mythological Statement of commitment
a.pass commits to aligning its computational infrastructure with the radical subjectivities that are summoned by the commons.
Today a.pass celebrates the continued transition of its tools, platforms, communications and digital archives into adventurous ways of adminstering, making and performing digital protocols together.
In a.pass, computational devices have been unstated for too long so it is urgent to name and consider them, and to develop sensitivies to their material presences. We understand that this might mean a conversion from Google Docs to radically different ways of producing spreadsheets, schedules and documents, of performing the task. We are aware that someones have to take care of this process. And sustain it.
On Friday 25 November we celebrate the opportunity, and the beginning of a transition towards new infrastructures of people, tools, protocols, platforms, and practices.
Longevity
mythology makes things less frightening, mythological statements,
how does it feel to become common? how does the culture change when does it change
to bring tools into the conversation is a statement of what is around is.
from action to action
needing to organise moments to experience the difference
convivial relationship with technology, new narrative for being with technology
Google = someone else takes care of it
learning about infrastructure together
a culture that needs to be practiced, it needs to become a practice
it is a research in itself - a contaminating way
this transfer can be done, we are making it up
Steven
Q: The ecology of the different elements as the cooperating commons. Radical subjectivities to infrastructure.
S: support@apass.be - technical producer, goes from individual experiments to inside.
Hands of apass --
Q: Both inwards and outwards.
S: Library system. Trying to listen to what is happening, a balance between regulating and freedom. Retelling how the structure works. Finding the right way to get people understand the border. When self-org does not works
Q: Translating job?
S: We went from wood, saw ... everything in same room. Now more regular. Not much time for dreaming a computing infrastructure. To make it, a budget ... it is always later. To find the time (2 days a week) What is essential? Trying not to e-mail too much. This is how I try to do things.
Experimenting with platform, working with Slack for the end-presentation. Not everyone wants to engage. Making summaries. Facilitating a frame.
A lot of handing over, careful about keeping things in the "possible" but at the same time can't go over borders.
Parttime as a mode. To be able to switch off. Changing meeting last minute. Always available, immediacy. Relating to personal infrastructure: too many channels.
several websites, lists, FB, ...
You can put the sticks anywhere ... there is not a lot of time ... professionality: we sometimes cannot change last minute.
Q: tensions between day-to-day and desire to think on a larger scale. Hard to move because decisions, move on because everything that can move every moment
[Christian enters]
How we render the radical subjectivity into the computing infrastructure. Start with the people that are responsibe for these tools. Working our way through overlappiing role.
Time, budget, expectations.
S: decisons made in different places, but how to be coherent. Some algorithmic helpers needed.
C: I am the gap.
S: Needing to be computer-adventurous (there should be champagne glasses in the building somewhere). People using short times. Learning curves, different levels.
Patience. Computer is on the second plan.
Q/Kate: I am sysadmin. As a tech person I am trying to find the right presence for tech.
S: to remove the subjectivity from the computing?
To be collective thrilled by artistic subjectivities and how they flow into the supporting infrastructure. What type of infrastructure would be able to support this. A celebrating of your commitment to it. To think together how to extend the time.
What is visible and what not. Iceberg
Underneath are myth and culture below. If you want to change something, you have to go one level.
Systems. Mythology -> Culture -> Infrastructure.
K: recent change in role and introduced to infrastructure based on google drive - quickly used to it, to share and collaborate in writing tasks (dossier), taking notes and seeing them as they take place, no secretary role, all take responsibility, no deciding on the agenda, roles are
Kristien - uses google drive centrally. Enables collectve writing in meetings.
Although for whom do we take these notes - who reads back? Also writing in meetings is a way of thinking. Looks back on own notes, but not if someone else was note-takiing. To re-read the specific vocabulary for example. Being more involved in the adminstration makes distance from what apas s really about. All the notes of the administration are available to the participants.
When documents/archives grow huge they are not really readable.
The playfulness/imaginary/modularity/trial and error does not work in software. The 2 regimes of theatre and infrastructure.
as a dedicated tutor no part taking in the structure, but more focus on the work with participatns and artistic mentoring, and now when introduced into the new role administration and structures has been more visible,
longeveity is [theatre is structured in modules which can be moved around, blocks tried out n diferent order, two regimes of theatre and software infrastructue are a bit incom
Where are the moments where the software/systems are inflexible?
Theatre/scenography has its own inflexibility
Making the connection between material labour and work of the imagination.
Commitment - to make the effort to understand where things are desirable or not. The opportunity to write scenarios - what behaviours would you like to see - writing it down vs projectiong all the possible scenarios.
M restates
Inspired by radical subjectivity and how it can be supported by infrastructure. Developing a future vision
What conditions, materials can support that (or refute that)
What does it deliver. What works and not.
N: it was a default -- it was the easiest.
Very little, crucial moments.
To organise a group, a bunch of individuals together -- mentors
Making the pattern -- inviting people. Google calendar
We make it to have everyone on it. Paf calendar. Smartphones.
Calendar archives. What are they used for?
A lot is redundant, but ... to remember.
Between each other, rotate positions ... so it gets even more important.
Freelance
Constant changeability
On a work level ... admin is sometimes a bit rigid/rigidifying.
Information
K: find things quickly. How to make structures that are legible, accessible.
M: How did you do it ... continue .. reduce documents. No doubles.
