Blurting In A & L

Answer 6/23

Author: John Abbate  
Posted: 19.12.2002; 06:56:24
Topic: Question 6
Msg #: 630 (in response to 628)
Enclosure:
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Response to Thomas and his answer 6/21:
Dear Thomas, I am not going to defend Art & Language's return to the studio, or reconceptualise it as somehow being an appropriate or important gesture for art and life today (maybe that's Charles Harrison's job). At the same time, is it really fair to criticize them for not fighting on the cyber-front? After all, Conceptual Art predates the silicon chip, and I don’t see it as realistic that all of a sudden Mel Ramsden and Michael Baldwin will become hacktivists because you have identified them as appropriate historical antecedents for the contemporary project of net.art. It is also worth bearing in mind that it is conceivable that one day the figure of the hacker elegantly manipulating bits of code in a darkened room will seem as reactionary as a painter in his/her studio.