In Australia, we have traditionally been seen (and seen ourselves) as the isolated continent, far from the cultural centres of Europe and the U.S. Vast distances and cultural differences between artists cause blurred, under-exposed flashes of self-definition.
The American popular culture machine is evident not only on the telescreens all around us but has, in recent years, transcended the mass media and become part of the Australian social consciousness. While the disappearance of natural spaces and species captures the media limelight, the cultural psyche too is disintegrating in rays of economic rationalism. Personal fortresses replacing the collective as artists are encouraged to strive for individual goals independent of the artistic community. Artists fall into nomadic states and are left to wander around the fringe, occasionally passing one another to make a brief camp and celebrate the creative.
In this selection for Alt-X, we have indicated the Australian artist's unique reaction to popular culture and contemporary theory. We have included Australian writers, artists, performers and thinkers that work outside the safety of mainstream artistic practices. We hope that with the intervention of the Internet, space will collapse further, allowing artistic communities to interact on a global scale. This is our own space, defined only by the limits of creative thought, representative of the greater, travelling towards a new arena as inner complexities transcend the bounds of rational discourse.
We seek to function outside the safety of mainstream artistic practices in offering an alternative for Australian artists while representing contemporary Australian thought to the international comunity.
We welcome any further Australian submissions from potential creatives. We welcome international criticism.
Believe.
E+ Samiam@daemon.apana.org.au
P+ 613-9419-6183.
S+ 1st Floor 325 Smith St. Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia 3065.
Z
OPEN :
--the agents of rudimentary banality are amongst us--in some cases sleeping in the same bed- wearing our clothing and infiltrating the coitus nature of the creative--men and women who seek the lids to biros and the boxes for dead matches-people who wish to clarify-for their own sake- the evolving form of literature--their tools sharp and quick moving titles-sub-headings and catalogues for lexicons and cliques--so fast are they to gun down an idea into formal submission so that the wounded concept can never walk freely again--there has become a referendum of knowledge as the stars are joined together to participate in murals- a twisting of the cosmos to suit a selfish and personal ideal--literature can no longer walk safely in the streets-it lives in fear of being snapped up and dissected- of being poorly mimicked- of falling ill to fumbling hands- of hurting itself on the sharpened prongs of pragmatism which carelessly lay the walkways and footpaths of Intelligentsia-that corrupt city--yet those agents who's pedestrian task it is to classify are nothing in comparison to the architects of this impoverished development--these are the true villains-the undisputable criminals of neglect--i am of course bringing to your attention the traitors of literature itself- the brutus' de biro--average writers who seek the defamation of creative- intelligent thought--people who create rough entanglements of imagination--orchestras like postgrunge and naturalism grow in chorus as the harmonies of incompetence echo boldly throughout cafes-bars-bookshops-stages-readings-magazines and more recently-the electronic media--self-indulgent epithymetics of thought--stories hopelessly searching for a subject-an idea-an ellusive construct of the author--these vacuous opus' of creation only devitalise free-innovative-thought while confirming the safety of conservatism and generally bad literature--even the avantgarde is only moments away from becoming generic-that soon it shall be reduced to eau de toilette-captured in polished glass and chrome with a pump action nozzle--this is a calling to arms-to pens and keyboards-to voices and bodies-to rise with us and defeat these agents-to destroy the very roots of this evil and stamp clean its habits--this is the bugle call of ATTACK FORCE Z--join with us and grant your aid to the construction of a new literary renaissance-
ATTACK FORCE Z+
1-literary terrorism-for we must use any means at our disposal to defeat mundanity--we must use whatever resources and tactics we can to reinvent the original-the creative--we must be merciless in battle-strong in the face of fear as we deliver our work--we must strike while they are weak--we must come from nowhere and physically disappear-hiding between the faces of a crowd-while mentally and intellectually resonating in memory--
2-prose et poetry-there needs to be new destinies-new dreams--they must be well crafted--they must pertain the essence of constructive thought-of directional creativity--they must be pure and innovate--they must explore the limits of language and form-however perilous--they must indulge in only what is necessary--they must give birth to vision and insight--
3-hostage negotiation-we must on all occurrences protect and defend the ignorant-weak and lost--it is of extreme priority that unsuspecting audiences be quickly and calmly ushered to safety--saved from the unnecessary torture of archetypal performances and publications--we must remove the innocent to increase the chances of an accurate strike-to isolate the perpetrator while in the act--
4-drive-by haiku-the renaissance must be prolific--a proliferation of content must confront the general public--electronic-posters-pamphlets-graffiti-publishing-all of which are spontaneous and true to their course--all of which confirm creation--the bus stop-supermarket-street must become the audience--we shall use their temples as targets--our work must be executed with extreme prejudice--
5-performance-members must not confuse the coy word of ~confrontational~ with art--for we aim to educate-reinvent-present and establish true literature--we must perform work-monopolise readings-book launches and staged events--we must use our bodies-our physical essence-the epigenic ideal-as presence to reinforce the hermetic-the vision--we must draw attention to ourselves in every capacity--we must strike now--
CONTACT:-61-3-9419-6183-
samiam@daemon.apana.org.au