528 lines
29 KiB
Plaintext
528 lines
29 KiB
Plaintext
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THE ELECTRONIC DISTURBANCE
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Critical Art Ensemble
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Part 3 of 7
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Published by Autonomedia
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ISBN 1-57027-006-6
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Planning a generic leftist documentary for PBS. Subject: The
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guerrilla war in ____________ (choose a third-world nation).
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1. Choose a title carefully, since it is one of the primary
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framing devices. It should present itself purely as a
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description of the images contained in the work, but should
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also function as a privileged ideological marker. For
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example, "The Struggle for Freedom in ____________."
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Remember, do not mention "guerrillas" in the title. Such
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words have a connotation of a lost or subversive cause that
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could lead to irrational violent action, and that scares
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liberals.
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2. If you have a large enough budget (and you probably do
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if you are making yet another film on political strife),
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open with a lyrical aerial shot of the natural surroundings
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of the country in question. Usually the countryside is held
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by the guerrillas. This is good. You now have the
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traditional authority of nature (and the morality of the
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town/country distinction) on your side. These are two
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foundational codes of didactic western art. They are rarely
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questioned, and will create a channel leading the viewer to
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the belief that you are filming a populist uprising.
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3. Dissolve to the particular band of guerrillas that you
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are going to film. Do not show large armies, and show only
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small arms, not heavy weaponry. Remember, the guerrillas
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must look like real underdogs. Americans love that code.
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If you must talk about the size of the rebel army (for
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instance, to show the amount of popular support for the
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resistance), keep it abstract; give only statistics. Large
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military formations have that Nuremberg look to the them.
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If at all possible, choose a band comprised of families: It
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shows real desperation when an entire extended family is
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fighting. Keep in mind that one of your key missions is to
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humanize the rebels while making the dominant group an evil
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abstraction. Finish this sequence by stylishly introducing
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each of the rebels as individuals.
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4. For the next sequence, single out a family to represent
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the group. Interview each member. Address their
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motivations for resistance. Follow them throughout the day.
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Capture the hardships of rebel activity. Be sure to show
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the sleeping arrangements and the poverty of the food, but
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concentrate on what the fight is doing to the family. End
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the sequence by showing the family involved in a
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recreational activity. This will demonstrate the rebels'
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ability to endure, and to be human in the face of
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catastrophe. It is also the perfect segue into the next
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sequence: "In this moment of play, who could have imagined
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the tragedy that would befall them..."
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5. Having established the rebels as real, feeling people,
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it is time to turn to the enemy, by showing for instance an
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atrocity attributed to them. (Never show the enemy
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themselves; they must remain an alien abstraction, an
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unknown to be feared.) It is preferable if a distant
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relative of the focus family is killed or wounded in the
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represented enemy action. Document the mourning of the
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fellow rebels.
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6. With the identities of both the rebels and the enemy
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established, you must now show an actual guerrilla action.
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It should be read as a defensive maneuver with no
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connotation of vengeance. Make sure that it is an evening
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or morning raid, to lessen sympathy for the enemy as
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individuals. The low light will keep them hidden and allow
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the sparks of the return gunfire to represent the enemy as
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depersonalized. Do not show guerrillas taking prisoners:
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It is difficult to maintain viewers' sympathy for the rebels
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if they are seen sticking automatic weapons in the backs of
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the enemy and marching them along. Finally, only show the
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action if the rebels seem to win the engagement.
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7. In the victory sequence it is important to show the tie
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between the rebels and the nonmilitary personnel of the
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countryside. With the enemy recently beaten, it is safe to
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go to town and celebrate with the agrarian class. You can
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include speeches and commemorations in this sequence. Show
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the peasants giving the rebels food, while the rebels give
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the civilians nonmilitary materials captured during the
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raid. But most importantly, ensure that the sequence has a
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festive spirit. This will add an emotional contrast to the
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closing sequence.
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8. Final sequence: Focus on the rebel group expressing
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their dreams of victory and vowing never to surrender. This
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should cap it: You are now guaranteed a sympathetic
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response from the audience. The sympathy will override any
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critical reflection, making the audience content to ride the
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wave of %your% radical subjectivity. Roll credits. Perhaps
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add a postscript by the filmmaker on how touched and amazed
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s/he was by the experience.
