"Confessions of a whitneybiennial.com Curator" by Patrick Lichty. {image 1} Being an independent curator breeds strange bedfellows, actually stranger than I could have imagined. Sometime late in 2001, I got an e-mail from Miltos Manetas, of whom I'd known through the Net for a while regarding a project he was doing called whitneybiennial.com. The concept was to create an ‘exhibition' concurrent with the opening night of the Whiney Biennial consisting of U-Haul trucks that would circle the museum showing projected Flash-based snippets through a program written by NY artist Michael Rees via rear-projection screens. The idea would be to question the relevance of shows like the Whitney Biennial, the material gallery and like strategies by recontextualizing such cultural spaces in light of online art, which had been accepted in the 2000 Whitney Biennial. whitneybiennial.com called forth many issues, including community discussion of the use of applications such as Macromedia Flash in the creation of online art, the near-ubiquitous criticism of the Whitney Biennial, the conceptual history of Manetas' work and its critique on commodity culture, and to the potential subversiveness of an intervention such as the one being proposed. The questioning of materialism in artistic practice has been extant since at least since Duchamp's famous urinal and continuing on through many movements including Conceptualism. In so doing the artist's practice of circumspection of the gallery or museum as a valid entity is nothing new. However, the seductive quality of the new (as in New Media) when considered against the increasing acceptance of technologically-based art allows for a cultural ‘Trojan Horse' to infiltrate the high art world. But while considering the socio-cultural matrix surrounding whitneybiennial.com, personal issues regarding this intervention had to be taken into account. For example, significant parts of my personal stance towards the art world has involved critical discourse questioning traditional museological practice relating to materialism, legitimation, and archival of artworks in light of technological art, including ‘net art'. This body of thought began in 1998 with “The Panic Museum” (1) an essay that dealt with the state of museological practice vis-à-vis digital media, materialism, access, technology, and archival. In addition, other essays (2) and three independently curated online exhibits (3) explored possible alternative models for representing new media works integrating emergent technological methods. But this ‘alternative voice' coupled with the fact my involvement in curatorial practice as well as having had work (under pseudonyms) in some of these exhibitions made me curious about my function in this project and what might be learned from this intervention. And lastly, there were some personal questions in regards to Manetas' work and his exploration of branding (which I will explain later) that were of great interest to me, so I accepted. The concept was that several independent curators and ‘chosen' New Media intelligentsia (or ‘Neensters', as Manetas would put it) would suggest Flash-based artists from the online community. These artists were to create Flash ‘snippets' to be mixed together with a program coded by NY artist Michael Rees, the product of which would be projected from the rear aperture of a circling U-Haul truck on the opening night of the Biennial. The proposed scene would be a surreal circling of the wagons around the Whitney, but not creating a bulwark as in the Western movie tropes, but an elision of the center of attention entirely, having as much to do with the nature of the trends within the online art culture at the time itself. Much of the discursive function of this intervention had to do with the production and techne of net-based art as its representation and content. At the time of conception of whitneybiennial.com, a great deal of heated discussion was transpiring regarding the use of Macromedia Flash as a creative tool, and whether the very structure of that development environment was a constraining factor in creating Flash-based work. There were many viewpoints on this subject, but many constructed a polarized argument centered virtuosity and craft in terms of code as art object or conceptual articulation. In framing this argument it might be useful to consider that no technology is neutral, as the legendary fable of Thamus and Thoth (4) illustrates in the case of language and writing, with the analogy of writing decentering the need for memorization. It isn't to say that the use of Flash gives or takes from the creative process; the argument as it was unfolding at the time was questioning whether the use of an authoring tool necessarily shaped the content. There is a continuum of possibilities in this regard between the more open-ended software such as a programming language, which serves mainly in the creation of other software, to highly specialized programs like Bryce or poser, which by their function tend to produce landscapes or figuratives, respectively. Therefore, the problem in contrasting the ends of the continuum questions which set of tools allows the digital artist to articulate a concept more fully through greater use of the platform, and whether the use of (more) tightly focused software inscribes certain agendas of form and style upon the artist. . Although the discussion of aspects of digital art production may appear tangential to the thrust of whitneybiennial.com , it actually forms one of the several disciplinary issues raised by Manetas. Questions engaging with formalist technical issues between arts created with custom code and prepackaged programs can also be likened to the differences between compiled (low-level) and interpreted (high-level) languages. Although the similarity may be dwindling as of 2004, a conversation in the 80's and 90's within the programming community was that low-level languages, although more difficult, allowed greater flexibility and control of processes while the higher-level languages gave greater ease, and that practitioners of higher-level programming were not fully utilizing the computer's resources. However, both techniques were suited for different applications, as say, BASIC or LOGO are not well suited to the crafting of operating systems, where C or Assembler is perfect for the job. But at the core of similar arguments regarding the validity of raw code versus ‘environment-based' applications is a matrix of issues, from intent to the implication of ‘craft', which is a discussion I will engage with at another time. However, there is a Fluxus-esque argument in vis-a-vis the dematerialization of the object if one considers the context of the link made within the digital conception of ‘code as object', linking a simulated materialism, with dominant paradigms in programming parlance of object-oriented programming. This is reminiscent of the decrying of more ephemeral or conceptual works by the more materially based community, although as alluded to just recently, the issues are more akin to that of craft, material investiture, and implied virtuosity. Another line of discussion relating to the controversy about Flash-based online art is the old interdisciplinary one of territorial boundaries between art and design. Flash was originally developed as a tool for the creation of graphic content by online animators, and was conversely adopted by many graphic designers for online content. In the case of Manetas, many of the artists (5) propositioned for whitneybiennial.com were, in fact, considered to be better known as design practitioners, possibly in part due to their use of tools such as Flash. So, would whitneybiennial.com be an intervention that questions the roles of art and design in regards to online art? This was one of the aspects put forth in the Manetas query (6), but if so, this merely reframes an old argument in a new context; namely that of the online environment. Would Flash-based work, oft considered as an avenue for cutting-edge designers, now be considered as ‘serious' conceptual work by the art world? Or perhaps more accurately, would the work by online designers be reframed as conceptual art if an artist with an established track record presented it? This would be decided in the back of a number of U-Haul trucks on the opening night of the Whitney, or so we would be led to believe... Now that the personal and technical questions framing this intervention are taken care of, the location of the intervention comes into question. Why the Whitney Biennial? Why not critique shows like the Carnegie Triennial, Documenta, or even the Bienniale de Venezia, many of which have introduced New Media works? Much of this has to do with recent history of New Media art and the role the Whitney has had in raising its visibility in the US art scene. The Whitney Biennial gained much attention for its inclusion of an Internet/New Media category in 2000, and this show was considered in the net art community as one of the ‘break-out' institutional exhibitions for the genre (7). In specifically delineating a category for that particular genre, the Whitney then created a milieu in which the issues relating to New Media and its legitimacy in a high art institutional context could be critically engaged. When considering why an intervention like whitneybiennial.com has any validity, acquaintances within the New York art community relate to me that in a recent historical context, criticism of the Whitney biennial has been quite fashionable (99). Such criticism has served a multitude of functions from questioning the cultural agendas that the Whitney Biennial serves to reinscribing its own importance, and as trendsetter within the American art scene due to this increased notoriety. Of course, the whole notion of fashion as concept fits well with Manetas' work. Taking the nod from Warhol in using fame as aesthetic construct and letting it morph it into legitimation as artifact of late capitalist marketing, Manetas engaged with corporate branding culture and its virtualization of meaning into pure image, thus taking a Baudrillardian stance towards the simulated ‘image' of fame. In such a culture, companies use advertising firms to create incomprehensible brand names, and Manetas followed this practice in hiring Lexicon Branding to devise his ‘Neen' conceptual brand. ‘Neen' was “not exclusively about technology in art, but more about the style, about the psychological landscape” as he related to Salon Online (8). Therefore, Manetas' view of conceptualism illustrates the contemporary focus on image and style as content themselves. If one considers the difference between the times in which Manetas and Warhol live, an analogy can be drawn from the private sector from which we can synthesize a possible analysis. In the fin de millennium markets, corporations are often hard pressed to justify their stock valuations through their holdings and net worth. Therefore, the value of a corporate entity in the turn of the millennium is considered not so much in terms of their material worth, but in terms of their ‘brand value'. Naomi Klein, in her seminal book, No Logo , documents this cultural shift in the declaration, “Brands, not products.” (9) In Warhol's time, cultural production was still linked to a product. Andy was linked to Brillo boxes and paintings of Campbell's Soup cans . Even the silk-screens of himself, Jackie Onassis, Elvis and Mao Tse Deng still exhibited an all too concrete link to ‘fame as product'. But by the late 80's, corporate culture had begun its inexorable shift into the ephemeralization of the cultural product through ubiquitous branding, or image-as product. Artists such as Wyland and Kinkaide, and especially Kinkaide, have earnestly engaged with the lifestyle branding concept through the mass production of populist cultural artifacts such as mass-production ‘hand embellished prints' (Kinkaide), sculptures, calendars, et al, most of which are never seen by the artist himself. In their case, what has become the product are the feel-good paradigms they embody, whether the Christian ‘Painter of Light' or the artist of the oceans, giving the consumer the impression of identification with a sympathetic ideology. In Manetas' case, he takes it one further, in linking ‘Neen' to the ‘style of the virtual' itself. Neen takes the Warholian sense of fame that once was invested in agglomerations of capital and shifts into the simulated landscape of brand perception – the brand has become the star. In effect, Neen makes visible the allegory of the Emperor's New Clothes, or that “there's no ‘there' there”(quote?). But instead of invalidating the assumption of the absence of the concrete, Neen revels in it, which reinforces the brand-as-concept meme, and with such a conceptual framework, what was going to transpire with whitneybiennial.com on opening night? Meanwhile, the date of the Whitney '02 was looming… “Hey Kids, Let's Put on a Show!” whitneybiennial.com in NYC The context under which whitneybiennial.com was situated placed it in a milieu in which significant changes had been taking place. In 2000, the exhibition had included the Internet/Digital category, and was one of the first of its kind to do so. Opening invites in 2000 were highly sought after, and the NY art scene was abuzz to see how the Whitney would treat the nascent medium. Notable tech artists such as Mark Amerika, Fakeshop, Annette Weintraub, and John Simon were included (10), but Internet pranksters RTMark would set Manetas' stage for subversion via technological art. RTMark had begun to follow through true to their Dadaist/Situationist roots through their repurposing/lampooning the agendas of late capitalism well before the exhibition had even begun. Preceding the show, the collective received a number of prized invitations to the artist's opening, so valued in that there was great interest in the 2000 Biennial's inclusion of Internet art. RTMark promptly placed them on auction website EBay, where they reportedly sold the tickets to an Austin-based adult video producer who went by the name of ‘Sintron' for over $8000. However, this would not be the only playful maneuver with their cultural capital, as in the actual installation, RTMark announced that “being included in the Whitney Biennial touches us…” but “RTMark is passing on its Whitney Biennial "real estate" to any artist who wants it.” As “a pretty clear way to say ‘thanks.'”(11), RTMark allowed any ‘artist' that wished to include their website to be exhibited in the Whitney Biennial as a form of cultural dividend for past support. Included within the installations were links to Bob Jones University, the Cockettes, and ourfirstanalsex.com. In so doing, RTMark questioned the nature of Internet art in the gallery, the context of art practice as a whole, as well as the boundaries of the museum as agent of cultural representation. Placed in context against the subversive precedent of the 2000 Biennial, what would the purpose of the announced circling of twenty-three U-haul rental trucks, equipped with projection equipment on the night of the Patrons' reception? Perhaps the goal would be to signal the problematic nature of containing Internet art within the museum, or to underscore the solidarity of the online art community, or to possibly question the traditional conceptual boundaries between ‘high art' and design in light of developments in Flash-based Internet websites like Entropy8Zuper and Praystation,(12) that transgress these borders. To go back to one of the controversies in the net art community in the creation of online art, I discussed the schism between the code-based net artists and those deciding to use more design-driven Macromedia Flash-based works. As mentioned on the Crumb New Media curating maillist in 2001 (13), one perception of the proliferation of Flash-based net art is that of post dot-com boom designers trying to distinguish themselves in the online milieu, thus the ‘art world' not taking these Flash creators as serious artists, although this is a somewhat reductive discourse. To compound this, the split between code-based artists and Flash/Director artists fracture the nature of online art along lines of traditional disciplinary difference, technique, and craft. whitneybiennial.com positioned itself to take several critical positions between disciplines, the extant and emerging art worlds, and between ideologies in the online art community itself. However, the proof of whether any of these questions would be answered on opening night. Execution of a Concept/Explosion of an Idea: Opening night for whitneybiennial.com The media hype for the event had been taking hold. In fact, briefly before the opening, Matt Mirapaul of the New York Times actually gave more attention to whitneybiennial.com than the actual exhibition itself. (14) Artists and other participants within the intervention were on site, such as people from the Archinect maillist who had contributed, as well as other NY-based practitioners. Artists and patrons were beginning to arrive at the Whitney for the opening, but one thing was missing; the trucks… Time passed on, and no trucks arrived. No projectors, no trucks, no circling, showing the surrounding intervention. However, a large website at whitneybiennial.com incorporated all of the clips within the webspace under the rubric of Manetas' interface and Rees' mixer. The Whitney Biennial opened as planned, but the recorded timeline of the actual events in relation to reactions to Manetas' act is sketchy. Online news, through lists such as Rhizome and Thingist, reported that there were irate participants who had shown up for the unveiling, and Manetas subsequently buying copious amounts of drinks at a questionable Russian bar until the wee hours of the morning. However, when looking at the reported events, this documentation fits neatly into Manetas' brand mythology of Neen's focus on centrality of the image. A general shape of the events can probably be held as reliable, but such an account assumes greater importance in the building of the mythology of the evening in the building of the whitneybiennial.com's brand value. But in the following days, Manetas claimed the event a success in numerous organs such as Salon.com, WIRED Magazine, and so on. Although the trucks were proffered in news releases, Manetas claimed that the trucks were there, “in your mind”(15), and that the intervention had gone off as planned. In reviewing Manetas' manifesto on Neen, his original concept was to challenge the physical through the virtual, and the problematizing of physical representation by, although he would not say this originally, a translation 60's conceptualism into the online arts of the 1990's. By offering a synthesis of conceptualism linked to the virtual through corporate branding paradigms, Manetas was both challenging the role of disciplines and institutions in the online art world. But with much of the attention focused on himself as artist, or as Tribe would refer to Beuys in saying, a “Social Sculptor”(16), by focusing the discourse upon whitneybiennial.com as a Manetas-based intervention, he also makes the shift from Warholian conceptions of fame to neo-corporate ‘name branding' by collecting this body of work, atelier-style, under his mark. From a personal perspective, there was a great deal of ambivalence in having participated in a rather opaque process where I had not idea whether the ruse was real or not. Being that I had personally taken part in numerous hoax-based interventions, the irony of my own feelings in this case was not lost. Of course, Manetas' issues of play with private sector culture were similar to ones I had engaged with at other times in other projects, but the irony was that I had allowed myself to become a temp for Neen, Inc. Manetas, while making the claim of supplying the trucks, had not really mentioned whether he would actually hire them. For all other aspects of the intervention, most of Manetas' claims were tightly framed, and one could argue that his assurances in the construction of whitneybiennial.com, taken under a given framework, were all essentially true . But within all of these assertions significant ambiguity existed that when pressed for detail that it could be seen, when viewed through Manetas' conceptual lens, the fine print in whitneybiennial.com's cultural contract was pretty clear. In short, whitneybiennial.com was an intervention that was the epitome of everything Neen. Post Mortem of an Undead Intervention This reflection upon whitneybiennial.com came from a query by Manetas himself, who asked me in January 2003 to write this very essay for a CD release to be released in February or March. The deadline was tight, and the original request was for a quick analysis of the piece. However, being part of the intervention, somehow I still felt entitled to go behind the scenes to put whitneybiennial.com in greater context. No such backstage door opened, and the query was met with a murky opacity behind the corporate obsidian sheen of Neen. As long as the process of developing whitneybiennial.com was extant, it was as if the “machine to destroy itself' was still in its last smoking, dying moments. I was still part of Manetas' social sculpture. However, the experiment continues as I write, the conceptual corpse continues to shamble into 2004, and the idea of adopting a DeCerteau-esque ‘in-between'-ness while participating in the closing movements of Manetas' symphony of identity seems, if anything, perhaps a little more interesting while taking one last ride on the conceptual Matterhorn ride. In reflecting upon whitneybiennial.com then, what are the questions did it ask, and continue to put to us? Does it posit a fundamental shift in the art world with radical implications for future exhibitions in light of online art? Does it herald the invalidation of the legitimacy of major shows like the Whitney Biennial through the capability to create media attention via tactical means? Does it suggest that with the advent of new media art, the space of representation for the work of art has now become nomadic, and free of the institution? Or perhaps more succinctly, could whitneybiennial.com have been a further conceptual expansion on Manetas' play with the insidious practice of branding as a unique part of American culture? Or had it asked questions that had already been asked in previous Whitney Biennials, but merely in different terms. Putting all of these issues in context, more macroscopic topics could be missed. whitneybiennial.com both challenged and reinscribed traditional art agendas by positioning itself against the gallery, testing the porousness between art and design, and looking at the technological issues in the online art world. But in so doing, Manetas did not address many issues beyond the art world, except those that might apply to his conceptual frame created by Neen. The one point that Manetas does address is that it doesn't matter whether he exists at all, thus positioning his style of branding as another form of the death of the author (17). What is proven is the exhaustion of aspects of contemporary art and the art world via Neen's evacuation of meaning and the shift of aspects of cultural valuation through branding as style, carried on through whitneybiennial.com . To paraphrase the late 90's spoken word piece, Virtual Paradise (18), which says, “Reality? … Well, it's ALL virtual!' he combines the perceptual value of contemporary art with the implied value of branding to erase his own identity to leave only at best a flickering signifier. And perhaps that's what the whole purpose of being ‘Neen' is, to show that the Emperor is wearing no clothes by going nude oneself. References: (1) Lichty, Patrick, “The Panic Museum”, International Symposium on Electronic Arts 1998 – Liverpool, UK (2) This body of work includes museum crits and essays such as “Histories of Disappearance” (Arte e vida seculo XXI, D. Domingues, ed. Camara Brasiliera do Livro, SP Brazil, 2004) (3) “Through the Looking Glass: Technological art at the turn of the Millennium”, 2000, Beechwood Arts Center, Beechwood, Ohio USA (online catalogue: http://www.voyd.com/ttlg ), “(re)distributions: Nomadic Art as Cultural Intervention”, (2001) (online catalogue: http://www.voyd.com/ia) (4) Postman, Neil, Technopoly, Ch. 1, Vintage Books, NY, NY USA 1992 (5) Although the lines between design and art were radically blurred in the case of the Flash artists of whitneybiennial.com, artists like Amy Franceschini (Futurefarmers) at the time were receiving almost as much attention for the design of their pieces as the content. (6) Manetas, Miltos, Whitneybiennial.com call for works, Newsgrist, http://newsgrist.net/newsgrist3-6.html (7) Whitney Museum of American Art NYC, Whitney Biennial 2000 Exhibition (8) Salon.com “The Man From Neen” 3/21/2002, http://www.salon.com/people/conv/2002/03/21/manetas/ (9) Klein, Naomi, No Logo, Pp. 21, 2002, Picador Press, NY NY, USA (10) 2000 Whitney Biennial, ibid. (11) RTMark, Whitney Biennial 2000 installation, http://www.rtmark.com/exhibit/ (12) Many of these sites, like www.praystation.com have undergone significant changes and do not represent the same aesthetics they did at the time of the opening of the whitneybiennial.com site. (13) Crumb New Media maillist - www.newmedia.sunderland.ac.uk/crumb/ (14) Mirapaul, Matt, If You Can't Join 'Em, You Can Always Tweak 'Em Arts Online, New York Times, March 4, 2002 (15) Bratton, Benjamin, Nettime, http://amsterdam.