Thursday, December 18, 2008

"Simple Lies" suggests a model for documentary

This blog post may become a longer story somewhere else so is mostly in note form. I am not sure how to write about material from the last month or so. The blog allows me just to show what happened.



"The Simple Lies" is a format in which the script and the video can be downloaded and reworked by anyone connected. There may be a final version at 2 Short Nights next year but there will be other versions meanwhile.

Interview with David Salas explains more




Also comment on Ictal and galleries. I think he makes a good case for galleries as distinct from online or maybe as a blend.



Meanwhile a video from Cory Archangel's version of Bach has turned up on YouTube. I hope it stays there. The images came off the web and the sound is a sort of chiptune. This kind of content has a place online.



Lee Morgan spoke about the link to music video as way to think about how music files are distributed. The lighting was dreadful on these but the sound is ok.





Newspapers are now getting better at involving a readership in blogs, comments, sending in material, contributing to a story. There may be changes even in Exeter. The Express and Echo had a lead story about Youtube and a video of a plane crashing into a cow.

So in future there could be a form of documentary linking videos even if they are not available for editing together. I think avatars and virtual worlds could be useful as a place for discussion and interviews. Less chance of needing a release form for passers by. So far as I know the possibility of stills and video is just accepted. I have made several trips to Twinity Berlin, including the Bitroplis cinema and the C/O Gallery.





The C/O Gallery has all the exhibits in an actual show in the virtual world. Works well for photographs. There is still a reason to go to a gallery but this policy is different to some others.

The questions remain much the same. What is the effect of technology changes on how content is created, promoted, and distributed? Is a new approach viable?

As interviews these questions can be repeated and or answers found online.

Here is a video about Christine Baumgartnet including shots of actual images. I also found other images online. I like the scale of this one.

At Spacex there will be an exhibition by Laura Kikauka. There is already video from Berlin on Youtube. I wonder if we could link Exeter and Twinity?



The question about putting free content online remains "Is there a business model?". I hope to put this question again to Jo Gedrych. I now realise he failed to answer it the first time.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Short film in Devon and Cornwall

I am at the Two Short Nights event at the Phoenix this weekend. There will probably be links to video later.
There is a lot more going on than I realised previously. For example another event fairly soon.

The view from here

more later

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

YouTube is getting better

I may be about to go off topic a bit and use this blog for any YouTube content roughly connected with Exeter.

OhmyNews have published my story about the BBC decision to cancel their project on local video. My impression is that UK print journalists have done to lot to lobby against this idea. I cannot see that the Express and Echo for example will now rush into video. I think Exeter TV has a role in any future situation. Or something like Exeter TV - some way to fund citizen journalism in some format. I use the term "citizen journalism" as connected with OhmyNews but most of the Exeter TV video on YouTube so far is about music performance.

My own business model is to concentrate on text, mostly as hosted by Blogger at almost no cost. More Google ads may appear where I can put them. Google / YouTube seems the best bet in the void without the BBC. Not that there cannot be a conversation with the Daily Mail etc.

For example, coming up soon the Two Short Nights Festival. Friday and Saturday at the Phoenix. Includes music video from Future Shorts. Could be animation or combined with other forms. Music is likely to be the basis for video but I also think that gallery art could be included. Flat images on a wall or page, that sort of thing. So far it is harder to get permission to film but this may change. Jo Gedrych is open to experiment with the images currently on display at Life Bytes on Sidwell Street. There could be other tests.

I will try to at least take some stills during the Two Short Nights. Link suggestions welcome.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Interview with Doctor Jo

Short interview in the back room at Life Bytes. see previous post. More later.

Life Bytes as a gallery

Life Bytes has recently been described as an internet access resource. It can't really be an internet cafe as there is no coffee. There is a cafe next door though.

Now in a new phase there is a gallery aspect. During the time of the Exeter Autumn Festival there will be a display of inkjet prints by Jo Gedrich. The images will also be on the screens on Thursday evening as well as some short animations featuring the same characters appearing in the stills. Some of the compositions may appear to be based on photographs but are all created on the computer.

Over the last couple of year I have made various attempts to persuade Jo to visit Spacex and other galleries. I wondered what he would make of the Tim Brennan exhibit on "The North" for example. Spacex displayed the images as if watercolours though they started on a mobile phone digital camera. My question is about the distribution of digital art. The approach of a limited number of instances in a gallery seems to me to be from a different technology. Actually I have three questions about the effect of digital technology. How is the creative process changing? How is the promotion of events changing, for example what is given away online? And is there a business model? I do realise that just giving stuff away may not work out too well.

