Re: RAT Road Rambling and Rants/piss

[NOMADMONAD@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/10/99 12:29:48 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
Btmsdream@aol.com writes:

> But is there more 
>  to the struggle than just the struggle? is there an aim outside the 
>  expression? People I respect, whose work I respect make a living and enjoy 
>  things and then there are some that don't. How can a rat make a living and 
>  still be a rat?What is that aim and do the institutions have a corner on 
it? 
> 
>  I am curious, my friend. I am. please dont disrespect me for looking over 
> the 
>  fence. I'm never gonna graze there anyway.

Mitchell, I didn't mean any disrespect because I also am continually gazing 
over that same fence.  Even fantasize about grazing over there.  The struggle 
finally over, like some once strong brilliant racehorse that's been put out 
to pasture.  

It's the Peer Panel that's the real problem, not the institutions.  We all 
know this and we all participate in it at some level.  The constant is 
backroom Cronyism with its ability to always bully aesthetics out of the 
game. Cultural institutions are built from this cronyism reaching a near 
fascist control of funding.  The divvying of the scarce resources goes to 
individuals and/or projects that don't rock the boat for the others. 

RAT does its own nod toward cronyism, but it is built from an acknowledgement 
of abundance not scarcity.  Because of this the RAT Peer Panel need only 
judge on ethics or aesthetics.

As RAT has become a player in the cultural dialogue, many of the more 
centrist ideas it has generated have already been co-opted.  Perhaps Big Ben 
is coming to the Conference to see which ideas he can appropriate for his 
"revolutionary" tenure at TCG.   Nothing's wrong with that.  But it got me 
started thinking of that classic horror film in the early'70's called "Ben".  
 So I went and found a plot summary for it on the Web.

******************************************
Ben (1972)
A lonely boy, played by Homeless Elvis, becomes good friends with Ben, a rat. 
This rat is also the leader of a pack of vicious killer rats, killing lots of 
people. The authorities succeed in destroying the rats, leaving the boy in 
desperate tears ... until he discovers his friend Ben to be still alive!

********************************************

> caridad's discussion is called "RATS NEST, how 
>  to work within an institution and still be a Rat" I don't know if it can 
be 
>done but I'd like to explore the idea. maybe it's the ultimate infiltration

What if Ben Cameron was not just another one of those Big Cronies co-opting 
the talk, but he was actually a rat that had infiltrated TCG?  

You just never know.

--nick