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-0204/msg00068.html (16) Tribe, Mark. (2001) Arts Administration as Social Sculpture , National Conference for Professionals in the Cultural Sector, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL. (17) Roland Barthes. "The Death of the Author." Image, Music, Text . Ed. and trans. Stephen Heath. New York: Hill, 1977 (18) Virtual Paradise, Earwax productions (date unknown, ‘90's) http://www.earwaxproductions.com/galleryradio.html The U-Haul Trucks Are In Your Mind by Benjamin Bratton {image 1} As reported by the New York Times, Newsweek, Le Monde, The Guardian, Salon and others, Miltos Manetas, armed but with a web site in drag and exactly 23 invisible U-Haul trucks, hijacked last month's Whitney Biennial. While the facts are simple, nobody is really quite sure what happened. Miltos noticed that for some reason whitneybienniel.com was not taken, registered it himself, and there staged an alternate exhibition of nice Flash work. Fine and well, except that many of the contributors were under the impression (one neither encouraged nor discouraged by Manetas) that this was the "real" whitneybienniel.com web site, which by definition, it of course was. Manetas also explained that in addition to the web site, this exhibition would take place in 23 U-Haul trucks circling the Biennial's opening party. This unlikely spectre appealed to those new media artists who (rightly) feel themselves to be still rather misunderstood and under appreciated by the "real" art scene, even a technology-forward one like the Whitney. The circling U-Haul trucks would be an undeniable presence. They would by sheer scale form an ominous obstacle between party and partygoers; out with the old, in with the new! These Flash U-Hauls would be the new gatekeepers, the new machines that decide who gets in and out! The Whitney Biennial is, for the convenience of argument, the "Las Vegas of cultural capital," and in this casino of cool, Manetas was handing out counterfeit currency. But as with any good counterfeiting scheme, the currency passed for real long enough that enough people used it, traded it as real that it became, in practice, as real as real money. Many participants from new media art circles were less than pleased with their payment in simulated cultural capital. Perhaps because many of them are still stinging from the evaporation of stock option wealth, the whole counterfeit currency thing isn't so amusing. Miltos is always is happy to talk at length about the power of simulation, and it is in molesting the Reality Principle that his work takes the greatest pleasure. Manetas's projects range from traditional oil paintings of Sony PS2 gear to the hiring of Lexicon Branding (coiners of post-English terms like Powerbook, Pentium, Zima, etc.) to name a new art movement -- that name is Neen. His Electronic Orphanage un-gallery on Chung King Road in Chinatown, Los Angeles is an opaque black box where Neen is allowed but confused passersby from nearby openings often are not. As another incident at the Deitch gallery last Fall showed, he is also willing to provoke the plagiarism police to hand-to-hand combat. The current sleight and diversion reaches the highest levels of the reality industry. The New York Times reported on March 4 that Miltos? U-Haul's would in fact be driving his trucks around the museum "tomorrow". In fact the Paper of Record gave to Whitneybiennial.com as much coverage as the "real² event itself. Another story on the Biennial reported after the day the trucks didn't come only mentions the forged web site. Interestingly, it was not the old school art crowd who raised the biggest stink when (surprise, surprise) a battalion of U-Haul trucks doubling as Flash theaters didnt descend on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Nor were they really the butt of the joke anyway. "I love the Whitney. They are like family," says Miltos. The truly upset were many (most definitely not all) of the apparently more literal-minded new media participants and cosponsors. Maxwell L. Anderson, director of the Whitney, was unperturbed and was quoted in the Times linking Manetas? action to the venerable tradition of guerrilla action-art. However, a discussion forum on Archinect, a design community site that cosponsored whitneybienniel.com took far more offense. "He lied to us!" one post shouted. "We went to see the trucks and they weren't there!" But were they? This panic is complex, and more than a bit worrisome. One might hope that if anyone appreciates the digital logic of the whole effort -- now even museums can have an infinite number of perfect copies ­ it would be new media artists. And of course, many including myself do. But the general level of outrage was so pitched that this anger at the there-that-wasn't-there may prove the most intriguing outcome of all this. David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear and then reappear. Miltos made the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art appear and then disappear. Of course it was not true, it was better than true. But it wasnt false either, and this is the complicated mess that simulation makes of representation and the various capitals that rely upon it. As Krzysztof Wodizcko's projections are and are not graffiti, that do and do not de-face architecture, Manetas did and did not Identity-Hack the Whitney. If he had truly broken in and stole something, then things would be a bit less disturbing because more black and white. We would at least know what we know. As it stands, undecidable because the only thing broken was a promise never actually made, itself only imagined, we are left holding the invisible bag. At the gala, this destabilising ambiguity caused a ripple of curiosity but was soon cheerfully absorbed by the "real" Whitney crowds, always jouncing for an ironic jostle. The re-absorption is made easier because Manetas sees this whole operation not so much a meta-commentary on the ultimate arbitrariness of cultural gatekeeping, but as a kind of Urpiece, a giant red ribbon placed around the entire event on which he can place his (virtual) signature. In cyberspace, WhitneyBiennial.com is Earth Art, a big topological gesture referencing the site-ness of its location and locatablity. But as Anderson suggested, all this is not new, and Miltos Manetas doesn't claim it to be. The brothel in which Jean Genet stages his 1956 play, The Balcony, is a repository of illusion, a liminal zone within a contemporary European city aflame with revolution. After the city's royal palace and rulers are destroyed, the bordello's costumed patrons impersonate the leaders of the city. As the masquerades warm to their roles, they convince even the revolutionaries that the illusion created in the bordello is preferable to reality, in fact is reality. In the everyday life of global simulation, everyone is played by many roles, and the architectures of cultural venture capitalism ­in/out, me/you, genius/idiot- have an animation of their own, one that conjugates the artist more than the other way around. In Genet's play, as the revolution burns itself out, the patrons emerge in the uniforms of the deposed leaders, and to a city now hungry for order, their presence fills the vacuum of the real and they are elevated to the positions they drag. The U-Haul trucks are in your mind. Have some more hors d'oeuvres. {image 1}Solo poche osservazioni su pratiche eccedenti, o superate, e su fini scomparsi. Oggi. E sui vantaggi dell’esperienza. Sulla difesa e sull’attacco. Un periplo tra residui e mascheramenti. E sullo sfondo l’«arte» e gli «artisti», per quel che ne possiamo capire. Dove è in effetti questione del «non più» e non tanto del «qui adesso». Cronache di una funzione residuale, ad ogni modo, benché contagiosa. Felicemente spossessata dei suoi domini. E sempre opacamente seducente, disponibile, in fondo generosa. Storie di fondamentale puntualità, di efficienza, di successo, o al contrario, più spesso, di dépense, di fallimento, di sparizione. All’inizio, la lamentevole realtà del tempo morto, dell’attesa improduttiva; un tempo inerte, un vuoto inutile. E dunque i necessari rimedi: se all’operaio si prendeva il tempo, si misurava l’intervallo, al passante si proponevano orologi, quadranti, incombenti, o molli, come in certe immagini surrealiste, sfere smisurate, monumentali, sincronizzate tutte, sempre, spietatamente, sull’imperativo dell’esattezza. O cartellini, schede perforate, da sottoporre alla bocca vorace dell’horodateur, forma più raffinata ma sempre incombente di quelle maschere che a metterci la mano dentro, in antico, si rischiava di vedersela mozzata. Perché dovremmo sfuggire o sottrarci? L’imperativo della puntualità ha formato il nostro cosmo e dato forma ai nostri giorni. Ci ha regolati dentro, ci ha fornito un’etica immediata, empirica, di facile applicazione, esportabile. E ha anche ridisegnato paesaggi più impervi, meno affollati, o più ardui, in qualche caso. L’obbligazione oraria rivela una metafisica implicita, un’assiologia. Ciò che è all’ora è anche di per sé, indipendentemente dal resto, anche buono, e vero. Ovvero ciò che arriva al suo momento, che non potrebbe altro che essere proprio quello, e non un altro qualsiasi, se si vuole riunire, appunto, l’efficienza col minimo sforzo. Insomma dietro al tempo spunta il numero, l’indispensabile calcolo economico. E sappiamo quanto resistenti, invincibili siano le convenzioni giustamente basate sull’utile. Ora tutto questo ha da fare così immediatamente con la nostra vita più immediata e banale (arriviamo tardi e l’amore, il lavoro, il futuro, svaniscono come miraggi, oppure altri arrivano in ritardo, e noi siamo derubati, o andiamo al creatore) che è sorprendente pensare fino a che punto nel mondo che ci circonda la puntualità sia divenuta la sola, vera stella polare. A proposito, dovremmo distinguere tra coincidenza e puntualità, simili a volte negli effetti, nel bene e nel male, ma radicalmente difformi sotto gli altri punti di vista. Diciamo che puntuale è sempre atto volontario, o meglio, l’atto volontario di una volontà compulsiva: devo essere lì alla tale ora. E dunque on time, sempre. Credo possiamo parlare di qualcosa di più di una regola sociale, condivisa o meno, insomma di quelle norme che regolano il traffico tra gli umani e di cui ci si sforza spesso senza molta fortuna di ritrovare una motivazione razionale (non mangiare maiale, tatuarsi, coprirsi la testa ecc.); siamo qui in presenza di una struttura vera e propria, di un’idea regolatrice più che di un uso. Cioè di un orizzonte entro cui si iscrivono classi di fenomeni disparati eppure segretamente legati tra loro. Qualche esempio? Prendiamo il caso forse più facile, ma anche più diffuso: la televisione nella sua versione live. Resa possibile da poco più di tre decenni, la trasmissione dal vivo si incolla all’evento che descrive, anzi diviene una cosa sola con esso. La distanza originariamente mitica tra l’evento e il racconto si riduce sino a sparire, e l’antica ambizione dell’occhio onnisciente ed ubiquo si realizza nella forma di un’adesione immediata alla realtà così come essa si fa sotto gli occhi di tutti, pur restando evidentemente il messaggio una narrazione tendenziosa e incompleta come ogni altro. In questa dimensione gli eventi sono sempre posti sull’orizzonte della massima coerenza temporale. Last minute. Breaking news. L’obsolescenza fulminea è garanzia del rinnovarsi perpetuo del flusso, in ultimo della sua immortalità. Ma gli effetti di questo modo della cultura non si esauriscono certo a questo come ai mille altri esempi che si potrebbero agevolmente trovare nel mondo contemporaneo. Esistono in effetti altre dimensioni in cui l’ontologia della puntualità esercita un ascendente diretto ancorché silente, decisivo ma non esplicito. Parlando di un campo con cui ho maggior dimestichezza, ad esempio l’idea corrente di giusto momento per un artista, per la sua opera, definito nei termini di una piena corrispondenza con le aspettative del mercato e dell’epoca, ovvero la spietata, definitiva, radicale ripulsa di quelli che non ce l’hanno fatta, perché, appunto, in ritardo (o, più raramente, in anticipo). Su tutto, ancora, lo schema dell’adeguatezza come quantità che può essere provata empiricamente; ridotta cioè a quella dimensione fondamentalmente economica che è poi il vero piano emergente su cui la mistica della puntualità si erige. Rovesciando, anche se inconsapevolmente, l’immagine ancora romantica dell’artista come esiliato, sradicato profeta che proprio per il fatto di non appartenere compiutamente al suo tempo, e in definitiva a nessun tempo, può trasferirsi nella dimensione più elevata dell’arte, il dogma del tempo giusto non agisce soltanto come parametro di valore, ma come asse della possibilità, come condizione per cui tutte le altre condizioni possono dirsi vere. E sulla base non di un discorso esplicito, ma di un efficacissimo meccanismo capace di far evaporare rapidamente i residui di ogni metafisica concorrente. Una sola parola d’ordine, dunque: efficienza. E sarà certamente, lo sappiamo, in questa dimensione dell’immediatezza, del point-and-click, della scelta immediata, del gesto semplice e risolutivo che si giocherà simbolicamente la partita dell’immaginario del nostro tempo. Prepariamoci per tempo. The WhitneyBiennial.com "When Nothing Is Something" {image 1} by Peter Lunenfeld It's precisely because I was there at the beginning, and not at the end,that I feel I was the Whitneybiennial.com's perfect participant/spectator. It started with a late night visit to the Electronic Orphanage, one of Miltos Manetas's open-source, gift economy gestures that the art world finds so hard to understand. Why did he open a space on the emerging gallery strip of LA's Chung King Road if he wasn't going to sell art? Why didn't he ever let anyone "in to" the gallery? The shows centered around Flash-based projections, and people watched from the sidewalk through the plate glass windows of the gallery, often wondering at the expanse of space that was being "wasted" by not positioning other artworks, or even a bar, inside. But for me, this potlatch of square footage was part of the confusion that a trickster spreads, and while Miltos is many things, he most certainly revels in his Pan/Loki/Brer Rabbit personae. But the trickster also maintains an expansive side, and for those of us who were let into the Orphanage, it functioned as a meeting room cum play space, a ludic bubble surrounded on all sides by the commercial miasma of art and tech. So, it was after midnight, and we were just floating along, surfing Web sites and drinking beer, when the topic of the Whitney Biennial came up. One of the best things about being in LA is that New York's seasonal obsessions seem distant, like phantom limbs. Sure, there weren't enough LA artists represented, but then again, there never are. As for the net.art selection, by 2002 the very concept seemed so very self-important in a 1998 dot.com kind of way. Almost simultaneously, Miltos and I started laughing about how funny it would be if the Whitney hadn't covered itself by purchasing all the domain names it could related to its big show. We dove for the keyboard, did some "whois" searches and realised to our amazement that the museum hadn't thought to pick up Whitneybiennial.com. Miltos bought it immediately. Then, there was question of what to do with it. From the start, I never felt that Manetas wanted to create some sort of lame, electronic salon de refusés from the net.art component of the show. He started out by simply proposing a Flash show, in part because the critical and aesthetic establishment -- such as it is in the net.art world -- was made so unhappy by Flash's gentle learning curve. I'd done a little probe, a "utility" rather than a manifesto, for Miltos on Flash as the new Pop-Tech for a show he'd put together in Albania of all places, so I was interested to see where he's take the project in a vastly more public arena. I had the sense that no matter what form it took, this little intervention was going to bear some interesting fruit. When Miltos told me that he was going to have trucks outfitted with projectors circling the Whitney on Madison Avenue the night of the opening, I was impressed, but not exactly convinced. But then again, I had no interest in debunking him. Like the endless succession of dreary Whitney Biennials themselves, the idea of Whitneybiennial.com was the most compelling part. And it was that idea, that nothing that is something, that ignited people¹s imaginations. I was somewhere between bemused and shocked to see that in its promo piece published the day before the opening, the venerable New York Times gave Miltos's unknown, unseen, and frankly immaterial show a third of the coverage it gave the actual flesh and blood and paint and canvas "real" Biennial. I answered questions from that same paper about Whitneybiennial.com without knowing, or wanting to know, if it was "going to happen" or not. Frankly by hitting the pages of America¹s newspaper of record, it did "happen." I wasn't in New York to see the disappointed faces of people who wanted trucks, and I wasn't in the newsroom to gauge the reaction of journalists who treated fantasy as promise, but then again, I didn't care. I'm a fan of the phantasmagoric, the luftmenschen's delirium, the virtually virtual. I like it when nothing happening is something. PETER LUNENFELD Miltos Manetas: The Man from Neen {image 1} by John Glassie (Salon.com, March 21, 2002) During the last month or so, artist Miltos Manetas publicized his big plans for the Whitney Biennial exhibition, which opened March 7 -- plans that included Flash animation and 23 U-Haul trucks. This was really going to be something, observers of art said, especially considering that Manetas wasn't actually selected for inclusion in the show and that his idea was lightheartedly subversive of the contemporary art exhibition. At the Biennial's opening gala on March 5, however, Manetas' desire for attention was revealed to be far greater than most people had ever imagined. The Greek-born Manetas and his cohorts had claimed to be getting 23 U-Hauls ready to display Flash animation pieces by 200 young designers, programmers and assorted digital artists. On the night of the Whitney's party, the trucks were to drive around and around the museum (which takes up a block on the Upper East Side of Manhattan), diverting the attention of the invitation-only guests. As it turned out, it was all a hoax. Or rather, "It went great!" as Manetas says. "The trucks were not there, of course. The U-Haul idea was only an advertisement" for what he calls a para-site exhibition of Flash works at www.whitneybiennial.com (not .org), a domain he registered for the purpose. "They were invisible trucks," he says. "We would have never made them in real life even with the most great sponsoring." The Great Whitney U-Haul Scam is only part of what Manetas calls a "worldwide artistic movement" that has been a few years in the making. In 1999 Manetas was one of an increasing number of artists who used software, the Internet and other digital media to make and display -- or who used those media as the subject of -- their work. Manetas himself had produced traditional oil paintings of wires, cables and computer hardware, created short looped fragments of video games such as "Tomb Raider," and exhibited computer-generated "screen grabs," among other things. But he was impatient with critics and curators who had yet to come up with a really good "-ism" for this new generation of creativity. After securing financial assistance from a nonprofit called the Art Production Fund, Manetas went out and hired Lexicon Branding, a California firm responsible for creating such product names as Powerbook, Pentium, Zima, Swiffer and Dasani. Lexicon's assignment was to create a name for this new movement. The word Manetas wanted was "not exclusively about technology in art, but more about the style, about the psychological landscape," he has explained. "We have two kind of lives now -- a real life and a simulated one. I wanted to give a name to this psychology." In May 2000, during a packed press conference at the Gagosian Gallery in Manhattan -- and a panel of people like Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker ready to provide (tongue-in-cheek) analysis of the term -- Manetas unveiled the new word. Actually, it was the squeaky, synthetic voice of a Sony Vaio that made the announcement. The word was "Neen." In his subsequent Neen Manifesto, Manetas declared that the term represented "a still undefined generation of visual artists. Some of them may belong to the contemporary art world; others are software creators, web designers and video game directors or animators." He later added: "The identity of a NEENSTER is his state of mind. Because he will publish everything on the web, his state of mind reflects on the public taste. NEENSTERS are public personas." Since then, the public persona that is Miltos Manetas has been busy, both holding up and working under the Neen umbrella. In the midst of the Napster debate, for instance, he established www.iamgonnacopy.com, described as "a Neen place against intellectual property and copyright." And last year, in a storefront space in the Los Angeles gallery district on Chung King Road, he set up the so-called Electronic Orphanage, which he says is "a black cube where a large screen is left white for projections." When galleries on the street have openings, he says, "EO [shows] a piece commissioned for the occasion .... The rest of [the] time, it's a studio where people (the Orphans) are 'working' on Neen and other screen ideas." He is also planning Electronic Orphanages in Shanghai, China, and in Goa, India. Full disclosure: This interview was conducted via e-mail over the past couple of weeks, the bulk of it between "work" on the fictional U-Haul trucks before the hoax was revealed. This part of the interview, the vast majority of it, stands as it did before March 5 -- the day of the Whitney's opening gala. Manetas had no scruples about letting the New York Times run with the fake story on March 4, but Salon had a chance to ask some follow-up questions after the opening-night festivities -- or lack thereof. Let's start with Neen. Is this indeed an art movement, or something else? Neen is a name to evoke a movement. It's not only art. It's also social and philosophical/​lifestyle. Actually, there are two names: Neen and Telic. Hold on! You had a big press conference and you unveiled "Neen." Everything has been Neen. Please explain. Here's some background: Almost two years ago, we commissioned from Lexicon Branding a new word which was supposed to define any artistic experience relative to the computer screen. In fact, they proposed [to] us "Telic," a very convincing and sophisticated term invented by the human staff of the company. But we decided to acquire, and introduce, a name which their machines coined. This was "Neen," a palindrome created by a computer program after they [fed] it with words such as "screen" and let it run the different combinations. Neen, which by coincidence in old Greek means "exactly now, not a second later," was a controversial name. Only a few people felt that it was proper to call themselves Neensters and [call] what they do Neen, and this was because most of us, myself included unfortunately, are still doing a lot of Telic. Are you now saying that choosing "Neen" was a mistake? No!!! Our times are Telic. But we want to see more Neen happen. What's the difference? How do you define Telic? Telic is [related to] the tools which help us design the world and see things in a perspective. Telic is constructive: Anything related with a job is Telic. People [who] are busy with aesthetics, but who also have jobs and clients, are Telic. But sometimes these Telics produce very important Neen. It's usually a small detail which they hide inside the nightmare of their job. Telic is serious: It makes sense or it's a "sense wannabe." People recognize it easily and trust it. And Neen? Neen, instead, is Telic that went nuts: You wouldn't believe that it's possible and even [those] who [make] it cannot easily repeat it. But Neen looks great. There are a few 100 percent Neensters, people without a specific profession who linger around us. Telic is Giacometti, Neen is Fontana. Nature is Telic and miracles are Neen. [But] miracles which have a purpose become Telic. Can you show me a few examples of Neen? Neen is Telic that went wrong. Unpredictable Telic. A thing you cannot decide if it's worth it or not but it impresses you anyway and you cannot live without it. [Here's an] egomaniac who made a round Explorer window and put himself in the center of the net-world. Boyinstatic.com has a gold frame. It's a Neen color when you see it on the Web. Biribiri.com is a computer which says "Whoops" like somebody who gets surprised. The screen blinks. This is the guy who designed whitneybiennial.com. [He's] 21 years old: a Neenster. Also: lonliness.org, lostpixel.com, magicrobot.org, maiueda.com, mikecalvert.org, whitetrash.nl and uncontrol. This is looking in real time directly inside the public subconscious. A window. It's the most cool public project I have ever seen. They should install it permanently in Times Square! How about some examples of Telic stuff? [It's] intellectual and aesthetic stuff related with the computer screen. The best of those. Serious and focused. Professional. These people -- gratisdesign.com, jetset.nl, futurefarmers.com, ourmachine.com -- are doing great stuff, but they have a profession and their things seem destined to respond to a demand. This ruins the Neen in them and lets Telic prevail. Also, some of them are using a lot of references of '70s design and déjà-vu: That's Telic. Golan Levin [does] music and Neen [which equals] Telic. But he is one of the best artists around anyway. We love his Telic! Turux.org could be Neen, maybe they are. But they look somehow Telic. Is the Neen stuff better than the Telic stuff? Definitely. We should all try to be more Neen than Telic. But Telic is important. This interview is Telic, Neen doesn't really speak. So, you aspire to Neen? Yes, because I like surprises and disorder. Are you the leader of this movement? You came up -- or hired someone to come up -- with a name for it after all. I see myself more as the cleaning lady of the movement instead of a leader. But you are spearheading the activities related to Neen -- or Telic. Yes: In our age, cleaning ladies also do propaganda. What is the objective of the propaganda? To change [the] situation and be useful, in a non-useful way. Glory is the simulation of such a strange usefulness. Since a few years ago, when you hired Lexicon Branding to find the right word for this stuff, people wondered if this wasn't a big conceptual piece or, alternatively, a big joke. Are you the Andy Kaufman of the art world? If you say so ... Let me put it another way: Are you serious about all this? I am never serious or not serious. And all this is not conceptual: It's life in progress. Also, I detest jokes: They are '90s art. I can only partly understand that, because while I know what it's like to be neither, most of the time I am either serious or I am not serious. And I'm afraid that this makes me both un-Telic and un-Neen. What do you say? Are people Neen or Telic? Of course they are. It's a matter of style. There is a simple factor for somebody to be Neen: He should not have a job. It's not enough, but it's a beginning. But he should not live a miserable life either. Well, what about the un-Telic or un-Neen things out there? You don't just dismiss them do you? There is UnNeen and UnTelic stuff that interests me. The New Yorker for example. Are there perhaps thousands of such things you like? It's a big world. Yeah: really a lot. There is a whole "Beigë" culture which includes fashion, Muslim people, sports, post-Marxism and a lot of art that we like for different reasons, such as Alex Katz and many others. I don't think I will go down the "Beigë" road. Let's go back and get some background for a minute. You were born in Greece? Yes, 1964. Tell me briefly about your childhood and how you got to this point? Boring environment, no [relationship to art]. Just decided in 1985, after I saw a Jackson Pollock book, to do art because it seemed easy. I left to go to Italy in 1986, came to New York in 1995. Started painting. Started work with video games -- to find art subjects -- in 1995. I was the first artist to paint a laptop and Lara Croft, according to The [London] Guardian. I made enough [of a] career, [was] bored, went to L.A., opened the Electronic Orphanage, started adventures, Neen, and here I am. Yes, the Electronic Orphanage. Please explain it and why you're doing it? Until today, there is not any great way to show digital art. In galleries and museums it seems pathetic, and on the Internet it does not affect the majority of the public, which doesn't know how to click well yet. I decided to create the [least] worse [thing], a physical space where people can spy over the shoulders of the creators and get an idea [of it]. It's on a road which hosts many art galleries, so there is a public which is looking for amazing visual stuff available already -- you don't have to invite the people. It's like installing a Web site in the actual city. It's also a club where people can meet and realize projects and conspiracies -- aesthetic ones. We are now preparing an E.O. in Goa, India, and another in Shanghai, China. Then, people [will be able to] move from one to the other, it becomes a network. I see E.O. as a very specialized search engine, a Google which checks for geniuses. And now you're doing this project with the U-Haul trucks and WhitneyBiennial.com. Why? Because the domain was available. It was the official show's unconscious desire. I see all this as a commission by them. Like a Coca-Cola advertisement where they left a little window open: You can put your mark there. What kind of people have you invited to do work for this project? Are they better or more interesting than the artists chosen for the "real" Biennial? I invited of course many who I consider great. The best of them are not in the W.B., but this is not the point. The point is to collect many little different voices and start a new song. Why Flash animation? Because it's easy and everywhere. Like oil painting in the past. How does the Whitney feel about your dot-com biennial? Apparently they are cool. I don't know, I don't really care. They haven't sent me any lawyers yet ... What's the matter with the Biennial? People love to complain about it. But there's a lot of digital and new media work in it, some of which must be Telic or Neen. Isn't it any good? I love the Whitney Biennial: They always have great works there. They are family. I am not against them. I just want to use them. Use them for what? For propaganda ... free [access to the] public. We have to learn to use institutions in an alternative way. It's not fun anymore to do things with them. Of course we will keep doing [something] because they give us money. But every time they do something, [we should] try to open them to unknown factors. Deviate their intentions. We don't only live anymore in the "Society of the Spectacle," we are spectacle. So it's fair to say this is about getting attention? Of course it is for attention! Why else [would] a person like me set up a show? I am not a curator ... But I also want to see a beautiful experiment happen and give a reason to my friends to do beautiful stuff. Is "art" a bad word these days? Is trying to create "art" a bad, or dull, or old idea? Art is OK: It's classic. Well, what is art? And do you try to create it? I don't try: I do. I don't really want to, because I am lazy, but that's life ... How does the iamgonnacopy.com fit in to the Neen or Telic view of things? You'd like to see copyright eliminated? Why? Copyright and intellectual property are some of the most urgent social [issues]. People don't realize it but we live now in a time where images and ideas are replacing nature: We should be able to move freely inside this nature, and the main reason is that a part of it is inside ourselves. We are made up of logos and pictures, books and music. The images of paintings, once published, belong to everybody and the same is true for the songs by Beatles or the Coca-Cola logo. If I have a dream which is a collage of all that, I should have the right to do whatever I want with them. Isn't it more complicated than that? I believe that copyright and intellectual property are really black and white issues. It's like slavery: Either you consider that all people should be born free, or you want some of them under the control of others. Information is like people: It has its own life, separated by its creator. Nobody should own his/​her information, at least after he/​she made it public and therefore he/​she exchanged it with fame and other bonuses. So I assume Neen is not copyrighted? And I can do anything I want with it? Yes, indeed. I don't know, suppose I headed an organization of homicidal maniacs or neo-Nazis, and we decided we liked Neen as our new brand name, and we stole it and made huge money off of Neen T-shirts that supported our ability to kill people, wouldn't you want the legal power to stop us from using it? Of course not. It's part of the game: Words bring us to an unpredictable version of reality. They are cultural software, not Yellow cabs. On one hand, you seem like a fan of commercial culture. On the other, you seem to be against some of the things that drive it. How do you see it? There is no such a thing as commercial culture. All culture is commercial and a few commercial objects are culture. I am interested only in those, wherever they come from. What kind of system of government would you prefer? I don't care as long as it respects the freedom of the Internet. If they start to limit it, I will just move to another country. The Internet is like drugs: We should not lose a second chance to experiment freely and methodically with our inner self. Through Neen and the Electronic Orphanage, you're working with a lot of young people. What's the best quality they share? The fact that they absolutely ignore the heroes of the past century. I was speaking with a Japanese girl and I said something about Karl Marx and she asked me, "Who is he?" "You don't know K.M.?" I said. "What about Lenin?" She said, "Oh, yes, I've heard about him. Isn't he a friend of Che Guevara?" Now, this girl is a very smart one and I am sure that she will collect the info she needs about all those people, if she needs it. Not like myself and my friends who know about Marx but we never read any of his books. What's the worst shared quality? There is nothing bad about them which [wasn't bad about] the generations before. They are an upgrade and upgrades are always better. But aren't we bringing kids up in a more superficial world and aren't they themselves more superficial in some ways? The world is superficial even if you live in a forest. You receive all information via your senses, which are a bad translation, an illusion. Your question is like a movie hero, who while he is playing on the fake set of the "Titanic," is wondering if there is a danger [of drowning]. There are not any seas around his boat, and in the same way, there is not any absolute reality in our world. The only reality is our theories about reality. What's your vision of the future? There are all possible versions of the future and according to quantum physics all of them will be realized. I don't understand what future you are talking about. There is a version where 23 U-Hauls will surround the Whitney next week and a version where nothing like that will happen. We don't really know in which one we will participate, we can only envision the possibilities. - - - - - - - - - - - - All right. It's now Wednesday, March 6, and I just found out that the U-Hauls were a hoax! People who expected to see these trucks with screens driving around the Whitney were seriously fooled. I was fooled! Tell me what you have to say about it. It went great! The trucks were not there of course. The U-Haul idea was only an advertisement for the [online] show. They were invisible trucks. We would have never made them in real life even with the most great sponsoring. I don't believe in such '80s and '90s art. I believe in the Internet. The real U-hauls are the Web sites where the exhibition can be found. But people loved the trucks, so we diffused [this] news to give them something to visualize. And I assume you view this -- the evening, duping me and others -- as a success? The event went great. Many people showed up at the museum. We were there to explain to them that the U-Hauls were invisible and I was helping them to enter the Gala, where you were not welcome without an invitation. Inside the museum, many people were talking about the U-Hauls as if they had seen them! It was amazing! People would walk out to check for them. Also, most of the artists of the show liked the fact that the U-Hauls where invisible. Other than playing on the idea of contemporary art and the emperor's new clothes, will you elaborate on the purpose? We have to create new ways to show art. The real space is not so important anymore. The new, really international space for the arts, accessible by everyone, is indeed the Internet. But we should also create new urban legends to support us. The invisible trucks was one of these urban legends. Are you sure it wasn't that you just couldn't make the U-Haul idea happen? I never tried. I hate art made with everyday objects. I like classic forms. I got inspired for the tactics that I used in the promotion of this show, from the film "When We Were Kings" about Mohammed Ali. If you have to battle with something bigger and more powerful than you are -- the museum establishment -- you'd better let your adversary believe that you will use techniques which he can understand, and then simply do nothing, just let him collapse under his own weight. Earlier you said jokes were '90s art. Wasn't this a joke of a kind? It was not a joke at all. It was a powerful new way to invert the situations. Because of the Internet, some of the importance of real estate and what real estate represents -- to the Whitney Museum and to any museum -- is passed to the online estate, the dot-com. The old world, art dealers, media, etc., are terrified by this new condition at least as much Europe was terrified by the progress of America, but ultimately it will be a positive charge for both worlds. There is nothing ironic [about] the invisible U-Hauls; they were there, because the Internet pages that host my show are everywhere. Just imagine a building full of screens with all the works of my show on it and you get the picture: a lot more interesting than the official show. Made out of nothing but pure creative spirit and collaboration, with budget [of] zero, in less than a month. It's a good show just because it could not be bad; the official show is not even bad, it's just a regular show, some bureaucratic extravaganza which will feed a small and tired art world for the next two years and then it will repeat itself. Did you ever have any doubts or misgivings about essentially lying to the press? I don't feel that I lied: I gave them what they wanted to hear. The press is not an objective observer; it's just another producer of simulation. They wanted the "U-Haul Manetas" and that's what I gave them, but there was no reason to actually do the U-Hauls. Just declaring it to the press was enough. The invisible U-Haul idea seems like it operates in a much larger realm than the online show of Flash animation works it was intended to promote. Are you sure that digital tools are your main medium? Perhaps you are really a conceptual artist after all. Digital is not a tool; it a landscape. In the case of WhitneyBiennial.com, the best way to visualize this landscape was to surround the museum with 23 invisible U-Hauls. So, I did it. Sorry. Music commissioned to Mark Tranmer for the electronicOrphanage, Los Angeles 2003 Kumbh Mela {image 1} The 2001 Kumbh Mela (image by Devin Asch), Allahabad https://www.google.com/search?q=Kumbh+Mela+2001&hl=en&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=uNzPT9SqHM7HsgbdjoXICw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CDsQ_AUoAQ&biw=1631&bih=850 10 APPLE laptops (Powerbook) are turned into poets. Each "poet" is using a different computer simulated voice, reading-in loop- a poem written in the 18th Century . Exhibited at VHS, a show curated by Giacinto di Pietrantonio at Pallazina Liberty, Milan, Italy {image 1} EXTRAS: imaginary people that you meet in books. (ex: Mr Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he spoke with a husky, whispering and somewhat broken voice.) * I start collecting EXTRAS in 1993. First "EXTRAS" performance, created for the group show "Het krijwitte kind" (SCHONHEIT MACHT SCHAMHAFT), Aschenbach Gallery, Amsterdam, curated by Paul Groot, staring, Vanessa Beecroft , 1993 "EXTRAS", one-man show, Galleria Fac-Simile, Milan, staring, Vanessa Beecroft, 1993, photo by Gaetano Alfano {image 3} "Ho sospesso VB a 7 m dalla terra a battere in macchina da scrivere su delle etichette adesive descrizioni di gente immaginaria pressa da I libri di letteratura. Lei lasciava poi cadere le etichette dal alto in modo che il publico della mostra le potesse appiccicare sulle pareti creando cosi un spontaneo paesaggio/ritratto di vita virtuale". (Miltos Manetas, intervista a Emily Tsingou, forFrieze Magazine, 1995) {image 4} 1993, "EXTRAS", one-man show, Galleria Fac-Simile, staring, Vanessa Beecroft, photo by Gaetano Alfano * from "The Book of Others" EXTRAS+ EXTRAS+ are real people one meets at the context of one's work*. {image 1} EXTRAS+ at"Shopping", a show at the Guggenheim Museum in Soho, New York curated by Jeffrey Deitch in 1996 I start collecting EXTRAS+ in 1994, after I bought my first digital camera. I"d take a picture of anyone I would meet in the artworld and then put it in the computer and let the pictures run in a slide show{slideshow}{image 9}{image 5}{image 6}{image 7}{image 8}{image 9}{image 10}{image 11}{image 12}{image 13}{image 14}{image 15}{image 16}{image 17}{image 18}{image 19}{image 20}{image 21}{image 22}{image 23}{image 24}{image 25}{image 26}{image 27}{image 28}{image 29}{image 30}{/slideshow} *(Miltos Manetas, interview a Emily Tsingou, for the magazine Frieze, 1995) Related: The Book of EXTRAS Steina and Woody Vasulka Video Works John Cage & Merce Cunningham - Variations V Morton Feldman Piano and String Quartet, for piano & string quartet (1985) Aki Takahashi, piano Kronos Quartet Morton Feldman wrote Piano and String Quartet in 1985, which was commissioned for the 1985 New Music America Festival in Los Angeles. For this work, the composer has placed the piano and string quartet in opposition, with the piano primarily performing arpeggios while the quartet performs mainly held chords. The opportunity to hear these different musical bodies luxuriating as separate bodies in a common soundscape is a uniquely revealing method for Feldman to display the operations of his mature writing style. For the work's eighty-minute duration, the piano's arpeggios and the quartet's chords go through minute changes of rhythm and register so that the decay of each collective undulation gradually comes together, diversifies, and eventually there are brief solos, so that there is a kaleidoscope of motion between them. Though Feldman had only two years left to live when he wrote Piano and String Quartet, the expressive elasticity of his imagination was at its height during these last few years, and this simple musical premise is as evocative as any great work of the twentieth century. Though there are means of outlining his approach to creating a piece of music, the forms are invariably original. He referred to his works as "handmade," which pertains to his willingness to do something new with each composition. Listeners who are only beginning a relationship to this composer's music may find the distinctions between each work remote, but that is because the syntax that Feldman discovered and refined over the course of several decades is so specific to him that one must first learn to listen past the initial revelation of having found him. Two of the most important inspirations for Feldman were not musical; they were abstract expressionist painting and Persian rugs. Abstract expressionist paintings by Rothko and Guston managed to document a relationship to emotional states that cannot be represented. When taking in such works, the viewer enters an aesthetic space that cannot be penetrated by any other means because the painting in question represents one outlook (the painter's) at one specific period (when it was painted). Viewers can then enter into an aesthetic relationship posed by the work's tensions, which suspends conscious ties with identifiable, knowable things. This suspension is part of what Feldman was after, though this is more difficult to achieve in music than in the visual arts because the work itself takes place in time. The solution is to present the music in a collection of moments, a set of undulations wherein the piano and quartet perform an utterance that evolves in such a way that the material is not in contrast to the previous utterance, which is then obliterated from memory. The listener is caught in a perpetual state of the present, caught up in the tensions between the "now" and whatever had happened previously as it disappears into a fog of "before," as well as the tensions between the piano and quartet. Feldman's command of rhythmic features was elastic enough to create a sense of looseness, of an easy and natural relationship to pattern, as opposed to something mechanistic or scientific. This is what he absorbed from the Persian masters of rug weaving. The patterns these masters created are not rigid but fluid, reflecting a tradition predating the hard lines of contemporary design. The resulting music is a refreshing approach, and not merely novel but completely engrossing without being manipulative. Piano and String Quartet is a formidable work and ennobles the tired label of masterpiece. Listeners will find that a lifetime is not long enough to exhaust this work. It is timeless and human concurrently. [allmusic.com] improvisation Technologies, a Tool for the Analytical Dance Eye zkm (Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe) digital arts edition: special issue Credits: William Forsythe, »Improvisation Technologies«, 1999: Konzept und Realisation: William Forsythe, Nik Haffner, Volker Kuchelmeister, Yvonne Mohr, Astrid Sommer, Christian Ziegler in cooperation with Deutsche Tanzarchiv Köln SK Stiftung Kultur http://vimeo.com/2912642 RED PLEXIGLASS FRAMES MILTOS MANETAS, oil on canvas paintings {image 6} SAD TREE, 1995 oil on canvas, 200x300 cm, Courtesy Private Collection, Geneva take file print quality from here (10.5 MB) MY FLOOR, 1996-2013
From 04. MY FLOOR
Miltos Manetas, MY FLOOR (Bananas & PlayStation), 1998, Oil on canvas, 132 x 182.8 cm, Private Collection, Paris, FR take file print quality from here {image 7} MY FLOOR (Nikescape), 2005, oil on canvas, 200x300 cm, Dakis Joannou Collection, GR take file print quality from here (28 MB) or smaller size (PDF) {image 23} MY FLOOR (dogs & cables), 2006, Oil on Canvas, 304,8x228.6 cm, Courtesy Private Collection, Brussels, BE take file print quality from here (PDF, 1.7 MB) {image 28} MY FLOOR (Zip Drive and legs), 1998, Oil on canvas 208x183cm, Courtesy APT, NYC take file print quality from here PDF {image 31} MY FLOOR (Gucci vintage and videotapes), 1998, Oil on canvas 152.5x183, Courtesy Private Collection, Paris take file print quality from here PERIPHERALS, 1996-2013 {image 36} Miltos Manetas, PERIPHERALS (Madonna and Child), 1998, Oil on Canvas, 52x72inches, Courtesy The Artist take file print quality from here
From 07. PERIPHERALS
PERIPHERALS (Selfportrait as a Modem), 2001, 198.12 x 228.6 cm, Oil on Canvas, 198.12 x 228.6 cm Courtesy The artist, NYC, take file print quality from here
From 07. PERIPHERALS
Miltos Manetas, PERIPHERALS (Joystick & cables), 1997, Oil on Canvas, 64x78in, Courtesy The Artist and APT LONDON, London, UK take PDF print quality from here LOOKING AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN, 1998-2013 {image 4} LOOKING AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN (Myself in Brooklyn), 1999, Oil on Canvas, 182.88X 213.36 CM (72x84 inches) Courtesy The Artist, NYC, US take file print quality from here (33 MB) {image 20} LOOKING AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN (Annika Larsson)1998, Oil on Canvas, 40x48 inches, Courtesy Takaya Goto, NYC, US take file print quality from here (25 MB) {image 8} LOOKING AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN (Cat-panties), 2005, Oil on canvas 182.8 x 243.8 cm, Courtesy Private Collection, GR take file print quality from here (54 mb) {image 24} LOOKING AT THE BLACKBERRY, 2013, Oil on canvas 200 x 300 cm, Courtesy The Artist, Rome take file print quality from here (4.5 MB) {image 25} Untitled (Delfina looking at Ethereal Self), 2013, Oil on Canvas, Unfinished Painting 100x150 cm, Courtesy The Artist, Rome take file print quality from here(30 MB) Cable Paintings, 1997-2013 {image 15} CABLES (Howie & Bea), 2008, Oil on Canvas, 200x300cm, Courtesy of the artist, Rome, Italy take file print quality from here {image 10} UNTITLED (CABLES) X, 2008, Oil on canvas, 288x190 cm, Courtesy Private Collection, Seoul, KO take file print quality from here (55.3 mb) {image 11} UNTITLED (CABLES) XI, 2008, Oil on canvas, 288x190 cm, Courtesy The Artist, Rome take file print quality from here (54 mb) {image 14} UNTITLED (CABLES) XII, 2008, Oil on canvas, 288x190 cm, Courtesy Private Collection, Mexico City take file print quality from here (67.7 mb) {image 12} UNTITLED (CABLES) XIII, 2008, Oil on canvas, 288x190 cm, Courtesy The Artist, Rome take file print quality from here (54 mb) {image 32} CABLES (on Raffaello book), 2005, Oil on canvas 170x220cm, Courtesy The Artist, Athens take file print quality from here {image 30} CABLES (Selfish), 1999, Oil on canvas, 213x171,5cm, Private Collection, Chicago take file print quality from here
From 08. CABLES
Miltos Manetas, CABLES (Red, White, Yellow), 1998, Oil on Canvas, 40x48 inches, Courtesy Leo Villarreal, NYC, UStake PDF for print quality from here PLAYING VIDEOGAMES, 1997-2000 {image 13} PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Andreas with gun), Oil on canvas, take file print quality from here (54 mb) PDF {image 19} PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Christine & Playstation), 1997, Oil on Canvas, 197x162cm, Courtesy BJORK COLLECTION, LONDON GB take file print quality from here (11.3MB) or smaller size (PDF) {image 21} PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Carisa), 1999, Oil on Canvas, 72x84 inches, Courtesy Jody Quon, NYC, US take file print quality from here POINT OF VIEW, 1997-2013
From 06. POINT OF VIEW
POINT OF VIEW (The Gatekeeper), 2004-2007, Oil on canvas, 300x200 cm, Courtesy Private Collection, Madrid, SP take file print quality from here(42.8 MB)
From 06. POINT OF VIEW
> Miltos Manetas, POINT OF VIEW (Mai with Nintendo controller), 1998, Oil on Canvas, 152.4 x 132.08 cm, New York, US take PDF print quality from here
From 06. POINT OF VIEW
Miltos Manetas, POINT OF VIEW (Playstation controller), 1998, Oil on canvas, 243.84x 182 cm, Private Collection, San Francisco, US take PDF print quality from here {image 18} POINT OF VIEW (after Mantegna), 1999, Oil on Canvas, 90x72 inches, Courtesy Private Collection, Stockholm, SW take file print quality from here(22.9 MB) {image 27} POINT OF VIEW (Me and VB), 1998, Oil on Canvas, 132x183 cm, Collection Bernard Picasso, Brussels take file print quality from here {image 22} POINT OF VIEW (Doom), 1999, Oil on Canvas, 130x170cm Courtesy Private Collection, Tel Aviv, ISRAEL take file print quality from here
From 06. POINT OF VIEW
Miltos Manetas, POINT OF VIEW (Levi's & cables), 1999, INSTALLATION VIEW Oil on Canvas, 67.3/8x84 inches, 172x213.36 cm Courtesy The artist, NYC, US Take PDF file for PRINT here PATIENTS, 1996-2013 {image 17} PATIENTS (suicide from a chair), 1997, Oil on Canvas, 64x78inches, Courtesy Private Collection, Athens, GR take file print quality from here(23.9 MB) {image 33} CATALINA ON SKYPE (Speaking with herself), 200 x 300 cm, Oil on Canvas, 2013 Courtesy the artist, Roma take file print quality from here {image 35} Untitled (The Unconnected), 300 x 600 cm, Oil on Canvas, 2013 Courtesy the artist, Roma Yv take file print quality from here (10.5 MB) {image 5}Outside of the internet, 2012 OUTSIDE OF THE INTERNET, 2012, Computer print, edition of 3, 102.4x76.7 cm take file print quality from here {image 4} OUTSIDE OF THE INTERNET II, 2012, Computer print, edition of 3, 102.4x76.7 cm take file print quality from here {image 6} OUTSIDE OF THE INTERNET III, 2012, Computer print, edition of 3, 102.4x76.7 cm take file print quality from here {image 7}Alpha Manetas, 2013 Alpha, 2013, Computer drawing on photographic paper, 50x 66.95 cm take file print quality from here {image 3} Baby & PC, 2013, Computer drawing on photographic paper, 50x 66.95 cm take file print quality from here {image 2} Nostalgy for the Internet, 1998-2013 SADTREE in SECOND LIFE_1998-2013, Vibracolour print on superglossy paper 70x100 cm, edition of 3 take file print quality from here MORE OF THESE (SEE HERE) TAKE FROM HERE MANETAS DESERT in SECOND LIFE see here Look also here http://manetas.com/4print/activeworlds_mystudio/ Floating Studio in Chelsea find the info of these pictures here http://manetas.com/4print/outsidetheinternet/outsidetheinternetA4.pdf 2009 "Pirates of the Internets", Video-documentation of the PirateBay boats of the internetPavilion during the opening of the Venice Biennial. TAKE FILES HIGH RES FOR PRINT FROM HERE INTERNET PAVILION 2009 INTERNET PAVILION 2009 INTERNET PAVILION 2009 INTERNET PAVILION 2009 Miltos Manetas, TOWARDS THE INTERNET PAVILION Video in handheld projector, Signed edition of 5, 2009 Music by Mark Tranmer TAKE FILES HIGH RES FOR PRINT FROM HERE SEE IMAGES {image 1} {image 2} {image 3} {image 4} A LITER THAT BECOMES A METER by Christian Wassmann TAKE FILES HIGH RES FOR PRINT FROM HERE SEE IMAGES INTERNET PAVILION 2009 2011 ISLAND OF THE NET, San Servolo, 2011 TAKE FILES HIGH RES FOR PRINT FROM HERE SEE IMAGES {image 5}{image 6}{image 7} SELECTED IMAGES 2011 TAKE FILES HIGH RES FOR PRINT FROM HERE SEE IMAGES {image 8}{image 9}{image 10}{image 11} take for print PACCO POSTALE, POSTE ITALIANE 4PRINT_ MANETAS PHOTOS 2012 Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print2010 2010
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Miltos Manetas, Derveni 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
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Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print
From MANETAS PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas painting Blackberry Paintings, Egira, 2010 Photo by George Vdokakis, Take picture high quality for Print 2009
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2009 Photo by Martin Grimes Take picture high quality for Print
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2009 Photo by Martin Grimes Take picture high quality for Print
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2009 Photo by Martin Grimes Take picture high quality for Print
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2009 Photo by Martin Grimes Take picture high quality for Print
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2009 Photo by Martin Grimes Take picture high quality for Print
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2009 Photo by Martin Grimes Take picture high quality for Print
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2009 Photo by Martin Grimes Take picture high quality for Print
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2009 Photo by Martin Grimes Take picture high quality for Print
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2009 Photo by Martin Grimes Take picture high quality for Print
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2009 Photo by Martin Grimes Take picture high quality for Print
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2009 Photo by Martin Grimes Take picture high quality for Print 2007
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2007 Photos by Jason Evans Styling by Simon Foxton for the FANTASTIC MAN magazine Take file Print Quality
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2007 Photos by Jason Evans Styling by Simon Foxton for the FANTASTIC MAN magazine Take file Print Quality
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2007 Photos by Jason Evans Styling by Simon Foxton for the FANTASTIC MAN magazine Take file Print Quality
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2007 Photos by Jason Evans Styling by Simon Foxton for the FANTASTIC MAN magazine Take file Print Quality
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Miltos Manetas, HighGate 2007 Photos by Jason Evans Styling by Simon Foxton for the FANTASTIC MAN magazine Take file for print {image 3} Looking at "CATALINA ON SKYPE II", photo by Gaetano Alfano Take file Print Quality {image 4} Looking at "CATALINA ON SKYPE III", photo by Gaetano Alfano Take file Print Quality {image 1} Painting LOOKING AT THE BLACKBERRY", photo by Gaetano Alfano Take file Print Quality {image 7} Miltos Manetas looking at Untitled (The Unconnected), 300 x 600 cm, Oil on Canvas, 2013 photo by Gaetano Alfano Take file print quality {image 6} Miltos Manetas infront of at Untitled (The Unconnected), 300 x 600 cm, Oil on Canvas, 2013 photo by Gaetano Alfano Take file print quality 4Print: Videos From Videogames MIRACLE, 1996 installation view, LUX GALLERY, London, 2000.
