Julianna Yau’s blog

When Andrew Hunter & Marcel O’Gorman were preparing for this session, I thought I saw them fiddling with a bag of props. I know I’m a geek at heart because this was the most exciting session for me, based purely on the fact that we got to make a throwie at the end.

Pics and notes:

Marcel

-Critical Media Lab
-new media impact human condition
-parody of MIT Media Lab

-will show us different projects
-using technology to critique technology

Cycle of Dread
-concept of “flow”; being “in the zone”
-how does this apply to video gaming industry? most investment from gambling and gaming industries
-existential dread while in the flow state
-Facebook –> escape self-awareness; no existential dread
-”Empty Days” + “Dreadmill” = Cycle of Dread”

oncoGeiger
-Luke Murphy
-self-expression as therapeutic means for cancer patients
-Well-Tit centre at UWaterloo

-problem with developing projects like this –> much of the development happing in the business world, not in the universities –> resistence from the arts & humanities to commercialization; good, but need to involve some to keep up

-impact of technology on the human body

-Busines Factory
-Mario Polese, University Affairs, May 2008:
“Universities should not function like motors for economic development. This is what they may become one day, when community organizations and government call on the expertise of their researhers. But that role must accrue to them through their mission to teach and do research, and not the other way around”
-ideas first, technology 2nd

MESDAG
-geocaching (photo)
-geocaching + social networking + Built environment = MESADG
-childhood obesity
-getting kids active
-GPS + accelerometer + wireless database
-”su-veillance” (anti surveillance)
-accelerometer linked to Blckberry; get a prompt every day (e.g. take picture of tree; take picture of 1 way sign); upload to web; fill grid; when grid filled, they win
-can track whether these games impact their activity (devices w/game versus devices w/out game)
-promoting physical fitness
-promoting environmental awareness

-large-scale projects vs gurilla style (promoting messiness)
-”the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn”, Alvin Toffler, “Rethinking the Future”
-demystiying the technology
-calling for an embracing of the messiness

-transparency of technology
-impact of technology on the human condition
-engage the artist
-requirement of the critical role
-combine technology and bodies to engage the community with ore than e-newsletters
-use technology to integrate the community into art projects

- - -

Andrew (Render Gallery)

-wanted to move away from traditional concept of gallery
-building relationships with people in other departments
-work outside of limits of Fine Arts program
-Environmental Studies; School of Architecture
-UWaterloo seen as the tech university
-Andrew not a sophisticated user of technology
-works with artists who are immersed in technology
-interested in the mass of people who are “left behind” or don’t have access to the technology
-interested in the environmental impact of technology

Proboscis (slide)
-artist group based in London, England
-Urban Tapestries (developed a decade ago)
-knowledge sharing; social interaction
-work with school kids and people in low income housing
-many communities they worked with didn’t have access to technology
-had to develop other tools which could be connected to their tools
-StoryCubes
-DIFFUSION eBook
-”this is not a book”
-DIFFUSION Generator
-Robotic Feral Project
–environmental sensor + kids toys (robotic) = mapping
-Snout
–wearable sensors
–Snout Event on Flickr
–sensors are on the snout of the costume
–LEDs on outfit
-AnArcheology Labs (collab w/Render)
-knowledge of how to use technology, not just access to it
-students at the university more interested in fine arts, not technology
-strong community-based interactions, both with Proboscis and the community and Proboscis and Render
-Render not interested in moving art into the community (that role already filled by CAFKA and KWAG); more about interdisciplinary work and meaningful impact on lives of “young people” (pre-university age)
-different ways of applying technological knowledge –> not just about working for Google

-Throwies project w/Children’s Museum in KW

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This was a great presentation by Brian Porter and Tony Hushion from the ROM

Photos and notes:

-started with video of eye-level view from land animals/insects
-Animal Borne Image Samples
-new museum workers don’t typically have a museum background (more about storytelling)
-polarized opinion of the crystal building at the ROM
-people visiting to see the architecture of the building

The new ROM – who do we aspire to be?
-natural science and art & culture
-urban renewal
-physical location – the Gardiner, the AGO
-reliable and stable institution physically
-separation in governance (judiciary and day-to-day admin)

-attendance is ahead of forecast; people can only be curious about new architecture for so long
-March Break was most successful on record
-construction impacted business because many people thought they were closed (incl. students)
-tons of upcoming programming (only 2 slides photographed)

Shanghai Kaleidoscope show
-all about the technology
-photo of quote on slide
-the “next culture”

