Radical Software Group
RSG-Black-1 (Black Hawk Down) | 2005 | 22:00mins | BetaSP | USA
Radical Software Group is a loosely defined ensemble of artists and programmers, working collaboratively in digital media. Radical Software Group, or RSG, is named in honor of Radical Software, the short-lived but seminal 1970s magazine, which investigated nascent video technology with much the same irreverent spirit that RSG now brings to digital culture. The group, whose membership shifts according to the project, has focused largely on network environments and interface design, including the award-winning software tool Carnivore.
Alex Galloway (born 1974) received a B.A. from Brown University and a Ph.D. from Duke University. His work has been exhibited at Eyebeam, New York; White Columns, New York; the New Museum for Contemporary Art, New York; Transmediale, Berlin; P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York; the Institute of Contemporary Art, London, and on the Whitney Museum of American Art’s artport website, among other venues. He worked at Rhizome.org from 1996 to 2002. Galloway lives in New York City where he teaches at New York University.
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RSG-BLACK-1 is a new cut of the Hollywood blockbuster portrayal of a 1993 U.S. raid in Somalia. In the RSG version, all the white characters have been programmatically edited out. The result is a 22-minute conceptual investigation of representation and ideology. A timely and chilling critique, the new narrative highlights the entertainment industry’s images of those it sees as “Other.”
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