I recently received word that my session “Exhibiting Software” has been selected for the 2008 Ubuntu Live Conference. I am so excited to be involved and look forward to learning from everyone there. Ubuntu is a relatively new flavor of the Linux operating system that is aiming to be the Apple Inc. of the Linux world. Linux as a whole is only used on 2% of the world’s computers, but by contrast runs 70% of the world’s websites. Ubuntu is an even smaller pie, occupying conservatively 30% of the total Linux market.

There are very few artists that I meet who would delve into the nerdiness that is spending any length of time discussing Linux, but then again, there are few SXSW Interactive visitors that would care to dissect the finer points of Jeff Koons’ Inflatable Hulk installation at the Lever House (pictured right). So where in the social Venn Diagram do these disparate groups meet? For some, it will no doubt be the philosophy of the GNU/Linux project. For others, it will be the price (free) and the ability to recycle old computers into digital art projects. And for still others, the meeting point at which the Art world meets the Linux world will be when Linux can provide the platform through which exhibitions can have supplementary material more easily presented about more traditional forms of art.

Regardless of those potential incentives, I believe Linux will become integral to the exhibition of software in contemporary galleries as we move forward, if for no other reason than the fact that Linux can emulate almost all the operating systems that have come before it. For archival purposes alone, Linux is an attractive endeavor for the future digital curators among us who seek to present exhibitions that include older digital works that no longer function correctly on current machines. Many early net.art pieces relied on early web technology that simply won’t run on the latest crop of high-powered machines.

Is it just a Kiosk, then?

My talk will be very brief, as I do not have the experience of artists such as Zach Booth Simpson, Joshua Davis or Jared Tarbell. The focus of the talk will center primarily on my experience working with Ubuntu Linux to create a kiosk designed for the traditional art gallery environment to adequately convey the digital experience of the High Five project proposal (pictured at right). Namely, I will cover:

Technical Concerns

• Art is always difficult economically, Ubuntu allows for computer re-use, dedicated computer that is not the artist’s primary computer
• Free Software, so entire project is therefore available for redistribution, re-deployment, no license fees to sell it, exhibit it
• Show proper setup of wireless router / computer combo to insure access to web
• Show the proper configuration for a boot immediately into Firefox
• Firefox plugin that locks onto a single webpage, kiosk-like operation
• Firefox resets every 10 minutes, insures experience begins at correct place, removes possibility of excessive shenanigans
• Proper screensaver settings
• Uninterruptible power supply, automate the turning on of the work
• Linux has a strong track record of sustained uptime - used on many webservers for his reason

Gallery Ritual Concerns

• Art is predominantly Mac market - it will not replace this currently
• Wireless access is key, negotiations with gallery
• Proper concealment, locking down of computer
• Have slanted screen, or projector - more comfortable than flat-on-the-wall screen
• Have a mouse but no keyboard

If I have left something out or you would like to share your experience with software in the gallery and its failure or success, please add a comment, or send me an email. I am most interested in how the presentation/orientation/interface of the work effected its experience, and how to improve the presentation of digital works in traditional gallery spaces.

Exhibiting Software
July 22 2008 : 4:20 - 5:10p
Ubuntu Live - Oregon Convention Ctr - Rm 2
Portland, Oregon

tags: portland, oregon, ubuntu, linux, contemporary-art, software, kiosk, ubuntu-live

There is a local web designer named Kaz Raad re-selling my work without my permission. Dear Kaz, stop being a jerk and charging people for stuff I made that you modified slightly. If you are working with him, please know that he is charging you for work that I was not properly paid for. I will not link to his site, but you can google “a dark maze” to find his oh-so-dark-and-oh-so-clever portfolio. As he puts it, “I made this.” Well, not really, you installed the code I made, butchered it, and didn’t ask if you could re-use it. Well played sir.

