Theorizing the Web
A little over a week ago I lectured at the Theorizing the Web conference hosted by the Sociology Department at the University of Maryland. In addition to a number of edifying lectures, the conference also had the unusual twist of breaking from the academy with an opening night artistic component. Held at the Irvine Contemporary Gallery in D.C., we were treated to an extended clip of “We Live in Public” the acclaimed documentary about Josh Harris by Ondi Timoner. I had the good fortune of working on a profile on Josh Harris a number of years ago while at the now-defunct Radar Magazine, so I was especially psyched about watching the film. (And it lived up to expectations.)
The “street artist” Gaia was also there for a lively Q&A about his work. Gaia has an astute awareness of the meta-ness of his work, and the conflicts and potential distortions that result from his practice of posting photos online of his street art immediately after he completes it. I really dug talking with him. I’m pretty sure he’s not yet twenty but he has a command of pomo theories, and the tools to articulate them as they relate to his work, that bests most doctoral students.
My lecture on FDS, excitingly, went over great. There were a number of questions from the audience after the presentation, and a small line of people waiting to talk privately with me to take the discussion further after allotted time expired. I think this screen shot of the Twitter feed that went out during my lecture captures things nicely!
