[iDC] Re: Gated Knowledge Communities

[Ryan Griffis]

The Journal of Aesthetics & Protest, a fine group of individuals in LA  
i have been lucky enough to work with, publishes more online than in  
print, mostly due to the cost of printing. Our last issue was going to  
be around 500 pages (correct me if i'm wrong Robby, Cara or whomever  
else from the journal that may be reading) if we printed all that we  
wanted to. Which was probably a good thing for a few reasons... as much  
as i love the Sarai Reader, that thing is heavy to carry around :)
Regardless of the cost, the journal's content is always provided online  
as well, and has an audience that is different (somewhat) from the  
audience of the printed object of the book, as it makes its way, via  
certain articles, through audiences on indymedia and other channels.  
The book is also valuable as it gets picked up by people who don't or  
can't read online, but somehow find themselves interested in "art,  
aesthetics and politics."
The web allows us to publish things without the deadlines and  
timeframes of print, and we can also run art projects that we can't  
afford to print, but want to increase the visibility of for various  
reasons. it's not an either or proposition, of course.
JoAaP may not be an academic journal, but we do run articles by  
"academics" and writers/thinkers/artists "outside" of higher ed side by  
side. (as for online academic journals, i've been somewhat interested  
by the Vectors journal out of USC)
but the question of time is crucial... like a lot of the endeavors of  
people on the list, JoAaP is an "all volunteer" project that has the  
same pitfalls as any mostly operating on the assumptions of the "gift  
economy." sustainability is a huge concern, and is an ongoing, and  
seemingly endless struggle, both emotionally and financially.
the recognition economy that goes along with the gift economy may  
provide some motivation (especially for artists and academics, who  
actually have a lot in common there regardless of the field), but it  
can certainly be a primary cause of internal disturbance, distraction  
and disintegration.
regarding that last thought, i think the activities in the classroom,  
for academics anyway, provides some things to reflect on as to how to  
think outside of a recognition economy. i made a post to the iDC blog  
that somewhat touches on my very vague ideas about that...
http://distributedcreativity.typepad.com/idc/2006/02/ 
learning_on_the.html
oh, and to finish the JoAaP plug
http://www.joaap.org