AMBIENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS Luksch / Patel (London 2009)
The publication (London: AIS, 2009) elucidates the work of Manu Luksch, Mukul Patel and collaborators as part of the wave of critical art that has emerged alongside the rise of digital networks. Interrogating the social and political transformations of the late 20th/early 21st centuries, their practice bridges art and activism, and recalls aspects of the 1910s-20s avant-garde and 1960s-70s conceptual and systems art.
A major essay by media theorist Armin Medosch situates the work of the London-based artists amidst the rise of the 'creative industries' idea, inner-city regeneration, and the dot-com boom. Medosch also discusses critical art in the light of 'open source culture' and offers an analysis that draws on systems theory. Other contributors to the book include independent media activist Keiko Sei on the 'camcorder revolution' in Burma; policy consultant and writer Naseem Khan on grass-roots regeneration in East London; activist/artist Siraj Izhar on praxis as process; and philosopher/dramaturge Fahim Amir on techno-democracy.
commissioned texts by Fahim Amir, Siraj Izhar, Naseem Khan, Armin Medosch, Keiko Sei, Shane Solanki
book design: Marion Mayr, Julia Juriga-Lamut
design concept: Manu Luksch, Marion Mayr, Mukul Patel
editor: Mukul PatelEnglish, some texts in German. Translator: Nicholas Grindell
400 pages, 6-colour hardbound, 17.5 x 23 cm
edition of 1,500 unique & numbered.now available at ambient.publishing. and Amazon
ISBN-13: 978-0-9556245-0-6
Review by Rob Myers, in: furtherfield 10/08/2010
Love, Piracy, and the Office of Religious Weblog Expansion (book launch performance)
More than a document, the book is part of a process that involves performance, and instigates another process that seeds the growth of a network of readers. Wherever the book is distributed, a 'censor station' will be set up, where a specific 1500-word text in the book is censored by hand before each copy is handed over. The censorship scheme is draconian – only a single word of this text is left uncovered in each book – but it is not completely destructive, since a different word survives in each copy of the edition of 1500. The entire text can thus be read by a collective effort (readers can share their words on a website).
Love, Piracy, and the Office of Religious Weblog Expansion is a performative book launch, and a collaborative reading project that continues online. If you are holding a copy of the book, click here to participate...
Text based on a conversation between Ali Alizadeh and Mukul Patel
Performance concept: Manu Luksch & Mukul Patel
Coding: Elke Michlmayr
limited artist edition of 1500, individually censored (of which 25 wrapped in steel)
Now available at ambient.publishing and performance venues
supported by Arts Council England; Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur (Austria)
To receive notification about the book launch and other upcoming events, subscribe to our monthly newsletter.