, net.w][ho][urker, Purrsonal Areah Netwurker, Phonet][r][ix ... The pseudomyms of the Australian Internet artist Mary-Anne Breeze are as multifaceted and multilayered as is her artistic work.
Since the beginning of the World Wide Web in the mid-1990ies she has developed her own language of artistic creation called mezangelle (or: mez.angelle, _mezangelle_, m[ez]ang.elle, ...). The playful use of aspects of form and content like orthography, semantics and punctuation are mixed with the hybrid use of segmented code and programming languages, Internet-slang and literary texts. Mary-Anne Breeze creates open poetic writing processes at the intersection of speech, writing and Internet publishing applying her own code-system to all forms of media-communciation. She uses mezangelle not only as her personal form of expression but also as a critique and reflection upon the actual tendencies of contemporary artistic and cultural production on the Web. Her texts, "mangled" through associative techniques are readable (by readers of English), but only at the cost of tremendously slowed reading speed. Single words, split up in different semantic units and altered by code snippets, can be interpreted in many different ways and disrupt the traditional conventions of language with the aim to create open and process-oriented forms of communication modalities or as defined by Alan Sondheim: "Codework is a practice, not a product."
Some language theorists argue that the particular use of grammar, semantics and other linguistic categories is immediately related to the way the speaker thinks. Do you believe in such a determinism and where do you see the general influence of language on our minds and accordingly on our society?
[get ur unpack|expansion caps on kiddies, this interview isn't gonna b an easy ride - ego dolls switch off now;) ]
.....on the 1 hand i'm prodded by my institutionally-modded persona which [cmd]prompts me 2 answer:
Linguistic Determinism reads as plausible given the restrictions of the scientific method [artificial illusions of repeatability/predictability] eg the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis/Axiom [i used 2 b intrigued by this in my undergrad days]. it's mammothly n.triguing 2 assume that words sculpt>limit a purrson's experiences + that this is the defining boundary of possible behavioral ex[out]p[ut]ressions; _1984_'s "Newspeak" is a great example + reflects in part how nu_fascist western governments have [ s ]in[is]te[rly]grated such collusiv[t]e[rror-able] war terminology.
...then my nekkid-without-any-temptation-2-present-as-learned-or-sophisticated-self answers:
this type of determinism is fairly narrow in it's scope + doesn't fit snugly in2 my formulation of how language impacts. Linguistic Determinism is prefaced on manifest word[verbi]age + squashing of the experiential along a monochannel axis, as is most scientific/literary theory...all about rigid definers trapped in definition walls. there's no flux; no trans[in]ference of the tactile, the context or environmental carry-overs [currents of glance + chemicalness]. language resides within a complex interlocking of the s[v]e[rbal]nsory, a comparative acknowledgement of non-sapient communication + of interplays of adaptation + inflection. i[nside]mag[ination]e/consciousness/internal monologue tracery is all under[mined]valued in deterministic definitions.
[there's p(p)layers that live their lives happily tra(mber)pped within a pre-defined, canon-ratified, historicized-inflated society|reality - economic rationalists, competition puppets dressed in academia/institutionalised garb, racial>gender>species>label-perpetuators, all intent on compartmentalizing + categorizing. i _try_ to resist it (c the previous sentence ftl) + instead construct an everyday communic(l)a(nguage)tion predicated on flow + integration(odes)].
With mezangelle you have created your own language of artistic expression. It is highly complex and consist of a dense and continuous chain of signs and letters which results in semantically concentrated but syntactically not fixed texts. How can one imagine the process of creation, the way you are working on it?
i dreamt about this question the other nite: appropriate really......
dreamt::phase-changing micro-moments shifting thru exte[c(ute)ha]n[nelle]ded realities
dreamt::horr[l]o[ve]r.all rolled.around.my.trailing.motion.fingers
...on waking i began teasing apart the mezangelled process.
1. a trigger is in[itially.e]volved [could b ph(r)ase/code strings, a sensory cue, +/or information spark(s) via aggre(p)gation trawling].
2. a syn[es]t[ling]ax [dr(p)a(rsed)wn from my data absorbing at that time] then w[ b ]ra[nches]ps around the trigger.
