(en un seul trait)

J : So, what is  this school good for ? Alors à quoi sert cette école ?

J : You keep asking me that. It has become irritating. Vous n’arrêtez pas de me poser cette question. Cela devient irritant.

J : Perhaps you wouldn’t feel so irritated if you would adress the question directly.  What is this school good for ? Peut-être ne seriez-vous pas si irritée si vous adressiez la question directement : Alors à quoi sert cette école ?

J : why do you feel the need for this type of evaluation ? wouldn’t a more interesting question be « what does it do ? » or «  how does it behave ? «  or perhaps even « what does it produce ? « 

J : Yes that is a very good point.

J :why evaluate at all ? Can we not just describe ?

J : like a kind of Fable you mean ?

J : no, faux piste, then we find ourselves again at the same place of evaluation, moral, morality etc.

J : you are really not an organized thinker at all, even I am confused

J : You know, its a real problem because i get very involved with the word school. When i was in "school",  high school to be precise, I did a term paper on the development of the public education system in the united states of america. which itself is funny because I had transferred myself out of the public education system and into a very exclusive educational enviroment.
Vous savez, c’est un vrai problème parce que je me sens vraiment concernée par le mot « école ». Quand j’étais à l’ « école », au lycée pour être précise, j’ai fait un exposé sur le développement du système d’éducation public aux Etats-Unis, ce qui est drôle en soi parce que j’étais sortie du système d’éducation public pour intégrer un environnement éducatif très spécifique.

J : So why did you choose this topic? do you remember what the result of your research was ? Alors pourquoi avoir choisi ce thème ? Vous rappelez-vous du résultat de cette recherche ?

J : I honestly cannot remember why i chose the topic- it seems completely unlikey- a very dry subject. The only thing I seem to remember was that it was considered important for nation building, for creating autonomously thinking citizens and that this autonomy of thought (because you could read and write) should be unrelated to a class system. The dream of the USA etc. I do remember that I was more interested in a friends research. She was working on the concept of subliminal advertising.

J : so is that what you think school is? a sytem that enables autonomy of thought ? Est-ce que c’est ce que vous pensez qu’une école doit être ? Un système qui permet l’autonomie de penser ?

J : yes. the thinkers will create their community by the force of imagination and insistance on the validity of their position- although I admit this has fascist and totalitarian possibilities- they will insist on the validity of their invitaion and the pourosity of their space.- this still isnt satisfying is it ?

J : No it isnt. But then the question, which i feel you must be asking yourself right now, which society is  this autonomous thinker is a part of, a citizen of what ?

J : very good question. I guess the most obvious answer, which displeases me so i almost dont even wnat  to mention it is: the art community

J : ok here are two questions: art community ? And : why dont you like this answer.

J : well art community is actually unfortunetly art market and this market is hiding some very ugly truths about how people of our Age like to spend their time and energy. I feel more and more that most (not all) evaluation of art by "professsionals", ie the folks between your art and the rest of the folks, is fear driven.  and that this fear, primarily the fear of becoming obsolete, of becoming irrelevent is very hidden underneath layers of chitty chat that pretends to be dsicourse or objective evaluation. blech. I mean doesnt that tire you out too, just by thinking about it? so I dont like this answer because it is boring. in a bad way.

J : yes, I am also tired by this inconsistancy of thought. but i feel you are generalizing- are you really talking about the entire ART WORLD, or are you just referrring to a few professionals in the very bourgois french contemporary dance scene ?

J : yes. You got me. its true. but i suspect that this kind of parochialism is present in others areas of our beautiful art world. the thing is- it is hard to adress secret systems that are not really secret. there is no conspiracy to render art harmless by constantly encouraging its practicioners to undermine their radicality in order to recieve a grant or show their work, or please some not very adventurous thinkikers. if their were that would be very stimulating indeed. the problem is sthe simple depression of mediocrity and fear.

J : So could we willfully imagine that « school » produces it’s own criteria for citizenship and so evokes the notion of nation that is necessary ?

J : Notion of nation ? yes. Why not the thinkers will create their community by the force of imagination and insistance on the validity of their position- although I admit this has fascist and totalitarian possibilities- they will insist on the validity of their invitaion and the pourosity of their space.- this still isnt satisfying is it ?

J : No it isn’t.

J :and if we take the eternity out of the notion of nation ? if we autoproduce citizens of this or that art-nation with the loving understanding that they are necessarily evanscent

J : you are very romantic at heart, aren’t you ?

J : yes, it is a constant battle.

J :So, what is  this school good for ?

J : You keep asking me that. It has become irritating.

J : Perhaps you wouldn’t feel so irritated if you would adress the question directly.  What is this school good for ?

J : why do you feel the need for this type of evaluation ? wouldn’t a more interesting question be « what does it do ?» or «how does it behave ? » or « perhaps even « what does it produce ? »

J : Yes that is a very good point.

J :why evaluate at all ? Can we not just describe ?

J : like a kind of Fable you mean ?

J : no, faux piste, then we find ourselves again at the same place of evaluation, moral, morality etc.