There seem to be two parts to the Jo Gedrych business model. Some prints are cheap, under £20 and available in unlimited quantities. There is inkjet kit at LifeBytes and production is not a problem. Another series is priced over £100 however, and these are unique. The inkjet applies each ink in a different run and although the elements of the image could be used again, the Photoshop file is destroyed after each completed print. Apparently Jo believes this contributes to "artistic validity". This is something I hope to discuss with him and others over the next few weeks. (I am on holiday during the Autumn festival but I think something will continue.) It appears that the computer file is the original. It can be viewed on a screen with light behind it in RGB. The CMYK print is not the original. So how can destroying the file enhance the value of the print? My guess is that the change in the business model for galleries may have further to go.

The model for volume sales of prints is based on Vladimir Tretchikoff. Prints are still available from the website at reasonable prices. Tretchikoff never got much credit from the critics but the sales of prints were in large volumes. This could be a way forward for digital art.



Some of the images are of an adult nature, "intended to provoke". This one is suitable for a public blog. There was an option of a larger size but only if there had been some words across it to stop piracy. This blog may contain other samples later. If the original is a watercolour I do not think the value of the original would be reduced. All link suggestions welcome.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

OhmyNews, demoscene, future journalism

OhmyNews have published my story about Sundown 2008. The editors have included a Youtube video of the invite to Function 08. To make the space for this they have missed out my photograph of Budleigh beach so as this is my blog I will concentrate on this for a bit. So far I have managed to include a photo of the beach on each occasion.

From 2008, not accepted by the editors


Previously, 2007 link to story



2006, link to story



2005, link to story



So possibly there is not much point in repeating the photos of the beach or trying to do the same story each time. there are still some readers who know nothing about the demoscene so some things have to be explained.however there are now many videos on Youtube and other places so a new phase in reporting is called for.

There is a page for a possible TV series from Rougemont Global Broadcasting. It also works as a webpage with links and over time there is more video available anyway. My impression at the moment is that the demoscene is better reported on the Web than the earlier work shown by Greg Kurcevicz as part of a New Canvas. UK work from a similar timeframe is covered in books but there is not much by way of example online. So I think this could be a priority to create enough links for people to choose their own route.

Meanwhile, here is the first try at embed html for Demoscene TV. Their code is not accepted by Blogger so I had to use YouTube as a guide......

Friday, September 12, 2008

Sundown this weekend in Budleigh

Sundown again in East Devon. I am still trying to make some links between the demoscene and the "New Canvas" era.

A major problem is that the early stuff is not much available. Curated as cans of film and stored away in a secure place. Quite right too but there is still a problem in attempting to show what it is. Although more is available on YouTube it is not clear how much official support there is for this. A recent search has found the Official Page for John Whitney senior, curated by Siggraph. So this must be legit. Not sure of the web access at Sundown so I have downloaded two Quicktime files at LifeBytes. They are Arabesque and Digital Harmony. I think both could work ok for a demoscene audience. More next week, don't expect a live blog.

The two MOV files are also stored away on VitalstatistIx in Life Bytes. Opposite the Odeon on sidwell Street, Exeter.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Possibility of linking Spacex and YouTube

At Spacex till 20th September there is a Summer Screen. Not sure what to make of it yet. The gallery space could be seen as a series of small cinemas. The screens are big enough to be different to viewing the same content on YouTube. But for some reason I can't find much so far. There seems to be a lot more of comment and lectures, but this is an encouraging sign.

Animate Project has some content on the home page and details about Stop Watch....

Tank TV has some work online but on YouTube is interviews, such as this with Hans Ulrich Obrist.



Picture This has info on Small Wonders but not many YouTube links I can find. Lady Lucy is an alias, complete with Myspace page linking to video.

Commotion (You Made Me Love You) is curated by Claire Doherty. University College Falmouth has loaded most of one of her lectures in several sections. I will come back to this later, may help to make more sense of the actual Spacex. The actual title of what is being shown there is not that easy to predict so I think previous browsing could be helpful.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Trying out Acrobat Presenter

Using Share to host a 7 meg PDF. I think this should work. Acrobat 9 extended has a plugin for Microsoft Powerpoint that can include video. There is something similar now in Google. Not sure if I have blogged about this laready. the weekend was confusing but the week ahead will feature more tests.

