Workshop #1

Hello workshop,

Thank you for contributing to our first installment last night. The range of backgrounds and projects you've all brought to the workshop is astounding. I promise not to squander that resource. I hope our first meeting established that the problem of using global media -- of connecting to or creating communities near and far -- is happening against the background of two divergent systems: the proprietary economy and the "open source" economy. I think the contradictory needs of these two systems can rob us of clear relationships; much of our work, in this class, will be to understand a new etiquette for reaching and working with others, given that we live amidst this mix of proprietary and "open source" projects and methods. I hope the Bataille reading will shadow our understanding of the "open source" economy by suggesting some of the costs, power trips, and limitations of giving things away, or exchanging gifts. I hope the costs of giving, sharing, and establishing non-money relations are clear, just as the cost of using cash is clear.

I was interested to hear some concern about the insularity of small networks. If we limit the conduct and reach of our work sufficiently well to guarantee that the audience, setting, etc. of our work -- the whole thing -- is under our control, how can we then reach, meet, or work with strangers, with people new to us? Also, can we use a limited reach (producing a small number of items, or circulating them narrowly, or working only with a narrow range of people) to give clear meaning to the work we do, so that when it is encountered in the world, its rarity gives it potency and energy and meaning?

In regards to interpersonal media (by which I mean any gathering of people together in one place), how do these questions of scale and inclusivity or exclusivity play out? In our next meeting, we will focus specifically on creating such events and the tools that can help us scale them as we wish and make the kind of mix we want. I'll also want to revisit the question of how such things grow. Specifically, whether growing from a narrow, small scale to a bigger one -- becoming visible and successful in a larger or even mass market -- might undermine the value or meanings of a project. If something is undermined by growth, how can we avoid that? Or should we avoid that?

Later this week, I'll contact you as a group to ask about our e-mail question. And I'll fill you in on Michael Hebberoy's work. He will visit us for an hour next Monday. He has first-hand experience with growing a focused, narrow "interpersonal medium" (the family supper table) into a larger business that became part of a very big, competitive market (and then seeing it morph and mutate as a result). Look for that communique before Saturday.

By the way, I have "bcc"d you because I haven't yet asked which e-mail addresses you want to share with the group. Reply to me with your desired e-mail and I'll send out the next communique to a "cc" list for all to see.

Again, thanks.

Matthew