The Artist as a Generator of Swarmings. Questioning the Network Society
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One of the main tasks of the artist in the network society, now referred to as “web 2.0” in Internet, is to present its dark underside in order to set it free. To do so, it is necessary to analyse what conditions are necessary for the messages to cross and mobilise chains of nodes in the network with the intention of crystallising them and making them visible in the traditional media, thus revealing both the activist practices and the underpinnings of the vigilance that may be involved in these processes.
The definition and study of the concept “collective imaginary” alongside that of “community” will be the cornerstone that will allow us to explore the possibility of sketching a new outline for the artist in the network. The field to be explored will be the combination of Youtube and Meneame, given their ability to generate videos/ messages that are capable of falsifying the reality of the collective imaginary. The proposal will be to think which practices are necessary in order that the artist may become the anonymous generator of these messages.
Lastly, it would be necessary to geolocate the above and define the city/ brand of Barcelona through its civic regulations as a model of a network society based on the idea of self-vigilance. The artist’s activity as an anonymous generator of messages should have results on the streets, with initiatives that temporarily suspend the spaces that are standardised by the administration and that question the vigilance of everyone by everyone, provoking processes of liberation.