3. then come the mechanisms employed 2 diffuse the impulse 2 use a [self]conscious authorial voice 2 construct the work.
they include:
/music [l(em)o(tive)ud]
/fracture-tasking [like multitasking but demanding a type of staggered attention between consciousness projecting + an intense bombarding of stimulus: eg game.system.flitting or focused.stimulus.expansion+conTr[ee]action via data absorption].
[if i let myself create in my primary authorial voice via focused/conscious attention normally associated with the creative process, all i'd produce is source code or dam(b)a({n}d{a})ged poetry].
[regulati(c)on(trol) of whe(n)re i'm creating is also a plus: this can be internally moderated (i tend 2 have outrageously expressive idea_channelling whilst trying to block out annoying passengers on long-range train trips, tho this could have 2 do with music pumped @ ear-bleeding lvls;)].
4. then comes the compiling: pie[r]cing 2gether via a streaming process of generating>constructing>analysing>re[m({h}ash)ix]constructing>m[f]ixing>optimizing etc blah until it has some type of internal consistency.
5. my wurks r never really finished; they kinda hang together in a faux_fixed state, rdy.4.the.next.incarnation.
Your work has been reviewed by literature-scholars, technology-journalists and classical newspapers as well as by the Visual Art and Net Art scene. Where are the boundaries and the frame setting of your work? Or do you rather agree to Barthes who argues that "interdisciplinarity begins effectively, when the solidarity of the old disciplines breaks down (...) in the interest of a new object and a new language"?
#boundaries = accept[raditi(can)on(ic)al]ed definiti[c]on[ception]s of wot comprises knowledge.
#frameworks are the values assigned 2 keep knowledge in an acceptable [status quo] range.
it's an incredibly interesting time 2 b culturally active with all that's occurring with the immediacy of inform[edia]ational_change + the subtle b[g]r[adual]eakdowns of institutionalised structures [watch the RIAA flail!] [see bands (radiohead, saul williams) release music unshackled from the bloated major_label infrastructure!][see the courts acknowledge bloggers as journalists!]. these incremental_changes inform m[e +]y wurk more than heightened proclamations of wot makes interdisciplinarity possible. i'm concentrating more on a type of reality_flexing than substant[rad]i[c]ally altering established disciplines. i [seek 2] contribute but in a micro_format designed 2 reflect my expressive concerns rather than some grandiose overarching resistance. i don't demand a type of polaris[blank]e[t]d coupling 2 the new|future or against the old|past.
Your work has been compared to that of Shakespeare, Joyce and Dickinson. Who are your (literary and/or (visual) art historical) idols?
I'm not big on id[oll]ealisation or ego viewed as an exclusive housing of talent. So instead i'll give u a list of influences>tools>inspirations [by no means complete]:
#kimba the white lion + astro boy [manga/anime + not the bastardised disney versions].
#david cronenberg [earlier visceral works, specially _dead ringers_: "gynecological instruments for operating on mutant women"!!].
#consolidated [specially the album _friendly fascism_].
#jesus christ sculptures|pictures [as a kid forced 2 go 2 mass + observing them + the red+gold t(sp)a(ce)pestries while trapped in droning.freezing.cathedrals].
#giacometti [both alberto + diego].
#horror [j horror, b+z-grade, splatterpunk, romero, craven etc - not gorno tho].
#new order [before gillian left + the inscriptions on the vinyl i had as a teenager] + joy division b4 them [poor ian:/].
#MUDS.
#_screamadelica_.
#dr who [jellybeans + the multicoloured scarf!].
#donkey_kong [game boy bleepage].
#frida kahlo, sylvia plath, virginia woolf, stevie case [4 wot - in various degrees - not 2 become].
#_ghost in the shell_ [1+11].
#cindy sherman.
#non-euclidian geometry [thanks gina].
#john wyndam [triffids! triffids! 1 of the 1st books i never wanted 2 end].
#snapper [a duck i had when i was about 8?] + tahnee [my 17-yr old border collie] [both taught me (2) respect].
#unix [shelled + otherwise].
#narnia.
#altered states of consciousness [in many forms].
#_nevermind_.
