BA Digital Media Design - coursework blog

The massive problem of e-waste

2008-05-16T12:06:00.012+01:00

We've all got some old electronic equipment stashed in a drawer somewhere, a broken mobile that hasn't made it's way to the bin yet, but before you chuck any of that stuff out, spend a moment considering where all that obsolete and busted technology ends up.

as people who are exploring all this new technology, we're frequently upgrading and expanding our collection of electronic equiptment - if i count up all the gadgets i've bought since first getting into this 'digital life' 5 years or so ago, its quite some figure. Add to that all the ink cartridges for the printer, batteries for cameras and music players etc, film canisters, photo processing chemicals, cd's and dvd's in their big plastic stack boxes, and it starts to get quite alarming. Thats after 5 years. Imagine what it'll be after 20 years as a media professional. Jesus H Vishnu, thats a shed load of dodgy plastics, chemicals and assorted toxins i'll be getting through.

We've really gotta start being more aware what we're doing when we use stuff and throw it out. Living in the land of plenty, it easy to just go on consuming and chucking out the remains, but continuing with this way of behavior can't be sustained, the effects are now too severe; we've gotta get with the programme.

I hope people watch these and take note. I'll blog later about where we can recycle our old mobiles, printer cartridges(which are also highly toxic) etc. I'm sure we've all got a few we need shot of. Some places send out freepost bags to post them off old stuff to recycle-if anyones interested, let me know and ill get a pile of them sent for us all.

Final Project

2008-05-12T20:09:00.005+01:00

For the self directed project, I'm going to do a poster campaign around the ideas of e-waste and energy consumption of todays technology. With a single computer chip doing more harm to the environment than the average car, and your Second Life avatar consumes as much electricity as a real life Brazilian, it's probably time we started to consider our energy consumption a whole lot more.
15 million mobile phones are discarded in 2004 (im looking for more recent figures) with only 4% begin recycled, and with a billion new handsets being sold in the last year, the global stats for discarded phones must be pretty staggering. Should be a concern when you consider mobiles contain the 10 most dangerous substances known to man. Much of our electronic waste ends up in developing countries, and the resulting environmental impact in some places has been catastrophic.

will also look at viable energy alternatives, with the population growth out of control, the demand on already overburdened energy supplies continues to grow. The cost of oil is climbing fast, with analysts predicting that we reached Peak oil , reserves are running dry. makes no sense at all that we are at war over the scraps that remain.
Biofuel has come under fire recently after reports of it being inefficient, I'm interested to learn more about solar energy -it's the biggest source of energy out there,and must surely be a strong contender for a future energy source for mankind.

dissertating

2008-05-11T12:31:00.007+01:00

My dissertation was entitled :
The Reality of Digital Photography.
Authenticity and the Pervasive Image in
Contemporary Culture.

I discussed the idea of the photographic image , and how digital technology has supposedly given rise to the 'loss of real', - digital images are inherently mutable, and can now be created from completely artificial content and this, some argue, has destroyed our faith in the authenticity of the photograph. I argued against this theory, stating that photography has never been able to show an objective view of reality, as a photograph comes into being as the result of a series of subjective decisions by the photographer- choice of lens, film speed, lighting, camera position, etc etc are all used to effect the way the image comes out. Photo editing software may now make it simple to manipulate images, but these developments are far from revolutionary, photography exists because of manipulation. whether a scene is arranged prior to image capture, or affected in post production traditionally in the darkroom, or digitally on a computer, they all ways to manipulate the final image, and present only the view of the author. Therefore the idea of a photographic 'truth' or authenticity becomes problematic.
I discussed the idea that digital technology has given back an element of control for the author, where previously roll film production, developing and printing were handled my large companies, now the photographer has more control over the whole process.
I suggested that more radical a change to photography with the development of digital technology was how it has changed the way we consume images, with cameras finding their way into ever more portable electronic devices, and personal computing allowing a greater flow of images through the home. The internet provides the means for self publishing and distribution, with staggering number of images uploaded each day. People are presenting themselves online in social network sites with snapshot photography. Images are flooding through our daily lives in larger tides.

What did i learn, other than i should probably leave dissertating to those that are good at it? Well i was stunned at the amount of images being uploaded to various sites. Its impossible to get decent statistics as there are so many places to upload images to, but hundreds of millions each week, increasing at a phenomenal rate. With more and more devices to capture, store and distribute images, the flood tide is sure to swell.

I found it very painful to write this essay, It's not something I'm naturally good at. I find it difficult to get down what I'm thinking about, without sounding like it's written by baboon. I also seem to use commas like vinegar on a bag of chips, sprinkling liberally all over the place until everything is soggy.
Glad it's handed in now though, quite a relief.

bjorks new 3d video

2008-04-21T21:42:00.003+01:00

check out Bjorks new 3d video. the inspiration for the director came from trip into the woods with a belly full of psilocybin shrooms. the video is a visual feast, with different media and techniques used in its creation. luckily ive still got some 3d specs left from the interaction project, so i can appreciate it in its full (miniature) glory. Theres a 2d version as well if you don't have the glasses, but for the full effect of seeing it at its very best, then its advantageous to ingest a handful of Liberty Caps. (and going out into the woods) .

2008-04-13T14:45:00.000+01:00

Easter Break

2008-03-31T10:50:00.008+01:00

Back to school again after the Easter break, time to get back with the programme. Micheál asked for an example of something that has been a source of inspiration, or good research material for the course. This was a difficult question, as I've had a really very uneventful couple of weeks- didn't go away on holiday, didn't visit anyone, spent some of it struggling with the current projects, but not making the progress that i should have really.
Ok, some of the things I've seen recenlty are some awesome animations I discovered on YouTube, by a chap called Grickle. What i like about them is they are very simple, just a few lines used to create a great visual impact without overly complicating it. The characters have great expressions, the animator has made them very expressive - theres no doubt about what they are feeling or thinking at any given time. Check out the one below It's fantastic, you'll probably want to check out his others, he has many at 'Grickle Channel' on YouTube.

This following YouTube video I've been familiar with for some time, but included it here because i recently saw it again, i can't help finding it both fascinating and scary. But at the end of the day, both dogs and robots are cool, so to have them both together in one package is always a joy.

Recently, a friend sent me another version, that i thought was equally as bizarre, and just as funny and scary.

I guess one other thing recently I've been looking into further is working for some ethical company. After subverting the D&AD army recruitment, it really felt important to me to be doing something that i believe in. I think that when working in the multimedia industry, there will potentially be lots of briefs for advertising and marketing, you need bread and butter money as artistic endeavours won't necessary pay the bills. The whole advertising thing can be selling your soul to the devil though, - 'all marketing guys are sons of Satan who ruin all things good in the world, and they should kill themselves'. (thanks to Bill Hicks for his wise words) . I like the idea of producing some anti-advertising, doing some culture jamming and getting a wee bit subversive. I would find this far more satisfying than corporate promotion and dealing with all that.

D&AD advertising tomfoolery

2008-03-17T01:30:00.000Z

(click image to enlarge)

D&AD Student Awards. Army Recruitment Brief.

We decided to do the Army recruitment brief as there is simply not enough killing and suffering in the world. What better way to hook the nations youngsters into the army than with a language they are familiar with, computer games. We didn't actually make the game itself, there was no need as there are plenty of computer games available already that glamourise war, as mentioned in a previous post - but instead we just made the advertising campaign in the graphic styling of a computer game. Screenshots on the back showed various stages of army life, and plenty of warnings of the graphic and violent content of army life were given.

This was a great project to do, though at times difficult to stomach when the horrors of war and injustices of army life were uncovered again and again, but in many ways these things just made it all the more important to complete the project and deliver something a little different from normal army recruitment campaigns. We just wanted to show some of the things that someone joining the army could experience - the things that they don't usually show potential recruits. This week saw the army in the news again for going into schools to recruit children, and reading some of the comments that the public had responded with, shows that this issue polarizes peoples opinion, I don't think I've seen such heated comments in reply to a news item before.
We were very satisfied with the results of our project, we believe we made an important point in way that still managed to fulfill the brief,- I would love to be a fly on the wall at the D&AD judging process, to see what the reaction is of the advertising agency that set the brief, though we have as much chance of wining as having the British Army withdraw from Iraq tomorrow morning. But as George Bush Jr might say, it's not the winning, it's the taking part that's counts.

Micheál's Feedback Loop

2008-03-11T19:58:00.000Z

I went twice to Micheál's piece 'Feedback Loop' as part of the Digiville, once to the lighthouse venue in the real world, and once to the digital plot in Second Life. I've only a limited experience of Second Life, past attempts have been hampered by technical problems, and it was the first time id ever been to an organised event in LindenLand. It was a strange experience really, going somewhere where the other participants were potentially people i knew, and i spent some time seeing if there were any clues in the avatars that might reveal who was controlling them in the real world. It felt in some small way like some kind of freaky masquerade party, lots of outlandish attired folk who could be strangers or could be friends, your were never really sure. The two identical avatars of Micheál only added to the confusion, does Micheál have an identical twin in the real world he's not mentioned? or was it an obsessed fan?
One of them was talking (typing) seemingly random statements that was even more confusing, without the visual clues of real conversation with real people it was unclear who was talking to who, and as the digital audience posted comments, it seemed like there was several conversations going on at once, none of them making much sense. This talking virtual Micheál turned out to be controlled by Dan, who was at the lighthouse reporting snippets of the goings on in the real world.
The Lighthouse was dominated by a huge screen in the middle of the room showing the virtual Micheál in SL, with a clown repeating the movements of the avatar on screen -Dan controlling the avatar, the avatar controlling the clown while the audience looked on. It seemed as random in the real world as it did in the digital, except this time the audience didn't consist of people with the heads of bunny rabbits, or nor was anyone dressed as if they were off to a fetish party afterwards, which was a shame. The two other video installations were somehow lost in the room, the main screen so dominated the room that the other work soon was obscured by the audience, and unfortunately lost some of their impact.
The discussion afterwards was also interesting, some of the comments from the audience seemed to be getting a little heated - i wonder if Micheál hadn't have finished when he did whether it would have kicked off! Its interesting to see such strong opinions, we are only just beginning to explore virtual life, and as it becomes more a part of our everyday life it will certainly raise important issues of our relationship with technology, and with each other.
I'm interested to know what Micheáls conclusion is after the work, as he seemed to approach the project without a fixed agenda of what would take place, to see where it went of its own accord. I'm not sure what conclusions i drew from the evening, but it was certainly good food for thought.