From Video After Videogames
SUPERMARIO SLEEPING, 1996, DVD after SuperMario for Nintendo 64, edition of 3 click here to dowload large file (2.82 MB)
From Video After Videogames
SUPERMARIO SLEEPING II, 1996, dvd after SuperMario for Nintendo 64, edition of 5 click here to dowload large file (4.43 MB)
From Video After Videogames
MARIO ROLLING, 2002, dvd after SuperMario for Nintendo 64, edition of 5 SOFT DRILLER, 1995 {image 1}{image 2} Published at Zapp Magazine Issue #7 (cover) Exhibited at Gio Marconi Gallery, Milan (Soft Driller, One -man show), Reviews: Francesca Pasini, “Soft Driller”, Artforum, March 1996 Starring Armando Tinnirello Collections: Centre pour l’image contemporaine, Saint-Gervais Genève — in Milan, Italy. 4PRINT_ STUDIO BY GAETANO ALFANO 4PRINT, STUDIO, Gaetano Alfano {image 2} Looking at "CATALINA ON SKYPE", photo by Gaetano Alfano Take file Print Quality {image 3} Looking at "CATALINA ON SKYPE II", photo by Gaetano Alfano Take file Print Quality {image 4} Looking at "CATALINA ON SKYPE III", photo by Gaetano Alfano Take file Print Quality {image 1} Painting LOOKING AT THE BLACKBERRY", photo by Gaetano Alfano Take file Print Quality {image 7} Miltos Manetas looking at Untitled (The Unconnected), 300 x 600 cm, Oil on Canvas, 2013 photo by Gaetano Alfano Take file print quality "nature" Etymology: [Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin; natura, from natus, past participle of nasci, to be born–from which comes the derivative words nascent, nationality & NATION]. nature (n.) late 13c., "restorative powers of the body, bodily processes; powers of growth;" from Old French nature "nature, being, principle of life; character, essence," from Latin natura "course of things; natural character, constitution, quality; the universe," literally "birth," from natus "born," past participle of nasci "to be born," from PIE *gene- "to give birth, beget" (see genus). From late 14c. as "creation, the universe;" also "heredity, birth, hereditary circumstance; essential qualities, innate disposition" (e.g. human nature); "nature personified, Mother Nature." Specifically as "material world beyond human civilisation or society" from 1660s. Nature and nurture have been contrasted since 1874. Nature should be avoided in such vague expressions as 'a lover of nature,' 'poems about nature.' Unless more specific statements follow, the reader cannot tell whether the poems have to do with natural scenery, rural life, the sunset, the untouched wilderness, or the habits of squirrels." [Strunk & White, "The Elements of Style," 3rd ed., 1979] {image 4} Painting by Alexandros Alieas OTAN O EΛ ΓΚΡΕΚΟ ΠΑΤΗΣΕ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΝΑΦΗ by Alexandros Alieas OTAN O EΛ ΓΚΡΕΚΟ ΠΑΤΗΣΕ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΝΑΦΗ Στους Γενναίο, Ηλία και Μπανάνα Tο Κείμενο είναι αυτοβιογραφική Λογοτεχνία, αλλά οι βρώμικοι ήρωες είναι άλλοι. Η Ιστορία όπως και τα πρόσωπα αληθινά. Χαρακτηριστικές περιπτώσεις. Συνήθως τα Κείμενα μου, πρώτον είναι διαλεκτικά άρτια και στο τέλος απογειώνονται. Αν εδώ δεν τα κατάφερα ίσως φταίει το υλικό. Δεύτερον, είναι σκληρό και οφείλεται στο ότι τους μάχομαι επί 35 χρόνια μόνος μου, όχι από θέσεις παράδοσης, αλλά από το μακρινό Στίγμα της Ουτοπίας, που δυσκολεύει περισσότερο την προσπάθεια.- Η Ανάφη υπήρξε ζόρικο δύσκολο Νησί και παραμένει. Ο τόπος αφηγήθηκε την καταραμένη Εξορία πολλών Πατριωτών που αντισταθήκαν στον φασισμό αγαπώντας τον Στάλιν… Ενας εξαιρετικός από αυτούς, ο Ανδρέας Παπανδρέου Καλαβρυτινός του ΕΛΑΣ,ψηλός ευθυτενής με λευκά μαλλιά ήταν φίλος μου. Τα χρόνια κύλισαν ως την δεκαετία του 70, η ευλογημένη πλέον εξορία ανακαλύφθηκε από μια διαφορετική Γενιά που αγαπούσε την ‘’Νήσο των Θησαυρών’’ του Στήβενσον, τον Ροβινσόνα Κρούσο και όχι τον Στάλιν. Την αρμονία της φυσικής ελευθερίας και όχι τις μοντέρνες τρώγλες του μπετόν… Ο Γενναίος, η Εντίτ, όλη η παρέα της Τρελής Γαρίδας, ο Μιχάλης, ο Σπύρος, η Αννα, ο Ηλίας, η Κρίστη, ο Στάθης και αμέτρητοι άλλοι ανέβηκαν το βουνό της προσωπικής αλήθειας τους, διέσχισαν αστραπιαία τον Ουρανό και σαν Ινδιάνοι χάθηκαν.(Ελάχιστοι συνεχίζουν.) Αυτό κράτησε περίπου ως τα μέσα της δεκαετίας του 2000. Ηταν η σιρμαγιά για τον τουρισμό που οδήγησε τον φτωχό τόπο σε οικονομική άνθιση. Οι ανυπότακτοι Γαλάτες και οι Ινδιάνοι άφησαν πίσω μια αόρατη Ρομαντική Παρακαταθήκη. Η μαγνητική ενέργεια του Νησιού διαπερνά τους καλούς, διώχνει τους κακούς! Έτσι και αλλιώς φίδια και σκορπιοί δεν υπάρχουν. Το 1999 με την αλλαγή του Αιώνα οργανώθηκε η πρώτη ομαδική Εκθεση Ζωγραφικής στην Ιστορία του Νησιού από τον γράφοντα και την Αννίτα. Τον ίδιο χρόνο σ’ ένα κείμενο ανάφερα ότι η Ανάφη είναι το πιο κοντινό σημείο της Γης στον Α. του Κενταύρου! Μια δημοσιογράφος με ρώτησε αν αληθεύει… Ανακάλυψα το Νησι το 84 και ήταν μαγικό. Έκτοτε έγινε σωματικό και ψυχικό σημείο αναφοράς. Το τελευταίο καταφύγιο κρυμμένο από την άπληστη ασχημία ενός πολιτισμού που άφηνε έξω τους ανυπότακτους Ινδιάνους. Ευτυχώς και τους βαθυδύτες Ψαράδες. Το 2000 μετά από 26 χρόνια ολοκλήρωσα την ‘’ΚΑΡΔΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ’’. Αριστούργημα! Το 2010 ολοκλήρωσα μετά από 10 χρόνια ‘’ΤΟ ΡΟΔΟ’’. Αριστούργημα! Και τα δυο με ευγενική φιλοξενία της Φλαμουρούς. Το Καλό. Το 2009 αναγκάστηκα να γράψω μια επιστολή για να αντιμετωπιστεί το Κακό. Ενας ρασοφόρος έκοψε τα αιωνόβια Δέντρα της παραλίας του Μοναστηρίου. «Μη τα βάζεις με αυτούς. Είναι η βαθειά συμμορία του κράτους!» Με συμβούλευσαν. Γνωρίζοντας τον κίνδυνο δεν έκανα πίσω. Το Κακό. Θέλω να καταστήσω σαφές ότι την αγάπη μου για την γενναιοδωρία του Νησιού την πλήρωσα. Όπως πλήρωσα την ψυχική ιδιοφυΐα της Ζωγραφικής επί 35 χρόνια -τα δυο συνδέονται-πολεμώντας σφοδρά την σφηκοφωλιά ενός παρασιτικού κυκλώματος. Βρίσκοντας καταφύγιο ηρεμίας στα βαθειά Νερά του Νησιού. Γνώριζα ότι η Ζωγραφική είχε πέσει στα χεριά του Εχθρού!.. Κάποια στιγμή ο Εχθρός έφτασε σπίτι μου. Η Σκοτεινή Πλευρά της Τέχνης, η Ασπόνδυλη έφτασε στην Ανάφη. Η σύγκρουση δυο διαφορετικών Κόσμων δικαιολογεί αυτήν την επιστολή. «Ζούμε την Εποχή του Ακραίου Ψέματος.» Ν. Τσακίρογλου Την σύλληψη του εγχειρήματος μάλλον την συνέλαβε η Μαρίνα Φωκίδου και την πέρασε έντυπα στο αγγλόφωνο περιοδικό South σαν αφιέρωμα στους ‘’καλλιτέχνες της Ανάφης’’. Το περιοδικό θα ταξίδευε στα Μουσεία των Μητροπόλεων. Προβολή. Σύμπτωση κανένας από τους καλλιτέχνες δεν είχε πατήσει το πόδι του στα ιερά χώματα πλην ενός. Επιπλέον η αισθητική αντίληψη του εγχειρήματος δεν είχε καμία συνάφεια με τις ριζοσπαστικές ινδιάνικες παραδόσεις του Νησιού. Μια διπλή καραμπινάτη παραχάραξη. Μια ακόμα πνευματική λαμογιά για την προώθηση ημετέρων. Φαίνεται αμελητέο, αστείο όμως δεν είναι. Πρόκειται για Διαστρέβλωση Χρώματος και Λέξεων. Το Αυθεντικό και το Κίβδηλο «Το Νησί είναι Προπύργιο των Ρομαντικών όχι των Κυνικών!» είπα στην κ. Φωκίδου όταν ήρθαμε σε προσωπική επαφή στο Κλεισίδι, στην Μαργαρίτα προσπαθώντας να παραμείνω ψύχραιμος ενώ έβραζα. Εκείνη έπαιζε προσκολλημένη στο κινητό της έχοντας γυρισμένη την πλάτη στον ορίζοντα της Θάλασσας… Ηταν επηρμένη. Ηδη την αντιπαθούσα για επαγγελματικούς λογούς εξ αιτίας της αρθογραφίας στην μεγάλη σχολή της Lifo( ο εκδότης της κάνοντας την επανάσταση του είχε χαρακτηρίσει κάποτε τους Ποιητές σκυλολόι) και της ακραίας μαυροτσούκαλης αισθητικής που συνοψίζεται πρωτοποριακά στο South «ένα αρχίδι δεξιά, ένα μάτι αριστερά και στην μέση ο Πύργος του Άιφελ»! Αυτόν ακριβώς τον ιστό της αράχνης θέλησαν να σπρώξουν τουλάχιστον άγαρμπα στις Άγριες Κυκλάδες Αμόλυντες στο Ασπόνδυλο. Σ’ αυτήν την Δραματική Καμπή της Ιστορίας. Με ποια ανταλλάγματα, ίσως να μην έχει σημασία. Ο Μίλτος Μανέτας πάντως έχει το διαβατήριο, πολλές υψηλές γνωριμίες ενός ασπόνδυλου χώρου… «Μαμά πάω στην Ανάφη στο νησί των καλλιτεχνών!» Κάπως έτσι ξεκίνησε να συναντήσει την ανύπαρκτη προϊστορία του εαυτού του, χωρίς να έχει ιδέα προηγουμένως για το Νησί ! Πήγε να υποδυθεί τον εξωτικό άγριο καλλιτέχνη! Με τον Μίλτο κάποτε υπήρξαμε φίλοι. Στην αρχή ακόμη της καριέρας του μου είχε δηλώσει ξεκάθαρα ότι θα γίνει ένας από αυτούς. Τους διεθνείς ανά τον κόσμο καλλιτέχνες. Δεν είπε θα κάνει μεγάλο έργο αλλά ότι θα είναι ένας πετυχημένος. Τότε γελούσαμε με τα καμώματα του αλλά αποδείχθηκε ότι κάναμε λάθος. Δεν ήταν καθόλου γραφικός. Ηταν υψηλής ευφυΐας, ιδιαίτερα επικοινωνιακός. Επιπλέον ένας από του ελάχιστους Έλληνες που δεν υπήρξε Βαλκάνιος. Ξεκίνησε από τα κάτω Πατήσια και πραγματοποίησε 2-3 φορές τον γύρο του Κόσμου. Διατηρώ τις καλύτερες αναμνήσεις από την λιγόχρονη συγκατοίκηση στο Μιλάνο. Κάποια στιγμή αραίωσαν και τέλος χώρισαν οι δρόμοι μας. Ηταν η εποχή που συνεταιρίσθηκε με μιά απαίσια Βαλκάνια. «Σπρώχνω εγώ στο εξωτερικό σπρώχνεις εσύ στο εσωτερικό.» Τα συμφέροντα εννοείται… Λυπήθηκα αλλά ήταν αναπόφευκτο. Ποτέ δεν δήλωσα ότι θα γίνω σαν αυτούς. Αντιθέτως ξεκαθάρισα από την αρχή ότι θα κτίσω μεγάλο Έργο Ενάντια σε Κυνικούς. Οτι θα σκάψω τον Λάκκο… Διαφορά κολοσσιαία, αγεφύρωτη. Ο Μίλτος τα κατάφερε έγινε γνωστός στον Κόσμο με αλλεπάλληλες εκθέσεις, συνεντεύξεις, αφιερώματα κλπ ,με συνεχή υπερκινητική παρουσία. Μέχρι και ο Guardian τον παρομοίασε σαν «ο νέος Ελ Γκρέκο»! Η έγκυρη εφημερίδα ή κάγχαζε ή ο συντάκτης ήταν χωμένος ως τον λαιμό… Υπήρξε φήμη ότι έπεσε στο τραπέζι και «ο νέος Λεονάρντο Ντι Κάπριο» αλλά ήταν κακόβουλη. Τι δεν κατάφερε ο Μίλτος. Να γίνει αυθεντικός καλλιτέχνης, όχι περσόνα. Να γίνει Δημιουργός. Αντιθέτως όπως και τόσοι άλλοι διάττοντες θέλησε να αρπάξει. Δεν έχει καταθέσει ούτε ένα έργο τότε, τώρα και στο μέλλον. Δυστυχώς το υπογράφω. Δεν έχει τα βαθειά κοιτάσματα Γενναιοδωρίας για να προσφέρει στο Κοινό. Δεν τον ενδιαφέρει καν το Κοινό. Μακράν ο κορυφαίος των δημοσίων σχέσεων, μεγάλος μαλαγάνας αναλόγως τον συνομιλητή πήγε απευθείας στο ψητό. Σε ανθρώπους που κινούν τα νήματα. Ο Καπιταλισμός έχει ανάγκη μαζί με τις πλάστες υλικές ανάγκες να πλαστογραφεί και τις Πνευματικές… Εγινε ζωγράφος μέσω κινητού ενώ δεν ξέρει καν να σχεδιάζει… Ανακάλυψε την Νέα Ηπειρο ,το Ιντερνέτ. Με τέτοιες αυθαιρεσίες πάντως τους έπεισε ότι ήταν μεγάλο κελεπούρι. Δεν πίνει, δεν καπνίζει, αδιάφορος για την Κρίση στόχο- προσηλωμένος, συστημικός. Τελείως απολιτικός. Τελείως Ακίνδυνος. (Ο Μανέτας στο ίδιο αφιέρωμα -ως μετέπειτα τιμητής της Εξορίας των Πολιτικών και Αυτοεξόριστων Ανυπότακτων! Κρίμα που δεν ζει ο Σπύρος…) Εκανε τα πάντα για να παραμείνει στον αυτοαναφορικό αφρό, άρρωστος για αυτοπροβολή. Ενας κλασικός Ελληνας ιδιοφυής απατεώνας που σπατάλησε την εξυπνάδα του. Δεν επαρκεί όμως η τελευταία για να είσαι Καλλιτέχνης. Χρειάζεται και γενναιοδωρία… Στην πρόσφατη Μπιενάλε που πήρε μέρος –πάντα μαζί με την Παπαδημητρίου- το εργάκι του ήταν τρεις (3) γραμμές. Στην επομένη θα είναι δύο. (Μην κάνουμε και σπατάλες.) Αυτές οι γραμμές όμως αφήνουν συστηματικά έξω την Αξιοκρατία. Ταλαντούχους νέους που αρνούνται τον εκμαυλισμό.- Μπορεί να μην δημιουργεί,όμως τα λέει ωραία στρογγυλά. Οι κριτικοί, οι επιμελήτριες κλπ είναι ερωτευμένοι με την ζώσα συνείδηση της Ανάφης. Ο Σκοτεινός Κόσμος της Πρωτοπορίας. Οταν πάτησε το πόδι του στον Γρανίτη του Αιγαίου δήλωσε-μου το μετέφεραν κάνοντας και την χαρακτηριστική κίνηση φιδιού που ελίσσεται- «Θα κάνω τα πάντα για να βοηθήσω την Ανάφη μας!» Χεσμένη την έχει την Ανάφη μας! Τo έργο του για το νησί από κινητό μπορείτε να το θαυμάσετε στο South.Οι αισιόδοξοι το χαρακτήρισαν εφάμιλλο του Βερμέερ. Οι απαισιόδοξοι ότι είχε πάρει ληγμένα. Παγερή απουσία συναισθήματος, τέχνης. Όπως και όλων της Λοξής Πρωτοπορίας. Προσβλητικό για την ξερή Πέτρα του Νησιού. Το μαύρο Βάθος της Θάλασσας . Το αλμυρό Βάθος της Ζωγραφικής. Ισως να μην φταίνε μόνο τα ληγμένα… (Είναι σαν ο Σάκης Ρουβάς και η Lady Gaga να θέλουν να γίνουν ηγετικά μέλη των Pink Floyd! Ενώ στην Μουσική και στις υπόλοιπες Τέχνες υπάρχουν σαφώς διαχωρισμένα είδη Ροκ, Κλασσική, Σκυλάδικα κλπ τσουβάλιασαν την Ζωγραφική, τον Τισιανό, τον Μοντιλιάνι με τις Περφόρμανς, Εννοιολογίες, Κατασκευές κλπ εισάγοντας θολά, χειραγωγήσιμα κριτήρια αξιολόγησης. Την απαξίωσαν για να την φέρουν στα μέτρα τους,στο ταλέντο τους. Την καπέλωσαν γιατί δεν μπορούν να σταθούν αυτόνομα στα πόδια τους σαν άλλη ανεξάρτητη τέχνη. Εστησαν μια τεράστια μπίζνα, κομπογιαννίτικη φάρσα μεταξύ αστρολογίας και θρησκείας με ανυπολόγιστο κέρδος σε χρυσά τάλαρα!..Μη αναστρέψιμο.) Κάπου είχα διαβάσει έκπληκτος «Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος, Μαρία Κάλλας, Μίλτος Μανέτας!» Για την φίλη του την Μαρία Παπαδημητρίου στο τεύχος και αυτή για την Ανάφη ή το Σικάγο δεν έχει πλέον σημασία δεν θέλω να γράψω τίποτα. Το ιερό τέρας της τέχνης με υπερβαίνει. Έμενα και τις Κυκλάδες μαζί. Ο κ. Ιωακειμίδης την χαρακτήρισε κορυφαία Ελληνίδα καλλιτέχνιδα. Μάλιστα. «Μη θυμώνεις», μου είπε μια φίλη απ’την Φλαμουρού . «Περαστικοί είναι από εδώ και από την Τέχνη.» Με τον Τάσο δεν θύμωσα , οργίστηκα. Και αυτός φίλος, έχουμε πιει κουβάδες. Ο Παυλόπουλος αναμφισβήτητα είναι ζωγράφος και αγαπάει την Ανάφη. Το ότι άνοιξε την πίσω πόρτα η έκανε την γέφυρα σ’αύτον τον θίασο που αναζητά Αμόλυντους Χώρους για Επικυριαρχία ας το ψάξει στις ενοχές του. Επί πλέον γνωρίζει καλά ποιοι είναι οι αληθινοί Καλλιτέχνες μέσα και έξω από το Νησί. Ποιοι οι πραγματικοί Ψαράδες… Στην Ιστορία της Ανάφης μπορεί να μην ήταν από τους εμβληματικούς, στην καριέρα του όμως πέτυχε κάτι απίστευτο. Να είναι επίλεκτο μέλος της Λοξής Πρωτοπορίας όπως την βάφτισε ο νονός Γ. Τζιρτζιλάκης -και εναντίον της. Και με τους Ρομαντικούς και με τους Κυνικούς και με δημοσιογράφους του Συγκροτήματος, την Lifo και με την Εφ.Συν. Κάποτε με το σταλινορθόδοξο κόμμα –κατά τα αλλά ντανταιστής-και σήμερα με τον αγκιτάτορα του σταθμού του Κόκκινου. Τα έχει μπλέξει λίγο αν και ταιριάζει γάντι με την Ελληνική αλλοπρόσαλλη ρηχότητα. Στην εποχή της Φούσκας o αγαπημένος των επιτυχημένων με το σκουλαρίκι στο αυτί- αυτούς που παραδόξως φοβήθηκαν έμενα - και τώρα λάβρος κατά του Μνημονίου και του Στουρνάρα. Και με τους εχθρούς του Αλιέα και με τον Αλιέα! Απίστευτο σε όλα μέσα! Και με τον Χωροφύλαξ και με τον Ποιητή! Στο τέλος όμως την πατάς. Οχι απ’τον Χωροφύλακα αλλά απ’ τον Ποιητή… Κατά βάθος δεν είναι με κανένα. Παρά μόνο με τον εαυτό του. Ομως κάτι δεν έχει αντιληφθεί σωστά. Τους λεπτούς Μηχανισμούς της Ιστορίας, Σαδιστικούς ενίοτε. Ισως τους μπερδεύει με τους χοντροκομμένους της Αγοράς. Πρόσφατα μου ξεκαθάρισε ότι δεν τον ενδιαφέρει η Ιστορία αλλά το παρόν. Οταν το 1999 διοργανώσαμε την Έκθεση ‘’τα Υακίνθια της Ανάφης’’ ο Τάσος αρνήθηκε ειρωνικά συμμετοχή. Δεν είχε να κερδίσει τίποτα από τους Ρομαντικούς και το φτωχό Νησί αντίθετα από το South 13 χρόνια αργότερα. Οταν παλιότερα το 1994 προσπαθήσαμε να στήσουμε Έκθεση μέσα στις Φυλακές Κορυδαλλού, με τον Γιάννη Τζερμιά και το πρότεινα στον Τάσο –σουρωμένοι κα οι δυο στον Ενοικο –αν και παναθηναϊκός, κιτρίνισε. Δεν θα κέρδιζε τίποτα, αντιθέτως θα έχανε πολλά. Ναι, από τότε πρόσεχε τα βήματα του. Δεν θα τον δούμε να υπερασπίζεται ριψοκίνδυνες υποθέσεις όπως: «Σώστε τις Φάλαινες από τους Δολοφόνους!» Ο Παυλόπουλος δεν είναι ούτε ακίνδυνος ούτε επικίνδυνος, τώρα τελευταία κάτι σαν γελωτοποιός. Ο πιο έξυπνος παίκτης πόκερ που έχω δει. Kαιροσκόπος επιπέδου. Εάν όμως συνεχίσει τα «τώρα σπάμε πλάκα, τα καραγκιοζάκια-στουρναράκια και τα κωλοδάκτυλα» θα πάει άπατος. «Τσαλάκωσα τα σκίτσα μου για να αναδείξω την τρίτη διάσταση!» Δήλωσε στην πρόσφατη έκθεση του. Στην επομένη θα τα κόψει με το ψαλιδάκι για να διασπάσει την ενότητα του Συμπαντικού Χρόνου σε Δευτέρα, Τρίτη απόγευμα 5 παρά τέταρτο! Μιλτομανετιές αλλά χωρίς την ευλύγιστη χάρη του Ελ Γκρέκο… Η Ζωγραφική δεν Υπήρξε Ποτέ Εξυπνη αλλά Δραματικά Μεγαλοφυής.- Η Νέα Εποχή των Αστρων δεν ευνοεί τις μπακατέλες, αλλά τους Δολοφόνους του Ασπόνδυλου… Τον Σεπτέμβρη του 2012 έγινε στο Camp εκθεσιακό αφιέρωμα για τους ελάχιστους Ινδιάνους που αντιστάθηκαν στην λαίλαπα της Λοξής Πρωτοπορίας. Μεταξύ των οποίων ο γραφών και ο Τάσος του οποίου ταυτόχρονα η φωτογραφία του λάμπει στο ομαδικό πορτρέτο της Λοξής Πρωτοπορίας στις πρώτες σελίδες του South. Και εναντίον και μαζί! Επανέρχομαι στο Camp. Σε μια γωνία του χώρου αναρτημένος «ο Αγιος Σεβαστιανός» του 1983 η πρώτη Ζελατίνα που ζωγράφισα και λάμπει, αυθεντικό Αριστούργημα!. Στο κέντρο της αίθουσας η ψυχή της έκθεσης το υπερμέγεθες αντιστασιακό κωλοδάκτυλο του Τάσου. Διπλή άνεση του χαβαλετζή… Μπράβο Παντελή! Πρόσφατα πίεσα έντονα τον Τάσο να πάρει πολιτικά θέση ως συντάκτης της Εφ. Συν. για τον 35ετη αποκλεισμό μου από τα ΜΜΕ (αυτή και αν είναι διπλή εξορία) ο λοξός καλλιτέχνης στην κυριολεξία με αποσβόλωσε. Η απάντηση θα μου μείνει αξέχαστη. Απαράμιλλη διαστροφή λογικής και συναισθήματος. «Γιατί δεν αυτοκτονείς!!!» Τάσο πραγματικά θα ήθελα να σε στριμώξω στα Βαθειά. Σε κάποιο γήπεδο μαζί με όλους όσους με θαλπωρή σε κανάκεψαν εσένα και όλους τους λοξούς υπόλοιπους. Θεωρητικούς, κριτικούς, όλο το σινάφι μαζεμένο για να μου έρθει πιο οικονομικά! Ολους αυτούς που με πολέμησαν άνανδρα, βρώμικα, τους υπεύθυνους της Εικαστικής Φούσκας. Για να αποκατασταθεί Αξιακά η Πνευματική Ιεραρχία στο Αμόνι απέναντι στον Παραλογισμό της Διαστροφής. Την ευγενική χορηγία του γηπέδου έμαθα, την σκέφτεται σοβαρά ο Παντελής Αραπίνης ίσως κορεσμένος από τις εννοιολογικές φόλες. Την αντικειμενική διαιτησία σίγουρα ο Ολυμπιακός… Πραγματικά θα ήθελα να σε στριμώξω. Να δούμε επιτέλους ποια είναι η ΄΄ Αλανιάρα Κότα΄΄ του Αθηναϊκού Κυκλώματος και ποιος ο Επικίνδυνος Τίγρης της Ευρωπαϊκής Ζωγραφικής. Και της Ανάφης! Τέσσερα (4) γκολ θα σου ρίξω! Ολα στο πρώτο ημίχρονο. Ε, στο δεύτερο θα σπάσω πλακά! Οποτε αισθανθείς γενναίος εδώ είμαι. Ακόμα δεν αυτοκτόνησα… Η Τρέλα στην Αριστοκρατία της Τέχνης είναι Ιερή. Η ασήμαντη εκ του ασφαλούς επαγγελματική τρελίτσα είναι ανήθικη, ανίερη. «Ο Κόσμος της Πρωτοπορίας Είναι Βαθειά Αρρωστος.» Εγραψε πρόσφατα ένας γερός Φιλόσοφος. Αηδιασμένος από την βρώμικη παρτίδα . Κάποιος Γάλλος συμπλήρωσε «Αυτοί που Σκότωσαν την Τέχνη…» Το έχω υπογραμμίσει πρώτος, με όλους τους τρόπους χωρίς να μασήσω, νέος από το μακρινό 1985. Κάπου στο περιοδικό πήρε το μάτι μου την Κατερίνα Γρέγου. «Παιδιά υπάρχει και η Γαύδος! Εκεί στο Σαρακίνικο στου Νταμουλή κάλλιστα θα ήταν δυνατό να δοθούν τα ετήσια βραβεία του ΔΕΣΤΕ. Νταλίκα βουτηγμένη στην σοκολάτα, πέτσινα μανταλάκια κλπ. Οι αιμοβόροι ιθαγενείς του Λιβυκού, απόγονοι Βερβερίνων και Σφακιανών θα το εκτιμούσαν δεόντως. Αφησα για το τέλος το γλυκό. Μόνο που δεν είναι κερασάκι στην λεύκη τούρτα αλλά καρπουζι. Εξηγούμαι για τα πικρά γέλια δεν ευθύνομαι. Άλλος και αυτός στο South . Ο Θανάσης Τότσικας, ένας ορεσίβιος κάπου από την Θεσσαλία δεν είναι καν γελωτοποιός, είναι βοσκός που πουλάει τρελίτσα γαμώντας καρπούζες! Είχα την εντύπωση ότι οι τσοπαναραίοι το κάνουν με τις κατσίκες τους. Ισως ο λεβέντης είναι χορτοφάγος. Ο έγκριτος θεωρητικός Γ. Τζιρτζιλάκης τον δικαιολόγησε αναφέροντας ότι το παληκάρι ζοριζόταν από το επαρχιακό περιβάλλον (του την έδωσε) και ξέσπασε στα καρπούζια! Ευτυχώς που δεν έχει ντομάτες εκεί πάνω διότι πραγματικά δεν θα ξέραμε τι τρώμε. Πάντως η βουκολική φωτογραφία της συνουσίας -στο ειδυλλιακό περιβάλλον που εμπνέει- είναι πασίγνωστη και σύμφωνη με τα διεθνή στάνταρ ( προδιαγραφές) της πρωτοπορίας. Δηλαδή ξέστρωτα κρεβάτια (βραβείο Τέρνερ), η φορμόλη του εγγλέζικου σκυλιού( Μπιενάλε), αμερικανικά ζεστά πλαστικά σκυλάκια και δεν συμμαζεύεται. Όμως μια αποκαλυπτική λεπτομέρεια της φωτογραφίας προβληματίζει. Καθώς ο οραματιστής καλλιτέχνης συνουσιάζεται με την αγαπημένη του καρπούζα (πρόκειται περί κεραυνοβόλου έρωτος αναμφίβολα) το ανδρικό μόριο (κοινώς πούτσα) παραδόξως είναι πεσμένο. Αυτό δεν το κάλυψε θεωρητικά ο κ. Τζιρτζιλάκης. Σημαίνει κάτι κακό για τον σεξουαλικό προσανατολισμό της Λοξής Πρωτοπορίας; Εδώ στο Νησί ανησυχούμε! Αnyway, έχω ακούσει ότι τα πεπόνια κάνουν γλυκύτερο γαμήσι και επιπλέον τα μπασταρδάκια που θα γεννηθούν θα μπορούσε ο εκλεκτός καλλιτέχνης να τα πουλήσει αν όχι σαν αντικείμενα τέχνης,αλλά με την οκά έξω από τον Ένοικο, στην λαϊκή αγορά της Καλλιδρομίου!.. Δεν φτάνει που είναι Πρωτοποριακοί είναι και Ασχημοι! Είναι όμως δουλειά των ιστορικών να βγάλουν το φίδι από την τρύπα αλλά τέτοια εποχή που να τους βρεις. Κάνει και κρύο. Φταίει και το Κοινό που αφέθηκε ως τα όρια της γλυκιάς διαδραστικής αποχαύνωσης στην θανάσιμη αγκαλιά που προηγείται της Πολίτικης και Οικονομικής Θανάσιμης. Δεν πήρε χαμπάρι… Η πλάκα τέλος. Ο Κόσμος των Εικαστικών Είναι Βαθειά Αρρωστος αφού προηγουμένως Απόλαυσε το Μεγάλο Φαγοπότι. Τρομερή Σπατάλη Πλούτου, η Μεγάλη Φούσκα που προηγήθηκε της Κρίσης. Πίσω απ’ την γκλαμουριά κρύφθηκε μια από τις πιο Σκοτεινές Περιόδους της Τέχνης. Από τότε που Γεννήθηκε στα Σπήλαια ως Σήμερα. Ελάχιστα Ανθρώπινης. Η Ζωγραφική σύρθηκε σ΄ένα βρώμικο, θλιβερό Πόλεμο όπου ο Γκόγια, ο Κουρμπέ, ο Πικάσο, ο Κλίμτ πέρα απ’ την αυτοαναφορική απληστία του Ερπετού είχαν να αντιμετωπίσουν πλαστικά κουκλάκια, κινητά, φορμόλη, εγγλέζικα λυσσασμένα σκυλιά, κόπρανα, πρόκες, κωλοδάκτυλα και καρπούζια!.. Και όχι μόνο. Οι τιμές που έπιασαν τα Σκουπίδια Τέχνης ήταν κατά πολύ ανώτερες από αυτές των Δασκάλων όσο ζούσαν… Οι Ζηλωτές μιας Ασπόνδυλης Θρησκείας. Οι Ολιγάρχες και οι Καλλιτέχνες της Αγοράς. Οι χρήσιμοι Εκμαυλιστές απ’την Διαστροφή του Ερπετού αναζητούν απεγνωσμένα ‘’ζωτικό’’ χώρο. Η Θρησκεία τους έφτασε ως την ζόρικη Ανάφη… Τέσσερεις φορές έχω δει Καρχαρία, τη μια στο Νησί. Στην Γαύδο πέρασε πάνω από το κεφάλι μου. Επίσης τρεις εκπληκτικές Φάλαινες. Λατρεύω την Αβυσσο. Εχω βυθιστεί άπειρες φορές σε τρομακτικής ομορφιάς σπηλιές. Στο Βράχο του Μοναστηρίου είδα το ανάποδο. Εναν τεράστιο τόνο να κυνηγά με τεράστιους πήδους έξω από το νερό μικρό ξιφία. Εχω παίξει με υπέροχες Φώκιες στα 45 μέτρα χωρίς μπουκάλες. Τρεις φορές κόντεψα να πνιγώ. Και στις τρεις είχα μια παράδοξη διαύγεια. Οι Διαδρομές της Περιπέτειας και η Δίδυμη Αδελφή της η Τέχνη προϋποθέτουν ακριβώς το αντίθετο του ασπόνδυλου. Σκληρό Σπονδυλικό Σθένος. Κάθετη Ψυχική Ιδιοφυΐα .