alt.youth.media
The New Museum of Contemporary Art
September 6. - November 5.
Based on an impressive and challenging collection of print media, "zines", the show also offers a deep dip into the world of videos and interactive computer projects realized by the youngest parts of these gatherings.
Most interestingly the exhibition offers a massive amount of content dealing with issues of identity formation. For example I had several discussions with people about how early in their lives these individuals seek definition--the pressure to do so must be immense. Instead of taking the early years after sexual awakening as a period for playing around--they join groups of adult-identity definitions like gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender within the accelarated frames of new media.
alt.youth.media offers a glimpse of a generation which seems to have very little time for being teenagers. Maybe the obvious issue of alt.youth.media is the channeling of the social pressure being used by both mainstream education and independent educational efforts of adult groups--who are pushing youth culture into the hard zones of identity ideologies.
Don't expect much formalism or abstraction. If you go next door to escape into Mediascape at the Guggenheim you will see the reverse of the side of the coin, highly stylized installations of technical brilliance depicting games, jokes or well known foregone conclusions.
But alt.youth.media deals with real problems, real new media expressions, and the fun of real people.
Rainald Schumacher
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Responds:
G.H. Hovagimyan -- gh@thing.net
Responds:
I basically liked the show, especially the 'zines but Iwonder about the New Museum. The display techniques are so stylized. They look casual but somehow it always looks like an Artists' Space halfway house for observing lifestyle abberations. I know the young people of our society have more on the ball than whats being presented at the New Museum. Perhaps that's why you felt as if they were under pressure to grow up too soon. Maybe in that stale museum context masquerading and cutting edge hip it the only way to read what's there. G.H. Hovagimyan
kath kerswell -- k.kerswell@gu.edu.au
Responds:
I'm really interested in more info. where is this based? is there a mailing list etc
Serge Khripoun -- xlart@redline.ru
Responds:
Rainald, you've given an interesting thing here. Thank you for taking alt.youth problems into world cultural context. I'm back on the net, and, if you decide it possible, may continue contributing art news from Moscow. My new e-mail is xlart@redline.ru All in all The Thing is the thing! Best wishes, Serge