Seraphina Samet (or Anderson)

2008-02-28T15:36:00.007Z

Today's guest speaker showed a selection of her screen based work, short films made using super8 cameras and montage effects. It seemed as if she was using the digital medium as a therapeutic process, all the work is about herself, filmed, edited and starring herself, and by displaying it to the audience, its gives her the opportunity to exorcise her demons. Whether or not the audience are willing to play counsellor is debatable, i found the images presented on screen lacked substance, there was nothing engaging about the work, and she had nothing interesting or important to say. There were some nice ideas in there, but it did seem way to self indulgent for my tastes, its all very well making films about yourself if your have an interesting story to tell, but if the content is dull and uninspiring, then i wonder if it worth the time and effort. I accept that all experience is personal, and everything you experience in life shapes how you are and what you produce, but there's a whole would out there that can be explored and commented on, to base all your work totally on yourself seems to be self obsessed- you can produce work and develop your take on the world without you being the total focus of attention.

John Gilhooly

2008-02-28T15:35:00.002Z

Dissertation feedback

The feedback from John on my dissertation proposal was positive and encouraging, with some useful recommendations on both refining by plan and books for research material. I plan to write about the photographic image, and how new technology has changed the way we acquire and consume those images, from image capture and development through to distribution and public display. John suggested i focus the idea to discussing it form either the practitioners point of view, highlighting the differences in digital capture and manipulation, or write it with regard to the viewers/consumers point of view, which could cover issues of image quality and distribution, display format, mobile phone cameras etc. I'll probably use this latter line of approach, as it relates to a more cultural use of the medium and less technical aspects of it. It also has direct parallels to the issues we've recently been discussing about the advent of digital cinema and how it has effected both the film industry and how we watch movies.

John recommended reading 'Moving Image Technology - from Zeotrope to Digital' by Leo Enticknap., a theory and history of moving images .

'Suspension of Perception' and 'Techniques of the Observer' by Jonathan Crary

and 'Stillness and Time: Photography and the Moving Image.' a collection of essays by photography and film theorists.

Life in the Army

2008-02-27T23:35:00.012Z

Bullying, Torture, Killology, and shoot to miss.

the science of creating killers discusses how the human desire not to kill can be trained and conditioned out of the soldier, by a method called 'killology'. During the heat of battle, normal responses and decision making has changed and a more animal instinct takes over. The basic animal instinct is not to kill another - animals in the wild will rarely kill another animal they are in a confrontation with - disputes are usually resolved by displays intended to intimidate the opponent so he will back down. Fighting can be very costly to both parties, so actual fights to the death are extremely rare. Exact figures are difficult to calculate, but the amount of combatants who actually shoot to kill are low, during the second world war, men would consistently 'shoot to miss' and the number of soldiers who shoot to kill was thought to be very low, with a low percentage of soldiers doing a majority of the killing.

so just when your faith in humanity has started to be restored, some files on abu ghrarib are published, with a collection of images collected from the cameras of soldiers posted at the infamous prison. Some of the image require a strong stomach

wired article about the abuse and torture of prisoners, and what turns ordinary people to commit acts of evil. Psychologist Philip Zimardo conducted an experiment for the Stanford University in 1971, which involved students who posed as prisoners and guards. The experiment was was stopped after five days when the student guards began abusing the prisoners, forcing them to strip naked and simulate sex acts.

43% of soldiers questioned say bullying is a problem in the army in this article Battling Bullying in the British Army 1987 – 2004 which shows incidents of bullying are not isolated cases, but that there is an extreme culture of bullying,casual violence and sexual harassment, epically with newer recruits. figures of the number of victims could be wildly underestimated from the reluctance of victims to report incidents.

Another article in the telegraph about the suicide rate of returning servicemen after conflict. Many cannot cope afterwards from all the experiences of violence, and life in a constant state of alertness. Here is an official report into suicide rates of those in the forces

First Person Shooter

2008-02-25T19:31:00.005Z

RPGs.
from Role Playing Games to Rocket Propelled Grenades

The idea for the D&AD project is coming along well. We've been developing the concept of the video game aesthetic for army recruitment posters. Heres what we've been working on so far.

Andreas made the figures in 'Poser', and i photoshopped them to look like computer game packaging. The idea is to also produce a 'back cover', with screen shots of army life -also created in 3d, covering various aspects of army life, from initiation ceremonies, the torture of locals in the countries the army 'visit', to being denied help or compensation for P.S.T.D you'll get after witnessing all the violence and death. The age 7 ranking relates to a news story from earlier in the year about the army targeting youngsters as young as 7 in recruitment campaigns. (maybe this too).

Here's one of Andreas's 3d rendering of the initiation fun mentioned in an earlier post.

I mentioned several other propaganda computer games in an earlier post, and I've also been looking at other forms of propaganda with children as a primary target audience, in the war there was quite a lot of animations and cartoons used as public (mis)information films. Walt Disney made many , like this 'education for death', with it anti German theme.

Suicide rate for veterans and sevicemen

2008-02-20T18:55:00.003Z

The number of veterans who have died from suicide after the Falklands War is greater than the number of servicemen killed during the conflict.

Returning U.S and British soldiers from Iraq have high suicide rate

Troops used as guinea pigs in 1950s, and60s, testing protective clothing for radiation after nuclear weapons testing.

Found a great resource for official reports and papers, covering arts, sciences and humanities, at 'Intute'. A selection of military publications and external sites offer a wide variety of resource information and governmental papers and inquiries, including this pdf by the National Audit Office on military recruitment and retention, with statistics on why people left the army etc.

2008-02-13T11:42:00.007Z

A selection of anti war posters..

anti war advertising - culture jamming at why-war.com

war vets arrested for anti war advertising -nicked for 'defacing public property' by putting up posters with an anti war message

smurf bombing ad campaign by unicef in Belgium to highlight the problem of child soldiers in Burundi - an animation of a smurf village being bombed.

advertising in WWII

How to end the war - naomi klein discusses how the rebuilding of iraq is done at the expense of iraq, with the US and foreign investors being the sole source of regeneration going on

2008-02-12T20:04:00.000Z

Army life is a lot more relaxed than I thought....

army recruitment

2008-02-12T16:44:00.000Z

Join the Army, the initiation ceremony may be brutal, but the rest of your service is no picnic either.

If ya just wanna stay home and play soldiers, then this is the toy for you...

2008-02-12T01:12:00.003Z

What Barry Says by Simon Robson

This graphically stunning video is a reaction to the American dominance of the world. I was so impressed at the visual style that i had to watch it several times to get the message (which can only be good if you are trying to make a political comment, the more times you see it the better the message gets across ,maybe) of Americas military and foreign policy.

EMPIRE by Edouard Salier

Another stunning video, images of the American dream and middle class suburban life subtlety invaded by the military in a stylish effect. Looks like it was made using a displacement effect to distort the images.

Both these films have appeared on 'onedotzero select' DVDs for obvious reasons. Very inspiring stuff.

visiting speakers - Relentless and Jon Bird

2008-02-12T01:12:00.001Z

Relentless software developers

Relentless come in to talk about their work as software developers for Sony Playstation. They specialise in social games, like their popular 'Buzz' series of quiz based games. Games take around 2 years or so to be released, with only around half making it to the final stage. The explained their business is run efficiently, with a more 'regular' 9-5 working day, which seemed very unusual in the industry.
They gave some good advice on compiling portfolios and showreels, namely keep in minimal, don't overdo fancy editing and effects, and don't included anything that's not your very best. They made their work seem very appealing, just not sure I've got the right skills for that line of work - my experience of working in 3D is very limited.

Jon Bird from the Creative Systems Labs at the University of Sussex gave an interesting talk on his work on Interdisciplinary Research Projects, where maths, science and art meet to go wild. Evolutionary robots built to produce creative works, which raises the question of what is creativity?. The challenge is to build a robot, yet programme it without controlling its creative output. Fascinating stuff, some of it just out of reach of my understanding, but all very impressive.
(by the way - the slide of the Bower Bird he showed - if you've never seen these fellas, you should check 'em out, (theres a low quality clip here) they are one of the most amazing things I've seen in the natural world. David Attenborough's Life of Birds has some stunning footage, i recommend taking a look)

Virtual Propaganda

2008-02-11T12:29:00.001Z

Computer games as a military marketing and propaganda tool

After Andreas and I realised that using a computer game aesthetic for the army recruitment material, for this would allow use of parody easier than overtly graphic or sensational images and is accessible for the age group targeted in the brief. We also discussed contacting ex-soldiers to hear their stories for material, but decided using photographic imagery of ex-servicemen could be limiting for various reasons.

America's Army is the most familiar to me, a tactical multiplayer F.P.S, featuring realistic environments and military hardware thats said to authenticity depict the real life equivalents. There are some 8.6 million registered users, who play online. The play works on a honour system , with tactical play increases the players points, as does healing wounded comrades etc. Players showing good skills in the game are contacted by recruiters directing them to websites and further information for the army.

Ethnic Cleansing is somewhat more suspect, a 'game' for white supremasists and ignorant racist lowlife everywhere. Not sure what i can say about this as it doesn't really deserve any more of my time, it's a filthy lithesome game, as is White Law , another such game full of racist hated.

Saving the Port is a game which recruits for the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, a response to the West’s cultural onslaught and in order to promote the Islamic-Iranian culture.

