Posted on

20220711

Arabesque Time (2022) Katharina Clausius is hopeful in presenting expressions unhindered by the rigidity of form and insists that revolutionary organization is possible and local: “… the arabesque’s revolutionary movement is repetitive and self-generating”. Progress is so complex that we need not fear soiling it with the “matrix of rationality”. The political left’s lack of a grand scheme (alternative to capitalism) becomes presented as its strength: “[…] the “not-yet” quality of the revolution is the furthest thing from an empty point of anticipation waiting to be filled by the decisive action to come. On the contrary, the time of emancipation is an ornate dramatization that tells no particular story but instead “symbolize[s] the commonality of all movements” through a radically decorous choreography”. We cannot imagine what is to come, only contribute to it. All revolutionary work is revolutionary.

Rancière seems to suggest that revolutionary time is concurrent with the matrix that is its complementary opposite. Measuring time – seeing, hearing, and feeling it pass – is only possible because we can simultaneously conceive of time and non-time, of the matrix as positive and negative space. Ticks and tocks divided by silences, where the silence of “non-time” is as much part of the temporal experience as the audible “times” framing the noiseless intervals.

Workers labour in the dead of night on verses and landscapes, not to produce artworks or become great artists but simply to knit themselves into the very fabric of a common aesthetic ground. The revolving movement of the clock no longer divides day from night, work from rest-before-work, those who labour and those with leisure. Instead, revolutionary time makes it “possible for the carpenter to create a spiral which, in the midst of the compulsion of working hours, initiates a different way of inhabiting time, a different way of keeping a body and mind in motion.”

Posted on

20220709

Assembled a short range short wave transmitter to experiment with the RF Nomad. Spotted into an interesting Frequency Range Mod for the module and a nice introduction to SW antennas by N4UJW (the scale of which is out of my reach). Mic-pre (2022) ramphands would be a great companion for a FM transmitter.

Feeling overworked but not even doing much. I fear I wont have time to fix the Radio Kid revision this summer.

Enjoyed Crimes of the Future (2022) David Cronenberg because it was so close to base that I could snark at the romantic portrayal of artisthood and the blatant critique of art institutions. Portraying artists as snitches for the status quo and opportunist piggybacking on the wings of revolutionary social movements felt accurate. (or perhaps the plastic-eaters manifested the start-up industry) The feeding-machine was a beautiful depiction of lactose intolerance –like hindrances.

Posted on

20220705

Martin Howse gives a thorough introduction (2022) to their line of eurorack modules. I like how simple the functions are: Noise is made from a laser passing smoke, picked up by a light sensitive sensor and amplified. Simplicity makes it easier to digest the conceptual frameworks the modules spring from. And the conceptual frameworks are made accessible using simple narrative hooks. But Howse’s narrative devices are whimsical. They offer anecdotal snippets to research, which spark curiosity – But simultaneously establish an authoritative tone. Loose references to research build up the appearance of an gray-intellectual-figure, a sense that there is deep and firm knowledge underlining the whims. I don’t like this tone because it feels authoritative and non-negotiable, like a ghost.

There was an interesting audience question (1:02:37) whether Howse’s modules make up a system, narrative or an ecosystem. The question is impossible to answer and nice to ponder. Touching and effecting code and electronics with naked birth-flesh sounds complicated and inspiring but thinking about it… It is what we are all doing all the time with our devices. They have also attempted to transcribe fiction into functional code, which feels like a great approach to teach coding! Orca could easily be made into a world building exercise or possibly even a simulation.

I came acquainted to the gray-intellectual-ghost trough the placement of an introduction text of the Skills of Economy exhibition at SIC in 2014. Jussi wanted to attach a curatorial statement text on a huge sheet of metal, left leaning casually against the gallery door. I don’t think anyone read the text because it was placed like a leftover – But the text was critical for establishing a sense of certainty and intent to the array of artistic nicnacs we as Ore.e Ref. supplied.

An easy to read summer horror story and the earth drank deep (2022) Ntsika Kota. I like the tone of the text. Easily written stuff enables imaginative reading.

I should built a Mixor Image by modular-maculata.

 

Posted on

20220629

Participated in the SKP triennial party assembly in Kotka two weeks ago. The meeting was important because the party manifesto has been rewritten (and was approved by the assembly). In meetings organized by the Helsinki district organization during the spring I criticized early drafts for their tone regarding international relations and EU matters. The manifesto was built on an anti-globalization agenda and utilized binary rhetorics, which reflected mindsets of the late 1990s. In my opinion these tools didn’t offer a route forward. For example for establishing EU-wide collaborations between leftists (and others) working multilaterally for peace etc. Some changes regarding this were made, which I’m happy about. But there is more work to be done.

Most importantly for me, I successfully criticized the general humanistic agenda of the previous manifesto. The past manifesto presented general humanistic values as the end goal of communist progress. In my critique I emphasized that the humanistic values which the party is striving for were idealistic norms, drafted by a class of privileged folk with very utilitarian views of nature and others. I think Marx is a great companion for environmentalist thinking but their premises build on a distinction of human intellect from other natural processes. The way their thinking was used in the previous manifesto, portrayed humans surviving in nature but not necessarily collaborating with the intellects of materials and animals.

To better engage with current ecological development (which I see as a social crisis or a lack of imagination) I attempted to introduce a posthumanist undertone to the text. I think it would for example, enable the party to establish solidarian ties with kin of the other kind. To my delight some steps towards removing the generalist humanistic agenda were made. For now these changes remain rhetoric and I will need to introduce posthumanist solidarity work for the party to set a trajectory for the next three years. Eventually SKP could incorporate posthumanist and de-colonial critique to its agenda.

