nomadi papers

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νομάςINSTANT PAPER

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A nomad (greek: νομάς, Nomas, plural νομάδες, nomades; meaning one roaming about for pas-ture, pastoral tribes), is a member of a community of people who move from one place to another, with their livestock (pasto-ral nomads) or subsisting on hunting and gathering, or traveling in densely popu-lated areas, not to living about natural resources but by offering services (craft or trade) to the resident population.

Nomadic peoples are groups who practice nomadism, that is a form of mobility usu-ally linked to their form of economy.

Nomadism is a way of life where mobility is the most effective strategy for exploita-tion and development of scarce resources.

The nomadic hunting and gathering usually results from the need to provide its own needs as part of a subsistence economy, and looks like a cyclical phenomenon within the territory.

Nomadism is by far the oldest human sub-sistence method. In general, more higher is the degree of nomadism, smoother is the economic and so-cial organization.

NEW WORLD ORDER

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# 1

I DEMAND THE RIGHT TO USE THE WORLD

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# 1

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what are the practices of nomadism today? we travel, as a family, but it´s more an alter-native holiday than our actual way of living.artistcally we are both stationed in vienna, frau drama more cause she has a workshop for woodwork. herr drama filmmaking travels depend on the subject of the film.

we can thinking that the nomad be a new formulaof social resistance?socially it helps because it is bringing new so-cial structures and people together.but the way we are living here right now is to-tally privileged, payed by goverment money or klaus, so all the economic struggles that would normally acompany a small settlement like that

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I demand to feel at home in the world (I want a community)

are not present and without that hardly any so-cial problems arise.and we are living in a very save secluded moun-tain top, so who are we resisting against...)

In a system where resources are scarce, nomadism can be offer a new model of economic subsistence?

not really, because travel always uses more en-ergy than staying, so even sustainable traveling would add up to more exhaust (gas, energy...) than sustainable living.

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POST

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NEW?

I LIKE

NEO nomad

NEW TERMINOLOGY:

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text which probably doesn't answer any questio you were asking…

After last night’s presentation about the notion and real meaning of the word it is difficultto give an opposing statement for the question “what are the practises of no-madism today”.Apparently Nomadism isn’t a way of life for anyone who feels disconnected from the notionof stability and having a fixed place as a home, but rather a specific social structure.

That said I have a feeling that we will keep on using the word from “laymans” perspective andrefer ourselves as Nomads when we travel a lot, as it makes sense for the people who aren’tfamiliar of the actual meaning of the word.

I have a feeling, that “nomadism”, or “Neo-Nomadistic practices as an artist” xD are somewhat an act against the norms and learned patterns of home-work-family for myself, but I wouldn’tdo it to oppose anyone else’s way of living, but rather to keep my own artistic practice alive.I draw inspiration from my surroundings but only when they keeps changing on a steady pace.Change is the key for my personal creation, and that’s where the “nomadism” kicks in.Whether it is Nomadism or traveling or simply the way artists have always been doesn’t seemimportant to me; Finding a category for myself would be a step away from myself.And perhaps that kind of individualism already is some sort of social resist-ance?

In terms of sustainability for all people, I have a feeling that there would not be one singleright option, but that everyone should be able to lead their lives as they feel is the best, andwhether this means traveling or stability, it shouldn’t be a decision of another person, community or social group.

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I am very very stubborn

THE SUPER HIP

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Nomads?

New questions arise. What is a village? Are we really nomads? And does it matter? Are we in need of new words to describe what we are do-ing? What is it that we are doing? And who are we?

On the road, walking 1364 kilometers in 96 days in a three-piece walking suit to get here, people kept asking me the same questions. Where do you come from? Where are you going? Aren't you lone-ly? Aren't you afraid?

There are many answers. And we try to live the questions to find some answers. That is why we are here. That is why we are doing what we are doing. That is why we fold boats out of newspaper, sew tails, bake bread, film each other, do yoga, go on walks to collect mushrooms, sing in a choir, do dishes in a muddy field, build a li-brary, exchange information,

knowledge, jokes, laughter. That is why we cook togeth-er, prepare a performance together, build instru-ments, dance in the rain, stand in line for the coffee.

We don't go any-where. We are here. We come from the same place. And we aren't afraid.

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here is just a few spontaneous words:

Nomadism in our practice is

to catch the moment and feeling of the specific place,

to improvise and create amongst other people,

to collaborate and communicate

within the surrounding atmosphere,

not leaving any traces behind.