Anti-Japan War Online is another imaginatively title online game, this time promoting Chinese nationalism - "Our developers hate Japan, so they want to make the game very provocative, but the team leaders have tried to tone down the violence," said the project manager, Liu Junfeng of PowerNet Technology, a Shenzhen-based gaming company (from the Guardian)

Under Siege is a computer game set in the middle east, which focuses on a Palestinian family caught up in the occupation by Israel forces. At the time it was released it recieved a lot of media attention in the middle east because of its use as a propaganda tool for the PLO. The protagonist makes his way through the game shooting at soldiers from the Israeli Defence Forces. It differs with most FPSs in that if you hurt or kill innocent civilians the game ends. Much of the rest of the content is no different in tone and format than pretty much all western war based games,(of which there are a great many) which despite the relentless killing of Iraqis/Afghanis/Russians/Germans/Chinese/whoever - are not generally labelled as propaganda tools. Apparently,the demo also has the tagline "A real life story or a political propaganda? You have the right to decide". Its a statement about the Israeli occupation of the west bank and Gaza strip, it's creators say all the levels are based on true stories, and although the protagonist shoots at Israeli forces, it doesn't simulate any terrorist activity, suicide bombings etc. These guys produced something spawned by the events happening in the streets around them, a touch different from the giant developers producing games for the western market, who don't get blamed for spreading propaganda.

D&AD

2008-02-08T22:46:00.001Z

(don't) Join the Army

Have been doing lots of brainstorming on ideas for the brief, and Lindsay gave some good advice on researching TEQUILA\ , who set the brief for the army. Looking at their work, theres a lot of print media there, big photos with single images, nothing cluttered or too busy. This gave ideas for posters with a single iconic image.
The idea of using a computer game 3d model of a soldier is a promising direction to head in, it being accessible to the 16 year old market who the ads are targeting. These of course would be subverted - a maimed 3d soldier in a wheel chair, or perhaps lying immobile on the operating table in a field hospital, while a mud soaked surgeon amputates an arm etc, something ommited from Call of Duty 4 and the like. We also like the idea of doing an animated sequence, which could appear on the web splash page. I also wondered today about using the image of toy soldiers and putting them on crutches, or in court fighting to get compensation, but the computer game characters are more contempory and could have more impact with the yoof of today. I'll play with these ideas more to see where they take us.

I played around with the clone tool for a while today on this image after thinking about war cemeteries, and the countless lines of identical gaves. I just did a quick job to see if it would work. I quite liked the idea, theres something very poignant about war cemeteries. I remember walking around one in Kanchanaburi ,Thailand - built for all the British soldiers who died building the 'death railway' in WWII and finding it very moving.
I think the submitted work will have to be ironic and somehow lighthearted, theres so much disturbing and unpleasant imagery of the horrors of war, we don't want to make it to bleak. Not an easy task considering the subject matter and all the things I've been researching just now.

2008-02-08T18:38:00.001Z

Transmediale '08 'Conspire'- Berlin

part 5

The Bauhaus was quite a highlight of the trip to Berlin, well worth a look to see more of the history and style of the movement. There was some great pictures and objects in the exhibition, the chess set and some of the pots and vases were very impressive (the prices of some contempory versions in the shop were also spectacular!). The graphic design of the posters can be seen in a great many things today, the bauhaus stle and influence has spread far and wide. The building itself was a little less impressive than i had imagined, but style had an interesting archecturial style.

The archecture in and around this area was also very impressive, seemingly each building following it's own design, making the whole district varied and diverse. Berlin had some outstanding buildings, the Reitstag being one highlight, though i never made it into the glass dome, something for my next trip.

Other highlights in Berlin include the trip to the famed Panorama Bar. It was a mission and a half to find, but this served to make it all the more rewarding an experience one wee were there.

Transmediale '08 'Conspire'- Berlin

2008-02-08T18:32:00.000Z

Transmediale '08 'Conspire'- Berlin

part 4

Spy 'Vs' Spy was a somewhat odd talk by Sharon Daniels in the bilderberg room at Transmediale, who's work consisted of a flash website which gave a voice to women prisoners in the USA. Audio recordings of interviews with prisoners are accessible from the site, all of which were recorded clandestinely while in the guise of a legal representative of the women. Her aims seem to let people know of the conditions under which the prisoners live, while at the same time keep it under the radar to avoid any repercussions for herself and the women inmates. This talk was odd, because it came across as more of a statement of the American legal and political system then any to do with multimedia : other than the fact that the website she uses won a Webby. The same website that she couldn't seem to navigate around, but to be fair that was not all down to her, the talk was plagued with problems and was 40 minutes late starting for technical reasons. Sadly any message she tried to make was lost as the technical glitches continued until the talk descended into farce, video not playing, no audio, deafening audio, it was all to much. You'd have thought at a multimedia festival there would be a squadron of techies on hand to sort these things out and at least display a web page without too many problems.
There did seem to be a fair few technical problems at Transmediale, which was a little surprising for a world conference type event, though it wasn't all bad. On the whole, the festival was very impressive, showing a wide range of installations, films, lectures and performances and was a hugely beneficial trip for us - i wish i had as much stamina to attend more events, especially to see some of the other things going on at club transmediale in the night time.

2008-02-08T18:28:00.000Z

Transmediale '08 'Conspire'- Berlin

part 3

'Public Signatures' was an interesting series of films shown at Transmediale, and fitted well with the theme of Conspire. The first was of a topic familiar to me already, and of great intrest, called 'Culture Jamming' by David Schwertgen. His documentary showed a variety of different ways he and his peers have produced campaigns in reaction to corporate practice and advertising. Viral games, websites, public installations/information events are some of the ways they have tried to make their voices heard, as they make their comment on how big corporations ruthlessly take over public space, exploit workers, advertise in schools, promote greedy consummerism etc etc. While they realise that their work won't bring down the corporations, it's important that they raise awarness of these issues, for they can change public opinion to some degree; anything that tries to make the average consummer wake the fuck up from to whats going is a good thing. 'No Logo' by Naomi Klien is well worth a read for other information on some of these issues, as well as the Canadian film 'Corporation' from a few years back, and while your at it, the movie 'Zeitgeist' which is out at the moment are all worth a look to see things that the advertisers and other media usually omit from the public eye.

Another film in the series documented a street artist Mario Mentrup, who made grafitti and installations on the streets of Wuppertal in Germany, as well as using a power jet water-spray as a paintbrush to blast away built up grime on railway sidings and derelict buildings, a novel kind of negative grafitti. Bemused police looked on, not sure what to do as his team hung a huge photograph printed onto fabric under a bridge. He had an interesting twist on the usual grafitti artists work, doing imaginative things to public spaces.

.

2008-02-06T22:30:00.000Z

Transmediale '08 'Conspire'- Berlin
part 2
(the crap bits)

One lesson I think I learned from the Transmediale was never make assumptions.
My assumptions about what i thought the definition of music is, was challenged while listening to some of the musical performances at the festival. Sonic Wargame was one such event; it involved four teams, situated at four mixing desks at opposing corners of a room at Club Transmediale at the Maria am Ostbahnhof. each team would play music, and make votes based on how one of the other teams were playing. A chairman dude stood at a mixing desk in the center of the room, and controlled what music was played after voting, and probably did one or two other things that were indeterminable to me. Giant display screens at each end of the room graphically displayed the results of the voting, like some amphetamine tweaked election night news coverage. It all sounded quite good on paper, but I felt more than a little confused by the whole event, unsure what was really going on at any given moment, and at a loss to make any sense of the barrage of feedback and noise assaulting my ears. The guys behind the decks seemed to be getting well into it though, one of the pair staring intently into a laptop, and making furtive glances at the display board and dude at the mixing desk, while the DJs bobbed now and again at the wheels of steel, grinning and giving winks of approval to the other teams.
I looked around the crowd, and saw that the confusion I felt was mirrored in the faces of some of the others, who looked as ill at ease with the 'music' as I was. I began to feel like there was a private joke going on between the DJs, with none of the crowd privy to the funny gags the musicians were telling behind their hands. I began to wonder what it would sound like if the DJs had some quality choons to play with, some blinding cuts and deep funky rhythms - four musical maestros banging out some twisted music, and couldn't help but feel they'd do better than this non-music exploration i was hearing.
On to the next room, were the feedback sound had been fuel injected, the sound a cross between audio computer data emanating from a ZX81 cassette player locked onto the highest volume, and a television set with the aerial unplugged, being fed into a industrial food blender. Which nobody has turned off. I tried to overcome the knee-jerk reaction of it all being avant garde arty bollocks, and really give it a proper listen, but it did no good, the magic was lost on me and I had to gave in. It's a shame, and I like to think I wasn't being prejudiced - I've heard much more inspiring music at club nights and festivals, where there are also often many visual installations and multimedia trickery, that were just as experimental and far less alienating to the crowd than these performances.

The other assumption I learned to challenge in Berlin was even if you believe your camera is set to record everything in lossless raw format, and not crappy jpeg, always check, and double check. It wasn't till I returned home and plugged my faithful camera into the computer, that I realised I hadn't changed the camera back from the one and only time I've ever shot in jpeg. So all 460 shots of Berlin captured digitally are lossy compressed quality, and in a nutshell- pants. I've got a couple of rolls oldskool film to be processed, so mebbe I've managed to get a few decent shots somewhere. I was a bit gutted at first, but I realised I've got even more excuse to go back to Berlin now, so roll on the summer so I can go shooting there again.

next post some more positive and cool Berlin highlights

.

Transmediale '08 - Berlin

2008-02-04T18:40:00.000Z

Transmediale '08 'Conspire'- Berlin
part 1

It's difficult to know where to start with this first blog after returning from the Transmediale festival in Berlin. There was so much to take in this last week or so, and now I'm back and turning my attention to the current briefs, I'm still trying to make sense of vast array of sights and sounds I've just experienced.

There were some very interesting conferences and seminars at the festival, including 'greying the commons' which discussed copyright and intellectual property issues. One of the participants asked anyone to raise their hand if they had NOT illegally downloaded any copyrighted material in the last month, and of the 300/400 people in the room, around 3 people put their hand up. All current measures to stop the flow of copyrighted material over the Internet are obviously not working. Various methods to address the issue, such as prosecution and denial of service policies, to filtering bandwidth and the use of advertiser sponsored legal downloaded have done little to stem the flow of file sharing over the web, and a new model is still needed. There's an ever growing number of artists releasing their work independently from the usual publishers and distributors which have dominated the business for so long, and the plummeting cost of equipment such as projectors has also seen the development of micro cinemas showing films away from the influence of the major cinema corporations. These have grown from a more community driven approach, with a wikiness that many agree is the fundamental to the true nature of the Internet, and one which must be encouraged and developed if the web is to survive and serve any usefully purpose in the future.

