Dušan Barok

Photo: Zuzana Duchová, 2015.
Born	Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia)
Lives in	Amsterdam, Netherlands

The SKOR Codex by La Société Anonyme, 2012.

Ideographies of Knowledge, 2015.

Dušan Barok is a researcher, editor and artist based in Amsterdam. He edits Monoskop and works as a research fellow and PhD candidate at the Media Studies Department of the University of Amsterdam. His practice involves digital libraries, experimental publishing and art platforms.

Dušan Barok is best known for Monoskop, a platform for avant-garde media studies he initiated back in 2004 as part of Burundi collective. Since 2009, he also operates its affiliated online library Monoskop Log, created together with Tomáš Kovács. Its website is hosted by Sanchez, an art server run by Multiplace network and providing free web hosting to emerging artists and cultural nonprofits. Recently, he convened a series of seminars on media aesthetics entitled The Extensions of Many (2015), prepared in collaboration with Bergen Center for Electronic Arts and hosted by Hordaland Kunstsenter in Bergen, Norway. The series was followed by the symposium Ideographies of Knowledge (2015) prepared with Barbora Šedivá in Paul Otlet's archives in Mundaneum in Mons, Belgium.

Born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, Dušan Barok graduated in information technologies from the University of Economics, Bratislava (DI, 1997-2002), and Networked Media from the Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam (MDes, 2010-2012).

In the period between 1999 and 2010 he had been active in independent art and cultural scenes primarily in Slovakia and Czech Republic, working as a web designer, editor, cultural organiser and artist. He founded and ran the online cultural magazine Koridor (in Slovak, 1999-2002). As part of a diverse group of art and cultural workers, he co-founded Burundi media lab and organised the Translab evening series there (2004-2005). Since 1999, he has built and designed over eighty websites and open access platforms for artistic, cultural and educational organisations. He also developed an open source software for collaboration online, called backstage. Together with Magdaléna Kobzová, Barok organised the two-week long workshop-based event Letné dielne / Open Summer Academy, bringing together practitioners from the wide range of arts and sciences (Bratislava, 2006 & 2007). From 2004 he was involved in the organisation of Multiplace network culture festival, between 2007 and 2009 as its coordinator.

With Pit Schultz and Berlin Biennale, Barok developed an artist-run platform for contemporary art history, ArtWiki. He co-founded the artist collective La Société Anonyme known for its work The SKOR Codex (2012), a digital archive of public art in the form of a book. The book was printed in eight copies that are now available for viewing in libraries and collections (Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam; Royal Library, The Hague; Open Data Initiative, London; State Library Victoria, Melbourne; Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris; SFMOMA Library, San Francisco; Art Library of The National Art Center, Tokyo). It has been installed in exhibitions several times.

He also worked with OKNO, Academy of Fine Arts Prague (VVP), Center for Contemporary Arts Prague (Artlist), Museum of Modern Art Olomouc (CEAD), Atrakt Art (3/4 magazine), 13m3, Col-me and Satori. He has lectured and performed internationally. Raised in Bratislava, he lived in the United States (2002-2003), Prague (2004-2008), Berlin (2008-2010), Rotterdam (2010-2012), Bergen (2013-2016), and currently is based in Amsterdam.

Convened symposia

• Unlimited Editions: A public discussion on personal collecting and media archiving, TENT, Rotterdam, 2 Jul 2012.
• The Extensions of Many: Seminars on Media Aesthetics, Hordaland Art Centre, Bergen, Mar 2015. In collaboration with the Bergen Electronic Art Center. On the ambiguity of the notion of media from an aesthetic and technological perspective.
• Ideographies of Knowledge, Mundaneum, Mons, 3 Oct 2015. On the poetics, aesthetics and politics of information and knowledge in relation to digital libraries, search engines and the legacy of library/documentation science.

