CAMPSITE NOTES#1
Nomadism as a philosophical proposition, a model for being, as a space and an idea, non-hierarchical, non-linear and open-ended. As an investigation of nomadism, CAMPSITE does not attempt to present outcomes or findings, but rather operate as a temporary site for sharing, foraging and gleaning. I might add to these notes over the next week, and reprint as CAMPSITE NOTES #2.
[SHELTER] An invitation to all passionate amateurs
The tent is both a site for interaction and also an inspirational mechanism for passionate amateurs and hobbyists. Half hour sessions will be available. At your allocated time you are invited to share your interest or passion with the artist or her representative, who will provide you with undivided attention and enthusiastic support. Participants will also receive a memento to take away with them, along with a renewed sense of purpose and passion.
This work is dedicated to Jack McKinney, who was married to the poet Judith Wright. A returned soldier, McKinney started wondering why advances in Western thought had failed to prevent further and more deadly wars. Untrained, he began reading philosophy, starting with the ancient Greeks. He devoted the rest of his life to the task. Wright supported him (both emotionally and financially) while McKinney struggled for the respect of his peers and for recognition of his theories. I find it both fascinating and sad that Wright was more successful at communicating McKinney’s philosophical concepts than McKinney himself was. In fact, many of Wright’s most famous poems are a response to, and an extension of, McKinney’s ideas. While Wright found her perfect medium of expression, sadly, McKinney never did.
[COMMUNITY] Dark matter
This collection of pamphlets and fliers can be read as a map of the passions and obsessions of the people who live in this city. Amateurs, hobbyists and volunteers engage in informal social production. They operate in an alternative, uncontrollable economic zone, often via gifts or barter. When this grassroots production becomes visible, it is revealed as a kind of energy, a dark matter which fuels our society and our economy. In museum or institutional publications, dark matter production has become formalised. Passion and obsession has become solidified. Most institutions are a memorial to passion.
[MAP] The map becomes the territory (http://campsite.posterous.com)
Just as the gypsy fortune-teller dispenses guidance via the cards, we seek guidance via the internet. The internet’s non-linearity, randomness, variability, and interconnectedness can provoke intuitive thinking, pattern recognition and communication with the unconscious.
Psychical nomadism is a philosophical term that refers to the practice of taking as one needs from any moral, religious, political, ethical, or whatever system, and leaving behind the parts of that system found to be unappealing. [Wikipedia]
Writing has nothing to do with meaning. It has to do with land surveying and cartography, including the mapping of countries yet to come. [Deleuze]
http://www.gregorysholette.com/writings/ (Gregory Sholette, 12 Notes on Collectivism)
http://hermetic.com/bey/taz_cont.html (Hakim Bey, Temporary Autonomous Zone TAZ)
http://www.rhizomes.net/issue5/ (rhizomes.05 fall 2002 Glossary)