Shanghai Historical Photos exhibit
-digital image to showcase Shanghai 100yrs ago
-juxtaposition of two shows

-both exhibitions dependent on technology
-photographs in historical photo exhibit based on their ability to digitalize work

New Media Resources
-Information Technology Services
–Web/database/network/systems
—still need a strong support in the physical
—need strong IT support and support for the infrastructure (e.g. setup of hardware)
—IT people can work with the content people
-Media Productions
–Video/television/multimedia & exhibition/gallery AV
-Publications
–Co-publishing/academic/catalogues
-Digital Image Centre
–Photography/scanning/copying/image licensing
–3D imaging unit
–digitalization of assets is key
–can’t move to the next level without digitalization
-Information Centre
–Rights and Reproductions co-ordinator
–Digital Media Assets co-ordinator

-ROM uses Final Cut Pro for most of their editing
-they have podcasts
-website
–really focused on using it for transactions and registration
–not a rich content site (yet)
–mostly marketing site
-ROM on FB
-ArtShare FB app

What is the concept of the mindful museum?
-museum as a masoleum
-museum as a machine
-museum as a metaphor (i.e. the Agora)
-museum as a mall – drained and devoted to pleasure; an attraction (like Disney; no longer about education)
-photo of quote re mindful museum quote
–”being primarily about the objects it contains”
–Louvre – 25 minutes from door to objects
–”mindful museum puts art in your face”
–CBC website podcast –> CBC Ideas –> 1 yr ago, Adam Copnik on the mindful museum (closest I could find was “Canada: Nation or Notion?“… that’s a direct link to the mp3, and I haven’t previewed it yet… also see this blog post)

-photo of projection from show
-because of success of the show getting people to look around, continue to use the space to put art infront of people as soon as they enter
-Sony donated flat screen monitors to ROM
-traditional vs digital donor walls
-digital donor wall – interactive; stories about the donors
–background image is from archival images of building; meant to be blurry and background image
–speaker mounted on ceiling, sound directed to viewer (instead of broadcasting to the entire room)
–not just about donors; also about the history of the ROM

-Digital gallery for education
–manipulate objects on projection
–provide digital options for younger audience who is already using technology at home
–in-house creation and management of content vs outsourcing
–often spend almost as much time with 3rd party as having to do it yourself
–ROM did it in-house

-podast – Constructing the Baronsaurus
-shows recreating a dinosaur at high-speed
-also uploaded to YouTube

-4 flatscreen monitors with touch-screen technology
–interactive display in front of dinosaurs
–didn’t want dioramas
–skeletons only
–images licensed from BBC (Walking with Dinosaurs)
–mindful of the audience

-Dipali (sp??)
-South Asian history and culture
-women in S.A. art
-same thing happening with First Peoples Paul Kane paintings show
–worked with John Basai – filmmaker
–kiosk, browser-based, with info on work
–more info for visitors

-new textiles gallery
-curator had specific ideas of how she wanted to use technology
-texture of textiles
-how they are created
-how a loom works
-video of how suit made

Canadian Mining Hall of Fame
-minerals and ores
-satellite exhibits
-how to take photos and bring that to life?
-used model of donor wall
-part of mining/minerals gallery

-elabelling – current RFP for delivery solution
-necessary for densely stoked display cases

-flatscreens everywhere!!

Schad Gallery of Biodiversity
-snippets that demonstrate life (ref: video at beginning)
-combo of media
-include media studio for ongoing program
–video producer and programmer to create programming for schools etc
-presents social networking web opportunity

Iconic Objects
-new marketing campaign
-must-see iconic pieces (regardless of what their current feature show is)
-short video sequences
-mindful museum – about the objects

Lessons Learned
-enhanced accessibility – audio tours
–transcripts of all podcasts
-evening and weekend IT support
-remote monitoring & updating
-hire for specific skill sets
-donor intervention – how much?
-avoid technology for the sake of technology
-allow time for R&D
-test, test, test

What can small museums do?
-seek curatorial support (test the waters)
-talk to visitors (measure the “groundswell”)
-do a POST assessment:
–people (visitors – enhancing their experience)
–objectives (goals?)
–strategy (providing context, more engagemen?)
–technology (solution)
-involve prospective donors
-develop digital assets

-new book: Bold Visions
-not about passive entertainment
-artifacts are not given a theatre setting

Questions
-how was video produced?
–camera technology

-at what point in development does interactive strategy come into things?
–wanted it to happen early, but due to project evolving, some of that got cut and was reintroduced at the end

-what about changing content?
–plan is that the content will be rotated
–funding exists to do this