- Εχω κοιμηθεί άπειρες φορές δίπλα στην φωτιά μετά από εκπληκτικές ψαροφαγίες. Μαζί με τους συντρόφους Ψαράδες. Ο Μιχάλης είχε τον σωματότυπο του Οβελίξ και την οξύνοια του Αστερίξ. Εχει φύγει. Οπως ο Γιορίκας. Ο Θανάσης. Μοναδικοί. Θα έρθουν οι καινούργιοι διαφορετικοί εξ’ ίσου μοναδικοί. Ο Ανδρέας, η Νίνα προσθέτοντας τον δικό τους Αξιακό Χρόνο στην Μαγνητική Ενέργεια του Ανοικτού Ορίζοντα. Ομως σε τι συνίσταται η κρυμμένη Στρατηγική Δύναμη της Ανάφης όπως και παρόμοιων της Άγονης Γραμμής; Είναι η πολύτιμη Εφεδρεία στην Ηθική και Πολιτισμική Διάβρωση. Εχουν Ιστορικό Χρόνο Kαθαρό - όσο αντέχουν την Λεηλασία- από το Φρικτό Αδιέξοδο, τον Κορεσμό των Μητροπόλεων. Την Μοντέρνα Τοκογλυφία των Καιρών. Διατηρούν καλά κρυμμένη την Μνήμη του Μέλλοντος. Την Μνήμη των Αστρων. Στην κρυστάλλινη διαύγεια της Νύκτας αμυδρά διακρίνεται με θολή Συγκινητική Σαφήνεια. Αν είναι δυνατόν να διατυπωθεί έτσι. «Την βλέπεις εκεί πέρα στο κέντρο λίγο δεξιά;» « Ναι, μάλλον σαν ελάχιστη ομίχλη.» « Ξέρεις τι είναι;» « Όχι.» « Ο Γαλαξίας της Ανδρομέδας!» Αντίκρισα δίπλα στην φωτιά, ξαπλωμένος στην άμμο με γυμνό μάτι τις ολικές ασύλληπτες διαστάσεις ενός αχνού Γαλαξία πίσω απ’ τον δικό μας σε ελάχιστο μέγεθος, που εκείνη την στιγμή του Χωροχρόνου κολυμπούσε άνετα μέσα σε σπιρτόκουτο! Η Ανάφη με Συμπαντικά Κριτήρια είναι πιο κοντά στον Γαλαξία από την Αθήνα η το Λονδίνο! Μόλις το 1929 κατάφερε ο αστροφυσικός Χάμπλ να φωτογραφήσει την γειτονική Ανδρομέδα. Μόλις τότε συνειδητοποίησαν τις Συγκλονιστικές Διαστάσεις του Σύμπαντος! Αντί να ενωθούν οι πολύχρωμοι Ναύτες του Γαλάζιου Καραβιού που Ταξιδεύουν στην Μαύρη Θάλασσα των Αστρων έστησαν τον τρομερότερο όλων Πόλεμο όπου έκαναν τους Ανθρώπους Σαπούνι… Η Μπίλλυ Χολινταίυ είχε τραγουδήσει για τα «Παράξενα φρούτα» εννοώντας τους κρεμασμένους Μαύρους στα δέντρα του Νότου… Η Θάλασσα του δικού μας Νότου ξεβράζει σήμερα στις «δαντελένιες ακρογιαλιές» πνιγμένα φρούτα ,ακόμη και μικρών λιλιπούτειων παιδιών. Στις πολιτισμένες Ιαπωνία και Δανία-Φερόες συνεχίζουν την ξέφρενη σφαγή εκπληκτικών Θηλαστικών. Ο Ισπανός βασιλιάς έκανε σαφάρι- σκοποβολή σε υπέροχους Ελέφαντες. Δεν είναι Εγκλήματα κατά της Ανθρωπότητας, είναι Εγκλήματα ναζιστικής πανούκλας κατά του Πλανήτη. Φταίει το 1%100, η Σέκτα των Λυκανθρώπων που συσσωρεύει Ζωτικό Πλούτο ορίζοντας τις Τύχες. Δραματικές Ευθύνες αναλογούν και στους Υπόλοιπους. Με ποιους είναι Σήμερα και Διαχρονικά η Μεγάλη Τέχνη της Ουτοπίας ; Η Τραγική της Συνείδηση; Η Δραματική Αλήθεια της Σπρωγμένη από την Ιερή Αριστοκρατία της Τρέλας Σκάβει τον Τάφο. Κτίζοντας ταυτόχρονα, Υψώνοντας στο Απύθμενο Ασυνείδητο, την Σκάλα των Αστρων.- ΑΛΙΕΑΣ 2-2014 {image 1} Painting by Alexandros Alieas {image 4} Painting by Alexandros Alieas {image 2} Painting by Alexandros Alieas {image 3} Painting by Alexandros Alieas APT http://www.aptglobal.org/en/Artists/Page/3003/Miltos-Manetas Founder: Moti Shniberg 1 2 "But it also should be said that the word nature is a notorious semantic and metaphysical trap. As used in ordinary discourse nowadays, it is an inherently ambiguous word. We cannot always tell whether references to nature are meant to include or exclude people. Besides, the word also carries the sense of essence : of the ultimate, irreducible character or quality of something, as for example, 'the nature of femininity' or, for that matter, 'the nature of nature.' When this meaning is in play, the word tacitly imputes an idealist or essentialist hence ahistorical - character to the particular subject at hand, whether it be femaleness or nature itself. The word's multiple meanings testify to its age : its roots go back (by way of Latin and Old French) to the concept of origination of being born. As Raymond Williams famously noted, nature is probably the most complex word in the English language." (From a Leo Marx's article) + https://suite101.com/a/the-origin-of-the-word-nature-a85523 ARTFORUM revue, MILTOS MANETAS. Miltos Manetas began making paintings In 1995, some time after he had become a devotee of computers and mastered image-processing software, so it is no surprise that laptops, Zip drives, data cables, and digital-game components populate his works. But beyond providing subjects for still lifes and props for figure studies, the "coolness" of computer technology, its cut-and-paste power over images, has led the artist to an analogous casualness about the vocabulary of painting that permits him to freely sample styles of rendering and strategies of composition. The series "Eight Perfect Paintings" (all works 1999) formed the central installation in his recent show. Identical in scale and format and sharing the name Untitled (PowerBook), each six-foot-wide canvas is a brushy rendering of the cover of a closed Apple PowerBook laptop, which completely fills the rectangle of the picture plane like a Jasper Johns flag painting. Varying shades of blue-gray casually cover, or nearly cover, undercoats of gold, intense blue, or paler gray, providing a degree of difference from painting to painting. Two white bars float near the top of each canvas, suggesting hinges, while a loose rendering of the Apple corporate logo punctuates the lower middle, a bright little pimple of absurd color in a foggy monochrome surround. The atmospheric effects of Manetas's technique imply an indeterminate interior to his surfaces, hinting at the visual promise of an LCD screen and evoking an ominously crepuscular Rothko abstraction. But like Johns's flags, the proportions of Manetas's paintings are determined by their subject and are all wrong for a soaring Rothko. An elegant but vacant techno-power has superseded the expressionist's spiritual suffering. In a real sense, these "perfect" paintings owe their design not to the artist but to industrial designers at Apple Computer, Inc., who gave an expensive hightech look, suggestive of serious purpose and understated competence, to a product doomed to rapid obsolescence. I take the "perfect" in the title as referring more to grammar--as in "past perfect"--than to the attainment of an ideal. The spirit, if not the technique, is thus much closer to Johns's flags and their implications of expression deferred to the demands of a found object. Two large figural paintings served as stylistic and conceptual brackets for the PowerBooks. Installed in a small back gallery, Untitled (Miltos with Computer) showed the artist seated at a workstation in a darkened room, his face illuminated by the glow from the monitor. A plastic water jug dominates the left half of the canvas, forcing a severely foreshortened perspective. Once again Manetas has laid down the paint with little descriptive fussiness, like an imitation of Edward Hopper's old-fashioned melancholy as interpreted through Alex Katz's alienanon. In the foyer of the gallery, Untitled (Girl with Book) offered an overhead view of a girl reading a paperback while a keyboard juts into view at the lower right and computer cables rest in loose tangles on a glass table near the top of the canvas. The dislocated perspective makes the classic genre image strange and a bit dizzy: Ordinary space is tilted by the aerial view, as in the "perfect" paintings, so that the horizontal plane in the paintings parallel s the gallery wall. Framed by these patently artificial points of view, the somber gray rhythms of "Eight Perfect Paintings" managed a thoughtful beauty. In no small way, this is due to the effects of painting itself. Despite the artist's evidently unconcerned attitude toward the medium, the power of paint to celebrate its subject glows through. COPYRIGHT 2000 Artforum International Magazine, Inc. No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder. Copyright 2000, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company. screen An effort to categorize the word screen is at first problematic due to its various diverging and converging definitions. Yet when looked at from a different perspective, these problematic definitions facilitate a more encompassing understanding of the medium and its message. Though the screen acts as a neutral medium, it becomes biased once its message is considered. The origins of the word screen are traced to medieval Europe; there are subsequent variations of the word and meaning of screen. Escren from Old North French; Escran from Old French was "a screen against heat"; Scherm either from Middle Dutch or Frankish meant "screen, cover"; Skrank , whose origins are unattested to a written source, meant "barrier". The origins of the word screen illustrate its beginnings as a noun, a physical object of protection. In the late-15 th century the word "screen" evolves into verb form once it begins to mean "to shield from punishment, to conceal" ( Online Etymology Dictionary ). The Oxford English Dictionary lists two entries for the word screen, as a noun and as a verb. One definition of the noun screen is as a "contrivance for warding off the heat of a fire or a draught of air." As a verb screen has complimentary associations to the physical associations. If at first the screen was the object protecting the user from the fire's heat, it is now the act of protection: "To shelter or protect with or as with a screen, from heat, wind, light, missiles, etc." Screen as a verb cannot be defined without first defining screen as a noun. Because of the dual nature of the word screen it becomes a complicated word to define. Yet screen, be it noun or verb, is always a medium with a message. In attempting to define the word screen one inevitably encounters a multitude of synonyms. Because of its various implications, it is easier to define screen through these... Read Altermodern: Miltos Manetas' talk on the immaterial, non-static art of the internet. Tate Britain, London 3 February - 26 April 2009 Reviewed by: Eva Pryce » The following is an extract of artist Miltos Manetas' discussion with Sam Thorne (online editor of Frieze) on 2 April 2009, part of a series of talks related to the Altermodern Triennial Exhibition at Tate Britain. The exhibition, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, has been organised around the concept of art on the move, a wandering-type of art in a newly 'globalised' world. According to Miltos Manetas artists of today do something which is "peculiar", creating a new type of art which reflects our times. Because of computers a new type of art has been produced which is almost surrealistic and a new type of artist who is different from anything we have seen before. On one hand there is the traditional artist who is both engaged with the physicality of canvas and paint, and with art history - an involvement which is passive/static - and on the other a new type of travelling/wandering artist who as yet has no place in contemporary art as there is nothing in terms of exhibitions, museums or the art market that engages with the concept of the web and internet-based art. The art of the altermodern movement is strongly linked to the internet. Manetas argues that we are still at the beginning of our relationship with computer technology which is continuously developing. For example we should not think of computers in the form that they exist today, because as screens are moving into yet smaller entities computers may take on a very different form in the future. Manetas reiterates the statement that art is dead, art is over, finished. Because of the internet, creativity is now a collective intellectual process involving the public itself. It is 'the people' that are now taking care of image manipulation. The real avant-garde, the tapping into new art is done by the public - this could be anybody who is doing the job that contemporary artists were doing before and this poses the question of what is the role of the artist today. We therefore need to reinvent the role of the artist. However, related to this new type of non-static, non-spatial art, there are still the very traditional issues of art sales and copyright. Manetas explains that although copyright is currently the biggest issue in the art world, the content of art should not belong to the artists but to all people (not to companies): "in a world of visual images once something is put in front of me and I see it, it becomes part of my memory, part of my brain, so I should have the right to copy it" says Manetas. On a more business-like approach he explains that when purchasing internet art the collector can actually buy the website. An original certificate can be given to certify that this website belongs to a certain person/collector and this certificate can also have the signature of the artist - because basically this is what collectors are buying - the signature.... Selling something which is completely immaterial means that the collector buys a relationship and a signature. As technology changes continuously (computers may soon become a thing of the past), the collector/buyer who purchases such work must ask for the right to emulate this work in another technology. But although a defender of immaterial art such as internet art, Manetas is a painter who paints with paint and brushes on canvas, who creates an object/product with an estimated value available for sale in the art market. While he declares that everything should be free he also discusses the issue of exclusivity, sales and copyright. When confronted on his conflicting views Manetas says "the artist is like a homeless guy with no property but who enjoys vacations in the Bahamas ......" MiltosManetas has become known for his internet paintings (Saatchi Gallery). He participated in Traffic, a show also curated by Nicolas Bourriaud in 1995. This summer Manetas will be presenting his work at the Venice Biennale's first ever internet pavilion. Eva Pryce is an artist, art historian and associate lecturer at Wimbledon College of Art. She is the author of InvisibleTransformations in the work of Nikos Navridis ISBN 978-0-9557838-0-7 Amalia Ulman: Photo Selfies 1000-2000 US Petra Cortright: Prints 2000-5000 US Rafael Rozendaal: Prints 2500-5000 US Harm van den Dorpel Jon Rafman Robert Fekete emil michael klein katja novitskova ARTIE VIERKANT sam falls brian kokoska LIZZIE FITCH robert montgomery AURELIEN PORTE THE BRUCE HIGH QUALITY FOUNDATION VAHAKN ARSLANIAN RON GORCHOV https://www.google.com/search?q=THEO+ROSENBLUM&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=_FmqUqDIKI2ukAeCmICoCQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1449&bih=952 TRAVESS SMALLEY Eva & Franco mattes David Salle Haim Steinbach Luigi Ontani Federico Herrero Helmut Federle Luigi Ghirri Piero Gilardi Walter Dahn Ashley Bickerton Janet Cardiff Manolo Vellojín Elizabeth Janus, Artforum review FIRST GALLERY Miltos Manetas is known as much for his advocacy of computergenerated and Web art as he is for his subversive and innovative tactics, as when he created an alternate website for the Whitney Biennial`s genuine one in 2002, substituting work by his friends for that of the officially selected artists. A true believer in technology`s aesthetic potential, he is intent on reinventing traditional pictorial methodsspecifically, painting and drawing-by using the computer`s capabilities and limitations to turn ordinary, Pop-inspired objects (video games and their characters, computer cables, screens, Apple QuickTake cameras, etc.) into motifs but also stylistic models, painting them as if seen on-screen. In this exhibition, Manetas showed fifteen large-scale computeraided "drawings" made between 2003 and 2006, along with an unrelated video. Slightly more conventional than Manetas`s other work, the drawings seem to take as their subject adolescent female ennui. Their protagonists are identified as "Girl," "Chinese Girl," "Priscilla," or "Jane" in titles that include Chinese Girl in the Desert, 2004, and Priscilla with Gary Hume, 2005. The "girls" are depicted individually, sometimes cropped, in a variety of poses: reclining, reading, smoking, standing with a dog, looking at a computer screen, and so on. In their seeming vacuity and languid posturing, they could be starker, simplified versions of Elizabeth Peyton`s portraits or Karen Kilimnik`s cartoony, fashion mag-inspired drawings: young, lissome women, physically attractive and possibly (or almost) famous. The images, which look like rough, preliminary sketches, mostly in black and white (though some have flecks or flashes of blue, red, or yellow), were made via a process Manetas first began using in the mid-`90s. The "drawing" is first created on a computer, with standard graphic software; it is then printed, with an ink-jet printer, onto letter-size glossy paper. The meeting of the ink and the slippery surface of the paper causes random smears and smudges that serve to loosen the strict linearity of each figure`s outline, often obscuring or blurring parts of the whole form and giving the figures a hazy appearance overall. In the final step, the ink-jet works are photographed and enlarged to more than five feet in height, giving them a cleaner, sleeker look that compensates for the messiness of the original printouts. Academic notions of draftsmanship aside, drawing is, in its broadest definition, the production of a picture or diagram through mark making. In this sense, even Manetas`s computer-assisted pictures remain faithful to the form: Though drawing has always been tied as much to the artist`s unique hand as to its importance in making ideas visual (Beuys considered it a modification of thought mediated through an "anthropological entity," i.e., a human being), the use of mechanical drawing aids dates at least to the Renaissance, when the camera obscura was used to transpose the seen world into two-dimensional, "truthful" representations. Admittedly, the conceptual weight of Manetas`s works lies more in the realm of technique than of subject matter; the artist is playing with romantic ideas about the value of pencil and paper versus mouse and screen, but also with the popular belief that machines are infallible or at least an improvement on human imperfection. Without denying the necessity of human intervention, Manetas makes a gesture once considered fundamental to artmaking susceptible to adjustments, modifications, and alterations that are determined by systems specifically designed to process, not create. -Elizabeth Janus COPYRIGHT: Copyright Artforum Inc. Nov 2007. Provided by Proquest- CSA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Only fair use as provided by the United States copyright law is permitted. Dear F+F , I did my tickets, arriving on the 8th and leaving on the 19th. We can have a great time in Paris together!! Now I am looking onto where to stay.. I am also thinking various scenarios to make some extra cash. Here is a project that I am sending to different galleries with who I collaborate, I am also sending it to you, just in case you have some potential buyers, in that case, we can divide the profits. Especially with the idea of offering to a selected number of people (not more than 1 at each city), a Rug for just the production expenses. In case you have someone in mind and you could close a deal, you are wellcome to put a top on the (very low) price we will be asking that person to pay and keep its 80% yourselves! For example, if we give away a 2000 E carpet to someone you suggest, we can ask instead for 3000 and you keep 800 E. 3000 E, will be still very little money for a superior quality carpet. If instead, we give away a cheaper unlimited edition for 1500E, you can keep the 350E Let me know All my love Mil Please check my Rugs I am about to order a number of them (they are produced at Nepal), I am actually going there so I can overview the production. Production expenses for the large ones (312 x 220 cm) is 2000 E for the Cable Rugs and the Signed Pollock Rugs (edition of 7) while for the unlimited edition of PollockRugs its 1000 E for the large (200x300) and 800-500 E for smaller ones. That price includes delivery and everything. Would the gallery be interested to order a number of those so that you can show them to your clients? As for the gallery price, we need to decide it together and eventually together. Untill now I was selling the signed ones for 18.000 E (once we take off the expenses, we divide the profit), but I could also considering going down to 12.000 E The Unlimited Edition instead (the quality of the carpet isn't that high as the quality of the limited one which is Superior Silk+wool, all worked by hand but its still a great carpet) is now priced on 4000 E for the large and 1500 E for the small ones. We can also consider the possibility to produce the Unlimited Edition by Macchine-made industries (there is a great one in France) and in that case it will cost even less My idea, is to offer to a small number of collectors (or friends/celebrities) a special and confidential deal, where they"ll be paying just for production and taxes (and maybe just a bit more, we should see what's best so it doesn't get too cheap). That way, they will have their carpet in their appartment so people will see it and eventually order one. If it's OK with them, we can also photograph the carpets in their houses and put them in magazines, there is a lot of interest from that side and I can place them to the best magazines. Please let me know what do you think about this project, if possible the soonest as I need to say already to the people at Nepal how many carpets I want to produce. Paintings by Miltos Manetas in Miltos Manetas (miltosmanetas)