Talks, essays, interviews

Recent talks

• "Dívat se na databázi: Audiovizuální archiv prizmatem softwaru a databází", Artyčok.tv, The Academy of Fine Arts, Prague, Nov 2012. [1]
• "You'll Like This Art Because You're In It", Karaoke Europe: Očarenie realitou symposium, Stanica, Žilina, Dec 2012. [2]
• "Softvérová studia a špatná média", Interactive Media Theory seminar, Masaryk University, Brno, Dec 2012. (Slovak)
• with Andrej Chudý, "Remediácia kultúrnej produkcie v digitálnom sieťovom prostredí", Remediácia: V kontexte transdisciplinarity conference, Polish Institute, Bratislava, Jan 2013. [3]
• "Dedovia, dediči a vydedenci umenia a vedy na Slovensku. Kapitoly z mediálnej archeológie", Alef 0 series, Stanica, Žilina, Feb 2013. [4] / Krakatoa talk club, A4-Zero Space, Bratislava, Mar 2013. [5]
• "Merely Incentive", Renew: Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology, Riga, Oct 2013. (English)
  • "Len incentív", trans. Tomáš Kohút, Tim Ezin 4:1-2 (2013-14), Brno, pp 69-71. (Slovak)
• "Dve médiá", Zlá média / Evil media: Eristika nových médií conference, Masaryk University, Brno, Nov 2013. [6]
• "Making Access", FREE?! Winter Night’s Copyright Fairytale event, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, Nov 2013. [7] (English)
• "Information Agency", 4 živly - filmový seminár: Moc médií, Banská Štiavnica, Mar 2014. [8]
• "K technikám publikovania", Informace mezi komoditou a komunitou seminar, Tranzitdisplay, Prague, May 2014. [9] (Slovak)
  • "Techniques of Publishing", trans., May 2014. (English)
• "Communing Texts", Off the Press conference, WORM, Rotterdam, May 2014. Video documentation (17 min). [10] (English)
• "Poetika v spojení. Polia mediality", Literatura, technologie, média colloquium, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Oct 2014. [11] (Slovak)
• "Poetics of Research", Public Library conference, Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, Nov 2014. [12] (English)
• "Scribing Sound", Writing Sounds 2 exhibition, Lydgalleriet, Bergen, Nov 2014. [13] [14]
• "The Extensions of Many: Seminars on Media Aesthetics, 1: Introduction", introductory talks to seminar series, Hordaland kunstsenter, Bergen, Mar 2015. (Part 2). [15] (English)
• "Antropocén, algoritmy alebo postčlovečenstvo, to je jedno. Dejiny súčasnosti skrz mediálnu teóriu", Academy of Fine Arts/Bratislava, and Masaryk University, Brno, Mar 2015. [16] [17] (Slovak)
• "More Than Numbers, Less Than Words", Javna knjižnica / Public Library conference, Nova Gallery, Zagreb, Jun 2015. [18] (English)
• "Public Library", Technopolitics seminar, Vienna, Jun 2015. [19] (English)
• "Body of Thought: Artists' Texts and Their Contribution to Theory", Local Contexts / International Networks: Avant-Garde Magazines in Central Europe (1910-1935) conference, Kassák Museum, Budapest, Sep 2015. [20] (English)
• "Katalóg online: o špecifikách publikovania archívov umenia na internete", CEAD Workshop, Museum of Art, Olomouc, Sep 2015; Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava, Jan 2016. [21]
• "Algoritmy a sloboda", DOX, Prague; FAMU, Prague, and Masaryk University, Brno, Oct 2015. [22] [23] [24] (Slovak)
• paper at AHM PhD Seminar Series, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Dec 2016. [25] (English)
• "Documentation and digitization meet digital preservation to make time-based art last for posterity", NACCA Event, Tate Modern, London, Jan 2017. [26] [27] (English)
• "Shadow Libraries", Shadow Libraries: UbuWeb in Athens, National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), Athens, Mar 2018. [28] (English)

Interviews (given)

