Some Cities. Victor Burgin.

“Our relations with cities are like our relations with people. We love them, hate them, or are indifferent toward them. On our first day in a city that is new to us, we go looking for the city. We go down this street, around that corner. We are aware of the faces of passers-by. But the city eludes us, and we become uncertain whether we are looking for a city, or for a person.”

Victor Burgin recalls some of the cities he has known in a way familiar to all who have traveled, by showing photographs and telling anecdotes. Some Cities gathers places and moments along a life route that the author has taken from the north of England to his present home in northern California. Stops on the way include such disparate sites as London, Berlin and Warsaw; Singapore, Woomera and Tokyo; New York and San Francisco; and the islands of Stromboli and Tobago.

Some Cities is unlike anything Burgin has ever done before, although it explores characteristic themes of his earlier theoretical and visual works, such as the dimensions of politics and sexuality in everyday life.

“Burgin traces his life’s route from the north of England through such metropolises as London, Berlin, Singapore, Tokyo, New York and San Francisco in brilliant black and white photographs and in anecdotes presented in immaculate prose.”—The Guardian

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Portsmouth invests money in mother of big brother….

Our social  agenda and relationship to city space is being driven,  “re-designed”; re engineered without thought by local councillors and policemen who are creating a society of mistrust. Haven’t they got something better to  spend money on , ie schools, education, buses  etc etc These guys just don’t seem to knowo what to  spend the council tax money on  so they keep  buying  and investing in CCTV.

Anti-social behaviour has become a familiar sight in some towns and cities across the country.

Now there’s a new weapon in the fight against it called Smart CCTV. Portsmouth City Council is the first, and so far only, local authority in the UK to try out the new system. It’s a computer programme that has been integrated into the city’s existing network of 152 cameras and has been programmed to spot unusual behaviour in places and at times when it’s not expected. For example, a speeding car being driven around an empty car park could be a joy rider or someone running through a deserted shopping precinct late at night might be a vandal.

When those and similar scenarios are ’spotted’ by the software, using special parameters from programmers, an alarm is sounded which alerts CCTV operators to that particular camera.

It’s already been used in parts of seven cities across America, in places like New York and Washington DC, where the feedback has been positive. Nick Hewitson helped design the version Portsmouth City Council is using.

He said: “It filters out all the rubbish video that you don’t want and lets you see the stuff that you do want. “So you’re using human beings for doing what they do well, making subjective decisions on incomplete data.

“And using computers to do what they do well, process tonnes and tonnes of boring data.”

But not everyone in Portsmouth is as convinced by the new system as Ray Stead and Nick Hewitson.

Samilia Narcho, 19, told Newsbeat: “They are lurking a bit too much into people’s business. It’s a bit unfair on people who aren’t doing anything wrong. “It’s a bit too much invasion of privacy. Big Brother going a bit too far.”

But 18-year-old Chris isn’t worried about being watched. He said: “It doesn’t really bother me because I’m not doing anything wrong, so I’ve got nothing to worry about.” Berry, who’s 24, and 21-year-old Becky Pearson have different opinions on the new CCTV system. Berry said: “I think it’s pretty good because there are a lot of idiots in Portsmouth and they need to be kept under wraps.”

Becky added: “I can see why people think it’s a bit too much, with people being too watched.” The Smart CCTV technology is on trial in Portsmouth but if it proves successful, other UK cities could set up similar systems.

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So after the councils lost your money which was “invested” offshore in icelandic banks…now  they are investing in developin new softwrae  for CCTV cameras. Basically Portsmouth is investing your money in mother of big brother….and the best sort of reporting the BBC  can come up  with is from chris  “But 18-year-old Chris isn’t worried about being watched. He said: “It doesn’t really bother me because I’m not doing anything wrong, so I’ve got nothing to worry about.”……either read a little history  or read a little science fiction  becauase I think there is plenty here to worry about Chris.

So the question is what sort of society do we want to live in twenty years?

Yes good idea lets go for the one where we don’t trust anyone at all, and have to monitor  everyone, everywhere, all the time…..brilliant idea….I wish I had thought of that.  But then again if I had a software company or CCTV system  I  would send my sales team be straight down to the local council to sell these idiots these systems too.

