Iceland douze points

RIP Michael.

1 comment June 25th, 2009

Pop Culture Post…Michael Jackson IS dead, or is he?

Having just posted about the role of the internet in cultural institutions came across an interesting example of those that lead and those that follow…or perhaps not…we’ll see later.

Icelandic Newspapers are reporting “Michael Jackson is dead” while the major news outlets are still claiming he’s only being hospitalised following cardiac arrest.

Tune in tomorrow for more tangental posts…

Add comment June 25th, 2009

Charles Leadbeater at Cornerhouse

Yesterday’s seminar at Cornerhouse proved to be a fascinating insight into how different actors in the Artworld see the promised power of Web 2.0 reshaping the balance of power in the cultural landscape.

The afternoon was split into 2 panel sessions (both chaired by Anne Bonnar) opening with Charles outlining the thinkers and doers that had helped shape his vision of “We Think” with responses from Simon Yuill and Laurie Peake.

Much of Charles’ talk went over what can be read in the commissioned essay with the central point for me being…

“We’re all sat in this room discussing the implications of Web 2.0, pre industrial, post industrial and technological tools. But to my 7 year old Ned it’s all just stuff” (I paraphrase but you get the point)

The result of this cultural shift is, the panel posited, that we are facing a new folk culture whereby the live, the experiential, and ‘the performance’ where the audience plays their part will take precedence over the artefact – or to put it in Leadbeater speak talking and doing experiences rather than enjoying experiences.

I’m going to have to consider the notion of the post-tech folk cultural before I comment further but I can’t help think that even within the notion of ‘folk culture’ there has always being those that lead and those that follow.

Tom Fleming, on the second panel suggested that ‘we build paths where people walk’, which, granted, is a good notion for those institutions that serve to sanctify the past. However, the difficulty for us at Urbis, where we are trying to keep at the cutting edge rather than commenting on established cultural collections, is how do we ensure we are part of that leading group rather than simply reporting on what has already passed? And I’m convinced that while having a blog, a twitter and a Facebook page may be part of keeping up to date with the current, it is the underlying infrastructures, relationships and trust between producers that first needs to realign itself with the shift in the ownership of information and possibilities for production.

7 comments June 25th, 2009