One of the most significant challenges to the development of a 'new media art' has been the question of ownership and its relationship to authority and authorship in online environments. Whilst this has been broadly true in relation to all areas of what we have come to call the 'cultural industries', the argument here is about how this differs and goes far more directly to the heart of the fine artist's conception of themselves and their work. Unlike music, where the rights of an artist to be rewarded for their work (often in reality a record company), or the breach of copyright through unauthorised distribution of music reflects the existing business models in these areas, the fine art experience opens new questions about what constitutes production, authorship and completion. This is especially true where the artist is seeking to use the 'new media' characteristics of the Internet, the potential for sharing and developing an art work through the participation of a user community.
This paper firstly discusses the qualities of online activity in relation to what is 'new' in 'new media', and examines the continued use of the technologies by artists to simply redress long standing disputes with the distribution models and editorial practices of 'old media'. It then seeks to identify the features of new technologies that distinguishes them from 'old media', principally the opportunities for interaction in real time, for collaboration, of skill sharing, of a wider audience that encounters work for reasons other than the contemplation of artistic work and the nature of proprietary technologies in themselves. These latter have rarely been developed specifically for artists, and often reflect the values and aims of the companies that generate them, presenting ethical and creative problems for artists who use them.
The difficulty for the artist is how to respond to this 'new' environment, given that it often runs counter to the training and practice of fine art, with its overwhelming emphasis on individual expression for the interest of gallery visitors. The difficulties artists encounter when their will and vision is not the main source of content or interest clearly creates a struggle about their relevance to the work that is produced, and often bruising encounters with technologists and user communities result. Acceding control to potential users to develop or reconfigure the data is fraught with issues from security to censorship, and often strikes directly at the intentions of artists seeking to engage in this way, and yet this is part of the online experience. For artists who identify themselves with their work as personal statement, this becomes a critical tension.
This paper draws on research at the Visualisation Research Unit (VRU) at the School of Art, Birmingham City University, and its collaboration with Eastside Projects, a new gallery located in Birmingham, on the Arts Council funded project 'EP:VV' (Eastside Projects: Virtual & Visualized). The development of an online gallery that reflects and resembles the physical space at an avant-garde gallery like Eastside and consistent with the content produced in it has thrown up important questions about the way in which arts experiences can be reproduced in the online space. The issues over how to create and curate art works that use the nature of the technologies, or represent them without simply creating 3D copies have led to difficult issues about why artists create work and who it is for in the online context.
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Visualisation for the dancer: image-based technologies as support to dancer training
Imagery in dance training has generally been a relationship between the teacher's suggestion and the dancer's imagination. With the development of technology-enabled visualisation techniques, dancers can acquire a more objective view of the movements and position of their bodies, without being distracted by extraneous information. Visualisation technologies have become accepted and standardised practice in various sporting activities, and is accepted as a method of preparing for physical activity. 1 In dance and sport there is a powerful relationship between mental and physical performance. 2 The concept of visualisation as described in many classical texts and academic papers leads the performer through an internal journey of performing the act with a view to enhancing the exterior performance which is about to be delivered. If it were possible to complement this accepted method of dancer training by creating 3 dimensional models of movement from which dancers could learn and teachers could assess training needs, visualisation as a psychological construct could potentially be made more powerful. This paper discusses the possibilities for using existing visualisation technologies to support dancer training, in particular their suitability in complementing existing visualisation techniques and teacher interaction, based on practical experiments with student dancers performing arabesques.
The arabesque position was selected for analysis as the classic movement of ballet, and one that has sufficient complexity and detail for dancers to misinterpret body positions. In addition, the temporal frame is short enough for the technologies utilised to capture the essential body movements in sufficient repetition to gauge progress. By focussing on the Arabesque, the researchers were aware that most of the action takes place outside of the line of sight, potentially giving clear results of the effectiveness or otherwise of the combination of instruction and visual feedback.
The arabesque position was selected for analysis as the classic movement of ballet, and one that has sufficient complexity and detail for dancers to misinterpret body positions. In addition, the temporal frame is short enough for the technologies utilised to capture the essential body movements in sufficient repetition to gauge progress. By focussing on the Arabesque, the researchers were aware that most of the action takes place outside of the line of sight, potentially giving clear results of the effectiveness or otherwise of the combination of instruction and visual feedback.