The potential is interesting. I have a collection of clips that need explanation. Maybe one day I will make sense to an editor.

Direct link

Embedded below

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Google Docs links presentation and video

The title for this post assumes things will work ok. I am trying out the video in presentations. If this is ok I will do more as the combination of explanation in text with short clips could be useful. So the direct link is here.

And it should embed below, and play the video.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

World TV allows many channels of video streaming

World TV has made possible a sequence of video from many sources on many sequences. So far I have just looked at YouTube, mostly from this blog. The first sequence is at

http://www.worldtv.com/animx

I have concentrated on showing both demoscene and early computer animation. I think there is a comparison but people used to one group do not often try the other as far as I can make it out. Later there is some Second Life and documentary from Devon.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Blender on TV, Amsterdam with English subtitles

This is interesting

More online within a month

It looks like the sort of animation that could turn up in a cinema, not some demoscene arty stuff for a niche. More on "arty" when you watch the link. But it is open source, so more connections are possible.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Photos from Black Box ; Cory Arcangel event





These pictures were taken during Animated Exeter when a film by Cory Arcangel was showing at the Black Box in the Phoenix Media Centre. It took a while to get permission to display them and then I was uncertain what to say about them. The previous set from the launch of the Spacex show was ok but then I asked permission to video the lecture. It turns out that permission to video is almost impossible to obtain. The web seems to be in two modes. Casually there is a mass of digital photography that just happens. Trying to work more officially is very complicated.

So my next phase is to move to Second Life and Photoshop. Second Life requires bandwidth. Exeter City Council have a block on Flash for bandwidth reasons so SL is also not for everyone. Photos mixing SL characters or backgrounds then reduced in file size could be an approach to link things. I have done some avatars that could be based in or visit Exeter at different times. Also some backgrounds from the Black Box. More on this later. There is a PDF guide to the avatars on Scribd. All Creative Commons on Flickr so feel free to use them but please send a link.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Adobe shifts design attention to video

Adobe have announced a Media Player for video.

There is some animation already. The background seems to me to be a change of direction towards Flash and away from Postscript and PDF, now rarely mentioned. The 'platform' unit is now merged with mobile so 'platform' may not have much space for PDF.

Meanwhile in Exeter there is still no Flash on the council website, apparently because Flash is not supported on their own browsers because of bandwidth constraints.

Round about now there is a bit of a crunch in what time travel can cope with. The web has gone from text to video and animation is part of this.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

More on Nvision

If you download a magazine and the dlls fall in the right place you can read an interview with Temis Nunez who explains why Nvidia is supporting a demoscene party as part of an event about "visual computing".

off topic
maybe some other company in San Jose could suggest a magazine format that allows text to be copied out but maybe I have just lost track of what a magazine design should concentrate on

back on topic
It turns out that Temis Nunez is a genuine fan who collected "cracktros" for Apple II and C64. Also Jensen Huang has said of Nvidia "we are at the intersection of art and technology" so the demoscene is of interest to show off what a graphics chip can do.

Temis mentions Debris, already on this blog and also Andromeda's Lifeforce.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Breakpoint promotes demoscene in San Jose



Promotes NVscene in San Jose in August. Not sure how strong the demoscene is in the USA but time will tell.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

SUN to charge $1 per CPU hour for Blender animation

SUN are moving further into software as a service and open source. Blender is one of the services available. Current charge is $1 per CPU hour. This sounds cheap but may result in lots of new projects. Somehow it is always tempting to use the full chance on offer.

Blender is one of the projects featured at the 2008 meeting on Libre Graphics. More on this later.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Repeating the week of Animated Exeter

Time travel seems easier if the space stays much the same. So I am trying to repeat the week ending 23rd Feb with another attempt at creating links of various kinds. Things could heve been even better with some slight changes. So imagining next year is the same as trying to change memory.

The YouTube connection is difficult partly because Exeter City Council have no support for Flash and so they do not host pages with Flash. It is therefore quite difficult to explain YouTube to people who work for Exeter City Council. Trying to get permission to video something depends partly on showing previous work which in this case is not possible. So Exeter TV might have recorded more including interviews had there been a release policy.

Try to imagine a shift so that there is support for Flash and YouTube is accepted as part of a festival / culture event. Someone who has no wish to be identified in this blog observed that this development has been a small step for manking but would be a giant leap for Exeter City Council.