If any of his clients would rather work with a real web designer you should contact me. Most of the proof is in the code itself, but it is not hard to spot visually either. He is stealing all of this code from my original css/xhtml/php work at okaymountain.com which he recently took my name off the copyright (i think that might even be illegal). As expected though, the lazy Kaz Raad still left my name on the footer of the front page and the mailing list page. Here are the examples…

• okaymountain.com
• msieben.com
• handmadeaustinwomen.com (now changed)

Homepages

Here he at least changed a few font sizes and modified it from my more contemporary div-based layout to a table-based layout that would work with his Dreamweaver install. Notice they all follow the same news format (in the code it is exactly the same), News Headline, then “posted on 12/23/2008″, and then the paragraph. By keeping my stylesheet and css class definitions, Kaz was able to easily modify a few font-sizes and typefaces. The main menus and news items all use the same WordPress generated code that I created from templates.

Inner Page

Whether its the copied left-side navigation, the square thumbnails with captions that float, or the headline, it is pretty clear to me that some serious borrowing occurred here. Maybe I should be flattered?

Mailing List

I installed my customized version of web-insta mailing list for Okay Mountain, an open source software. He copied this installation, which the license allows for handmadeaustinwomen.com and msieben.com. It just bugs me how similar they are though.

If it weren’t obvious yet

I left the saddest example for last. In this screenshot of handmadeaustinwomen.com’s contact page (it’s on the about page also), you can clearly see that the title of this page still says “About OKMT”, which is stolen from the okaymountain.com page. I mean, come on Kaz, check for errors when you copy!

The backstory

This all started in 2006 when I designed okaymountain.com for the local Austin gallery upstart as a favor to Nathan Green and Michael Sieben, two really amazing Austin artists. Michael Sieben did most of the graphic design and came up with a really good look and logo. I spent time coding it out and working it into a WordPress template. They needed to be able to edit themselves, so I worked hard to make it easy to edit through WordPress. Then, I poured in the content they had, setup a custom mailing list php-based application. There was a lot of content because every artist involved had their own portfolio page. It took about 60 hours all-told, a full-time gig as far as I’m concerned, and a donation to the arts community in the hopes that another alternative space would thrive in Austin, Texas. I was taking a clear paycut for this work, as I passed up several freelance jobs to get it completed.

The agreed upon compensation for this site was a work from the opening exhibition by Jason Villegas. How cool is that right? The site was a bit slow because Okay Mountain had to host with really awful and unreliable Dreamhost to save money, but it worked and they were able to edit it, it looked like Michael Sieben’s designs, had a functioning mailing list and integration with flickr. Not bad for a first draft, and I was committed to making changes and updates throughout the year to make it better.

So I went to the preview for Jason’s show, picked out my piece (pictured below) and told Sterling Allen. Jason’s work is so elegant, I loved the little drawing and the details on the whale. I had to have it.

Sterling said the piece was too expensive at 1400, or maybe it was 1600, I can’t remember. Instead, he was willing to offer me $500 store credit…erhem I mean gallery credit. I was completely dumbfounded. Really? Even though we agreed to it? Even though I told you my expectations were for a piece with a market value over $3000, as I had done in previous trades? Even though my 60 hours were already done and you had a functioning site on time? Even though I would have charged you a lot more if you paid me hourly? What a fool I was to trust you bunch of schmucks.

I looked around to salvage the deal and discovered the brilliance of Sterling Allen’s business acumen. Okay Mountain doesn’t sell anything for $500. It was $100 or less, or $1000 or more. So I could either have 5 things of questionable collecting value, or I could pay the mountain another $700 for something that was really worthwhile. Genius, get your workers to buy stuff from the company store like them olden days. So I decided better just to grab the cash and maybe buy 1 item for 100 just to have a little memento of the whole thing, nevermind the updates that would have been made during the year as needed, and as part of the collective spirit I thought I was engaging in.

Then, they hit me again with it. Sterling couldn’t give me $500 in cash, because it was store credit and the store had to pay the artist 50 percent, so he offered me $250 bucks. So I said Okay mountain, you win, I’ll take the hush money. $250 for 60 hours of work. Thank you for respecting me as an artist and for supporting my work. Well played sir.

