MESH #19 provides a global overview of contemporary media arts practice and the creative application of new technological developments through articles that focus on local practice in specific regions.

Throughout the past 19 years Experimenta’s journal, MESH, has traced the history of media arts within Australia and provided a context for media art practice nationally and internationally. While Australia’s geographic isolation has often been cited as an explanation for Australians’ readiness to adopt new technologies, the very nature of new communications technologies in particular mean that Australian media artists have never worked in isolation. Continual exchange and collaboration between Australian and international media artists, mutual influences, inspiration and engaged critical debate has created a global community within which Australians media artists are active participants. The great diversity of media art we’ve seen in Australia during this time continues today with Australian artists engaging in a wide variety of practices.

In recent years the Australian political landscape has changed significantly and along with these changes, arts funding, particularly for media arts, has seen major upheavals and restructuring. Simultaneously new technologies have continued to emerge at a rapid pace and there has been no lack of artists eager to use these technologies creatively. An adventurous approach to new technologies sees many Australians creating media artworks that test the bounds of art practice and challenge viewers’ perceptions not only of thematic issues but also of art itself. Artists such as Mari Velonaki, Stélarc, Justine Cooper and the SymbioticA Research Group work at the convergence of art, science and technology, questioning the foundational beliefs on which our society lies. At the same time groups such as Version 1.0, the PVI Collective, and the creators of Escape From Woomera are using media art tools to confront overtly political and contentious issues, while artists such as The Kingpins, Narinda Reeders, and Van Sowerwine are making work that comments on pop culture, society and the individual. Often imbued with a sense of humour, irony and play, these works present particularly Australian perspectives on events that may be specific to Australian culture and politics but also address global themes.

MESH#19 looks at the relation of the local to the global by focussing on specific media art practices around the world. The articles selected for MESH #19 highlight contemporary media arts that are an expression of current cultural movements in selected regions. Typically artworks evolve from the artists’ social, cultural and political environment and provide an insight into cultural phenomena at particular time and place. The articles in this issue are insightful and thought-provoking explorations of current trends in the creative applications of technological development, the cultural contexts from which media art practice emerges, and cultural reactions to the practice and exhibition of media art.
Global homogeneity is a theme that weaves through each article, connecting each and illuminating the issue from a variety of perspectives. The potential for loss of the traditions and values that make a culture unique in order to satisfy ‘universal’ audiences is ever-present in our media saturated world. We are reminded by Domenico Quaranta of what happens when the interests of big business, and Hollywood, dominate our entertainment and mass media, and result in the churning out of bland, politically correct product for the universal tastes of a world-wide audience. The European artists in his article appropriate the media tools and modes of representation used by the mass media to question and invert the political and capitalist power dynamic. The results are net.art interventions that expose the myths generated by multinationals in order to satisfy their agenda of profit growth. Similarly subversive is the article by Amanda Gutierrez, jon.satrom and jonCates that reads like a DIY manifesto and outlines the collaborative practices in which they are involved that rupture the consumerist hold on the art market by breaking with conventions and making art in which the creator and consumer of the art is the same individual.

The problems of communicating through language have been exacerbated by the rapid development of border-less networking and telecommunications technologies. The articles by Martha Gabriel, Rodrigo Alonso and Fassih Keiso discuss the increased potential for international exchange of artistic production and consumption that these technologies have brought about. They also reveal the paradoxical situation that arises when infrastructure for faster, more efficient (therefore presumed to be better) communication between individuals and groups of people is marketed to people who don’t speak each others’ languages or share each others’ culture.

The articles speak eloquently about the struggle of artists to preserve their identity, both personal and cultural. There is a sense of autoethnography at play here as the tools and modes of representation are contested by those who jostle to express their voices, have their stories heard and accepted by others as fact. Media art’s role as a cultural change agent is made explicit in Fassih Keiso’s article through artworks that question the West’s misrepresentation of the Arab world and attempt to redress injustices. Similarly, one of the interactive artworks described by Gabriel plays an influential educational role by engaging the visitor in a game that brings them closer to understanding the values of an indigenous South American culture.

The key to the preservation of localised, regional traditions and nuances that characterise the sensibilities of a group of people who share a common culture is not quarantined isolation but the collaboration and sharing of their ideas and artistic product with others. This seems counter-intuitive at first but the vibrancy, innovation and diversity of media artworks being made in each of the regions examined is a proof of this. Su Ballard writes about artworks in New Zealand that benefit from the cross-pollination between sound and visuals arts practices and use emergent technologies as their media. There exists a sense of community through lively, empassioned online debate and collaboration between artists from diverse artistic background in the gallery space. Through their festivals, Amanda Gutierrez, jon.satrom and jonCates too have created a platform, part physical, part virtual, for collaborations that result in rich and satisfying experiences for participants. Gabriel’s own work, the Voice Mosaic, exemplifies a tendency of artists who work with media technologies with the intention of breaking down communication and language barriers. We hope these articles whet your appetite as they did ours for media arts practices. We have highlighted key works and concepts to assist those new to the artforms and included many online references and resources for further enjoyable reading and fascinating research.

Mesh#19: Global/Regional Perspectives
© Experimenta Media Arts Inc 2006
PO Box 1102
St Kilda South Vic 3182

Editors: Emma McRae, Maria Rizzo
Assistant Editor: Stephanie Moore
Site Design: Catherine Clover

ISSN: 1447-4646

Disclaimer:
The opinions expressed by the authors are their own and not to be interpreted as those held by Experimenta Media Arts.

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