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In creating a documentary, one small adjustment could be made
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with minimal disturbance to the traditional model--to
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announce for a given work that the collection of images
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presented have already been fully digested within a
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specialized cultural perspective. Make sure the viewers
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know that they are watching a %version% of the subject
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matter, not the thing in itself. This will not cure the
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many ills of documentary film/video, since versions
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themselves are prepackaged, having little meaning in
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relation to other version; however, it would make the
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documentary model a little less repugnant, since this
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disclaimer would avoid the assertion that one was showing
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the truth of the matter. This would allow the system to
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remain closed, but still produce the realization that what
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is being documented is not a concrete history, but an
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independent semiotic frame through which sensation has been
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filtered and interpreted.
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Take, for instance, documentaries on a subject regarded
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almost universally as pleasant and innocuous, such as
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nature. It becomes readily apparent that nature itself is
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not the subject, nor could it be. Rather, the simulation of
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nature is actually a repository for specialized cultural
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perspectives and myths that are antithetical to the sign of
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civilization. Consider the following versions:
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1. Aestheticized Nature. This is a viewpoint common to
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most National Geographic documentaries. In this
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formulation, nature is presented as the original source of
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beauty, grandeur, and grace. Even the most violent events
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become precious aesthetic processes that must be preserved.
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This is even true in the presentation of "exotic"
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racial/ethnic groups! The world is reduced to an art museum
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that testifies to the cosmological and teleological
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perfection of nature. Nature's highest function is to exist
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for aesthetic appreciation. Both the aesthetics and the
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ideology that conjure this beatific version of nature come
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from a well-packaged nostalgic romanticism that determines
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both the documentary maker's expectations and the method for
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filming and editing.
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2. Darwinian Nature. This conception of nature is best
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represented by the series _The Trials of Life_. In this
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treatment the Hobbesian universe comes alive, and the war of
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all against all is graphically depicted. This blood-and-
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guts version of nature assembles the signage of survivalist
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ideology to represent the blind gropings of a cold and
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uncaring universe. It is a remembrance of the fatality of
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the world prior to the order of civilization. Such work
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acts as an ideological bunker defending the luxury of order
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produced by the police state.
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3. Anthropomorphic Nature. This interpretation revolves
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around the question of "How are animals like people?"
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Typical of Disney documentaries or television shows such as
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_Wild Kingdom_, these films are insufferably cute, and
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present the natural order as one of innocence. This is not
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surprising, since these presentations are targeted at
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children, and so the conflation of human beings
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(particularly children) with animals is regarded as a good
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rubric for "healthy" socialization. These films concentrate
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on animals' nurturing behavior and on their modest
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"adventures," interpreting nature as a bourgeois entity.
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In all such readings, the viewer is presented with an
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artificially constructed pastiche of images that offers only
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limited possibilities for the mythic establishment of
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nature. Nature exists as merely a semiotic construction
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used to justify some ideological structure. Nature as code
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is kept fresh by showing animals and panoramic landscapes
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that are then overlaid with ideological interpretive
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frameworks. Nature films have never documented anything
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other than the artificial--that is, institutionally-
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constructed value systems. Much the same can be said about
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the political documentary, since only the contingent aspects
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are different. The filmmaker then shows us people and
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cities, rather than animals and landscapes.
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The various versions of the present that the documentary imposes
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on its viewers are refashioned by the film/video form into
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electronic monuments sharing a number of characteristics
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with their architectural counterparts. Typically, leftist
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documentaries parallel the function of monuments and
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participate in the spectacle of obscenity to the following
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extent:
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1. Monuments function as concrete signs of an imposed
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reconstituted memory.
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2. Monumentalism is the concrete attempt to halt the
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proliferation of meaning in regard to the interpretation of
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convulsive events. Monuments are not the signs of freedom
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that they appear to be, but the very opposite, signs of
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imprisonment, quelling freedom of speech, freedom of
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thought, and freedom of remembrance. As overseers in the
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panoptic prison of ideology, their demand for submission is
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masochistically obeyed by too many.
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3. The return of cultural continuity is what exalts the
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monument in the eyes of the complicit. In its cloak of
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silence, the monument can easily repress contradiction. To
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those whose values they represent, monuments offer a
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peaceful space through the familiarity of cynical tradition.
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At the monument, the complicit are not burdened with
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alienation arising from diversity of opinion, nor with the
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anxiety of moral contradiction. They are safe from the
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disturbance of reflection. Monuments are the ultimate
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ideological bunkers--the concrete manifestations of fortress
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mentality.
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To be sure, there are differences between the architectural
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monuments of dominant culture, and the monuments to
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resistant culture, such as documentaries; those of resistant
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culture do not aspire to maintain the status quo, nor do
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they project a false continuity onto the wound of history.