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I have no education, I am free of knowledge, I can approach things freely

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Dauer- bzw. Jahrescamper und deren Unterkünfte:Im Fokus standen anfangs vor allem bei Dauercampern zu beobachtende Modifikationen an deren Fahrzeugen, welche den absurd anmutenden Anschein erweckten, als ob diesen die Gestalt des Hauses verliehen werden sollte. Es wurde untersucht, aus welchen Motiven heraus temporäre mobile Unterkünfte von deren Besitzern oftmals in einer derartigen Weise modifiziert werden.

Als Schwerpunkte wurden die Jahrescamper in Deutschland und die Dauercamper im Mittelmeer-bereich betrachtet. In beiden Fällen war auffallend, dass trotz der sehr unterschiedlichen Ausprägun-gen des Phänomens eine starke „Institutional-isierung“ im Gange ist, womit hier gemeint wird, dass die ursprünglich vom Bewohner ang-estrebte und selbst durchgeführte Anpas-sung der Gestalt der mobilen Wohneinheit an jene des Hauses bereits von der Industrie übernommen wurde. Außerdem konnte eine zunehmenden Regle-mentierung und ökonomischen Optimierung der besuchten Plätze beobachtet werden.

Dies führte zu einem starken Rückgang der ohnehin mit einem schlechten Image behafteten Dauercamper und zu einem relativ neuen Phänomen, dem Mobilheim auf europäischen Campingplätzen.

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Dauer- bzw. Jahrescamper und deren Unterkünfte:Im Fokus standen anfangs vor allem bei Dauercampern zu beobachtende Modifikationen an deren Fahrzeugen, welche den absurd anmutenden Anschein erweckten, als ob diesen die Gestalt des Hauses verliehen werden sollte. Es wurde untersucht, aus welchen Motiven heraus temporäre mobile Unterkünfte von deren Besitzern oftmals in einer derartigen Weise modifiziert werden.

Als Schwerpunkte wurden die Jahrescamper in Deutschland und die Dauercamper im Mittelmeer-bereich betrachtet. In beiden Fällen war auffallend, dass trotz der sehr unterschiedlichen Ausprägun-gen des Phänomens eine starke „Institutional-isierung“ im Gange ist, womit hier gemeint wird, dass die ursprünglich vom Bewohner ang-estrebte und selbst durchgeführte Anpas-sung der Gestalt der mobilen Wohneinheit an jene des Hauses bereits von der Industrie übernommen wurde. Außerdem konnte eine zunehmenden Regle-mentierung und ökonomischen Optimierung der besuchten Plätze beobachtet werden.

Dies führte zu einem starken Rückgang der ohnehin mit einem schlechten Image behafteten Dauercamper und zu einem relativ neuen Phänomen, dem Mobilheim auf europäischen Campingplätzen.

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we are not missionarybut we still have something to say

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NO MOREQUALITYWITHOUTPAYMANT

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Fo the past three decades, the nomad has been invoked by artists from diverse disciplines as Wahlverwandter, one of their favorite relatives-of-choice. The strong resonance the nomad evokes, evolves around several tropes:

The trope of MOBILITY – >> a high degree

The trope of NON-CONFORMISM, border-crossing, and the

The trope of COSMOPOLITANISM,

and, so less visible on the first view the trope of PRECARITY -

Today, when constant mobility has become prevalent in the art world and the nomad a standard reference of cultural criticism, it seems however time to reexamine the nomad’s critical value.

An integral part of the analytical practice of cultural anthropologists is to confront IMAGES and THEORIES with the empirics of everyday life, and to thus arrive at empirically based new theoretical or conceptual insights. Another analytical approach in my field is to compare different groups and their practices systematically. So tonight I want to take you on a journey, that first takes a look at the trope of the Nomad as it appears in contemporary cultural discourse, and then looks at the mobile work-life arrangements of nomadic populations

in the Global South and the mobile work-life-arrangements of contemporary artists.

>> In the end there will no satisfying answer to the question ARE ARTISTS NOMADS? But I hope that together we’ll come up with new questions where and how we want to move, live and create at the same time.

