Week 13, Ephemera and Performance: A Recipe for Joie de vivre

My intent is to not promote the mercantile aspect through this link;
rather it is the spirit of the marketing message that is apropos.
http://www.joiedevivre.net/

Within the intimate confines of reading Craig Saper’s Networked Art (my reading as an act of intimacy), I was struck most by the idea of intimate bureaucracies, specifically how these “works are about process, contingencies, and group interactions, not lasting truth or eternal beauty” (150) .  Interactions between and among people as the canvas (sociopoetic artworks) and as a means of expression is such a lovely way of seeing community as art and as a means of amplifying not only the infinite possibilities of “exchange” (namely a system of communication), but also a way to understand and value interpersonal and sociopersonal relationships (systems of people).  In this system of collectivity, one where “everyone an artist,” where barter and trade become the means of exchange (a return to a hybrid form of feudalism/tribalism—without the elite—on the coat-tails of capitalist bureaucracy??), there is a sense of hopeful energy around reciprocity. 

Meditation 2 by Seo, Young-Deok
http://youngdeok.com/

It seems tangential, but mail-art networks first reminded me of a potential foil: the dreaded chain letter (of the hoaxes and urban myth variety).  It was not so much because of the content, but because of the system used to circulate such things. The chain part is what interested me, namely how it is really a circuit system full of nodes.  What happens at each of those nodes is the exchange, the moment the sender/receiver relationship prompts an action, meanwhile there is still a continuous energy and flow within the system.  Multiple exchanges can take place and each is different. 

Now I wondered about a type of chain letter and how it seems to capture the spirit of intimate bureaucracy.  Many years ago I received a snail mail chain letter (time seems important here), but it was a prompt and request to send off favorite recipes to a number of people (6 I think) in order to receive a multiple amount in return.  The exponential potential was silly, really.  While the intent was not a means of challenging art processes, it still was in the spirit of engendering community and sharing.  Eating as an intimate encounter was facilitated through a different space: the mail system.  While there was a

http://eatocracy.cnn.com/category/make/family-recipe-index/

pragmatic intent as well, the potential mystery of what recipes you would receive and from where and whom was all in the fun as well.  Normally I was annoyed at such gimmicks, but for whatever reason I actually participated and for a few weeks I received dozens of recipes, some from people I knew but the majority from perfect strangers—some transnational even (a six degrees of separation rule applied, I am sure).  What I enjoyed was not so much the recipes, but instead the letters some people wrote that prefaced why the recipe was a favorite, its familial history and /or roots, as well as funny anecdotes and jokes.  The intimacy of the meal was implied through the recipe and in the dialogue and interaction between the senders and receivers.  It was an imagined, shared meal through the mail system.  

Works Cited

Saper, Craig J.  Networked Art. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2001.  Print.