So what, why am I crying about it?

I have a problem with holding grudges. I do it rarely, but when I feel that someone has been a real asshole, and gotten away with it, it is always hard for me to shake. The Austin arts scene is sort of a walk-on-eggshells kind of scene, though, so noone really speaks in public about those things, although in private I hear differently. I have been so privileged with the opportunities I have received to exhibit in Austin, so it just comes with the territory I guess. You take your lumps and move on, and try to do better the next time. However, with everyone desperate for opportunity, any criticism is marginalized as an attempt to derail the potential success of some future austin arts market. My story about Okay Mountain will probably be included in this, we’ll see.

After reading the following article in the recent Austin Chronicle that essentially begged people to buy Austin art, or in more palatable and egalitarian terms “support” austin artists, I was struck by The Sterling Allen’s quote:

Not to reduce art-making to monetary terms, but an artist getting paid for his work translates to more studio time and other resources for making better art. No artist I contacted would stop making art for lack of sales – no one is an artist for the money – but having someone buy work can be the ultimate compliment and motivator to keep on working. And as your career gets more serious, it helps you pay for supplies, studio space, rent, life. As Sterling Allen explains: “[Getting paid] didn’t used to matter. I liked showing, and it was a bonus to sell. In the past few years, it has become more important. I respect my own work that much more, and it simply isn’t enough to have someone like it. I want to be rewarded for it. I also would like to get to the point where I wouldn’t have to go to work and sit at a computer all day and instead just focus on art. I will always make stuff no matter what, but it is very encouraging to sell work. It keeps you going. As we get more mature and ambitious in our practice, the cost of making work also goes up. I didn’t used to need a studio. I also didn’t used to worry about safely shipping work. The more serious and dedicated you become, the more expensive life gets.” Show And Sell by Clayton Maxwell, Austin Chronicle, May 14, 2008, Vol.27 No.28

It just breaks my heart that Sterling isn’t rewarded for his work (image at right) and that he has to sit in front of a computer all day to make art. Welcome to the elite club of privileged college educated kids who are lucky enough to have jobs in this economy working on a computer. Don’t take it for granted!

Clearly, the larger point that artists in Austin need to be paid for their works is correct, and they need to help educate the public on new forms of art and art experiences that they may not yet know about. But, we have been witness to an unprecedented boom in art prices and an unprecedented boom in the very very rich. This can not be over-stated so our expectations have to weathered with this knowledge. In addition, I think it is a little naive to think that you would be making a living as an artist after only 5 years out of college without an MFA from a major arts school in a major arts market, but every little bit of editorial coverage of the matter helps, i guess. If Austin wants to be a successful visual art market then we need to stop thinking that the work going into behind-the-scenes gallery work can all be volunteer. The incentive to make the arts market great will be driven by the potential profits, not just the not-for-profit grants which get sucked into new buildings instead of new works anyway.

Open Doors Expansion opened this past weekend. These are a few photos of my installation, Stairway followed by pictures of the work in progress and the original scale model. The work features a 20-foot steel staircase with a 6-inch cement base that surrounds a pre-existing wall and is covered in over 6500 collected/donated trophy statuettes.

Stairway will be on view at the Dallas Contemporary until January 12, 2008. I will continue updating this site with new photos, videos and text as it becomes available.

This installation would not have been possible without the help of my family, C+J Services, Martisa Asghari, Iraj Asghari, Alma Asghari, Leslie Connally, Joan Davidow, Benjamin Feldt, Till Richter, Arturo Palacios, Tristan Rhodes, Maximilian Toth, Jeremy at Austin MacFab, Myron at the Meadows Foundation, Cruz Reyna, Eagle Forklift, all the artists of Open Doors Collective and the hundreds of trophy donors who I have communicated with over the past two years. Photos by Shaune Kolber (1-3, 5,7), Hunter Cross (8,9) and Paul Abbott (4,6).

tags: dallas, open-doors, exhibition, dallas, contemporary-art, site-specific, large-scale, art, sculpture, installation, austin, dallas, events, news