<nettime> Re: Museum Europe

[Josephine Bosma <jesis@xs4all.nl>]

This is a rather simple writing. Just a warning for the academics out
there.

Geert Lovink: "Culture can longer be seen as a motor, as it was in
the mid nineties, but rather as an after-effect. (...)
(...) the expectation that culture can be our very European, magic
ingredient to turn technology into gold, should be criticized and
actively discouraged."

As a member of the nettime-bold list it is kind of hard to read the
conversation between Lunenfeld and Lovink without squirming. As a close
friend of Geert Lovink I keep being overcome by a kind of embarrassement
(which undoubtably works both ways) when reading or hearing any views
of Geert on art and culture. Years of discussions and deep talks have
not led to a loss of hatred for the two in Geert I am afraid. It seems
to only have grown. I am by now really tired of it. Geert Lovink is
a leftist politician/activist in the bad sense of the word.
True: money comes first in this world. Everything evolves around it,
everything is controlled by it. To not recognize ones responsibility
as a cultural worker in relation to this is sad. One can talk about
art and culture in different ways. Taking the global economy 'line'
that Geert seems to prefer and which he seems to put forward as 'the
way things are' or even worse, as plain 'reality', art and culture
could now be called a 'niche market'. This very interesting realistic
perception only serves the market itself though, and does nothing to
criticize it, or oppose it.
What I am trying to say, is that Geert Lovink is keeping the negative
cultural state in existence, he is supporting it by denying culture
a part in his view of the world. He is as guilty as any other he is
accusing in causing a downward spiral in the way the world develops.
This tendency to seperate culture and 'politics' is taking on rather
fargoing forms here on nettime, (and many of you probably have
forgotten,) nettime-bold is just one result of it. Geert again:
"That would be true cybernetics, to understand the feedback loops
of our actions." Yes, if only you did! It is very important that also
those that call themselves activists know that all the injustice in
the world they are fighting first and foremost is embedded in and
saturated by culture. Culture is the driving force of society, next
to money and the seemingly simple fact of our existence, and not an
after effect. This is pure falsification, pure provocation from Geerts
side. He KNOWS it is not true, yet by putting it forward again and
again not just in text, but also in action, he amplifies it and makes
it a truth. In fact Geert Lovink and some others on this list are
the kind of revolutionaries you do not want to be in the hands of.
This split between artists and those that 'truly work for the good
of mankind' is wellknown here in Amsterdam/Holland in the old
squattersscene, and it always creates unnecesary oppositions and
worse. It works against 'the people' instead of for them.



regards



J
*

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