Non-Governmental Matters (NGM)

As part of the Non-governmental Matters research project and publication, we seek different perspectives from interdisciplinary art groups in Europe and Asia, and we seek to reshape and imagine a sustainable industry or platform within a specific artist network: “What is a machine?” to support artists outside of existing academic systems. Prior to this study, the Holo Project was the first iterative project proposal to turn this idea into a practical action. When the project was denied a grant, it prompted us to step back and explore the problematic structure of government arts grants and the nature of international exchange. The Tribe Against the Machine and Friends from the Future, both of which were held in Taiwan, and the HlabX events organized by Hackteria in various countries, are precedents for a low level of collaboration with these foreign online communities. The obstacles encountered by these projects also contributed to the exploratory momentum in this study. This study focuses on the initial motivations, histories, and financial models of art communities, collectives, art groups, and networks. In addition to the main focus on organizers associated with “camp” networks, several alternative targets such as Modern Body Festival, Re-FREAM, Open Lab, and Fabricademy, which work with government agencies, were interviewed and are used here as a reference group in comparison to other autonomous camps or non-subsidized and independent initiatives. There are several main objectives in this study: the first is to map and document all international communities relevant to the topic of this study. Second, to speculate on alternative forms of the traditional camp model on a global scale. In this interview, the interviewees were mainly asked about the sources of funds and the operating methods of their events, but what this research mainly wants to reveal are the various communities and evolutionary trajectories that are hard to be perceived, as well as the interviewees’ views on the creation of the art industry. The responses collected are mainly as follows: 1. The elements that constitute the sustainability of activities are people, not funds. 2. The international character of the community is not the purpose of the community but the cause of the community. 3. The organizer refuses the government subsidy because they do not want the sustainability of the event to be reduced. 4. The interviewees’ organizations rely on support from complex systems. 5. The aging of organizers and participants is a common cause of network aging. 6. A new industrial system with more political correctness is expected and needs to be continuously discussed and fought for.