[spectre] Walker Art closes Media dept. and sacks Steve Dietz

[Andreas Broeckmann]

dear honor,

your comments are very apt - others have already written privately in 
a similar vein.

>sign that, at least within the UK, there is still evidently a diverse
>and growing audience interested in new media art practices, who consider a
>museum like Tate Modern has an active role to play in the development and
>support of the field.

although i know that you don't mean it that way, i would like to 
respond by suggesting that one should avoid any hint of defensiveness 
- your observation regarding the UK is not a matter of 'still' (as 
though this was an understanding that would sooner or later be 
questioned and disappear), but it is expressive of an understanding 
how culture is changing in our contemporary society. a museum like 
the tate (or the walker, for that matter) cannot do without a clear 
focus on media art and media culture, nor without the expertise that 
has accumulated in these departments.

with the economic slump and the shrinking cultural budgets, some 
policy makers have a tendency of sliding straight back into 19th 
century aesthetic values. forget it, folks. if you have to close 
institutions and departments, which is bad enough, close (or shrink) 
the operas, shrink the medieval art departments, and dump that plan 
for the ancient pottery or tsarist gold exhibition. they are the 
spectacle of old. tell the museum people that they cannot expect to 
have a role to play when it comes to contemporary culture, identity 
politics or youth creativity if they degrade the new media department 
to building websites. they need to be able to formulate answers - 
i.e. exhibitions and other projects - that reflect the culture of the 
new generations. we are facing a fierce, very bad generation clash, 
and it will be made worse if the cultural institutions defend the 
tastes of the 19th century against the lived realities of the 21st. 
flick through Dietz's catalogue for How Latitudes Become Forms and 
you will immediately get a sense of what 'art in a global age' might 
be at. nobody in his/her right mind and with a critical understanding 
of what a centre for contemporary art should be about, will sack that 
curator.

the good thing about the walker is that it gave steve a chance to 
develop a number of highly important projects. i am pretty certain 
that it won't take long until that knowhow and reputation is snatched 
up. in this end, this will just be bad for minnesota.

greetings,
-a
-- 
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andreas broeckmann - artistic director
transmediale - international media art festival berlin
klosterstr. 68-70 - d-10179 berlin
tel. +49-30-2474 9761 - fax +49-30-24721909
ab at transmediale.de - www.transmediale.de
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transmediale.04 - Fly Utopia! - 31 jan - 4 feb 2004