Keith Piper “ Relocating the remains ” A Smudge, A Fragment & A Whisper. In the case of this project, the act of 'relocation' takes on multiple meanings. In a literal sense, the relocation becomes from physical to virtual space. The remains of objects, activities and idea's which at one time exclusively occupied the cold space of galleries and other places designated for the display of art, have become disembodied, recoded into digital form. At points these remains are compacted onto CD-Rom , at others they are set adrift onto the virtual expanses of the Internet. Slide credit: Tracey Meziane
Keith Piper “Relocating the remains” cont… We have the choice of relocating the remains which lie beyond three virtual gateways. The first gateway is called "UnMapped". The Second is called "UnRecorded", the third is called "Unclassified". Beyond "UnMapped" lies an investigation of the various perceptions of the black body as defined beneath the dominant gaze. "UnRecorded" examines the gaps in historical narratives which continue to distort and obscure black presence. "UnClassified" centres around an examination of the impact of new technologies on surveillance and policing, especially in relation to notions of community, nation and cultural difference. Slide credit: Tracey Meziane
Editor's Notes
Virtual utopia…. Ashley Dawson comments: “We frequently associate a highly dubious notion of status bracketing with internet-mediated identities. Simply because on-line communities do not feature visual markers of difference such as race, class, gender, age, or physical ability does not mean that there are not substantial preconditions to accessing such communities--computer literacy, leisure time, and wealth, for instance. Moreover, too often ideas about status bracketing are assumed to imply universal, open access. In a world in which three-fifths of the 4.4 billion people in underdeveloped countries lack access to basic sanitation, let alone computers, the forms of literacy required for fluent use of the Net are clearly the privilege of a numerically small global elite. The fact that English is by far the dominant language on the Net seems a relatively peripheral issue in relation to this much broader question of literacy. Nonetheless, many cyber-theorists continue to talk in terms that imply the universal availability of the Net and other electronic media of communication.” A 90s argument….