ART511 - Locative Studio Spring 2008

Net_Dérive
“Their work sets up social interactions, supported by mobile phones and internet technologies, within a loose network of people that are exploring a city, in this particular case the urban environment around the exhibition space near the Bastille in Paris. From the paths they take and the experiences they have, a collective narrative emerges which is fed back through audiovisual means to each participant and thus shapes their evolving experience.”

I couldn’t get their video to work, but got a sense of their goals achieved through the description and accompanying photos on the article about this piece at We Make Money Not Art dot com.  I feel this project may be a new way to collect personal experiential information to publish to other media such as websites and blogs.  To have a map created, photos taken, and audio recorded, and uploaded instantly to the web might be a fun way for people to share their experiences online fairly effortlessly.  Quality of recorded media–mainly the photos and the audio–is my only concern since the devices just kind of “hang” in the scarf piece and really aren’t totally directed by the person wearing them at anything in particular.

Perhaps the software coupled to a GPS enabled cell phone with a built in camera would be more approachable and useful on a consumer level.  Some kind of all-in-one device that would automatically import to a blog entry would be a smooth way to make entries, without the hassle of uploading photos and audio via internet connection at a computer–not to mention creating a kml or kmz file–to a server host such as Flickr from a camera.  And with the jump from Alphanumeric key pads to full alphabet key pads on mobile phones, text entries could also be attached to the blog file.  An early precursor to this potential sort of real-time blogging service is my friend’s blog that he started not too long ago.  http://www.espressoandmilk.com  He has it set up so that he can take and send pictures with his camera phone along with a text entry to the blog from cafes in order to post his personal reviews of cafes and the coffee that they serve.  I like the model a lot, seeing as there’s always time to take on my commute or anywhere I am in public to think and journal, but I never have the time at home, nor do I want to sit in front of the computer anymore than I already have to.   There was discussion in our readings of the land line being replaced by the mobile phone, to which I agree; personally, I don’t have a land line, only my cell phone.  I imagine that our computers at home may someday be replaced at least in a large part by these all-in-one phones, as far as communication goes.

As I read the part about texting it got me thinking about just how much I see people texting around me. I don’t think its as bad as in the Phillippinesbut I do see it around. I only think its disrespectful when people do in class. I mean unless its something you really need to know it should wait tell you get out of class.

The article from the readings on Chapter 8: Media on the Move, brings up a really good point of public versus private space when considering cell phone use. I have personally noticed a shift in the way people have used their cell phones. Back when cell phones were first beginning to be utilized by the general public, there was a certain unspoken etiquette to having a conversation on your mobile telephone. As the younger generations have adopted this technology the rules of etiquette have been tossed aside for convenience.

One recent innovation that has made the individualization of public space bearable is text messaging. Now as a person on public transportation it is becoming more and more common for people to use the relatively quiet method of getting their messages across rather than have private conversations that make people feel uncomfortable. But text messaging is expensive, and not every plan offers unlimited text messaging. It will be interesting to see if corporations will use this technologies to “buy” into the text messaging market by advertising through text messages, opening up unlimited text messages to the users. As a cell phone user I am not sure I want to be advertised to just so I can have text messaging for free, however, I am also not sure I am in the majority with this opinion.

Just a couple of weeks ago I received a call from Hillary Clinton reminding me to vote…and I guess the idea was for me to vote for her. The fact that I am getting calls from anyone advertising anything on my cell phone urks me. I used to have a land line phone in my home, but gave it up years ago because of telemarketers. Now that same annoyance has followed to the cell phone. It wont be long before I start receiving text messages advertising something or another, but they wont be able to do this unless we as the consumer do not get charged for this.

I suppose there is a possibility that corporations could find difficulty in trying to use locative media successfully.  Suppose that McDonalds for example decides to use bluetooth to advertise as obnoxiously as they undoubtedly would, and they point out all of their locations to show “convenience.”  What the consumer might see on a map, however, is their neighborhood being overrun with McDonalds’s.  For example, near my house, there is a McDonalds in a shopping center, and just across the freeway is a WalMart with another McDonalds embedded inside it.  Overlay that map with a map of all the Burger Kings and then Wendy’s and Carls Jr.  Then the consumer begins to feel overwhelmed and pushes away from fastfood burger places altogether.

