Just updating myself with Bus-Tops, the digital public art project being produced by Artists Alfie Dennen and Paula Le Dieu. I have just selected my local bus stop as the site of one of their Viziters.
Reading through their blog entries the artists seem to imagine the screens as an organic network, with each screen having a set of intelligences:
"Each Vizitər will be a totally distinct being. Each will have an artificial intelligence which will let it filter what comes through it’s sensorium (the art people make and send to it) and make, to some extent, it’s own decisions on what it prefers, over time."
mmm not sure about that, is it no enough just to have a network of publicly accessible signs, the new digital public realm and all that ?
Monday, 26 April 2010
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Census - The installation
I've been thinking about how all the content generated via LP could be used in a final, physical piece of work. One where audience members could move through the content, incorporating filters such as postcode area, question type.
As show that really impressed some years back was Kutlug Ataman's Kuba. There would seem some - in my head at least- correlation between the two ideas in terms of presentation.
As show that really impressed some years back was Kutlug Ataman's Kuba. There would seem some - in my head at least- correlation between the two ideas in terms of presentation.
Monday, 19 April 2010
Martha Rosler - If you lived here......
This quote from Martha Roslers book "if you lived here" seems really pertinent to my thinking about Landscape-Portrait:
"Social activists, certainly, continue to recognise the importance of documentary evidence in arguing for social change. It is the necessity ot acknowledge the place- and time - from which one speaks that is an absolute requirement for meaningful social documentary”
"Naturally, this shifts the terrain of the argument from the art object - the photograph, the film, the videotape, the picture book or magazine - to the context, to the process of signification, and to social process."
The idea of documentary evidence - allowing "acknowledging historical context yet allowing 'unquantifiable sources' - LP can be seen in this light, in try to create a dataset of documentary evidence as part of a integrated practice. How this data might be used, either in gallery, planning office or locally convened online campaign is relevant to its audience.
The other thing to think of here is time:stamp. LP is ambiguous about this, the video is not dated, whilst it acknowledges place - via a Google map. Is it important for each of the video portraits to be dated.
"Social activists, certainly, continue to recognise the importance of documentary evidence in arguing for social change. It is the necessity ot acknowledge the place- and time - from which one speaks that is an absolute requirement for meaningful social documentary”
"Naturally, this shifts the terrain of the argument from the art object - the photograph, the film, the videotape, the picture book or magazine - to the context, to the process of signification, and to social process."
The idea of documentary evidence - allowing "acknowledging historical context yet allowing 'unquantifiable sources' - LP can be seen in this light, in try to create a dataset of documentary evidence as part of a integrated practice. How this data might be used, either in gallery, planning office or locally convened online campaign is relevant to its audience.
The other thing to think of here is time:stamp. LP is ambiguous about this, the video is not dated, whilst it acknowledges place - via a Google map. Is it important for each of the video portraits to be dated.
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
social sites
Now that nearly all the video portraits for Bournemouth are up we need to think about disseminating the content to different social sites. These will consit of sites that are locally focused; such as Bournemouth Echos forum and twitter site, as well those that maintain a wider geographical focus. More links as I find them.
meet SCAN - Planning phase 2
Now the dust has settled on phase 1 of the Bournemouth project I met up with Helen from SCAN to discuss next steps. For me the important outcomes are the use of the media by the collaborators involved in the project.
Of our two main collaborators, I am hopefull that Craig will use some of the video portraits on the Townsend area on his website. Talking with Craig I understand there is a good chance that he may produce additional umbrella community websites for community groups to use. Dianne is planning an exhibition of her photographs, her work will also be incorporated into a exhibition which will travel the local libaries and Bournemouth central library.
Tony White has been working on his text works which so far consist of a blog entry and comments in the 'comments' section of the landscape-portrait website.
Of our two main collaborators, I am hopefull that Craig will use some of the video portraits on the Townsend area on his website. Talking with Craig I understand there is a good chance that he may produce additional umbrella community websites for community groups to use. Dianne is planning an exhibition of her photographs, her work will also be incorporated into a exhibition which will travel the local libaries and Bournemouth central library.
Tony White has been working on his text works which so far consist of a blog entry and comments in the 'comments' section of the landscape-portrait website.
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Social Tech
The first phase of the Landscape-Portrait project in Bournemouth finished last night with a sprint across Bournemouth to catch the train back to Waterloo. Tony White and myself just made the train with tony suffering mechanical issues by still making the cut.
Thinking about the project now there is a question, part of my PHD research, about the use of technology in non-art or specialist environments.
In using video and the net to disseminate the content created by LP we have lost a few participants who simply do not trust the technology, that is video or the web. With video the reaction has to with being recognisable, along the lines of 'please don't take my picture'. With the web its slightly different, but the reaction is related to an idea of what people (other net users) might use this for. This incorporates a range from pedophiles through to identity theft. Its obviously not our place to persuade people that the dangers are not real, they do happen, but that they are extremely unlikely to happen as a result of taking part in LP.
This level of mistrust - either of medium or technology - does not happen s explicitly within classic 'art' spaces, there is sometimes an unthinking acceptance - no more worrying than the suspicion - that they, as participants' know the risks and still wish take part in a cultural project.
Thinking about the project now there is a question, part of my PHD research, about the use of technology in non-art or specialist environments.
In using video and the net to disseminate the content created by LP we have lost a few participants who simply do not trust the technology, that is video or the web. With video the reaction has to with being recognisable, along the lines of 'please don't take my picture'. With the web its slightly different, but the reaction is related to an idea of what people (other net users) might use this for. This incorporates a range from pedophiles through to identity theft. Its obviously not our place to persuade people that the dangers are not real, they do happen, but that they are extremely unlikely to happen as a result of taking part in LP.
This level of mistrust - either of medium or technology - does not happen s explicitly within classic 'art' spaces, there is sometimes an unthinking acceptance - no more worrying than the suspicion - that they, as participants' know the risks and still wish take part in a cultural project.
Monday, 29 March 2010
phase 2
The landscape-Portrait project for Bournemouth has now moved into phase 2 of its production. Currently I am uploading all the interviews conducted so far.
Tonight were having a get together with all the collaborators as a sort of thank you.
The second part of the project where we seed the content into online spaces that directly relate to Bournemouth. Tony White is going to write content to sit in the comments box of various videos, the hope will be that interested parties coming to the website will view content, and be inspired to either record a portrait of leave a comment about a portrait.
Tonight were having a get together with all the collaborators as a sort of thank you.
The second part of the project where we seed the content into online spaces that directly relate to Bournemouth. Tony White is going to write content to sit in the comments box of various videos, the hope will be that interested parties coming to the website will view content, and be inspired to either record a portrait of leave a comment about a portrait.
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