[iDC] activism now and when?

[Richard Lowenberg]

Hello.   I've been quietly lurking for some time.
The current exchange prompted me to respond; on theme, I believe.
I've long been involved in the arts and in 'creative social practice'  
in the U.S. and elsewhere.
It is not always an easy life.   As part of my thinking and expression,  
I occasionally write.
The following short essays are provocations, originally written for  
other publications/audiences.
These (draft) essays pose ideas that are at the heart and mind of my  
own daily cultural work.
I'll throw them into the mix here, and look forward to responses.

Not sure if this list accepts attachments, so I'll send one essay per  
email,
as plain text with hopes that formatting doesn't get too disrupted.

"Artful Intelligence" (from a longer essay originally written in the  
mid-80s)

Richard Lowenberg
www.radlab.com
---------------------------

ARTFUL
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Artists and creative activists have a unique opportunity and ought to  
act with greater social
responsibility today.

Within the broad framework of cultural theory, the arts are recognized  
for their communicative
efficiency and transcendence. The processes of creativity, though  
elusive, have lead mankind
through historical mazes of uncertainty. In an information based  
society, creative development
may assume an economic value comparable to that of warfare in an  
industrialized society.
Having learned to recognize the complex ecological interdependence of  
living systems and the
environment, creative individuals and venturers now have an  
all-important opportunity to take
full advantage of the great independence and freedom inherent in their  
calling; to take a more
active personal responsibility to be proponents of a true sense of  
ecology; a cultural ecology.

Art has now become an almost indefinable term. It is the irony of the  
Information Age, that
reflecting the crisis of meaning in our lives, the arts are being  
relegated to the marketplace of
mass-appeal superficiality; having become popularly synonymous with  
entertainment, fashion
and commercial product. At the same time, the richness and diversity of  
indigenous cultures
around the world, is increasingly being valued for its scarcity and  
novelty, while being
exterminated and replaced by the greed of progress and 'new world  
orders'.

If we take the incentive of applying our creative talents towards an  
ecologically considered
future, we must be comprehensive. Society is in need of clear,  
intelligent, inspired visions. Such
nonmaterial information resources constitute the true wealth and  
aspirations of a culturally
secure community. As technological development shapes our concepts of  
the future, those artists
working with new tools and processes, need to weigh the eco-cultural  
worth of their endeavors,
against their merely being narrow-minded advocates of new media based  
consumerism.

To call oneself 'artist', is either a grand conceit, or a bold decision  
to assume greater individual
creative freedom. That freedom ought to carry with it, a responsibility  
for honesty and
transformation influencing intelligence. Artists, having chosen a  
freedom of aesthetic and
intellectual vision and pursuit, are almost always at odds or in  
conflict with the prevailing social
norm. This is precisely the artistÕs value. The artist is in a way, the  
personification of society's
means of checks and balances; the promoter of individuality and  
nonconformity, amid the ever
threatening systematization of an information-based world. Many artists  
and cultural
institutions are working with deep, sincere integrity and dedication.  
Their perseverance and
efforts must be encouraged.   It is time.

ART CUTS THROUGH THE CRAP
IT IS A DEVIOUS MODE OF HEALING;
THE VOODOO OF AN INFO-CULT.
IT IS THE IRRATIONAL, BECOME INSPIRATIONAL.

Richard Lowenberg

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---------------------------
Richard Lowenberg
Exec. Director, Davis Community Network (DCN), 1623 5th St., Davis, CA  
95616
Ph. 530-750-1170 / Fax 530-757-2938         rl at dcn.org             
http://www.dcn.org/
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
---------------------------
Home/Studio:  530-668-1100          rl at radlab.com                
http://www.radlab.com
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"If it is not Matter, it is Energy. If it Matters, it is Information.  
If it does not Matter, it is Noise."
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