'When Your Strange' consisted of a series films and animations, highlights including a movie shot on hand held cameras, a documentary style piece highlighting the pointless of a military border control post. The boredom and banality of life for the young guys during their stint of national service was distinct, as they senselessly 'defending' their country against nothing and no-one, as they idly pass the time to when their posting finishes and they can return to their normal life after military service has finished.
Another screening was an animated piece concerning identity and one's sense of self, as well as US immigration policy. The experiences of several people of different nationalities were taken form anonymous interviews, and set to animations of avatars, which were crudely drawn, or characters from MMOGs. The voices detailed the ordeal they face at customs, as they go through the lengthy process while US officials try to find out about them and discover their intentions. As one of the people mentioned 'your describing what you mean to them, not what you mean to you..... your face belonging to it's heritage, not to the individual'

continued later.........

research for d&ad proj

2008-02-04T13:01:00.000Z

d&ad student awards project

After looking at the briefs for this year's d&ad awards, i was disappointed with the choices on offer. Last years briefs covered more humanitarian and ecological themes, a marked contrast from the big advertising briefs included this time around.
After seeing the army recruitment brief, i really began to wonder what was going on there at d&ad (can't help thinking that looks like it's written 'DEAD', instead 'D&AD when i catch it out the corner of my eye), and i began flirting with the idea of making an anti-war promotional campaign, making a poster advertising some of the experiences that are usually omitted from army recruitment ads. Just a few things like statistics on wounded and maimed soldiers, or those suffering from P.S.T.D, and the lack of care and compensation on returning, or things like the gross misuse of public funds, for illegal wars searching for non-existent weapons of mass destruction, while and various other evils perpetrated in the name of king and country.
After Andreas mentioned he was thinking of something similar, we decided to team up and see if it could be done in a way that fulfilled the demands brief, while at the same time 'getting away with murder' and making something that totally opposed what the brief really wanted - to recruit more cannon fodder into the war machine - a machine which is getting away with murder every day in Iraq. Some great words of encouragement form Micheál then kick started the research with renewed enthusiasm. Doing this project in a subversive way also is relevent in relation to culture jamming theory explored in the Transmediale festival we recently attended in sunny Berlin.

It soon became apparent that there was so many controversial issues that could be covered with this project, that some clears limitations were needed. It also was pretty soon obvious that it was going to tough going, some disturbing figures and statistics soon reared their ugly heads, as well as some sickening websites. One had many images graphically portraying injured, maimed and dead Iraqi children and babies by coalition forces, which I had to immediately close down before I threw up over the monitor.(i didn't include it in the list of links below)

Three main ideas were initially explored, to help concentrate research and idea developement.
1 - Tech war - focusing on surveillance, spying, internet tracking, covert-ops etc, weapons developement,
2 - money theme - to cover massive military spending, lack of compensation for injury/trauma victims, lack of kit for soldiers etc
3 - skill swap - transfereable skills- thugs/cannon fodder, pizza delivery/nuclear arms transportation etc, G.P doctors/M*A*S*H style field doctors.

Various themes were aslo discussed, different styles/look and feel to be explored further. These included
1 - computer game 3D models -except the soldiers are in wheelchairs, or maimed/traumatised
2 - military style - parody of army ad campaign, fatigues, write your name on bullet application form
3 - soviet/german WW2 propaganda poster style - bauhaus style iconic imagery
4 - bling 'money asthetic' - piles of misspent cash etc.
5 - newspaper style - bug headlines, news reports of atrocities etc.

Here is a quick list of initial links in no particular order, for further research later on.

troops refusing to fight

uk taliban training camps

gulf war return medals

families speak out against war

combat stress

soldiers beat iraqi teenagers

support group for war veterans

iraq body count

list of news reports about army compensation

11,000 uk soldiers desert from iraq war

more soldiers quit than are recruited

25% TA soldiers, 19% regular soldiers suffer from PTSD

army recruitment campaigns misleading

PTSD suffers denied help

army target '7 year olds' in ad campaign

amnesty international report on child recruitment

more to follow, there are lots of cans of worms around here, and I can't open them all at once.

.

DJ Scotch Egg

2008-01-24T16:19:00.000Z

DJ Scotch Egg

The inspirations of DJ Scotch Egg span everything from classical supremo Bach to minimal hippy Moon Dog, which all add flavour to his Game Boy soaked gabba. His breakcore noise sounds are a mish mash of samples and influences regurgitated into a KFC bucket, all given a twisted style of Mr.Egg.
His fondness for the game boy sound has encouraged him to be creative within the limits set by the retro game. This is an interesting concept in todays world of limitless potential of computers and music software, and by setting the limits of the medium , it has forced him to be innovative.
The crazyness of freefrom jazz to the minimalistic sounds of Steve Reich and John Cage have all influenced the Sotch Egg sound.

'Simulacra and Emulation' the interactive art piece

2008-01-16T23:38:00.000Z

'Simulacra and Emulation'[sic] the interactive art piece

Simulacra :
a slight, unreal, or superficial likeness or semblance.
an effigy, image, or representation

Emulation:

mirror, copy, echo, emulate, affect, imitate, caricature, impersonate, counterfeit, parody, travesty, mock

This interactive art work will explore ideas of free will and control, relationships between the viewer and space/time, and the viewer and the media.
The installation is a small enclosed space, with one entrance, and on the opposite wall a large display screen. The viewer wears anaglyph glasses (red/cyan 3d), and as he enters the installation he sees his image on the screen, in 3d; a digital stereoscopic mirror. As he moves through the space his image is replaced with another person, -the 'mirrored' movements are no longer his own, but those of another. Infra red sensors in the ceiling of the installation trigger the changes on the display. Only when he is close to the display, will the 'mirrored' image be his own.
The images of the other people he sees are recorded footage of previous visitors to the installation. His own movements are recorded, and thus become the footage that future visitors will see; he is becoming part of the installation, part of the media, part of the machine. Will his behaviour change when he realises this, what image will he leave for future uses, what can he make of the past viewers, how have they interacted with the machine?.
The illusionistic nature of the stereoscopy is compelling- the images seem to defy space as the 3d elements reach out to the viewer. They appear both more real (than a flat image), and unreal in the filtered colours and not-quite-true perspective - this mirrors the nature of interaction itself, which simultaneously implies free will for the user and control over him.

images to follow...

Final Concept.

2008-01-15T14:02:00.000Z

Final Concept for Interaction Brief

Due to time constraints the final piece i can deliver will have to be a concept piece. The idea is an interactive installation, with a large anaglyph video display (dual red/cyan image creating the illusion of 3d if viewed through red/cyan glasses) .The viewer will see a 3d mirror image of themselves from a live video feed using twin cameras in the room). Movement sensors in the installation will detect where in the room the viewer is, and change the display on the screen to show a previous viewer. As they move around the room, their reflection will change, so they no longer see them self, but the mirrored image of another person. Their movement will begin to make less sense, as it's not really their 'reflection' any more, they have no direct control on the person on the display, so the viewer begins to ponder aspects of control within space/time, and question aspects of the self and their relationship to the technology. Has their free will be dissolved with their own image on the screen ? Are they a but fragment of the past ? whats their relationship to the previous occupant of the installation ?
The illusionistic aspect of the 3d will compliment the transitory nature of their own self image, and potentially have them question their role in the media they are viewing, as their image will be recorded and displayed to the next visitor to the installation., becoming part of the media and creating a visual man machine symbiosis.
Or mebbe they will just think its a load of bollocks, but thats art, innit? (or is it?)

Lev Manovich - what is digital cinema

2008-01-09T23:04:00.000Z

Lev Manovich - What Is Digital Cinema

Manovichs' essay discusses digital cinema and it's progression from traditional film cinema which preceded it. This was interesting from my point of view as many of the issues raised have parallels to recent research I've been doing for my dissertation, which will cover aspects of digital photography.
One aspect of the text seemed to mirror issues I've noticed in my research, that traditional photography provided a 'truth' of what was recorded on film, and that today we don't accept modern images with the same readiness as in the past because of the inherent mutability of digital imagery.
To some degree this is true, but ever since the first photographic images were produced, we have only seen reality as the photographer intended. The simple act of framing the shot means we are only being given a certain viewpoint, only one version of reality. These first photographs needed to have long exposure times of the images to be captured - people had to stand motionless for several seconds if any kind of image could be recorded with any clarity. This is certainly not natural. Photographers can make use of wide angle lenses, giving a greater field of vision than is capable with human eyesight. Dodge and burn techniques are employed in the darkroom to change the way the image develops onto the photographic paper, as well other techniques of cross processing, tinting and the use of different papers all change what the final output would be. Photography would not exist with the use of emulsions, light sensitive chemicals and developing fluids, so the difference between manipulation of reality in traditional methods of photography and those of digital manipulation is not so great. The processes are of course different, but the intention on the part of the photographer is the same. We only see an expression that the creator of the image wants us to see, not an exact reality.
I get the impression that some of these theorists are saying new media is 'killing off' older traditional media, like the painters and artists who predicted the invention of photography would kill off painting. It didn't quite happen that way. New technology makes it easier to things that would be much more costly or labour intensive with the traditional methods , as well as opening up new ways fort he artist to express themselves. Digital media incorporates aspects of the old, as well as bringing more choices to the table.
Manvich also states 'cinema pushed animation to its boundary, only to become one particular case of animation in the end'. Whats ended? Has the evolution of cinema ended? Will there be no further developments in film making? The only difference today is the technology, not the intention. Film makers have always explored the medium and will continue to do so until the the worlds end.

It will continue to incorporate older media forms and techniques as it evolves, we are only just beginning the process, the journey from cave painting to virtual 3d artwork is just a small step.

keyframe.org is a website with many essays and articles on digital cinema

Martin Lister's book, Photographic Image in Digital Culture has some interesting points, and
William Mitchell's - The Reconfigured Eye is worth a read also.

aagghhh

2008-01-03T14:00:00.000Z

aaaaaggghhhhh....

