[Leonardo/ISAST Network] Locative Media Art discussion on YASMIN, December 2007
Leonardo/ISAST
isast at leonardo.info
Fri Dec 7 14:55:01 EST 2007
Dear Leonardo Colleagues,
Leonardo/OLATS is pleased to announce:
A moderated discussion on the subject of Locative Media Art will take
place on the YASMIN discussion list from the 3rd of December 2007 onwards.
Below is a text with more info on the particular discussion. We are very
much looking forward to your participation and involvement.
To join YASMIN visit:
http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin/
Best wishes,
Dimitris Charitos
Lecturer, Department of Communication and Media Studies
University of Athens
Locative Media Art: towards new types of "hybrid" places for
communicating meaning
The convergence of new mobile telecommunication networks along with
geographical positioning systems and interactive graphical interfaces on
mobile devices, are beginning to extend the potential of media
technologies for supporting communication among mobile individuals. The
aforementioned technologies allow groups of people to interact with each
other, while being aware of each other's location at all times. By
introducing context awareness and by supporting multi-user
communication, these ICT systems alter the patterns of information flow
as well as the situation within which communication takes place, thus
bringing to light new spatial structures where social interaction will
occur and novel forms of cultural practices will emerge.
Locative media are systems of technologically mediated interpersonal and
group communication. Such mobile wireless technologies provide the
opportunity to augment traditional urban environments with information
and communication spatial experiences, which can be accessed through
mobile or desktop devices. The main characteristics of locative media
are mobility, locativeness and multi-user support. The characteristic of
"locativeness", in particular, may refer to both users and content
within a locative media group or activity. These characteristics above
may influence interpersonal as well as intergroup relationships in the
context of these new social constructions.
Computer-mediated communication via the Internet has allowed physical
meeting places to "immigrate" to a "virtual" spatial context, as in the
case of MUDs or MOOs. The introduction of mobile location-based
communication networks relates again the concept of a "meeting place" to
the physical space of an urban environment. It re-introduces the
parameter of geographical location in the activity of computer-mediated
communication, thus mapping the "virtual" mental space where
communication occurs to the physical space, inhabited by the material
bodies of communicating participants. Thus, the virtual spatial context
of such an activity is mapped onto the physical world and the resulting
hybrid spatial context becomes the arena of this activity. Most
importantly, such a communication system affords the possibility of
face-to-face interaction and brings back the "compulsion of proximity"
into computer-mediated communication. Locative media have already been
used by many artists as media for creating activities, performances,
dynamic works or "net-works" of a database or narrative structure and
other complex types of artistic intervention.
The discussion that will take place in the YASMIN forum will aim to
investigate these novel artistic forms from a social and cultural
perspective and will attempt to provide answers to a series of
questions, some of which follow:
. "Where" is a locative media artwork? How does a spectator/visitor
experience such an activity or system as a spatial context within which
interaction occurs and symbolic content is communicated?
. Can the use of locative media by artists be considered as an
"aestheticisation" of these high-end ICT systems' use and even as an
"excuse" for the rapid expansion of surveillance technologies?
. Could we attempt a categorization of Locative Media artworks and
related activities created so far?
. Does experimenting with these advanced forms of ICTs turn the focus of
attention to the technological media per se and much less on the
symbolic content communicated?
. How may these types of artworks or activities alter our understanding
of the concepts of representation and narrative?
. How do locative media activities influence the dynamics of social
interaction in real time and space? How can they affect our patterns of
communication and our social behaviors in the long term?
. From a design perspective, how can we create locative media art and
activities that are more intertwined with the fabric of our everyday life?
The discussion will will take place in the YASMIN forum from Monday the
3rd of December onwards and will be moderated by Dimitris Charitos along
with Prof. Martin Rieser and Dr. Yanna Vogiazou as respondents. Below
are short CVs of this discussion's moderators:
Dr. Dimitrios Charitos (vedesign at otenet.gr <mailto:vedesign at otenet.gr>)
is a lecturer at the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies of the
University of Athens. He teaches "Human-Computer Communication", "Art &
Technology", "Visual Communication", "Digital Communication
Environments". He has studied Architectural Design (National Technical
University of Athens, 1990) Computer Aided Design and has a PhD on
Interactive Design and Virtual Environments (University of Strathclyde,
1998). He has taught at an undergraduate and postgraduate level since
1994 in Scotland and Greece (Department of Informatics, University of
Athens and Dept of Architecture, National Technical University of
Athens). He has authored or co-authored more than 50 publications in
books, journals or conference proceedings. His artistic work involves
electronic music, audiovisual, non-interactive or interactive,
site-specific installations and virtual environments.
