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Thursday, March 12, 2009

Random Rules: a YouTube project curated by Marina Fokidis



From Ahmet Ogut's playlist


From Aids 3D's playlist




From AVAF's playlist



From Pablo de la Barra's playlist

Click here for URL

Random Rules: A Chanel of Artists’ Selections from YouTube.
The history of moving image seems to have ‘seriously’ diverted from its canonical route ever since the launch of YouTube, in 2005, the website which made possible for anyone who could use a computer to post a video that millions of people could watch within a few minutes. More effectively than ever before, amateur videos, music videos, footages of films, commercials and news segments as well as artists’ videos (in lesser numbers) mingle together, in a random way, free of any short of predetermined hierarchy or system.
Does amateur culture have undervalued artistic expertise?
Some would argue that this is true; however, it is neither a major concern nor a pragmatic threat. During the last decades, there have been a lot of debates about expertise versus amateurism or around the idea that everyone is an artist, etc, that it would be redundant to renegotiate these notions anew. Maybe it is more interesting to focus on the gaps and the relations between the systems of the art market and a more open mass culture market, to find some answers, which will not be fixed in anyway. Even if artists, in some cases, are reluctant to upload their works in there- at least up to now- due to reproduction and copyright issues, they still seem to frequent YouTube for inspiration, collecting information, socializing, communication, activism, ,or entertainment, among other reasons! Active use of YouTube is a short of curating, where different ‘playlists’ of people are the exhibitions and “tagging” is a process of a random archiving. Having participated in many YouTube-exchange private gatherings (mainly organised and conducted by artists) it made lots of sense to somehow explore what YouTube means to a specific intellectual community, by asking a number of artists to select videos already exciting in YouTube and create their own playlists. The idea was to create a channel (such as this one titled Random Rules, Artists selections from YouTube,). A short of paradoxical archive, or an emission in an independent media (such as YouTube) which includes all these playlists, each under the name of the artist-selector. In that plot, the uploader becomes the broadcaster or the artist, the artist become the curator or the collector, and the viewers exceed by far the number that can be contained into a normal screening room, since the channel is to be watched in a black cube setting and online at the same time.
Through the combination of this specific set of artists -as selectors- the aim remains always to come up with an anthology of different voices existing within the YouTube context. Perhaps, by watching this channel one could come across the notions of political, private, humor, narcissism, pop and DIY culture and distribution, -among others- as they result from various personal accounts in YouTube today. MF.
Artists include Andreas Angelidakis, Aids 3D, AVAF, Pablo Leon de la Barra, Erick Beltran, Keren Cyter, Jeremy Deller, Cerith Wyn Evans, Dominique Gonzalez Foerster, Dora Garcia, Rodney Graham, Annika Larsson, Matthieu Laurette, Ingo Niermann, Miltos Manetas, Ahmet Ogut, Angelo Plessas, Lisi Raskin, Linda Wallace.

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fovero project. Pws omws afto to project borei na deixtei se ena xwro oopws mouseio klp? Yparxei dinatotita h einai mono online?

Anonymous said...

it looks like the curator is "theoritising" the obvious, without any conclusions, leaving the onion unpeeled. So, youtube is a form of public display, exposure and archiving. Dah.

Anonymous said...

the best ideas are sometimes among the simpler facts! Art is not about theoritising and arriving to conclusions! If you are looking for them stay at home, because nobody else do dah.

Anonymous said...

It it all about a quest! What does youtube means to a certain intellectual, artistic community...
And if you know the work of the artists that made the playlists there are real affinities between their selections and their work!
... We all sure enjoyed doing this, the artists more than me! Plus there are various voices in youtube that become apparent in the random rules channel.
I am sure some of the artists that are reding this blog could tell you more about it.
It would be great if you leave your name...but I forgot, the greek vibe, bad comments come anonymous dah.
marina ( the curator)
this and previous post.
stay tuned
www.youtube.com/randomrules09.
Online and soon in a museum next to you.

Anonymous said...

For Sofia: After video editing, the playlists are screened one after another in a black ccube situation. The viewers can always see what they watcing and who selected it. The project will be screened in varius institution in europe this year. There will be an e-flux announcement soon and more info online. Stay tuned.
Marina

Angelo Plessas said...

@ Anonymous: I prefer not to erase comments on this blog but the last one was bitchy and personal. Better to stay on the issue.

Anonymous said...

I will rephrase then.

Marina: I m not sure you understood what I wrote: I neve encouraged theoritising, on the contrary I accused you for doing it, based on your statement about the show:

---"The active use of YouTube is a form of curating and "Different people's 'playlists' are transformed into exhibitions and "tagging" becomes a process of random archiving." ---

>This practically tells us that youtube is a form of public display, exposure and archiving, the most basic facts one could hear. It's an extremely poor perspective. Your statement is only describing what facebook is. You should demonstrate an opinion, a research direction and your over all intention.

>I m only trying to understand. For instance: what do you mean by "active use"? could there be a passive use? it's really unclear. Also: what do you mean by "transformed into exhibitions"? It's not an accurate description. In what sense do they transform? The playlist pages do not transform, they are still web pages. Perhaps you mean "are similar" or could be parallelized with exhibition spaces" ?

>I hope this doesn't sound bitchy, but isnt it a rather naive approach? A very general one? If we were to see this as a social phenomenon, shouldn't we investigate further?

