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on_publishing

on publishing

Valiz: “We are not happy with Big Tech’s grip on the world and have decided to gradually transition from Meta-owned platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) towards more decentralized alternatives. Why? Because we believe in a more transparent and equitable internet, where users have more control over their data and where digital spaces aren’t controlled by a handful of tech giants. You can now find us at: Mastodon(@valiz_books) and Bluesky (@valizbooks.bsky.social). We are also maintaining our presence on LinkedIn (@valizbooks), and we’ve switched to Signal for secure private messaging.”

Mastodon = federated It’s an open-source, decentralized social media platform that’s part of the Fediverse. There’s no social media algorithm. No ads. No monetization.

Moving beyond the scope of traditional art work and, ever more decisively, from the private domain to the public arena and from criticism to participation, Baruchello forged alternative systems that were no longer merely imaginary, but based on fruitful relationships between individuals, and between individuals and the environment. Baruchello replied to Duchamp’s call for silence by – quite literally – getting his hands dirty.

platforms struggling for views in the attention economy

“the proposed way out consists not so much in the creation of networks as such but of building meeting points (note: not platforms). Such hubs or nodes can be designed as points of aggregation, temporary centers of activity; while the platform is aimed at economic exchange and (data) extraction, the aim of the hub is to create commonality. There can be a thousand hubs but only one plateau (Lovink, Stuck on the platform, p. 25).

“Platform has become a meta concept, a flexible container filled with promises and dreams”

“So key is to getting out is finding forms of self-organization that work. How to organize in the shadow of the perpetual present, without being bothered by filters, trolls, secret services, algorithms, and other automated authorities?” (Lovink, Stuck on the platform, p. 111).

“There is a crisis of distribution. With bookshops closing and libraries going digital, it is becoming clear that the twentieth century Media Question is no longer about the what – content and ideology– but about the how.”

“If concepts matter and images hurt, then how does this relate to the real existing nihilism of our experienced information overload?”

“There’s something about a particular kind of underground that closes its doors to the rest of the world that is actually very valuable. It gives you a sense of what you’re doing, otherwise, you’re lost in a void, and you’re just pissing in the ocean.”(Svenonius)