![3D""](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/cropped-logo=)
PATTERNS OF THE MIND
=E2=80=9CMedium is the message,=E2=80=9D the famous phrase of = Marshall McLuhan, written at=20 the height of modernism and at the point of its conversion to = post-modernity,=20 has become so deeply imbedded in our psyche that we hardly notice that = its=20 relevance is challenged by today=E2=80=99s artistic climate. Today, we = are surrounded by=20 and constantly bombarded with so many messages in numerous media = =E2=80=93 digital and=20 analog, traditional and state-of-the-art =E2=80=93 that the message of = any particular=20 medium becomes diluted and interrupted having to compete for attention = with=20 other media.
With the explosion of globalization and cutting-edge communication = tools,=20 there has been an emergence of the phenomenon of digital tribalism when = artists=20 unite into groups not on the grounds of geography, but rather according = to their=20 interests.
The predominant characteristic of art tribes throughout time has been = the=20 need to share and to communicate ideas, thoughts, observations and = views.=20 Digital networks achieve this objective by connecting like-minded = members of=20 such new tribes across the continents. As the principal players move = around the=20 arena, a self-assembled dynamic network structure emerges that no single = player=20 can control. As an example, one could cite Rhizome=20 as a global community that not only unites digital artists, but also=20 aggressively promotes subcategories of the electronic tribes. Just to = mention a=20 few: =E2=80=9CAn internet art aesthetic phenomenon that invokes a = pastiche of imagery=20 that ranges from motifs drawn from classical antiquity to = computer-generated=20 animation=E2=80=9D, =E2=80=9CTechnology connects us to porn, our = partners, and whatever other=20 bodies we might desire=E2=80=9D, and here comes the digital age anarchy = presented by=20 Simon Poulter in his paper =E2=80=9CAnarchy and the Big Society = Machine=E2=80=9D: =C2=ABAnarchism in=20 an electronic age defies definition and will always tend towards sets of = values=20 or ways of thinking and doing that evolve from tensions in the = individual and=20 collective process. We could say that in this respect anarchism is = defined as=20 useful tension between community (or state) and self=E2=80=A6=C2=BB
Let us consider the fact that the tribalization through electronic = media not=20 just impacted artists who are interested in the digital media, but it = also=20 changed the social behavior of the entire art community. In this day and = age, it=20 is unlikely that somebody would subscribe to a publication that lists = art=20 competitions, grants or festivals when it is possible to obtain this = information=20 by clicking on your computer screen. In such a manner, the networking = becomes a=20 part of traditional art communities.
Digital networks have taken tribal behavior to a whole new level of=20 collective consciousness: dynamic self-assembling tribes that come into=20 existence almost instantaneously. Human civilization has gone from local = to=20 national and from national to trans-national tribal behavior and = congregation=20 enabled by digital catalysts.
On the other hand, in our post-post-modern epoch, McLuhan=E2=80=99s = other insight=20 becomes important, which is that once the media do the job of = man=E2=80=99s=20 individuation and alteration of his environment by =E2=80=9Cevoking in = us their unique=20 ratios of sense perceptions,=E2=80=9D what counts is the ability to = choose among them to=20 communicate the message. Medium matters, but only up to a point, as a = conduit=20 for the message. Patterns of the Mind is an exhibition about the primacy = of the=20 artist=E2=80=99s message, in which any medium is only a tool to carry it = across.
Anna Frants, Festival Curator
![3D""=20](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/anna-f.jpg")
=
![](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/facebook.png= "3D\"Facebook\"")
![](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/twitter.png"= "3D\"Twitter\"")
![](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/gallery/logo_for_widget/cybe=){kind=logo}
![3D"The](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/hermitage_lo=)
![3D"SOFA](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/sofalogo.jpg=)
![](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Pratt_logo.j=){kind=logo}
![3D"Made](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/mc.jpg"=20)
![3D"Urban](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/3logo_urban_=)
![3D"English](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2ETB_Logo_Cl=){kind=logo}
![3D"Kino](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/1BabylonLogo=)
![](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/onemarket-lo=)
![3D"ascribe"](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ascribe_main=)
![3D"CEC](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/CEC_Logo.jpg=){kind=logo}
![3D"KudaGo"](3D"http://cylandfest.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/kudago.jpg")