[NetBehaviour] Outside In: Organising NODE.London.

[marc]

Outside In: Organising NODE.London.

By Lauren Wright.

NODE.London a.ka. NodeL – Season of Media Arts London, a.k.a. Noddle. 
Whatever you called it, it was/is a year of activities around art, 
social organisation and media that followed on from the World Summit on 
Free Information Infrastructures at Limehouse Town Hall and Open 
Congress at Tate Britain in late 2005.

It hasn't been easy to find reviewers with the panoptic gaze necessary 
to survey this ambitious series of events and exhibitions and talks (and 
a book!). So, in ye olde spirit of openness and networked 
self-reflexivity, we asked one of NodeL's volunteer organisers, Lauren 
Wright, for her embedded perspective

The first time I attended a NODE.London meeting, early last November, I 
had little idea what to expect, and having just moved to London I didn't 
know a soul. The first email I received about NODE.London, via my 
‘network’ of doctoral students, was cryptic though enticing. It began:

NODE.London [Networked, Open, Distributed, Events: London] is a growing 
network committed to building on the shared infrastructure, 
sustainability and visibility of media arts practice in London.

The announcement continued, inviting any artist, curator, or otherwise 
who wanted to present something during the upcoming season to register 
their interest and receive support from ‘Seed Nodes’ – ‘London-wide hubs 
of activity supporting NODE.London in March’. What exactly any of this 
meant, I wasn't sure, but it sounded to me too good to be true. I 
emailed the Project Coordinator to find out just how a new-to-the-scene 
curator like me could contribute; he told me there was no fixed way for 
curators to become involved, pointed me to http://nodel.org and a wiki 
for an organisation called SMAL (Season of Media Arts London), which I 
later learned was NODE.London's original name, and encouraged me to come 
along to a meeting to learn more.

more...
http://www.metamute.org/en/Outside-in-Organising-NODE.London