One of the reasons why the participation in the forum has been low may be the fact that Third World problems demand not only theory but also concrete actions if they are to be overcome: no art without bread! Much has been written about the North/South division, colonization, poverty and justice, yet the situation has worsened: through globalization big corporations (Mercedes Benz/Chrysler) increase in power but the poor get poorer.

I would like this forum to exist beyond the 4th of december. Communication, discussion and exchange demand time to ripen. Maybe Pat and Gerhard could moderate this list, transfering it to the website Universes in Universe. The list itself could be sent to the participants once a week; surely sponsors can be found!

My name is Hans Braumüller; I am a Chilean-German visual artist. As a border crosser between cultures and permanent foreigner, I find the Internet an ideal medium to connect with many people. Since 1987 I have been active in mail art networking (in which all participants are equally worth; the interchange is made by post, fax, e-mail and the www), a creative process in community which precedes art on-line.

Mail art has always mirrored the newest developments in communications: in the 70s with video, in the 80s with fax and then the Internet. A new tendency is the meeting between networking/mail art and performance. Yet has the mainstream been changed through that? No, at the best two or three artists like Eugenio Dittborn (Chile) have benefited from mail art and become famous.

The Internet could mostly be used as is TV: for entertainment instead of information, manipulation and propaganda instead of exchange. The Internet is an instrument and as such influences our lifes. Wether it is used for liberation or oppression does not depend upon its very nature, but on the societal structure that determines its use. Therefore the demand of the situationists to make the media (including the Internet) accessible to everyone must be taken into consideration. Only then does the Internet acquire a democratic character. The mostly transnational telecommunication companies in poor countries could sponsor access to the Internet for schools, universities and public libraries.

To illustrate how the Internet creates a new dimension in the area of communication and exchange, I would like to mention the following: within two days of Pinochet's arrest in England a collective of five artists (Clemente Pad’n, Uruguay; Fernando García-Delgado, Argentina; Tartarugo and CŽsar Reglero, Spain and myself) developed by e-mail and was later named GOM@ (Global Organization of Mail Artists) to launch a communiqué. In it we demanded justice for Humberto Nilo and the extradition of Pinochet to Spain. Humberto Nilo, ex-director and ex-professor at the School of Fine Arts of the Universidad de Chile, was victim of the still existing mechanisms of the ex-dictatorship. In march this year, while still director, he organized a mail art exhibition titled "Freedom, Pluralism and Diversity in the Production and Teaching of the Arts". Within two weeks we culled over 300 signatures towards our cause, through e-mail. We sent these to the governments in Chile, Spain and England and international organizations. We are still receiving signatures, even by regular mail! As a result of this experience, we have decided to use GOM@ for future emergency actions. If you wish to adhere to our member list, please send an e-mail to gom@crosses.net.

It is within this type of actions that I see the possibilities of the medium Internet: network and communication which before would have taken months to organize, now happened within minutes! Presently, I am organizing my next networking project- Crosses of The Earth: Homage to Indigenous People, in which I collaborate with artists around the world. The website http://www.crosses.net/200 documents the ongoing process and provides information about the project. Everybody is welcome to participate.
Please send your cross!

Greetings from Hamburg,

Hans Braumüller, Hamburg and Santiago de Chile
http://www.crosses.net