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The problem is that many of these monuments do aspire to an
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eventual dominance; they aspire to produce an icon that is
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above critical examination. Thus far no sacred icons have
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been intentionally produced through the production of
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documentaries, but some have been accidentally produced
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through media spectacle. The most notable examples are the
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Hill/Thomas hearings, and the Rodney King beating. Certain
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images derived from these tapes have transcended the mundane
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to become sacred images for a broad spectrum of society.
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Like any sacred image, these icons exhaust themselves on
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impact, and anyone who insinuates that meanings other than
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the one that immediately presents itself are layered into
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the image will be visited with a rain of punishment. These
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images are so emotionally charged that they produce a panic,
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motivating a blind and vicious attack on any interpretive
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heresy. They are to the left very much what the image of
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the aborted fetus is to the radical right. If autonomy is
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the goal of resistant image production, the monumentality of
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the sacred must be eliminated from it.
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One practical advantage of reality video (video that appears to
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replicate history) must be recognized--its function as a
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democratic form of counter-surveillance. No matter how
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simple the video technology, it easily becomes seen as a
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threat. It is perceived as a receptacle for guilt that can
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instantly replay acts of transgression. As the perfect
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judicial witness, its objectivity cannot be legally
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questioned. Yet as an instrument of intimidation against
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the transgressions of power, video functions only within
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limited parameters. Its strict rational-legal power
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operates only in the context of exhausted meaning. It is a
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useful defense in the legal system and in media spectacle,
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but it is detrimental to the understanding of media itself,
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as it promotes the authoritarian aesthetics of exhaustion.
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The supremacy of reality video as the model for resistant
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cultural production must be challenged by those who want to
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see the medium of video go beyond its traditional function
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as propaganda, while still maintaining resistant political
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qualities. To eradicate reality video is unnecessary, but
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to curb its authority is essential. This goal can be best
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accomplished by developing a postmodern conceptual structure
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that blends with video's postmodern techno-structure. The
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fundamental contradiction of using 18th-century epistemology
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with 19th-century production techniques is that this will
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never adequately address the contemporary problems of
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representation in the society of simulation, just as
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medieval theology was incapable of addressing the challenges
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of 17th- and 18th-century philosophy.
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To resolve this contradiction, one must abandon the
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assumption that the image contains and shows fidelity to its
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referent. This in turn means that one can no longer use the
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code of causality as a means of image continuity.
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Preferably, one should use liquid associational structures
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that invite various interpretation. To be sure, all imaging
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systems are mediated by the viewer: The question is, to
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what degree? Few systems invite interpretation, and hence
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meaning is imposed more often than it is created. Many
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producers, for fear of allowing interpretation to drift out
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of control, have shunned the use of associational structures
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for politicized electronic imaging. Further, associational
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films tend toward the abstract, and therefore become
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confusing, making them ineffective among the disinterested.
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These problems prompt the eternal return to more
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authoritarian models. The answer to such commentary is that
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the viewer deserves the right to disinterest, and the
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freedom to drift. Confusion should be seen as an acceptable
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aesthetic. The moment of confusion is the precondition for
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the scepticism necessary for radical thought to emerge. The
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goals then of resistant nonfiction video are twofold:
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Either to call attention to and document the sign
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construction of simulation, or to establish confusion and
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scepticism so that simulations cannot function.
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The associational video is by its very nature recombinant. It
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assembles and reassembles fragmented cultural images,
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letting the meanings they generate wander unbounded through
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the grid of cultural possibility. It is this nomadic
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quality that distinguished them from the rigidly bounded
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recombinant films of Hollywood; however, like them, they
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rest comfortably in neither the category of fiction nor
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nonfiction. For the purposes of resistance, the recombinant
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video offers no resolution; rather it acts as a data base
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for the viewer to make h/is own inferences. This aspect of
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the recombinant film presupposes a desire on the part of the
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viewer to take control of the interpretive matrix, and
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construct h/is own meanings. Such work is interactive to
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the extent that the viewer cannot be a passive participant.
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S/he must not be spoonfed a particular point of view for a
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pedagogical purpose. This characteristic often works
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against popular interaction, since strategies to break the
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habitual passive consumption of spectacle have not received
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much attention. What is more unfortunate is that such work
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is often perceived to be elitist, because its use of the
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aesthetics of confusion does not %at present% draw popular
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support. It should be noted that such commentary generally
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comes from a well-positioned intelligentsia certain of the
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correctness of its ideology. Its mission is not to free its
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converts, but to keep them locked in and defending the
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bunker of solidified ideology. It is disturbance through
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liquidation of these structures that resistant nomadic media
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attempts to accomplish. This cannot be done by producing
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more electronic monuments, but rather, by an imaginative
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intervention and critical reflection liberated in an
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unresolved and uncertain electronic moment.
