From: db (email suppressed)
Date: Wed Sep 07 2005 - 16:51:32 PDT
I don't want to put words into Omar's mouth, but what I thought he
was getting at was expanding discussion of AB/Exp film and video art
beyond the confines of fairly exclusive realms and forms of
discussion. I don't think he was advocating the elimination of one
form of discussion for another but, rather, suggesting that multiple
forms and levels of discussion toward people with varying levels of
interest/experience with the medium could aid in expanding interest
among those who think that Fear Factor is the equivalent of
Mnouchkine's "Moliere."
For example, it would do little good to be referring to arcane
concepts of Lacanian theory if I was taking my mother or my 7 year
old nephew to an exhibition of _____'s films. I could, however,
introduce them to the work and then lead them to introductory level
articles about the form in general or the artist in particular. My
personal intent in this case would be to introduce and then be
available for further discussion/leads if either of them expressed an
interest in delving deeper. But then I lean toward inclusiveness,
naively believing that exposure to alternatives offers some
opportunities for individual change.
db
On Sep 7, 2005, at 3:56 PM, John Lowther wrote:
> i'm a lurker on this list at best, but this discussion has been
> sort of amusing to me, sort of an 80s nostalgia trip (the halcyon
> years of bashing anything that could be construed as using jargon
> or influenced by -- gasp -- those frenchies). yes it is possible
> to explain in everyday langauge what is meant by terms like
> "hegemony" or "interpellation" or "deterritorialization," but jeez
> does it ever take a long time! i well know the feeling of being
> 'shut out' by the specialized discourse of some field of study but
> the insistence on plain speech and writing for a general (i.e., 9th
> grade reading level) public often seems, to me at least, to serve
> as a way of justifying one's desire NOT to discern what might be
> meant by all those big words. imagine if one weren't permitted to
> simply refer to a book that not everyone has read, say, WAR AND
> PEACE but instead we had to offer an overview of the major themes
> and encapsulation of the plot? silly i know, but to someone who
> has learned to work with ideas like interpellation, always having
> to reduce thier discourse to plain speech has got feel sort of like
> that. its always gotta be a give & take --- if you understood
> everything you read what would be the point?
> jlo
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For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.