-what happens when exhibition closes?
–dinosaur exhibit is permanent, but expect content to be updated

-collaboration & availability; produce in collaboration with other museums? make it available to them?
–not typically a practise to collaborate because of IP issues, but open to the idea where it makes sense
–developing portable content

-digital donor wall
–help with interface (Overdrive)
–content was in-house

-when does the technology become too much? interfering with experience with actual item? filter? adding so many layers?
–audience wants the context being provided through the technology
–objects don’t always speak for themselves
–technology is only one means of expression
–ROM also about education

-Charlene Li + Josh Bernoff
-Forester Research
-Groundswell book

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John Darlymple from the Textiles Museum of Canada had a great presentation, Connecting Cloth, Culture + Art, on what they have been doing for the last 10 years.

Notes (and Flickr images)

-museums piggypack on technology developed by corporations
-the role of how the money is made
-focusing on the public and the programming; start with the inward looking, but the focus is on the outside
-three themes: reconsidering the role of collection management; keeping/setting pace with technology; how important a really conceptually strong program is for online presence

1997
-concept of shooting digitally was different
-digital cameras were inferior to 35mm cameras
-slides and indexes
-slides were scanned and saved onto CDs
-everything was still very physical
-did have website, built by a volunteer’s son
-very amateurish website
-just getting online, didn’t care what it was
-Museums Assistant Program
-collection management driven

phase 2
-grant from Virtual Museum of Canada
-trying to create a virtual museum –> recreating real world
-John felt this was the wrong decision because the internet is not the real world, but the internet can provide options which aren’t available in the real world
-gallery is decontextualized setting
-Cloth & Clay website –> archived on the Textiles Museum website
-online identity can be bigger than physical presence
-sites were static HTML because that’s all they know
-John attended course where it was taught by a web designer and a curator, but there was no link between the two
Cloth & Clay did as much as they could with static HTML
-requirement for digitalization of work —> Collections Manager
-requirement for better collections management and images

phase 3
-create online destination
-entrypoint to collection
-relevant themes
-told government they needed to digitalize collection and have a database of the images
-creating something online that we can’t do in physical space –> moving objects around; didn’t use quicktime
-also allowed people to zoom into images
-Zoomify
-plugins –> something that’s open and that people would already have
-challenge to store and backup images (highres source images) and space online –> changed much since then
-slides taken by many different people (volunteers, proffessional photographers) and scanned at different resolutions
-need to take the different shots; need to not reshoot images every time; not just file format but relevancy of images
-has style guide for how to shoot images of textiles!
-government funding insisted on digital images
-shot images from a camera on the roof
-MimsyXG vs archaic Access DB
–different levels of consistency of data input, tagging
–need to investigate how to transfer data –> rebuild vs import
–just access isn’t enough –> NEED consistency of data
–needed a fundamental shift of definition/concept of collection management
-60% of collection photographed
-not just adding all sorts of little notes on db info (resulted in inconsistency with use of fields; nothing was publication-ready)
-kept fields simple –> much to document, not many curators to sign-off; wanted to do everything in French (don’t -operate in French, but wanted to be able to offer the information in French online); built thesaurus for terms and used that for standard English data input and translated to French
-Textile Museum: collection; contemporary art & exhibition program (most dynamic part of their programming); educational programming (other programs had educational aspects, but they also have a specific ed program)
-use web to exhibit work for longer than the few weeks they can keep stuff on display due to the fragility of the work
-Digital Threads
-asked artists to create digital art – artists asked were not digital artists; had to work closely with them to make this work
-theme grouping of work, rather than chronological
-Joanna Berzowska
-didn’t want it to be a database experience
-serve researcher, but should be usable for general museum going audience and teachers
-clearest terminology and titles for users

(no, I don’t know what happened to the phase 4 notes…I’m guessing they’re the tail end of the phase 3 notes)

phase 5
launching a new website soon
In Touch (hoping to change name)
deliver online project
create hands-on learning experience
move things, feel the weight, etc
computer animation –> molecular reaction of textile
–> like SL?
take apart a textile online and reconstitute work
physics-based technology
increase level of immersion for users –> cultural journey
mgmgrand.com –> type of immersion textile museum is looking for
–time-out in the immersion experience to get more detail

questions
-level of skillset – challenge?
–had to identify target audience
–design site for target audience and user behaviour

-finding the right partner for these projects, esp for people who are not big on social media

-connection between online presence and marketing
–rely on emarketing
–online museum brings people to the physical museum

-concept of draft publishing versus polished publishing; Sebastian from Australia (forget the gallery…)
–more interactive publishing when things are draft; wikis, etc
–having everything polished only is not necessarily the best option, and they are welcome to feedback

-YorkU –> Kate Fletcher (?) –> takes digital and almost hologram

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Eli Singer had a great presentation on How is the web transforming the arts?

