Research 1.0

January 2014, Rotterdam, The last trimester of WDKA

The start of my graduation project. It started all after the lecture from Florain Cramer about The Situationisten International. I was always interested in the discussion of copyright law and the open source community, and how it related to art. The way how the Situationisten deal with this discussion I can show you by this famous quote;

“All the ‘Situationisten Internationale’ texts are free to be reproduced, translate or adapted without mentioning the source”.

An very utopian quote, and something that I can believe in, but what they didn’t mention is HOW? How can you work be that free? How do you lose your authorship? How can you make art what is that open for everyone? How can a work be open for development and growth? I saw a great similarity with the Situationisten quote and the original open source definition. Open source method is used in design and software, may be it can also be used in the art. So for my research I combine together.

My head case is F.A.T. Lab and I look in all the different licenses that are ‘open’. Next my theoretical research I bring it to practice, and I organize an workshop called ‘Sourcen with the Source’. With this workshop I give my question to artist, and see what they will make or do. Beats on my theory does it work in the practice? A big part of this research is a questioning authorship and the traditional ‘museum’ art, like the Situationisten and F.A.T. Lab. How can I break this of questioning it? This outcome of this research has to be options, no answers. We hardly can keep up with the open source community, licenses and the art world. The most methods interrupt the creative process, may be open source to. Or will it be an extension?

Open; open, accessible, openly Source; information- source, origin When I talk about source, I mean information source, the source of the information. Sourcen is a verb that I have formed myself and stands for information/sources sharing with each other. ‘Where are sourcen with each other’. A source can take many forms, an object, digital, oral, a thought, you name it. Everywhere you can find and get source. When I mention open, then it is accessible for everyone. The source is open and you have accesses to the source code. So you can freely develop, change, or use it in any way you want to. Therefor many people can work on an open source, but the origin is no longer relevant. It’s is the development what is important. You don’t have control of the end result, it’s always on the move, because you can change it anytime you want. So how do I adapt open source to art? Here is an examples of how I translate open source software model to art model.

Software - Art Developers - Artist User - Public Software - Art

July 2014, Rotterdam, Graduation day

A half year for my research question is to short, I saw that coming. But I got to know a lot of the method and my own research. After this half year I make it more clear for myself what I’m researching. So I don’t have options or answers, but more information and some conclusions about ‘free’ art. Some conclusions in a nutshell;

 Open source is no more a way of thinking but a method what we can apply.

 Open source does no more exist with all does different licenses.

 Licenses creates rules.

 There is no ‘open’ with a license, only conditions.

 The less clear, the better, so you can fill it in for yourself. It gives a kind of freedom.

 How complicated the better.

 There is no control of the licenses.

 Open source give a certain framework to work with.

 When you work within this framework you create a work without framework.

 This can be a disadvantage for the creative process.

 On the underhand you create an openness for the work.

 The work will be open for changes, development, and you have access to the source.

 Did I just saw a T.A.Z.?

 I can’t explain or show what I’m looking for. ( Even not F.A.T. Lab)

September - December 2014, Rotterdam, Start at PZI

In my head I thought I could go further with where I left of. Further with my research, because I’m still motivated to search. This time I want to focus on authorship, how to lose it? And I want to get a closer look at the economy of the art world. What if.. ? But I have to hold on, because your self-directed research has to wait till next trimester. In this period of time a only find sources to look at, but I want to have more to time to get in to it. May be next trimester in January.

Some sources:

Aymeric Mansoux -My Lawyer is an Artist Free Culture Licenses as Art Manifestos

Agamben - Profanations PAGE 61 The Author as Gesture

collect_the_wwworld__the_artist_as_archivist_in_the_internet_age

Claudia Kappenberg - From Work to Frame or is There Life After the Death of Author

Anna Tilroe - over-macht-en-commercie-in-de-kunstwereld

Anna Tilroe – Ja sprong

debord-comments_on_the_society

debord-society_of_the_spectacle

home-stewart-what-situationism-reader

Foucault_WhatIsAnAuthor

Barthes - death_author

Toward-a-lexicon-of-usership

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/books/2013/05/jaron_lanier_s_who_owns_the_future_review_facebookers_of_the_world_unite.single.html

http://new-art.blogspot.nl/2007/02/who-owns-art.html

http://anticopyright.pleintekst.nl/

http://www.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-0610/msg00025.html

http://texts.bleu255.com/how-deep-is-your-source/

http://www.notbored.org/why-art.html

Next all of this theoretical research I want to continue with testing my research out in to practices. Like the workshop, Sourcen with the Source, I going to give this workshop again next year. Besides this I been thinking about an experiment, an ‘exhibition’. Exhibition Concept (draft) This exhibition is more an ‘pop-up’ expo, its only one weekend. This way you give people more pressure to come that weekend, and the can’t wait till next week or something. The idea is more an experiment for me. I do not know what will happen so there for its an research for me. The research tells me if ‘free’ art works in an expo/ or space. So it helps me to present my own work. I want to invite 10/15 artist to exhibit there work. Not in a formal way, but I give them an USB-stick, so they can put their work on (how much is there choice), and come up with an idea to present that USB in a space. The USB is open, so when people visit the exhibition they can watch and copy it. So it’s in that way ‘free art’. You can’t take the USB from the artist, so the artist have to find a way so the public can’t take it with them. The public can bring their own USB-stick to copy the work. During this exhibition you need your computer device to see of copy the work. Or the artist creates another way to watch, but is has to be ‘free’, so the public can copy the work. Another important aspect of the exhibition concept is there are no author-names in the exhibition. The artworks has to speak for them self, and may be you recognise some works, but that’s it not what’s it about. The FREE art has the major role in this exhibition, not the maker. So we only see the artwork, without an author name of title.