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Jacksonpollock.org, a ready-made website by Miltos Manetas made in 2003 http://www.jacksonpollock.org/ {slideshow} {image 1}{image 2}{image 3}{image 4}{image 5}{image 6}{image 7}{image 8}{image 9}{image 10}{image 11}{image 12}{image 13}{image 14}{image 15}{image 16}{image 17}{image 18}{image 19}{image 20}{image 21}{image 22}{image 23}{image 24}{image 25}{image 26}{image 27}{image 28}{image 29}{image 30}{image 31}{image 32}{image 33}{image 34}{image 35}{image 36}{image 37}{image 38}{image 39}{image 40}{image 41}{image 42}{image 43}{image 44}{image 45}{image 46}{image 47}{image 48}{/slideshow}




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        Works that create "New Legal Chalenges" Supermario Sleeping, NYC, 1998 link {image 1} THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: 9-28-03; What They Were Thinking By Catherine Saint Louis Published: September 28, 2003 Pink Pony restaurant, 176 Ludlow Street, New York, Sept. 11, 2003 Craig Kalpakjian (center, behind table and wine bottle): ''A friend, Miltos Manetas, planned to screen the Herzog movie 'Heart of Glass' and have Marcos Lutyens, a hypnotist and artist, hypnotize the audience. In the movie, the actors are all under hypnosis. Apparently Herzog had also wanted to try to hypnotize his audiences but ended up not doing it. This night, the hypnotist prefaced the whole event by telling us how common hypnosis is. You're often in that kind of state -- when you're daydreaming or you've just woken up, or even usually when you're watching a movie. I sort of agree. It's like I was in a dreamlike state, but the film was my dream. I had never been hypnotized before. But it was less intense than I imagined. Watching this Herzog film was calming. I hate action movies and thrillers; I don't like to pay money to be on the edge of my seat. If a movie is bad, it really does feel like you've been taken against your will.'' interview by Catherine Saint Louis http://www.manetas.com/art/drawings/ AUTORITRATTO: Io in Pasolini MUSIC: GNAC, FRIEND SLEEPING Friend Sleeping Hennebert Sleeve Continental Balcony Twilight Ice Cream Van Nanami Togarashi Stepping Aside A Vantage Point Is The Top Of The Tree Plink Bad Self Portait Fin Miltos Manetas Text, interview: Yannis Arvanitis Miltos Manetas’ practice shifts among media and among concepts implied by these media in relation to their content. From iphone applications to paintings and from web-works to written manifestos, he explores aspects of reality through digital experiences.A few years ago Manetas produced a series of works that suggest a challenging amalgamation of ideas regarding digital references and their possible physical correspondences: Vibracolour Prints after Videogames, 1997 -2000, is a collection of large dimension, super glossy prints of 90’s videogames printscreens. In these pixelated impressive colour images, Lara Croft, Super Mario, Pikachu and other heroes appear to jump, fly or fight among colourful explo¬sions, sceneries and skewed 3d spaces. A continuum of interrelations comes out of the size (up to 200x300 cm) and the technique of the works.The vivid colours of the works link back to their original screen con-text.The enlarged pixels of the low-resolution printscreens remind of the grains of photo prints.The runny ink sug-gests inkjet-print faults.This texture of pixels and ink-stains provoke a technique that is neither manual nor digital. The works reconstruct the idea of the digital imaginary spaces of the original screenshots.The screen-size environments of the video games are now larger, introducing new perspec¬tives of involvement and consideration.Their new large scale suggests a new point of actual viewing that is different than the previous, familiar one. In these terms these spaces are reintroduced as new undiscovered ones. A new both physical and fictional interacting factor appears in a no-digital context. The flexible, scattered and renewable time of video games rushes into the real, fixed and linear one of the prints: Lara Croft is lying dead without the ‘start over’ screen button and Super Mario is stuck among the clouds without the ‘resume’ key available.The images remain familiar but the circumstanc-es imposed seem different. In these terms of distorting digitality and physicality the prints point out a series of prototypes (characters, games, spaces etc) transforming them into something new.The ways and the actual modes of reformation seem to be undefined and flexible. Each of them becomes a rearticulated idea that is distant from the videogame context. Its representation through the prints defines, names, the point of this transition. These representations become the emblems of this reconsideration. Miltos Manetas, Vibracolour Prints after Videogames, 1997 -2000, vibracolour print on super glossy paper, courtesy the artist. Yannis Arvanitis: What is the difference in getting back to paintings after all this extended digital practice? Miltos Manetas: I never stopped painting during the last twelve years. I believe neither in creative stages nor in mere innovation. I do everything at the same time, either it’s old style such as painting, new style such as conceptual art or very new style such as the Internet and the art after video games. However my priority is whatever strikes me as the most urgent thing to do at any given point and that’s why my production seems to be so mixed up.Everyday,‘everything’ is urgent. When it comes to similarities and differences between painting and digital art, I consider them both some kind of female divinities. Both can be very beautiful but also extremely ugly. It only depends on how you approach them. Both can become an addiction. Painting is a really old practice, a cultural vampire that survives on images and revives by possessing young dedicated people. Digital art is a different story, it’s something that has just been born, or better, rises out of nowhere: a very recent Venus. Having an affair with both, painting and digital art is a drama but I found that there is equilibrium after a while.The two of them seem to be reaching an agreement.There is always an effort from the part of painting, a concession somehow because digital art doesn’t really care, as it has nothing to de-fend. It is not ‘historical’ and that’s its power for the moment. That’s how I started painting the Internet (InternetPaintings. com) and that’s why I made all those prints from the video games in a somehow ‘painterly’ manner. It was as if painting ‘wanted to know’ about the Internet and the video games and I had to teach it. YA: In this context of floating in between digital and ana-logue media, is the new painting work affected by your digital experience? MM: Yes, of course. Sometimes this influence is clear, some-times it is not but it’s always a battle between elements: Corot against Super Mario, Picasso against Jpg. The World comes in two distinct versions now.There is the digital side of reality, made by combination of 0 and 1, a fic-tion made byYes/No,by existence and absence.Still,there’s always the analogue version, the ‘normal’ nature and artifacts. Everything around us has this double presence now and it’s silly to pretend that we see only one aspect of it. I am aware of course that most artists are indeed stuck in one side or another but I am a different kind of artist and I need to con-front both versions of reality. YA: From Lara Craft, Super Mario and video games’ stills to representation of hardware items.What is the reformulation of this personal image depot after negotiating with it? MM: Actually it was the other way round; I first started painting hardware -Powerbook, laptops, digital camera and cables in 1996 and a few months later I started making art from the video games. My painting is heavily inept to the ‘bird-eye’ point of view that digital cameras gave us. I went from around the computer screen to its surface and I suppose that’s why ana-logue expression prevails on my work, even when the subject matter is a digital one. YA: Would there be any point today in reenacting the ElectronicOrphanage? MM: The ElectronicOrphanage was a very special experi¬ence, again because of the ‘digital meets analogue’ aspect of it. It was like the opposite of Facebook: we would meet regu-larly in a real space (in Chinatown, LA) and place ourselves to the public -the space was a storefront-in a very similar way that people place themselves to Facebook: ‘Here I am’, ‘That’s what I just did’,‘That’s what I am thinking’, etc. There was communication but not the normal, human to human communication, neither the authority-based situation that you may find in a university or other types of cultural environments.There weren’t any preconceptions, just the presence of a gigantic computer screen and the knowledge that everything that was happening in that place, was at the same time material for a website and entertainment for the passerby. The experiment of the ElectronicOrphanage can be reen¬acted, it would make a lot of sense actually but it will always have to be a fine-tuned situation between public and private space. It’s definitely interesting to do an EO in China and in other places such as Africa etc where everything is still under negotiation. YA: What about Neen? MM: Neen grows at its own pace and I have absolutely no idea what will come out of it. Many Neenstars from the original core of the people who created Neen, don’t feel much of an affiliation with it anymore, some went back to their regular jobs and they are again just Artists,Architects, Designers etc.A few of them expected too much from Neen, they thought there would be a rocket that would bring them instant fame and success and that’s not the case of course. But there are a few who believe in Neen and there are many newcomers who are producing strange things that have Neen in them. I believe that the next step in Neen will be Digital Art made by eight year old children; I suspect that this is already happening. YA: How do you define ‘Existential Computing’? MM: That’s a strange concept and I admit that I don’t have a complete idea what it is about. Here is what I wrote the other day. ‘We don’t think from inside our brains anymore, at least not that often.We have computers and we spend a lot of time with them.While we are thinking, we are observ¬ing our machines doing what we do: they copy something, they paste something else, they play some music and then they open some kind of a document.There is a ‘mirroring’ and I call this ‘Existential Computing’. From our human point of view, we really need to learn think-ing in a shocking way, beyond the norm and probably our ma-chines will do the same, we can do that together because our machines are brains outside our brains - they are external. We need to start asking questions that seem fundamental from that point of view. YA: Nicolas Bourriaud has referred to your work in terms of relational aesthetics. How would you correspond to this systematization of your work today? MM: My work is definitely ‘relational aesthetics’ because I come from contemporary art and everything I do goes back to some experience of art in one way or another. Still, concepts such as Neen and my video game works seem very unrelated, as if they have fallen from the sky, neither ran-dom creativity nor ‘contemporary art’. I am doing my best to operate in the opposite way of the academic relational aesthetics. If this was medicine, I would say that I am more of a holistic practitioner instead of making a career in hospitals. But I don’t underestimate them either. I am there whenever the curators and the Museums need me. YA: In the context of contemporary digitality is there any sense in experiencing art; moreover is there any sense in making art shows? MM: There isn’t much sense in making art shows anymore, at least no more than when a company makes a get-together party. Shows are corporate events, even the small alternative ones.That’s also because there is no ‘audience’ in the arts anymore, everybody is producer and merchant of content: gallerists, curators, museum people and even the people who visit the shows. In one way or another, we all create some kind of visual statement and we even define its value. YA: ‘Outside the Internet there is no glory, no Internet art-ists are just freelance employees of other employees, the cu-rators of the exhibitions.’ Is Curating a task that can produce new content, new meanings? MM: I believe that Curating should grow in some metaphysi-cal, totally unexpected direction.You need a Nietzsche of curating, someone who will teach you how to walk the lonely path. YA: There has been a lot of critique on art Biennials and art institutions. Is this discussion of any interest to the art practitioners? MM: Not at all, nothing is more forgettable than a Biennial. Nevertheless, when you can find a hole on the fence and en-ter through there, when you can bring some of your friends in and have a party, there is some stimulation.That is what we did with Whitneybiennial.com. It cost us just a fraction of the budget and we had better results. People are still talk¬ing about it while nobody remembers the exhibition. It was also a funny way to participate in the Biennial and still keep yourself out if it. YA: What is the attitude of contemporary art market to¬wards digital works? What is the interest in ‘owning’ open access web works? Is there a transition in the status of these works? MM: There are now a few collectors who are interested; it’s slowly becoming a cult! A website is an absolutely unique object, something you can’t really ‘copy’ because there can be only one .com with that name. Someone maybe able to extract the contents of an art website but that’s not the work, the work is site specific. It’s the content together with the domain the artist has chosen, the ultimate fetish! Con¬sider also the fact that the collector doesn’t have to pay any storage and that the work is accessible from everywhere he or she desires.All that, make website-based art very appeal¬ing and people have started getting it. YA: You have just published a new catalogue. In order that someone gets familiar with your recent practice should he buy it, Google you, get to your next show or visit you in Second Life? MM: There isn’t a ‘proper’ way to see a Manetas work not any other artwork.The artwork as an object doesn’t actu¬ally exist; its initial state is a kind of source that goes written again and again according to the circumstances and to the cultural software which has to run it every given time.That’s why the Greek sculptures become famously white, and why paintings that were supposed to be seen in churches can be very well enjoyed in very profane places.As for myself,I just feel that my art is useless, completely obsolete, until I’ll dis-tribute it in the form of an iphone application but again, that’s simply an artist’s illusion. Copy editing: Dimitra Arvaniti Miltos Manetas Text, interview: Yannis Arvanitis Miltos Manetas’ practice shifts among media and among concepts implied by these media in relation to their content. From iphone applications to paintings and from web-works to written manifestos, he explores aspects of reality through digital experiences. A few years ago Manetas produced a series of works that suggest a challenging amalgamation of ideas regarding digital references and their possible physical correspondences: Vibracolour Prints after Videogames, 1997 - 2000, is a collection of large dimension, super glossy prints of 90’s videogames printscreens. In these pixelated impressive colour images, Lara Croft, Super Mario, Pikachu and other heroes appear to jump, fly or fight among colourful explosions, sceneries and skewed 3d spaces. A continuum of interrelations comes out of the size (up to 200x300 cm) and the technique of the works. The vivid colours of the works link back to their original screen context. The enlarged pixels of the low-resolution printscreens remind of the grains of photo prints. The runny ink suggests inkjet-print faults. This texture of pixels and ink-stains provoke a technique that is neither manual nor digital. The works reconstruct the idea of the digital imaginary spaces of the original screenshots. The screen-size environments of the video games are now larger, introducing new perspectives of involvement and consideration. Their new large scale suggests a new point of actual viewing that is different than the previous, familiar one. In these terms these spaces are reintroduced as new undiscovered ones. A new both physical and fictional interacting factor appears in a no-digital context. The flexible, scattered and renewable time of video games rushes into the real, fixed and linear one of the prints: Lara Croft is lying dead without the ‘start over’ screen button and Super Mario is stuck among the clouds without the ‘resume’ key available. The images remain familiar but the circumstances imposed seem different. In these terms of distorting digitality and physicality the prints point out a series of prototypes (characters, games, spaces etc) transforming them into something new. The ways and the actual modes of reformation seem to be undefined and flexible. Each of them becomes a rearticulated idea that is distant from the videogame context. Its representation through the prints defines, names, the point of this transition. These representations become the emblems of this reconsideration. www.floatermagazine.com/issue02/Vibracolour_Prints Miltos Manetas, Vibracolour Prints after Videogames, 1997 - 2000, vibracolour print on super glossy paper, courtesy the artist. floater #02 - System False [www.floatermagazine.com/issue02] Floater is an architectural online production that aims to present not the contemporaneity of architecture, but amalgamations of essays, articles, past and present projects within processes of recollection, appropriation and archiving. Yannis Arvanitis: What is the difference in getting back to paintings after all this extended digital practice? Miltos Manetas: I never stopped painting during the last twelve years. I believe neither in creative stages nor in mere innovation. I do everything at the same time, either it’s old style such as painting, new style such as conceptual art or very new style such as the Internet and the art after video games. However my priority is whatever strikes me as the most urgent thing to do at any given point and that’s why my production seems to be so mixed up. Everyday, ‘everything’ is urgent. When it comes to similarities and differences between painting and digital art, I consider them both some kind of female divinities. Both can be very beautiful but also extremely ugly. It only depends on how you approach them. Both can become an addiction. Painting is a really old practice, a cultural vampire that survives on images and revives by possessing young dedicated people. Digital art is a different story, it’s something that has just been born, or better, rises out of nowhere: a very recent Venus. Having an affair with both, painting and digital art is a drama but I found that there is equilibrium after a while. The two of them seem to be reaching an agreement. There is always an effort from the part of painting, a concession somehow because digital art doesn’t really care, as it has nothing to defend. It is not ‘historical’ and that’s its power for the moment. That’s how I started painting the Internet (InternetPaintings.com) and that’s why I made all those prints from the video games in a somehow ‘painterly’ manner. It was as if painting ‘wanted to know’ about the Internet and the video games and I had to teach it. YA: In this context of floating in between digital and analogue media, is the new painting work affected by your digital experience? MM: Yes, of course. Sometimes this influence is clear, sometimes it is not but it’s always a battle between elements: Corot against Super Mario, Picasso against Jpg. The World comes in two distinct versions now. There is the digital side of reality, made by combination of 0 and 1, a fiction made by Yes/No, by existence and absence. Still, there’s always the analogue version, the ‘normal’ nature and artifacts. Everything around us has this double presence now and it’s silly to pretend that we see only one aspect of it. I am aware of course that most artists are indeed stuck in one side or another but I am a different kind of artist and I need to confront both versions of reality. YA: From Lara Craft, Super Mario and video games’ stills to representation of hardware items. What is the reformulation of this personal image depot after negotiating with it? Actually it was the other way round; I first started painting hardware -Powerbook, laptops, digital camera and cables- in 1996 and a few months later I started making art from the video games. MM: My painting is heavily inept to the ‘bird-eye’ point of view that digital cameras gave us. I went from around the computer screen to its surface and I suppose that’s why analogue expression prevails on my work, even when the subject matter is a digital one. YA: Would there be any point today in reenacting the ElectronicOrphanage? MM: The ElectronicOrphanage was a very special experience, again because of the ‘digital meets analogue’ aspect of it. It was like the opposite of Facebook: we would meet regularly in a real space (in Chinatown, LA) and place ourselves to the public -the space was a storefront- in a very similar Vibracolour Prints MM: There isn’t much sense in making art shows anymore, at least no more than when a company makes a get-together party. Shows are corporate events, even the small alternative ones. That’s also because there is no ‘audience’ in the arts anymore, everybody is producer and merchant of content: gallerists, curators, museum people and even the people who visit the shows. In one way or another, we all create some kind of visual statement and we even define its value. YA: ‘Outside the Internet there is no glory, no Internet artists are just freelance employees of other employees, the curators of the exhibitions.’ Is Curating a task that can produce new content, new meanings? MM: I believe that Curating should grow in some metaphysical, totally unexpected direction. You need a Nietzsche of curating, someone who will teach you how to walk the lonely path. YA: There has been a lot of critique on art Biennials and art institutions. Is this discussion of any interest to the art practitioners? MM: Not at all, nothing is more forgettable than a Biennial. Nevertheless, when you can find a hole on the fence and enter through there, when you can bring some of your friends in and have a party, there is some stimulation. That is what we did with Whitneybiennial.com. It cost us just a fraction of the budget and we had better results. People are still talking about it while nobody remembers the exhibition. It was also a funny way to participate in the Biennial and still keep yourself out if it. YA: What is the attitude of contemporary art market towards digital works? What is the interest in ‘owning’ open access web works? Is there a transition in the status of these works? MM: There are now a few collectors who are interested; it’s slowly becoming a cult! A website is an absolutely unique object, something you can’t really ‘copy’ because there can be only one .com with that name. Someone maybe able to extract the contents of an art website but that’s not the work, the work is site specific. It’s the content together with the domain the artist has chosen, the ultimate fetish! Consider also the fact that the collector doesn’t have to pay any storage and that the work is accessible from everywhere he or she desires. All that, make website-based art very appealing and people have started getting it. YA: You have just published a new catalogue. In order that someone gets familiar with your recent practice should he buy it, Google you, get to your next show or visit you in Second Life? MM: There isn’t a ‘proper’ way to see a Manetas work not any other artwork. The artwork as an object doesn’t actually exist; its initial state is a kind of source that goes written again and again according to the circumstances and to the cultural software which has to run it every given time. That’s why the Greek sculptures become famously white, and why paintings that were supposed to be seen in churches can be very well enjoyed in very profane places. As for myself, I just feel that my art is useless, completely obsolete, until I’ll distribute it in the form of an iphone application but again, that’s simply an artist’s illusion. Copy editing: Dimitra Arvaniti way that people place themselves to Facebook: ‘Here I am’, ‘That’s what I just did’, ‘That’s what I am thinking’, etc. There was communication but not the normal, human to human communication, neither the authority-based situation that you may find in a university or other types of cultural environments. There weren’t any preconceptions, just the presence of a gigantic computer screen and the knowledge that everything that was happening in that place, was at the same time material for a website and entertainment for the passerby. The experiment of the ElectronicOrphanage can be reenacted, it would make a lot of sense actually but it will always have to be a fine-tuned situation between public and private space. It’s definitely interesting to do an EO in China and in other places such as Africa etc where everything is still under negotiation. YA: What about Neen? MM: Neen grows at its own pace and I have absolutely no idea what will come out of it. Many Neenstars from the original core of the people who created Neen, don’t feel much of an affiliation with it anymore, some went back to their regular jobs and they are again just Artists, Architects, Designers etc. A few of them expected too much from Neen, they thought there would be a rocket that would bring them instant fame and success and that’s not the case of course. But there are a few who believe in Neen and there are many newcomers who are producing strange things that have Neen in them. I believe that the next step in Neen will be Digital Art made by eight year old children; I suspect that this is already happening. YA: How do you define ‘Existential Computing’? MM: That’s a strange concept and I admit that I don’t have a complete idea what it is about. Here is what I wrote the other day. ‘We don’t think from inside our brains anymore, at least not that often. We have computers and we spend a lot of time with them. While we are thinking, we are observing our machines doing what we do: they copy something, they paste something else, they play some music and then they open some kind of a document. There is a ‘mirroring’ and I call this ‘Existential Computing’. From our human point of view, we really need to learn thinking in a shocking way, beyond the norm and probably our machines will do the same, we can do that together because our machines are brains outside our brains - they are external. We need to start asking questions that seem fundamental from that point of view. YA: Nicolas Bourriaud has referred to your work in terms of relational aesthetics. How would you correspond to this systematization of your work today? MM: My work is definitely ‘relational aesthetics’ because I come from contemporary art and everything I do goes back to some experience of art in one way or another. Still, concepts such as Neen and my video game works seem very unrelated, as if they have fallen from the sky, neither random creativity nor ‘contemporary art’. I am doing my best to operate in the opposite way of the academic relational aesthetics. If this was medicine, I would say that I am more of a holistic practitioner instead of making a career in hospitals. But I don’t underestimate them either. I am there whenever the curators and the Museums need me. YA: In the context of contemporary digitality is there any sense in experiencing art; moreover is there any sense in making art shows? www.floatermagazine.com/issue02/Vibracolour_Prints Myself in Rome, 24 May Questo film e' girato durante la mia mostra "BlackBerry Paintings", dove il publico era invitato a visitare un mio studio temporaneo, ospitato nei spazi del Santo Spirito in Sassia. BlackBerry Paintings, e' una serie di pitture invisibili, che ho cominciato nel 2010, pitture fatte direttamente sopra il corpo della realtà. Finora, noi artisti, abbiamo dipinto sempre su delle superfici- su tele, muri o anche oggetti- mai pero, sul apparenza stessa della realtà. Questo, anche perché l'apparenza della realtà e' per se invisibile e prende una forma visiva, solamente quando viene "fissata" su un supporto, prima di tutto su quello della nostra retina -che manda poi l'"immagine" al nostro cervello- o su quello di qualche altra superficie, scelta da chi vuol fare del apparenza invisibile del Mondo, un "oggetto d'arte". Pero, dopo quindici anni di convivenza con I computer e I network, con la strada del virtuale ora mezza-aperta, credo e' arrivato il momento di cominciare a segnare quel che il nostro occhio sceglie di catturare quando e' stimolato dalla presenza fisica di una persona, di un oggetto o di un paesaggio. E' per questo che ho cominciato vivere la mia vita, dipingendola nello stesso tempo, tracciando quel che si trova attorno a me con un pennelo. Quel segno temporaneo, viene poi a sua volta, catturato dalla mia BlackBerry: il telefonino che ormai da parecchi anni, fa parte integrale del mio corpo. La mia mano destra dipinge, mentre la mia altra mano- quella sinistra filma- due artisti, il pittore e il regista collaborano cosi sulla creazione di un ritratto-fantasma che poi proiettato sulla tela, torna a far parte di quel arte antica che noi umani abbiamo cominciato a produrre molto tempo fa, quando ancora abitavamo nelle caverne, l'arte della pittura. Mentre poi dipingevo al Spirito l'altra sera, e' successa una cosa imprevedibile. Gli fotografi e I cameraman di questo film e della TV, che cercavano di filmarmi, hanno cominciato ad entrare nel mio campo visivo, diventando così anche essi, soggetti della la mia pittura. Ho presso a dipingerli allora e per un attimo, il mondo e' sparito, ed e' rimasto solamente la lotta astratta dei media, il pennello da pittore verso la macchina da pressa, verso la camera fotografica, verso quella digitale, media contro media, messaggio contro messaggio, ombra contro ombra. Il corpo nudo del nostro momento storico, si e' manifestato ad improvviso e ho capito che la nostra, non e' un "Era di tecnologia", e' neanche un era di informatica o di computer. Il calcolo non e' ancora articolato, ci siamo solamente appena liberati dal autorità dello spazio reale e - pressi dal panico- stiamo facendo di tutto per servire il nuovo potere, quello dei diversi nuovi spazi virtuali. Se uno comincia a muoversi pero, questa patetica obbedienza si dissolve. Smettiamo allora di usare gli apparecchi digitali in modo prescritto e banale, cominciamo a sentire le loro vere vocazioni, a prendere sul serio i loro handicap e le loro peculiarità, oggi I videogiochi non vanno più giocati davanti agli schermi della TV o del computer ma direttamente sul Mondo e uno dei videogiochi più stimolanti, rimane quello del Arte e della Pittura. I am a visual artist, born in Greece. I studied conceptual art at the Academy of Brera, in Milan. My generation was busy with “Relational Aesthetics” and when Nicolas Bourriaud invited me to participate at his Relational Aestetics Manifesto Exhibition ("TRAFFIC", CAPC Museum, Bordeaux, 1996), I brought my laptop to the Museum to do a performance. At that point, I was working with the computer space in mind for two years already. That is to say, I was a lot more interested about what could be done in the virtual space of the “Electronic Page” than about what was happening-or could happen- in the real space of galleries and Museums. Yet, as I was also very interested about what can be said still, exclusively with painting, I also brought with me my very first oil on canvas (“Sad Tree", 1995). Amazed by the contrast between the computer and the painting, I start looking around for subjects to represent and finally I decide to portrait my laptop. I start doing this by paint it first from above while closed. It looked like a simple gray box and those paintings look a bit like Rothko's. Then I painted it opened but turned OFF, looking towards a wall and finally with its screen turned ON, looking at us. At the same time, I also start making portraits of the first digital camera, (QUICKTAKE 100 by APPLE) and later I painted them together as if they were some kind of New Age aristocrats. Soon I was painting portraits of cables, peripherals and videogame consoles, sometimes together with other emblematic objects of those days -such as NIKE sleepers and Helmut Lang boots- sometimes with people who are playing with them. While painting these Nintendo and Playstation controllers, I noticed that it was the first time a machine was offering its hand to us and I decide to grab it and to start walking with it. Visiting videogames-more as an artist that a player- I start meeting such characters as SuperMario and Lara Croft: I turned these into subjects for my photographic work but also into protagonists of my videos (ex: "Supermario Sleeping”, 1997). Those days, people start building cities into the clouds of Virtual and together with an architect; I also start building the first art city hosted in a platform called Active Worlds (“Chelsea”, 1998-2000). I used to keep a floating studio in that city, but a few years later I moved it in SecondLife. As for my real-life studio, I moved it also to Los Angeles and that’s how electronicOrphanage (2000-2003) was born in a storefront located in LA's Chinatown. At electronicOrphanage, we would spend our days roaming the web, looking for all kinds of interesting stuff. I thought of that place as a website installed in real life and about my quest as some kind of safari in the digital wildness. It was at the electronicOrphanage where we start doing Neen, a term I commissioned to the Branding company LEXICON. Doing “Neen” didn’t require any art experience or curriculum so different young people start making it, a few of them finally assuming the role of artists. In 2002, I invited all Neensters I knew to the online ANTI-exhibition WhitneyBiennial.com. The last six years, I am working over the concept of Existential Computing and the idea of Mneems. Mneems are a mixed type of creatures: partly humans and partly information. Richard Dawkins has already described "memes" (ideas, behaviors or styles that spread from person to person within a culture) but Memes- like people- exists in a continuity of time (a certain style or idea can be forgotten for a while still it always exists somewhere, buried in culture or in books). Mneems instead, are "instant creatures": they come into existence suddenly, out of nowhere. Whenever a creative person succeeds to "activate" a certain possibility-when for example a painter starts working on the borders of the influence created by the work of another painter. A Mneem is born right there, on the junction of a human with a body of information and disappears when this togetherness is over. In 2009, I founded the "InternetPavilion" for the Venice Biennial. For the first Pavilion, I worked together with a Swiss architect, on the idea of “excess material” and I also invited the crowd of the PirateBay.org to use the Pavilion as their Embassy of Piracy. After the Biennial, taking some distance now from the Internet and the realm of Virtual, I start paying attention again to the world around us. These days, I “paint” with a Blackberry and a painter’s brush, tracing my subject in an invisible way that my Blackberry records in real-time. In an attempt of starting a new, diverse internet (“Slow Internet”), I am teaching this technique to people and at the same time, I am still looking online for the aspect of the internet that grabbed my interest in the first place: the possibility of a desert. Miltos Manetas, 2012 MONADE IS: ALESSANDRO GIANNI VALENTINA NASCIMBEN Miltos Manetas and Sebastian Bietenhader discussing ÑEWPRESSIONISM Omayra Alvarado {image 1}Sebastian Fierro Castro{image 2} Caridad Botella Lorenzo, {image 3}Monica Arango{image 4} 1999-2000
From 05. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Claudia) V, 1999, Oil on canvas, Courtesy the artist, NYC, US
From 05. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Baby with joystick), 2000, Oil on Canvas, 40 x 48 inches, Courtesy Collection Antonio Colombo, Milan, IT
From 05. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (The ElectronicOrphanage), 2000, Oil on Canvas, 500x300cm, Courtesy MAXXI Museum, Rome, IT
From 05. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Nintendo gun), 2000, Oil on Canvas, 40X47inches, Courtesy Daniela Palazzoli, Milan, IT
08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Christine), 1997, Oil on Canvas, 101.6 x 121.92 cm, Courtesy, Private Collection, Milan, IT
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Christoph Cherix), 1997, Oil on Canvas, 101.6 x 121.92 cm, 1997, Private Collection, Milan, IT
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (girl), 1997, Oil on Canvas, 101.6 x 121.92 cm, Courtesy, Private Collection, Milan, IT
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, CHRISTINE AND SONY PLAYSTATION II, 1998, Oil on Canvas, 197 x 162 cm,The Rothschild Collection, London
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Christine & Playstation), 1998, Oil on Canvas, 197 x 162cm, Courtesy BJORK COLLECTION, LONDON GB
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Boy with Nintendo), 1998, Oil on Canvas, 183 x 244cm, Courtesy Thomas Dane, London, UK
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Andreas with gun), 1998, Oil on Canvas, Courtesy the Artist, NYC, US
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Claudia) V, 1998, Oil on canvas, Courtesy the artist, NYC, US
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Uscha & Andreas), 1998, Oil on Canvas, 200.66x 241.3 cm, Courtesy The Artist, New York, US
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Claudia with lemonade & Playstation gun), 1999, Oil on Canvas, 72x84 inches, Courtesy Claudia Cargnel, Paris, FR
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Claudia shooting the TV), 1999, Oil on Canvas, 72x72 inches, Courtesy, BARCELONA, GALERIA DELS ANGELS
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Carisa), 1999, Oil on Canvas, 72 x 84 inches, Courtesy Jody Quon, NYC, US
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Mai Ueda), 2002, Oil on Canvas, 11x14 inches aprox., Courtesy The Artist and PinkSummer Gallery, Genoa, IT
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Mai Ueda) III, 2002, Oil on Canvas, 11x14 inches aprox., Courtesy The Artist and PinkSummer Gallery, Genoa, IT
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Mai Ueda) IV, 2002, Oil on Canvas, 11x14 inches aprox., Courtesy The Artist and PinkSummer Gallery, Genoa, IT
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Mai Ueda) V, 2002, Oil on Canvas, 11x14 inches aprox., Courtesy The Artist and PinkSummer Gallery, Genoa, IT
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas,PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (in Paris), 2005, Oil on Canvas, 200x300cm, Courtesy Howie Bernstein, London, UK
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Sony PS2), 2005, Oil on Canvas, 200x300cm, Courtesy Private Collection, Madrid, SP
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (The ElectronicOrphanage), 2000, Oil on Canvas, 500x300cm, Courtesy MAXXI Museum, Rome, IT
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Nintendo gun), 2000, Oil on Canvas, 40X47inches, Courtesy Daniela Palazzoli, Milan, IT
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Baby with joystick), 2001, Oil on Canvas, 40 x 48 inches, Courtesy Collection Antonio Colombo, Milan, IT
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (ganguro girls), 2000, Oil on Canvas, 40x46 inches, Courtesy Private Collection, Milan
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Autumn in NYC), 1998, Oil on Canvas, 127x152cm, Courtesy Private Collection, Athens, GR
From 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed)
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Mai Ueda) II, 2002, Oil on Canvas, 40 x47 inches, Courtesy Doreen Remen, NYC, US

ñewpressionism from MILTOS MANETAS on Vimeo.