>Your previous answer is also general and makes no sense. You are a curator, why is it so difficult to explain to an audience your intentions and instead dispute their curiosity? I doubt any curating project is based on a quest or the simple facts, that's degrading for the artists's work.

Finally: This is an artist-based project, not a youtube user project. The focus is on the pieces themselves, the fact they are uploaded on youtube does not really make them relevant with what you attempted to parallelize.

hope i don't get another delete for this.

Anonymous said...

correction: i meant youtube, not facebook.

Anonymous said...

we are sitting here and reading your comment aloud and we all agree:
you sound very confused.
you must be a gallerist.
xixi m

Anonymous said...

correction I meant a -gallerina- to use one of new york time's recent expressions...
yada yada
m

Anonymous said...

If M stands for Marina: Your answer reflects exactly what I described on the comment you deleted: Judging from all your online posts, you always hide behind personal quarrels that you create, just like you do now with this "gallerina" irrelevant thing, instead of clarifying your curatorial process.

So, gallerists, artists, and generally Greeks should all considered confused according to your opinion, simply because they don't understand your simplistic approaches.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous: Marina Fokides is one of the top curators in Greece, what are you talking about?

Anonymous said...

That is really scary.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Marina. I like this this idea. If you have time check this out pls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPAO-lZ4_hU

Anonymous said...

graeme: the video is amazing, it's so complete. Marina should definitely see this.

Anonymous said...

thank yoi
i ll check it out..
m

Anonymous said...

The video has the type of information that was missing from Marina's " free quest" approach.

Angelo Plessas said...

The "free quest" spirit and motive of this show was a good start for me as a participating artist.

I dont understand your arguments but I answer you very briefly.

>If you saw the playlists,
1st: you will see most of the videos are NOT created or uploaded by the artists, they are found and collected in every artist's playlist.

>Apart from the online importance of the existence of this show the exhibition process is very simple. A simulated standalone version of each playlist being played one after the other. What's your point in here? Yes they are webpages. Nobody made any DVD's or edited these videos, if that's what you mean.


I also want to add that I think a playlist can be an artwork the same way other artists use archives of printed matter etc. From an artistic point of view these are new ways to see, share and engage your world and has a much more meaningful approach in our connected -everyday reality. I think the most interesting things now happen on YouTube. What's more to investigate?

Another thing too: I think every playlist is almost like a self-portait of each artist in this show. For example the playlist of Ahmet Ogut.

YouTube is a spirit. I dont know if you ever felt it for example being with your friends and watching videos endlessly. This is something I really enjoy doing with my friends the same way people in the old days were gathering to watch a new movie or hear new records. Isnt this one a social phenomenon? This show is trying to present, this spirit.

If you are not connected with YouTube as medium in the first place, then of course this show does not have any meaning for you so spend your energy in other stuff and practices.

In any case I will update this blog with the full press release, so you can see more in depthe the curator's idea. xxx

Anonymous said...

Angelo your point of view covers me (however your blog post mentions an invitation to artists only). I never questioned youtube's social impact or this fact not being a strong exhibition theme. I just experienced an incoherence on the curator's intention when reading about it, and sadly when she tries to support it through her comments in here, she makes it sound even worse. I ve experienced that in the past with Fokide's approaches on shows (except when shes co-curating) and wanted her to be clear and a bit more solid. I admire her touch with what is contemporary, she's one of the few in Greece, however it never comes out correctly, misleading the audience to feel that her shows are only aesthetically tuned with trendy approaches.

Anonymous said...

And another major issue: Marina's english is rather "confusing". This also can make ideas "transform" (as she says) and not come out as she intended to.

Best of luck

:)

Anonymous said...

I just read her comments again, she stated that this project is about what youtube means for a specific artistic community, not users in general.

Anonymous said...

Καλα, αν βγάλετε άκρη εγώ αναλαμβάνω επιμελητής της Μπιενάλε. Ο,τι νάναι.....

Γι'αυτό έχουμε χάσει πλήρως την επαφή μας ως χώρα με το εξωτερικο. Αφού κανείς ποτέ δεν μπορεί να ανταγωνιστεί την ουσιαστική δουλειά που κάνουν παράγοντες, επιμελητές και καλλιτέχνες στο εξωτερικό.

Τα δικά μας είναι πάντα ημιμαθή και καλυμμένα πίσω από τον ιδρυματισμό ώστε να δείχνουν σημαντικότερα απότι είναι. Και το χειρότερο όλων είναι οτι δεν επηρεάζουν διόλου την πραγματικότητά μας.

Anonymous said...

blurry Blurry BLurry BLUrry BLURry BLURRy BLURRY.

Anonymous said...

Marina rules.

Anonymous said...

Marina is the best curator this country has ever seen.

Anonymous said...

Marina is an artist's dream. Go Marina!

Anonymous said...

Mhn tous akous koukla mou. Esy mia mera tha gineis dieythyntria mouseiou kai oi alloi tha fane ti skonh sou. Koita mono mprosta.

Anonymous said...

all this shit-talk and nobody pays attention to the artists, and to the actual project.

Anonymous said...

that's what always happens with fokide's projects. It's all about the tattles.

Anonymous said...

στην επιμελητρια: δεχεστε και αλλους καλλιτεχνες στο project? ή η λιστα έχει κλείσει

Anonymous said...

no, we are done with the artists selection: plessas, aggelidakis, manetas and some international trendies.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

this blabbing here is hilarious! well done marina! that's why I never miss a thing of yours, because I can feel the others' rage and empathy for your brightness. kisses, s.