Spooky Science

trains, planes, automobiles, people
the global nomad
Beatnik's mythological automobile on the road
alchemy, hyperfluid culture
a poetics of presence
art and the imagination
the physical and the mental
hum with the speed of
all these places of social mutuality
committed humanist
recontextualize the previous
find themselves adrift
sonic debris of a popular future
cultural relativism
voice you speak with
take one step past yourself
haunted by the way things could have turned out
call and response
crossroads
questioning how far to push
mom used to say,
"who speaks through you?"
generate the most creative sounds
a thousand and one nights
preferences become mapped
repeat history
they are global
they are universal
seamlessly complex system
wise and foolish
consciousness in a world
invites rereadings in an information economy
creativity rests
expressions of others
the threads of time
hold the tapestry of my youth together
blurred all of the boundaries
etched in my memory
art in the conventional art world sucked
and the critics were full of shit
the multicultural
case of kidnapping, murder and conspiracy
collaged
crushing you with media bombardment
obsessed with death
bypassing structures
attention to the game
critique of the invisible
only to erase it
idealism of coexistence
not aware of the connections
its a puzzle you set for yourself
John Cage used to just stare at the piano
communicate with fellow human beings
continues the dialog
make the world act as your own reflection
issue of personal identity
scratch the surface
creating an environment
overlapping dualities
revelation of the other world
urban landscape
dematerialized sculpture
situation in human history
it can change
phantasm of collective memory
combat between
art as it relates to the environment
meditational aspect of the creative act
found
dividing the organic and inorganic elements
opening and closing of the lens
vanished like a mirage in the desert
of our collective dreams
try to create new worlds
cybernetic jazz
time and energy
pay the piper and call the tune

Liz Filardi Presentation

Liz Filardi is New York based artist who received a BA in English from the University of Albany at SUNY and an MFA in Design and Technology from The New School in 2009. She was recently commissioned by Turbulence for her I'm Not Stalking; I'm Socializing series. Filardi explores anxieties surrounding social networking through this body of work. Using intervention techniques through performance, Liz's work investigates personal boundaries. Communication media are the main vehicle for which she creates her work; resulting in websites, solicited telephone calls, signage and digital images.

Beginning with one of her early works, we can trace back the personal narrative that is at the heart of Liz Filardi's work. Breakfast Daily uses a video diary approach to convey vulnerability and personal boundaries. Each day, Liz records herself as she eats breakfast alone. An emotional disposition or mood is cataloged through the redundant images of this simple everyday act. Filardi reported, "By the end of the experiment, I had created a Vimeo community group to support the conclusion that eating breakfast at a table is, in fact, a gesture of commitment and patience, even without the involvement of a video camera. The group seems to live on."


I am reminded of Miranda July, when I think about Liz's work. July utilizes the everyday human experience, often drawing from the vulnerability of the personal and its emotions. Seen in both artists work is the use of text as a powerful communication tool.


Another early work uses remixing to create digital imagery. Filardi 's work Tribute to R. Stevie Moore was inspired after discovering the piece Girl Go. She explains, "Never underestimate a champion of the vintage internet aesthetic." She constructed her tribute series from a collection of images that were taken from the the R. Stevie Moore public image domain. The public domain includes websites, over 400 masterful mix tapes and CDs, and several official releases including the early indie classic, Phonography. Liz chronicles R Stevie Moore's artistic career as standing the test of time, while becoming well respected. She explains, that he "played alongside Elvis Presley, yet continues to perform humbling shows in small New York City clubs to audiences consisting of a few fanatics amongst venue grazers."

Fueled by her interest in society's obsession with virtual communities specifically, social networking, Filardi created a narrative project called Wonderful Life. This work engages the narrative potential of social networking communities by attempting to push narrative in a new direction. The focus of the project questions the inclusion of individual's in social networking communities and challenges the notion of how this social involvement can enrich our lives.
She states, "We form narratives by reconnecting, searching for old friends, etc... In past, issues of privacy existed, people were less open to sharing personal information.....Surfing networks has become social default. We prefer to surf the net over watching T.V." Another component of the work is an investigation of the use of marketing tools within these social networks, as people have shifted from watching television and bearing the commercials to using the Internet as source of this spectator entertainment.

Wonderful Life is a satirical web narrative, which has been adapted to social network platforms. Liz took from several websites to create the project in order to create the narrative. She says, "The only way that you can really consume the story is by becoming friends with the character. Even if you don't know these characters, who you just became friends with on Facebook, by investigating you get caught up in the story the same way that you get caught up in the story of what your friends are up to." The project unfolds over a fixed, five-week time period. This parallels the real time frame for the characters, who participate in daily blogging while being paid to consume a daily health regiment called Wonderful Life. The goal of the product is to discover the meaning of life. The blogging not only documents the experience of taking the product, but also provides a narrative hook for the viewers.


While Liz often relies on the public as both the audience and participants in her work, she also puts herself out there, as in the case of Facetbook. This project is achieved through Firefox web plug-in that allows her to archive her Facebook profile. This project speaks to created identity or the multiplicity of identity that is encouraged through social networking. It emphasizes the ability to project a story about oneself through social networks by constructing a character and story for people to follow. Viewers take an invested interest in these posts, or stories, even if secretly. A review of Liz's work points out the timeliness of her work as it deals with issues of privacy on Facebook. A privacy loophole has become apparent on Facebook, as members of the public can access the website without membership through links to events.