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Soundbeam. Commercial performance kit.

Desktop Soundbeam is a USB interface plus a software program embodying all the capabilities of Soundbeam 2, plus many new improvements and additions. Up to four sensors and 8 Switches can be connected to the Desktop Soundbeam’s MIDI Interface; the Interface also incorporates three separate MIDI Inputs and Outputs. An unlimited number of User-defined Set-ups - can now be created and saved, for instant recall and re-activation. Set-ups can also now be programmed to be recalled in any order, and any number can be cycled round in this way - either via two of the 8 Switch inputs, or in the form of MIDI program change messages. So that new users can enjoy making music straight away, a number of factory-preset Set-ups are provided, enabling movements in the Beams and operation of the Switches to articulate the Pitch Sequences and sounds for the various soundscapes. Similarly, an unlimited number of Pitch Sequences can be created in addition to notes and chords, the Divisions of a Pitch Sequence can contain MIDI notes, MIDI program change messages or System Exclusive MIDI messages. A number of factory preset standard scales, arpeggios and chord sequences are supplied with the software.

Users can define their own custom variable System Exclusive messages. These then can be assigned to any beam or switch. For example speed position in a beam could be used to vary say reverberation time. A MIDI file can also be selected and triggered from any beam or switch, for a musical accompaniment.

The Sensor event recorder records the activity of any of the beams or switches. This can be saved for subsequent data analysis.

http://www.soundbeam.co.uk/products/desktop-specs.html

Disembodied voices. Art Project

Disembodied voices is a meditation on the nature of public space. It is a visual representation of how different bodies communicate across space, using cell phones as a metaphor for the new translocal of connected, disembodied voices, linked across space invisibly - forming an unseen network of wanderers, always within reach yet nowhere in sight. We now have private conversations in public - and in so doing, these conversations, or at least half of them, become public events, a half-dialogue that no longer knows such a thing as privacy.

The dialogue of mobile telephony has transformed the nature of public space. We now have private conversations in public - and in so doing, these conversations, or at least half of them, become public events, a half-dialogue that no longer knows such a thing as privacy. Engaged in millions of private dialogues, we make less eye contact, talk less to each other in our own community. The network transports us, and our attention, to far away places - while bringing half of our conversations back to our neighbors, leaving them guessing what the other half said. referenced from. http://www.disembodiedvoices.com

The result is an audio cacophony that seems to be a linear audio file .

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The future of Painting. Rfid chips in paint.

Tiny radios embedded in paint could be used to pick up sound, detect whether wine or ice cream has been stored properly or even be painted on the heart to prevent arrhythmias. BAE Systems researchers developed the miniature wireless sensors, which are powered by scavenging ambient radiation from the atmosphere.

Dr Karl Brommer, an engineering fellow at BAE Systems, started exploring this technology based on radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in 2002, and filed patents in 2005. ‘People complain that most of the cost in manufacturing RFID tags is not in making the circuit, it’s in placing the circuit on the seed of the antenna, the tag,’ he said.

Brommer proposed a solution that would work like inkjet printing, squirting an ensemble of identical radios near the seed point to create sensor technology with a range of more sophisticated applications than conventional RFID technology.

Though other companies have investigated similar ideas, BAE Systems’ technology has a unique solution to battery-free operation that gives them an almost indefinite shelf life.

‘They could use ambient radiation from mobile phone and television signals, or an interrogator that you point at the micro-radios,’ said Brommer.

The paint is used to package the radios in a similar way to other tiny electronic components and can be included in flexible plastics, electronic ink or organic electronics that can be synthesised chemically.

‘There is no minimum quantity you need to work together to function,’ said Brommer. ‘If you have more of them you can start to create ensembles of radios that radiate coherently, or you can start to create a communication system where each sensor sends a packet of information.’

all referenced from:-
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/Articles/Article.aspx?liArticleID=309264

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Wireless identification and sensing platform, or WISP

Self powered sensors
Intel  is developing self-powered microchips that could be implanted in the human body, a mobile phone, a building, or anyplace else where people wish to gather information.

Called a “wireless identification and sensing platform,” or WISP, the devices were among several technologies described Friday by Intel CTO Justin Rattner during a meeting with reporters in San Francisco. Most of the technologies discussed are under development in Intel labs and are unlikely to reach the marketplace in products for at least three to five years.

