Objects in Flux - RMIT Research Repository - RMIT University

Objects in Flux
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structures and modes of operation. These common threads may be
organised into a number of recognisable themes which include:
• Diversity: Practices actively seek diversity, constructing alternatives
to mainstream, normalized social relations. This tendency to
take up divergent and, at times, deliberately oppositional positions
is often applied to the practice itself, producing a high degree of
diversity within the practice.
• Dynamic and emergent: Practices are quick to adapt to changing
social conditions and cultural trends. They are particularly prominent
around emerging technologies and moments of socio-cultural
change. This prominence may be understood in two ways: practices
may be more active at moments of change, and/or they may
have greater visibility during such moments.
• Active engagement: Practices privilege direct action that responds
to specific conditions and has distinct effects.
• Shared meaning structures: Practices develop social networks and
form cultural groups with common modes of behaviour and shared
narratives. Traditions are formed through repeated motifs: unique
ways of speaking, visual imagery, political views, prominent
identities (heroes and villains), recognisable aesthetic styles and
common ways of making.
• Creative play: Practices engage in creative play, including the
negotiation of established rules and boundaries, problem solving,
humour, personal enjoyment and the privileging of individual
agency.
• Anti-authoritarian: Practices often challenge or evade established
structures of control. Generally positioned as a demand for personal
freedom, this may result in anti-corporate, anti-state, antiprofessional
and/or anti-academic attitudes.
• Public: Practices have a significant public dimension that involves
performative acts articulated through a wide variety of media including:
writing, speaking, film/video, photography, audio recordings/broadcasts
and other material artefacts.
• Knowledge creation: Knowledge generated through the practice
is generally documented and shared freely with other practitioners
and the broader community. Participants often encourage others to
copy their projects and give detailed instructions to aid in this re-