Rejected proposal for Rhizome.org commission spring '06

Artist: Mark Cooley

Title: The New Media Culture Industry Archive or www.NewMediaCIA.com (address not yet established)

Summary: While certainly institutional critique is nothing new (and according to some - played out), having found virtuosic heights in the works of artists such as Hans Haacke and Andrea Fraser, the practice has been limited somewhat to the world of the white cube gallery. While many an astute consumer of contemporary art would jump at the chance to point out the Metropolitan Museum's connection to South African apartheid in the 1980s, or Mobil's commitment to funding art for its proven value as a "social lubricant", it seems that the wing of the culture industry reserved for New Media goes largely unconsidered in terms of institutional analysis. While the institutional criticism of the 1970s, 80s and 90s is well established and historicized (albeit marginalized), it seems that their is another blind spot already developed. The New Media Culture Industry Archive (NMCIA) will be an exercise in mapping New Media as political economy and examining the intersections and implications of popular rhetoric around Art and Technology. The project will exist primarily as a series of audio tours developed for both online and offline venues and made available for download at www.NewMediaCIA.com. The first stage of the project will consist of developing a series of tours for premier New Media websites and their affiliates. New Media consumers on the web will be able to visit their favorite sites with accompaniment from a virtual tour guide keen on pointing out the attitudes, relationships and prevailing ideologies that make up the New Media industry. 

Collaboration:  If there is enough interest, it is quite possible that NMCIA could be opened up as a collaborative project.  Participants could submit their own audio tours of new media sites and NewMediaCIA.com could serve as an archive of these tours.  I have spoken to Ryan Griffis, with whom I have previously collaborated and who has done quite a few touring projects of his own, and he has expressed interest in collaborating on this project. I would imagine that other artists who work in the touring genre may be interested in this online version of touring.

Timeline:  The project would be ongoing, but it is estimated that the site would be up and functioning with a collection of audio tours already archived by september '06.

Budget:  Estimated 500.00 - Linux Copper hosting through rhizome, domain name for one year and minimal labor costs.

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