conceptual art
Cornelia Sollfrank / 2021
This text explores the dynamics underlying the Old Boys Network as an hybrid form of political self-organization. Shapeshifting between a network, a group, a temporary collective, a structure, an infrastructure or a dust cloud, OBN remained elusive while building on affective involvement and activation as a their micropolitical strategy.
THE THING Hamburg was an Internet platform for art and criticism in Hamburg. The platform was developed along the lines of THE THING New York and was active from 2006 to 2009. Based on artistic perspectives, THE THING Hamburg’s mission was to reflect on art and culture in various media and formats. The main ideas were to empower artists and cultural producers to speak for themselves, to contribute to the public discourse while providing a platform for the larger audience to engage with.
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Old Boys Network was the first international cyberfeminist alliance. OBN was launched at documenta x as part of the Hybrid Workspace where it held the 1st Cyberfeminist International in September 1997. In the following five years, the network held regular international conferences, published readers and books and served as a platform for a plethora of cyberfeminist activities. An archive of OBN’s activities is currently in preparation in collaboration with documenta Archiv in Kassel.
Original website: https://obn.org