Following that it would be easier to connect Second Life and actual events. There were two interesting events. See previous posts for more on Viral Duets in Exeter and D.R.O.I.D. in Bristol.

In theory the D.R.O.I.D. content could have been part of the Beatz and Bobz closing party at the Phoenix in Exeter. I have no information yet that this happened. But something like it may later. Sound and vision can be live or from the archive. It seems that the island of Prados Azules is set up for the summer at least so more could follow. And the dance steps goodies bag is in Diecicento.

Access to Second Life is the next frontier for organisations, even beyond Flash. A journalist from the Financial Times recently explained that they had to go home to write a story about business schools in Second Life as the firewall prevented installation at work.

As well as trying to repeat events through time travel i am also thinking about forms of fiction, so repeat the script outline from a previous post.


So assume VJs B1 and B2 who arrange an event without web access but hear about another one a week later with web streaming. They discuss various issues arising and are not entirely convinced. Not that they are luddites or anything but there has to be scope for acceptance of some form of development during the story. One concern is that animated dancing online may not work too well. The next week B1 and B2 are somewhere else where they could stream something but are not sure. Fortunately Kola Spellcaster turns up with a set of code that allows anyone to dance really well. The only problem is that she has put a timeout into the code so it will all fall over unless her Arts Council grant for next year is confirmed before midnight. This story ends at about 11.47 but there may be another one. If you feel any characters are based on yourself you may request changes or write your own version. Creative commons : attribution requested. I may claim other forms of copyright if I write something longer or for a later production.





Recent video of seats in Exeter. When the light is reliable there could be interviews if there was permission. What sort of release form would be required? By the way, this test is done on a disgo, GBP24 so the future could be much better if Exeter TV had more resources.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Some people prefer lounge music

Just in case the Luke Vibert style of music is not what you would choose, here is another video from Second Life which may make more sense for people who like the Voodoo Lounge for example.

Friday, February 29, 2008

Actual Exeter in a World of Google

This post is for both animX and WifiExeter. I am still getting used to the events of last week, the outstanding Second Life events and the video on YouTube from Prados Azules. i think this means that bandwidth is ok. There are enough people in Exeter and Bristol or at least somewhere online for this sort of thing to be viable. So other forms of files such as work with hard copy should be ok. A lttle slow maybe if TIFF-IT is still required but definitely possible.

Meanwhile Google have launched a service around Sites for collaboration. seems a little too controlled for public use but the elements of Docs and video can be widely available. I have an account for Internet Express so have started a page at InXpress/landofGoogle or something like it. Actual url is too long to remember so best to bookmark this page.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Detail from Flickr photo recreating last week



Pipsi and Eric did get to the D.R.O.I.D. event if only through Photoshop.

Previously, script idea

So assume VJs B1 and B2 who arrange an event without web access but hear about another one a week later with web streaming. They discuss various issues arising and are not entirely convinced. Not that they are luddites or anything but there has to be scope for acceptance of some form of development during the story. One concern is that animated dancing online may not work too well. The next week B1 and B2 are somewhere else where they could stream something but are not sure. Fortunately Kola Spellcaster turns up with a set of code that allows anyone to dance really well. The only problem is that she has put a timeout into the code so it will all fall over unless her Arts Council grant for next year is confirmed before midnight. This story ends at about 11.47 but there may be another one. If you feel any characters are based on yourself you may request changes or write your own version. Creative commons : attribution requested. I may claim other forms of copyright if I write something longer or for a later production.


So the mess of bits and pieces from the actual week of Animated Exeter will be gradually rewritten and retested. Surely Exeter City Council will connect with Flash at some point, then everything else could be attempted again.

Monday, February 25, 2008



The goodies bag is here but what effect it has is still a mystery. Right click on the stars in the floor and then choose dance. The camera save previously is still just a test. Go back a couple of posts to Prados Azules for something sensible.

Later at LifeBytes, camera saves ok

Try this to reach Diecicento

Probably the most advanced form of animation from last weekend west of Swindon



This is amazing. I failed to persuade Director Jo to stay at Life Bytes and record D.R.O.I.D. Good thing too as the sound at the Voodoo Lounge was probably good enough for a future video and this record on YouTube already is fantastic and shows what is possible.

What else is anywhere? and when will Pipsi turn up?

Friday, February 22, 2008

Another SL camera test



There is still time for Pipsi to arrive at the occasion. Any other ideas on how the dance steps could be found?

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Interest on Guardian Talk

There is some interest on Guardian Talk.

I have posted an example of dance on YouTube just to show it is possible in Second Life. Not sure this is well known to others who post on Guardian Talk.

I wonder if any of this will turn up in the Guardian print version before Saturday? My impression is that the Talk bit is a closed world for Guardian staff.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Phoenix Sounds and the resource problem for video

It turns out that better video is very unlikely as the resource from Exeter TV will be concentrated on the Sound Gallery. Mostly acoustic, live music. Nothing against this sort of thing so the archive will depend on other sources. My own videos are a form of test. Maybe next year there will be better planning.

Scroll down on the page for video from previous events.

Sometime there could be interviews in the bar. I still think the chat show is the basic format of TV. If only Exeter City Council could offer a release form Exeter TV could work with. For future discussion.

another test ahead of D.R.O.I.D.



http://slurl.com/secondlife/Prados%20Azules/94/99/28

go there

or search for "Prados Azules"

Evidence of Second Life in Exeter Phoenix bar



Pipsi Bracken fills in time with a solo dance while waiting for the next audience to turn up.

There appear to be no people in the Phoenix bar under the terms of the understanding of the release form policy of Exeter City Council. On a future occasion it may be possible to edit together audience response, online content, real life etc.

But working the camera in Second Life is still very difficult, especially when flying.

Beatz and Bobz are now my friends on MySpace

This is a genuine bit of news. It could be that a connection will be made with D.R.O.I.D. in time for Saturday.

Also OhmyNews have published my story on the Second Life connection with animation and dance.

Anyone know the real Cory Arcangel? My friend request is about to time out again.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Another found video on YouTube



searching on YouTube finds this from a previous occasion. It is surely possible that Beatz and Bobz could stream something from DROID and likewise. Anyone know how to contact them? MySpace friendship is a bit cumbersome sometimes.

Vj set working with Plump Dj's at the rap party for 'Animated Exter Festival, Englands largest animation festival.
Graphic's, visuals Vj - Mikey 'Polar bear'Ormson
Visuals and live vj mix- Fil de Void

Sunday, February 17, 2008

test of Second Life camera



If anyone has a problem with this please let me know. My guess is that once something is streamed online then the copyright is not too much of a problem. Unless I hear otherwise my guess is that any performance can be recorded. so the more people who archive, the better the remix.

new photo from Second Life



Unfortunately I got the scale wrong so you can't see the dates for forthcoming events. More tests on the camera during the week.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

DJ Undo is on the YouTube archive already



also found this from the Digital Funfair



which reminds me, time to leave Life Bytes and return to real life at the Phoenix

update

Missed the junk space workshop but some info is on the blog

I now have almost permission to photograph but only if there are no people in the shot. Fortunately the digital funfair welcomes photos by Bluetooth. Don't have that but will try email later.

Meanwhile in Second Life the Monday real life at the Phoenix is still on. Not sure the link is working on how to book on Tuseday. If you already know about second life, search for "drifter rhode" and ask.

The event sort of in Bristol at the other end of the week has a link to Second Life and there is news of a sound stream through Radio Vague. If the Second Life thing fails to work, then my guess is that something from the Radio Vague archive could fill most of Saturday night but then I am a bit retro in my tastes and probably have not yet got caught up in the occasion.

I have visited the island of Prados Azules and can reveal that there seem to be test broadcasts coming up, a showcase on the 19th and a test5 on the 20th, both at 20 hours GMT. Of course there could be further tests if these fall over for some reason. I am not forcing you to download SL or get more bandwidth. LifeBtytes on Sidwell Street has at least one PC with SL installed so it could be tried out.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

More or less a link


Links on this blog are not obvious but in my head it seems to fit together.

On Monday at the Phoenix Exeter there will be some form of performance from Niki McCretton involving animation and Second Life. Not sure I understand it at the moment so it is probably best to have a look on Monday and then try Second Life on Tuesday.

The poster is for a show that is over now but may turn up again. Check the site where it is explained that for the research Niki McCretton "went to to Star City in Russia where she visited the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre just outside Moscow and saw the Soyuz simulators, the centrifuge room and the neutral buoyancy lab -- an underwater facility which simulates the conditions of a zero-g space walk."

This may be the same sort of facility where Mark Shuttleworth was trained for his adventure before going back to something more like a normal job in the form of Ubuntu. At Sundown a couple of years ago he spoke about including a demo or two to view while Ubuntu is booting up. If this project is no longer viable I think it is almost time that something was clarified. Breakpoint next month could be an occasion.