....really struggling with this interaction project. Keep going around in circles not making any progress. Was interested to make some optical piece inspired by the stereoscopic images at the Kentbridge exhibiton. I sent away for some stereoscopic glasses from the US as i couldn't find a UK supplier. They arrived, but are pretty crap, quite blurrey and difficult to see anything. Hoped to rig up a system with 2 video cameras, and project the images onto screens side by side, and use the stereoglasses to see the results in 3d. Tried to test with a couple of webcams, and again had little success as the PC would recognise a second webcam. (plus the webcam images are pretty ropey , despite the fact it wasn't a cheap one).
So it's back to square one. At a loss as to what to do for this project, and more research just makes it more confusing.

2007-12-24T15:53:00.000Z

rough ideas for dissertation.

I was going to write my dissertation by further exploring ideas discussed in my essay last year, which dealt with immersivity in virtual environments. Have decided to go with a different topic, more in line with current interests and future study/career paths. Reading various theorists take on photography in society and what the effects digital photography is having, an it's changing role in multimedia.

currently reading

From the externalization of mind to the implantation of technology - Lev Manovich

The Paradoxes of Digital Photography - Lev Manovich

The Photographic Image in Digital Culture - Martin Lister

Understanding Media - McLuhan

The Reconfigured Eye - William Mitchell

Digital Design media - William Mitchell

Remediation, Understanding New Media - Bolter and Grusin

On Photography - Susan Sontag

On Photography - Roland Barthes

Virtual Bodily Harm

2007-12-19T01:03:00.000Z

Physical Interaction - The Wii remote is an offensive weapon

In the latest case in the ongoing debate on violence in video games, Rockstar Games won an appeal against the decision by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) banning its latest game 'Manhunt 2' . The game revolves around a deranged character who has to escape from an asylum, and hunt down those who put him there. It's basically a first person shooter in the horror genre, and it's gore and violence earned it an AO (adults only) certificate on first release in the US. A modified version was later released with a M (mature) classification, but these mods were not enough to get it through the BBFCs testing.

Members of the game industry were not quite sure why 'Manhunt 2' was given the full ban by the BBFC, as the levels of violence were no greater than many other games that line the shelves in game shops, and it's also claimed the violence is watered down compared to that featured in countless horror films that all receive classification. Digging a little deeper into this story, I discovered that the primary objection by the BBFC was that the Wii version made full use of the wii-mote. Now instead of just point and click executions, you actually get to stab the bad guys. Or hack then to bits with an axe, or you can use the wii-mote to saw their head off. No longer are you sat calmly behind a desk dispensing your own brand of justice, your physically going through the motions, swinging your virtual chainsaw around your living room. And you thought the Wii was a family console.
The BBFC believe we are training the next generation of serial killers, who are right now honing their assassination techniques and stealth skills. As gaming becomes more immersive are we really likely to see an increase in violent crime? I think not, nor is here a place for the game/violence debate.But the notion of violent interaction with a mouse and keyboard being acceptable, while the exact same interaction acted out physically is not, is an interesting topic for debate, opening up questions about physical interaction and society

Stereoscopic Images

2007-12-18T12:47:00.000Z

After seeing the Kentridge projected installation mentioned in the last blog, I've been researching visual perception and the idea of stereoscopic images. Am working on the idea of using two video camera filming the same scene from two different angles(maybe the camera are inside an installation, pointing at the viewer. The two films could be projected side by side large on a wall. The viewer would wear stereoscopic glasses to see a giant 3d projection of themselves inside the installation. This is just the beginnings of a rough idea at the moment. I've bought some stereoscopic glasses on line so i can experiment over the break (if they arrive in time through the Christmas post)

William Kentridge - the Hove exhibition

2007-12-16T16:54:00.000Z

William Kentridge - What Will Come (has already come)
Regency Town House - 13 Brunswick Sq

Today i went to see another exhibition by William Kentridge (this one is in Hove), where there is a animated work called What Will Come (has already come). This is a really intriguing installation, -the animation is projected into a circular table from above, in the center of the table is a mirrored tube, which reflects the image on the table. Its only by looking at the reflection that the animation becomes clear, as the projected image appears warped if viewed directly.
The installation shows a dreamlike sequence, a darkly surreal journey through war and human spirit, animated charcoal strokes erased and redrawn repeatedly as nightmarish images morph into the next with fascinating fluidity.

It's a very engaging piece, Kentridge plays with the viewers perception, offering an alternative way for them to observe and construct a narrative to the hallucinatory imagery.
The exhibition itself is located in a battered old regency house, and i couldn't work out if it was in the midst of being redecorated, or it had been painstakingly created to look like that. Either way it's transitory make-shift feel perfectly suited the scratchy discordant style of Kentridge's work.

The other work i was especially interested in was his Stereoscopic Photogravues exhibited in the University of Brighton Gallery at Grand Parade. Again Kentridge experiments with the viewers perception by allowing them to see the stereo images through specially mounted lenses , which also use mirrors to bounce the image into view. When viewed, a single image is perceived, and has a great depth of field that is not seen on the flat images when viewed from the side.

Have been thinking about these techniques with regard to the current project, and am interested to see if i can work with mirrors to shape the viewers perception while interacting with video input. not sure yet, still working out some concepts.

Visiting Speaker - Luciana Haill

2007-12-13T12:50:00.000Z

Visiting Speaker - Luciana Haill

Luciana uses medical electrodes to analyse brainwave activity, and visulises them with audio and a 3D graphical representation of the data.

This was a fascinating topic, exploring the way the mind works and how it behaves under differnet emotional and physical states. This techonolgy opens up all sorts of possibilites to gain greater understanding of the human mind and our thought processes, and could have benefitial insight into the way we learn, and benefit rest and meditiation.

What i also found particually fascinating was when she mentioned the reults of using the brainwave analyser on plants, and the way they reacted to different stimuli. Human understanding in these areas is very limited, and it will be interesting to see how research in these areas develops.

Her website IBVA uk explains her work ...

''IBVA is a form of biofeedback for the brain called Neurofeedback. It's a training process of using technology to provide you with more information about what your body is doing than your ordinary senses provide. This "feedback" helps you learn to use your mind to develop greater control over your body, or, in the case of neurofeedback, your brain. IBVA is already used by :

• Hypnotherapists & NLP trainers

• Teachers, Universities & Research departments

• Musicians & Artists

• Home users, Alternative practitioners

• Sports trainers

• Life coaching

• Metaphysical & Psychic explorers''

Sensors and input devices

2007-12-12T20:24:00.000Z

Rona Innes demonstrated some interesting sensors and examples of input devices.
The Arduino looks worth further research. Mike blow also mentioned it in his talk earlier.

I was initially put off as it seemed quite complicated, but it's definitely worth another look. I was also interested in the video input Rona demonstrated, particularly using a web cam into flash or director to display graphics, or visual effects on the video.
ghostly mirror was particularly impressive, the effects are quite stunning. This would be worth exploring more, especially if sound input could be added also.
Some of the flash stuff which displays graphics that are triggered by sound via a microphone I've been looking at recently, and did some research with voice activated software and voice recongnition. This gave variable results - the voice recognition stuff needs time to train the software to recognise voice input and not give garbled output. Will spned more time see what interactive art could be triggered by vocal commands and sounds. I've also just sent away for a webcam to have a play over the break.

2007-12-12T19:52:00.000Z

This is a video i found again, i mentioned it in an earlier blog

It's similar to the system being developed at MIT, (mentioned earlier) and it will be interesting to see this technology develop. While it has relevence to this project, it reminds me of the last design futures project.

2007-12-10T23:35:00.000Z

Cheap Imitation David Rokeby

"Cheap Imitation" is an homage to Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase

This interactive artwork is a faceted image projected approximately life size on a wall of the gallery. Each facet is interactive, emerging from darkness only when there is movement in front of that facet's exact location in the painting. If there is no movement, the projection is all black. Small gestures like hand movements will draw one or two fragments into visibility. Full body movement across the whole painting reveals the entire work. This is an impressive piece, the original work re-interpreted with new media to produce something that is close to the original aesthetically, while expanding on the theme of movement and form.

Screenvader is a stunning web art site, with lots of cool randomly generated graphics, and a smart looking interface. A nice use of flash.
The graphics are really impressive and each stands really well on their own, - with a new image generated with the click of the mouse, i can't help feel something is lost when the image is replaced with a new one.
(cheers to Andreas for showing me this site)

Sound Fountain is an installation which captures and replays sounds in the space in which it is placed.
Sounds are captured using a microphone and introduced into the system as a graphic bubble. The size of the bubble is determined by its length and its volume. Each bubble exists as a unique element, interacting with the other bubbles in the system flowing and over-flowing from one container to the next. As the bubbles become older they lose their colour, colour which was determined by the time they were captured. When they fall from the last container they are gone forever.

There's a video of the installation in use (check the above link) It's amazing to see the people interact with it, barking and yelping like wild dogs, it's very funny.

-Jaron Lanier - "..we will communicate through gestures, body movements, and grimaces, like our primitive ancestors..."

Essay - Observing Systems-Arts from a Systems-Theoretical Perspective.

2007-12-10T14:30:00.000Z

Essay - Observing Systems-Arts from a Systems-Theoretical Perspective.

Extract from Francis Halsall's Systems-Art Theory Essay. -

'If the field of art history, with its obsessive concern fro the materiality and 'specificity' of media, the supposedly 'dematerialized' realm of virtual and digital media, as well as the whole sphere of mass media, are commonly seen either as beyond the pale or as a threatening invader, gathering at the gates of the aesthetic and artistic citadel'

I have to wonder why a text which discusses new media arts' slow acceptance in the art world a result of it's inability to articulate to a wider audience ironic, when the text itself is written in a language which is convoluted and unnecessarily wordy. On first reading it was virtually
intelligible, it was only by discussing it today and translating it into English that it made more sense. Something that is written exclusively with academics in mind as its audience, is clearly a victim of the same failings it painfully states is effecting new media.