Standards, "ways to do things"
Google as an accepted standard.
Using our own webpages, for external workshops. have an on-line form (wordpress)
Guido (programming Steven), Steven, Christian login
storage: easily replaced
but:
shared spreadsheets, needs a solution!
calendar
documents for collective writing
Kate: To get away from the replacement one by another.
M: The affect of the commitment to a standard.
What takes away the pleasure. How did you feel about standards.
Reactionary. Conflicts to solve. Miscommunications, solving each other's problems
Makes it easy systems to make life easier, to keep life/work fun.
routines.
the point of challenge, the martyrdom of admin in alignment. They intersect. Admin is root, foundation.
getting the studio out of the house
physical room to a mental space
will it happen naturally?
participant about to become part of the computational infra
C: it is constantly re-introduced.
Managing the website -- cloud -- recordings.
Holding 17 kites.
femke: the transition - not to separate the infrastructure off so they don,t make trouble but to enjoy/integrate the trouble.
how can we discuss this as an artistic thinking. let's not wait till 2018.
how to programme the infrastructure. as a parallel mental space
"purely technical"
Hardware. Support
The opportunity of bringing the idea of radical subjectivity to the computational infrastucture of apass.
Brining our experience and wishes of the apass infrastructure to the collective table, withthe aid of some champagne.
Time and flexibility introduce certain projections of the what the computational infrastructure of apass is. Often described as a hleper/supporter of that infrastructure. What would it mean to take it into the pleasure of the actual work.
The relations between artistic work, administration, budget, communication - not to separate but how these elements come together.
Nicolas: these worlds are otgether and we have a lot of interfaces we have acted on. We tried to match flexibility to the basic needs at an institutional level.
coping
pattern recognition
streamlining
models
templates
not to remake the wheel each time
categorisation to cope
the flexibility we want to provide.
re-installing a computer as a relational process.
witness statement
blood transfusion
process over result
meshing levels
learning to understand deeper levels.
problem solving vs. learning about deeper structures -- it is a different work,
the infrastructure keeps being described in relations. but also a desire to keep these things separate.
magda: the t=collective process ofthe install, stressful fun
femke: no outsourcing any more. not about problems to be solved.
Jokke: how do i see myself in the role
the thing that came up is 'do we have infrastructure' where does it come from, how does it get created, i think it is created over long time with people and in different situation.
if apas has infrastructure it is something that I look at. infrastructure ot me is people not buildings; it is quite abstract. there is structure because we are adn we do. but it is something that is constantly moving and changing, it is a permaculture, I feel like i am changing within the structure of a.pass.
N:the notion of us being flexible i find pretencious,
J: i go one step back, for me different people and what they bring create different demands, needs, etc. we react each time case by case, at the same time there is a requirement, need for structure and protocols.
f. only when you consider admin work as some neutral form of support structure, you can thing of it without change,
N: administration of trying to be the same, equal for all,
J: what counts is how things work, i don't count in it, that's why my question if we have infrastructure, the i does not count but the clarity of what the infrastrucure is here.... my example, people can come to me, but in apass there is this we. for me the question is: where should you put your feet. where should we be grounded, as every individual,. thiscomes from everyone's hunger and enthusiasm to do, people want and we are concerned,
F: Nicolas you responded strongly to a.pass changing .so is this a bit disappoinitng that it is changing?
N. there is a bit of disappointment, but that it is also ok. i can live with it. we do our best to be a machine, to another machine that distributes money. education, wage labour, that's what we create. and for that we need certain structures and that's creates issues. the two go in opposition.
differetn things desired.
f: how to get rid of bias between flexibility and structure. is there a potential for generation rather thatn resisting one or the other.
J: what kind of ideas do you ahve in mind. basecamp, home? a.pass is overambitious which takes away from calmness. if we could do more calm.
??: the infrastructure is destabiliser not stabliser,
f: infrastructure as generative motor, how to get rid of the separation between art and admin. thinking rhough the proposal of radical subjectivity mapped onto apass computational infrastructue. noticing that we enter the period of transition, and the three witches are here at this time. so we are seeing the timeline from where we started towards where we are going and taking it as point of transformation. what is the communication infrastructure, how archive are done, etc... .
J: practically i address these issues, by asking who does them?
J: i've been here, and there is a tendency towards standarisation now, and i don't think it's working, do people read them? is there attitude to actually read the form. rather they come and ask you a question.
swimming in the google forms......
how to partake in communicating the project
infrastructure - we are - what
people as data
clarity
where to ground. as an individual
a hunger from everything. a lot of energy
Protocols
not orchids all the time (some grass)
infrastructure as a destabiliser
there is a practical part to the artistic work --
who does it -- easy solutions
documentation as part of a practice
readibility
who reads what
performing tasks
one person or multiple people
time!
specificity
visibility -- time
what gets difficult is that there is no time
no function yet. there is desire, but no location.
within the infrastructure this is missing
to be able to to think about things
recognising the infrastructure
paper publications as an "easy" format.
infrastructure -- "we are"
infrastructure as a parttaking in it. A certain sensibility. How to generate the sensibility for a computational infrastructure
we are all skilled in something.
infrastructure is the homeground of the three witches together.
an affinity, a territorial understanding consistency
"it is been talked about but never acted upon"
recognising knowledge
forms vs knowledge.