• Oliver Rehák, "Monoskop nových médií", 3/4 21-22, Bratislava: Atrakt Art, 2007. (Slovak)
• "Monoskop v sieti. Rozhovor Michala Murina s Dušanom Barokom", Profil 4, Bratislava, 2012, pp 92-105. Conducted Jul-Aug 2012. (Slovak)
• Robert Bobnič, Jurij Smrke, Jasmina Šepetavc, "Monoskop, Interview", Tribuna, Ljubljana, Dec 2012, pp 16-17. Conducted Nov 2012 during HAIP festival in Ljubljana. Full issue. (Slovenian)
• Alessandro Ludovico, "Dušan Barok, Interview", Neural 44: "Post-Digital Print", Bari, 2013, pp 10-11. Conducted Jan 2013. (English)
• Michal Murin, "Share & Go: Dušan Barok", Enter 16, Košice: Dive Buki, Autumn 2014, pp 84-87. Conducted May-Jun 2013. (Slovak) [29]
• Barbora Linková, "Monoskop, e-mailové interview s Dušanem Barokem", Mar 2014. Conducted for the author's dissertation. (Czech)+(Slovak)
• Annet Dekker, "The SKOR Codex Launched Into the Future. Interview with La Société Anonyme", Open!, Amsterdam, 17 Apr 2014, PDF. (English)
• Michal Rehúš, "Softvér je tiež literatúrou", Kloaka 5:3, Bratislava: Literis, 2014, pp 29-36. Conducted Sep-Dec 2014. (Slovak)
• Davide Giorgetta, Valerio Nicoletti, "They are Not Yet Books. Conversation with Dušan Barok" / "Non sono ancora libri. Conversazione con Dušan Barok", Progetto grafico 28: "Publishing", eds. Maria Rosaria Digregorio, Silvio Lorusso, Silvia Sfligiotti, and Stefano Vittori, Milan: AIAP, Nov 2015, pp 58-69, HTML. Conducted Mar 2015. [30] [31] (English)/(Italian)
• Matej Vakula, "Rozhovor s Dušanom Barokom o internete a umení", Flash Art CZ/SK 42, Dec 2016, pp 35-38, HTML. Conducted Nov 2016. (Slovak)
  • "With Dušan Barok About Art and the Internet", trans. Stephan von Pohl, Flash Art CZ/SK English Issue 4, Prague: Nadace Prague Biennale / PILOT, 2018, pp 60-63. (English)
• Annet Dekker, "Copying as a Way to Start Something New. Annet Dekker in Conversation with Dušan Barok About Monoskop", in Lost and Living (in) Archives, ed. Annet Dekker, Amsterdam: Valiz, 2017. Conducted May-Jun 2016. [32] (English)

Interviews

• "Zdeno Hlinka. IRC rozhovor", Koridor.sk arts culture media server, Bratislava, 6 Feb 2001. [33] (Slovak)
• "The machine is an idea that art makes. Conversation with a network artist Guy van Belle", Aug 2005. (English)
  • "Stroj je myšlienka, ktorú robí umenie", 3/4 magazine 19, Bratislava: Atrakt Art, 2006. (Slovak)
• with Magda Kobzová, "Talk with Dirk Paesmans, Jodi.org", okno.be, 24 May 2006. [34] (English)
  • "Neslúžime obsahu. Rozhovor s Dirkom Paesmansom (Jodi.org)", trans. Magdaléna Kobzová, 3/4 magazine 20, Bratislava: Atrakt Art, 2006. (Slovak)
• "On Participatory Art. Interview with Claire Bishop", 2009. (English)
  • "Umělci jako sociální pracovníci. S teoretičkou umění Claire Bishopovou", trans. Lenka Dolanová, A2 21, Prague, 2009. Abridged version. (Czech)
• Monoskop talks: Michal Murin, Monoskop 1, 2012. (Slovak)
• Interviews with Diana McCarty, Michal Murin, Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits, Călin Man, 3/4 magazine 27-28: "Remake", Bratislava: Atrakt Art, 2012, Log. (English)/(Slovak)