#_aeon flux_ + _the maxx_ [_MTV oddities_ ftw|wtf!].
#_1984_ [(book) scar(r)ed the shite outta me at 13].
#h(tr)ip_hop [the herd, M.I.A, regurgitator, saul williams @present].
#seasons [wonderment, still, @the changing].
#bill burroughs.
#ReBirth RB-338.
#_DOOM_ [+ _Quake_, but mostly _DOOM_].
#sci-fi + cyberpunk [specially j ballard, charles stross, bill gibson (minus _all tomorrow's parties_ + _spook country_ ) (eww)].
#LaTeX [+ LaTeX2e].
#_raw like sushi_.
#sociology [2 that kooky lecturer who's name i've since forgotten, i say thx:)].
#koko [the gorilla].
#_ren & stimpy_ ["it's loggg-ogg, logg-ogg, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood"].
#anything at all by dennis potter [even with the potential misogyny].
#a broken stereo i had when i was 16 [scratching/remixing/altering the single _subculture_ without realizing].
#sam coleridge [_kubla khan_ + _rhyme of_, obviously].
#LittleDog + BigDog.
#_sin_.
#lars von trier.
#_jabberwocky_.
#kathy acker.
#viewing competition>power as destru[addi]ctive.
#_doolittle_.
#systems_theory.
#integer.
#_brazil_.
#the complexity [+ difference] of emotional "intelligence" + comparative psychology.
#_house of leaves_ [but *not* _only revolutions_: wot a try-hard overblown disappointment that was].
#permaculture.
#max headroom.
#adam jones.
#mozilla.
#_ Aenima_.
#alex [african grey parrot].
#silence, solitude, risk, curiosity, collaboration, humor, connection [+ wot can result].
#_THX 1138_.
#situationist internationalists.
#wakamaru.
#curve, pnau, bloc party, radiohead, tricky, underworld, NIN, the shamen, billy bragg, aphex twin [i'll stop there].
#phoenix + frogger [hrs-long arcade gaming @the local takeaway when i was 12. with.salty.chips, yes pls].
#_tetsuo_ [1+2].
#netwurki[mave]ng [the range is huge but mostly soc_nets/rss atm].
#the value of chimera [freaks ftw!]
#theatre of disco.
#perl.
#academia [learning the limitations of it].
#libraries [in all senses of the word].
#_brave new world_.
#post_structuralism [duh].
#the concept of ARGS [still unrealised in terms of potentiality].
#david lynch [dj_ing drunk @a _twin peaks_ party].
#dreams [perpetually].
#peter greenaway [_the cook the thief etc_].
#richard kelly.
#python.
#chris cunningham.
#_duke nukem[3D]_, _half life[1+ 2]_, everquest [1 only] & _world of warcraft_.
In an interview for the frAme-journal you mention that your "prime n.spiration [for the creation of mezangelle] was reality_shifting ... of constructing a new m[c]o[mmunication]dality + m.bracing net.worked shifts + m.mergent practices in the online medium". Where is the point of departure for your texts and where do you want them to end up: in a critical online discourse about the Internet?
there isn't really a discernable begin+end point 2[or 4] my txts|wurks as they're not linear or static but exist in an artifically_induced finishing state. i do enjoy overlapping theory with(in) creative>channelled>versional output, but even then the more [r]e[gular]xpressive wurks end up operating as a type of hybrid.theoretical.discourse anyway. much of my present output questions the concepts of "reality" + "virtual" + their systematic definition crumbling. i'm exploring how this disintegration may lead 2 a continuum approach of the real<--->virtual + how this may shake equating virtual participation with distinct otherness via branding it escapism. i'm currently invest[l]i[vin]gating wot lies in the cross_ovas of these reality_states + the layered interactions that result. 4 eg in the MMOG World of Warcraft i'm intrigued by the interactions that occur there via:
*proscribed/in_built game narratives
*NPCs [non-player characters] +
*players/characters/toons/avatars
*the variance that results when players decide 2 subvert pre-set game conventions
*variables involved in recording/maintaining such interactions
*the transcriptive results
/VOIP such as Vent|Skype|Teamspeak
/video recording software such as Fraps
/meatspace contact including physical encounters etc
/the waves of resulting engagements + clustered behaviours
[see: _/t ha[rm.a]nd.deep.in_ ].
