[NetBehaviour] Selling software art

[Pall Thayer]

Now that I have some time I'm going to offer some explanations for my
actions. It's not that I feel any specific need to defend them but I
find this conversation quite interesting and I think that some of the
points I have to mention are quite relevant.

First of all, one of the ideas behind this piece, was to produce a
thoughtful and conceptual work of art that can not be fully understood
without reviewing the underlying code. Attempting to do so would be
analogous to judging a book by its cover alone. Therefore the plan was
always to exhibit it along with the source code. I'm not saying that
the source code is "the art". But it does contain a detailed, albeit
cryptic, explanation of what the work is about and the artist's
(that's me) take on the issues. Also, in presenting the source code at
different stages of development, it describes how these issues evolved
throughout the production of the work. The software itself is free and
open. Anyone can download it and run it on their own computer. They
can even retrieve the source code at all of its various stages. They
can print it out and make their own posters.

But lets consider a couple of things. The way I see it, the work is
complete when you have the posters, the software running on a computer
and at least one person to regard the whole.
Once you have those three elements together, the "art" is happening.
I'm as arrogant as any artist and like to think that my art is
important and feel that it should live forever. If we break apart the
three elements I mentioned then, on its own, only one of those will
make it possible to recreate the full piece as long as humans are
around to experience it. That is the code and in our current world
what would make people want to save and protect that element for
future generations to enjoy is it's financial worth. So yes, you can
download the source code and print it out but what's your incentive
for hanging on to it? If you paid for it, you might think twice before
throwing it out because it doesn't match your new furniture. The
posters are the only element of the work that can be archived and my
signature on them makes them "authorized".

So, an "art object"? I don't know. A "commodity"? Yes, definitely. I'm
sure that 20 years from now, perhaps sooner, the software will no
longer run on whatever sort of computing equipment will be around
then. But the source code is such an exact documentation of what the
software did that it can easily be used as a sort of "map" to
re-create the work, essentially immortalizing... me, I mean... it.

Pall Thayer

On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 7:19 PM, Vijay Pattisapu <lexicontrol at gmail.com> wrote:
>> museums (in the institutional form predating the Anglophonic notion of
>> "gallery") should be free. Such socially specific notions
>
> Interesting. How is "gallery" (the concept, word, or both) Anglophonic?
>
> I thought "gallery," historically, referred to any kind of porch or
> open area, and, since art would typically be displayed in such an area
> ...
>
> (Etymologically it comes from Old French via the Italian galleria
> 'gallery,' which at one time also meant simply 'church porch,' from
> medieval Latin galeria, which some say is an alteration of galilea
> (like Galilee). Hm.)
>
> Also, I don't know anything about the history of the museum/gallery,
> and if any Netbehaviourists could refer me to any decent
> histories/historians here, I'd appreciate it!
>
> Thanks,
> Vijay
>
> 2008/11/18 benjamin <benjamin at cultura3.net>:
>> it does, generally. such wide spread adhesion to the bourgeois idea that
>> museums (in the institutional form predating the Anglophonic notion of
>> "gallery") should be free. Such socially specific notions have rarely been
>> adopted by the theatric arts.
>>
>>
>> On 18 Nov 2008, at 15:12, bob catchpole wrote:
>>
>> That's the most honest comment so far... and gets right to the heart of the
>> conundrum.
>>
>> Bob
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Pall Thayer Tuesday, 18 November, 2008 15:42:19
>>
>>> sometimes it would be nice to get something back.
>>
>>
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-- 
*****************************
Pall Thayer
artist
http://www.this.is/pallit
*****************************