They will probably be careful to avoid this in their marketing strategies, but at the same time, locative interventionists will able to spread these concerns to the people.  It may even become possible to falsify corporate advertising or bring to light certain characteristics about a company that they don’t want known.   “Avoid the McDonalds on the right; they’ve been having problems with health codes.”  “Clothing sold here was made in sweatshops that use child labor: see map for more details, or read the findings by investigative reporters.”

As locative stuff spreads wider and more intricately, it will be interesting to see how business will need to change to keep up.

Check this out. pretty interesting. Its a google earth project to document Ecological Research on the Ancient Bristlecone Pines. Save the Trees!

here is the gps drawing site i showed in class

http://www.gpsdrawing.com/index.htm

http://www.sfsu.edu/~doit/helpdesk/wdevapp.htm

There are many small particles that comes like a wind from the universe, and we are exposing to those small universe wind all the time. I wonder if it is possible to put GPS on those small particles of the wind. I wonder if it does make any difference between the relationship of living on the earth and rocket, and livings and universe wind. I wonder how you can interact with the echo in the universe so that I can make some music based on those echoes.

e-MobiLArt: European Mobile Lab for Interactive Artists

Call for artists and scientists

http:// www.media.uoa.gr/emobilart

Deadline : March 16th 2008

*****
It is strongly recommended to check the full call online on
the web site of the project.

All inquiries should be done to : emobilart@gmail.com

*****

European Mobile Lab for Interactive Media Artists
(e-MobiLArt) is a project tailored around the process of
creating collaborative interactive installation artworks.
Such interactive mediated environments may involve the use
of multimodal interfaces, ubiquitous computing and mobile or
locative media technologies.

The e-MobiLArt project aims to provide selected participants
with an ideal context, that will allow them to travel,
collaborate and exhibit their work. During this project,
artists and scientists who are active in creating
interactive media art or pursuing innovative
interdisciplinary research will have the opportunity to:

- create interactive installation artworks

- collaborate with other artists and scientists from
different countries

- get technical support and tuition from experts on using
innovative technologies for creating interactive art

- meet, discuss and collaborate with curators and museum
organizers

- exhibit their work in at least two different European
countries

- document their work in a special issue of Leonardo
Electronic Almanac and the exhibition catalogue

- participate in an international network of artists,
researchers, academics and theorists

Eligibility / requirements:
Artists from all disciplines are encouraged to apply to
e-MobiLArt: interactive installation artists, video artists,
visual artists, net artists, as well as musicians,
choreographers, performance artists and others who wish to
experiment with the use of the interactive technologies.

Individuals with a scientific background and the willingness
to experiment in a collaborative artistic project, as
described above, are also eligible.

Selected participants will attend three (3) workshops.
During (and in between) the workshops, participants will
work in groups in order to develop their projects by:

- Following an open process of artistic creation and
experimentation

- Getting support on technical and theoretical issues

- Complementing each other’s skills within a
interdisciplinary collaborative creative process by

- Enhancing their technical skills through hands-on creative
activity

- Creating artworks that will reflect the process of
intercultural dialogue

- Participating in an on-line network of communication

Dates of the workshops: (precise dates will be announced
till the end of February)

- 1st Workshop: Athens June 2008

- 2nd Workshop: Rovaniemi August 2008

- 3rd Workshops: Vienna February 2009

Exhibitions:

After the workshops, the resulting interactive installation
artworks will be exhibited in at least two museum / gallery
spaces: the State Museum of Contemporary Art in
Thessaloniki, Greece (possibly during the 2009 Biennale) and
the Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Poland.
These exhibitions will take place in autumn 2009.

Deadline for applications: Sunday, March 16^th , 2008.

Project partners and sponsors:

The e-MobiLArt Project is under the support of the CULTURE
2007 Programme of the European Union.

It is co-coordinated by the University of Athens (Greece).

Co-organising partners are: the University of Applied Arts
Vienna (Austria) and the University of Lapland (Finland).

Associate partners are: Leonardo/OLATS (France), Group Haute
Ecole ICHEC Saint Louis (Belgium), State Museum of
Contemporary Art – Thessaloniki (Greece), The Academy of
Fine Arts - Katowice (Poland) and Cycling74 (U.S.A.).

More information and the full application form for
participation can be found at:
URL: http:// www.media.uoa.gr/emobilart

i have linked to the program that we will be using to create mediascapes. It is under the links section in the sidebar and here.