...this instance [i hope those in the WoW-kno will 4give the pun;)] illustrates my type of practical|creative critical discourse in action. in terms of where my wurks "end up"....they'll exist in their present state[ s ] 4 as long as ppl choose 2 access>search>engage>add-or-subtract 2/4rm them.
Instead of alternative media and technology systems you are using popular facilities like Blogger-accounts, the Snap Preview-feature or Wikipedia-entries for your artworks. Asked provocatively: don't you care about the "Google-controversy" or do you enter the system to crack it from the inside?
i make use of + s[ub|consciously]cavenge 4rm _everywhere_ + i'll adapt contemporary software projections until they lie @the cusp of [f]u[nction]sab[le]ility. i'm all about spiking in the cultural flow but also about knitting 2gether the unexpected [which includes cobbling 2gether proprietary+open_source+copyleft fodder]. i do present certain alternatives in terms of advocating open_source where i can *but* i also happily employ wotever software reson[fluctu]ates. i will test>embrace>apply woteva [da]t[a]ool seems 2 fit @ the time.
The Wikipedia-entry of mezangelle was actually put at a list of articles for deletion. Do you care about the fact that the "producers" of the actual Internet-culture don't mind carefully about the artistic approach to what is happening around them?
after my dispute with wikipedia re: deletion of the mezangelle article + the inherent irregularities it hi-lighted in the wikipedia system, u'd assume i wouldn't feel comfortable using it as a source of information [cf above links]. howeva, the potentiality + specific c[lustering]ontributions r far more important than its hierarchical-mimicked structure that allows for unchecked participation by ad hoc editors. those editors [+ those like them] that choose to ratify information via [a chaotic=inconsistent] traditional academic|historicised route in an attempt 2 define how cultural landscapes lie [both online + off] really don't gel well with my positioning. they're regulators of culture who replicate dynamics carved within expressive confines out-of-step with the n.credible rewriting of hub_networking or flattening of creators|absorbers|audiences [think: Facebookers, (micro)Bloggers + Twitterers]. soc_net infoclimates r redefining m[eme]odes 2wards anything _but_ the predicated + mite just b rewriting the market|canon via a removal of the exclusivity of function according 2 individual creator labels [such as an artist, definer, teacher]. i pay significant attn 2 ppl who ca[wo]n't label wot they do.
Your work has been shown extensively in various exhibitions and on different Internet platforms. How can you imagine to be displayed in the White Cube concept of a traditional museum? Would you like to see your work in this context or do you think, this would be an inappropriate way of presentation?
it's been extensively tried tho not successfully so far [then again i haven't seen most of the white_cubed display of my wurks so I can't really judge adequately]. as i'm not really classifiable as an Artist [with the capital "A"] + prefer ch[d]a[ta]nnel_mixing via - 4 instance - commercial MMO's + proprietary software, the output isn't exactly a viable|displayable "art form" as such. there's no preddy u[gly]ncomplicated video|snaps or manifestations either that can be easily commodified|recorded|monetized + perpetuated. i imagine these channel_[re]mixes rn't going to make it 2 any white-cubed walls anytime soon:)
if, howeva, someone could capture:
*echos of soc_net n.teractions eg Facebook profiles that expose a new type of psychology|self-portrait through unc[micr]onscious narratives [playing out thru actions such as updating status msgs, whos removes groups + adds t[w]he[n]m, who edits their profile + when, who chooses to display status indicators etc].
*my idea of player-entities as _charavatars_: ie a mix of a fictionalised character concept that actualizes in terms of a projected persona [ie a mechanical|visual shell that houses ego (via imagined transmission)], character encoding [in the code page|charset sense], and the willing suspension of disbelief required 4 seamless avatar adoption rather than the mainstream ideal of avatar-as-basic-ego-projection via a similar geo-physical|psychological skin.
*a type of MMOE's functional architecture [including server setup + performance, actual manifestation of the world's descriptors|modifiers|engines used|usability|scalability + reliability of it's "reality" flow] ie it's _fauxtecture_.