Monday, 15 December 2008
Putting Your Foot Down: the Aesthetics of Latency
Paper presentation proposal, Dr. Gregory Sporton & Tychonas Michailidis, Visualisation Research Unit, Department of Art, Birmingham City University.
Traditionally, latency is considered as a problem in performance contexts, and nowhere has this been more apparent than in the use of the Internet for networked-based performance. The absence of latency in stand-alone computers contrasts with the experience of networked performance, creating ambivalence about the role the network can play in computer-based sonic and visual art.
This paper suggest that rather than being a problem for the digital artist, latency is an inherent property of the network, and as such is one of the determining features of the creative space. This demands that creative practitioners account in their work for latency as a creative and aesthetic aspect of digital arts practice.
The opportunities are more apparent when it comes to live performances or interactive installation using technology. Hardware communication, long cables and networking produce significant latency that does not respond instantly to the performance or installation situation. We discuss, through practical demonstration, not how to reduce latency to the minimum but rather how to use latency as a creative and aesthetic property within the presentation structure. Creativity through latency is exploited by suspending the expectations of what we experience visually, aurally and sensually.
We approach the aesthetics of latency in two ways. Firstly we examine the effect of different latencies by delaying the audio from the visual and vice versa. Secondly, we look at the effects of latency in audio-haptic domain. By examining the areas above we present some alternative approaches in digital creativity practice, experiencing latency from an audience perspective as well as the challenges for the performer.
Traditionally, latency is considered as a problem in performance contexts, and nowhere has this been more apparent than in the use of the Internet for networked-based performance. The absence of latency in stand-alone computers contrasts with the experience of networked performance, creating ambivalence about the role the network can play in computer-based sonic and visual art.
This paper suggest that rather than being a problem for the digital artist, latency is an inherent property of the network, and as such is one of the determining features of the creative space. This demands that creative practitioners account in their work for latency as a creative and aesthetic aspect of digital arts practice.
The opportunities are more apparent when it comes to live performances or interactive installation using technology. Hardware communication, long cables and networking produce significant latency that does not respond instantly to the performance or installation situation. We discuss, through practical demonstration, not how to reduce latency to the minimum but rather how to use latency as a creative and aesthetic property within the presentation structure. Creativity through latency is exploited by suspending the expectations of what we experience visually, aurally and sensually.
We approach the aesthetics of latency in two ways. Firstly we examine the effect of different latencies by delaying the audio from the visual and vice versa. Secondly, we look at the effects of latency in audio-haptic domain. By examining the areas above we present some alternative approaches in digital creativity practice, experiencing latency from an audience perspective as well as the challenges for the performer.
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Writing with Her Body: Transference of Movement, Spectacle and Meaning through Technology
Writing with Her Body: Transference of Movement, Spectacle and Meaning through Technology
When the American dancer Loie Fuller first appeared in Paris, she created a sensation. Her performances combined her graceful physical presence with the latest in stage technology, including lighting devices and gel colours (for which she often owned patents), augmented by prosthetics and vast quantities of silk that extended her body and the flow of her movement. The Symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé, inspired by her performance, described her as 'writing with her body' providing a rich starting point for the transference of literary concepts into performance.
Drawing on practical research work in networked art-making and motion capture developed by the Visualisation Research Unit at the School of Art, Birmingham City University, this presentation deals with the issues that arise when the moving body combines with technology to create new meaning to Mallarmé's phrase.
When the American dancer Loie Fuller first appeared in Paris, she created a sensation. Her performances combined her graceful physical presence with the latest in stage technology, including lighting devices and gel colours (for which she often owned patents), augmented by prosthetics and vast quantities of silk that extended her body and the flow of her movement. The Symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé, inspired by her performance, described her as 'writing with her body' providing a rich starting point for the transference of literary concepts into performance.
Drawing on practical research work in networked art-making and motion capture developed by the Visualisation Research Unit at the School of Art, Birmingham City University, this presentation deals with the issues that arise when the moving body combines with technology to create new meaning to Mallarmé's phrase.
Friday, 8 February 2008
In the Service of the State: Art and Politics in the Soviet Union
A presentation on the impact and influence of the political changes in the Soviet Union on the Arts community from 1917-1940.
