This is the article we read.
'I Say Tear It All Down': Curator Legacy Russell on How 'Glitch Feminism' Can Be a Tool to Radically Reimagine the World | Artnet News
Of course, we have already spoken about the notion that the internet is a digital means to understand your identity and that of others, especially the identities of glitched bodies, as Legacy Russell explains.
This reading was an interview with Russell. It was interesting to understand their perspective a bit more through this more conversational interview format. That being said, I think that the message was not far off from what we have read in the Glitch Feminism readings #1 and #2.
Russell expands on the internet being a dystopian realm in this interview. “We’ve known for quite some time that the internet is not a utopia. It began as ARPANET. It had its roots in the military. It has always been used for corporate ends. It has never provided us complete freedom from the kind of challenges that afflict us away from our screens.”
This quote stuck out to me because I feel that much of what we use in society today was made for reasons other than what we currently use them for. Or at least the uses have expanded. Something that comes to mind is phones being used for far more than simply phone calls.
In this interview, Russell speaks about the Alone Together concept again. It's interesting that this is a topic in this class because, in another class, we went to a digital exhibition that also included a work called All Alone Together.
Here is the link for that piece.
The piece by Martina Menegon aims to exist at the intersection between ecstasy and anxiety. I think this piece has more to do with Sherry Turkle’s evaluation of the concept Alone, Together than it does Legacy Russell’s. Turkle and Menegon seem to be reflecting on the limitations of the internet and net art or digital spaces. Russell seems to recognize that these arguments may be true, but that the opposite sides of the arguments also exist — that the internet can serve as a community for those who are marginalized and treated without respect outside of digital realms. It has been interesting to sort of explore each side of this argument.
This reading ends with the following, “This is a moment where we should be thinking critically about how we, proudly broken and refusing to “fit,” can really truly break the system.” I hope to carry this quote with me as it feels hopeful in a time where hope can be hard to come by.