https://constantvzw.org/site/local/cache-vignettes/L650xH252/arton3377-24a67.jpg?1606747569
https://diversions.constantvzw.org/wiki/images/1/13/Promiscuous02.png
https://diversions.constantvzw.org/wiki/images/f/ff/IMG_0202-bw-sharpen.jpeg
https://diversions.constantvzw.org/wiki/images/8/85/Soft_grid-bw-sharpen.JPG
https://diversions.constantvzw.org/wiki/images/thumb/f/f2/RMAH_trace.JPG/1199px-RMAH_trace.JPG
it is about the shadows, not the grid ;-)https://diversions.constantvzw.org/wiki/images/c/c6/Screenshot_website_1-bw-level.png
TODO
- artists pages
- Check Wikimedia/Wikidata in Close reading -> When organic ... (Elo did this already?)
- All: check images -> add/go through
- Hari
- Make sure placeholder for PDF on-line
- Click on image, go to websit
- Check italics consistency in Hari's text while observing that this is not as easy as it seems.
- Change page urls ('move pages') to reflect titles
- Crosschecks -> final check
- Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis (meervoud) / Royal Museums of Art and History / Musées royaux d’Art et d’Histoire
- Z. or Z. Blace or ...,
- Use translated title in language of texts, add original title to close reading if exists
- DiVersions (not Diversions or DIVersions)
- Stabilise "", ''
- EN: "word", 'citation'
- NL: 'word', "citation"
- FR: 'word', «citation»
- Place footnotes after punctuation: Sentences goes here.3
- Anne Laforet without the accent
- Check consistency paragraphs in Close readings
- US spelling: organization, center,
- Check consistency titles (capitalization) within project page and index
- Check consistency of block quotes (Michael)
- Check with Steven Talon: how to mention him
LAST CHECK FOR 3/12
- Introduction ENG The break in the text with an image in between, the sentence "DiVersions started with a" finds itself alone there. FR the big void before the image - still there, tanpis
- The scenography; the captions can be removed from the small images and put with the big images ; check if the three languages are there with the proper images
- the chapter pages are visible?
- !!!! words missing in text; check end of of pages (p111?
- missing pages and texts in projects pages (EN > NL > FR): nothing is missing :)
- words styled as link; good (check that they're all like this)
- flow in the biographies; flows problems with NL of Algolit, Ariella Aïsha and Z.
COMMENTS
p44-45: missing "the divergences of many HTML implementations needed to be sorted around"p183-184: small images missing > solved in new versionp186-187: small images missing p203: no words missing but the only line of Close reading should go next page > solved in new versionp205: unwanted page break > solved in new versionp215: unwanted page break > NOT solved in new version (p213)
- page 52 = white page break between the essay of Sarah and the essay of Michael, the same happens at pages 52, 72, 78, 114, 134, 142, 146, 162, 166, 213, 236, 238, 256, 257 (double page, okay)
- page 88 = "animal = sepia" should be aliend in the column with following line of the list "vegetal = opacity" etc...(let go)
- page 144 = the legend of the second image is missing on this page (it's not okay)
- p186-187: small images missing (it's happening but we can let go)
- page 233 = the space between "Si nous acceptons qu’" and the rest of the phrase is a bit strange (it's happening but we can let go)
- page 247, 248 = to take out space betwen FR and NL translations in bio Algolit, Ariella, Z. (it's happening but can let
go)
A close reading by Anne Laforet, October 2020 / Een aandachtige lezing van Anne Laforet, oktober 2020 / Une lecture attentive par Anne Laforet, octobre 2020
Versioning: on co-existing divergences / Versionnage: sur les divergences coexistantes / Versies maken: over verschillen die met elkaar bestaan
Counter-expeditions: stories of counter-motions / Contre-expéditions: histoires de contre-mouvements / Tegen-expedities: vertellen over tegenbewegingen
Inheriting frictions: when genealogies collide / Hériter de frictions: quand les généalogies entrent en collision / Frictie erven: wanneer genealogieën botsen
https://diversions.constantvzw.org/wiki/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Sidebar&action=edit
https://diversions.constantvzw.org/wiki/index.php?title=PublicationUnfolded
OSP QUESTIONS
PDF
Index very much out of date
WEBSITE
- issue with the menu/hover
- project mess
- index page
- language menu
- index needs to be similar to unfolding https://diversions.constantvzw.org/wiki/index.php?title=Publication vs
https://diversions.constantvzw.org/wiki/index.php?title=PublicationUnfolded
Otherwise we propose to re-copy the material into a spreadsheet, have this info corrected, and then you use that material to re-make the pages. It is a bit of additional work so If you are confident about fixing these pages by Wednesday, we'll wait for that.