Essays

• "Net.art. Internet ako umelecké médium", 3/4 magazine 1, Bratislava: Atrakt Art, 2001. (Slovak)
• "6. pomo exhibícia dejín súčasnosti", 3/4 magazine 16, Bratislava: Atrakt Art, 2003. (Slovak)
• "Nomádstvo po big show", 3/4 magazine 17, Bratislava: Atrakt Art, 2004. (Slovak)
• "Node.London. Analysis of season of media arts in London", 2007. (English)
• "O kultúre sietí", Multiplace brochure, Bratislava: Multiplace, 2007. (Slovak)
  • "On the Culture of Networks", Multiplace brochure, Bratislava: Multiplace, 2007. (English)
• "Web Time", May 2010. (English)
• "Sourced in, unsourced out: Leaking as common knowledge production", May 2011. [35] (English)
• "Privatising Privacy: Trojan Horse in Free Open Source Distributed Social Platforms", May 2011. [36] (English)
• "Bitcoin: censorship-resistant currency and domain name system to the people", Jul 2011. [37] (English)
• "A Book of the Web", in Mondothèque: A Radiated Book / Un livre irradiant / Een irradiërend boek, Brussels: Constant, 2016, pp 80-83, PDF. (English)
  • "Knižnice zväzkov siete", Monoskop, Jun 2017. (Slovak)
• "For a Flat Library of Architecture", Monoskop, May 2017. (English)
  • "Za plošnu biblioteku arhitekture!", trans. Tomislav Medak, Monoskop, May 2017. (Serbo-Croatian)
• with Abigail Winograd, "Timeline of Events: Between Eastern Europe and Latin America", in The Other Transatlantic: Kinetic and Op Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, eds. Marta Dziewańska, Dieter Roelstraete, and Abigail Winograd, Warsaw: Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, 2017, pp 32-64. [38] [39] [40] (English)
• "Body of Thought: Artists' Texts and Their Contribution to Theory", in Local Contexts / International Networks: Avant-Garde Journals in East-Central Europe, eds. Gábor Dobó and Merse Pál Szeredi, Budapest: Petőfi Literary Museum & Kassák Museum/Kassák Foundation, 2018, pp 178-182. (English)

Chronology of Network Art, 2008.

Editor (selection)

• with Magdaléna Kobzová, Save Before It's Gone, Brussels, 2006. Includes interviews with Dirk Paesmans, Maja Kuzmanovic, Darko Fritz, and Andrei Smirnov. [41] (English)
• Chronology of Network Art, 2008.
• Monoskop Log: Writings on Arts, Culture, and Media Technology, 2009ff.
• "Russia: Avant-garde", Monoskop, 2013ff. Source documents and bibliography of and on the Russian avant-garde.
• "Sound art", Monoskop, 2014ff. Sound art resource and bibliography.
• "Avant-Garde and Modernist Magazines", Monoskop, 2014ff. A guide to online collections of avant-garde and modernist magazines.
• "Architecture", Monoskop, 2015ff. Source documents in the history, theory and criticism of 20th-century architecture.
• "Constructivism", Monoskop, 2015ff. Constructivist arts in Russia and east-central Europe from the late 1910s through the 1930s.
• "Art Styles and Movements", Monoskop, 2016ff. An annotated index of styles and movements in modern and contemporary art worldwide, from the 1860s until today.
• "Performance art", Monoskop, 2017ff. An extensive resource on performance art.

Works

22.2.2001 (2001), Matrica slovenská (2006), Computer with a Printer (2006), FaceLeaks (2010), The SKOR Codex (with La Société Anonyme, 2012), XVIII (with La Société Anonyme and Marja Wilgenkamp, 2013).

See also

• About Monoskop
• Digital libraries
• Burundi
• Multiplace

Contact

• db at monoskop dot org
• db at societyofalgorithm dot org
• PGP key