[Open Source Embroidery: Craft and Code at HTTP Gallery]

Ele Carpenter, a digital-textile artist who I interviewed for Furtherfield, is curating a super exhibition. It's a must-see:

Preview: Friday 16th May 6-9pm, 17th May – 15th June 2008

Open Fridays to Sundays 12-5pm

http://www.http.uk.net/

This exhibition explores the connections between the collaborative characteristics of needlework, craft and Open Source software. This project has brought together embroiderers, patch-workers, knitters, artists and computer programmers, to share their practice and make new work.

HTML Patchwork in
progress

The centre-piece of the exhibition at HTTP Gallery is the HTML Patchwork developed in response to the popularity of quilting in Sheffield, the result of a participatory project initiated by Ele Carpenter in partnership with Access Space. The patchwork is built on open principles of collective production and skill-share where each person contributes a part to the whole. The final work is a collectively stitched patchwork quilt of HTML web-safe colours with embroidered codes, and a wiki website, where the makers of each patch identify themselves and write about their sewing process. Each patch is
personalised by the sewer, often including embroidered web addresses.

telinit Ø: time for bed, Lisa Wallbank, 2007
Knitted Blog (detail),
Suzanne Hardy, 2006-

In an interview with Jess Laccetti, Ele Carpenter said about the project: "The same arguments about Open Source vs Free Software can be applied to embroidery. The needlework crafts also have to negotiate the principles of 'freedom' to create, modify and distribute, within the cultural and economic constraints of capitalism. The Open Source Embroidery project simply attempts to provide a social and practical way of discussing the issues and trying out the practice. Free Software, Open Source, amateur and professional embroiderers and programmers are welcome to contribute to the project."

Hexart GDlib Script Error, digital print on canvas, James Wallbank,
2007
Weaving network cable in progress, Paul Grimmer, 2007

The project was developed by Ele Carpenter when working as an artist in residence at Access Space in Sheffield and Isis Arts in Newcastle upon Tyne. Access Space is an open access media lab using recycled computers and open source software. Anyone can drop in and use the lab to develop their creative projects.

The exhibition at HTTP Gallery in Harringay, North London, includes works by 11 artists and makers alongside the collectively made HTML Patchwork quilt and wiki. Other works in the exhibition include Susanne Hardy’s Knit-a-Blog, a collective knitting project made by contributors from across the UK and USA, Iain Clarke’s PHP Embroidery, which explores the open source PHP programming language as a form of self-generating weaving, as well as artworks by Paul Grimmer, Tricia Grindrod, Jake Harries & Keith o’Faoláin, John Keenan, Trevor Pitt, Clare Ruddock, James Wallbank, and Lisa Wallbank.

The HTML Patchwork has been created by people at: Access Space, Art through Textiles, The Patchwork Garden, The Fat Quarters, Stocksbridge Knit n Chat, Totley Quilters, Isis Arts, and the Banff New Media Institute at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Alberta, Canada.

Events at HTTP

Preview
Your chance to meet Ele Carpenter, the curator as well of some of the other exhibiting artists, to enjoy a few drinks and conversations about the exhibition.

Open Knitting and Embroidery
evenings
Dates and times TBC

Bring your knits, your embroidery and your friends for tea, biscuits and conversation amongst the artworks.

These events are open to the public and entrance is free, however advanced booking is necessary.

Contact:
Lauren Wright,
HTTP Gallery
lauren@furtherfield.org

HTTP
Gallery
http://www.http.uk.net/
Unit A2,
Arena Design Centre
71 Ashfield Road
London N4 1LD
+44(0)79 8129
2734
Click here for map
and location details

Further info:
www.open-source-embroidery.org.uk
www.eleweekend.blogspot.com
www.access-space.org

[transliteracy workshop today]

Today is the day!

Following on from last year's transliteracy unconference we're holding a transliteracy workshop. Last year the vote was to have a day where we could put into practise our ideas of transliteracy in order to *make* transliterate objects.

We have piles of string, coloured papers, digital cameras, computers, scanners, robot lego, old answering machines, playstation and more.

As a reminder, the definition of transliteracy (so far) that we're using is:

"The ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks."

The aim of making transliterate objects will help us understand *why* something is transliterate as right now we seem to have an innate idea of what transliteracy is but how to we begin to describe it in words, images, sounds etc...?

more on the PART blog.

[new media art and and and]

I've just been reading Oliver Grau's "Integrating Media Art into our Culture" published in the most recent issue (22) of a minima magazine. He begins his article with reference to something that seems (to me) to be a kind of new media and culture/theory/concept/history etc... tag cloud (though the information/keywords seem to be based on analyses of Ars Electronica rather than *new media* at large):

"Hundreds of names of artists, thousands of artworks, art trends, theory of media art in keywords, presented in an enormous huge circle (please visit http://www.asa.de/research/kontext). (1) Thirty-two slices are offered as a subdivision into themes, like representation, emotion and synaesthesia, the material issue in art, atmosphere, games, therapy, mission, art as spatial experience we find glimpses of a history of media art."

Gerhard Dirmoser and ASA-European are the creators behind this map and they've made accessible "ca. 32 views in context of live, social relations, society, arts of humanities, philosophical relations, personal identities, body examinations, and so on;90 definitions of performance art and performing arts, hundred of names from artists and literature, titles from exemplary books in this 32 views."

The ASA site's own poster let's users click on various parts which lead to zoomed in sections of information. A *map* like this would be interesting in terms of transliteracy; to track its contexts and relations, developments...

[collaborative writing]

Thanks to Gavin for updating me on his cool new project.

Last year I blogged about Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan's "The Age of Conversation--a precedent-setting collaborative book by 103 authors hailing from every U.S. time zone, Canada, Australia, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, India and Oman."

This year Gavin and Drew are embarking on another collaborative (cooperative) writing project. The "kissing cousing" of last year's "book" has now title (yet) and not topic. We (as in readers of Drew and Gavin's blogs etc...) have been asked to vote on the topic via surveymonkey. Choice are between three:

• Marketing Manifesto


• Why Don't People Get It?


• My Marketing Tragedy (and what I learned)

If you would like to be involved you can begin by voting on the topic and then you can get your skates on and e-mail Drew about flexing your qwerty fingers.

Some basics for authoring hopefuls:

You will sign over all rights to your chapter

You understand that all proceeds of the book will be donated to Variety, the Children's Charity

You will promote the book, throughout the process, on your blog if you have one

You'll embrace the cooperative, collaborative spirit that defined Age of Conversation

You'll honor deadlines so Drew does not have to be a nag

You'll honor word counts so Gavin doesn't have to be a nag

[now...on to making something]

For my ph.d thesis I spent the whole time thinking about, interacting with, writing about, and reading web works. Now I'd like to start making something. Of course, I'm no writer and I don't consider myself creative but I have an idea...I'm going to *try* to create a hypertext version of a published essay (I won't say which yet but the author of the essay has agreed to the project)...I'd love to do something as visual as Adriene Jenik Mauve Desert: A CD-ROM Translation of Nicole Brossard's Le Désert Mauve.

There is so much more to learn...about manipulating images and sounds and video. Wow. If anyone has any tips on what I should be looking at and where...do lemme know (or e-mail if you prefer). I would like to become more adept with Flash...but suggestions are welcome.