This work connects to the work of Sophie Calle. The viewers have the ability to play detective or investigate Filardi's constructed narratives presented through Facetbook. Sophie Calle's work plays on vulnerability through her personal sometimes secret interactions that she has with the subjects of her work. Similarly, Filardi's work reflects the role of the viewer and challenges the notion of personal boundaries and privacy. She holds a mirror to the public, commenting on the behavior that is delivered through these social networks. Calle's work also exposes the personal and permits the audience to have access to the documentation of these emotional experiences.

The work Status Grabber is a service that invites people to make a brief statement regarding their status over the phone. Filardi selects random people in the phone book or by request through the project webpage. People are solicited by phone to update other people (a friend or loved one who has requested the service) on their status. The solicitor describes the service as, "100% free verbal social networking service that allows us to communicate in brief updates intended for a general social audience." This work relies and challenges the concept of status grabbing. It demonstrates that people will accept certain conditions online but not offline via another medium such as the telephone. The anonymous audience draws on notion of privacy, as the phone call becomes an invasion of space.

The request of participation is superficial and limiting in what the participants can or will share. A brief statement only goes so far in its depiction of one's life. This parallels to social networks in the way that it speaks to the limitations of really giving true information in online social arenas. People want to believe that they are engaging in genuine connections with friends and family members online, but there is only so far these interactions can go in the viral space of the internet world. I found the work ironic in the way that people were unlikely to reveal personal information through the telephone, even though there is such a hype around status updates online. I really enjoyed the humor that comes across in the prankster style that the work is delivered and received.


Status Grabber recalls the intervention tactics of the Yes Men. In fact, Liz was involved in the Yes Men NY Times as a Transport Logistician. In addition, her use of websites and internet products also echo their culture jamming practices.



black&white is an exploration of the term stalking, Filardi takes a historical case of criminal stalking and interplays the narrative with the idea of online stalking. Using a website interface that mimics Facebook, she creates two profiles for the characters involved in the Farley/Black case if Silicon Valley in the late 1980's which provoked California Anti-Stalking Law. The profiles provide insight into the story, while engaging viewers to participate in the act of stalking through their following of the story. It questions the notion of stalking all together. Again, Liz uses media and narrative to engage the viewer.

Facetbook, Status Grabber and black&white are all works created for the Turbulence commission that Liz received in 2009.

The Yes Men

After my recent viewing of the The Yes Men Fix the World , I found a deeper appreciation for the collaborative pair- Andy Brchlbaum and Mike Bonanno. I am amazed by their ability to continue pulling the wool over the eyes of the mass media, in order to reveal the harsh realities that exist in corporate systems. An activist spirit is the force behind their work, which is highly intelligent and calculated in order to present important social issues. Irony and satire are important aspects of their work, as they present dark and serious social history in connection with current politics.

Performance-based interventions with mass media, corporate groups and the general public compose a significant portion of their creative process. Much like a Happening, the Yes Men rely real life situations and interaction from the audience to carry out and build upon their pieces in an improvisational, yet planned manner. As in the belief of predecessor Allan Kaprow, art is life.

Words, 1961, installation

Another important figure in this movement is Joseph Bueys.

I Like America and America Likes Me, 1974, performance

Both Kaprow and Bueys were heavily philosophical in their approach to art making and used the classroom as a setting for interaction. In this way, their work moved art into a direction of higher accessibility for the public audience. In critique of the institutional mindset driven by the art market, their work shook up everyday life and reconciled art and life, even bringing the role of the viewer into a more active engagement.

The Yes Men work in the same manner of intervening with everyday life experiences, such as a corporate luncheon, to deliver critical presentations on imaginary products of the institution. In their recent New York Times edition, the Yes Men delivered a message of empowerment to their viewers to take action, rather than remain passive to the realities of the world. An emotional reaction by the viewer is also key to the power of the Yes Men's works, in order to provoke change in society by society members.

Mierle Laderman Ukeles is another artist who employs interventions in her work. She has held a long time artist residency position with the New York Department of Sanitation. Through her works she offers gratitude to the everyday workers, such as cleaning crews of institutions, and in her residency, specifically the workers of the sanitation department. She created Social Mirror, a mobile art piece in which she covered the sides of a trash truck with reflective surface that reflected society's role in collecting trash back. She intended to convey a message that reminded people where the trash that was collected by trash men came from. This challenged the notion of a trash man being a dirty person just by the nature of their job.

Manifesto for Maintenance Art, 1969, performance

The Social Mirror, 1983

A more contemporary vehicle of the Yes Men's creative process is culture jamming. They disrupt institutions by creating fake identities and using the web and professional presentations to advertise these products that mock these corporations. Through their products they expose problematic politics that lie beneath the surface and question the consumers who support these corporations. Like Laderman, the Yes Men give society a realistic reflection of their choices to support these businesses and their politics, as a reaction against social conformity. The anticipated result is to inspire a mass transformation in society to to make conscious choices that allow us to live more freely. Not to be confused with the capitalist politics of freedom promoted by individuals like Milton Friedman.