DEEP
MEDIA MANIPULATION
One
of my first net.art experiences and participations was taking part in the "Hybrid
WorkSpace" project at Documenta X in Kassel, July to August 1997. I participated
through Internet link, a newsgroup, sending messages which were displayed on
monitors in a space at the Orangerie building. Manifestation was the initiative
of V2_East/Syndicate organization, which started out as an 'East-West initiative'
as a platform for discussing the changing role of media culture in the
'new Europe'. Some of proclaimed keywords were: building networks, questioning
ideologies, shifting borders, critique of the 'Western gaze', culture in a 'New
Europe', culture-and-money, culture-and-power, catching up (with technology,
ideology, economy etc.) versus keeping one's own identity... As a newcomer
to the net (bought my first PC '386' in November 1996) and after a six years
of isolation in the war torn Yugoslavia, under cultural, economical and communication
embargo by UN since 1992, I was so happy and excited that I can finally communicate
with my fellow artists, net activists, intellectuals from Europe and worldwide.
"Hybrid WorkSpace" was an ideal opportunity for that, and the context
of Documenta X in which the event took place gave it a note of seriousness and
feeling of being at the right place in the right time. It seamed that six years
of embargo will be surmounted in a hip, because now I had an opportunity to
speak free, open, loud about problems I kept in my mind for so long time.
Pit
Schultz and Geert Lovink (cofounders of Nettime and 
authors
of Hybrid WorkSpace concept) were calling people through mailinglists: Hereinspaziert!
please take a walk on the website, join the conversation, expand your hot minds,
point your browser to our web/enhanced newsgroup environment specially build
up for WorkSpace. Eleven groups under eleven topics are open for your
contribution.
Who
could resist such an enthusiastic and kind invitation to participate, open
call to discuss and contribute. So I started to send my contributions
to the WorkSpace newsgroup
on two discussion groups: "deep_europe"
and "cross_the_border"
(you can still find them online under name "aart"). A thread of eight
articles was formed on the Deep Europe list under my title "Broken European
Dream" ( published 18. 07 - 2. 09. 1997). It was dedicated to civil
wars and split of Yugoslavia. Also my article "Borders on Internet",
about economic inequality in the Internet communication, was published on the
Hybrid WorkSpace newsgroup "Cross the Border". Here are two of my
articlles sent to Hybrid WorkSpace newsgroup:
|
Subject: BROKEN
EUROPEAN DREAM
From: aart <aart@eunet.yu>
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 16:00:00 METDST
* * * * *
The former Yugoslavia, which was torned apart by the war, was a good model
for future Europe. Many nations (about 20) living together, many languages,
many religions together. Was the old and tired Europe
jalous of our hapiness and peacefulness when it decided, with the help
of USA, to destroy our country?
Yes, European countries supported nationalism and separatism in former
Yugoslavia, and they hurried to recognize the new made countries which
separated from Yugoslavia. Even though these separations were one-sided
and forced, Germay and its allies gave
enormous amounts of money and weapons to support the struggle of separated
nationalistic countries, the administrative parts of former federal republic
of Yugoslavia. They succeded to provoke war in all parts from which the
federal Yugoslav army had to withdrow under the international pressure,
and they even put sanctions upon the rest of Yugoslavia because it was
fighting to preserve the country as a whole.
Europe succeded in
breaking this country, and it is now
satisfied I suppose. But how does Europe imagine to make its own union
by breaking other countries? The former Yugoslavia was a good example
of cohabitance of many diferent nations, and Europe lost the chance to
use this experience. I am afraid it has lost its chances for good. America
was supporting this beceuse it doesn't need a strong Europe, so USA and
Europe can together be satisfied for breaking Yugoslavia, an European
dream which was already a reality.
Andrej Tisma
Subject: BORDERS ON INTERNET
From: aart <aart@eunet.yu>
Date: Fri, 04 Jul 1997 19:26:32 METDST
* * * * *
There are borders everywhere, even on Internet (!). For example some countries
have ECONOMIC borders for participation in the Internet communication.
In Yugoslavia (Serbia) where I live and work, where everage monthly incomes
are about $300 I have to spend $100 monthly to get in touch with You (payment
for local server is about $20 for 10 hours, and $40 for phone impulses.
So the problem is: I want to communicate, but I also must eat and pay
other things for my, and my familie's living.
My best regards,
Andrej Tisma
|
Although
Pit Schultz wrote on the Nettime list in June 1997 that Hybrid
WorkSpace is a pin-board and a global newspaper, a zone of critical thought
and productive conflict my contributions to "Deep Europe" were
immediately attacked by others. Some of them were even insulting me. O. K. I
thought, it is a part of open discussion, but finally my thoughts will be visible,
I am finally able to participate.
In
October 1997 the book "Deep_Europe: The 1996 - 97 edition"
was published, edited by Inke Arns and Andreas Broeckmann. As the publishers
announced in the book one can find a full version of the creative output
of Deep_Europe, the ten day V2_East/Syndicate workshop at Hybrid WorkSpace (July/August
1997, dX, Kassel). Included are the initial concept, interviews with the participants,
letters home and from home, suggestions towards a european media policy...
One
thing was interesting for me, that not only my contributions
to the discussion lists were not published, nor just mentioned, but my name
was not mentioned anywhere in the book, not even in the name index.
So it is how the 'East-West initiative' went, destiny of the 'zone
of critical thought', 'keeping one's own identity' etc. 
They
simply evicted me from the documentation, also from all reports from Hybrid
WorkSpace that were published on lists during and after the event. I was really
horrified by such a gesture of so called free media and open net activists,
who simply erased all traces of one fair and veluable participation.
One more time the quartet Lovink-Broeckmann-Arns-Schultz has shown its evil
bloody horror face.