Syndicate: network representation

[Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@v2.nl>]

dear friends,

and now for something completely different. for those of you who have
subscribed to this list only recently: it is a channel for a network of
people called the Syndicate that was started in jan 1996 and that connects
people working in media art and media culture, mainly in europe. the
following is some household stuff ...

at the moment, i get almost one request every week to do presentations
about the Syndicate - Kunstverein Frankfurt, a film festival in Stuttgart,
the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, Karlsruhe, Helsinki, Athens,
Sarajevo, impossible. there are a couple of other people who are also in
people's minds as 'professional core syndicalists', like Inke, but
otherwise this seems to be a healthy network of people who see themselves
as more or less peripheral.

i have struggled for a long time not to be in the maelstrom centre of this
system, and i don't want to be there. there are plenty of people who, like
trevor (see below), have experiences with the Syndicate and who should talk
about their own experiences when they are asked. this is a network it has
no centre. each of us is a node in it. there is nothing to represent here,
other than a multitude of experiences. i cannot do that any better than
others can. i have not been at the meeting in stockholm, or at the
workshops in helsinki and karlsruhe. those of you who have might be closer
to the syndicate phylum than i am at this point. (of the other 6 people who
are invited for this conference in the frankfurt kunstverein on saturday, i
think no less than 5 are on this list.)

i have to turn down many of the invitations because i cannot, and i don't
want to be, a travelling salesman of this network. it will suffer from too
much exposure, i am sure. (just as i still believe that it needs no
funding; projects initiated by the syndicate may need support, and the
people and institutions connected to it certainly do, but the Syndicate in
itself has not received funding in the last four years - other than time
and facilities donated for specific projects -, and i'd be curious to know
what people would want to fund.) the number of subscribers is rising
steadily (there are now, according to my count, 470), and it must be the
possibility of automatically filtering incoming mail that saves us from
implosion. i am glad that some of the last activities were organised by
other people (Arthur Bueno and Honor Harger did the Balkania workshop, and
David Cascuberta did the Net.Shop#2 in Karlsruhe), and hope that this trend
continues.

so, i'd be happy to discuss this, but i would be glad if i had a list of
travel-happy volunteers who want to give these Syndicate-related talks and
presentations. this is serious stuff - like the conference in Sarajevo
mentioned below (see also 1 Nov 1999 18:15:38 +0200) - and i think this
network cooperation is valuable enough that its presenation has to be taken
seriously. but i see no reason why anyone should need a certificate to talk
about it.

if you are looking for accounts of the 'standard history' of the syndicate,
go to the website and look at the info page, or at the intros to the
Readers, or browse the mail archive. it's all there.

greetings,
-a


ps: again my terminological mantra:

v2_ => a media art organisation in rotterdam
v2_east => a project initiative within v2_ (that's *only* arthur bueno and
abroeck)
syndicate => the networked family ... ;-)

(it is neither 'the V2_East Syndicate', nor 'V2-Syndicate East', or
something like this)


>From: trevor <tebatt@dds.nl>
>To: Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@v2.nl>
>Date: Wed, 17 Nov 1999 10:53:35 +0500
>Subject: Balkan conference
>
>Dear Andreas,
>
>I have just spoken to Andreas Wiesand's office about the Balkan Conference 2-4
>December in Sarajevo.
>
>It seems that they are looking forward to having someone explain the origins
>and experiences of V2-Syndicate East from a practical point of view, with the
>aim of further developing and funding such practical projects.
>
>My experiences as a participant in the network are extremely positive -but
>rather limited. So I do not concider myself qualified (without backup) to
>represent the Syndicate in any way.
>
>I therefore suggest that someone nominated by the syndicate makes immediate
>contact with the conference organizors.
>
>If, through pressure of other commitments, nobody else is available -then of
>course I would be happy to represent you to the best of my ability -but then I
>would need to have background information plus a sketch of future aims and
>requirements.
>
>Please inform me of your position as soon as possible.
>
>With friendly greetings,
>
>Trevor Batten
>tel/fax: 020-6183018
>


------Syndicate mailinglist--------------------
 Syndicate network for media culture and media art
 information and archive: http://www.v2.nl/syndicate
 to unsubscribe, write to <syndicate-request@aec.at>
 in the body of the msg: unsubscribe your@email.adress