Versioning / Versionnement / Versies maken
Counter-expeditions / Contre-expéditions / Tegen-expedities
Inheriting frictions / Hériter de frictions / Frictie erven
18 November
14:00 check-in with OSP
23-24-25 November
final PDF, Elo + Femke + Dona correcting on wiki
25 November
17:00 feed back to OSP
26-30 November
fix last problems, go to print
30 November
TO PRINT
14 December
delivery (latest) at Constant office
--------------------------
<> to be done together
V okay
V... okay but more work
? we don't know
* Introduction / Elo + Femke / NL + EN + FR / 5p <> https://pad.constantvzw.org/p/diversionsv2.introduction
versioning, xxxxx, xxxx.
* Face recognition / ??? / EN / 4p https://pad.constantvzw.org/p/diversions.v2.recognition, discussion with Peggy and Seda?? We prepare the proposal next week
* Eventual consistency / Michael Murtaugh / EN / 6p V needs another look maybe?
* If there is a consensus / ... / 5p V
* 0n-n0n-maj0r-versi0ns-0.xx / Z. / EN / 2p
* Soms schuurt het ook digitaal / Sarah / NL + FR / 6p V
Extracting, repairing, appropriating
* Undocumented: Undoing Imperial Plunder / Ariella Aïsha Azoulay / EN / 3p V
* The Palimpsest / Matthias De Groof / EN / 3p V
* A new fire ceremony / Zoumana + Martino / EN / 4p V (does need an editiorial pass -> FS)
* Geopoetics literacy / Hari Sacre + Elodie / EN + NL* / 4p / Elo meets Hari tomorrow (8/10) to look together and give feedback
* transcription/text Daniel FS sent email 15/9 --> transcription ready by 15/10
--- Zoumana + Martino
Identities, heritage, revisions
* Kris Rutten / EN / by 30 October
* Free Culture? / Rahel Aima / FR + EN / 6p V
* interview Saskia Willaerts / Elo / EN / 4p ? no answers yet, Elo send an email again in the first week of september (no news) re-sent a last email on the 15th] --> reprint, FS announces in email 1 October
* RoSa / NL / 3p FS list
* Validation & Omission / Elo / NL + EN + FR / 12p V
* Omission & intro notes / NL + EN + FR / 4p FS <>
Artist contributions
* A word on the scenography V FS emailed 15/9
* Artist documentation/description v1 and v2 + Anne Laforêt
Appendix
* Resource list / ... / 5p
* Words / ... / EN+ / 5p [FS edit check]
* colophon --> after sprint
* biographies
* CC4r license / ... / FR + EN + NL / 4p <> https://pad.constantvzw.org/p/FAC
--- Marie & Colm
--- Anais
--- Mia + Phil
* ??? / Packed / ?? / 3p FS ?
* Hari would like to have his text in Dutch too because his contribution will be partially situated within his flemish context but also he really wants to translate it himself, so I guess we'd couple the fee for a contribution with one for a translation?
PLANNING
- July 15: Send out invitations to authors for contribution to v2
- Friday 21 Aug meet with Elo + Femke
- 1 word
- read Peggy + other texts for Face recognition
- 14 September 14:00: Elo + Femke meet with OSP to discuss
editorial design plan/concept - 16 October: deadline contributions for translation
- 30 October: final deadline publication v2
- 1 December: publication V2 printed
Meeting with OSP 8th of July
Ask to Anne whether having a conversational process with OSP is possible during the writing (layout)
http://etherdump.constantvzw.org/p/routesrootsfinal.raw.html
-> Julie/Cristina comments on the Trevor Palen work (DiVersions v1) https://news.artnet.com/art-world/imagenet-roulette-trevor-paglen-kate-crawford-1658305
restoration, reparation, restitution -- same move?
