Geert Lovink (born 1959, Amsterdam) is the founding director of the Institute of Network Cultures,[1] whose goals are to explore, document and feed the potential for socio-economical change of the new media field through events, publications and open dialogue.[2] As theorist, activist and net critic, Lovink has made an effort in helping to shape the development of the web.

Geert Lovink
Geert Lovink in 2010
Born1959 (age 64–65)
NationalityDutch
Alma materUniversity of Amsterdam, University of Melbourne, University of Queensland
OccupationMedia Theorist
EmployerHogeschool van Amsterdam
Websitehttp://networkcultures.org/
http://networkcultures.org/geert
http://laudanum.net/geert/

Since 2004 Lovink is a researcher at the Faculty of Digital Media and Creative Industries at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA) where he heads the Institute of Network Cultures. From 2007 till 2017 he was a Professor of Media Theory at the European Graduate School where he supervised five PhD students. From 2004-2013 he was an Associate Professor of New Media at the University of Amsterdam (UvA).[3] In December 2021 he was appointed Professor of Art and Network Cultures at the UvA Art History Department. The Chair (one day a week) is supported by the HvA. Lovink earned his master's degree in political science at the University of Amsterdam, holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne and has been a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Queensland.[4]

Activities

edit

Since the early eighties, Lovink has been involved in a range of different projects and initiatives in the field of new media.

  • 1983 Member of Adilkno
  • 1989–94 Editor for the media art magazine Mediamatic[5]
  • 1993 Co-founder of the support campaign for independent media in South-East Europe Press Now[6]
  • 1994 Co-founder of the Amsterdam-based free community network Digital City[7] (DDS)
  • 1994 Co-founder of the internet workspace and content provider for the arts desk.nl.
  • 1995 Co-founder (together with Pit Schultz) of the international nettime circle
  • 1996–99 Public researcher at the Society for Old and New Media, De Waag[8]
  • 1996 Coordinating projects and teaching once a year at the IMI mediaschool[9] in Osaka/Japan
  • 2000 organizer of the Tulipomania Dotcom conference
  • 2000–08 Consultant/editor to the exchange program of Waag Society and Sarai New Media Centre (Delhi)
  • 2001 Co-founder of FibreCulture,[10] a forum for Australian Internet research and culture
  • 2002 Co-organizer of Dark Markets,[11] on new media and democracy in times of crisis in Vienna
  • 2003 Co-organizer of Uncertain States of Reportage[12] in Delhi
  • 2004 Co-organizer (together with Trebor Scholz) of the conference on the art of (online) collaboration Free Cooperation[13] at SUNY Buffalo

On 31 May 2010 Geert Lovink took part in Quit Facebook Day and deleted his Facebook account.[14]

In 2020 two text archives of Geert Lovink were preserved and transferred to the INC website: The Adilkno/Bilwet archive, once hosted by desk.nl Archived 2019-04-24 at the Wayback Machine (1990-1999): https://networkcultures.org/bilwet-archive/ and the text archive of geertlovink.org (2000-2010): https://networkcultures.org/geertlovink-archive/.

Theories

edit

Geert Lovink was one of the key theorists behind the concept of tactical media – the use of media technologies as a tool for critical theory to become artistic practice. As an Internet activist, he describes tactical media as a "deliberately slippery term, a tool for creating 'temporary consensus zones' based on unexpected alliances. A temporary alliance of hackers, artists, critics, journalists and activists."[15] In essence, he believes that these new resources of which audiences could become participants in actions against higher powers became an area in which many different types of people could unite. Lovink also was a founder of the early web mailing list "nettime", as well as a number of other projects.