Time travel, New Canvas and Mary Ellen Bute

On previous occasions I have found that there was almost nothing online from the kind of video / film shown as part of a "New Canvas". Yesterday though I found a page about John Whitney that linked to Mary Ellen Bute. Follow the link for "abstract animators".

The text claims that

As with many pioneer animators, Mary Ellen Bute is hardly known today, primarily because her films are not easily available in good prints. This was not always true. During a 25-year period, from 1934 until about 1959, the 11 abstract films she made played in regular movie theaters around the country....


However it turns out that there are a few shorts on YouTube. This is a useful development.





There are more but the search engine has determined that people who watch this may also want to watch the next one



Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against curating. But as this sort of work was created on computers I do not see what is wrong with it being on YouTube as well as cans of film that are rarely shown.

More links possible through the Center for Visual Music.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Trying out levels : get ready for DROID




These two of Luke Vibert are versions based on Creative Commons originals on Flickr.

Photographed by Kokeshi

There is also quite a lot of sound archive through Beatz and Bobz

So I think it would be possible to put together some sort of connection record of Feb 23rd even if the Second Life etc falls over completely.

Checking out MySpace and YouTube

Found this through MySpace



Play are friends with Wagon Christ and presumably George Harrison is a friend of everybody.

Better things are possible in Exeter, but will this be in time for DROiD?

Monday, February 11, 2008

Rights, permissions, cameras

Since this is a blog it can get personal at times so I think it is ok to cover experience as well as views on things like adding instruments on top of a sax.

There is a long term project to have something like an Exeter TV. This would have a cable or satellite and record / promote live performance in the region wherever that is. Meanwhile there are some YouTube clips. Previously I have worked with text through blogs and citizen reporting such as OhmyNews. Still photos can be an extra for text or a guide for future video.

A problem is how to build awareness of what is now possible with digital technology. The budget for cable or satellite would require some local understanding. YouTube samples could help here but for some people it still seems that YouTube has a suggestion of low quality or something to be avoided.

During Animated Exeter I had hoped to take photos in some sort of real time. As in making stuff available within my own memory of the events. The connection of Cory Arcangel and YouTube suggested a suitable thread. I did get permission to publish on this blog photos from the launch of the show at Spacex. See December 19th.

Problems seemed to start when I took photos at the event in the Black Box and then requested permission to video the lecture / performance. Apparently this requires communication with Cory Arcangel and this has yet to happen. Meanwhile I have tried to befriend him on MySpace and email through the website. As I understand it from Saturday the MySpace page is not really active.

The photos themselves are quite boring. Graphic saying "black box" and a poster with a still from YouTube. That's about it. The event was a film with the soundtrack out of sync. Someone else can maybe explain what it was about. So for me at the moment the most interesting thing about the photos is that I cannot get permission to put them in this blog.

What was a still from YouTube becomes a controlled graphic once used in publicity.



copyright will789 / OhmyNews

I did get permission a couple of years ago to photograph a film projector on a plinth at the Spacex Gallery. There was other content obviously but this was the only thing that could be photographed. What struck me was that all the digital kit was hidden in the ceiling or somewhere but the film projection had special lighting. My guess is that in the gallery world the analogue technology is still the choice to aim at. How else to explain the way "A New Canvas" was presented? Computer animation from the '60s is preserved on film and curated to the point that shows are fairly rare. I will now try to stop this grumpy mode and keep on topic.

Topics through some more photos



Here is a still from scene.org. I think there is a connection between the "new canvas" approach and the demoscene. As I am going out of time anyway I might as well go back to this. Or forward. There will be Breakpoint in March.



Tim Brennan under old Exe Bridge

Copyright will789 / OhmyNews

I also did a story for OhmyNews around the "North". There is a buzz around mobile phones but somehow this ends up as images displayed as if they were watercolours. I am still not sure what sense this makes. What is the value of images on Flickr? From what I have discovered about Turner his painting was often linked to publishing projects through forms of printing. So what is lost through making images widely available?

On Saturday I asked Cory Arcangel what he thought about YouTube. It turns out he likes YouTube and thinks the absence of critical art writing about it is because it is so new. He rejected my suggestion that his work implies any lack of respect for what is on YouTube. Maybe my concern should be more for the way his show is described.