All of the inventions were designed to be energy-efficient. The WISP sensors would use Intel technology for drawing power from the environment. “These are install-and-forget kind of systems,” Rattner said.

In an experiment conducted by Intel in San Francisco, sensors implanted in street sweepers were used to monitor air quality throughout the city.

“We could, in fact, litter the planet with these things,” he said. “Rather than depend on satellite information, we could literally get instantaneous, near-global indication of the state of the planet.”

Self-powered sensors could one day go into the human body to monitor health-related activity, such as the beat of a heart. If researchers could shrink detectors to the molecular level, they could one day be capable of detecting viruses in the environment to determine the potential health risk.

Within the data center, sensors could be used to map the heat levels of the different systems in order to create a “thermally aware load management” system, Rattner said. Systems that are running hot could have some of their workloads shifted to idle systems, thereby lowering the overall temperature, which would lower the demand on cooling systems.

Along with sensors, Intel labs is experimenting with the use of microchips to gather energy from other sources, such as the sun or the movement of a trackball in a smartphone, to recharge a battery in a mobile device.

Intel is building power management within a microchip, so power levels could be adjusted microsecond by microsecond in following the fluctuations in energy needed to power CPUs or modules within a chipset, Rattner said. Today, power levels have to be kept higher than needed during light workloads to make sure enough energy is available to meet sudden demands for processing power.

ref  http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212202257

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Dna debate

After my genomixer work in 2004 where I  sequenced my DNA and made a series of artworks, I became interested in the ownership and control of data. With dna, data which is used as criminal evidence there has become growing concern of possible misuse and mismanagement of a large collected database. The gathering of individual sets of data seems to  be quite harmless, its the mass collection and weaving of data ( data mining) where possible issues of abuse will arise.

Anyway there are some interesting posts on a BBC forum.

Here are some of the best.

Of course, if we were all electronically tagged and continuously tracked, there would be even less crime; and innocent people would have nothing to fear…(ok within this sarcastic comment lies the future. Do we want this sort of …..I have nothing to hide mentality to get to this extreme. It would be interesting for sure, but why do we have to live in fear and mistrust everybody else).
I, for one, vouch for safety over freedom. If a police state is what it takes in order to bring about basic safety and lawfulness, then so be it. ( But this one isnt sarcastic…someone wants us to  bring on a police state)
I don’t know what people are complaining about! Our society has become infested with criminals and terrorists.

Retaining DNA samples for the innocent, no matter for what reason, is against the law - end of. By doing so, the police and other authorities are implying that we are guilty of some crime yet to be committed!

If State intrusion continues as is then it won’t be long before the data is taken at birth and everyone is ‘chipped’.

The technology to have data transmitters implanted in humans is nearly with us. Presumably those people happy to have an enforced national DNA database will also be happy to have such a device implanted.

My DNA, identity and medical records belong to me. After me, my details belong to my family. The State has no right whatsoever to assert any kind of ownership, storage or access rights to that information.

DNA data…change of heart

DNA strand

Two British men should not have had their DNA and fingerprints retained by police, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. The men’s information was held by South Yorkshire Police, although neither was convicted of any offence. The judgement could have major implications on how DNA records are stored in the UK’s national database. The judges said keeping the information “could not be regarded as necessary in a democratic society”. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she was “disappointed” by the European Court of Human Rights’ decision.

The database may now have to be scaled back following the unanimous judgement by 17 senior judges from across Europe. ref BBC :http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7764069.stm

So it seems changes with ownership and data transparency have been questioned and answered by the courts. Its going to be interesting to see how CCTV  and tracking within cityspace might be affected by such rulngs.

I think  in one sense have DNA on a database is a good idea, I  just don’t think it  should be the police taking the data or storing it. And I  think it sole use for criminality of the population is abusive of our personal domain….so this ruling is good news.