Bibliography

edit
  • Lovink, Geert. Dynamics of Critical Internet Culture (1994-2001)[permanent dead link], PhD thesis, English Department, The University of Melbourne, 2002.
  • Lovink, Geert. Dark Fiber: Tracking Critical Internet Culture, Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press, 2002. ISBN 0-262-12249-9
  • Lovink, Geert. Uncanny Networks, Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press, 2002.
  • Lovink, Geert. My First Recession, Rotterdam: NAi/V2_Publishing, 2003.
  • Lovink, Geert. The Principle of Notworking, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2005.
  • Lovink, Geert. "New Media, Art and Science: Explorations Beyond the Official Discourse", in Scott McQuire and Nikos Papastergiadis (eds), Empires, Ruins + Networks: The Transcultural Agenda in Art, Melbourne: University of Melbourne Press, 2005.
  • Lovink, Geert. Tactical Media, the Second Decade, Brazilian Submidialogia, 2005.
  • Lovink, Geert and Rossiter, Ned. "Dawn of the organized networks", Fibreculture Journal 5 2005.
  • Lovink, Geert. Zero Comments: Blogging and Critical Internet Culture, London and New York: Routledge, 2007.
  • Lovink, Geert. Networks Without a Cause: A Critique of Social Media, Cambridge and Malden: Polity, 2012. ISBN 9780745649689.
  • Lovink, Geert and Rasch, Miriam (eds), Unlike Us Reader: Social Media Monopolies and Their Alternatives, Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures, 2013. ISBN 978-90-818575-2-9, paperback, 384 pages.
  • Lovink, Geert. Social Media Abyss, Critical Internet Cultures and the Force of Negation, Cambridge and Malden: Polity, 2016. ISBN 978150950776-4.
  • Lovink, Geert, Tkacz, Nathaniel, and de Vries, Patricia (eds), MoneyLab Reader: An Intervention in Digital Economy, Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures, 2015. ISBN 978-90-822345-5-8.
  • Gloerich, Inte, Lovink, Geert, de Vries, Patricia, MoneyLab Reader 2, Overcoming the Hype, Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures, 2017.
  • Lovink, Geert, Rossiter, Ned, Organization after Social Media, Brooklyn: Minor Compositions, http://www.minorcompositions.info/?p=857.
  • Lovink, Geert, Sad by Design, Eurozone, January 2019, https://www.eurozine.com/sad-by-design/.
  • Lovink, Geert, Sad by Design, On Platform Nihilism, London: Pluto Press, 2019.
  • Gerritzen, Mieke, Lovink, Geert, Made in China, Designed in California, Criticized in Europe, Amsterdam: The Image Society, 2019, https://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/amsterdam-design-manifesto/.
  • Lovink, Geert, Stuck on the Platform, Reclaiming the Internet, Amsterdam: Valiz, 2022.
  • Lovink, Geert, Extinction Internet, UvA inaugural speech, November 2022, https://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/extinction-internet/.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Institute of Network Cultures". networkcultures.org.
  2. ^ "Institute of Network Cultures - The Institute of Network Cultures presents: MoneyLab: Coining Alternatives". networkcultures.org. Archived from the original on 2010-05-13. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  3. ^ Geert Lovink Archived 2010-06-22 at the Wayback Machine Faculty Profile at European Graduate School. Biography, bibliography, photos and video lectures.
  4. ^ "Geert lovink : Biography". Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  5. ^ "Mediamatic.net".
  6. ^ "Home". pressnow.org. Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  7. ^ "DDS Home". dds.nl.
  8. ^ "Waag Society".
  9. ^ "IMI/グローバル映像大学". iminet.ac.jp.
  10. ^ "Fibreculture". fibreculture.org.
  11. ^ "DARK MARKETS - INFOPOLITICS, ELECTRONIC MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY IN TIMES OF CRISIS". t0.or.at.
  12. ^ "SARAI : Events:: Crisis Media". Archived from the original on 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  13. ^ "The Blog Of Free Cooperation". freecooperation.org.
  14. ^ Join the Facebook Exodus on May 31!, blogpost, 27 May 2010.
  15. ^ Meikle, Grahama (2004) "Networks of Influence: Internet Activism in Australia and Beyond" in Gerard Goggin (ed.) Virtual Nation: the Internet in Australia, University of New South Wales Press, Sydney pp 73-87