Here are my notes (Flickr images here):

-memes
-diy culture, share culture
-democracy
-blogs – self publishing
-web breaking down hierarchies
-screen real estate equal for all publishers
-graffiti research lab
-public art and the web
-how to take graffiti to the digital life?
-companies taking grassroots graffiti art and using it for ads
-library of congress
–no histories behind images; put them all on Flickr, and through crowdsourcing, piece together history of the photos
–taking images out of libraries and putting them on the web for everyone
–tags an images
-how to weave yourself into a community or conversation on the web?
–not the same for corporations and arts institutions
–reputation within community
–bringing legitimacy to others by inviting participation
-The Power of the 2×2 Matrix
-casecamp.org –>!!!!!
-focus on the social, not the tool
-how can people connect with each other?
-”the network is the hub”; network can be anything
-strategic use of tools to create experiences for individuals, communities, and brands
-Broadcast model - source: cymfony
-peer to peer model – source: cymfony
-platform ==> community ==> content
-integrate into existing community vs building your own
-when integrating in an existing community, plugging into existing numbers
-who do you want to reach out to and who do
–”head” –> everyone; broadcast
–”tail” –> very specific number of people
–”shoulder” (Eli’s target) –> the mid-ground; not just about broadcast, but dealing with “meaty issues”
-which community are they in?
-word of mouth happening more online (blogs, social networking)
-whippersnapper
-curotatoral podcasting
-whippersnapper also on FB (group)
–art is for dead people show
–whippersnapper also has videos to explain how to participate (feels like Drupal instructional vids)
–uploading photos and tag with gallery name!
-SickKids hospital –> radiothon –> social media
–web is built for storytelling
–radiothon videodiary –> daily video; shot on-site; co-branded; rleased online; drive donations
–content –> how to maximize use of small size of screen and closeness to screen
–syndication!
–SickKids hospital widget; share button, donate button; allows websites to customize look of widget and add their own logo
-MoMA –> everyone else taking photos an videos and posting online… where was MoMA? they joined in when question was posed to them

Questions from audience

-permissions forms for people who were interviewed (esp when children involved)
–with SickKids, they already had an existing process and agreement form; added internet to form; contained location for filming

-what about getting off the internet? (dying communities) how to shut down a FB page?
–data owned by FB/YouTube/etc, not you
–control issues with own vs other community
–recognized of an issue; islands and walled communities are issues; OpenSocial
–whippersnapper –> difference between their own website and their presence on others
–own website is official voice; limited community
–most of the community lives on FB

-how to build a list of bloggers?
–technorati?
–local blog indexes
–flickr –> look for photoblogers in city
–follow linkbacks/trackbacks
–build human relationship first

-street teams for independent music community —> are there incentive-driven activities for online community? offering fans incentive to help? is it happening?
–can happen, but more for companies sending free stuff for reviews
–backstage access for blogging
–TIFF –> blogger for them; site listed on TIFF; on both TIFF website and own
—incentive was the affiliation
—real-time feedback
—connection with related ppl
—community, not volunteers
-incentive without alienation

-performance art; unions; limit of how much can be shared–how to address?
–Andy Warhol show –> no photos allowed; had Cronenberg talk about Warhol
–Shakespeare Theatre, Washington –> backstage access; interiews; gave bloggers access to their own images rather than bloggers’ images
–Stratord’s blog

-authenticity — how to achieve?
–err on the side of community
–flat hierarchy
–don’t just start broadcasting
–PARTICIPATE
–connect with leaders of community

-online prescence overshadowing brick-and-mortar gallery? (whippersnapper)
–their events are always packed
–made it about participation in the real space too

-engagement process, not just advertising
-people helping each other and having conversations with each other
-supporting social networking with staff –> resource intensive –> start small
-change in cultural experience

-some people don’t want to be involved because they don’t want to give away their story; ho to create more content?
–culture of secrecy
–Apple
–mystique
–Steve Job’s product launches!

