Joe Turner's Decode Generative logo featured in Underground

Joe Turner writes:

"it's a generative ident for the Decode exhibition at the V&A at
the moment (, based on one of the works being shown there. There was a competition to make new versions based on the original, and I was one of three picked to be shown on the screens in the underground. You can read a bit more about it and see the original at:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/decode/recodegallery/index?page=1

You can see my version at http://vimeo.com/8613900.
There's some more technical information at
http://www.oampo.co.uk/2010/01/decoding-decode/, and you can see
pictures of it up and running at
http://www.oampo.co.uk/2010/02/going-underground/

Transliteracy Conference

We had a great day yesterday at the first Transliteracy Conference, held at Phoenix Square, Leicester. For a while we were even a trending topic on Twitter! http://twitter.com/#search?q=transliteracy

Best quote of the day, perhaps was from @soundingUnder <http://twitter.com/soundingUnder> : #transliteracy <http://twitter.com/search?q=%23transliteracy>  conference was amazingly diverse and surprising. Auto+ethnography, Algorithmic Music, + expansive issues of social engagement

The conference was amplified by a team of virtuoso social media experts http://nlabnetworks.typepad.com/transliteracy/amplified.html who live-blogged, tweeted, photographed and recorded audio interviews throughout the day. Read/listen at www.transliteracy.com <http://www.transliteracy.com/> More videos etc.to be aded in the coming days.

WANTED - DIGITAL ARTS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

(salary circa stg 20,000 per annum, 2 years fixed term contract)


We are looking for someone with a degree which has a new media focus, e.g. Design Management & Innovation, Arts Management, Arts Marketing, Curatorial studies, Museum studies (min. 2:1 or equivalent) who will drive this KTP project. The project aims to enhance the reputation and build recognition of PHOENIX SQUARE and its digital arts programme (see www.phoenix.org.uk). The successful candidate's task will be to investigate, design and implement an audience development strategy to support the national & international positioning of Phoenix Square. The key aims will be to:



> Work with the creative director to identify and target networks of artists and organisations and develop strategic partnerships.

> Carry out continuous research into audiences (national and international) in order to support development of marketing plans for achieving revenue generation.

> Develop and implement a positioning strategy that improves knowledge and understanding of digital arts and creative technologies among target audience groups.

> Develop a specialist programme of engagement for artists, producers and curators and organisations that builds reputation and enables the organisation to develop its strengths in digital arts and creative technologies.

> Embed knowledge of developing and engaging new audiences on a national and international level within the business.



We are looking for someone who is proactive, self-motivated and passionate, possessing good presentation skills, including oral and written communications. It would be advantageous to have some experience of developing and managing networks in a cultural and creative industries context.



Phoenix Square holds charitable status and is an independent arts organisation with over 30 years history in delivery of performance arts and cinema in Leicester, UK. Phoenix Square is seeking a recent graduate as Digital Arts Development Officer in collaboration with De Montfort University through the Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme www.ktponline.org.uk. The Successful candidate will work at the company premises but be employed by De Montfort University.



Interview date: 22 March 2010 in Leicester, UK.



More information and application pack at http://bit.ly/dDpvsA

Martin Rieser Keynote at Mobile and Ubiquitous Media 09 Cambridge

Interview with Martin Rieser

Nataša Milić-Frayling, Martin Rieser

The Art of Mobility
author: Martin Rieser, Faculty of Art and Design, De Montfort University



Description

Screen cultures today are dominated by narrative and its modes of framing. The advent of “Pervasive” or “Ubiquitous” media such as mobile smartphones with GPS sensing means that new dispersed forms of narrative interaction are now possible for the public. The convergence of mobile technologies and ubiquitous computing are creating a world where information-rich environments may be mapped directly onto urban topologies. Dispersed forms of interaction raise intriguing new questions about the nature of narrative and communication, particularly in relation to modes of audience’s participation and reception.

This new and experimental work, so far undertaken in the arena of interactive public art or spatialised interaction through mobile technologies, is in pressing need of exploration, definition, and documentation. Emergent technologies of interaction and the changing nature of public interactive engagement present a radical challenge to Western narrative and its vehicles and traditions. Boundaries between established forms (i.e., games and cinema) are thrown into question and the very concept of creative authorship becomes problematic. Whilst other emerging technologies are already redefining existing forms of screen‐based exhibition and reception (interactive television and digital cinema), they still tie down the audience in relation to the screen. Locative technology blurs the borders between physical and virtual space, leading to the redefinition of the concept of the virtual from that of simulation to that of augmentation.

This poses a series of questions around changing concepts of space and place for a wide range of traditional disciplines, ranging from Anthropology, Art and Architecture, Computer Studies, Cultural and Media Studies, Fashion to Graphic design. The talk will be illustrated by examples from Rieser's recent practice, including The Third Woman interactive mobile film.


