Saul Albert on 28 Oct 2000 11:08:39 -0000 |
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[Nettime-bold] Access Space |
This has just appeared in the November issue of "du" magazine...in German. (www.dumag.ch). Here' the English version. Access Space: the Redundant Technology Initiative get low-tech in Sheffield. The Access Space is a cyber-café in an advanced state of decomposition: clunky, steam-driven computers, eye-melting monitors and a rag-bag of tired looking mice, dot-matrix printers and unidentifiable heaps of circuitry. Every few minutes tiny robot "birds" hanging from the ceiling spring to life and fill the room with electronic chirruping. This aesthetic departure from the emerging tech-art norm of the "imac on a plinth" is a physical manifestation of what has been labeled "low-tech", a genre characterized by the use of out of date, apparently redundant technologies to produce something exciting and original. Constantly flitting from one burnt out old computer to another, James Wallbank, a core member of the Redundant Technology Initiative (RTI) tells me how the Access Space grew out of everyday RTI activities. In 1997 they sent out a flyer asking UK businesses to donate their old computer equipment for creative and eco-friendly recycling, rather than just dumping them into landfills. Cunningly combining the allures of cultural benefaction and eco-credibility worked wonders on local companies. Wallbank laughs as he recalls how, having given out 200 flyers to friends, donations flooded in and RTI panicked, hastily canceling their plans to send out a further 2000 flyers through the UK Department of Trade and Industry for fear of being buried alive. A tour of the Access Space basement reveales why: an endless maze of rooms filled from floor to ceiling with the grubby beige veterans of the information revolution. Even the RTI's larger sculptural projects, stunning arrays of ancient, crumbling technology, each requiring several tons of computer equipment could never even make a dent in this. "The obvious thing to do", says Wallbank, "was to get other people in on it." Net-art is all very well, he argues, but it's production and reception are limited to an exclusive club with a £1000 starting fee for an "entry-level" computer. The general problem of public access to technology has been one of the driving forces of the low-tech scene and explains its emergence in areas such as South Yorkshire where most people cannot afford to participate in the so-called "information society". However, the robot birds (made for Access Space by French low-tech artist Paul Granjon creator of www.zprod.org and the wonderful Cybernetic Parrot Sausage) show low-tech to be an international trend, probably because under-funded artists in most countries have to make do by recycling the effluent of the computer industry. The Access Space offers a low cost alternative to buying and mastering a new PC by allowing locals to use RTI's ever growing stockpile of re-purposed computers and encouraging collective pedagogy in the use of Open Source (free to use and modify) software. "The dominant, industry perpetuated myth about art and technology" sneers Wallbank, "is that to make "cutting edge" art one needs to use "cutting edge" technology." This prevailing lie finds many artists struggling in a never-ending cycle of fundraising to finance computer upgrades. Access Space undermines this assumption using financially worthless computers, encouraging members to use them in far more violent and interesting ways than are recommended by manufacturers. My initial shock at seeing the pile of brightly spray painted computers in the storeroom made it clear to me how inhibited my approach to computers has been. The freedom to physically engage with the computers, to cover them in paint or rip out their guts, gives a spontaneous, experimental atmosphere to the Access Space, so different from the sanitised officiousness of most "new-media labs" where permission is often required even to download programs from the Internet. Heath Bunting, retired low-tech artist (www.irational.org) has called RTI's ability to turn their lack of funds into their greatest advantage "ninja economics". It is in this area of securing funding without being slavishly dependent on business or government grants that RTI's use of low-tech works so beautifully. The company donating the computers gets the warm glow of a public relations accomplishment with none of the related responsibilities of internal funding acquisition, tax manipulation and involvement in the project. RTI gets equipment that would have been worth tens of thousands of pounds a few years previously and no corporate interference and censorship problems. Compare this to the situation when applying for loans of flashy new equipment for arts projects, where the company's PR success hinges on the art project being, as Wallbank says, "a sales demonstration for the latest technology." Wallbank grabs a pen and paper and draws me a graph showing the use value of a computer relative to its age and market value. As the market value drops off sharply after year 4 (the point at which most computers are scrapped) the use value hardly varies at all. This is how the RTI's tactics continue to work so well: as computers become more and more powerful, Access Space will get regular free upgrades as each generation of computers are thrown away. It is obvious from his polished presentation and graph drawing skills that Wallbank has been very successful at explaining the RTI idea to funding bodies and council officials, a success that is, for some reason, often frowned upon in arty circles, particularly those purporting to be anti-establishment or "radical". The reason for this is that if the supposedly deep and intricate concepts underlying an artwork can be explained in concrete terms and justified economically to non-artists and petty bureaucrats, the insinuation is that the artwork cannot possibly be radical or original. Wallbank acerbically dismisses this attitude, well aware that RTI's ability to communicate the idea effectively outside of art-world cliques has been vital to their project. The tendency to be five years out of date seems to have spread from the RTI' s use of technology to their use of publicity. The language of the Access Space's promotional leaflet is peppered with tired pseudo-corporate catchphrases: "Just do I.T." it commands, while offering "skill sharing sessions". This is definitely yesterday's hype, but somehow it still works in RTI's favor. By recycling old buzzwords, RTI is able to communicate effectively with local businesses, the managers of which have no doubt read the Internet magazines that propagate this short-lived techno-jargon. Wallbank affirms that this deliberately "clunky presentation" makes it easy for companies to grasp exactly what is going on, as well as feel comfortable with the project. The name itself, "The Redundant Technology Initiative Access Space" like the names of many of the surrounding Sheffield businesses has just the dry self-explanatory lack of ring to it that would perfectly camouflage any subversive intentions. The effect of this "redundant jargon" on official funding bodies such as the Arts Council of England is debatable. The ten-year window of opportunity that allowed any project bearing the keyword "Web" to be instantly bankrolled is now tightly closed. They either react to the cheesy hype in a similar way to the businesses, lulled into feeling calm and secure by its familiarity they somnolently allow their wallet to fall open or more likely, they actually understand enough of it to get excited and want to fund it. In the latter case the old buzzwords still work beautifully because although they sound great they carry no meaning whatsoever. And so the RTI finds itself in the pleasant position of having secured funding and made no promises as to exactly what they will do with it. However, the wide appeal of the Access Space shows that their jargon is not just a distraction. It is (as was intended by advertisers) upbeat and simple to grasp. The twinned intimidation of art-speak and techno-speak could probably confound anyone. By using techno-hype to which everyone has been constantly exposed through advertising, RTI make both the art and technology facets of their projects easily accessible to potential users of the resource. I can testify to their success in this respect, as within two hours of my arriving at Access Space I found myself infected with James' enthusiasm, rummaging through piles of techno-debris, gibbering with excitement and getting involved in their grand low-tech schemes. In fact, maybe some one reading this can help. All you need to do is dig that ancient PC out of your basement (or requisition the 500 being scrapped by your company every month), put them in a big box and send them to Sheffield. [NB - The Redundant Technology Initiative is very keen to accept your donations, particularly of computers with a 0.76 processor or better. Contact them at www.lowtech.org or e-mail rti@lowtech.org ] Saul Albert 15/08/2000 www.twenteenthcentury.com/saul _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list Nettime-bold@nettime.org http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold