1. SO... WHO ARE YOU? TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF! SOME CORE OF TRUTH WOULD BE NICE, BUT PLEASE FEEL FREE TO BE COLOURFUL...
Marcus Lanyon. Grandson of the St.Ives Modernist painter Peter Lanyon. Also known as Tarantella Serpentine in my performance capacity. Recently became the live vocalist for Sheep on Drugs. Maker of things.
2. WHAT DOES POLIS MEAN TO YOU, IF ANYTHING? GO ON, GUESS, EXTRAPOLATE...
A fleshy lump of humanity inter connected through an endless stream of zeroes and ones. Communal urban rehabilitation through art and technology. The possibility to one day have a shiny hardback book written about our activities as a group and movement, with sexy black and white photographs plus lengthy essays. Oh yes.
3. DO YOU HAVE ANY PARTICULAR INTEREST IN VIRTUAL REALITY/VIRTUAL WORLDS, OR GENERAL THEMES/DEPICTIONS OF URBAN SPACE?
Primary artistic focus is the urban environment, although not in a directly landscape based manner. Major musical influences are the activities of the city dweller.
VR however is not a major interest.
4. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE AN ARTIST, EITHER PRINCIPALLY OR AMONG OTHER THINGS?
Yes, I consider myself an artist before any other signifier.
5. IF YOU ARE AN ARTIST, DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR ART WORKS (OBJECTS, ACTIONS, WHATEVER) THAT WOULD EXPLORE POLIS THEMES OR IDEAS?
Yes. Embarking on third year of BA Visual Arts, of course including dissertation. Definite description however currently unavailable.
6. WHAT ARTFORMS DO YOU CONSIDER MIGHT BE RELEVANT OR OF INTEREST TO POLIS?
Urban interactions / observation and documentary / anything that records eg audio and film.
7. WHAT IDEAS FROM ANY NON-"ART" FIELD DO YOU THINK MIGHT BE RELEVANT OR OF INTEREST TO POLIS?
Corporate identity and mass marketing. The artistic self as consumer product, eg the work of Murakami.
8. DO YOU KNOW THE DADA, FLUXUS, OR BEAT MOVEMENTS? DO YOU SEE ANY PARALLELS BETWEEN THOSE AND WHAT POLIS MIGHT BECOME, OR ANY INTERESTED LESSONS THEY MIGHT HAVE TO TEACH US?
Certainly. However, Fluxus did not possess the internet or our level of tehcnology. The greatest lesson they can teach us is that pretension is the source of all success and that we must network, network, network to advance our cultural capital. Perception of our work directly corresponds to its value (the importance of coffee table books).
9. ANY OTHER MOVEMENTS WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT? THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE "ART" MOVEMENTS...
Cultural motion.
10. IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT PLACE DOES ORGANISED LINEAR MUSIC HAVE IN POLIS SOUNDSCAPES, IF ANY?
A healthy section. As long as it doesn't remain linear.
11. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN THE POLIS MANIFESTO? DO YOU THINK THE MANIFESTO SHOULD BE TEXT ONLY? MULTIMEDIA? SUGGESTIVE OR EXPLICIT?
Incorporate as many media as possible. I'd like to see energy and movement.
12. NAME ONE THINKER (OR DOER) WHO YOU FEEL SHOULD BE OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO POLIS? HELL, NAME A BUNCH OF THEM IF YOU LIKE...
Julie Mehretu (painter). Gillian Lowndes (sculptor).
13. DOES POLITICS HAVE ANY PLACE IN POLIS?
Of course. Politics have a place in everything.
14. DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE A DEDICATED POLIS WEBSITE, OR A DISTRIBUTED NET? OR BOTH? OR SOME OTHER ALTERNATIVE?
Certainly some form of online HQ, simply for simplicity's sake.
15. DO YOU KNOW ANY PROGRAMMING/SCRIPTING LANGUAGES? PARTICULARLY JAVA OR VRML? IF NOT, WOULD YOU LIKE SUPPORT IN LEARNING FROM MEMBERS OF POLIS?
Only HTML. I'll tackle others when there's enough room in my head and time in my day.
16. DO WE CARE ABOUT THINGS LIKE HACKING, AS A GROUP? SHOULD WE BE ENCRYPTED FOR ANY REASON?
Only if we incorporate hackers amongst us.
17. ARE YOU INTERESTED IN TRANSHUMANISM, OR EVEN KNOW OR CARE WHAT IT IS?
I'm interested. I need to know more about it however.
19. HAVE YOU SEEN "EVENT CITIES" 1 OR 2 BY BERNARD TSCHUMI (THEY'RE OBLIQUE ARCHITECTURE COFFEE-TABLE ART BOOKS)
Not yet. But I'm going to. The importance of coffee table books!
20. ANY OTHER THOUGHTS, ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO ADD?
Any Polis members in the UK area: do come and see me with Sheep on Drugs, be a great oppurtunity to meet.