Use mum09 as name and password to view lecture at http://videolectures.net/mum09_rieser_aofm/

WANTED!!!! New Media Project Co-ordinator

Circa £20k (according to qualifications and experience) 18 months fixed term contract.

We are looking for someone with a degree in either Multimedia Design, Design Management or Media Studies (min. 2:1) who will drive this exciting social media marketing project forward. The successful candidate will investigate, design and implement new media strategies to increase awareness and support income generation activities at Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People. The project will also involve embedding new media within the Trust’s services.

For more information and application pack at http://bit.ly/5kMQDw.

Deadline for applications is 5 February 2010.

Grand Theft Bicycle

By Steve Gibson, Justin Love and Jim Olson

Note: Grand Theft Bicycle is currently installed in the IOCT lab. If anyone would like to take a spin please mail me on sgibson@dmu.ac.uk

Grand Theft Bicycle is a "game art" installation that uses the kinetic interface of a bike – modified with sensors – to allow users to ride through a 3D “mod” of a video game (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas). Set in a desert environment, Grand Theft Bicycle immerses the user into a chaotic battlefield. The original GTA game has been modified to include political leaders of various stripes. The user can choose to side with one group of politicians (or not).

Grand Theft Bicycle (GTB) is part of a growing genre of game art, that includes artists such as Wafaa Bilal. In short, game art uses the forms and techniques of commercial gaming, but inverts normally banal or uncritical gaming content to include critical, ironic reflections on issues such as the nature of violence in media culture.

Our view of game art is that it should also function extremely well as a game. In direct contrast to some other previous game art attempts, the piece is intended to work (on the surface at least) as a traditional shooter game, with all the violence and mayhem that shooter games generally employ. The use of the traditional first-person shooter model gives the piece an “in” with gamers. Given the familiar shooter format, subversive elements are more easy to sneak into the game.

Another concern that I wanted to address in GTB was the generally sedentary nature of gaming culture. This has changed somewhat in recent years with the advent of the Wii, but in general most game culture remains profoundly “unphysical.” (even Wii usage is dominated by bowling and golf, both unlikely to get a good heart-rate going). To play GTB you need to ride our sensor-modified bike. Inaction will produce very few results. What is interesting to observe is that people of all sizes and shapes will play the game for extended periods (often up to 45 minutes), whereas normally it would be extremely unlikely for most of the gaming public to get on an exercise bike for similar periods of time.

In short, GTB is an odd mix of tactical media, first-person shooter and aerobics. There is an element of absurdism to the mix, but from my observations of literally hundreds of riders the mix works extremely well for most users.

For further information please see:

http://www.grandtheftbicycle.com

Sounding Underground

Post 1:
Sounding Underground in riders on the Train

The second and third rewarding presentations for “Sounding Underground” took place in Boston, MA, within the “Riders on the Train” exhibition curated by Nance Davies in Axiom Gallery. The Axiom Gallery is situated right on top of the Green St. station of the Bostonian metro “T” . The rumbling of the trains are heard and felt every five or ten minutes depending on the hour of the day. Cell phone pictures are the welcoming view from outside on the wall of the exhibition, divided by a video of meeting trains, go and return, created by Nance Davies. Interactive, audiovisual, video, photographic, graphic, text, and sound works bring the powerful experience of underground transport systems in one place, as perceived from artists from all over the world. On the 20th of November, I had the pleasure to participate of an artists’ talk where we had the chance to share our creation processes with the community. Personal motivations meet the political, social and symbolic contexts of these underground environments. This is a very rich and sensual exhibition that, if you have the good luck of being in Boston, and if you are or have been a commuter in public transportation… you must go!

Earlier in the day, I attended to the Studio for Interrelated Media at MASSart college to deliver a talk to students of Sound Art and Technology. I had a very enjoyable time listening to students talk about Boston’s commuting experiences, motivated by my talk about Sounding Underground and the experiences of London, Mexico DF and Paris commuters. The experience of listening to their commuting in Boston starts… and in a future it hopefully will be linked and accessed via Sounding Underground!

Thanks to Nance Davies for this amazing opportunity.


Post 2
Sounding Underground in Sound Ecologies

The first weeks of on-line life of “Sounding Underground” have been rewarding. I have had the opportunity to share the experience of its creation in three venues. The first one: Sound Ecologies: Listening to the City, event organised by Katharine Norman from the City University in London, and the independent artistic organisation Furtherfield. Sharing with other speakers, and attendants to the event was nourishing and positioned this experience as a networked experience that owes its value to the ethnographic and detail process behind it. Although the virtual Environment Sounding Underground is an important milestone there are many issues that will evolve for the contributors and audiences. It’s vital for the project to strength the networking technological options and strive for the participation of non-performers focusing amongst others, on aspects mentioned by Pedro Rebelo such as networked dramaturgia in improvisation activities on-line and off-line. Thanks to Katharine for organising such an important and enjoyable event! The work continues…

See http://soundingunderground.wordpress.com/