The Animated Exeter catalogue and website mentions "the massed ranks of hundreds of online amateur instrumentalists" and continues - "Given the popularity of video sharing websites, the web is now home to countless homemade videos of people showing off their instrumental skills."

Then again, some people are just showing off and leave the soundtrack alone. Quite right too.



Anyway, back on topic someone in the audience suggested that the people sampled by Cory Arcangel should be pleased to be now part of "high art". Maybe someone could explain how this works. The Phoenix could probably sell tickets to a selection from YouTube that was rehearsed and had few technical problems. All it needs is a blurb with some convincing words.

And another thing. Probably the main reason why it will prove impossible to get permission to video anything over the next couple of weeks is the possibility that children will be in the shot and there is a legal requirement for releases from proper authorities. This has become a major issue. I recently met a grandfather who had been refused permission to video a school play. It is now usually the case that film of schools on TV news is shot from a distance or out of focus. I am not sure this is entirely positive. It may make young people seem more of a threat.

Anyway here is a BETT photo from my Flickr set



So it may be possible to process some examples that are a blur to start with. There could be some tests for further consideration. Maybe some details of paving stones.

Meanwhile there will be workshops on how to be a video DJ. If and only if some of the results turn up online and some of the video DJs wish to build a cult of personality it could be possible to link to images etc. Suggest tag "DROID2008". There will be a famous event on Second Life. Or if the technology falls over, we can all make our own camera record and then do an edit.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Stop messing about with Clarence Clemons please

Still thinking about the performance last night at the Phoenix. One thing I am sure about is that extra instumentation is not always a good idea. If something is arranged for a sax solo, best thing is to leave it alone in my honest opinion.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

One short video about a glockenspiel

Cory arcangel on Youtube



I think this actually offers a better take on what the idea is about than the Spacex show where you get a CD to take away and play at home. Video is widely available nowadays so recording performance and lectures could become standard.

Graphic for hard copy promo on video Swicki

I am trying to stay with hard copy as well as get used to Flash etc. This is more for blogs on drupa so i will also try to stay on topic.

The video Swicki for animation works well so I want to promote it. Also I have found more on YouTube from the era covered in "A New Canvas". So it can be linked to. Using google i have found a couple of images to go with a shot from a PDF book. So this group of three has a static effect similar to the video Swicki but only three at the moment. Maybe more later or other versions welcome. The grid on the Swicki is a rough guide but any proportions might work.



The top one is from a PDF / book on "Expanded Cinema" - still from John Stehura: Cybernetik 5.3.(1965-69).

Bottom ones through Google images, left from Pouet but original page is missing so no detail available. Right is from Pingmag after a search on "VJ" but I can't trace the context.

Please check the video animation Swicki for other combinations. The general point is that there is a connection between the demoscene and the "new canvas2 approach and either could work with music. My suggestion is that a Creative Commons licence could be more widely used on the demoscene as some VJs are concerned about this sort of thing.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Social Source and DROID

This video is from a meeting on Social Source - open source and free software for volunrary organisations. Held at Bristol Wireless on Tuesday. i included a poster for DROID, a musical evening coming up soon that will also be on Second Life. I am not sure yet how to describe the connection between the two events but I think there is one. A dj works through links and sometimes responds to requests. Open source projects have no such person i don't think but I may be wrong. I thought that Moodle would be very collective but was told it could be top down in design. Learning takes many forms.

Links through YouTube

Found this alongside a recent upload. YouTube has no editors apparently but whatever the search is on can work sometimes.



This argument attacking "the cult of the amateur" is misleading i think in claiming that there are no editors on Wikipedia. also i think it is unfair to the people who load stuff to YouTube. This example is well lit and in focus.

I am disturbed by the use of the word "amateur" to describe the source material for Cory Arcangel when he edits clips together to perform Bach. Because his work is in a gallery it presumably has the authority that Andrew Keen would approve of. The effect is antifunctional. The style could not be listened to for long. Is this supposed to be a comment on YouTube? Actually there is some excellent stuff there, worth promoting in itself.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Trying out YouTube adsense

I have found an option to start some advertising income coming in. In theory. Youtube and Google work together it seems. So I have tried to find the right keywords for this page

Only a test at the moment. I am not sure if I need to put more content on the page to help the spiders. So far it is more or less on topic.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Breakpoint over Easter



Breakpoint is over the Easter weekend in March. There will probably be people there who also go to Sundown. So this blog will try to keep up. A couple of years ago it was suggested that Ubuntu may feature short intros as idents while booting up. Recently booting up takes less and less time but Breakpoint may be an occasion for clarification, even if it is to record this as a non-starter.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

DROID links Second Life and Bristol


Details now exist online for D.R.O.I.D., an event both on Second Life and in Bristol 23rd of next month.

