A combination workshop and challenge to see who can build the most creative device using only a single button for user interaction. (click image for link)
Tristan Perich's 1-Bit Symphony is an electronic composition in five movements on a single microchip. Though housed in a CD jewel case, 1-Bit Symphony is not a recording in the traditional sense; it literally "performs" its music live when turned on. A complete electronic circuit—programmed by the artist and assembled by hand—plays the music through a headphone jack mounted into the case itself. 1-Bit Symphony is available from Cantaloupe Music.
Somewhat similar to Ars Electronia / FutureLab, 'Deep Space' project:
DEEP SPACE - OVERVIEW from Ars Electronica on Vimeo.
Philanthropy, we are told, is the answer. Well, maybe it will work for the Royal Opera House, which last year raised no less than £17m in charitable income through donations, legacies and other sources. But there are no philanthropists waiting in the wings to fund the regional arts infrastructure on which so many artists depend.Arts Council England has developed an advocacy toolkit which marshalls factual evidence about the importance of the arts to the economy, society and the individual...[LINK - "Why the arts matter!!"]
What can we do to avert these reckless cuts or, at any rate, to mitigate their worst effects?
We can put pressure on MPs to lobby on our behalf, for there are many, even within the coalition government, who are privately concerned about the speed and scale of the cuts that are being proposed.
We can also respond to the DCMS consultation about lottery shares which closes on 21st August 2010 [link]. In theory lottery funding will flow back into the arts sector once the Olympics are over, but only if the consultation currently underway makes a compelling case for this to happen.
Inevitably, however, these arguments focus on the big picture and institutions, rather than individual art forms and practitioners. One of the most remarkable achievements of the last 15-20 years has been the groundswell of artist-led activity in many parts of the UK and the concomitant growth of independent production outside mainstream organisations. Without this vital test-bed of activity, it is hard to know where future experimentation and innovation will come from.