When the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917 they inspired a generation of young Russian artists. These artists were looking for practical ways to contribute to the new polity that would eventually become the Soviet Union, and to express the radical ideas of the revolution through their creative activities. The Soviets for their part placed great emphasis on culture, providing funding for many artists and developing many important cultural institutions. The dynamism of this outpouring of creativity waned as Stalin rose to power through the late 1920s, with attacks on formalism and individualism in the Arts restricting artistic activities and modes of expression. This presentation is about the role of the arts during the period 1917-1940, and the consequences that arise when all art has of necessity a political character.
Keywords: politics, russia, constructivism, aesthetics
Stream: Social, Political and Community Agendas in the Arts
Presentation Type: 30 minute Paper Presentation in English
When the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917 they inspired a generation of young Russian artists. These artists were looking for practical ways to contribute to the new polity that would eventually become the Soviet Union, and to express the radical ideas of the revolution through their creative activities. The Soviets for their part placed great emphasis on culture, providing funding for many artists and developing many important cultural institutions. The dynamism of this outpouring of creativity waned as Stalin rose to power through the late 1920s, with attacks on formalism and individualism in the Arts restricting artistic activities and modes of expression. This presentation is about the role of the arts during the period 1917-1940, and the consequences that arise when all art has of necessity a political character.
Keywords: politics, russia, constructivism, aesthetics
Stream: Social, Political and Community Agendas in the Arts
Presentation Type: 30 minute Paper Presentation in English
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Thursday, 23 August 2007
Visualising and Reality
'Visualisation' (or 'visualization') is, it seems, a difficult and problematic word. It is worth clarifying the meanings that have developed in various research contexts because of the potential for confusion in its application, and also to note a distinction in how this word is applied differently in different research environments. This is important because of the increasing overlapping of disciplines for which this word is a frequent verb and sometimes a noun, but also because the different methods of inquiry of some of these areas is intellectually incommensurate, however visually satisfying or apparently adjacent the supporting technology may be.
For a start, it is difficult to spell. 'Visualization', an Americanism that appears to mean the same thing, is somewhat rampant in its application by British-based colleagues whom I hope will excuse my use of the English spelling. There may, however, be a case for developing a distinction that we might base on the spelling if only clarify our intentions when invoking it as a concept. This is because of the crude duality of its meaning to scientists and artists. For artists, whether they work in digital technologies or not , 'visualisation' suggests the reification of a vision, to visualise an idea or a thought according to their expressive needs. Artists refer to 'visualisation' or 'visualising' as a verb, the act of art-making or image creation. For those using the word in this way, the assumption of a visualisation practice is to bring into being something new and original. Their concerns are based on whether the resulting image, or the successive approximations they are developing, contain the spirit of their idea, and genuinely represent their 'vision'; the motivation for making the art or image in the first place.
In the scientific world the word is used quite differently. The 'visualisation' process is also a product, given that 'visualisation' in the domain of science often seeks to create a comprehensible model of an otherwise complex subject. 'Visualisation' becomes the way in which scientific information can be communicated, sometimes with dramatic consequences or in crucial situations. The purpose of 'visualisation' in this context is less to do with originality and more to do with fidelity to a research concept or a body of evidence. 'Visualisation' technologies are employed at the point where the data is too complex for users to grasp or master quickly without support, or where the conditions are too unstable or remote to allow for the proper time for contemplation. Given the impressive data volumes that can now be extracted from single molecule for example, 'visualisation' is an important tool in presenting research outcomes and making them accessible. The most famous of these examples remains the DNA double helix, extrapolated from Watson & Crick's stick and ball models in their famous 1953 paper. It is interesting to note the differences between Watson & Crick's original physical model and any of the vast number of visualisations made of DNA since, of which a few examples are illustrated.![]()
The original DNA model by Subsequent 2D models freely available online.
Watson and Crick.
Photo: Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory Archives
A 'visualisation', using the word as a noun, is intended to clarify the research process by accurately rendering something into visual form. It is meant to provide a model of reality, and when it fails in this task it is thought to be thoroughly useless. For the scientist then, the reliability of the visualisation depends on the accuracy of the data that supports it and the fidelity of the translation of that data into a visual form.