So it discusses how new media art is having a tough time being accepted within the art world, and is seen as something threatening to artistic sensibility, or in some way a grotesque blasphemous challenge to the often arrogant attitude of fine art practitioners and critics.
This is nothing new, the history of art is peppered with similar such cases where a new media or style of artistic interpretation has initially been challenged by the existing art world. In the 16th century, the work of Dutch realist painters were accused (by mainly Italian Renaissance painters) of having little artist merit as they simply recorded what was in front of their eyes, without any artistic interpretation or embellishment.
This initial lack of acceptance for new art forms can be seen with the introduction of photography. It took a long time for it to be accepted as an art form, its mechanical method of capturing images, coupled with the fact that the photographer didn't 'work the canvas' in ways familiar to traditional painters, meant that photography was dismissed by many art critics and theorists.
The same can be said for the arrival of digital photography and digital photo realistic images, there was an initial reluctance to accept them as valid art forms, citing the same excuses as all the times.
Also text is probably not as relevant today as when it was first published, as nowadays new media art has generally been accepted within the art world and society as a whole. Installations and exhibitions around the world make use of and incorporate new media technology in both the creative process and the display methods. Online web-based art is also expanding from its niche following to become a more common medium.

visiting speaker - ellie rees

2007-12-09T17:16:00.000Z

Visiting Speaker - Ellie Rees

Ellie Reese in her discussion made the point that the setting for a piece or art is a major importance when viewing. For the artist to have complete control over their work and limitations on how it is displayed is understandable, for if they are trying to say something with their work, its important that it is placed in an environment where this is best achieved.
But I'm not convinced that taking a work out of it's intended or optimal environment is as terrible as she believed.

One could argue that all experience is personal, so 10 people viewing a work of art in a exhibition will have 10 different experiences, and could potentially have been affected in 10 totally different ways, whether those had any connection to what the artist intended is an important point.

There's been much discussion about the problems and implications of viewing video footage on sites like Youtube, where the quality has been reduced to ensure that its playable over the Internet, and that viewer is loosing something important by seeing them in this online context. Interestingly in response to this, i recently went to see Addictive TV at an event in Brighton marking the end of a film festival.
Addictive TV are a couple of DJs/VJs who have played all over the world, including recently on the roof of the National Gallery in London, where their art of remixing video footage and scratching it into an audio track was visible to thousands of people, projected on multiple screens and the sides of buildings. I saw footage of the event online, as well as some of their other work of film remixing. After seeing them live, i can honestly saw that what i saw online had way more impact on me than seeing them live.
The screen at the event may have been massively larger than the 3 inch movie playing on my monitor, but the definition was actually better than the fuzzy screen, plus it was easier to see because of all the coloured lights dancing across it at the gig. Despite the fact that the music was compressed over the Internet, it sounded better than the gig, where the levels were set wrong - rendering any dialogue in the film to be barely audible mumblings, and the high tones pretty much dominating the rest of the sound. I have my PC hooked into my stereo -so the sound quality is better than desktop PC speakers, but for the sound to be so superior to that of a sound system in a club stuck me odd at first. But then i considered other music events I've been to in the past, and if you compare the sound quality at an event , to listening to a studio album that's been meticulously engineered to sound as crisp and rich as it can, then you often encounter massive differences. So which one is the better audio experience, the live gig, or listening to it on a stereo? Which would the artist prefer as a method for delivering the optimal in sound quality?

We've all seen the image of the Mona Lisa, hundreds of times in many different settings and media format. Her smile is still enigmatic, even when on a 5 inch postcard. Leonardo da Vinci finished painting this classic piece in 1519, and the environment in with it was created and displayed is very different form that of today; it's had various homes in it's life, and still today it draws big crowds. Someone seeing the image for the first time will likely be view a copy, but may still be moved by it. Is the context so important?.

Ellie Rees's work entitled Britney is a video of the artist playing a Britney Spears song on bottles

She has strong views on whether it is suitable for the popular video site Youtube, despite the content being pop trash - I've never heard Britney Spears music described as fine art. I would have thought Youtube would be the perfect vehicle for her new media piece.

Toccata et Fugue in D Minor on a Bottle Organ on the other hand IS available on Youtube..

This young artist uses a well respected piece of classical music in his work, the editing may be raw - i know Ellie is a proponent of the unedited performance, but who is to say if one is less worthy than the other, who is to say which is art and which is not. By putting one in a exhibition space it is stamping it with exclusivity. If something is worth saying, why limit it to saying it in a short period of time at a gallery, especially if it is a new media artwork? Is not art for the people?. To have on demand access on the web is giving it a much wider audience than it has in a single gallery.
Not all artwork should be displayed in a gallery, where the atmosphere can be austere and pretentious, it should be more accessible.

To quote Banksy , who's not afraid of giving his vision a wider audience -
"Art is not like other culture because its success is not made by its audience. The public fill concert halls and cinemas every day, we read novels by the millions and buy records by the billions. We the people, affect the making and quality of most of our culture , but not our art.
The Art we look at is made by only a select few. A small group create, promote, purchase, exhibit and decide the success of Art. Only a few hundred people in the world have any real say. When you go to an Art gallery you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionares."

recap on interaction

2007-12-09T15:19:00.000Z

Brief summery on interactivity so far..

Interaction can be said to be a dialogue, and for our purposes between man and machine or computer, although the term can apply to an exchange between two or more of anything.
Chris Crawford describes good interaction like a conversation, requiring 3 steps if it is to function correctly -
1 - 'A' speaks while 'B' listens
2 - 'B' considers what was said
3 - 'B' offers a response to 'A'
Interaction breaks down if one or more of these steps is omitted or performed incorrectly. If at step two 'B' doesn't listen properly to 'A', his answer will have less value and the conversation would be unsatisfactory. If at step one, 'A' fails to communicate articulately, then 'B' will have a hard time understanding him. Applying this to interaction in a multimedia environment, if the interface design is difficult to understand, then the user will have problems conveying his needs, or if the method or delivering a response is flawed, the user experience will be poor.
Crawford also states, specifically as regard to games, that the higher the level of interaction the better- games with a low level of interactivity are less successful than those with higher level and better quality interactivity.
The user is also important, -are they asking the right questions, or is their goal within the boundaries of what the programme can respond to? The user becomes the author, following his own path through the possibilities of the programme, albeit in a controlled manner, as all the options have been the creation of the programmers and designers. This relates to Monivich's Myth of Interactivity and Barthes Death of the Author.

Interaction

2007-12-05T15:56:00.000Z

M.I.T - Assist Sketch Understanding System and Operation

I also discovered a different group doing similar things to this drawing system that used physics ( unfortunately Firefox crashed and i lost the link) but they had developed a handheld display, a little larger than A4 size. On their device, the physics cut in straight away, so as soon as the user had drawn a circle and lifted his pen from the surface, physics took over, and the drawn object fell as if it was a dropped ball, and bounced on the bottom of the screen, knocking over any other drawn objects that were in the way. Instant animations, a great tool for teaching- as in the M.I.T video.

P-Soup is a interactive art java applet, that allows you to 'communicate visually' to other users with patterns, shapes and colours. I'm not sure how much communication you could have with someone, but it's an interesting idea and has some psychedelic coolness to the patterns as they emerge and disolve on screen

A little off topic - i don't know if anyone saw an article in the news recently, about chimps out-performing humans in memory tests.

The numbers 1-9 were briefly displayed on a screen, then the subjects had to recall back in sequential order the numbers by touching the screen. The chimps managed this at lighting speed, while their inadequate human cousins stumbled along making mistakes. Who needs opposable thumbs anyway? Completely bypassing the evolutionary stage of developing rudimentary tools, these chimps have mastered the digital interface with such proficiency, they make us humans look like primitive baboons. Check it out if you didn't see it - there are various videos of it on the BBC website.

2007-12-02T13:30:00.000Z

TurntablistPC
This is an interactive Art installation from Mogens Jacobsen.

This oddly device is part of an ongoing art project, allowing users to control the turntable over the Internet. The amount of effect the user can have on the deck is controlled by the location of the user in relation to the TurntablistPC. This made me consider other forms of interaction to control the turntable, the presence of viewers around the installation, their numbers and movement having some effect. If there was a couple of decks, what possibilities would there be of mixing the two records together. Further thought led to using mp3s instead of vinyl, as this would allow users to have a way of choosing what tune would be played. Sensors could detect the location of viewers in the room, the density and position would determine what tune is picked from a database, for how long it's played etc.

Inspired by the practice of listening to the body to diagnose illness, the Sonic Body is an audio-installation that uses interactive technology to create an orchestra of the human body.

This installation was part of the recent Brighton Digital Festival, in which viewers were immersed inside the a representation of the human body, and heard bodily sounds gathered from by such instruments such as a stethoscopes and hydrophones.
“The looped results (of the sonic body) are addictively danceable mutations of minimal techno. As science looks ever outward, it seems culturally significant that such alien music would transmit from the internal network of our very bodies.” David Michael Perez, from My Body, My Discotech, review of the Sonic Body in Rhizome.

Design for Interaction

2007-12-01T21:21:00.000Z

Design for Interaction

Further research for this brief has led me to these gems recently.
In a similar vein to Mike Blow's Machines for Singing, i noticed this from David Byrne, an installation where devices are attached to various parts of a disused paint factory, which were controlled to produce vibrations, turning the whole building into a playable musical instrument.

The Art of Surveillance , Wired's images from various installations and art projects around the globe which explore the theme of always being watched.

The Khronos Projector has been used in interactive art installations, it's an interesting device which allows viewers to explore pre-recorded video footage by touching the screen, which makes the film move through time in a water-like ripple effect.

This is impressive stuff , and i wonder how it would work with the sound being affected by the interaction of the user as well. This could potentially produce echo effects similar to dub music. Large installations inside clubs could produce good interactive art/music events.

This concept of making a dub version of video footage reminded me of Jeff Noon (novelist/poet i mentioned in a previous post). He thought about applying the same production methods of dub music, to those of writing a novel. His leftfield book Cobralingus he take various written works and feed them into his 'cobralingus engine' to mutate, sample and remix them into pieces with new a different meaning. It's an interesting idea, -the pieces turn into poem like creations, very weird. He applied this style in an online novel/writing game - mappalujo, co-written with Steve Beard. This idea of remixing text is worth more research.

Idea-Generation excercise for Interaction.

2007-11-28T11:39:00.000Z

Carolyn Handler Miller in her book Digital Interactive Storytelling, relates modern interactive computer games, mmogs etc to ancient rituals, ceremonies, rites of passage and physical contests/games.
Four questions where raised on the topic of interactivity.

