Re: <nettime> Netbase (1994-2006)

[Konrad Becker <konrad@t0.or.at>]

thanks for the kind obituaries on the list and many personal responses....

Nettimers have supported Netbase (formerly known as Public Netbase) through
countless crises over the years. They have written and signed endless
online-petitions and open letters for this base of critical cultural
intelligence to survive in a hostile environment- the battle is lost.

Not too surprisingly, the success of its urban media interventions was many
times inversely proportional to the amusement of the local political
establishment. Accordingly this network of tactical media and art has been
under fire for many years. From sensationalist rightwing accusations (from
the exotic "child abuse" and pornography to being "at the throat of the
government") to extended financial audits, threats of police evacuation and
the daily grind of cultural warfare, Netbase has come a long way...

Interestingly enough, in the end, the rooting out of possibly the last
cultural organization of visible dissent in Vienna was not executed by the
extreme right or conservatives.

But does it matter? The new principle of symbolic domination has been put in
place: enforced silence. It's no longer a question of making people believe
as in representation, it is about silencing: "every noise evokes an image of
subversion".

And since we have been put under threat of serious legal and financial
consequences if we go public with any official press release or any other
statement we will use our last remaining right- to remain silent.

Nevertheless let me thank the amazing multitude of those who were part of
this and made it all happen.

best, Konrad



#  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
#  <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
#  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
#  more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body
#  archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net