Thanks to the involvement of the Kommunistinuoret youth organization, the party is well aligned with the Extinction Rebellion movement and strong statements on environmental matters were published by the assembly. Unfortunately these statements hinge on an anthropocenic critique of current affairs. Posthumanist and decolonial (necropolitical) approaches could help to ground this analysis to other rationalities (rationalities which have been suppressed and which are emerging), which are not idealized like the western scientific mythos that the concept of the anthropocene manifests.

It seems I’m still exploring the potentiality of deep time marxism.

My interest in natural springs and the resources they afford, is leading me towards working with the politics of geology. But not from the perspective of human intent. I’d like to investigate how geology informs and guides political agencies. Some terrains afford the emergence of particular thought, which (if we escape universalism and past humanistic ideals) is hyper-local. A particular form of socialism might emerge from a particular landscape.

I submerged the clay cup made from Kurängen spring clay to the Kurängen spring and it made an interesting high pitch squeal, a song of sorts. It appears to me as a non-waste-object. The only waste in that object is my engagement with its materials. I am the waste in the object. It is one of the most energy dense art-objects I’ve been involved with. Making it has required three car trips, heated storage facilities, internet access (for learning to build a kiln etc.) and the firing was very unefficient. The process of firing the clay felt like a celebration of surplus energy.

Human labor is a waste, materials remain what they are. #ॐ #☭

Posted on

20220613

Our experimental clay workshop was a hit and we succeeded in most of the goals we had assigned ourselves. On the first day there were 21 attendees and around 15 members took part in the burning the following day. Some came only for the kiln building and clay collecting, while others were more interested in the burning and the surplus-metal-work. Some members had assigned themselves as mere observers. We developed the workshop program very fast and were fortunate that our open call appealed to a very skilled set attendees. Some were knowledgeable of ceramics and experienced in construction work. The flow of events mirrored our previous trips to Kurängen spring and our efforts to work with the clay we collected from there. The burning process replicated the events of our first kiln building session but this kiln was built with more precision using mud cement to secure the bricks. The chamber where clay objects were placed was bigger then previously.

The program structure was easy to decide on, as the labour chores we needed to perform in order to built the kiln and process the clay, were well defined and simple. Preparing materials such as the mud cement and reclaiming the bricks, was demanding but the actual work did not require intricate or specialized skills. Mud is an educative technology #ॐ. The materials afforded improvisation and the development of makeshift tools. The attendees were divided into sub-groups based on their interests (kiln building, clay collecting & cleaning and Vartiosaari island strolls) which occasionally self organized to complete chores. I served mostly as a supervisor of the kiln building process, overseeing the hive of attendees assembling it.

The layout of the kiln was based on the affordances of the bricks. I think the geometry of the bricks had a stronger impact on the design then our desires. The kiln was made by the bricks. I think we all wanted to work with mud, bricks and heat and this guided our work. Before building we disassembled the previous kiln, which gave the group a good idea on how the new unit could be constructed.

The burning took place the following day. The temperatures inside the kiln chamber were uneven. A corner of it was overheated which lead to to clay melting and the opposing side was cold. None of our ash glazing experiments succeeded, which indicates that we did not reach a temperature above 1170°C. I think we were close because some objects with ash glazing had almost a glazing like surface. Sadly none of the object I made from the Kurängen clay showed any persistent glazing effects. A vase I made, which I intend to place inside the Kurängen spring for visitors to use, feels solid and looks great. I now prefer that the spring water will penetrate the earthenware object and that it comes a part of the spring ecology. Perhaps in time it will better document the taste of the water it will be submerged in. I will continue working with it as a part of the Nomadhouse-program.

I’m not a teacher by trade but I have strong ambitions regarding collective work and how collective labour efforts should be organized. I prefer to know how materials behave and what to expect from them before engaging. When working with wood (which I know a bit), this affords me the opportunity to guide attendees out of their comfort zone and to engage with tools or processes which they fear. I count a child using a power-tool as a success. I particularly remember a workshop where I showed a shy member how to use a dozuki saw. In the process I guided their hand and I remember that this physical contact activated something in our relationship. I knew how to touch them in a manner by which they could saw a block of wood with at ease, while maintaining and even expanding their personal agency. It was a gentle touch.

Laying bricks and preparing clay cement, required the adaptation of new skill sets and material knowledges. Because I was personally out of my comfort zone, I couldn’t reach out to the attendees as sensitively as I would have liked. The burning ended up being a show rather then a collective achievement. Similarly some processes of the kiln building felt deceitful. I was physically exhausted from the work, internally second guessing the design while attempting to assist people with masonry work. The stress resulted in situations were I presented my gut feeling as authoritative knowledge.

At times, this authoritative tone was needed to steer the processes, so that we could meet the schedules and facilitate the work cycles other sub-groups. But the tone does not emancipate the attendees. Rather it enforces pre-existing biases and hinders the attendees eagerness to engage with crafts & materials. Hence, material engagement with the environment, remains a matter of specialization and it does not emerge as a process which benefits from personal grounded stances and motivations. Personal, grounded stances should be the foundation of new mineral sciences.

This is sort of what Joreen writes in The Tyranny of Stuctureless (1970), mentioned earlier: The work was personified and the flow of events depended on our charisma. Our skills became embodied as the infrastructure of the kiln but we failed to include the skill sets of the group in it.

Fortunately my crafty blabbers, nervous laughters and the contradictory guidelines revealed the de-stability of my masonry & ceramic skills. I think the attendees mostly called my bluff and will build much better kilns in the future. Still, it would have been more fun and more rewarding to work from a more based position, to facilitate and not only to perform. Also, I don’t know what Elina and Monika were doing or how they felt during the two intensive days (and the four intensive days of preparation). We were all exited and happy with the results but it will require an intricate debriefing to set a trajectory to usher the experimental clay initiative forwards.

Towards new sciences!