City links and mobile city projects (mainly with phones)

http://urbantapestries.net/

Public Authoring in the Wireless City Urban Tapestries is the name of a research project and experimental software platform for knowledge mapping and sharing – public authoring – conceived and developed by Proboscis in partnership with collaborators such as the London School of Economics, Birkbeck College, Orange, HP Research labs, France Telecom R&D UK, Ordnance Survey. The Urban Tapestries software platform allows people to author their own virtual annotations of the city, enabling a community’s collective memory to grow organically, allowing ordinary citizens to embed social knowledge in the new wireless landscape of the city. People can add new locations, location content and the ‘threads’ which link individual locations to local contexts, which are accessed via handheld devices such as PDAs and mobile phones.

http://www.mobilebristol.com/flash.html

The Mobile Bristol Centre was a programme investigating how mobile devices and pervasive information technology can be used to enhance the ways in which residents and visitors experience and interact with their physical environment and with each other in urban and public spaces.
Imagine a digital landscape overlaying the physical world. As we walk around this landscape, we can tap into the digital sounds, sights and interactions that are positioned in the landscape and activated by our presence and actions. The digital landscape is formed from a dynamic and overlapping set of mediascapes which are context-sensitive combinations of digital media and interactions created and deployed by various authors. The project has created a toolkit, which provides a digital canvas over the physical landscape onto which digital experiences can be painted and new commercial opportunities can be explored. As people walk through the physical environment, a diverse range of digital media experiences augment the ambiance and bring these spaces alive.

The client software that we are developing for Mobile Bristol is capable of finding, downloading and interpreting the application specifications developed on our authoring tools. It provides a set of built-in capabilities to detect and respond to changes in the sensed environment, to download, cache, render and capture a variety of media types, and to exchange messages with other clients and with services. This led to mscape.

http://proboscis.org.uk/prps/artists/rokeby/nml5.html

NML: Neighbourhood Markup Language by David Rokeby.ccess is possible from any wireless networked portable computing device with a GPS unit.
The user would be able to configure the device to continuously scan the content attached to the immediate vicinity for the presence of annotations, with customizable filters to reduce local data clutter to those of greatest interest to the user. Things already accessed would be marked as read and filtered out as well, unless intentionally called up. As the aim is not to further fragment public space by encouraging people to walk around with faces glued to small LCD screens, audio would be a preferred format for the annotations.

The device would indicate, perhaps through vibration, when data comes into range. On the other hand, a discrete but distinctive audible indicator (the social calls of crickets or frogs?) might be interesting as a signifier of data reception. Having a sound that is not personalizable might result in a positive confusion: “It was not my device, but then what is here that someone else is interested in…” Browsing or searching the entire set of annotations for one’s current position would be possible through a familiar web-style interface.

http://gimodig.fgi.fi/objectives.php

The objective of the GiMoDig project is to develop and test methods for delivering geospatial data to a mobile user by means of real-time data-integration and generalisation. The project aims at the creation of a seamless data service providing access, through a common interface, to the primary topographic geo-databases maintained by the National Mapping Agencies (NMAs) in various countries. A special emphasis will be put on providing appropriately generalised map data to the user depending on a mobile terminal with limited display capabilities.

http://www.futuresonic.com/futuresonic/mobile_connections/index.html

The exhibition explored how mobile and wireless media reconfigure social, cultural and information space? Looking beyond computing in its current form, towards the social and cultural possibilities opened by a new generation of networked, location-aware media. Seeking an art of mobile communications: are there any forms of expression that are intrinsic or unique to mobile and wireless media. It explored how artists are responding to new ways of seeing, sensing and representing: radar, sonar, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular, GIS, etc. The exhibition probed new horizons in wireless and mobile media, and looked at the diverse ways in which artists and technical innovators are pushing the limits, and soliciting unexpected or unforeseen results from communication media past and present, from the radio to mobile telephony and wireless LAN. Some are seeking to make visible and audible the signals and transmissions that fill the air around us, exploring the potential of interfaces unfettered by wires and cables for performance or interaction, or the kinds of communication and creative expression that emerge within networks with no fixed centre, but rather multiple, mobile nodes. http://www.mobilebristol.com/cititag.html

CitiTag is a wireless location-based multiplayer game, designed to enhance spontaneous social interaction and novel experiences in city environments by integrating virtual presence with physical. In the first version of CitiTag you roam the city with a GPS- and WiFi-enabled iPaq PocketPC in search for players of the opposite team that you can ‘tag’. You can also get tagged yourself if one of them gets close to you. Then you need to find a friend to free you. Urban space becomes a playground and everyone is a suspect.