compensation
Restitution
In the context of cultural heritage, the term restitution refers to the process during which objects kept inside museums find themselves back in the countries or regions they were taken from before entering the museums spaces. The demands for restitution have grew louder in the past years which consequently made it difficult for museum authorities to avoid the topic any longer. Two years ago, the director of the Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium was mentioning loans, itinerant exhibitions and digital archives when asked about restitution (plus.lesoir.be/180529/article/2018-09-26/faut-il-restituer-les-objets-sacres-du-congo-aux-congolais). Today, the same museum slightly change its message around restitution. While reminding that the legal status of the collections makes them an inalienable property of the federal State, the museum says it is open to discuss the matter and advise the federal government in cases of "relevant and formal" demands and after a deep investigation into the ways the objects concerned by the demand were acquired. (https://www.africamuseum.be/fr/about_us/restitution.) However, it is important to keep in mind that this legal frame was put in place by the states illegally plundering other countries. Legal matters aside, as Bambi Ceuppens declared, "When you’re confronted with the fact that 80 to 90% of African cultural heritage is kept outside of the continent, how can you not be in favour of restitution? It just doesn’t make any sense." Undoing Imperial Plunder
Provenance
Digitization or Digitalization
latest version on wiki
Open Access
Open access (OA) is a specific set of principles and a range of practices through which outputs from knowledge production are distributed free of cost or other access barriers. The movement wants to make a difference from pay-walled, commercialised circulation of research and tries to convince universities, labs and funding bodies that research outcome should be accessible for all. According to the 2001 definition, copying or reuse should also be possible and in this way Open Access enters the orbit of the Free Culture. The main focus of the open access movement is peer reviewed research literature such as academic journals, academic journal articles, conference papers, theses, book chapters and monographs. On the one hand, this focus grounds its universalist claim for openess in a specific area of knowledge production but on the other it risks to assume that research circulates in these formats only and thereby further formatting what counts as knowledge and who can contribute to its production. Furthermore, with its commitment to ‘openness’, Open Access might turn a blind eye to the need for opacity when accessing and transmitting knowledge, especially when it comes to marginalized communities. Re-use and access are often favourable, but sometimes undesired.
Machine-readable
latest version on wiki
Face recognition
latest version on wiki
Cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation takes place when traditions, fashions, symbols, language, and music from minority cultures are copied by members of a dominant culture. This transfer might involve exotisation and exploitation; it’s problematics derive from the power difference between groups that block the possibility of actual cultural exchange. Cultural appropriation follows colonial faultlines and contributes to its continuation. Sometimes cultural appropriation can be considered as a form of expropriation when the meaning of cultural elements is disrespected, distorted or even lost because they are removed from their context. Obviously there is a complex tension with critiques of originality, purity and true culture. Another complicating factor is that to consider culture in terms of ownership (hence the possibility to appropriate), is itself deeply rooted in European conceptions of intellectual property and the history of colonialism from which they formed. In that sense, copyright and patent law enforce the systems of punishment and reward which benefit those already-powerful, at the cost of others. The private and public institutions, legal frameworks, and social values which uphold these systems are inseparable from broader forms of oppression. Unfortunately these same frameworks are often seen as the only option for protecting cultures against exploitation.
state-of-the-art
= conservationist
up-to-date
Innovation
of bringing/creating/implementing something considered as new: an idea, an object, a technique, a method, a structure, etc. Generally, innovation seems to be thought in positive terms which ideologically connects it to the saying 'the newer the better'. As innovation is often coupled with the technologic, technological novelties stay rather unchallenged and enjoy
Conservation
Term that defines the work done in many cultural institutions such as museums. This entails taking care, labelling and ordering the various items making up a collection. As this word indicates, there is a purpose of keeping items that have entered a collection "as-is": to protect them from alteriation due to exterior forces, or save them from changing state. Conservation is conservative, conservare = "to keep, preserve, keep intact, guard,"
In addition to precise conservations techniques such as temperature and light control, digitization is a technique considered to meet the interests of conservation. In that mode of thinking, creating a digital double of a statue or a building is understood as a way to protect these elements from loss, oblivion or destruction. Conservation holds power by creating the means and conditions for what needs to be 'saved', how, by who and what state deserve to be fixed. As former conservation techniques already disregarded the many complexities specific to each item they're dealing with, such as the necessity or right for disappearance, deterioration and forgetfulness, digitization extend the intensity of the seizure by replicating, instead of displacing, the item within a foreign space; foreign in the sense of its conditions of existence and representation.