...+ translate those in2 a gallery/museum setting without losing any genuineness, then feel free to get in contact;)
Thx for this interview!
Since the beginning of the World Wide Web in the mid-1990ies she has developed her own language of artistic creation called mezangelle (or: mez.angelle, _mezangelle_, m[ez]ang.elle, ...). The playful use of aspects of form and content like orthography, semantics and punctuation are mixed with the hybrid use of segmented code and programming languages, Internet-slang and literary texts. Mary-Anne Breeze creates open poetic writing processes at the intersection of speech, writing and Internet publishing applying her own code-system to all forms of media-communciation. She uses mezangelle not only as her personal form of expression but also as a critique and reflection upon the actual tendencies of contemporary artistic and cultural production on the Web. Her texts, "mangled" through associative techniques are readable (by readers of English), but only at the cost of tremendously slowed reading speed. Single words, split up in different semantic units and altered by code snippets, can be interpreted in many different ways and disrupt the traditional conventions of language with the aim to create open and process-oriented forms of communication modalities or as defined by Alan Sondheim: "Codework is a practice, not a product."
Some language theorists argue that the particular use of grammar, semantics and other linguistic categories is immediately related to the way the speaker thinks. Do you believe in such a determinism and where do you see the general influence of language on our minds and accordingly on our society?
[get ur unpack|expansion caps on kiddies, this interview isn't gonna b an easy ride - ego dolls switch off now;) ]
.....on the 1 hand i'm prodded by my institutionally-modded persona which [cmd]prompts me 2 answer:
Linguistic Determinism reads as plausible given the restrictions of the scientific method [artificial illusions of repeatability/predictability] eg the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis/Axiom [i used 2 b intrigued by this in my undergrad days]. it's mammothly n.triguing 2 assume that words sculpt>limit a purrson's experiences + that this is the defining boundary of possible behavioral ex[out]p[ut]ressions; _1984_'s "Newspeak" is a great example + reflects in part how nu_fascist western governments have [ s ]in[is]te[rly]grated such collusiv[t]e[rror-able] war terminology.
...then my nekkid-without-any-temptation-2-present-as-learned-or-sophisticated-self answers:
this type of determinism is fairly narrow in it's scope + doesn't fit snugly in2 my formulation of how language impacts. Linguistic Determinism is prefaced on manifest word[verbi]age + squashing of the experiential along a monochannel axis, as is most scientific/literary theory...all about rigid definers trapped in definition walls. there's no flux; no trans[in]ference of the tactile, the context or environmental carry-overs [currents of glance + chemicalness]. language resides within a complex interlocking of the s[v]e[rbal]nsory, a comparative acknowledgement of non-sapient communication + of interplays of adaptation + inflection. i[nside]mag[ination]e/consciousness/internal monologue tracery is all under[mined]valued in deterministic definitions.
[there's p(p)layers that live their lives happily tra(mber)pped within a pre-defined, canon-ratified, historicized-inflated society|reality - economic rationalists, competition puppets dressed in academia/institutionalised garb, racial>gender>species>label-perpetuators, all intent on compartmentalizing + categorizing. i _try_ to resist it (c the previous sentence ftl) + instead construct an everyday communic(l)a(nguage)tion predicated on flow + integration(odes)].
With mezangelle you have created your own language of artistic expression. It is highly complex and consist of a dense and continuous chain of signs and letters which results in semantically concentrated but syntactically not fixed texts. How can one imagine the process of creation, the way you are working on it?
i dreamt about this question the other nite: appropriate really......
dreamt::phase-changing micro-moments shifting thru exte[c(ute)ha]n[nelle]ded realities
dreamt::horr[l]o[ve]r.all rolled.around.my.trailing.motion.fingers
...on waking i began teasing apart the mezangelled process.
1. a trigger is in[itially.e]volved [could b ph(r)ase/code strings, a sensory cue, +/or information spark(s) via aggre(p)gation trawling].
2. a syn[es]t[ling]ax [dr(p)a(rsed)wn from my data absorbing at that time] then w[ b ]ra[nches]ps around the trigger.