1. - What traditional ritual are you aware of that reminds you of some interactive narrative?.

If you could describe a music festival as a traditional ritual , then this could be represented by virtual 3d environments. These serve as a social meeting place for users, and offer a alternate version of reality - a fantasy wonderland that could be evocative of the twisted reality that is often experienced in the hedonistic ephemeral festival. Once inside the gates , festival goers find it easy to loose inhibitions, forget about the real world for the weekend and immerse themselves in their new environment, much like users of virtual worlds.

2 - What game or sport could be adapted to work as an interactive entertainment.

Most major sporting events have a computer game version, this is nothing new- early arcade games included 'Pong'('72) , racing game 'Gran Trak 10' ('74), and later games like althetic themed 'Track and Field' ('82). With the latest generation consoles, motion detection ha been built into the controllers (wii, and xbox 360 are releasing one). As these become more varied and sophisticated, so will the interaction become more tactile and physical. Events such as archery, javelin, curling, fencing, rowing, squash, rhythmic gymnastics (where the girls run about waving a ribbon) , shot put, badminton(to name but a few) will all have a new lease of life on the small screen

3 - What work of traditional storytelling contains a narrative technique that could be applied to a work of digital entertainment?

An interesting book to turn into a work of interactive film , would be Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5. Although any kind of film of this book would be a challenge to make (in as much as it would be difficult to do this classic masterpiece any justice), the themes of free will, fate and rationality might be well suited to an interactive media. The disjointed and seemingly random series of events (as the hapless protagonist Billy Pilgrim travels through time to different periods in his life) could be made into a series of choices for the viewer, who has the ability to fast forward to future events ( or be transported to the forth dimension to Tralfamador) The odd twist would probably be that all the choices are arbitrary, the viewer has no idea where he will end up next - the links would have to be unlabeled, thereby further raising questions of free will and choice. So it goes. Billy's ability to 'time travel' through his own life means he always knows whats coming next as he's seen it before, and that every event is simultaneously happening at the same time. How does he have any choices in life when he knows what the outcome will be?

(anyway, if you haven't read it i recommend giving it a go - it's a short book and well worth the time)

4 - What work of traditional entertainment breaks the "forth wall" , and how could it be replicated in an interactive work ?

The idea that springs to mind first is the British tradition of pantomime. Every December we are blessed with a variety of these types of participatory theatre, where the audience (typically dominated by children) are encouraged to yell at the 'actors' and sing along to the choruses of the songs. Interaction is limited to pre-scripted to shouts of "he's behind you" and "no....other side" etc in response to the 'actor's' on stage antics.
This could be replicated in the form of children TV - with the newer digital format, viewers could input responses (via the remote control) to unfolding events, or select one of a few limited replies to prompts by the actors. This idea is flawed, as the amount of pleasure the children derive from participation is not due primarily to the fact interaction is possible, but more the fact they can interact at high volume with a large number of their equally vocal peers.
The panto format might have more success in virtual environments such as Second Life, where large group participation is possible, though this would work better if the 3D space had VOIP, as typing in "...Oh no it isn't !..." etc doesn't have the same appeal as yelling it. This again has its drawbacks, the age range suited to pantomimes typically aren't equipped with the necessary skills to use Second Life - a simpler child friendly version would be more useful in this case.

Design for Interaction

2007-11-24T18:35:00.000Z

Have been researching all things interactive and giving thought to the brief of Design for Interaction. The open brief offers a overwhelming number possibilites, and I'm in need of something to fire my imagination.
Well, that's not quite correct, I've seen plenty of inspiring things, from participatory art, through to imaginatively designed kiosk interfaces. I'm a bit concerned that a lot of the things I've seen function with some specifically written piece of script, or re-wiring and reprogramming different devices and software. Having no skills in these areas, I've no idea where to begin. Then there's the idea of making a web based interactive project. There a some cool sites out there with stunning interfaces and functionality- largely flashed based sites, which again, rely on some custom coding to make things groovy, and my actionscript skills are only marginally better than my electrical rewiring skills.
Initial thoughts lead to some kind of voice activation or sound based project, no idea how it will manifest itself, so more research in this area is my first avenue of research.

seeing with your ears java based 'audio -from -image' doohicky

interactive sound

sound design for interactive media - resources and interesting links

HMC - multimedia production company doing cool stuff

interactive architecture installations and art/ architecture projects

pianographique - curious web multimedia instrument

ixi - digital generative music group, giving workshops and providing free software and tutorials.

SASSAS - The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound

dont click it - experimental website that uses mouse movement without clicking to navigate.

British Interactive Media Association Exhibitions, events and all sorts

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Lansdown Lecture - Heartlands: heart-rate, GPS, gameplay

2007-11-07T21:09:00.000Z

'Ere be Dragons

Lansdown Lecture - Heartlands: heart-rate, GPS, gameplay

'Ere Be Dragons is a pervasive digital artwork which encourages users to explore both their environment and themselves. Based on mobile computing, it is responsive to location and biodata (heartrate) which it uses to construct a responsive visual and auditory environment overlaid on the real world. It is designed to be highly engaging while at the same time raising important issues about health and behaviour. The work is an interdisciplinary collaboration between digital artists, an electronic arts centre, health scientists, and the UK research laboratory of a major IT company (Hewlett Packard)

Now here is a cool application for A.R glasses. Building a virtual world based on your heartbeat - the more your heart works during healthy exercise, so a more extravagant world is created around you. This could spawn all sorts of games, and be linked into other 3d worlds , so you could create content there with you heart beat.

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It's just a shame the 1 hour lecture is in north London, two and a half hours away:- they need to broadcast it in cyberspace so it's a bit easier to see. If we had our A.R glasses, we could all attend.

Through Rose Coloured Glasses

2007-11-06T18:28:00.000Z

Through Rose Coloured Glasses

So we've skipped ahead 10 years. We've all got these snazzy Mixed Reality glasses on. We never get lost any more, because the GPS in the frame links into Google maps and displays right in front of our eyes where we are, where we wanna go;- and it's booked a table at the restaurant across town where we're trying to find. The kids are all fitter, because they aren't sat behind a computer playing games and shooting aliens for hours on end- they're running around the streets playing computer games and shooting virtual aliensfor hours on end. There's less congestion because the SatNav in the glasses helps us avoid snarl ups and keeps traffic moving, and there's less accidents, because the sensors detect on-coming danger and steer you out of the way. Everything is rosy. But what then?

Death by Pixels

There's a multitude of benefits and cool advantages to this technology, and there will also be a shadier side to it. Just as scandal after scandal hit virtual worlds like Second Life- fraud, child porn rings, undercover cop avatars, extortion, viruses being realised,- there will surely be an underworld develop in the brave new world of augmented reality. Rockstar games will probably find themselves in a lot of trouble with their latest violent mixed reality game they'll probably produce, with high def images of virtual massacres- there's bound to be a class full of kids in America get senselessly slain by someone playing Grand Theft Auto 9 in A.R.
If the glasses have a built in lens and recording capability, people will be able to experience someone else's reality. The film Strange Days explored this theme, where 'dealers' would sell copies of a porn stars reality, or the experience of someone being killed. Some became hooked on the reality of others.

Jacked into Hyper-Reality

To escape all the stresses of constant connectivity to the world, and tune out of all the info and ads of A.R, many will turn on to altered states of (augmented) reality, with programmes created to simulate and induce trance like states and euphoric journeys through psychedelic lands. As the technology and applications mash up and mix together, all kinds of strange hybrids will evolve. Cyberpunk novelist Jeff Noon's creates dystopic visions of Britain's future, where party junkies inject liquid music, where people remix themselves with technology in varying degrees of 'roboness', and where the thrill seekers enter hallucinogenic virtual worlds for kicks.
It won't be long of course, before the boys in blue (#00008B) come pounding on the door with their virtual cops to pull the plug on all those subversives, avatar agents sent to restore order to the matrix.

But at the end of the day, the most important thing for most will be how cool the glasses look. Whatever changes happen to society with the advent of A.R, Apple will still be in the headlines with their latest iEye glasses.

Future Design Presentation.

2007-11-05T10:24:00.000Z

Reality in the mix

The time to make the presentations for the Design Futures Project is fast approaching, and I've been trying to whittle down my idea into a more focused idea, but i think that the nature of what I'm researching (augmented reality) has such wide reaching potential, that to pin it down to 1 or 2 simple themes will loose what in some ways is the main point of this product/platform. I see the potential of A.R will touch many areas of life, from training and educational use, through to web surfing, teleconferencing and virtual work environments, to gaming and immersive panoramic cinema experiences.
In one sense the glasses can be seen as the latest in portable ultra slim monitors, and when used in conjunction with a PDA device or computer, can run complex applications, which can be highly specialized for training purposes, or popular mainstream web apps, like Google Maps and MMORPGS and social networking virtual environments. I was trying to come up with a simple interface that can present information to the user in a way that's simple to use and doesn't overload the user will to much information, but the interface will vary for each application used, as on a regular computer.
The glasses will be 'transparent monitors' that can overlay graphics over the users field of vision, or can 'blackout' to run total Virtual Reality applications. They also work on the assumption that developments in fuel cells and power issues will be at the stage where they can be produced small and lightweight enough to fit into the arms of the glasses. Currently developments in power cells , data storage and processor chips are producing smaller and more efficient products, so it's feasible that within 10 years the technology will be small enough to fit inside something as small as a pair of glasses, without being as clumsy and cumbersome as current VR goggles.

Semiconductor

2007-11-01T23:11:00.000Z

Guest speakers : Semiconductor

I first saw the work of today's speakers, Semiconductor, at this year's Big Chill festival, although at the time I admit I probably didn't give the installation Earthmoves the attention it deserved. This time around my mind wasn't as addled as it was in the heady atmosphere of the festival, nor was i surrounded by all manner of musical and multimedia delights, so was interested to discover what they where all about.
Semiconductor are artists producing digital artworks in the form of sound-films, music videos and live animation. Feeding and mixing audio into photography, 3d software and moving images, they create abstract films and live performances around the world. They use captured sounds from the environment and digital sounds, which effect and are influenced by the images on display.
Their most recent work I was most impressed by, Magnetic Movie, an animation where they have visualised audio recording of scientists describing their discoveries. This was more interesting to me because it seemed less abstract than much of the other work, though all of their work is very inspiring.