Different critiques of history/future
logic line of progress -
04min40: Artifacts preserved in European museums are not just exemplary masterpieces, they are also conjured[***] forms of imperial violence. Centuries of imperialism have taught armed imperial actors that they have a license to shoot those who reach their borders, carrying only small bundles with them, only enough to provide for their immediate needs. The objects that belong to these people's communities had already entered the borders of imperial states. Yes, before when they were transported by force through imperial expeditions. It is therefore time to refuse the undocumented status imperial states have forced on these people who feel they have no choice but to migrate to the same states and claim their due rights. Their movements is a reparative one. And we're being called to endorse it. -05min56
06:39 : it’s true, they might not have the documents required at the border but they have well documented objects in all these museums. This is why they are reaching out. Their movement is a conta-expedtion. A conta-expedition of people refusing to be separated from the world they see as their own. They are expected by these objects, some of these protective figures still struggle to preserve their protective powers, following them for afar. To see their movement as reparative, we must first recognize the violence of separating objects and people into two separate regimes. A regime into which objects are well documented and cared for by museums experts. Another regime in which people are declared undocumented and subjected to border police protocols. These people are not threatening the sovereign countries in which they seek asylum, they are threatening the prerogative of colonial actors who created a system in which they enjoy similar conditions of movement as do those objects that they looted from others, they made these objects theirs in order to render others objects [***] to limit or completely block their movement. Those who reach the border refuse to recognize this dubious ownership of their objects and the rights on which such ownership is predicated. They are key actors in a political reality that they aspire and generate in this transformed potential world of which they are carriers. The borders and legal system that were conceived to keep people and objects separated will be abolished. From the moment of initial dispossession onward the people from whom these objects were expropriated have known that the restitution of such objects is long overdue. It is these people’s ongoing refusal to recognize imperial ownership of their objects that have made the discussion of restitution possible. -9min47
31:15 :
*the collections of public museum such as us [Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren] are inalienable,
so we’re not supposed to actually restitute them. When you’re confronted with the fact that 80 to 90%
of African cultural[***] heritage is kept outside of the continent, how can you not be in favour of
restitution. It just doesn’t make any sense.
- The restitution of objects, the hiring of refugees as guides to work in museums that hold artifacts plundered from their homeland and the creation of digital archives of destroyed cities could be the beginning of reparations or they could be nothing more than the continuation of imperial institutions benefiting from other people’s cheap labour, resources and memories.
32min08
re-cognition
Notes meeting with Anne Laforêt
Questions:
- not sure about the new ceremony of fire, understands the text
AL starts from the first version of the works
We'll see together on Monday whether it'll be 7 seven texts or one text or ....
Dear Peggy, dear Seda,
We are writing you to ask for a conversation-contribution to the second version of DiVersions publication that we are preparing for publishing by the end of this year. It contains reflections, documentation and visual essays to think through the intersectional and decolonial potential of e-collections or on-line heritage. We're using the practice of 'versioning' as an editorial device.
The publication is developed in dialogue with even artist projects; their second version can be accessed here: https://di.versions.space/
Along the project discussions on 'recognition' (of faces, but also objects) have emerged, first of all because of the project Sketchy recognition contributed by Nicolas and Michael. Another thread problematized the 'critical' work by Kate Crawford and Trevor Paglen, asking if the ImageNet-roulette project is 'fair' when it invites racialized subjects to expose and therefore experience algorithmic discrimination that is already known to exist. Here we're bothered by where the work of 'critique' is located; in other projects such as for example https://www.ajl.org/ the tech-solutionism of fixing the algorithm is unbearable. Trigger number three was the moment that IBM announced to desinvest in Face Recognition systems, without taking any responsibility for its current and historical contributions to the technologies of separation and segregation.
For the publication we would like to include a contribution that addresses these issues explicitly, because we think they are connected to the systemic violence embedded into categorization and universalizing systems and we would like to think with you how to frame the problems of re-cognition differently, both to avoid the desire for repair and to situate the discussion in Brussels, Europe with its legal framework that is different; for example the way these technologies are used in migration management systems etc.
If you are interested in and have time for speaking with us in a recorded and transcribed conversation, this would be great! The conversation would then need to happen some time before the 1st of October and probably take place online with Seda being still at the Aegean sea. For example:
8 September (afternoon)
9 September (morning)
14 September (morning)
15 September (afternoon)
21 September (morning)
We will send more precise questions in advance to connect both your work on 'fairness' and 'bias' more explicitly with the DiVersions project, and of course we can rework the transcription as much as we want.
Some materials that we found useful:
https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/idj.25.1.05mor
https://www.privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/3898/ibm-not-ending-facial-recognition-our-quick-thoughts
https://www.e-flux.com/architecture/becoming-digital/248073/as-if/
https://www.pointculture.be/magazine/articles/focus/le-grand-jeu-des-biais-3-questions-peggy-pierrot/
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