[NetBehaviour] Apple performance Brighton

Simon Mclennan mclennanfilm at gmail.com
Fri Oct 4 18:19:29 CEST 2019


Ha ha no I see a lot in that video - of worth - it was just really interesting to me, it says a hell of a lot more than overproduced films, its perhaps authentic, the approach is good.
I don’t see fault there at all. Its punk, and challenging.

And the parallel with my life then was not by any comparison, but that we existed in some sort of time and space era, linked by our shared social and cultural, economic, geographic
relations. I ignored the net for a long time, only used computers for a bit of music and video. I knew Marc et al, who were great in that era of change, the net coming in. ha ha.
With regards the can thing - I like the poetic sensibility. And we can forget our art if we want to, or not… 

I like little poetic acts, new rituals can be  invented every day, not in the sense of ritual repetition, but a marking of the moment, investing, by
linking to our flux of consciousness, matter strewn in the brambles of our sight, senses, memory ha ha 

Thanks,

Simon 


On 4 Oct 2019, at 15:01, Max Herman <maxnmherman at hotmail.com> wrote:

> 
> 
> Hi Simon,
> 
> The can artwork name is not related to the video or any other artworks that I can think of, except in the most generic possible sense, ideally the most mathematically generic possible sense.  It does have an actual name, which I sometimes forget and have to remind myself of because it isn't written down.  Part of how I remember is the number six, and the visual of the can itself (which I keep on a bookshelf), and a visual recollection of my car cupholder a long time ago when I decided to give the can a name for some pointless and unknown reason.  I have the idea that I was driving away from the parking lot of the local art museum here, leaving after a visit.  
> 
> Overall I still don't know for sure if the can is a good artwork or not, if it was a good thing to have done, if it would be better to now recycle the can, never mention it again, never think about it again, and so on.  It does seem possible that some artworks (at least of my own, if one has a right to allow one's own artwork to be forgotten or destroyed) should be forgotten.
> 
> Thanks for watching the video too and the generous feedback.  I must apologize for all of the unwatchability, inanity, bloatedness, and flat-out weakness of it as an artwork.  In fact I think it would not be unfair to say that the video is almost completely devoid of worth in the mathematical sense.  Certainly my own personal flaws as an artist and a human being are almost off the charts in the video if not completely off the charts and into the abyss.  
> 
> So I appreciate your observations about seeing the need for change, its beneficence, as well as how fast 20 years can go by.  In a way those are hopeful truths though and perhaps that is one way of processing the koan which at least points in the direction of worth, or could be a rudimentary beginning of a contemplation of possible worth, at least for me if not for anyone else (and that may be the best path or awareness of all for me).
> 
> I do still have the Durer postcard, the keeping of which I feel less unclear about than the can artwork, and that could be another worthwhile note to self.  🙂
> 
> All very best,
> 
> Max
> 
> 
> From: Simon Mclennan <mclennanfilm at gmail.com>
> Sent: Thursday, October 3, 2019 6:49 PM
> To: netbehaviour at lists.netbehaviour.org <netbehaviour at lists.netbehaviour.org>
> Cc: maxnmherman at hotmail.com <maxnmherman at hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [NetBehaviour] Apple performance Brighton
>  
> Hey thanks Max, I’m really glad you got something from this, and how it has sparked your own thoughts.
> I’d like to guess the secret name of the can, but will only do so in my head - unless our paths cross - who knows.
> Maybe the secret is in the Genius 2000 video - which I watched a fair chunk of! And enjoyed - it was interesting to me, the sort
> of louch form it took ha ha! It certainly had me harking back to what and who I was in the 90s - how we morph and change, what
> concerned me, us.
> 
> How come time went past? I didn’t see it. 
> 
> All the best,
> 
> Simon
> 
> 
>  
> 
> On 3 Oct 2019, at 15:57, Max Herman <maxnmherman at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> I like this artwork Simon!  I'm a bit of a hoarder so would probably have asked someone for a core, or given myself an apple and then the core, and planted a couple of seeds in a pot, not to make a tree but just to see if they would sprout, and then if they sprouted kept them as a houseplant or on the porch.  I suppose this would be a form of artwork-sprawl and certainly not needed to actually happen, but I like how your artwork is indeterminate about such possible eventualities.  I also like the paper tags, and the relation of paper in general to the age of computerized networks.
>> 
>> One artwork I have kept is an empty aluminum can of apple-flavored mineral water which I drank five or ten years ago.  It has a six-word secret name which I have never written down but have asked people to guess, which is of course absurd.  If someone guesses it, I will tell them they were correct only if they promise to never tell anyone else the name or record it in any way.  So only in-person spoken guesses are allowed.
>> 
>> Of possible tangential relation, back in 1996 I was in an internet art video call and held up a postcard of Durer's Adam and Eve (engraving version) and talked about "the first material act of communication" in a short essay I had written for the occasion.  That isn't the name of the can though.  🙂  
>> 
>> Best regards and thanks for sharing the artwork,
>> 
>> Max
>> 
>> From: NetBehaviour <netbehaviour-bounces at lists.netbehaviour.org> on behalf of Simon Mclennan via NetBehaviour <netbehaviour at lists.netbehaviour.org>
>> Sent: Monday, September 30, 2019 10:48 AM
>> To: NetBehaviour at lists.netbehaviour.org <NetBehaviour at lists.netbehaviour.org>
>> Cc: Simon Mclennan <mclennanfilm at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [NetBehaviour] Apple performance Brighton
>>  
>> ‘Apple’ performance. Monday 30th September 2019. Simon Mclennan
>> 
>> Apples were handed out inviting people to take part in a performance. 
>> They were also given a choice to either eat the apple or keep it in the hope of it gaining value on the international art market. 
>> Each apple with its own signed and numbered tag were one of an edition of twenty. 
>> The apples are growing wild in Brighton and are free to pick. 
>> 
>> The link to background and explanation of the work
>> 
>>   https://simonmclennan.blogspot.com/p/apples.html?m=1

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