Professor M. Rieser is a Media Artist and Theorist based in Bristol.
Professor of Digital Creativity at De Montfort University. 2000-7
Professor of Digital Arts and Senior Teaching Fellow Bath Spa
University, was Principal Lecturer in Digital Media at Napier University
in Edinburgh at the Department of Photography, Film, and Television
1997-2000, and in post as Senior Lecturer in Electronic Media at UWE
Bristol between 1986 -- 1998. He set up one of the first post-graduate
courses in the country in Digital Art and Imaging at the City of London
Polytechnic, now the London Guildhall University 1980-85. His teaching
and practice centres on new types of interactive art which use
non-linear narrative in new media through Locative, interactive
installations, networked art projects and collaborations with
architects. He has acted as consultant to bodies such as Cardiff Bay
Arts Trust, NESTA, Arkive, AHRC the Photographers Gallery London.
External Examiner at UIAH Helsinki, St Martins University of the Arts
and Glamorgan University Professor of Digital Ats at Bath Spa University
2000-2007. He recently edited: New Screen Media: Cinema/Art/Narrative
(BFI/ZKM, 2002)- which combined a DVD of current research and practice
in this area together with critical essays . He was on AHRB research
leave during 2004-5 creating a new locative work for Bath Abbey called
Hosts 2006, which used mobile and positional technologies combined with
interactive sound and video and has just authored a book on Locative
Media Arts called The Mobile Audience shortly to be published by Rodopi
Commisions and Residencies include: 2007 La Trobe University Melbourne,
2006 Invideo Milan, 1997 Watershed/Cambridge Darkroom, which involved
constructing a self-curating web site and multimedia piece called
Screening the Virus, based around publicly submitted artwork on HIV/Aids
related themes. This was later short listed for a Wellcome Trust Sci-Art
award. He also directed the Media Myth and Mania section of the joint
Watershed/Artec exhibition and CD publication From Silver to Silicon.
The latter piece was shown at many venues around the world including
Milia in Cannes; Paris; ICA and the Photographer's Gallery, London and
at ISEA Montreal. Other visual research projects included the direction
of a collaboration involving five other artists (collectively known as
Ship of Fools) using the subject of mythologies to explore the full
range of narrative and visual interfaces in interactive media in a piece
called Labyrinth 1996. This work involved drama, digital image, virtual
environments, and interactive video at F-Stop Gallery in Bath and as
part of the Cheltenham Literary Festival. It has been previewed at a
number of venues including the Oberhausen Short Film festival in Germany
and at ISEA in Montreal. In 2001 his research project Triple Echo won an
AHRB award and involves a three-screen interactive video depicting a
love triangle based on the Orpheus legends.
Dr. Yanna Vogiazou (yanna.vogiazou at t-mobile.net
<mailto:yanna.vogiazou at t-mobile.net>) is an Interaction Designer at
T-Mobile International, specializing in user experience and
cross-platform media convergence. Until recently Yanna was a lecturer in
Interaction Design, Programme Leader and Course Tutor for BA/BSc
Computing & Interaction Design at the Department of Design, Goldsmiths,
University of London. She has a PhD from the Knowledge Media Institute,
Open University, UK. Yanna practices a range of research methods and
creative processes for the design of innovative interactive products,
from user-centered design workshops to concept development and prototype
evaluation. Her academic research focused on the social applications of
new media and on the process of design for emergence, exploring group
interactions and social behaviors that can emerge through unpredictable
uses of technology and how these feed back into the design process. In
the context of her PhD research, she collaborated with Hewlett Packard
Laboratories in Bristol, UK for the design and development of a
wireless, location-based multiplayer game. Yanna has published in books,
Journals and international conferences. Her PhD thesis has been
published as a book by Ios Press, titled 'Design for Emergence'. She
holds an MA in Interactive Media from the University of Westminster,
London, UK (2001) and a BA (Hons) in Communication and Media from
Panteion University of Athens, Greece (2000).
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