These two applications of this word in the research environment lead to some questions about what and how we make 'visualisations', in either definition. The most pressing appears to be something well known to artists about the visual world and where their expertise can be of significant value to the 'visualisation community'. The capacity to be deceived by what we see is a quality exploited in the visual arts for some time. However, the very portability of visual systems to a large number of paradigms creates an illusion of usefulness. The accuracy of the DNA model cannot be assessed by recourse to the beauty of its structure or it's use of colour (normally the satisfying primaries plus green) to validate how things are in reality. In this I am reminded of the excellent model of the Melnikov House, made by ParallelGraphics and available to view at:
http://www.parallelgraphics.com/products/isb/examples/melnikov/
provenance, there is an implicit suggestion that somehow there is a specific state of This demonstration of the 3D graphics that can be developed with Cortona is hugely impressive, and must have seemed an excellent subject for demonstrating Cortona's utility in bringing understanding to an otherwise obscure, yet deserving, architectural monument. Melnikov's famous house in central Moscow is not particularly accessible, has suffered from lack of maintenance and is squeezed between other apartment blocks all around, and on a narrow little street. In the Cortona version, the viewer can manipulate the building at will, or change their own perspective of the site, flying through walls and floors, looking down ceilings and tilting the building in all kinds of ways. The problem with this usage of visualisation technologies is two-fold. First, they are convincing enough in detail and experience to appear to render a site inspection obsolete, and secondly that they suggest a way of experiencing the building that is simply not possible. In the first case, many of the details are actually incorrect or based on supposition. Even if the data source can be given a proper provenance, and thus authority to represent, the representation suggests a finite state to Melnikov's building, and we know from his writing that this simply is not the case, with moveable windows and floors. One of the issues is that unlike the pristine presentation of the model, a building must exist in a physical location that is effectively changing it. The relative instability of this, in relation to a representation of an absolute state in a visualisation, suggests the misrepresentation of the building as an entity. Secondly, the problem with visual representations without the constraints of the physical world is that they can mislead us about what it is like to stand there in front of a building, or walk its stairs or see it from the angles it's architect anticipated when he designed it. Melnikov's visualisation of an architectural concept gives rise to misinterpretations through the technology of visualisation, an especially dangerous situation should the visuals be quite so convincing as they are here, replacing the complicated experience of actually going to Moscow and getting to see it in person.
In all these approaches, it is striking to note the authority of digital technology in determining our view of the world in general and of the visualised one in particular. The complexities of the technologies and their flexibility in application lead us, as viewers hopelessly well trained by television, into believing that what we see is a more accurate representation of the world than the world itself might present. Visualisation is invariably used as suggested above, when the data is too complex or the situation too remote for our first hand assessment of the reality that it purports to represent. When it does so, it creates a persuasive and plausible argument in and of itself that it has been capable of capturing the data that can give us a model of reality. As has been suggested here, this is sometimes not quite what it seems, and that what we really have is the reality of the model and the model-making process in front of us. The visual arts, with its rich experience of understanding the impressions made by visuality, has much to offer the complex practices of 'visualisation', in terms of helping to apply a critical eye to the representations of the world around us as they manifest in the powerful and persuasive technologies of visualisation.
Gregory Sporton
August 2007
'Visualisation' (or 'visualization') is, it seems, a difficult and problematic word. It is worth clarifying the meanings that have developed in various research contexts because of the potential for confusion in its application, and also to note a distinction in how this word is applied differently in different research environments. This is important because of the increasing overlapping of disciplines for which this word is a frequent verb and sometimes a noun, but also because the different methods of inquiry of some of these areas is intellectually incommensurate, however visually satisfying or apparently adjacent the supporting technology may be.
For a start, it is difficult to spell. 'Visualization', an Americanism that appears to mean the same thing, is somewhat rampant in its application by British-based colleagues whom I hope will excuse my use of the English spelling. There may, however, be a case for developing a distinction that we might base on the spelling if only clarify our intentions when invoking it as a concept. This is because of the crude duality of its meaning to scientists and artists. For artists, whether they work in digital technologies or not , 'visualisation' suggests the reification of a vision, to visualise an idea or a thought according to their expressive needs. Artists refer to 'visualisation' or 'visualising' as a verb, the act of art-making or image creation. For those using the word in this way, the assumption of a visualisation practice is to bring into being something new and original. Their concerns are based on whether the resulting image, or the successive approximations they are developing, contain the spirit of their idea, and genuinely represent their 'vision'; the motivation for making the art or image in the first place.