3. then come the mechanisms employed 2 diffuse the impulse 2 use a [self]conscious authorial voice 2 construct the work.
they include:
/music [l(em)o(tive)ud]
/fracture-tasking [like multitasking but demanding a type of staggered attention between consciousness projecting + an intense bombarding of stimulus: eg game.system.flitting or focused.stimulus.expansion+conTr[ee]action via data absorption].
[if i let myself create in my primary authorial voice via focused/conscious attention normally associated with the creative process, all i'd produce is source code or dam(b)a({n}d{a})ged poetry].
[regulati(c)on(trol) of whe(n)re i'm creating is also a plus: this can be internally moderated (i tend 2 have outrageously expressive idea_channelling whilst trying to block out annoying passengers on long-range train trips, tho this could have 2 do with music pumped @ ear-bleeding lvls;)].
4. then comes the compiling: pie[r]cing 2gether via a streaming process of generating>constructing>analysing>re[m({h}ash)ix]constructing>m[f]ixing>optimizing etc blah until it has some type of internal consistency.
5. my wurks r never really finished; they kinda hang together in a faux_fixed state, rdy.4.the.next.incarnation.
Your work has been reviewed by literature-scholars, technology-journalists and classical newspapers as well as by the Visual Art and Net Art scene. Where are the boundaries and the frame setting of your work? Or do you rather agree to Barthes who argues that "interdisciplinarity begins effectively, when the solidarity of the old disciplines breaks down (...) in the interest of a new object and a new language"?
#boundaries = accept[raditi(can)on(ic)al]ed definiti[c]on[ception]s of wot comprises knowledge.
#frameworks are the values assigned 2 keep knowledge in an acceptable [status quo] range.
it's an incredibly interesting time 2 b culturally active with all that's occurring with the immediacy of inform[edia]ational_change + the subtle b[g]r[adual]eakdowns of institutionalised structures [watch the RIAA flail!] [see bands (radiohead, saul williams) release music unshackled from the bloated major_label infrastructure!][see the courts acknowledge bloggers as journalists!]. these incremental_changes inform m[e +]y wurk more than heightened proclamations of wot makes interdisciplinarity possible. i'm concentrating more on a type of reality_flexing than substant[rad]i[c]ally altering established disciplines. i [seek 2] contribute but in a micro_format designed 2 reflect my expressive concerns rather than some grandiose overarching resistance. i don't demand a type of polaris[blank]e[t]d coupling 2 the new|future or against the old|past.
Your work has been compared to that of Shakespeare, Joyce and Dickinson. Who are your (literary and/or (visual) art historical) idols?
I'm not big on id[oll]ealisation or ego viewed as an exclusive housing of talent. So instead i'll give u a list of influences>tools>inspirations [by no means complete]:
#kimba the white lion + astro boy [manga/anime + not the bastardised disney versions].
#david cronenberg [earlier visceral works, specially _dead ringers_: "gynecological instruments for operating on mutant women"!!].
#consolidated [specially the album _friendly fascism_].
#jesus christ sculptures|pictures [as a kid forced 2 go 2 mass + observing them + the red+gold t(sp)a(ce)pestries while trapped in droning.freezing.cathedrals].
#giacometti [both alberto + diego].
#horror [j horror, b+z-grade, splatterpunk, romero, craven etc - not gorno tho].
#new order [before gillian left + the inscriptions on the vinyl i had as a teenager] + joy division b4 them [poor ian:/].
#MUDS.
#_screamadelica_.
#dr who [jellybeans + the multicoloured scarf!].
#donkey_kong [game boy bleepage].
#frida kahlo, sylvia plath, virginia woolf, stevie case [4 wot - in various degrees - not 2 become].
#_ghost in the shell_ [1+11].
#cindy sherman.
#non-euclidian geometry [thanks gina].
#john wyndam [triffids! triffids! 1 of the 1st books i never wanted 2 end].
#snapper [a duck i had when i was about 8?] + tahnee [my 17-yr old border collie] [both taught me (2) respect].
#unix [shelled + otherwise].
#narnia.
#altered states of consciousness [in many forms].
#_nevermind_.
#_aeon flux_ + _the maxx_ [_MTV oddities_ ftw|wtf!].
#_1984_ [(book) scar(r)ed the shite outta me at 13].
