The Construction of Change Roy Ascott Roy Ascott

The Construction of Change Roy Ascott

Roy Ascott • 26 october 1934; Bath, England • Fine Art & Art History, King’s College Newcastle University • Ealing Art College, London • 1964: “Analogue Structures and Diagram Boxes” Molton Gallery, London • Telematic art • 2003: Planetary Collegium

Art and Didactics • ‘Behaviour is an important reference in my considerations of space, time and form. I make structures in which the relationships of parts are not fixed and may be changed by the intervention of a spectator. ’ • ‘Technology … is not only changing our world, it is presenting us with qualities of experience and modes of perception that radically alter our conception of it…. The artist's moral responsibility demands that he attempt to understand these changes’ • ‘all art is (…) didactic: every artist is, in some way, setting out to instruct. For, by instruction, we mean to give direction. ’

Cybernetics and art • ‘Some real understanding of the world to which we respond and which we have commerce must be obtained. But to fully orientate himself in the modern world the artist must turn to science as a tool and reference. I recommend that he turn to cybernetics. ’ • ‘We investigate our world best by seeing first the system or process before evaluating the “thing”. Cybernetics is concerned with the behaviour of the environment, its regulation and the structure which reveals the organisation of its parts. ’

‘Diagram boxes and Analogue Structures’

Poststructuralisme • behaviour afhankelijk van feedback • de bepaling van betekenis als resultaat van de dynamische informatiestroom door een systeem • de belangrijkheid van het proces ipv het product

‘In their writings and works, many artists became increasingly aware of how process connects the superficially independent aspects and objects of life to an interdependent, interconnected network of organic systems, cultural institutions, and human practices. However awkwardly these artists' works anticipated the end of a century that witnessed the advent of massive electronic communication systems like the Internet, their research was vital in visualizing process as a means to align art with the future. ’ (Stiles and Selz 1996, 586)

Telematic Art

http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=IU 4 ASSJm. Mo. U