In the scientific world the word is used quite differently. The 'visualisation' process is also a product, given that 'visualisation' in the domain of science often seeks to create a comprehensible model of an otherwise complex subject. 'Visualisation' becomes the way in which scientific information can be communicated, sometimes with dramatic consequences or in crucial situations. The purpose of 'visualisation' in this context is less to do with originality and more to do with fidelity to a research concept or a body of evidence. 'Visualisation' technologies are employed at the point where the data is too complex for users to grasp or master quickly without support, or where the conditions are too unstable or remote to allow for the proper time for contemplation. Given the impressive data volumes that can now be extracted from single molecule for example, 'visualisation' is an important tool in presenting research outcomes and making them accessible. The most famous of these examples remains the DNA double helix, extrapolated from Watson & Crick's stick and ball models in their famous 1953 paper. It is interesting to note the differences between Watson & Crick's original physical model and any of the vast number of visualisations made of DNA since, of which a few examples are illustrated.
Watson and Crick.
Photo: Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory Archives
These two applications of this word in the research environment lead to some questions about what and how we make 'visualisations', in either definition. The most pressing appears to be something well known to artists about the visual world and where their expertise can be of significant value to the 'visualisation community'. The capacity to be deceived by what we see is a quality exploited in the visual arts for some time. However, the very portability of visual systems to a large number of paradigms creates an illusion of usefulness. The accuracy of the DNA model cannot be assessed by recourse to the beauty of its structure or it's use of colour (normally the satisfying primaries plus green) to validate how things are in reality. In this I am reminded of the excellent model of the Melnikov House, made by ParallelGraphics and available to view at:
http://www.parallelgraphics.com/products/isb/examples/melnikov/
provenance, there is an implicit suggestion that somehow there is a specific state of This demonstration of the 3D graphics that can be developed with Cortona is hugely impressive, and must have seemed an excellent subject for demonstrating Cortona's utility in bringing understanding to an otherwise obscure, yet deserving, architectural monument. Melnikov's famous house in central Moscow is not particularly accessible, has suffered from lack of maintenance and is squeezed between other apartment blocks all around, and on a narrow little street. In the Cortona version, the viewer can manipulate the building at will, or change their own perspective of the site, flying through walls and floors, looking down ceilings and tilting the building in all kinds of ways. The problem with this usage of visualisation technologies is two-fold. First, they are convincing enough in detail and experience to appear to render a site inspection obsolete, and secondly that they suggest a way of experiencing the building that is simply not possible. In the first case, many of the details are actually incorrect or based on supposition. Even if the data source can be given a proper provenance, and thus authority to represent, the representation suggests a finite state to Melnikov's building, and we know from his writing that this simply is not the case, with moveable windows and floors. One of the issues is that unlike the pristine presentation of the model, a building must exist in a physical location that is effectively changing it. The relative instability of this, in relation to a representation of an absolute state in a visualisation, suggests the misrepresentation of the building as an entity. Secondly, the problem with visual representations without the constraints of the physical world is that they can mislead us about what it is like to stand there in front of a building, or walk its stairs or see it from the angles it's architect anticipated when he designed it. Melnikov's visualisation of an architectural concept gives rise to misinterpretations through the technology of visualisation, an especially dangerous situation should the visuals be quite so convincing as they are here, replacing the complicated experience of actually going to Moscow and getting to see it in person.
In all these approaches, it is striking to note the authority of digital technology in determining our view of the world in general and of the visualised one in particular. The complexities of the technologies and their flexibility in application lead us, as viewers hopelessly well trained by television, into believing that what we see is a more accurate representation of the world than the world itself might present. Visualisation is invariably used as suggested above, when the data is too complex or the situation too remote for our first hand assessment of the reality that it purports to represent. When it does so, it creates a persuasive and plausible argument in and of itself that it has been capable of capturing the data that can give us a model of reality. As has been suggested here, this is sometimes not quite what it seems, and that what we really have is the reality of the model and the model-making process in front of us. The visual arts, with its rich experience of understanding the impressions made by visuality, has much to offer the complex practices of 'visualisation', in terms of helping to apply a critical eye to the representations of the world around us as they manifest in the powerful and persuasive technologies of visualisation.
Gregory Sporton
August 2007
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