It
all began within this seemingly innate 'art-fag' - romantic nature
of mine, that and life in NYC in the early 80's. A whole new world
spread its multi-faceted wings before me at the time as I was taught
and discovered the wonders that had been produced under the aegis
of modernism - so ALIVE much of this work seemed to be! Creators
could finally let go of the limits proscribed by an exceedingly
narrow historicity. The contemporary post-modern slant towards both
creation and criticism has allowed the doors to open even wider
- creativity is considered to be an all inclusive endeavor as the
works of the past (including those of modernism) are being reassessed
("revisionism"). The present casts another light with which to gauge
the past outside of (its) context, but I believe we must remember
that this (contemporary or otherwise) assessment is always going
to be the product of a given context, and thus not free from bias
(my own included).
I wrote the above as
the beginning of an introduction to a hardcopy journal (F E C
U N D I T Y) which I published in 1996/1998. Unfortunately that
project fell by the wayside after half of the intended print run
because the costs turned out to be far beyond my means. My original
intention with Cauldron & Net was to continue where
F E C U N D I T Y left off, only this time in an electronic format
as the cost and distribution are nil. My experience as a 'netizen'
over the last year and a half has changed the slant of the intended
magazine somewhat, nonetheless the above paragraph is an apt introduction
to the inspiration underlying Cauldron & Net.
I believe the title
is rather self explanatory -- as I became more and more immersed
in the net (it has swallowed me whole at this point!), I saw the
forms of creativity to which I had been exposed expand in directions
I had not imagined -- and yet: all of these myriad forms and diverse
voices reside in one place: the net; akin to a 'web' in which
one may be 'caught,' or, more importantly, which one may spin.
The net is a world
unto itself, an alt world shall we say. We see this world being
polluted with an all-too pervasive commercialism more daily (but
is not that an accurate reflection of our culture residing under
the overweening shadow of media's constantly haunting capitalist
overtones?); be this as it may, the artists represented within
this first issue of C& N have chosen to work within
this context for, in many cases, the same reason that the powers
that be have chosen it: the amazing reach of the medium: beyond
borders. This techno-wonder brings the darling of global culture
within one's four little walls.
One factor I find exceedingly
interesting about this medium is that 'hard - copy' art, (so to
speak) in the west and in the 20th century at least, remains a
rather solitary venture if it is not commercially oriented. That
is, if a given artist is not in school, the venues of creative
communities which invite exchange are rather few. For the most
part the artist remains ensconced within his/her studio and rarely
does a voice from outside penetrate the confines of their creative
solitude. One answer to this is the gallery system, but if one
chooses to play (in)to it one's work usually suffers the vagaries
of pop-culture, trendiness and fashion. The net has created an
arena in which the 'artworld' does not hold the same sway in terms
of exposure -- in a year one's work may be experienced by more
people from diverse backgrounds than was generally possible in
ten years of exposure before, and thus may open a much broader
dialog, and is communication not one of the chief things which
art is about?
The net is helping
to expand both the views about and the possibilities of art as
we begin to embrace the contributory element of technology. Our
culture/education reiterates within us a strong division between
right and left brain types and consistently underscores the purported
chasm between. The net has brought these halves together and often
helped those inclined to one particular side explore the other,
and to find within it possibilities that expand the elements comprising
their own particular lobal inclination. Here we begin to encounter
what has been termed a new aesthetic -- one wrought by
works whose expressive means may begin by exploring via the language
familiar to them, and yet end by traversing new ground they had
thought was a closed door to them.
Not all of the work
in this issue was created for/because of the net, or even digitally,
but the title and its application remain apt as all of the works
represented within C&N are the creations of people
whom I met on the net via my various wanderings. This new adventure
has led me far and wide, shown and taught me things I would never
have thought to look into before (often by the contingency of
a search engine and an intriguing title). This project is but
one particular tribute to and small example of the astounding
scope of this brave new world (to borrow Ted Warnell's
recent application of Huxley's phrase).
No doubt it has been
noted that I refrain here from speaking of the works included
in C&N themselves -- this seeming exception is intentional
as I believe any given work should speak for itself. I shall end
by saying that this publication seeks to call the readers'/viewers'
attention to the fecundity of the WWW as a meeting ground.
In my estimation the works herein tell this tale with a supreme
eloquence and illustrate the richness of a gathering place which
may bring diverse types together and help to illustrate their
essential commonality: creation.
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