Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2004 18:57:05 -0500 Subject: Re: The foucault list - PLEASE READ From: Farideh Seihoun <fseihoun-AT-juno.com> I'm just sorry but I understand your frustration. Thank you for years of good work F On Fri, 26 Nov 2004 12:26:25 -0500 (EST) "malgosia askanas" <ma-AT-panix.com> writes: > Dear All, > > This is to let you know that in about two weeks I intend to close > down the > foucault list. This decision is part of a wider set of decisions > having to > do with the present circumstances of the Spoon Collective - which, > as you > probably know, has been running this list. > > The Spoon Collective, of which I am the sole surviving founder, has > been > operating continually for over 10 years. Of the 8 people who > currently > constitute it, 3 have been in it basically from the very beginning, > and almost > all the others for almost as long. > > When the Spoon Collective was originally created, a crucial aspect > of its life > was our own passionate involvement in the lists we created or took > over. > As vehicles for bringing into mutual contact and confrontation > thinking > people from all over the computerized world - people from > astoundingly > different walks of life and with astoundingly different ways of > thinking, > but with a shared passion for more accurate perception and deeper > understanding > - these lists seemed to us to present a stupendous potential for > evolving > new modes of thought and new modes of life. And it is essential to > note that > when we were motivated by a thirst for new modes of thought and > life, it was > for _ourselves_ that we wanted them. Our project was not about > providing a > public or academic or political service, discharging a societal > duty, or > providing platforms for this or that political organization or > orientation - > rather, it was about changing life - the life we think and live - > right at the > present moment. > > Over the years, however, our relationship with our lists gradually > changed, > and we now find our collective endeavor basically reduced to an > indifferent > performance of a not-excessively-bothersome piece of labor. The > reasons for > this are undoubtedly complex - the first and simplest one, perhaps, > being that > the same group of people has been doing the same thing for 10 years. > If our > goal had been less the stability of existing lists and more the > preservation > of our own passion, we probably could have done better. In any > case, we find > ourselves a bunch of burnt out and apathetic bureaucrats. > > I personally find thie prolongation of this situation no longer > tolerable or > sensical. As a result, I have (1) announced that I am quitting the > Spoon > Collective; (2) decided to close down a number of lists that I have > been > responsible for; and (3) declared the end of the Spoon Collective as > a > certain historic formation, and stipulated that the name no longer > be used for > whatever the present members may undertake in the future. > > I, of course, cannot judge the value of any particular list from > any > perspective but my own - and neither would I want to. Only each of > you can > decide whether you value this list enough to step in and recreate it > somewhere > else. If any of you wants to do this, I can make available to you a > copy > of the subscription list, a tarred and gzipped copy of the archive, > and > software support for a smooth transition. The present list will > stop operating > around December 10th. > > A number of the other members of Spoon have expressed an interest in > either > continuing their present lists or initiating other collective > projects at > Virginia. We very much hope that no matter what develops, the Spoon > archives, > which, in large part, constitute an eminently useful and fascinating > resource, > can continue to be housed in their present location. In addition, a > copy > of the archives is being installed at the domain driftline.org, > where they > will soon be accessible over the Web. If anybody would like to > house > additional copies of the full or individual archives elsewhere, this > would > of course increase the goodness. > > > Yours, > -malgosia > >
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