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Chapter 4 ]]> The Recombinant Theater and the Performative Matrix
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In some cultures familiar with only modest imaging technologies,
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people believe that one should not allow oneself to be
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photographed, as this process steals a part of the soul.
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This uncanny intuition perhaps shows an understanding that
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as representation of the self expands, the performative
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matrix becomes cluttered with simulated persona that can
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usurp the role of organic self-presentation. The body as
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representation relinquishes its sovereignty, leaving the
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image of the body available for appropriation and for
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reestablishment in sign networks separate from those of the
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given world. From a contemporary point of view, this is not
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necessarily negative, since it suggests the possibility that
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one can continually reinvent one's character identification
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and role to better suit one's desires. In light of the
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possibility, we ought to surrender essentialist notions of
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self, personality, and body and take up roles within the
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dramaturgical grid of everyday life. Yet there is always an
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uneasiness that accompanies this utopian possibility. This
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anxiety arises less from the curious nonposition of having
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no fixed qualities, than it does from the fear that the
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power of reinvention lies elsewhere. One senses that
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hostile external forces, rather than self-motivated ones,
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are constructing us as individuals. This problem becomes
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increasingly complex in techno-culture, where people find
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themselves in virtual theaters alien to everyday life but
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which have a tremendous impact on it. Abstracted
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representations of self and body, separate from the
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individual, are simultaneously present in numerous
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locations, interacting and recombining with others, beyond
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the control of the individual and often to h/is detriment.
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For the critical performer, exploring and interrogating the
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wanderings and manipulations of the numerous electronic
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dopplegangers within the many theaters of the virtual should
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be of primary significance.
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Consider the following scenario: A person (P) walks into a bank
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with the idea of securing a loan. According to the
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dramaturgical structure of the situation, the person is
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required to present h/erself as a responsible and
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trustworthy loan applicant. Being a good performer, and
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comfortable with this situation, P has costumed h/erself
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well by wearing clothing and jewelry that indicate economic
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comfort. P follows the application procedures well, and
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uses good blocking techniques with appropriate handshakes,
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standing and sitting as socially expected, and so on. In
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addition, P has prepared and memorized a well-written script
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that fully explains h/er need for the loan, as well as h/er
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ability to repay it. As careful as P is to conform to the
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codes of the situation, it quickly becomes apparent that
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h/er performance in itself is not sufficient to secure the
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loan. All that P has accomplished by the performance is to
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successfully convince the loan officer to interview h/er
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electronic double. The loan officer calls up h/er credit
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history on the computer. It is this body, a body of data,
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that now controls the stage. It is, in fact, the %only%
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body which interests the loan officer. P's electronic
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double reveals that s/he has been late on credit payments in
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the past, and that s/he has been in a credit dispute with
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another bank. The loan is denied; end of performance.
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This scenario could just as easily have had a happy ending,
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but its real importance is to show that the organic
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performance was primarily redundant. The reality of the
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applicant was suspect; h/er abstracted image as credit data
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determined the result of the performance. The engine of the
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stage, represented by the architecture of the bank, was
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consumed by the virtual theater. The stage of screenal
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space, supported by the backstage data bases and internets,
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maintains ontological privilege over the theater of everyday
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life.
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With an understanding of the virtual theater, one can easily see
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just how anachronistic most contemporary performance art is.
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The endless waves of autoperformance, manifesting themselves
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as monologues and character bits, serve primarily as
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nostalgic remembrances of the past, when the performative
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matrix was centered in everyday life, and focused on organic
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players. As a work of cultural resistance, the
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autoperformance's subversive intent appears in its futile
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attempt to reestablish the subject on the architectural
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stage. Like most restorationist theater, its cause is dead
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on arrival. The performance grid in this situation is
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already overcoded by the extreme duration of its history,
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and also suffers from the clutter of codes and simulated
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persona imposed by spectacle. The attempt to sidestep these
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problems, by bringing the personal into the discourse, does
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not have an intersubjective depth of meaning that can
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maintain itself without networking with coding systems
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independent of the individual performer. Consequently, the
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spectacular body and the virtual body consume the personal
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by imposing their own predetermined interpretive matrices.
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As shocking as it may sound, the personal is %not% the
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political in recombinant culture.
