digital fiddling now online

http://digitalfiddling.blogspot.com/

'Media Arts' is a somewhat an obscure and wide-ranging subject: encompassing contemporary art, digital/analogue processes, art history, technology, and so on. With the growth of online networks - new groups, organisations, blogs etc, appear every week - it's hard to keep track of things. Even open-source technology can sometime be elitist: who knows where to look, for example, to learn a certain programming language? And now with the cultural spending cuts, communication links and online networks are more valuable.

This is my own solution for dealing with these issues - to create a searchable archive of artists, galleries, residencies, opportunities, open calls, talks, softandhard-ware, etc. Feel free to browse and search - it's only a platform to find more things, which in turn will be put back into the archive.. And forward on to anyone who will be interested!

But remember this is incomplete, not 'polished', and an ongoing process. Free information costs nothing, but does require time and effort to maintain. If everyone puts in what they take out, this could be a really great resource. Do you know of something that would be useful to be on the site? Do you know someone who is a good source of information who would be willing to co-edit this regularly? Do you know someone who could help to host the site or re-design into a more user-friendly archive?

arduino_day1

Before we all forget all those nice links, fresh concepts blablabla...i am gonna upload what we have been seeing today...then more, but that will be other day.


ARDUINO
Check the forum link.It´s really useful(you might find the solution of your problems, because you are NOT the only one who get stuck!!). Do not hesitate asking, they are pretty effective, nice, fast... but be tidy (I mean, if you have a hardware problem, upload the question in the hardware part...)

1.-hacking-toys:
LEGO EDUCATION
hackman

2.-arduino´s friends softwares: ^

eyesweb
isadora
processing
max/msp
pure data
vvv
openframeworks


3.-components instructions and shop:
COOL COMPONENTS
OOMLAUT
LADYADA
PARALLAX It is more orientated to basic stamp, but you can check the wide range of the sensors and components. I also like the explanations of the components....precise, variety...


color code for the resistors

Bradford - KITTENS, TEAPOTS, PENIS ENLARGEMENT

Sorry about that - just a choice quote just to get your attention... and maybe .. opinion(s).. 

'Digital Folklore' by Olia Lialina & Dragan Espenschied [LINK]


An interesting point that may form the Bradford project ideas... That the history of the internet has focused on the medium, not so much the users, coining the term 'digital folklore'. Also a slight mention of education, which perhaps fits into your suggestions, Katy..

As the first book of its kind, this reader contains essays and projects investigating many different facets of Digital Folklore: online amateur culture, DIY electronics, dirtstyle, typo-nihilism, memes, teapots, penis enlargement …

...today's school children are educated as "Real Users." They learn how to use Microsoft Office to type business letters and design PowerPoint presentations, before they learn how to make a game or even spell IKEMZDOL ("I könnte mich zu Tode lachen", the German version of ROFL or LOL) correctly.  Users must understand their integral role in the process, demand comprehensible systems, work for better computer education and begin to see themselves as developers again. Studying Digital Folklore can do this, and help give back users the power they have earned and deserve.

The domain of the digital must belong to people, not computers. The personal computer must be regarded as a medium with a cultural history shaped more by its users and less by its inventors. In February 2009, speaking at TED conference, Sir Tim Bernes-Lee stated that he invented the web 20 years ago.  Though officially he has the right to claim this, the web is in fact 16 years old, because that is when people started to use it.

Henry Jenkins wrote in his 2002 article "Blog This!"(8): "We learned in the history books about Samuel Morse's invention of the telegraph, but not about the thousands of operators who shaped the circulation of message." To rephrase him, we could say that we have studied the history of hypertext, but not the history of Metallica fan web rings or web rings in general. This book is an attempt to fill this gap.

Arts Council Publication (pdf)

‘At a time when the dizzying potential of digital technology is transforming the way we make, distribute, receive and exchange art it would be absurd to define excellence in the language of the conventional art forms.’
- Arts Council England publication, 2010 (pdf) very recommended..

an important message..

From David Shrigley. Feel free to post on any other sites!

IMP

The Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP) is a UK government initiative to extend the government's capabilities for intercepting and storing communications data. It has been widely reported that the IMP's eventual goal is to store details of all UK communications data in a central database.
In 2008 plans were being made to collect data on all phone calls, emails, chatroom discussions and web-browsing habits as part of the IMP, thought likely to require the insertion of 'thousands' of black box probes into the country’s computer and telephone networks. The proposals were expected to be included in the Communications Data Bill.

The "giant database" would include telephone numbers dialed, the websites visited and addresses to which e-mails are sent "but not the content of e-mails or telephone conversations." Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat Home affairs spokesman said: "The government's Orwellian plans for a vast database of our private communications are deeply worrying." The Home Office has denied reports that a prototype of the IMP had already been built.

The UK's new coalition government has apparently revived the IMP in their recent Strategic Defence and Security Review.

I Value The Arts is a public engagement campaign led by The National Campaign for the Arts, is the UK’s only independent lobbying organisation representing all the arts.