Digital Reality

2007-10-24T21:47:00.000+01:00

A Virtual Guantanamo Bay has recently been built in Second Life.
It's aim is to create a platform where people from around the world can gather together to discuss important social justice issues, and explore the potential for activism and change. Monthly discussions are planed, which will mix real world debates and speeches, also broadcast in Second Life, while video footage and interviews with the relatives of the detainees are shown on screens. By allowing users to experience the loss of freedom, albeit of an avatar in cyberspace, it is hoped that it will promote greater understanding and empathy, and who knows, maybe even offer an end to intolerance and bigotry. Virtual Utopia.

So just how effective can something like this be, and how much will it just be for 'virtual detention center tourists'? . The various worlds of cyberspace have already shown that people are coming together in ways like never before, working collaboratively in online games and Alternate Reality games, and socialising with people from wildly different social groups and ages.

But just as cyberspace is being used to promote understanding and empathy, it's also being used as a tool to recruit soldiers into the military, the release of 'America's Army' in the U.S proving to be very successful. Kids get to see what huge guns they can play with if they join the army for real. Should we be disturbed by this propaganda aimed at kids ?, or is it no different from them playing violent shooting games anyway.
There's an interesting article in Wired Magazine "shall we play a game" on the merging on real life and the virtual world and society.

2007-10-21T18:13:00.000+01:00

Projected Interface

This is an odd idea. Completely bizarre way of displaying content, and I'm not sure how practical this is, especially when compared to the development of Augmented Reality. It might be a lot more use if the projector wasn't hand held- i really cant see any advantage to carry the projector around and have to swing it wildly about in order to see the content. A desk mounted unit, with a much greater projected area would be a lot more practical.

Machinima

2007-10-16T17:28:00.000+01:00

Machinimations.
The line between cinema and gaming becomes ever more blurred, but they meet head on in the ever growing phonemon of Machinima.

'Machinimators' create films using the 3d environments and components of computer games
A cheap way of making movies, gamers and film maker use tools from programmes like Second Life and World of Warcraft, and the recent film festival shows that's its gaining in popularity. It's also being used by big film companies to quickly and cheaply try out ideas before making the actual movie.

Here's the 1st of a series created from the game Medal of Honor: Airborne, and looks like a standard war movie (more or less)

more info at machinima.com

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Augmented Reality

2007-10-09T16:21:00.000+01:00

Augmented Reality

I've been studying themes of Virtual Reality, and have seen some great work on Augmented Reality. The applications for this type of technology are limitless, with obvious uses in education, health care, architectural design, and gaming etc.
While still in development, some technology has been implemented already, like this educational kiosk in a New Zealand museum in the clip below.

At the moment the hardware is still pretty clunky, but we are moving away from the cumbersome equipment associated with VR. When these technologies are fully developed, whole new ways of learning, communicating and socialising will be opened up, and as the software becomes more accessible, we will start to see lots of user generated content appear online. This technology could be much more exciting than Virtual Reality, as it offers us more freedom of movement around our environment, and could be used in more everyday applications.
If in the future, RFID tags (An RFID tag is an object that can be applied to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification using radiowaves. Some tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader.) become common place, you will never loose your keys again - their location will be instantly displayed in graphics over your field of vision.
Games offer great possibilities, turning your real urban environment into a puzzle game, a battleground, or setting for a quest.
As media gets mashed up and mixed together, apps like google maps could prove useful in 3d, directions displayed right in front of your eyes. Historical info could be revealed as you pass buildings, or sale items in your size be advertised as you pass by the shop or you could be informed if items on your shopping list are stocked there.
While, undertaking repairs in the home or at work, instructions could be displayed and updated as you progress. There really is no end to the uses for these, the more you think about it the more ideas come to mind. All we need is the technology to become small and fast enough to look cool and render images well, and we'll have some funky kit to play with

Futurism and all that

2007-10-08T10:34:00.000+01:00

11 Events, Trends and Developement that will change your life

Design Futures

2007-10-07T00:20:00.000+01:00

The Future Is Here.

Whatever trends shape future technology, designing products that are energy efficient will be a top priority. With increased demand on natural resources, we are at the stage where we have to act now to eliminate the burden we've placed on the planet. Looking for alternative forms of energy will be of paramount importance to meet rising population levels and ever our increasing rates of energy consumption.
Electric cars will go a long way to reduce our use of fossil fuels, but have had a bit of an image problem in the past. This is set to change.

Switching to sustainable energy will be more of an option when technology enables cheaper equiptment production and increased efficiency at harnessing and storing renewable power. New techniques for producing the latest lcd monitors is a step in the right direction for solar energy

Clever Cutlery ?

For all those cooks who are too pissed to taste if the soup is properly seasoned, at last comes the Intelligent Spoon . With an array of sensors, it can tell you if there is too much salt in the bouillabaisse, or if the cake batter is of dropping consistency and ready to bake.
What next - the DigiBowl - it's advanced nanocircuits can detect when the bowl is empty of soup, and can vocalise the words 'fat bastard, that was your 3rd helping' in 36 languages.

Design Futures Project

2007-10-04T19:04:00.000+01:00

Future Tech

Predicting future trends and innovations can be a dizzying task. Technology is going through such a rapid state of change and advancement, that high-tech gadgets become obsolete before they get chance to get dusty. The latest developments are considered ancient history within just a few years, and technology that was not so long ago considered science fiction, is finding its way into everyday life.
When you start to look around at the latest research, it's stunning to see how far this technology is being developed. Nanotechnology will find its way into many different applications in the near future, and is just beginning to appear in different applications while wireless technology is fast becoming commonplace.
Research into robotics is massive, with significant developments for medical applications, and it wont be long before amputees are using robotic limbs, or surgeons are assisted (or even replaced) in delicate operations by medical robots.

I'm interested in how the use of artificial 3d space is growing in popularity, and becoming more diverse in its purpose. Everything from video conferencing, telemedicine, social networking, psychotherapy, and education and training through to gaming and cinema are making use of virtual spaces. With advancements in VR technology, hardware is getting smaller and easier to use, and processor speeds increase dramatically allowing more detailed graphics and real time rendering, the artificial environment is fast becoming much more user friendly.

Study project brief : Design Futures

2007-10-04T01:28:00.000+01:00

Project Brief #1

Design Futures

This brief is concerned with the development of a concept that addresses the future and use of new technologies or technological services. That is to say, how technology might manifest itself in years to come and what direct impact it would have on our everyday lives. The basis of this project is to develop a ‘bluesky’ concept working on the principle of ‘what if’. The concept per-say could be derived from a product in as much as tool or for that matter a service. The concept should clearly have a defined rationale behind it and should be generated through a clear consideration of existing technologies and or related services, A clearly defined audience / user group should help to shape the conditions of the language used concerning the sonic, visual and physical elements along with the technical parameters, modes of delivery etc. Considering the time allocated for this project, students will have the opportunity to create a screen based presentation of the concept a ‘look and feel’

First thoughts centre around, nano-technology, virtual reality and robotics, field which are developing rapidly for mulitple uses. Technology with a environmentally low impact will also be a major consideration , being energy efficient throughout its life cycle will be a standard requirement in years to come.

2007-10-01T14:48:00.000+01:00

Blogging - so what's it all about ?

What makes millions of people around the globe feel compelled to write down their daily thoughts, and publish them for the world to see?
What forces are at work, driving these people to tell anyone who's willing to listen (or read) about their opinions, their day to day lives and everything and anything in between?

This is the first blog I've ever written, in fact, it's the first blog I've ever read!.I found it easy to avoid them, of all the infomation that we are bombarded with in our daily lives, blogs seemed to hold limited appeal- catering for a specific demographic, or simply being banal posts of someone's daily life.
Many blogs around take the form of online diaries, and i think this is where my desire to avoid them comes from - the fact that a diary is a personal log of ones life. Having never written my own diary, or had the desire to read whatever someone else has written down in theirs , diaries have always been something other people did. But an diary published online?

This is a paradox surely -a personal diary is something written by an individual for their own needs, and usually pains are taken to keep their thoughts secret and away from prying eyes, not published for thousands of strangers to have access to- who would have the diary printed in a daily newspaper? Are people's lives are becoming a soap opera for their readership on the World Wide Web ?.

Now i find myself in a position where I'm encouraged to keep a blog as part of my studies, and realise it's time to re-evaluate my idea of what blogging is about.

In recent years there has been a large take up of people using blogs, and the nature of their uses changing. Disgruntled employees are publishing exposes of their workplace, politicians are using them for campaigning tools, and as we have seen in places like Burma and Iraq at the moment, journalists are finding ways of bypassing the government run media to bring news of important events. . Photographs taken on mobile devices are put on the web with first hand accounts of the situation often before major news organisations have covered them providing instant comment on important events.

It's now becoming a dangerous game though, as some bloggers are finding themselves in court fighting libel or defamation charges, or are simply sacked by their employers after posting ill-advised comments. Bloggers have been imprisoned for posting anti-religious remarks, while others have had vicious insults and death threats in replies to threads they have posted. Today the bloggers in Burma are in fear for their lives as the government tightens in grip on all news and information leaving the country after recent demonstrations against the military dictatorship. Blogging and the Internet have bought the events there into the global arena. When the government responded violently to demonstrations in 1988 during which some 3,000 people were killed, news never made it into the public eye in the way it can today, reporters were simply not able to get the news out of the country.

So blogging has grown into a powerful tool, giving a voice to the individual, raising important issues and providing comment on current affairs with an alternative flavour to that provided by mainstream news broadcasters. Governments are uneasy with this flow of information, and seek tighter control over the Web - a person surfing the Internet in China will have much less access to sites, and outgoing Web traffic is restricted and monitored. But the Internet is a medium of communication that's developing at an explosivily alarming rate, and as it envelopes every sphere of daily life, total control over it becomes increasingly unlikely.

Dunno where this is going really, had nothing in particular to say, and I've just spent ages doing it. Not much of a blog, but ya gotta start somewhere.