http://www.shrinkingcities.com/

In the 21st century, the historically unique epoch of growth that began with industrialization 200 years ago will come to an end. In particular, climate change, dwindling fossil sources of energy, demographic aging, and rationalization in the service industry will lead to new forms of urban shrinking and a marked increase in the number of shrinking cities. To illuminate this, the project Shrinking Cities. Within the next twenty years, the fossil fuels crude oil, natural gas, and coal will reach their maximum production levels, after which they will begin to decline, while global energy demands rise. Mobility and energy supply will become considerably more expensive, which will lead to a change in settlement structures.

http://research.microsoft.com/nec/senseweb/

SenseWeb is a peer produced sensor network that consists of sensors deployed by contributors across the globe. It allows developing sensing applications that use the shared sensing resources and our sensor querying and tasking mechanisms. SensorMap is one such application that mashes up sensor data from SenseWeb on a map interface, and provides interactive tools to selectively query sensors and visualize data, along with authenticated access to manage sensors.

http://www.equator.ac.uk/index.php/articles/c61

City

As mobile phones and computers become more complex, the range of media that affect our experiences of cities has expanded. What makes a city meaningful to us is not just its bricks and mortar, but the texts we read, people we talk to and experiences we have. Maps, conversations and images of a city all influences our activity and enjoyment. City focuses on bridging or blurring the boundaries between these different media. The systems we build mix local interactions and remote collaboration, using ubicomp technology, digital maps, virtual environments and hypermedia.

http://www.pm-air.net/index.php

Air. Participants or “carriers” are able to see pollutant levels in their current locations, as well as simultaneously view measurements from the other AIR devices in the network. An on-board GPS unit and digital compass, combined with a database of known pollution sources such as power plants and heavy industries, allow carriers to see their distance from polluters as well. The AIR devices regularly transmit data to a central database allowing for real time data visualization on this website.

http://www.sensorplanet.org/

SensorPlanet is a Nokia-initiated cooperation, a global research framework, on mobile device-centric large-scale Wireless Sensor Networks. The results of SensorPlanet are 1) a test platform that enables the collection of sensor data on a never seen scale, and 2) a central repository for sharing the collected sensor data for research purposes.

http://www.storymashup.org/

Manhattan Story Mashup is an urban game, taking place on September 23rd 2006 in Manhattan, New York City. During the event, approximately 250 players will move around Manhattan, taking photos which match a given target.

http://research.cens.ucla.edu/projects/2006/Systems/Urban_Sensing/default.htm

Unlike scientific applications, the hardware is not owned and managed by a small number of central authorities. Citizens carry sensors and contribute data voluntarily. A single entity does not pose interesting ‘hypotheses,’ design experiments, force participation. Instead, the process of learning from an urban environment can be organic and decentralized, existing more in the realm of social networking software. However, the power of this network still comes from our ability to verify the context of shared data, to actuate (to filter, identify and respond to events); to aggregate data in space and time; and to allow individuals to coordinate activities.

http://metrosense.cs.dartmouth.edu/metro-projects.html#metrotrack

We are interested in applying the people-centric sensing concept to the problem of detecting and tracking mobile events (e.g., a lost child’s voice, a teenager’s disruptive car stereo). There are a number of challenges in building a mobile event tracking system using people-based mobile sensors. First, mobile sensors need to be tasked before sensing can begin and only those mobile sensors near the target event should be tasked for the system to scale effectively

http://www.urban-atmospheres.net/Jabberwocky/info.htm

Jabberwocky captures a unique, synergistic moment – expanding urban populations, rapid adoption of Bluetooth mobile devices, and widespread influence of wireless technology across our urban landscapes. The United Nations has recently reported that 48 percent of the world’s population current live in urban areas and that this number is expected to exceed the 50 percent mark by 2007, thus marking the first time in history that the world will have more urban residents than rural residents. abberwocky is a free, device independent software that can be installed on your own mobile phone. Jabberwocky uses the industry standard MIDP 2.0 (Mobile Information Device Profile). MIDP 2.0 provides a flexible standard for developing and deploying applications across a wide range of mobile phones and PDAs.