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Such problems indicate powerfully that the model of
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production is thoroughly antiquated for performance (as for
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so much contemporary art). Although in ancient times, the
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stage was the preeminent platform for the interaction of
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mythic codes, and although this status remained unquestioned
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until the 19th century, it has now reached a point of
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exhaustion. The traditional stage in and of itself is a
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hollow bunker divorced from power. As a location for
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disturbance, it offers little hope. Rigor mortis has set
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in, and what used to be a site for liquid characters, who
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appeared simply by grabbing a mask, has now become a place
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where only the situations of the past or the simulations of
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the present may be replayed.
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Attempts to expand the stage have met with interesting
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results. The aim of The Living Theater to break the
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boundaries of its traditional architecture was successful.
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It collapsed the art and life distinction, which has been of
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tremendous help by establishing one of the first recombinant
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stages. After all, only by examining everyday life through
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the frame of a dramaturgical model can one witness the
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poverty of this performative matrix. The problem is that
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effective resistance will not come from the theater of
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everyday life alone. Like the stage, the subelectronic--in
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this case the street, in its traditional architectural and
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sociological form--will have no effect on the privileged
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virtual stage.
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Consider the following scenario: A hacker is placed on stage
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with a computer and a modem. Working under no fixed time
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limit, the hacker breaks into data bases, calls up h/er
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files, and proceeds to erase or manipulate them in
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accordance with h/er own desires. The performance ends when
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the computer is shut down.
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This performance, albeit oversimplified, signifies the heart
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of the electronic disturbance. Such an action spirals
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through the performative network, nomadically interlocking
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the theater of everyday life, traditional theater, and
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virtual theater. Multiple representations of the performer
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all explicitly participate in this scenario to create a new
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hierarchy or representation. Within the virtual theater,
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the data structures that contain the electronic
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representation of the performer are disturbed through their
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manipulation or deletion. In order for electronic data to
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act as the reality of a person, the data "facts" cannot be
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open to democratic manipulation. Data loses privilege once
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it is found to be invalid or unreliable. This situation
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offers the resistant performer two strategies: One is to
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contaminate and call attention to corrupted data, while the
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other is to pass counterfeit data. Either way, the
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establishment of the utopian goal of personal reinvention
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through performative recombination begins to take a form
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beyond everyday life. Greater freedom in the theater of
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everyday life can be obtained, once the virtual theater is
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infiltrated. The liberation gained through the recombinant
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body can only exist as long as authoritarian codes do not
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|
disrupt the performance. For this to happen, the individual
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must have control of h/er image in all theaters, for only in
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|
this way can everyday life performance be aligned with
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personal desire.
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To make the above example more concrete, assume that the
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hacker is also a female to male cross-dresser. In the
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performance she accesses h/er identification files, and
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changes the gender data to "male." S/he leaves the stage,
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|
and begins a performance of gender selection on the street.
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|
This begins a performance with desire unchained in the
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|
theater of everyday life. The gender with which s/he
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identifies becomes the gender s/he actually is, for no
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|
contradictory data resource exists. This performance is not
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|
limited to a matter of costuming, but can also affect the
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|
flesh. Even biology will begin to collapse. To give an
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|
extreme example: Dressed as a man from the waist down, and
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|
using "masculine" gesture codes, the performer walks down
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|
the street shirtless. S/he is stopped by the police. The
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|
appearance of h/er breasts contradicts the desired gender
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|
role performance. The police access the electronic
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|
information that validates the performer's claim to be a
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|
man. The performer is released, since it is not illegal for
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|
a man to go shirtless. This performance could easily have
|
|
gone the other way with the arrest of the performer, but
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|
that is extremely unlikely, because such action would
|
|
require perception to override the data facts.
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To say the least, a performance like this is extremely
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|
risky. To challenge the codes and unleash desire is
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|
generally illegal, particularly as described here. Hacking
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|
draws the eye of discipline quickly; it is the best way to
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|
destabilize the reality and practical structure of all
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|
theaters. Yet these extreme examples outline the necessary
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|
steps needed for a postmodern theater of resistance.
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|
Effective performance as a site of resistance must utilize
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|
interlocking recombinant stages that oscillate between
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|
virtual life and everyday life. This means that the
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|
performer must cope with h/er electronic images, and with
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|
their techno-matrix. It is time to develop strategies that
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|
strike at virtual authority. As yet, there are none.
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Performers have been too mired in the traditional theater
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|
and the theater of everyday life to even realize how the
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|
virtual world acts as the theater of final judgment.
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