The NCA currently works across the arts and political sectors to:-

• Provide a united voice for the arts, especially for arts organisations across the UK and for all artists, staff and volunteers who work in the arts
• Campaign for better access to the arts, so that everyone in the UK has opportunities to experience the arts and to take part
• Campaign for adequate and sustainable levels of resources and support for the arts.

The NCA's contacts within government and its ability to work in partnership with a wide range of public bodies and arts organisations have ensured that it is widely recognised as a powerful and effective advocate for the arts, able to lobby the people who matter.

Hello hello.
Saw this on rhizome, thought it looked interesting and maybe in line with some of the things coming up at the moment. A new publication called 'form and code in design, art and architecture'.

Once the exclusive domain of programmers, code is now being used by a new generation of designers, artists, and architects eager to explore how software can enable innovative ways of generating form and translating ideas. Form+Code in Design, Art, and Architecture offers an in-depth look at the use of software in a wide range of creative disciplines.

FREE 5 WEEK COURSE ON PROCESSING + ARDUINO

FREE 5 WEEK COURSE ON PROCESSING + ARDUINO [MAILING LIST]

Started 31August but you cn still join:

http://creativelive.com/courses/arduino/

Zoomings- Mandelbrot + Deep Space

3-D Mandelbrot (infinite fractal) Open source, see here

Somewhat similar to Ars Electronia / FutureLab, 'Deep Space' project:

DEEP SPACE - OVERVIEW from Ars Electronica on Vimeo.

Notes on funding cuts, and 'why the arts matter'

With a joint constituency of at least 60,000 individual professionals, galleries, public collections, studio groups, visual art businesses, organisations and producing agencies VAGA and eleven fellow representative bodies have written to the Secretary of State, pointing out the finely tuned ecology of the visual arts and urging him to consider carefully the timing and scale of the cuts.

Click to read the letter from the VAGA website.

Quote from the Axis website:

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.

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.

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!!"]

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.

Monday 26 July 2010 Responding to today's announcement by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of plans to abolish the UK Film Council, Tim Bevan CBE, Chairman of the UK Film Council, said:

"Abolishing the most successful film support organisation the UK has ever had is a bad decision, imposed without any consultation or evaluation. People will rightly look back on today's announcement and say it was a big mistake, driven by short-term thinking and political expediency. British film, which is one of the UK's more successful growth industries, deserves better.

Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA) to be abolished:

Responding to the government's announcement that the MLA is to be wound up by April 2012, Chair Sir Andrew Motion and Chief Executive Roy Clare pledge a smooth and orderly transition to deliver the best possible future for museums, libraries and archives across England and for the people and communities who expect to use them.

In a joint statement, Sir Andrew Motion and Roy Clare say: "Stormy seas call for cool heads and steady hands. The team in the MLA have worked tirelessly and with commendable commitment to develop the capacity of the organisation since 2007. Now, faced with an unforeseen degree of economic pressure, government has chosen to balance the books and to prioritise the rationalisation of its existing cultural agencies as a contribution."

6 Brain Sensors You'll Be Using Soon

LINK

a technology that creates a direct connection from our brains to our computers - is beginning to reach the market via toys and game controllers. In the process, these thought-controlled sensors are inspiring innovations that, for instance, allow you to call someone on your phone by simply thinking about them.

From the first-ever thought-generated tweet, to the U.S. military funding the development of advanced prosthetic limbs, to implantable brain sensors, advancements in BCI are not only transforming the lives of people who are locked in because of total paralysis, but are ushering in an era where we will be able to build the Internet as fast as we can think.

Vanessa Bartlett blog, 'Group Therapy' on artist newsletter's 'choice blog'.

Vanessa Bartlett blog, 'Group Therapy' on artist newsletter's 'choice blog'.

I've been talking & debating a bit on the subject of art and mental health. Have a read (if you're up for it!) & she mentions the googlemap video I posted up earlier.

But I think it deals with a lot of much wider and interesting questions relevant to art & technology..

details of ACE cuts

On 24 May 2010 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced a £19 million reduction in our 2010/11 income from government. This cut is in addition to an earlier in-year reduction of £4 million announced in the April 2009 Budget, meaning that our 2010/11 budget has been reduced by a total of £23 million.

We've been working hard to find ways to implement this cut while protecting art, and the organisations that enable it to happen, to the fullest extent possible. The cut to regularly funded organisations' 2010/11 income from Arts Council will, therefore, be limited to 0.5 per cent.

This relatively minimal reduction has been made possible only by the exceptional use of £9 million of the Arts Council's historic reserves, access to which was previously blocked by government. Had this not been the case, we would have been forced to pass on a three per cent (£10.8 million) cut to our funded organisations.

In addition, we have identified cuts to other areas, these include:

* £1.8 million from the revenue grants of the two highest funded organisations not directly producing art (£1.6 million from Creativity Culture and Education and £0.2 million from Arts & Business, a four per cent reduction)
* £0.4 million from further cuts to our operating costs (bringing savings on operating costs to a total of £6.9 million this year)
* £6 million from savings due to the postponement of a major public engagement project, cuts to our audience development plans, and to funds for partnership working with local authorities and the private sector

Full information HERE

Full break-down by region (pdf) HERE