[NetBehaviour] Overland: First leg to Human Nature

Wed Sep 9 15:03:59 CEST 2009

Hi Ana,

It is really inspiring to be here at my first /ETC and i feel it has a
special flavour here as it is hosted by the Resistanbul Crew. Istanbul
is certainly a very charismatic city. Such a shame that so many people
have not been able to make it this year due to a diffuse range of
economic pressures : (
x R

-----Original Message-----
From: Ana Valdés <agora158 at gmail.com>
To: ruth.catlow at furtherfield.org, NetBehaviour for networked distributed
creativity <netbehaviour at netbehaviour.org>
Subject: Re: [NetBehaviour] Overland: First leg to Human Nature
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 10:05:24 +0200

So sad, Ruth, Helen and all others assisting to the Ec Tech Carnival, I
can't attend! I enjoyed so much being in Umeås edition but the Istambul
venue clashes with job in Spain and I believed it was possible to
combine.But it seems impossible now, good luck and keep writing, Ruth!
Ana

On Sat, Sep 5, 2009 at 10:59 AM, Ruth Catlow
<ruth.catlow at furtherfield.org> wrote: 

        Hi all,
        and thanks for the encouragement Mark, Annie and Helen. Helen
        very much looking forward to seeing you in Istanbul and good
        luck with your Upstage preparations.
        cheers to all!

        >>London, UK to Brussels, Belgium to Frankfurt, Germany to Linz,
        Austria>>

        I left at 7.15am this morning. Making the journey to Linz alone-
        sniff! On arrival at St Pancras my main preoccupation was food;
        breakfast, lunch and dinner for the 12hr journey ahead of me.
        For the last week I had it in the back of my mind to pack and
        prepare food from our local Turkish shops, just as I had been
        wondering about an imaginative and harmless source of new
        luggage. In both cases, in the end, I turned to big brand
        emporiums because they catered to my poor planning. hmmm.
        Passing painlessly through customs I trail round the shops in a
        daze browsing the fiction best seller list (untempted) and buy
        medicines for potential minor ailments and discomforts, for
        sticky fingers, stale breath, dickie tummies & headaches.

        I am surprised by how full of human beings Western Europe is and
        how comprehensively our species has established itself and
        occupied and organised the landscape- agricultural or urban- for
        efficient systems of fast living. Networks of roads, electricity
        stations, lines and pilons along with the occasional smattering
        of wind turbines and banks of solar panels span the cultivated
        fields and vineyards punctuated by towns and towering modern
        cities like Frankfurt. Lots of people (including me) text and
        talk on their mobile phones as we go along. Once in the towns an
        explosion of media coming at you from every surface and through
        the earwaves. So many of us - all living such hungry
        existences. 

        In the course of chatting with two fellow travellers, one a
        trader in old coins from Boston, and the other a Psychology
        student from Vienna it becomes clear that they equate flying
        long distances with all good things in life and that they plan
        to do a lot of it in the near future. Ironically taking to the
        sky may be the only way most people (in the West anyway) get to
        experience wilderness of any kind. 

        It was great to get here and be met by Aileen and Peter at the
        station. Now to Ars Electronica's 30 year celebration festival
        http://www.aec.at/humannature/en/ themed 'Human Nature', which
        they introduce as follows 
        "We are entering a new age here on Earth: the Anthropocene. An
        age definitively characterized by humankind’s massive and
        irreversible influences on our home planet. Population
        explosion, climate change, the poisoning of the environment and
        our venturing into outer space have been the most striking
        symbols of this development so far."

        ...and perhaps some planning for the journey ahead.

        -----Original Message-----
        From: Mark Hancock <mark at memecortex.net>
        To: ruth.catlow at furtherfield.org, NetBehaviour for networked
        distributed creativity <netbehaviour at netbehaviour.org>
        Subject: Re: [NetBehaviour] bon voyage!
        Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 18:46:45 +0100

        Well done Ruth,

        It's a brilliant idea and excellent that you're talking about
        how hard it is to actually do all of this as well. It would be
        wrong to just say it had been done and not discuss the factors
        involved. The most I'm managing right now is cycling to my
        residency in Coventry on a borrowed bike. And not  then,
        managing everyday. That sounds like a flippant thing to say, but
        once you start to think about what might be done to make a
        difference, it all starts to factor in. Even cycling has it's
        issues!

        Looking forward to your posts. Have fun in Linz and Istanbul. Am
        really grumpy I couldn't get there this year!

        M

        2009/9/2 Ruth Catlow <ruth.catlow at furtherfield.org> 

                Hello,

                Well I am completely un-prepared for the 10 day train
                adventure that starts tomorrow. But I do have tickets so
                my overland trek to Ars in Linz and then on to /ETC in
                Istanbul with Aileen is definitely happening. So many
                people have been interested in joining us and then have
                been put off by the time, expense, mind-bending planning
                etc. and right now I can't say I blame them. It does all
                seem really mad.

                Anyway I plan to post my ruminations on overland travel
                as an alternative to air travel to Netbehaviour for the
                next 10 days. If anyone else is shunning the air and
                crossing by land for artistic purposes in the next
                couple of weeks perhaps they'd like to do the same. 

                Looking forward to travelling with you. 

                bon voyage!
                Ruth

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