[NetBehaviour] a new Microcode: Vito Acconci's 'Seedbed'

james morris james at jwm-art.net
Fri Jul 3 17:04:37 CEST 2009


On 3/7/2009, "Pall Thayer" <pallthay at gmail.com> wrote:

>The most difficult part of conceptual art is sticking to your concept.

i'm only human.



>On Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 2:20 PM, james morris<james at jwm-art.net> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Pall,
>>
>> I've got to admit that I've had trouble too, understanding your
>> MicroCodes. Sometimes I think I get it, other times I read what you've
>> written and think I've been misunderstanding.
>>
>> The formal interpretation of code is instinctive when I view it, so
>> trying to read code as something else, to value my human interpretation
>> almost cut off from the formal meaning is really quite difficult that it
>> just does not happen.
>>
>> Consequently my response is (or can be) almost blind to a human response,
>> and involves elaborating upon the code. I always want code to do more,
>> for the computer's interpretation of it put into action, to be
>> satisfying for the viewer. So I don't think you're being stubborn, as
>> although the concept is quite simple, it can be difficult to hold in
>> ones mind, so stubborn repetition is quite useful.
>>
>>
>> james.
>>
>>
>>
>> On 2/7/2009, "Pall Thayer" <pallthay at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>Hi Alan,
>>>I'm probably just being overly stubborn to make a point. Of course the
>>>idea of the "Seedbed" code is to play around with the dual meaning in
>>>the line "touch $myself". And if I understand you correctly you're
>>>simply pointing out the ways in which words and images evoke emotional
>>>responses even though whatever mediates the words and/or images is
>>>itself incapable of such emotional responses. This is just our way of
>>>understanding things. We attempt, maybe even at a subconscious level,
>>>to apply whatever is being mediated to our own selves (or someone
>>>else's) to see how that affects us. But the interesting thing is that
>>>whereas we usually see programming code as something to be interpreted
>>>by a computer and then we interpret that interpretation, in this case
>>>(and in fact this is the underlying concept of the Microcodes in
>>>general) our interpretation of the code elicits a much stronger, more
>>>meaningful response than an interpretation of the computer's
>>>interpretation of the code. This is something I want people to
>>>consider and be aware of, that's why I'm being so stubborn. I'm sure
>>>there are people out there who experience some discomfort in reading
>>>the "Seedbed" code. Some might even feel embarrassed, turned on,
>>>ashamed or all of the above. If I didn't want people to feel this way
>>>I wouldn't have associated it with "Seedbed". But I hope that they
>>>will take the time to discover what the words as computer code really
>>>mean and see the absurdity of it all.
>>>
>>>best r.
>>>Pall
>> ....
>>
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>
>
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>Pall Thayer
>artist
>http://www.this.is/pallit
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