Thursday, July 9, 2009

Winding down SOL 2.0 Day 2

Things have been going well, but it gets tiring, I can tell my temper is getting a little frayed.
It's hard to maintain all of it.  Someone from the press wants a video, someone tweets me, tthe highway is jammed, my family calls - is this the telematic embrace?  In some ways, it's brutal.  People see your every move.  

It's the ticket you buy, but is it worth it?

Well, today, we talked about outer space vs. cyberspace.  Is our love for the universe suddenly turned inward?  A lot of people say yes, some reject the turn away from the stars.  A lot of it is generational.  Perhaps this is a generation who remember the Apollo program well.   My students do not; they are mostly post-Nintendo kids.  They know the shuttle, but don;t know the Moon.  They might know Star Trek the Next Generation, but not the original for what it was.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009








Breakfast with Orchid.

I'm overwhelmed...

Last night was the first night.
Sort of felt like the first time.
I had the word "LOVE" up on the screens all over the place.
within 15 minues, there were almost a hundred people. It was really, really good.
So We (Second Front and I) did Ono and Lennon's "Peace Bed" and everyone seemed to love it.
About 20-30 people asked for hugs, 
earlier in the day a bunch of the raglan shire Second Life tiny avatars made sculptures about Love, and I printed out the winners.

I got home at 9, and I was so tired.  But I kept getting tweets all night.  
Wow.
This morning, I'm blogging, and having breakfast in thePeace Bed with my friend "Orchid" from Buffalo.
We have a video about last night going up.
It's really a snug fit being in the telematic embrace, I think.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Someone already gets it.

I was telling someone on Second Life about this event and they told me about an artist who engaged in "sousveillance" on themselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_M._Elahi

Over 20,000 images over three years. Amazing.
This is not for exactly the same reason; I think we're both struggling against nets of control. Mine is taylorist; his is against another type of oppression.

Are we in a new Summer of Love?

Welcome to my the new Summer of Love.
My name's Patrick Lichty, and I'm an artist in Chicago.
I spend a lot of time by myself, but I'm almost never alone.
I have 1300 friends on Facebook, hundreds on my iPhone, and more on my Myspace.
This guy says we're in the Summer of Love 2,0. I'm Simon and the world is Garfunkel.
Are we?
Is our age of collective individualism(TM) through social networks really a new "Summer of Love"?  Is it sharing the love, or needing more friends for personal branding?

I want to talk about love and collective togetherness, and about some real conections with people.

What is love since 1967?  Has it just become being on someone's friend list?
From July 7-12 (I imagine longer, I will not allow myself to not be available to you.  If you see me online, I'll be there unless I'm sleeping.  

I surrender myself to ALL the nets and my network of love starting July 7th.
Every day, I ask a different aspect of "What is Love?"  Can we share love today or is it all screens? Can you love me? 
Can I love you? 
Can we show love for the world?
Can we love our enemies?
Is Love free anymore? 
Is there love in the telematic embrace? 
Can we collectively care for one another?

Why, or why not?