http://www.urban-atmospheres.net/Sashay/index.html

Sashay is a mobile phone application that leverages the fact that every fixed mobile phone cell tower transmits a unique ID that can be read within the phone’s software. As a user moves throughout an urban landscape this “cell ID” changes. Sashay keeps track of the temporal patterns, history, and adjacencies of these cell encounters to help it build a visualization of connected “places”.

http://www.urban-atmospheres.net/Experiments/UrbanScore/index.html

Measuring familiar strangers (bluetooth), friends (bluetooth), distance from “city center” (GPS), air quality (onboard atmospheric sensors), nearby traffic patterns (RSS feeds), etc. a “score” is determined and displayed as a personal steganography visualization. The name comes from steganography which is the art and science of writing hidden messages in such a way that no one apart from the intended recipient knows of the existence of the message.

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Telepolis from 1995

The exhibition Telepolis will make the diversive variety of possibilities offered by telecommunication accessible for a broad public. The city serves as a metaphor and main theme to present the topic in a way that it is also understandable for the amateur. Divided into different districts - The gate, street, city-center, entertainments district, educational- and scientific district, social institutions, cultural district, industrial district, residential district - the exhibition Telepolis shows the role that telecommunication will or can play in social life, now or in the near future. Dividing the exhibition Telepolis into the above-mentioned districts serves, on the one hand, the structure of the theme, on the other hand, the architecture of the exhibition as well as the placement of the different projects will follow this underlying structure.

The symposium as a part of Telepolis concentrates on the topic of Media and Networks. TV, radio, computer and telephone are melting into a new interactive medium, offering new qualities and providing new possibilities which are going to be discussed by international experts.

The public symposium will provide a platform for the discussion on urban environment and media and the resulting consequences for all levels of human existence. The discussion will mainly be concerned with cultural, philosophical and soziological aspects in order to point out the enormous possibilities of telecommunication but also in order to show the inherent dangers.

Telepolis is a Tele-Event. Telepolis is not only an exhibition on networks but for the duration of the event a real network-city is going to be created. Telepolis will accordingly reach a worldwide user potential of approx. 30 million computer users who are connected to the Internet, and will be able to take part in the event via network. In addition to that, specific point-to-point connections will be set up, so that for example events of the cultural program can take part in different parts of Europe at the same time.

The media coverage of Telepolis is an integrative part of the concept. The cooperation of radio- and television-stations was initiated at an early time during the conceptual work.

The cultural program shows “state of the art” in art and technology. A focus point are online-concerts of the electronic music avantgarde. Musicians in London, Berlin and Luxenburg will perform together via network, the result will be audible in each of the three cities. Further issues of the program are video demonstrations, presentations and performances….

all quoted from..http://www.noemalab.org/sections/specials/netmag_magnet/netmag/Telepolis.Html

Digital Cities

Digital Cities looks at how digital technology helps us understand and improve the planning and experience of our city. It looks at the impact on movement in cities: how communication and information technologies enhance a person´s experience of place; how people interpret cities with the use of technology; and how mapping influences the design and planning of cities. It also discusses some of the ‘big brother’ issues such as privacy and security.

The exhibition is presented through a number of research and commercial projects which use technology to provide planning and design and communication tool for the city. It contains live and interactive presentations in a number of digital media, showcasing work by Aedas, atmos, BT, Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Cityware, Colin Buchanan, Farrells, GMJ, Hank Haeusler, Intelligent Space, Minimaforms, Ordnance Survey, Proboscis, SENSEable, Smartslab, Space Syntax, UCL, Zmapping and design and communication tool for the city. It will contain live and interactive presentations in a number of digital media.

Ref website (http://www.buildingcentre.co.uk/events/event_diary_details.asp?id=398)

Produced by
The Building Centre

Curated by
The Building Centre and Sir Terry Farrell

Conference: Digtial Cities

Date: Thursday 15 January 2009
A one-day, two-part conference which will focus on ‘Mapping, Movement & Planning ’ in the morning session and ‘Tracking & Communicating ’ in the afternoon.

Speakers and programme to be announced shortly and will include representatives featured in the Digital Cities exhibition.

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Explore some of the possibilities of Stanza’s Soundcities.