#h(tr)ip_hop [the herd, M.I.A, regurgitator, saul williams @present].
#seasons [wonderment, still, @the changing].
#bill burroughs.
#ReBirth RB-338.
#_DOOM_ [+ _Quake_, but mostly _DOOM_].
#sci-fi + cyberpunk [specially j ballard, charles stross, bill gibson (minus _all tomorrow's parties_ + _spook country_ ) (eww)].
#LaTeX [+ LaTeX2e].
#_raw like sushi_.
#sociology [2 that kooky lecturer who's name i've since forgotten, i say thx:)].
#koko [the gorilla].
#_ren & stimpy_ ["it's loggg-ogg, logg-ogg, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood"].
#anything at all by dennis potter [even with the potential misogyny].
#a broken stereo i had when i was 16 [scratching/remixing/altering the single _subculture_ without realizing].
#sam coleridge [_kubla khan_ + _rhyme of_, obviously].
#LittleDog + BigDog.
#_sin_.
#lars von trier.
#_jabberwocky_.
#kathy acker.
#viewing competition>power as destru[addi]ctive.
#_doolittle_.
#systems_theory.
#integer.
#_brazil_.
#the complexity [+ difference] of emotional "intelligence" + comparative psychology.
#_house of leaves_ [but *not* _only revolutions_: wot a try-hard overblown disappointment that was].
#permaculture.
#max headroom.
#adam jones.
#mozilla.
#_ Aenima_.
#alex [african grey parrot].
#silence, solitude, risk, curiosity, collaboration, humor, connection [+ wot can result].
#_THX 1138_.
#situationist internationalists.
#wakamaru.
#curve, pnau, bloc party, radiohead, tricky, underworld, NIN, the shamen, billy bragg, aphex twin [i'll stop there].
#phoenix + frogger [hrs-long arcade gaming @the local takeaway when i was 12. with.salty.chips, yes pls].
#_tetsuo_ [1+2].
#netwurki[mave]ng [the range is huge but mostly soc_nets/rss atm].
#the value of chimera [freaks ftw!]
#theatre of disco.
#perl.
#academia [learning the limitations of it].
#libraries [in all senses of the word].
#_brave new world_.
#post_structuralism [duh].
#the concept of ARGS [still unrealised in terms of potentiality].
#david lynch [dj_ing drunk @a _twin peaks_ party].
#dreams [perpetually].
#peter greenaway [_the cook the thief etc_].
#richard kelly.
#python.
#chris cunningham.
#_duke nukem[3D]_, _half life[1+ 2]_, everquest [1 only] & _world of warcraft_.
In an interview for the frAme-journal you mention that your "prime n.spiration [for the creation of mezangelle] was reality_shifting ... of constructing a new m[c]o[mmunication]dality + m.bracing net.worked shifts + m.mergent practices in the online medium". Where is the point of departure for your texts and where do you want them to end up: in a critical online discourse about the Internet?
there isn't really a discernable begin+end point 2[or 4] my txts|wurks as they're not linear or static but exist in an artifically_induced finishing state. i do enjoy overlapping theory with(in) creative>channelled>versional output, but even then the more [r]e[gular]xpressive wurks end up operating as a type of hybrid.theoretical.discourse anyway. much of my present output questions the concepts of "reality" + "virtual" + their systematic definition crumbling. i'm exploring how this disintegration may lead 2 a continuum approach of the real<--->virtual + how this may shake equating virtual participation with distinct otherness via branding it escapism. i'm currently invest[l]i[vin]gating wot lies in the cross_ovas of these reality_states + the layered interactions that result. 4 eg in the MMOG World of Warcraft i'm intrigued by the interactions that occur there via:
*proscribed/in_built game narratives
*NPCs [non-player characters] +
*players/characters/toons/avatars
*the variance that results when players decide 2 subvert pre-set game conventions
*variables involved in recording/maintaining such interactions
*the transcriptive results
/VOIP such as Vent|Skype|Teamspeak
/video recording software such as Fraps
/meatspace contact including physical encounters etc
/the waves of resulting engagements + clustered behaviours
[see: _/t ha[rm.a]nd.deep.in_ ].