J : you are really not an organized thinker at all, even I am confused

J :You know, its a real problem because i get very involved with the word school. When i was in "school",  high school to be precise, I did a term paper on the development of the public education system in the united states of america. which itself is funny because I had transferred myself out of the public education system and into a very exclusive educational enviroment.

J : So why did you choose this topic ? do you remember what the result of your research was ?

J : I honestly cannot remember why i chose the topic- it seems completely unlikey- a very dry subject. The only thing I seem to remember was that it was considered important for nation building, for creating autonomously thinking citizens and that this autonomy of thought (because you could read and write) should be unrelated to a class system. The dream of the USA etc. I do remember that I was more interested in a friend’s research. She was working on the concept of subliminal advertising.

J :so is that what you think school is? a sytem that enables autonomy of thought ?

J : yes.

J : But then the question, which i feel you must be asking yourself right now, which society is  this autonomous thinker is a part of, a citizen of what ?

J : very good question. I guess the most obvious answer, which displeases me so i almost dont even wnat  to mention it is: the art community

J :ok here are two questions: art community? and: why dont you like this answer.

J : well art community is actually unfortunately art market and this market is hiding some very ugly truths about how people of our Age like to spend their time and energy. I feel more and more that most (not all) evaluation of art by "professsionals", ie the folks between your art and the rest of the folks, is fear driven.  and that this fear, primarily the fear of becoming obsolete, of becoming irrelevent, is very hidden underneath layers of chitty chat that pretends to be discourse or objective evaluation. blech. I mean doesnt that tire you out too, just by thinking about it? so I dont like this answer because it is boring. in a bad way.

J :yes, i am also tired by this inconsistancy of thought. but i feel you are generalizing- are you really talking about the entire ART WORLD, or are you just referrring to a few professionals in the very bourgois french contemporary dance scene ?

J : yes. You got me. its true. but i suspect that this kind of parochialism is present in others areas of our beautiful art world. the thing is- it is hard to adress secret systems that are not really secret. there is no conspiracy to render art harmless by constantly encouraging its practicioners to undermine their radicality in order to recieve a grant or show their work, or please some not very adventurous thinkikers. if their were that would be very stimulating indeed. the problem is the simple depression of mediocrity and fear.

J : So could we willfully imagine that « school » produces it’s own criteria for citizenship and so evokes the notion of nation that is necessary ?

J : Notion of nation ? yes. Why not the thinkers will create their community by the force of imagination and insistance on the validity of their position- although I admit this has fascist and totalitarian possibilities- they will insist on the validity of their invitation and the pourosity of their space.- this still isnt satisfying is it ?

J : No it isnt.

J and if we take the eternity out of the notion of nation ? if we autoproduce citizens of this or that art-nation with the loving understanding that they are necessarily evanscent

J : you are very romanitic at heart, aren’t you ?

J : yes, it is a constant battle.

J : hi jennifer

J :hi jennifer

J :how are you feeling,

J :pretty good. we just did this active passive thing that makes everyone so happy.

J :what active passive thing ?

J : it's an exercise that I have the impression that I developed. when I was a child I thought that I had invented the word humungous. I really insisted on it. so as I said, i think I developed this exercise. it's pretty easy and very all-purpose: one person is passive , completely passive, a floppy doll. and the other person is active and moves them around. that is the basic proposition but it has myriad implications and applications depending on how the rules or subtltie s of this relationship is portrayed. but are you really interested in this ? i sense your attention waning.

J :you are very atuned to the states of others.  it's true, i have begun to be a bit impatient. I feel that we have been talking for three days and you still insist of veiling yourself, refusing to answer questions directly. why is it that you have trouble with defining yourself ?

J. if i exist then there is entropy. this is scary so I dance around the fact of my existance in order to try and cheat change. at the same time I am not so afraid of change- I am curious about it.

J : that is no answer at all. lets change the topic. How do you feel about teaching these days. are you a teacher ?

J : I enjoy teaching- which for me means leading class forms. these forms adress information I feel passionatly about, or information the value of which I am certain, or something that makes living more fun. I am beginning to enjoy my role as teacher as a performative one. A time holder, an enviroment creater, an ambiance shifter, a content provider. I really really enjoy this. i dislike any implication of authoruty but i like respect- as i like to respect others. i like to respect others because i prefer the carefulness and depth of thought necessary when we "respect" someone.  i think i am very sleepy. does this answer your question.

J :it is a part of an answer. do quetions scare you ?

J : I always feel that around the question there are infathomable depths of "question". that each question needs to be clarified- to be made to reveal the assumption upon which the question stands. for instance ; concepts of evaluation-good bad etc- are popular platforms for a question. before I can answer the question « is so and so 's work any good »,I need to establish the criteria for this good. Each revelation of an assumption reveals a whole other set of assumptions .  Like cockroaches- if you see one suspicious underlying assumption there are atleast 100 more in the walls.it is amazing we can think at all. in creative and performative situations i can work well with "pretending" that a generalization that permits the position on which we have decided to stand in order to work, is "true".