SCHAUBILD 3 Configurations of the NOMADIC TROPE

There is no doubt, that artists for centuries, if

not millennia have composed one of the most mobile professional milieus. Artists travel as a creative strategy, to present their work to new audiences, to gain recognition and income. In the past three decades, artists’ mobility has increased considerably due to four interrelated factors:

1) a boom in public funding,

2) the internationalization of art scenes and markets,

3) the increasing ‘eventization’ of culture through festivals, biennales and other temporary cultural venues, and

4) the easyjet-factor: cheap long-distance travel.

Along with this development, the »nomadic artist« emerged as a central figure in contemporary art discourse, be it in art projects, artists’ self-representations, curatorial concepts, art theory, or cultural criticism. The »nomadic artist« is understood to combine a mobile lifestyle and a subversive practice.

Deleuze and Guattari, the two French philosophers who can be credited with inventing the Theory-Nomad originally cast the nomad as a radically subjective border-crosser, taking on the hegemonic position of the nation-state, capitalism and bourgeois society. Those who appropriate

ARE ARTISTS NOAMDS?

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Deleuze and Guattari’s nomad for the contemporary art world, tend to overlook however, two aspects: first, that they never intended to make any claims about mobility or traveling with it, and second, that their conception of the nomad is deeply entrenched in an Orientalist worldview.

CONCEPTULAIZING NOMADISM FROM AN EMPIRICAL POINT OF VIEW

Nomadism has long been studied as an empirical phenomenon by anthropologists and geographers.

Three groups:

• Pastoral nomads who move with their animals (camels, sheep, goats, reindeers…) > theory nomad

• Hunters and gatherers (Aboriginees, some first nations in North America)

• So-called “service nomads” or peripatetic minorities >> which specialize in services, specific trades, crafts, ritual services, entertainment and the arts >> performing arts, acrobatics music…

Empirical scholars understand nomadism today as

SCHAUBILD Quote Gertel

»a way of life (…) characterized by permanent or cyclical mobility, and mostly practiced by endogamous groups. Secondly, (…) someone [is referred to] as a nomad, who earns his living by extensive pasture economy or by other forms of mobility, such as seasonal migratory labor by so-called service nomads. Thirdly, through their entanglements and movements, time and again, nomads get in touch with the sedentary population under different circumstances.«

Taking this definition as a starting point, let’s have a comparative look at the mobile life-work arrangements of artists and pastoral nomads (who serve as the central reference point of the theory-nomad) along four intertwined parameters:

SCHAUBILD 4 dimensions

1) modes and patterns of mobility, 2) labor and economic strategies, 3) in-group sociality, and 4) relations with surrounding society.

Pastoral nomads generally follow regular, cyclical movements, taking along the extended household, including their animals. They move within peripheral, sparsely populated areas that provide enough water and food for their herds. Their »deep« knowledge of the natural and social environment is acquired from early childhood on and based on longstanding tribal land-use rights and interconnections with local populations. Mobility secures the livelihoods of nomadic groups. The extended family forms the economic unit; its members divide labor and share property, responsibilities, and risks. Based on endogamy, common ancestry, and the subordination of the individual to the group, nomadic communities also rely on distinct cultural repertoires, customs, and legal regulations. For centuries, they have been considered troublemakers by the states within which they reside, especially if they move across borders. In most countries, authorities attempt to restrict nomadic movement with forced settlement and denied access to tribal land (often by its conversion into agricultural zones or nature reserves). The results are dramatic impoverishment, currently enhanced by the effects of climate change, which has led millions of pastoral nomads to abandon their mobile ways of life during the past decades.

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more

than em-piric+the secret question of shared responsibility.

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em-piric

Artists, by contrast, move along highly irregular spatio-temporal trajectories. As their resource base – audiences, art institutions, peer-networks and market players – is usually based in urban centers, they move predominantly between cities. Because they have to cover huge distances in short periods of time, artists mostly travel by train and airplane (the latter resulting in huge carbon footprints). Artists do not become members of the arts community by birth, but by training and vocation. Usually travelling alone, it is a serious challenge for many to maintain close social ties, especially when partners and children are involved. »Temporary families« bond for the duration of an art project or residency and take on the form of a parallel universe, often disconnected from the local population. Presently, artists in the Global North (particularly the EU) receive privileged public support for their mobility. The belief that their mobility benefits both, artist and larger society, is widely shared and inscribed in cultural policies. Artists represent the avant-garde, and as such they are not outsiders to the elite, but an integral part of it.

Back to our initial question: ARE ARTISTS NOMADS? >>

I am very curious in your thoughts on this question!

