ECAM 2008 conference in Mexico City
Cybism @ ECAM 2008 Mexico City

These brief words are an attempt to outline for ECAM 2008 what I am calling Cybism by stating what I take to be its underlying attributes.

First the victory speech, in three parts (it can be clicked through), for anyone who went to bed early last night.

The right guy won last night, in my opinion the only possible guy. A McCain/Palin administration was unthinkable. I heard a number of people say they would move to Australia or Canada in such an eventuality. Then again, many spoke similarly before four years of Bush Père and eight years of W. Despite the suffering brought on by the Republicans - the wars, the sagging economy, the unilateral invasions, the stupid arrogance and secrecy, the lies and doublethink, the alienation of the US in world diplomacy, the hideous, hateful partisanship - America is amazingly resilient.

This story has spread all over the internet, but from the International Herald Tribune (among many sources) comes word that Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin was successfully misled by two comedians last Saturday into thinking she was speaking with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Known as "The Masked Avengers", the Canadian duo, Sébastien Trudel and Marc-Antoine Audette of CKOI, a radio station in Montreal, have pulled similar stunts on Mick Jagger, Bill Gates, Britney Spears, Jacques Chirac, Tiger Woods, and even on Sarkozy himself. But this was their coup de grace: pranking an already questionable candidate who would be the first female VP - just a heartbeat away from having her finger on the nuclear trigger - on the very eve of a hotly contested US presidential election. It casts further doubt on her judgment and readiness to assume important responsibilities.

The accumulation of culture
Culture – a build up of.
In Dialogue.
The Transmission-ability of culture.
Plateau Platformo.

The “cultural stealth” of our own existence has started to take its toll upon us. In a culture where the idea of transmission-ability//progress is given up in the name of Post Modernity, the disillusion and disenchantment
that is accredited by de-motivated academics, leaves us – both as artist practitioners and spectators – feeling somewhat alienated.

Barack Obama's father is from Kenya, and one of that East African country's well known musical groups, Kenge Kenge, has created a song of praise and support for their native son. Above is the "studio version", a video edited and produced in the UK. Below is a more extended and extemporaneous performance, seemingly recorded live at a backyard party in Nairobi.

Sperone Westwater has announced that the gallery will move to a new building at 257 Bowery in December 2009. British based Foster + Partners, headed by Norman Foster with Architects of Record Adamson Associates, have been commissioned to build the new nine-story gallery located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, one block north of the New Museum. Prompted by Sperone Westwater’s increasing need for larger and more flexible space, the Foster + Partners design will double the exhibition area and provide a variety of rooms for the gallery’s ambitious and diverse program.

Holler Back, a film written and directed by Lulu Fries’dat, is a dynamic exploration of why more young people are still not voting and participating in politics. The project needs to raise an additional $ 40,000 to cover finishing costs. A pre-election benefit is being held at

Katra, 217 Bowery, New York
Monday, November 3, starting 6:30 pm
Information and tickets:
http://www.hollerbackfilm.com/party.html

Wednesday, October 29 was Barack Obama's fourth appearance on The Daily Show. Jon Stewart asked some pointedly funny questions about the demonizing tactics that the Republicans have used and the negative punditry on the possibilities of an African American presidency.

Stewart: So much of this has been about fear of you. An elitist. A celebrity. A Muslim terrorist sympathizer. A socialist. A Marxist. A witch ...
The polls have you up, but then they keep talking about this Bradley Effect, this idea that white voters will tell pollsters they can vote for an African American, but they won't actually do it.

Obama: They've been saying that for a while, but we're still here. I don't think white voters have gotten this memo about the Bradley Effect.

S: Are you concerned that you may go into the voting booth, and your white half will all of a sudden decide, "I can't do this."

O: It's a problem. I've been going through therapy to make sure that I vote properly.

Most of us do not have a $150,000 clothing budget, supposedly the amount the Republicans have spent on duds for their VP nominee. But if you insist on dressing up like The Palin this Halloween, try to do so with a dash of originality and wit.

Girls and (apparently also) boys: PLEASE BE ADVISED. There will be a zero tolerance policy on non-clever and hastily assembled Sarah Palin costumes.

>>>If you are hosting a Halloween party, feel free to print this notice and post it near the door.<<<

Hendrik Hertzberg makes a good point about the hypocrisy of the Republican candidates trying to stir up fear of Obama by labeling him a socialist. It's one more example of desperate McCain/Palin doublethink as their defeat looms ever closer. The whole piece is worth reading, but I excerpt the conclusion below.