SM2221 Spatialized Narratives v.2
Linda Lai / November 23, 2004
[brown fonts: important additional notes which was NOT covered in the class discussion]
I.
Justin’s discussion of “Networked Art” (part II)
New examples of urban space as data space following up on last week’s highlights
on the characteristics of new media art which emphasizes process and open-endedness
II.
Linda’s round-up…
Spatialization
(crossing space)
(1) Networks

point-line-network
(in maps as well as in new
theories of connectivity)
Points can be a location, can be a
person as well.
(2) Morphological transformation
transformation across space
[transform = changing shape,
changing form, changing mode of
existence]
transformation via variation,
juxtaposition and sequencing
Narrative possibilities
*sequential ordering + relationship formed as a
result
*emphasis on narrative process and narrative
activities themselves over narrative products
(such as a story idea, a work that can be
interpreted, a lesson that can be talked about
etc.)
 *in many new forms of art, the narrative
process is realized via spatialization: networkformation (formation of relations) and spatial
transformation (morphology)
The place of the “object” in networked art/data space:
The situation of the “object” is precarious…
“Objects” in networked art are NOT the final work, BUT the agent of connectivity,
that is, the very factor that keeps a creative process going.
In digital networked art (internet-based/in virtual space), the transfer of objects is the
transfer of (digital) signals and data.
#By comparison, the “object” occupies a central position in works that highlight
morphological transformation. The “object” itself is the very location where
narrative possibilities take form, and where the narrative process unfolds.
Mapping/ Drifting/Psycho-geography
Mapping is the spatialization of networks and relations
Map and tour-making:
 Maps are specific versions of production of space by the map-makers.
They serve certain functions and not others, highlight certain topographic
features but not others; they argue for certain concern and not
others…without telling us implicitly. They should be studied carefully
because they quietly suggest preferred tours from one point to another with
preferred routes. This is where we start to identify what we want to
critique.
 (existing) Maps provide opportunities for us to create new possible tours
as creative/critical intervention. They allow us to (re-)produce space.
Map is a kind of representation of space…(via space).
Drifting…
To break away from routine in order to
-critique culture (capitalist consumer culture, commodification, alienation)
-re-discover and experience our subjectivities
(…through rule-making, rule-driven situation-creation)
 Thus the importance of psycho-geography, which is a paradoxical term in itself:
“psycho-” = something emotive, inner, from within the person
“geography” = emphasizing the exterior, what is observable and knowable on
the surface of the earth
Psycho-geography should be above discovering one’s moods and emotions (some of
the many facets of ourselves) and to express in topographic terms.
That’s why “mapping” and “map-making” are the very naturally convenient methods.
In the context of drifting and psycho-geography, maps are…
 representation of space
+
 representation of subjectivities
 (and therefore) maps are “representational spaces”
SUMMARY: THREE key issues
(1) focus on discovery and use of appropriate rules
(2) Psycho-geography: discovery and articulations of subjectivities, emotions…
(3) Two rounds/levels of creation:
1st – citing the situation + rule-making
2nd – finding the right form to represent the experience (the findings, the
process, transformation to a mediated form with a unique language of its own,
e.g. a map, a video, a painting, a photo series…)
Installation – Site-specific installation
“Installation” – a 20th-century category
Precursor (ancestor) of “installation”: sculpture
Similarities between installation and sculpture:
-takes up horizontal space, carries spatial orientation
-involves viewers differently from paintings
Installation’s implication:
 mixed-media creation
 employment of everyday-life objects
Other important conceptual input that influenced the development of installation and
the evolvement of site-specific installation:
- conceptual art
o critique of the primacy of art object
o abolishing the boundary between production and explanation of art
o abolishing the boundary between art object and theory/criticism
o critique of the gallery and museum space as the only legitimate art
space
- art as everyday life
- public art