...this instance [i hope those in the WoW-kno will 4give the pun;)] illustrates my type of practical|creative critical discourse in action. in terms of where my wurks "end up"....they'll exist in their present state[ s ] 4 as long as ppl choose 2 access>search>engage>add-or-subtract 2/4rm them.
Instead of alternative media and technology systems you are using popular facilities like Blogger-accounts, the Snap Preview-feature or Wikipedia-entries for your artworks. Asked provocatively: don't you care about the "Google-controversy" or do you enter the system to crack it from the inside?
i make use of + s[ub|consciously]cavenge 4rm _everywhere_ + i'll adapt contemporary software projections until they lie @the cusp of [f]u[nction]sab[le]ility. i'm all about spiking in the cultural flow but also about knitting 2gether the unexpected [which includes cobbling 2gether proprietary+open_source+copyleft fodder]. i do present certain alternatives in terms of advocating open_source where i can *but* i also happily employ wotever software reson[fluctu]ates. i will test>embrace>apply woteva [da]t[a]ool seems 2 fit @ the time.
The Wikipedia-entry of mezangelle was actually put at a list of articles for deletion. Do you care about the fact that the "producers" of the actual Internet-culture don't mind carefully about the artistic approach to what is happening around them?
after my dispute with wikipedia re: deletion of the mezangelle article + the inherent irregularities it hi-lighted in the wikipedia system, u'd assume i wouldn't feel comfortable using it as a source of information [cf above links]. howeva, the potentiality + specific c[lustering]ontributions r far more important than its hierarchical-mimicked structure that allows for unchecked participation by ad hoc editors. those editors [+ those like them] that choose to ratify information via [a chaotic=inconsistent] traditional academic|historicised route in an attempt 2 define how cultural landscapes lie [both online + off] really don't gel well with my positioning. they're regulators of culture who replicate dynamics carved within expressive confines out-of-step with the n.credible rewriting of hub_networking or flattening of creators|absorbers|audiences [think: Facebookers, (micro)Bloggers + Twitterers]. soc_net infoclimates r redefining m[eme]odes 2wards anything _but_ the predicated + mite just b rewriting the market|canon via a removal of the exclusivity of function according 2 individual creator labels [such as an artist, definer, teacher]. i pay significant attn 2 ppl who ca[wo]n't label wot they do.
Your work has been shown extensively in various exhibitions and on different Internet platforms. How can you imagine to be displayed in the White Cube concept of a traditional museum? Would you like to see your work in this context or do you think, this would be an inappropriate way of presentation?
it's been extensively tried tho not successfully so far [then again i haven't seen most of the white_cubed display of my wurks so I can't really judge adequately]. as i'm not really classifiable as an Artist [with the capital "A"] + prefer ch[d]a[ta]nnel_mixing via - 4 instance - commercial MMO's + proprietary software, the output isn't exactly a viable|displayable "art form" as such. there's no preddy u[gly]ncomplicated video|snaps or manifestations either that can be easily commodified|recorded|monetized + perpetuated. i imagine these channel_[re]mixes rn't going to make it 2 any white-cubed walls anytime soon:)
if, howeva, someone could capture:
*echos of soc_net n.teractions eg Facebook profiles that expose a new type of psychology|self-portrait through unc[micr]onscious narratives [playing out thru actions such as updating status msgs, whos removes groups + adds t[w]he[n]m, who edits their profile + when, who chooses to display status indicators etc].
*my idea of player-entities as _charavatars_: ie a mix of a fictionalised character concept that actualizes in terms of a projected persona [ie a mechanical|visual shell that houses ego (via imagined transmission)], character encoding [in the code page|charset sense], and the willing suspension of disbelief required 4 seamless avatar adoption rather than the mainstream ideal of avatar-as-basic-ego-projection via a similar geo-physical|psychological skin.
*a type of MMOE's functional architecture [including server setup + performance, actual manifestation of the world's descriptors|modifiers|engines used|usability|scalability + reliability of it's "reality" flow] ie it's _fauxtecture_.
...+ translate those in2 a gallery/museum setting without losing any genuineness, then feel free to get in contact;)
Thx for this interview!
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