Event 1 : Jamming Across Space and Time: Teleimprovisation 30 Years before Zoom

Event 1 : Jamming Across Space and Time: Teleimprovisation 30 Years before Zoom

The first event I attended was Anastasia Chernysheva's Jamming Across Space and Time: Teleimprovisation 30 Years before Zoom on April 17th. The event was hybrid, with the guest speaker, Kit Galloway, participating via Zoom. Anastasia began by introducing the topic's background, such as CEAIT and ECI. ECI, also known as Electronic Café International, was operated by Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz from 1990 to 1997 and provided a platform and support for telecommunications art experiments and interactive performance demonstrations conceived by CEAIT affiliates. They aimed to bring communities and the public together to express themselves across geographical distances, particularly during the early 1970s when there was a significant intersection of art and technology and the emergence of early 1990s internet network projects. The work of ECI simulated a practice of utilizing the possibilities of digital global technology while consistently putting that technology into action and testing (Levine). 

Electronic Café International

By utilizing video-phone technology and interactive media, events were organized to connect artists and audiences across distances. The screening of the previously not publicly available recording of the 1992 teleimprovisation, showing the performance by Terry Riley (Nice, France) and David Rosenboom (Electronic Café International, Santa Monica), helped me understand the techniques better. Notably, Kit mentioned that he didn't have an archived copy of this video, making it even more valuable. This event reminded me of Walter Benjamin's proposal from week 3, where he suggests that one of the foremost tasks of art has always been creating a demand that could be fully satisfied only later, especially in terms of the forward-thinking, innovative ideas in telecommunications art at the time (Benjamin).

Proof of Attendance 2

Proof of Attendance 1 (Kit Galloway)

Overall, I found this event very interesting and recommendable, particularly for getting to know Kit Galloway, who is quite a charismatic individual—you could see him starting to smoke during the Zoom session, which I found very rare and interesting. Additionally, he showed his workspace, which was decorated with eyeball art in the style of the band The Residents. He mentioned that while some of the artworks were significant purchases, others were given to him as gifts from friends.

References:

Benjamin, Walter. Walter Benjamin, ‘the Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,’ 1935.

Levine, Philip Glahn and Cary. “The Future Is Present: Electronic Café and The Politics of Technological Fantasy.” Art Journal Open, 21 July 2020, artjournal.collegeart.org/?p=12492.

“Mobile Image.” NET ART ANTHOLOGY: Mobile Image, Rhizome, 2019, anthology.rhizome.org/mobile-image.

Image:

Levine, Philip Glahn and Cary. “The Future Is Present: Electronic Café and The Politics of Technological Fantasy.” Art Journal Open, 21 July 2020, artjournal.collegeart.org/?p=12492.