Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) - tactical media...
One of CAE's projects at Kassel's documenta this year was to put up a banner showing income distribution worldwide. in order to show the last one percentile of super-rich on a correct scale, they hired a helicopter to take people to 225m. rumors have it that the original intention of selling tickets for the ride was not at all successful and the raffle initiated to ensure plebeian participation did also not succeed to fill the space available. so, and that is what i heard firsthand, passer-bys were invited to a free helicopter ride! man, had i known about that!
yes, indeed, drastic income inequality is a problem - and has been for a long time. tactical representation of data is also a problem and equally persistent. i observe a tendency of the art/sy community and its associeted industries to nonchalanty and at times offensively avow itself to lopsidedness. why?
on their own website, CAE declare their members to be media experts who use media tactically. i wonder what their tactical target group was that day? their own industry's scouts and agents (in order to secure their next gig and hence their next income) or Joane Doe from the street?
feeling encouraged to publish warped data myself, the average Joane Doe that i spoke to seemed, firstly, to be preoccupied with the environmental consequences of the performance (including noise pollution) and, secondly, thought that the money would have been better spent otherwise.
i wonder how many people that day pondered upon income inequality (or felt inspired to consider this topic any other day thereafter). maybe Joane Doe's platitude (of spending money otherwise) is less plain than is obvious: maybe for her an alternative spending might ACTUALLY make MORE sense. according to studies conducted by a Kassel economics professor, mr Gerd-Michael Hellstern, 55,2% of documenta visitors (in 2002) had an academic degree and not even 1% were workers (in 2007). this documenta's budget is EUR 24,6 m, money spent for a service which is apparently not consumed by Joane Doe (and nothing much is being done by the documenta to convince ms Doe to come consume). whose tactics is this?
yes, indeed, drastic income inequality is a problem - and has been for a long time. tactical representation of data is also a problem and equally persistent. i observe a tendency of the art/sy community and its associeted industries to nonchalanty and at times offensively avow itself to lopsidedness. why?
on their own website, CAE declare their members to be media experts who use media tactically. i wonder what their tactical target group was that day? their own industry's scouts and agents (in order to secure their next gig and hence their next income) or Joane Doe from the street?
feeling encouraged to publish warped data myself, the average Joane Doe that i spoke to seemed, firstly, to be preoccupied with the environmental consequences of the performance (including noise pollution) and, secondly, thought that the money would have been better spent otherwise.
i wonder how many people that day pondered upon income inequality (or felt inspired to consider this topic any other day thereafter). maybe Joane Doe's platitude (of spending money otherwise) is less plain than is obvious: maybe for her an alternative spending might ACTUALLY make MORE sense. according to studies conducted by a Kassel economics professor, mr Gerd-Michael Hellstern, 55,2% of documenta visitors (in 2002) had an academic degree and not even 1% were workers (in 2007). this documenta's budget is EUR 24,6 m, money spent for a service which is apparently not consumed by Joane Doe (and nothing much is being done by the documenta to convince ms Doe to come consume). whose tactics is this?
morino - 20. Jun, 20:27
their own industry...