nettime: Du Hyper

[Jason Levy <jason@amauta.rcp.net.pe>]

It seems like the virtual nation is not that different from the nation that
we have traditionally known, if postings here are much of an indicator.
Have we finished all the whining and complaining?  Surely some of us
avant-garde thinkers must see some useful or exciting possibilities in the
internet.   If not I'd rather see more poetry, or anything.   And I'll leave
you with one, as well as a quote from E.W. Said for your consideration, and
a list of things I like about the internet.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"It is perfectly possible to argue that some distinctive objects are made by
the mind, and that these objects, while appearing to exist objectively, have
only a fictional reality.  A group of people living on a few acres of land
will set up boundaries between their land and its immediate surroundings and
the territory beyond, which they call " the land of the barbarians."  In
other words, this universal practice of designating in one's mind a familiar
space which is "ours" and an unfamiliar space beyond "ours" which is "
theirs" is a way of making geographical distinctions that can be  entirely
arbitrary.  I use the word "arbitrary" here because imaginative geography of
the "our land -- barbarian land" variety does not require that the
barbarians acknowledge the distinction. It is enough for "us" to set up
these boundaries in our own minds "they" become "they" accordingly, and both
their territory and their mentality are designated as different from "ours."
To a certain extent modern and primitive societies seem thus to derive a
sense of their identities negatively. A fifth-century Athenian was very
likely to feel himself to be non-barbarian as much as he positively felt
himself to be Athenian.  The geographic boundaries accompany the social,
ethnic, and cultural ones in expected Ways.  Yet often the sense in which
someone feels himself to be not-foreign is based on a very unrigorous idea
of what is "out there," beyond one's own territory.  All kinds of
suppositions, associations, and fictions appear to crowd the unfamiliar
space outside one's own."


Edward W. Said

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Lima is CAR ALARMS
going off so often that
you don't NOTICE them

Last night the computer sent it's 
SIGNALS to my nerve endings
and THEN I couldn't sleep

my mind was DEFRAGGING

then I DREAMT I was FLYING
over the dusty white hills 
and paths with tiny white glowing dots strung out
wired?

suddenly I couldn't breath
because the sky has no air


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

What I like about the internet so far: (might be forgetting something)
 
á It forces me to read and write
á It puts me in contact with people
á It keeps me in touch with my brother who is thousands of miles away
á It keeps me in touch with (some of) my friends
á it's been a valuable and practical source of information
á it's been a forum for experimentation


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jason


@#$%^&*!@#$%^&@#$%^&*!@#$%^&@#$%^&*!@#$%^&@#$%^&*!@#
Jason Levy - jason@cam.org - jason@amauta.rcp.net.pe
@#$%^&*!@#$%^&@#$%^&*!@#$%^&@#$%^&*!@#$%^&@#$%^&*!@#


--
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HYPERNATION
Zone autonome de recherche, de creation et d'echange.
What is a nation in cyberspace?
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