Apparently

We are now fast entering the post-televisual age, where we are no longer the passive recipients of televised news and commercials, a world where we think we have choice, but only within the strict confines of what the programmers wish us to see, but rather the protagonists, programming our own lives and living our own dreams.


The line-up at the Trinity will feature live acts, DJs and VJs, and using a number of video cameras, this will be streamed live into Second Life, where avatars will be able to enjoy the sites and sounds of the event in Bristol.

Having tried to keep up with a similar event at the Phoenix I can see some advantage in a relatively low bandwidth approach such as this blog. Text is still quite effective in making connections and most systems can cope. The full Second Life approach is some way off for most people, I think.

Meanwhile book link on Amazon found through imasaka.org

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Video Swicki updated and visit to the Phoenix

Following a lunch conversation yesterday, (this blog is based on some active travel in Exeter, not just staring at a screen) I have added three new words to the Video Swicki for Animation. They are "cel", "cartoon" , and "BVH". Cellophane was the original medium for Walt Disney and others as it was explained to me. Somehow i had forgotten about cartoons. BVH I still do not understand but I have been promised a longer conversation.

So now all the boxes have something in them except one. That is ok, I await suggestions. "Intro" finds nothing but "Ident" works fine.

I went to the Black Box for the "Untitled Translation Exercise" from Cory Archangel. The soundtrack is shifted a few frames to give the effect of dubbing even though it is still in English. Not sure what the point is. Galleries do seem attracted to displays of technology that fails to work correctly. I still think this may be promotion for simpler technology such as watercolours. Hang them on the wall and they just work. I still have no reply to my friend request on MySpace. Maybe this is the subtle malfunction that makes it art.

The Phoenix galleries are already prepared for Animated Exeter. Forkbeard Fantasy has the sapace around the box office. There are some props from "The Fall of the House of Usherettes", now available on YouTube. There is comment regetting this move into digital but I have put another comment in support. Online can support live performance. I can only find Semay Wu on MySpace with a list of the FF performances at the Northcote later this month. Surely the more publicity online the more Arts Council targets will be met. Excellence in video networking, that is the future for obscure places like Exeter.



The other gallery has comic art from Studio Blink in Bristol. They have a website and blog but no links displayed in the gallery that I could find. Not sure why. Symbiosis could be the word I am looking for but I am not sure what people think it means.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Rougemont Global Broadcasting and script development

Over the next few months I plan to work on some scripts that could become video, maybe for Rougemont Global Broadcasting (RGB). There is an outline that gives an overview of the topics. Recently the video Swicki has turned up and may have a similar effect. The keywords could each be an element in a series of programs or chunks. RGB is currently an attempt at a script or text structure. Short videos appear through Exeter TV, mostly through Youtube.

There are three questions that can be asked in many contexts. What is changing for content through digital technology. What is changing for how content is promoted? Is there a viable business model for online content?

These could be asked about fine art or animation or Exeter TV. There could be a series of interviews and work out more structure when editing.

The blog will relate to events such as Animated Exeter. For example the Untitled Translation Exercise at the Phoenix next week. I am still a bit puzzled as to what the show at the Phoenix is about. Is Cory Arcangel taking a dim view of the web and YouTube? I have tried to befriend him on MySpace but no reply so far.

The thing that strikes me about searches for digital animation is that the early stuff is not turning up. John Whitney has Arabesque on YouTube. That is about it. So this point will be repeated.

The demoscene is far off for Exeter as the next Sundown is not till September. Still, there are plans for a visit to Breakpoint from the 21st to the 24th of March 2008 (Easter weekend)so there will at least be a report back. There is a Pouet thread on the idea of an intro for Ubuntu. (They don't think much of my story for OhmyNews but that is ok. Someone else should write more for OhmyNews so they can group stories together. OK I did muddle up an Atari and an Amiga in a photo caption...)

Second Life is a constant factor nowadays. There will probably be something in Bristol towards the end of Feb that is also on Second Life. Details later as if it matters where or when. Previously

So the blog will connect to events as they happen or turn up on archive. The Swicki Video is the best route to content.