Chris Barr is available

March 11, 2005 1:59 PM

Chris Barr is available on Thursday for the next two months. So what you ask? You can schedule things for Chris to do and view things he's done in the past. I especially enjoyed the "ask strange women to hold a sign saying I Like Spike" and "ask a bunch of random folks what is on their iPod." Can wait to see what he has to do next.
posted by mathowie (31 comments total)

And thus it was that my burning love for the internet was rekindled.
posted by tristeza at 2:15 PM on March 11, 2005

Yay! I love internet art.
posted by carmen at 2:34 PM on March 11, 2005

Who?
posted by GYOBFW at 2:48 PM on March 11, 2005

So Chris "carvedhearts" Barr has been a memeber for less than a day, and his personal web site is now a FPP?
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 2:51 PM on March 11, 2005

Well, Steve_at_Linnwood, surely it is possible that he became a member after being linked to by Metafilter?
posted by evilangela at 2:54 PM on March 11, 2005

shit post. but #1's never been known for good ones.
posted by quonsar at 2:55 PM on March 11, 2005

*rummages for the twinkies-in-a-microwave URL*
posted by quonsar at 2:56 PM on March 11, 2005

I asked him to request his FBI file.
posted by R. Mutt at 3:16 PM on March 11, 2005

Where We Come From, solo exhibition by Palestinian artist Emily Jacir.

Jacir asked other Palestinians from around the world, "If I could do something for you, anywhere in Palestine, what would it be?"

The artist used her American passport and its accompanying "freedom of movement" status in an attempt to realize desires of people who have limited or no access to their own nation.
Her charges vary from "play soccer with the first Palestinian child you meet in Haifa" to "go to my mother's grave in Jerusalem on her birthday and put flowers and pray."

A text in Arabic and English records each request and its outcome (some requests have been impossible to fulfill).
posted by R. Mutt at 3:55 PM on March 11, 2005

I don't get it: who is this Chris Barr guy and what are his "projects" supposed to prove? Is this some outgrowth of "flash mobbing" or something to do with some TV show or what? And who or what is Spike?
posted by davy at 3:58 PM on March 11, 2005

So Chris "carvedhearts" Barr has been a memeber for less than a day, and his personal web site is now a FPP?
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 2:51 PM PST on March 11 [!]

Well, Steve_at_Linnwood, surely it is possible that he became a member after being linked to by Metafilter?
posted by evilangela at 2:54 PM PST on March 11 [!]


Who cares? It can't possibly be a violation of any "guideline" because it was posted by HH mathowie himself.

I wish somebody would clue me in about the Meaning, is all.
posted by davy at 4:02 PM on March 11, 2005

Maybe this MetaTalk post inspired Matt to post this thread, since he said.
posted by thomcatspike at 4:13 PM on March 11, 2005

only those who "get" the web can know the meaning.
posted by quonsar at 4:14 PM on March 11, 2005

For those that don't understand the post – for this guy: “schedule something" for him. That’s why his calendar is open on Thursdays through the months he optioned. It's similar to Subservient Chicken, yet it here it’s a real person fulfilling his scheduled calendar set by date & time.

quonsar should be able to make a dandy of a schedule.
posted by thomcatspike at 4:21 PM on March 11, 2005

If you guys don't like the post, post to MetaTalk please. I thought it was a cool new thing worthy of a post, which is why I posted it. The guy behind it sent it to me, asking if it was worthy of a post.

Remember when people used to do stuff on the web? This reminds me of the old days. A silly project to be sure, but I thought the Spike photos were amusing. I can't believe the guy actually went out and did the things asked of him.
posted by mathowie at 5:18 PM on March 11, 2005

I like it, it's funny and interactive and well-executed, but what really interested me in this is that the guy has the same name as an old high school classmate of mine (didn't know him well, but for one year he was the only classmate who got bullied more than I did). Anyway, I know it can't be the same guy because if it was, he'd be a 49-year-old graduate student, and that's just pathetic...
posted by wendell at 5:36 PM on March 11, 2005

Why does everything have to have a meaning anyway? What is wrong with doing something just because?

I thought it was pretty cool and he gets extra points because he seems to be making an attempt to actually carry out at least some of the tasks scheduled for him.
posted by dg at 5:55 PM on March 11, 2005

shit post. but #1's never been known for good ones.
posted by quonsar at 2:55 PM PST on March 11

As opposed of course to this piece of studious insight...
posted by DeepFriedTwinkies at 6:23 PM on March 11, 2005

Is this peanut gallery for real? Or is there some level of in-joke going on here that newcomers can't possibly understand? Is there some sort of double negative MetaSarcasm happening or is this crowd really this bitchy?

I enjoyed this link. I especially liked:

Can we meet about your project?
Sounds great.

