site map
				http://community.walkerart.org
[ 1 ] TeleZone Erich Berger, Peter Purgarthofer, Volker Christian [ 2 ] channelUntitled Diane Bertolo [ 3 ] Light on the Net Masaki Fujihata [ 4 ] Ouija 2000 Ken Goldberg [ 5 ] Community Ochen K [ 6 ] Re:mote_corp@REALities Tina LaPorta [ 7 ] Telematic Manifesto Randall Packer [ 8 ] Superchannel Superflex [ 9 ] clip.fm Angie Waller
		Community, 2001 Ochen K
		"Community" attempts to present a more nuanced notion of community from a Thoeauvian solitude to the community of bowling leagues. Specifically, it is presented in relation to three ideas. First, the idea our society perpetuates that any bond outside of the construct of either the first family we are born into, or the second family that we create through marriage and childbirth must, and will, always supersede those bonds of friendship and community. The segregation of the "nuclear family" from the extended kin and community forced women to become more dependent on the individual man, and children to become more dependent on the individual woman. This dependency created the much used opportunity for the abuse of that power. The second idea is the contemporary agreement by the "social capitalists" like Putnam and de Souza Briggs, that the notion of "community," and its relevance to daily life has been waning over the last half century. It is generally noted, but often downplayed, that while the traditional models of community such as the church, recreational clubs, the PTA, political parties, etc. have shown a steadily declining membership count, new models of community, such as self-help groups, social movements, and especially the Net, have flourished in membership ratios as well as group counts. The third idea, is that of a deeper understanding of the difference between loneliness and solitude. It is a distinction we all know to exist, but find difficulty in seeing it practiced in our own lives. Without that understanding, community is nothing but a home for codependency. An important aspect of "Community," is that the online experience of the site varies according to how many people are connected at the time. Commissioned by Gallery9/Walker Art Center with funding from the Jerome Foundation. http://community.walkerart.org http://www.walkerart.org/gallery9/community http://www.ochenk.com