ÑEWPRESSIONISM THEORY


We live in days of Metascreen. Screens, not computers but screens and networks are-for good or bad-part of nature. Screens "project", "transmit", "translate" but also "protect", "conceal" and "isolate". Screens hide from us the large view and isolate us from the whole showing us just a bit. But just a bit, just working, just playing, just making art on our computer screens, isn't enough no more... How easily impressions of the "whole" rise instead when we are looking or listening to trees, rivers and mountains. How nice we are connecting with such simulations, just by staying as still and calm in front of nature as that man on the famous painting of Caspar David Friedrich.. The essence of what we call "natural world" is transmitted effortlessly. That process doesn't even have to be interactive, the feelings are just there, out in the open, ready for the take.
When it comes to Networks instead, things are never that direct exactly because Networks, are for the moment reachable only through computer screens, those "eye-traps", those "pocket-walls", those UN-invisible and needy creatures that turn into useless corpses the moment we unplug them from their power source.

Here comes Representation to save the day. Painting, printing, sculpture, all of them analogue technologies, produce elaborate computing and initiate sets of peculiar brain calculations that will develop over time. In contrast to digital computing, the output of analogue representation is more enigmas than explanations and when we are in front of what we call "a Masterpiece", we maybe even using a quantum computer: a canvass a bronze or a book that calculates on multiple universes and not only simulates the Past for us but also produces the Future.
In a Metascreen Time, representing the virtual world through analogue technology, depicting the infinite locations of the Internet, the many-worlds scenario of videogames, the overwhelming new populations of avatars not on screen but using wood and water, wind and gravity, may be the only way to grasp the Nature at Large, to get to contact with natural AND technological nature alike. Similar to those guys in Paris, the Impressionists, 150 years ago, we are applying now a "deeper realism", something so cutting age that looks quite "light" sometimes quite easy and not very "conceptual", something that looks so new that could be old, "ñew" and "impressionistic".

Miltos Manetas, Paris 2014

MM

2013
From NEW GROUPS
Miltos Manetas, LOOKING AT THE BLACKBERRY, 2013, Oil on Canvas, 200x300cm, Rome, Italy 20.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, CATALINA ON SKYPE (Speaking to herself), 2013, Oil on Canvas, 200x300cm, Rome, Italy 20.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From ABSTRACT PORTRAITS
Miltos Manetas, THE UNCONNECTED 2013, Oil on Canvas, 300x500cm, Rome, Italy 15.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, UNTITLED (DIONE LOOKING AT HER PHONE) 2013, Oil on Canvas, 80 x 120 cm, Rome, Italy 5.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From PATIENTS
Manetas, Untitled (Alpha and her mother) 80 x 120 cm 2013, Oil on Canvas, Rome, Italy 8.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, UNTITLED (Mother and Child), 80 x 120 cm 2013, Oil on Canvas, Rome, Italy 8.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, UNTITLED (Unfinished Job), 80x120cm 2013, Oil on Canvas, Rome, Italy 8.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, UNTITLED (Camilo and Benjamin), 80 x 120 cm 2013, Oil on Canvas, Rome, Italy 8.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, UNTITLED (Vanessa and her sons), 80x120cm 2013, Oil on Canvas, Rome, Italy 8.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, SELFPORTRAIT (Bipolar), 70x100cm 2013, Oil on wood, Rome, Italy 8.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From INTERNET
Miltos Manetas, INTERNET PAINTINGS (STREET VIEW), 2013, Oil on Canvas, 200x300cm, Rome, Italy 15.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From INTERNET
Miltos Manetas, INTERNET PAINTINGS (STREET VIEW) II, 2013, Oil on Canvas, 200x300cm, Rome, Italy 15.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From INTERNET
Miltos Manetas, INTERNET PAINTINGS (OUTSIDE OF THE INTERNET), 2008-2013, Oil on Canvas, 254x381cm, (100x150 inches) Courtesy The Artist, Athens, GR 15.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From INTERNET
Miltos Manetas, INTERNET PAINTINGS (There is no Glory), 2008-2013, Oil on Canvas, 254x381cm, (100x150 inches) Courtesy The Artist, Athens, GR 15.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) 2010
From WRITTEN ON COMPUTERS
Miltos Manetas, NOW FROM THE SCREEN (Googling myself), 2010, Oil on Canvas, 134x200cm, Courtesy The Artist and La Central, Bogota, CO 5.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From WRITTEN ON COMPUTERS
Miltos Manetas, NOW FROM THE SCREEN (SKYPE), 2010, Oil on Canvas, 134x200cm Courtesy The Artist and La Central, Bogota, CO 5.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From CABLES
Miltos Manetas, UNTITLED (CABLES) XIX, 2010, Oil on canvas, 120x110cm, Courtesy The Artist & Galleria LA CENTRAL, Bogota, CO 5.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) 2009
From CABLES
Miltos Manetas, CABLES (Howie & Bea), 2009, Oil on Canvas, 200x300cm, Rome, Italy 30.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From CABLES
Miltos Manetas, CABLES (iPad), Oil on canvas, 2009, 200x300 cm, Courtesy the Artist, Rome, Italy 20.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From CABLES
Miltos Manetas, CABLES (Togetherness) 2009, Oil on Canvas, 200 x 300cm, Courtesy the artist, Greece. 20.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) 2008
From CABLES
Miltos Manetas, CABLES (Yellow, White, Red), 2008, Oil on Canvas, 150x300 cm circa, Courtesy The Artist, Athens, GR
From CABLES
Miltos Manetas, UNTITLED (CABLES) IV, Oil on canvas, 2009, 200 x 300 cm, Courtesy the artist, Rome, IT 20.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From CABLES
Miltos Manetas, UNTITLED (CABLES) XIII, Oil on canvas, 2008, 288x190 cm, Courtesy the Artist, ROME, IT 20.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) 2006
From CABLES
Miltos Manetas, CABLES (on Raphael), 2006, Oil on Canvas, 170x220 cm, Courtesy The Artist, Athens, GR 30.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From CABLES
Miltos Manetas, CABLES (On Botticelli's page), 2006, Oil on canvas, Courtesy the Artist, NYC, US | STORAGE NYC 13.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From CABLES
Miltos Manetas, CABLES (On Tizian), 2006, Oil on Canvas, 200x300 cm, Courtesy The Artist, Rome, IT 15.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) 2005
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, LOOKING AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN (Priscilla Tea), 2005, Oil on Canvas, 76.2 x 78.74 cm Courtesy The Artist, NYC, US | 7.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, LOOKING AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN (Priscilla Tea) II, 2005, Oil on Canvas, 76.2 x 78.74 cm Courtesy The Artist, NYC, US | 7.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) 2004
From POINT OF VIEW
Miltos Manetas, POINT OF VIEW (Korean Floor), Oil on canvas, 2004, 184x124cm, Courtesy The Artist, Rome, Italy 10.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) 2001
From MY FLOOR
Miltos Manetas, PERIPHERALS (Selfportrait as a Modem), 2001, Oil on Canvas, 198.12 x 228.6 cm Courtesy The artist, NYC, US | 25.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) 2000
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, PATIENTS (Mai sleeping), 2000, Oil on Canvas, Courtesy The Artist, NYC, US | STORAGE NYC 15.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From POINT OF VIEW
Miltos Manetas, POINT OF VIEW (Myself & Young British Artist), 2000, Oil on Canvas, 182.88 x 228.6 cm circa, Courtesy The Artist, NYC, US |STORAGE NYC 20.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) 1999
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, LOOKING AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN (Myself in Brooklyn), 1999, Oil on Canvas,182.88x213.36 cm, Courtesy The Artist, NYC, US STORAGE NYC 20.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From POINT OF VIEW
Miltos Manetas, POINT OF VIEW (Levi's & cables), 1999, Oil on Canvas, 67.3/8x84 inches, 172x213.36 cm Courtesy The artist, NYC, US | STORAGE NYC 20.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From PLAYING VIDEOGAMES
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Claudia) V, 1999, Oil on canvas, Miltos Manetas, Courtesy the artist, 182.88 x 213.36 cm, NYC, US | STORAGE NYC 10.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From PLAYING VIDEOGAMES
Miltos Manetas, PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (Andreas with gun), 1998, Oil on Canvas, Courtesy the Artist, 182.88 x 213.36 cm, NYC, US | STORAGE NYC 10.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From POINT OF VIEW
Miltos Manetas, POINT OF VIEW (Bernadette reading), 1999, Oil on Canvas, Courtesy The Artist, 182.88 x 213.36 cm, NYC, US | STORAGE NYC 12.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From POINT OF VIEW
Miltos Manetas, POINT OF VIEW (Bernadette van Huy), 1999, Oil on Canvas, Courtesy The Artist, NYC, US | PURPLE OFFICE NYC 15.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) 1998
From POINT OF VIEW
Miltos Manetas, POINT OF VIEW (Mai with Nintendo controller), 1998, Oil on Canvas, 152.4 x 132.08 cm, New York, US | LOCATION: PURPLE OFFICE 20.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, LOOKING AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN (Annika Larsson) II, 1998, Oil on Canvas, Courtesy the artist, 152.4 x 130 cm (circa) New York, US STORAGE NYC 10.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) |
From LAPTOP
Miltos Manetas, LAPTOP (Carlo V), 1998, Oil on Canvas, 132.08 x 195.58 cm, Courtesy The Artist, NYC, US | PURPLE OFFICE NYC 10.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) 1997
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, PATIENTS (the architect with his laptop), 1997, Oil on Canvas, Courtesy the artist, NYC 15.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) 1996
From PATIENTS
Miltos Manetas, PATIENTS (Andreas in Brooklyn), 1996, Oil on Canvas, Courtesy The Artist, NYC, US | STORAGE NYC 10.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From PORTRAITS OF DIGITAL MACHINES
Miltos Manetas, DIGITAL CAMERA (QuickTake 100),1996, Oil on Canvas, Courtesy The Artist, NYC, US | STORAGE NYC 12.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From LAPTOP
Miltos Manetas, LAPTOP (Apple PowerBook 3400), 1996, Oil on Canvas, 132.08 x 182.88 cm, Courtesy The Artist, NYC | STORAGE NYC 10.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From LAPTOP
Miltos Manetas, LAPTOP (Apple Powerbook 160), 1996-1998, Oil on Canvas, 198.12 x 162.56 cm, Courtesy The Artist, NY 10.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE)
From LAPTOP
POWERBOOK AND QUICKTAKE, 1996, 186 x297cm, COURSTESY THE ARTIST, ROME On Paper some_text Miltos Manetas, Cables, 2013, Oil on Fabriano Paper, 111.76 x147.32 cm 2.000 E (DEALER'S PRICE) Here its how to put the Blackberry on loop.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaNXOm2ihsY&feature=youtu.be Remember to plug the Blackberry on electricity and also connect a nice (maybe something round like this) .. I am working on the video + sending it.. Also, important: you"ll need a memory card to put in the Blackberry and you"ll need to place the video that I"ll send you tonight, at its Videos folder.. 01. EXISTENCE (started in 1995) 02. NEW ABSTRACTION (started in 1996) 03. PORTRAITS OF DIGITAL MACHINES (started in 1996) 04. PERIPHERALS (started in 1997) 05. CABLES (started in 1996) 06. MY FLOOR (started in 1996) 07. POINT OF VIEW (started in 1997) 08. PLAYING VIDEOGAMES (started in 1996, completed) 09. LOOKING AT COMPUTER SCREENS (started in 1998) 10. SCREENS (started in 2000) 11. WRITTEN ON COMPUTERS (started in 1995) 12. "ON SKYPE" (started in 2013) 13. GROUPS (started in 2005) 14. NEW GROUPS (started in 2011) 15. INTERNET PAINTINGS (started in 2003) 16. SELFIES (started in 2010) 17. NAVIGATORS (started in 2007) 18. LITTLE SCREENS (started in 2012) 19. PATIENTS (started in 1998) 20. PIRATE PAINTINGS (started in 2009) 21. SELFPORTRAITS (started in 2013) 22. THE UNCONNECTED (started in 2013) 23. LIFE 24. MONOCHROMES 25. NATURE (started in 2009) 26. GOOGLE NATURE (started in 2008) 27. WOMEN (started in 2003) 28. "TWO" (started in 2001) {image 12} {image 102} Esiste una strada che non va “da nessuna parte”. Una strada anonima, “Unnamed Road” come direbbe in inglese il mio GPS. Noi tutti, chi di meno e chi di più, cerchiamo ogni tanto questa strada, la via che porta dove magari non c’è proprio nulla, dove se anche qualcosa esiste, non si potrà comunque mai capire, mai veramente conoscere. Si torna da quelle parti senza neanche un ricordo, con niente da raccontare: a malapena uno sa che c’e stato. C’e comunque chi cerca questa strada perché è convinto che qualcosa sarà pur possibile portare indietro, qualcosa troverà da dire, dopotutto. Ma c’è anche chi la cerca, semplicemente perché non gli è rimasto nient’altro da fare, o chi spera di incontrare se stesso e riuscire a ricordare poi - un volta tornato - qualcosa di sé: spera di “riconoscersi”. Mentre si cerca questo deserto, questo infinito, uno vive la propria vita più meno come gli è possibile, e guardandosi attorno vede anche strade già conosciute, contempla paesaggi già cartografati, fotografandogli magari o anche dipingendogli, scrivendo note, diari oppure libri a proposito, segnalando dei posti, e perfino facendo o correggendo mappe. Si va avanti così da molto tempo, da millenni, ed è stato, da sempre, un processo banale, ma anche poetico (la poesia che ha iniziato Omero scegliendo di descrivere una certa guerra tra le tante, solamente perché veniva fatta in un posto lontano “da casa”, dove tutti hanno dovuto scomodarsi per partecipare). Non da molto tempo però, solamente di recente, da una decina d’anni, ci siamo trovati a vivere-ovunque noi siamo- “a casa”. Telefonini, computer, l’internet, conoscono dove e in che punto esattamente siamo, sanno dirci come arrivare ovunque ci aspetta la nostra semi-guerra quotidiana. Il pianeta è ora diventato casa e ti viene una disperazione, ti viene perfino il desiderio di sfuggire radicalmente ma non si fa, la vita e’ l’unico paesaggio dopo tutto, non si abbandona cosi a cuor leggero. E mentre noi umani siamo nello stesso tempo accomodati e disperati, facilitati e nauseati dei nostri amici GPS, loro sono impegnati nel proprio amore satellitare col la terra. Questo progetto vuole guardare I GPS in profondità, darli una chance di essere per una volta non utili ma belli, vuol sperare che loro, come noi, sono in ricerca di un possibile deserto, di una “Via Realmente Senza Nome”. I miei disegni e I personaggi vestiti da Paolo di Landro, sono pensati come ritratti di un Marco Polo ibrido, una parte umano una parte network. Miltos Manetas, Capalbio, 2013 {image 2}{image 3}{image 4}{image 5} Navigator Nowhere, con Miltos Manetas & Paolo di Landro un evento speciale curato da Valentina Ciarallo in occasione di ALTAROMA ALTAMODA. 0Z2O Galleria | Sara Zanin, via della Vetrina, 21 - 00186 Roma sabato 26 gennaio 2013 domenica 27 gennaio 2013 {image 1} Durante ALTAROMA ALTAMODA, Valentina Ciarallo presenta il progetto NAVIGATOR | NOWHERE con l’artista Miltos Manetas e il designer Paolo di Landro, presso la Z2O Galleria di Sara Zanin. Per l’occasione gli spazi della galleria vengono trasformati in un laboratorio work in progress in cui gli artisti sperimentano diverse strade creative e dove il GPS, oggetto di ricerca dell’artista Miltos Manetas, si muove al confine tra arte e moda. Manetas e Di Landro realizzano insieme e dal vivo gli abiti dei nuovi NAVIGATOR, personaggi ibridi, metà umani, metà network. Il segno grafico del NAVIGATOR è dunque il punto di partenza che offre agli artisti una strada da seguire alla ricerca, nel taglio di un abito così come nel tratto della matita su un disegno, di una nuova segnaletica artistica contemporanea. {image 6}{image 7}{image 8}{image 9}{image 10}{image 11}{image 13}{image 14}{image 15}{image 16}{image 17}{image 18}{image 19}{image 20}{image 21}{image 22}{image 23}{image 24}{image 25}{image 26}{image 27}{image 28}{image 29}{image 30}{image 31}{image 32}{image 33}{image 34}{image 35}{image 36}{image 37}{image 38}{image 39}{image 40}{image 41}{image 42}{image 43}{image 44}{image 45}{image 46}{image 47}{image 48}{image 49}{image 50}{image 51}{image 52}{image 53}{image 54}{image 55}{image 56}{image 57}{image 58}{image 59}{image 60}{image 61}{image 62}{image 63}{image 64}{image 65}{image 66}{image 67}{image 68}{image 69}{image 70}{image 71}{image 72}{image 73}{image 74}{image 78}{image 79}{image 83}{image 84}{image 85}{image 86}{image 87}{image 88}{image 89}{image 90}{image 91}{image 92}{image 93}{image 94}{image 95}{image 96}{image 97}{image 98}{image 99}{image 100}{image 101} Tutte le foto: Gaetano Alfano {image 3}{image 4} Gaetano Alfano's photos from the Navigator/Nowhere Laboratory