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BY John Biweekly

Although we do read, we’re all but Readers now. We watch, comment, listen, click, send, follow, spy even. So what do we call this ‘position’? E-pedestrians? Web Travelers? Over-reactive Responders?

I thought I’d write a letter. I addressed it with the “Dear” part, and that’s where I’m still at. Stuck. Hopefully not for good. Although we do read, we’re all but Readers now. A bunch of truisms follows: we watch, comment, listen, click, send, follow, spy even (how often!)(how easy it is to repress the awareness). Then there’s the remix layer: we react, convert, redo, develop, and so on. Thus I’m missing vocabulary here. Maybe it’s just me, or maybe it’s the language that is incapable of following the changes, slightly inadequate these days.

So what do we call this “position”? E-pedestrians? Web Travelers? Over-reactive Responders? Recipients of Data has the most dignity to it.

cover: Sławomir BelinaDear Recipients of Data,

The Kraków Film Festival has come to an end. Błażej Hrapkowicz gives us true insight into the documentary nuances and the Polish festival scene in general. That’s as far as film goes. In the art department we’ve got Karol Sienkiewicz’s article about Alina Szapocznikow and her sculptures. Take your time to watch Connie Butler’s presentation on the subject registered by the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.

Eager collectors of myths and How are we supposed to live now? touch upon the touchy subject of the recent plane crash near Smolensk. Because we want to understand how it affected us as a community, and expose the negative aspects of that impact. We hold no taboos.

To lighten things up we direct your Sensors towards the Fiction section, where Ola Bilińska brilliantly interpreted Justyna Bargielska’s poem. And there’s another Videonotation “to solve”. If you’re in Warsaw you might want to visit Galeria M2 to see Mikołaj Długosz’s freshly opened 1994 exhibition, and purchase the album that comes with it. As we read on the back cover: “In 1994 Mikołaj Długosz combined his passion for anthropology of the everyday and collecting unexciting photographs with his aestheticism and sensitivity to the beauty of the world. 1994 is a catalogue of items without prices, shifted beyond their commercial context, beyond history, as the project’s title indicates.” It’s a great trip in time for me. I have almost completely forgotten the aesthetics of the 90s and the raw touch of the advertising shots of the time. Although I guess it didn’t feel raw in 1994.

To continue the trip in time one must go from 1994 to 1989 and see Chris Niedenthal’s photo of the “Velvet Revolution”. Then move on to the ABC of New Culture section, where Mirek Filiciak and Alek Tarkowski ponder the roots of Creative Commons, and really get in touch with the future reading about 3D. Although, I guess, it's not the future anymore, but today.

All the best in the upcoming two weeks,

John Biweekly
Yours Truly Data Sender

Biweekly#4. Editor: Agnieszka Słodownik. Cover by Sławomir Belina. Issued 19 June 2010 at 12:12.