1.2. The Question of Methodology: Ambulante Wissenschaft

The totally other is different shit.- Johan Sjerpstra

If there is something like an underlying theory for the creation of this mediatext than it is probably that of ambulante Wissenschaft by the Dutch media-collective Bilwet, often called Agentur Bilwet, of whom you just read already the first text-sample in form of a quotation. It is a try to apply mediatheory on writing about mediatheory. But first of all I want to introduce Agentur Bilwet. Unfortunately none of their books are available in English, although it is from my point of view one of the most advanced mediatheories. It is a very radical mediatheory, denying any state outside of media. "Everyhing is medial. There is nothing like an original, non-medial state, in which one could experience authentic being human." (Bilwet 1993: 189 - transl. S.J.) For them in fact every theory is therefore also mediatheory.

Bilwet means originally 'bevordering van de illegalen wetenschap' (support-organisation for illegal sciences) and it wants to support illegal sciences by appearances, changing contacts, radio-programmes, letters, journeys, manifestos, telephone-talks, walks and translations. Although not coming from an universitarian-academic background members of this media-collective are often invited speakers at academic conferences in Germany and well known as mediatheorists by their books, their E-zine and project 'Mediamatic' and many other publications: just search for Geert Lovink, the leading figure nowadays, or Bilwet in the internet. In contrast to most other, mainly academic theories, this theory has a dramatic advantage. It comes from a longstanding practice as Bilwet operates two former pirate-radiostations in Holland: Radio Patapoe (Amsterdam) and Radio Rataplan (Nimwegen) and Bilweters became also early cyberactivists in the internet, in realising the first digital city of the world (De Digital Stad Amsterdam at http://www.dds.nl/) and other projects. The tradition of pirate-radiostations makes clear why they call their science illegal science. But this has also another reason. Mediatheory also the academic one is heavily influenced by drug-theory (if there is any). So experienced reader will find allusions to drugs throughout this dissertation here.

The methodology of Bilwet maybe can be best described with words of the German Periodical, Der Spiegel: "The rules of Bilwets gay science are, that it is also possible to interpret brainstorming as logical deduction, virus as friend and medium as massage."(Bilwet 1994: 218 transl. S.J.) Bilwet itself describe its text-producing methodology as "Writing beyond clarity [..] The impossible text is not looking for readers, but has already found its subject.[..] Reading and writing have with TV in common, that it does not produce identities, it dissolves the subject from the I and its social side-effects and risks."(ibid.: 7 - transl. S.J.) It means to weapon oneself up to the teeth with theory and just start from wherever you like cause you can never get something like a comprehensive overview over a subject and 'no text needs a context.' "In the media-landscape we are never more than travellers who search obstinately for orientation."(Bilwet 1993: 14 transl. S.J.)

To apply their concept of ambulante Wissenschaft (nomadic/itinerant science) means to 'browse around full of good mood in a garden full of objects to study, with the knowledge that also a life without theory can be a happy one'. It means to publish 'intermediate reports about test-drilling in theory-fields'. "The mode of operation of ambulante Wissenschaft is to explore a space as well as to continue the journey." (Bilwet 1994: 10- transl. S.J.)

I try to apply this arbitrary methodology of ambulante Wissenschaft as far as possible to the work done here, though I am facing the dilemma of never being able to write this dissertation as a Biltext, as they become known, because: "A Biltext can never be formulated by one author, it always needs more at least two, sometimes even four or more collaborators. The commonly produced text is not an addition of individuals, but something totally different, an accumulation of knowledge and slips, which a single Bilweter never could have produced.[..] Thanks to the presence of several, prejudices and narrow mindedness become deleted mutually and the rest survives for the Biltext 'observations as ideas'."(Bilwet 1993: 272 - transl. S.J.) Here it is just me communicating with my Macintosh-computer by keyboard, mouse and screen, trying to avoid too many prejudices and too much narrow-mindedness, by talking to people on the net, letting other mediatheorists speak in between quotation-marks and hoping that Cyberhobbit, which you will get to know later will help me a little bit out of the dilemma as well. So I hope I can make the UTO (Unknown Theory Object): Mediatheory as postmodern cosmology of Virtual Reality? a little bit less unknown as I also look back on similar media activities as the Bilweters: I worked in the former Pirate-Radiostation Radio Dreyeckland in Freiburg and I am an intensive internet-user for about three years, communicating in the e-mail-, IRC- and teleconferencing-sphere, surfing around the World Wide Web, Gopher space and Usenet, publishing in html and newsgroups and living in MUDs, MOOs and other virtual spaces and communities. The rest I hope will do my bookshelf.So now enough introduction, let us start with another introduction.