Micronations

pop~Topic

Cyberspace promises new virtual territories and redefined economic structures by its very existence. How does this fact impact our responses and interpretations to global information. Pop~TARTS interprets some innovative, artist created virtual territories, using the writings and theoretical positions of Saskia Sassen, professor of Urban Planning, Columbia University, New York City.

Pop~Feature about Ingo Guenthers Refugee Republic.
Saskia Sassens Text about The new Centralism in Telepolis special issue "City on the Net" (german only).

Refugees Excluded

People are starting to define their territory --and home-- in dataspace as easy as they find the escape key (or home page) on their keyboard.

Artists are often the first to move into new psychological territory, and have been known to establish fashionable trends and lifestyles. It is common knowledge that geophysical realities are ambiguous, and political boundaries are subject to change, depending on national interests and economic strategies. One only needs to recall the border changes in (the former) Soviet Union, (the former) Yugoslavia, the Middle East, and the Federal Republic of Germany in the past decade. Accordingly, artists have been quick to grasp real estate opportunities in the virtual landscape. *Artists States* and *Virtual Republics* give new economic potential and personal freedom not only for artists, but for everyone, and they offer a practical solution to real problems, too. Nevertheless, some political or economic entity continues to control the lives and futures of the inhabitants of these redefined states, which affects the personal daily comforts, commercial usefulness and individual creativity of those who choose to inhabit this flexible terrain.

Recently, Saskia Sassen lectured several times in Europe---BTW as the only female speaker---criticizing and referring to the concept of non-territorial state building, a traditional area of male domain which has now become transferred to data space. Sassen stated, in her presentations in Graz and Vienna, that a State can --and should-- work the same as a company. This is a direct effect of the globalization of communication, the corporate production of information, and the flow of data based on financial markets which has become the foundation of the *Staatskapital.* Control. Economy. Centralization of power. These are among the realities of international politics, and as Sassen points out, "...telecommunications has affected and altered the economic function of [international] cities."

Artistic city and state building is not simply the creation of a mental model --or an image for better orientation in real space. What we are witnessing --throughout the Internet-- is a digital gold rush where corporations, nations and individuals are staking claims in mass profusion. Today --as yesterday-- the economic interests are high. Micronations are not a new concept, there are more than 70 already listed on the Internet, and some have websites. These are real self-governing, idealistic--yet legally registered--nations, not fictional constructs. Several artists also claim territory as a micronation, and have defined real territory in Cyberspace. The topic of the micronation as an artist's project incorporates economic, theoretical, and aesthetic interests. The following will be described, and explained in several examples. We invite your visit to these artist states, and encourage you to register or become a citizen.

Virtual Embassy NSK - Neue Slowenische Kunst
Refugee Republic - Ingo Guenther
RR bei T0
West Bank Industries
Nomad Territories
Invisible Embassy of Seborga

One of the fathers of IRWIN - the visual arts section of NSK (Neue Slowenische Kunst) is making an NSK passport at the opening of the Hamburg exhibition Discord - Sabotage of Reality (Nov 28, 1996).

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