Sound Walks (http://www.daimi.au.dk/~u042689/soundwalks/ (explores some of the possibilities of Stanza’s Soundcities. It uses the Soundcities database through the openly distributed XML-file.

Choose the city you want to visit: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bergen, Bilbao, Bristol, Cork, Dresden, Ljubljana, London, Los Angeles, Napoli, Paris, Rotterdam, Salzburg, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, or Tokyo.

Soundcities is an online open source database of city sounds from around the world, that can be listened to, used in performances on laptops, or played on mobiles via wireless networks. Initially all of the sounds were by Stanza, but you can now contribute your own found sounds. This is was the first online open source found sound database. First version 2003.

Jakob Hougaard Andersen,  student at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, as a part of a course in multimedia aesthetics…..the soundcities has an open XML structure and he has linked his flash interfaces to my database….see www.soundcities.com

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Force of Metadata

Goldsmiths Media Research Centre and Centre for Cultural Studies
Symposium: Force of Metadata
Ian Gulland Lecture Theatre, Goldsmiths, University of London
Saturday, November 29, 2008, 9.30 am – 18.30 pm
Metadata rules the web. Its power goes beyond merely ordering descriptions of data. Metadata administers access, pre-decides preferences, enables surveillance, automates transtextuality, and shapes our experience. As metadata management becomes more and more effective and ubiquitous, it is time to ask: Are we witnessing the birth of a new regime of attention, of media control and media power? What are its chances, constraints and power relations? How does a social imaginary operate with the means and within the limits of metadata management? Can metadata acquire the power to generate content? Is it, indeed, productive itself?

9.30 - 9.45 Welcome: Scott Lash (Goldsmiths)
9.45 - 11.15 Chair: Jennifer Bajorek (Goldsmiths) Bernard Stiegler (Centre Pompidou): The Alternative of Metadata: Automated Voluntary Servitude or Economy of Contribution
11.15 - 11.30 Refreshments
11.30 - 13.00 Chair : Robert Zimmer (Goldsmiths) Götz Bachmann (Goldsmiths): The Power of Metadata Time Yuk Hui (Goldsmiths): The production of Networks and the Networks of Production Kuan Foo (Bocconi): Innovation, Metadata and Firm Growth

14.30 - 16.30 Chair: Olga Goriunowa (Goldsmiths) Harry Halpin (Edinburgh): Metadata and the Dialectics of Posthumanism Stanza (Artist, London): The Emergent City Lev Manovich (UC San Diego): Information Wants to be ASCII

17.00 - 18.00 Chair: Matt Fuller (Goldsmiths)
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (Artist, Montreal): Antimonuments and Subsculptures

Exploits in the Wireless City

Exploits in the Wireless City….the prevelance of interest in the interactive city is demonstrated by more and more calls from arts media organisations. Here is one from radiator below…..”Our cities are increasingly pervaded by data networks, watched over by cameras, skinned by media facades”.


Since the abundant proliferation of digital communication technology, our (living) space has been expanded, transformed, reshaped. In our everyday lives we increasingly connect to mediated interfaces, be it consciously or without knowing.

Digital media is increasingly integrated seamlessly into all areas of everyday life and work. The so-called ‘virtual worlds’ created in this way are merging ever more dynamically with our physical environment generating new hybrid spaces, becoming a fixed part of our reality themselves.

Our cities are increasingly pervaded by data networks, watched over by cameras, skinned by media facades, populated by users of mobile communication devices carried around with every step. ‘City’ itself has become a media space, a complex fabric, in which an immaterial layer of data is augmenting the urban landscape, both merging ever more seamlessly.

Radiator continues its investigation into the way that artists engage with locality and site, real and virtual urban space. The ‘Wireless City’ brings deep cultural changes and our traditional spatial coordinates are gradually being superseded by an enhanced network.

Sharing their inferences and conclusions, artists are invited to reflect upon the challenges facing our freedom, the poetry of resistance and also the opportunities the ‘Expanded City’ has to offer.

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Instant City

Instant city, ein elektronischer musik bau spiel automat, is a music building game table. One or more players at a table can create architecture using semi-transparent building blocks and in the process make different modular compositions audible. Every performance is unique because the sequence, timing and combination possibilities are completely in the hands of the players! For each game one composition is chosen. http://www.instantcity.ch

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