Was perhaps more mesopotamian than messianic... Or Babbelonian * at least... Anything but a coherent and organized exchange of prepared papers or eloquent presentations... The convergence of the two groupings was in itself a study in the dynamics of non-human interaction in a network theory... So to speak.
Arriving a different times on different biological rhythms, we took a while to sync up our projects... The MRCVE had a more systematic approach, based on short practical meetings at which the necessary material would be listed and the role of each member outlined... To then swing into action and work to schedule.
The Buktapaktop had a more interrelational approach: the basic agenda as set out at the beginning would function as a fall-back position, but on the whole each member did more or less their own research, with the occasional overlapping and collaborative effort... But on the whole quite individualistic.
( it should be said here that the two groups are by nature qite different: MRCVE is a team of 4 scientific artists, whereas Buktapaktop is usually a delegation, sometimes even with non-members, representing a loose gathering of artistic patacyclitians, each representing a different approach and school of thought...)
Our itineraries overlapped but were far from congruent... Aside from arriving a day later, combined activities depended on project specific work schedules, and these only occasionally coincided. Both groups assisted the presentation at the KloHäuschen by "ok Decay" and we did have a combined meal& conference together to have a bit of an idea as to the possible combination lf our projects, but on the whole each group operated autonomously... With short combined encounters in which a well oiled collaboration became apparent ( we had in the past worked together and so this was uncomplicated ) This included the Picknick at the Kunstpavillon and the Köskfestival parade, as well of course, the evening hours in which more informal exchanges would take place over a glass of beer... And a plate of food, and merriment... As with the evening at Einstein ( Opean 8 ) in which members of the MRCVE actively assisted members of Buktapaktop in the execution of their presentation...
(whether this could be construed as 'participation' in the sense of the guidelines set out by the actor-network theory remains to be discussed, although our interest was mainly in the non-human actors...)
The programming during the week was mainly based on the initial proposal by Buktapaktop, with MRCVE free to decide at short notice to participate or assist, depending on priorities, since the MRCVE had a specific goal and timetable to adhere to... Which already was quite tight, and, being novices at the proposed techniques used, were unsure of interim results... Any mishap could have thrown their schedule way off...
Buktapaktop on the other hand just had to more or less show up at a time and place proposed and from there on in improvise (or, depending on each individual members' preference, execute a prepared piece)... The question arises whether the different methods used constitute in themselves an affect or actor... Non-human, then, and eventually just as determining as the objective object produced by the methods used. The MRCVE had a clear material view, method and goal... Whereas the Buktapaktop group engaged in far less specific aims and manners in which to achieve them (possibly, if these aims were not entirely changed by the methods themselves en route...) here the question was if the process of discovery could become determinant and identified as actor...
( what springs to mind here is the difference between a moonstone and a moon rock...)* see stone page....
If, for arguments' sake, one were to propose each group as a network of(human) actors, what would one call the interaction between them: a superimposition? A doubling of networks, an interchange? Interface? An agency? And, doe it have bearing on theAffect?
Q - given that more traditional group dynamics are fluid, and can change easily from positivist cooperation to complete blockage or breakdown of functionality... And this the compounded by doubling of two groups...
(the playroom (Spielraum ) as psycholaboratory or even geophilosophical space in which the affect presides over practical decisionmaking) - in this speific instance though the silkscreen studio was more active than the playroom as provided... The interaction was also more one of actor & territory (co-actor in this case)...
By combining the two approaches in a territory not their own, the groups had to negotiate different variables at the same time, and with their own means. The territory itself was subdivided in different areas, each with a specific project and/or history, method and context. The stabilising aspect was the central position of "Die Färberei" which functioned as (occupied) headquarters throughout...
pre/historical
Well a combined history goes back quite a ways:
It was by way of performance artist Danny Devos from Club Moral that I first came into contact with the Messianic Research Center for Visual Ethics (MRCVE/MVET) back in 2005 I think it was: they were on a investigative Benelux tour and were getting in touch with various organizations, of which one was Factor 44, for which I was working at the time... We showed their work during that summer, and we spent some time together gathering information and visiting interesting places for their report... among the places we visited (along with the Lion of Waterloo and Herman Teirlinckhuis in Beersel) was the Bureau Du Port at the rue Simonis 20 in Brussels... where they did a small cameo appearance as MVET... to participate in a perfo festival the MRCVE were instrumental in creating, along with tehdas.ry and which we continued to participate in 2007 they also did a full-fledged presentation at the Bureau du Port back in 2009 (?)... and we traveled to Pori and Tampere again in 2011, this time under different guises: F44 longer existed and we were just embarking on an adventure that was to become Bukta Paktop later on but at that point was called “aporia” as working title.
By that time MRCVE had been doing a lot of work with Patrick Morarescu such as the Neuschwanstein project and the 7 for the price of one tour. Of course we had sooner or later to meet: “Second” performance festival in Berlin. (2012)...
both photographs by PMorarescu (top one cut)
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