Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 15:58:08 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Is there an avant-garde.


On Tue, 18 Aug 1998 Thivai4062-AT-aol.com wrote:

> of the time--excluding a few bold critics).  My expertise lies in the field of
> literature and i have been exploring the ways that artists are exploring the
> possibilities of interactive hypertexts and using web-sites to expand their
> artistic possibilities.  Many of the writers that i have been talking to and
> studying are fighting to get rid of the long chain of middle-persons.  As the
> writer Mark Amerika has diagrammed it: 
> 
> writer--agent--publisher--distributor--bookstore--reader
> 
> and are trying to change the dynamics of the writer/reader relationship to:
> 
>       Writer<<>>Reader
> 
> this is especially possible in the usage of interactive hypertexts where the
> reader becomes an active participant in the creation process.  If you would
> like to know more about this i would suggest checking  out Mark Amerika's Alt-
> X website--where various writers and multimedia artists discuss the
> possibilities of these new mediums.
> 
> I would be very interested in what the members of this list think of these
> possibilities and feel free to tell me I'm nuts if that's what you think.
> 
	I agree with what you say. There's a lot of interesting
developments in this area. I've found the Eastgate site quite informative: 

		http://www.eastgate.com

	One of the interesting things about the new technology--as Brad is
often pointing out--is that it puts very powerful tools in the hands of
everyone who can get a hold of a computer. It consequently breaks down the
traditional producer ==> consumer relationship and allows for a more
collaborative community of co-producers to emerge. In many ways, it seems
to facilitate the possibilities envisioned by the avant-garde in the 
60s--possibilities that have been little explored to date, it seems to me.
	It would be interesting to see more collaboration between 
advanced artists and technologists. So far, most computer stuff is being 
created for the entertainment industry.

George


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