Introductory Statement

Pacific Rim New Media Summit Introduction

The Pacific Rim New Media Summit would seem to be an anachronism, at a time when theorists of an interconnected planet promise new kinds of community based on affinity and mutual interest rather than the geographical accident of one’s birthplace or cur-rent residence.
Yet when the initial planning for the 2006 International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA2006) began, there was a very rapid consensus to highlight the connections of San Jose, California, with the Pacific Rim. There is sound historical and sociological rationale for this focus. The population of California is rich with immigrant communities from Central and South America and the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Thus an articulation of local-global analysis lays one ground for such a discussion.
Yet there are strong internal contradictions to such a focus. Although diaspora communities maintain strong connections within family and culture for generations, it is less obvious how to contextualize the juxtaposition of communities based on geography or ethnicity.
An art-science researcher or technological artist in Peru may have far more to discuss with a colleague in the Basque region of Spain than with a colleague in South Korea.
Networks are not neutral carriers of connection; there are strong asymmetries in directionality and modulation of sense and meaning. Network theory is useful in helping us to understand the consequences of protocols, standards and graph theory on how networks develop and what behaviors are encouraged or discouraged. Cliches about “six degrees of separation” hide unsettling patterns that are emerging in our globalized culture. One can meaningfully talk about “electronic monasteries”, walled digital communities that promote internal connectivity and discourage most attempts at external permeability.

• Roger F. Malina, Summit Co-Chair, Executive Editor, Leonardo Chair, Leonardo/ISAST

Full text (PDF) p. 287-288