But then, I graduated in the 80s from a program called Photo/Electric Arts, where we all made films, videos, and some people built computers, robots, or made holograms. Some students even participated in modem to modem international games of broken telephone. So I suppose I'm naturally warm to this sort of activity.

Chris Barr's claims on his site that "This project will be a stepping stone to investigate issues of authorship and collaboration, body and self as commodity, and artist as social organizer." In my opinion, an interesting and clever graduate student project, and the experience should lead where he says it will.

The Emily Jacir link is awesome; it's certainly relevant to a discussion of the initial post. It certainly does not negate or invalidate Chris Barr's explorations.
posted by KS at 6:23 PM on March 11, 2005

Great idea, but this ...

Will there be any documentation?

The artist will not be documenting these events, however the public is highly encouraged to document the work.

... is a major mistake, imho.
posted by pardonyou? at 6:43 PM on March 11, 2005

is a major mistake, imho

Perhaps, in terms of making entertainment, but not in terms of what he is exploring in his work. In the example above from the work I quoted, I especially enjoyed that it was not documented and is left to the imagination. Documenting a discussion of his art project is wholly unecessary, but we can completely believe it happened. A picture of two art students at a bar would not add to the experience in any way, and the transcript could be possibly quite dull.

I'll shut up now.
posted by KS at 7:03 PM on March 11, 2005

I saw that too, but it looks like he is actually documenting it (hence the photos and report from campus), so maybe that statement was just to keep him off the hook on having to always keep track of what he did.
posted by mathowie at 7:14 PM on March 11, 2005

I dunno, I thought it was pretty cool. Y'know, with your ability to find interesting/useful websites, you should start some sort of website to collect and discuss these links. Just an idea.

And, no, I am not saying GYOBFW. Just bein' a dumbass.
posted by graventy at 7:37 PM on March 11, 2005

A silly project

Best kind. Could anything but the Internet tell us how much is inside Ramen or how to mimic fashion model faces?
posted by NickDouglas at 7:41 PM on March 11, 2005

Ok, one last comment -then i'll shut up. The reason for the Emily Jacir post is that I feel she clearly risked something in the execution of her work. Work that has a similar formal process as Mr Barr's, but also involves political and personal commitment/risk. Her work is fairly well known inside the NY art world ( & in fact the show was at Debs & Co - Choire Sicha's now closed gallery- so I would presume some new media overlap- but I might be assuming too much).
I'm sorry but, having Chris : randomly pick around people on campus listening to their MP3 players and ask them what they are listening to at that point in time then ask what they are going to do next. , is really kinda lame.
posted by R. Mutt at 8:05 PM on March 11, 2005

“schedule something" for him. That’s why his calendar is open on Thursdays through the months he optioned.

Yes, I understand the mechanics, but I wanted to know the reasoning behind it. I doubt this guy's life is so empty that he needs strangers on the Web to tell him how to spend his thursdays, so there must be point other than that.
posted by davy at 8:41 PM on March 11, 2005

This is a cool post. It's weird and has no easily discernable meaning, what Chris is doing, but I like that. And I like that people are asking him to do useless things like the MP3 thing - it's just as interesting to see what sort of weird things people can come up with.

I thought about scheduling something but was couldn't get over the fear that my issue would be just as lame. ;)
posted by livii at 8:50 PM on March 11, 2005

I like leaving the documentation up to a third party. It encourages the participation of others. Very nice link.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 9:39 PM on March 11, 2005

Awesome idea, thanks.
posted by abcde at 9:47 PM on March 11, 2005

Steve_at_Linnwood writes "So Chris 'carvedhearts' Barr has been a memeber [sic] for less than a day, and his personal web site is now a FPP?"

So Steve_at_Linnwood has been a member since August 7, 2002 and a self-appointed Net Cop all along?

• Steve makes a call out to MetaTalk: "Ban him!"
  
• Bush in Hell not deleted? Doubleplusungood!
  
• Zell Miller op-ed deleted? Doubleplusungood!
  
• Post about Muslim unjustly charged with child molestation? Not interesting!
  
• Steve_at_Linnwood, Troll Detective!
  
• Teacher, teacher, another Something Awful post!
  
• Fawlty Steve: "Whatever you do, don't mention the war... suicides!"
  
• Steve is all for being PC (if he can use it to shut up a liberal)
  
• Steve explains that he doesn't normally callout posts on MetaTalk! Really!
  
• MetaSteve: Steve calls out a call out!

Where would MetaFilter be without our brave Boys In Blue to patrol cyberspace?

Da-da-dum!

Steve_at_Linnwood, though nominally a foe of the "nanny state", diligently makes call outs for your own protection!
posted by orthogonality at 4:40 PM on March 12, 2005

or is this crowd really this bitchy?
Haven't been around here long, have you?
posted by dg at 4:30 AM on March 13, 2005