Altermodern Things

Today I am making a list of things that I feel, share a commonality in the ideas that underly the theme of altermodernity. This list will grow, so it is an altermodern blog in the sense of it is actually not going to stop moving into a miriad of encounters. It also features articles out there that I feel, add to it all...

I must start, of course with the work of all the authors at the Altermodern at the Tate.

1) The Altermoderns - the amazing group of art and artist that exhibited at the Altermodern (see the Prologues), its curators at the Triennial, and Bourriad - Bourriad's book 1 is out -

2) the 4th Plinth - I think the dynamism and re-telling of stories by people and the expression of it in Trafalgar Square amongst the non-animated three plinth makes of Gormley's idea (as put into action by the people) a way into altermodernity

3) I can't quite point at why, Le Roux video has defining qualities that take both the song, the moving image and the re-projection of 1980s a bit more far than other things I have seen

4) I didn't know what to think of the Google India Bus or Google bus . At first, specially as I was twitting his India tour it kind of reminded me of development programs in 70s going-really-wrong and being build in a cross-road of post-colonial intentions. The difference this time, however, was the way in which it was building up pictures of the communities, the links and videos and how these communities were having an impact on this project itself. Where the project is short of more ethnographic validity (which would mirror, for example, the ethnographic strenght of the Pakistani-Indian-Thai-Japanese piece at the Tate), is that it is hard to see what are people's actual contributions, it is a 'hands-top-down' project. I would like to see and read what those communities make out of it. It is not fully an altermodern piece but it would have some potential if more narrative of indigenous voices were brought into the project. A blog would help...how could Google not think of it? if it doesn't do so, bring all those stories in their voices, it will crash and burn as an altermodern project.

In itself the project is very short of (even) postmodern qualities, let alone altermodern ones, however, if you add the news reports from India, TheHindu, HinduBusiness,
and labnol's blog responses is starting to make more of a better altermodern qualities altogether.

5) Ok, I must confess I work on things to do with Japan (being an anthropologist of Japan), so my next one is a good article on altermodernism, an article here.

6) Twittervision I just think the Twittervision 3- version of the world map with its non-synched rotation and emerging twitts from all over the world is just altermodern technology at its best

7) another article, and this (unlike the Japanese one that it is a conventional article, does have a very interesting altermodern twist and I agree with the authors's enchatment with the Altermodern and its great potential).

8) Click Opera Altermodern Week is a great live journal with some good musings and a flare for all things altermodern

9) Oh, this is one of two of my new finds: http://www.politicalremixvideo.com/ that just crosses the line (although not of the videos have altermodern qualities), but the idea of popular culture and re-mixing involves a generic altermodern sense of journeying and re-telling that fits here.

10) And even better Rip:Re-Mix http://www.opensourcecinema.org/project/rip-remix-manifesto

11) This is a MUST, the Altermodern Exploration at the Tate is a gorgeous trip through theory, art, visuality...and it explains the altermodern concepts at a greater level, http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/altermodern/explore.shtm