From my point of view, the mobile life-work arrangements of pastoralists and artists differ so widely that empirically aligning the groups is futile, if not frivolous. But what about the revolutionary potential of the nomad for the arts today, be it in the context of artworks, their interpretation, or artists’ self-portrayals? Deleuze and Guattari originally cast their nomad in opposition to the (French) hegemonic nation-state. In the wake of globalization, this frame of reference has however lost much of its importance, not least because neoliberal economics have absorbed crucial aspects of the state monopoly of power during the past decades. Along with these transformations, the position of the artist and the modes of artistic production have changed considerably. Today, frequent long-distance mobility and transnational interconnections are an integral part of artistic practice, the norm rather than an exception. At the same time, economists and policy-makers have long declared artists as role models of the new economy due to their flexibility, curiosity, and readiness to take risks >> recommend The New Spirit of Capitalism by Luc Boltanski and Eve Chiapello,

As mobile ways of life and work thus have evolved into »the new normal«, it is to my view time to say goodbye to the nomad as the superhero of freedom and subversion. Instead we should maybe begin to clear the path for a critical examination of current and future artistic practice:

• What factors shape our trajectories currently and what kind of maps do we want to create?

• What can be the subversive, revolutionary and utopian potential of a mobile artistic vantage point at a time when the mobile artist has become the poster child of the post-Fordist economy, and mobility is often an imperative, rather than a choice?

• What kind of relations do we want to create and with whom?

• How can we balance mobility and artistic practice/creativity with economic needs, our close social ties, community, and political engagement? How could we define sustainability in this context?

• What does it mean to stay at a place?

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Some reasons why I have problems with THE NOMAD as an artistic concept

1. For artists it is an option to play with the trope of THE NOMAD, they have the choice to pick it up and discard it whenever they feel like. They have a choice. And it is an individual choice.

In contemporary European, traveller minorities are labeled as “no-mad” and this label resonates strongly with pejoratives undertones. From the perspective of mainstream society and the authorities their mobility/”nomadism” is seen as a problem, and connoted with crime, backwardness and a psychopathological “wandertrieb”, even more than 6 decades after the NS period. From my perspective (= social anthropolo-gist working on and with vulnerable/disadvantaged mobile population groups), the term NOMAD is loaded with very heavy historical and contem-porary baggage and I can see how devastatingly this label plays out in real peoples’ lives. For me it is there for not possible to play with it.

2. What can be the subversive, revolutionary, emancipatory and utopian po-tential of a NOMADIC ART PERSPECTIVE / a mobile artistic vantage point at a time when the mobile artist has become the poster child of the post-Fordist economy, and mobility is “the new normal”, an imperative, rather than a choice?

3. THE NOMAD – a projection screen for artists and intellectuals from the Global North, to escape the conformity and settledness of the contexts in which they live and create?

4. As the principle of NOMADIC ART is PASSING BY - what kind of relations do you want to create, how and with whom?

5. What is the relevance of RETURNING and RECONNECTING?

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make a place home, it is easy but having the feeling of thisyou need love..

The Bus Steyr-Ikarus 1975 former Police Bus

Name: Mistress Enid Abbott aka 'the big girl'Age: 19 years oldModel: Ford Transit Mini Bus

She is a former council bus for driving children and old people aroundthe town. We got her in 2011 and has been our home ever since- takingus to Bulgaria and back last year. She is heated by a wood burningstove called Little Otik. A brilliant home!

URBAN AUDIO vanmobile sound and recording studiosince 2009

LufkaFord Econoline 1969

SIMPLE HOME"living in the open wide"mobiles home/studioproject 2012-2014can be transported by truck and set up within a day, contains everything you need in everyday life

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INSTANT PAPER Nomadic Village 2014 νομάς No. _____________________

CONTRIBUTORS:

Caitlin & Andrew Webb-Ellis (UK/CA)dramas (AT)Heidi Seppälä (FI)Florian Tuercke (DE)Monique Besten (NL)undi (AT)Stina Pehrsdotter & Niclas Hallberg (SE)Emanuela Marenz & Matthew Saxon (IT/UK)Gerhard Feldbacher (AT)Marisa Dipaola (US)Kateřina Dobroslava Drahošová & Petr Švolba (CZ)Anna Lipphardt (DE)Martina Dandolo (IT)tinski (Bus)Captain Klaus (Bus)

EDITION:Nomadic Village - Juli 2014

nomadi papers

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