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At copycamp, I met MCM, author of the well-known (at least by most copyright geeks) The Pig and the Box. I had actually read the book when it first was released, but didn’t remember it until I saw the cover. It’s a great commentary on the shift in how some creative works (like music and literature) can be distributed, and challenges our traditional concepts of where the value of something exists. What threw a wrench into my though process was the use of physical objects to represent intangible copies. Although I understand the necessity for that to make the concept easier to understand, it did make me temporarily uneasy because it’s already becoming increasingly difficult for sculptors and other artists who make tactile objects to explain that there is still a very real (and, often, steep) cost to production (not to mention our desire to make one-of-a-kind or limited-edition works).

MCM now has a new book, Panda Apples. He explained the life of this book as being something of a counter experiment to The Pig and the Box. With The Pig and the Box, he invested almost no marketing time or money, and didn’t start to offer the option of donations or actual purchases of paper books until he was actually asked for them. Unlike The Pig and the Box, Panda Apples is not merely a collaboration (with Len Peralta), but also being supported by marketing which The Pig and the Box didn’t have. A few days ago, MCM told me that:

Again, with very little marketing […] we’ve had about 2,500 downloads and 250 purchases. So already, in this first 24 hour period, I’ve technically earned more than I did on the Pig book after a year

Panda Apples is probably also benefiting from MCM’s past exposure from The Pig and the Box. It’ll be interesting to see how this turns out!

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Following closely on the heels of CopyCamp is the Technology in the Arts conference, being held at University of Waterloo. And although I find the barcamp model to be very exciting, I must admit that I like knowing ahead of time what the schedule shall be so I can plan my time (I’m a perpetual planner). There’s a fantastic session lineup at the TIA conference, and trying to decide which ones I want to attend was as difficult as it was for CopyCamp. I was surprised by my initial desire to attend sessions which would present familiar topics (like their session on CMSs or session on copyright law, technology and cultural management).

I reasoned myself into sessions where I would be exposed to information which I don’t already have or can’t get through my contacts. For example, I’m very interested to hear about The Evolution of Technology at the Canadian Music Centre, but I know people who know people at the CMC and can probably get that information outside of the conference. However, I’m not as connected to the museum world or b-boying movement.

This will be an interesting conference to attend following CopyCamp. I’ll be unencumbered by my full-sized laptop, and hopefully be able to take more notes with my Eee. I’m not sure whether I’ll have internet access, actually. I sent the organizers an email about that yesterday, so we’ll see what they come back with when the traditional work-week resumes. Based on what I could gather from the UWaterloo website, I don’t think I could get access to the university network even as an alumna. I don’t expect to be able to connect to the network, which will be a delicious piece of irony. I’ll probably more easily be able to connect at one of the Williams coffee pubs near campus than trying to finagle access from the university itself. Of course, I could always just go home for lunch instead…

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Jason has uploaded the video from Wednesday’s talk: One Laptop Per Child - Yaacov Iland. It’s a long video (about an hour and a half), and you may want to adjust the settings so you’re viewing it at the original size (unless you’re curious about how Yaacov looks pixillated). I apologize for the coughing—that was me, fighting the last of a lingering cold.

Yaacov’s insights were fair and well-presented. Although most of the criticisms OLPC endured recently were due to their dispatch problems, Yaacov digs deeper, asking what problems OLPC was trying to address, what engineering challenges had to be overcome, and what other challenges were still unsolved. It seems the biggest issues yet to be overcome are training for teachers, accessibility to related technologies (e.g. an internet connection, electricity), and language and cultural barriers. For an organization which has said it’s an education project, not a laptop project, I find it odd that they have made so little headway with those challenges in comparison to the work they have completed on the XO laptop itself.

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I just found out today that there will be a presentation and discussion, featuring Yaacov Iland, at the Waterloo Public Library Auditorium: One Laptop Per Child: Appropriate Technology?

This will take place tomorrow, March 26, 2008, from 7-8pm. Click the link above for details and to RSVP.

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Registration for the Technology in the Arts Conference is now open. The conference is being held at the University of Waterloo on May 9th and 10th, 2008.

From their website:

Technology in the Arts: the place for you to connect with the entire arts community in collaborative discussion and learning!

The goal of Technology in the Arts is to be a resource for the arts community, sparking dialogue around the role of technology in our planning and programming, discussing best practices as well as lessons learned, and providing hands-on, practical skills where possible.

The Technology in the Arts conference brings together the full spectrum of organizations within arts and heritage, from the local to national levels, to examine the commonalities that exist in useful technologies as well as the opportunities for partnership.

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The Media Law Resource Center, Stanford Publishing Courses and Stanford Law School Center for Internet & Society are hosting Legal Frontiers in Digital Media, a conference on the emerging legal issues surrounding digital publishing and content distribution.

The conference is on May 15 and 16, 2008 at Stanford.

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