I started a new Maybe Logic Academy class called Share This Course! by/with Mark Pesce. the outcome of the class is to learn more about sharing and to write a collaborative book called Share this Book. so far it's week1 and the discussions have been great. there's a amazing range of talented people who've joined up so it'll be interesting to see what comes of the project - there's academics, IT/computer people, writers, students, artists. we're reading related articles & having discussions. feel free to join in if you like? this class is using a new (for me anyway @ MLA) pay-what-you-like model.

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here's the info from the Share this Course site's About page :
Share This Course! is an experiment in creative collaboration. We're working together to understand how the sharing technologies and culture of the early 21st century can be applied to the specific task of creating a book which talks about this new world of shared culture, knowledge and power, a book titled Share This Book.

We started our journey on 21 November 2009 and expect to be well into it through at least the middle of February 2010. This blog is our main gathering point, where we meet to discuss, to debate, to create and to produce. If you’d like to join us, please register on the blog and dive in!

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Rupert Howe, the amazing & enthusiastic videoblogger is running a video project. he's invited artists & people to create a video based on two videos made by other participants. for my video I wanted to practice using Processing so I wrote a (very basic) program which allowed me to "paint" with one video on top of the other, whilst drawing thin lines on the screen & between the videos as a way to link them together. my inspiration videos were made by Ryanne Hodson and Kevin Buckstiegel.

attached is the final version of the processing patch file I made, and also the initial version (& also here)

the inspiration / thoughts I had whilst watching the source videos :

atoms of life remuxed together
codes building blocks
diving into the infinite universe of code & atoms
video painting
interactive - controlled by mouse movements & 2 videos affecting each other (when creating the video, not playing)
lines draw points between the two - connecting them too

initially I used the audio from Kevin's source video but I wasn't sure if he'd made it so wasn't sure how to reference it properly (it was part music & part muffled conversations from what I could tell), then I read some emails about Stan Brakhage on frameworks and remembered the readings / viewings I'd done of his work when I was looking into Len Lye's work, so remembered he used to create videos with no sound as "visual thinking". so I've left the final version having no sound track (not quite a lumiere though) as a homage to his amazing work.

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I had some problems uploading the videos to youtube - the drawn lines turned from thin straight lines into aliased dotted lines. the video looked OK if played from my own webserver, but really bad from youtube.

Rupert sent me some conversion tips :
1. save as .divx & upload
2. use the settings below for mp4

Don't upload at 640x480 - upload at 480 x 360
Use the following settings:
H264 encoding
.mp4 not .mov
480x360
Bitrate: 12000 (really!)
Framerate: 29.97
Audio Codec mpeg4aac auto bitrate
Stereo 48000 sample rate

this is the .mp4 sample video using Rupert's mp4 settings : this video looked OK

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I also tried re-making the video using linewidth=2 (instead of default which is 1) & exporting as divx in QT pro. this looked OK. I ended up using this video for my project submission (well, this video with 10 seconds of black added to the end & no sound, so technically the final one is based on this version..) the final versio came out at 42 seconds duration - which is not 23 but 42 is a good number for life ;)

drawing divx test
line width=2 divx version

the I heart Kings Cross project has been installed into Fitzroy Gardens & surrounding streets in Kings Cross, Sydney. it looks amazing! it took a week to install & they used a tall ladder and a crane.

the knits seem to blend in to their surroundings well & at the same time brighten up the streets. I took waaay too many photos but I couldn't stop look at the detail and volume of amazing work. incredible! I couldn't stop staring at the detail of the stitches. I had to wait for my sister to arrive so I had some time after the launch to listen & watch some of the people's responses - everyone seemed to love it! they were taking turns having photos on Jade's knitted chair, and in front of the trees' branches and next to Zoe's circle piece on the sculpture & the I heart Kings Cross logo as well as staring up at the tall tree pieces.

http://www.aliak.com/content/i-heart-kings-x-project-opening-day = (this) blog post
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aliak_com/tags/iheartkingscross = photos
http://bit.ly/19jFKo = slideshow movie of the photos

thanks to Reef Knot - especially Michelle McCosker, for organizing everything and letting me contribute. was a lot of fun. I hope they keep me informed of any future projects!

video @ archive.org page

photos

slideshow movie of flickr photos

some highlights

& the pieces I made :
the rainbow blanket & pink scribble lace (Debbie New pattern) ...

the red section under the frilly knot hole ...

and the bucky fuller inspired triangles & different stitches ...

The VROOM website is a growing online database of Australian Venues available for touring bands to search and use. Both metropolitan cities and rural towns' venues are available. visit http://www.vroom.net.au for more details

from the VROOM About Us page :
# The following information is available about all venues; technical and production specifications, music genre preferred (and on which night), licensing arrangements, capacity, noise restrictions, accommodation, booking contact details etc
# The types of venues listed will include licensed and unlicensed venues (i.e. bars, cafes, restaurants, clubs, universities community centres, ovals, PCYCs, and entertainment centres) and cover all genres of original contemporary music

Aesthetica is looking for entries to the 2009 International Aesthetica Creative Works Competition. The 2008 Competition was a successful springboard for artists’ careers around the globe.

The Aesthetica Creative Works Competition: Artwork, Photography & Sculpture, Fiction and Poetry
Three winners will be awarded £500 each
All finalists will be published in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual, in stores December 2009
Entry to the 2009 Aesthetica Creative Works Competition is £10
This allows you to submit up to 5 images, 5 poems or 2 short stClosing date to receive Creative Works is 31 August 2009

The winners and finalists from last year, went on to secure further exhibitions, commissions and publications. The winners and finalists were published in the Aesthetica Annual. It's a great opportunity to bring your work to a wider audience.

USE YOUR TALENTS TO EXPAND THE GENE POOL

Charles Darwin discovers social networking! Salute the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, and the 150th anniversary of The Origin of Species, by sharing your adventurous vision of evolution and mutation in Gene Pool (pool.org.au/genepool).

Gene Pool takes evolution way beyond survival of the fittest, sex and the 'selfish gene', or scientists in lab coats. Cultures and ideas mutate too. Contribute a poem, story, photo or tribute, or perhaps a home movie or mini-documentary, a piece of music or field recording. Use other people's contributions to create your own recombinations, mash-ups, mutations, mixes and musings - or slice, dice and remix gems from the ABC archives - Gene Pool is full of possibilities.

In an ABC first, Gene Pool releases content from the ABC's archives under a Creative Commons licence so it's free for you to download and rework however you wish.

Renew Newcastle is a not for profit company limited by guarantee. Renew Newcastle has been established to find short and medium term uses for buildings in Newcastle's CBD that are currently vacant, disused, or awaiting redevelopment.

Renew Newcastle aims to find artists, cultural projects and community groups to use and maintain these buildings until they become commercially viable or are redeveloped. Renew Newcastle is not set up to manage long term uses, own properties or permanently develop sites but to generate activity in buildings until that future long term activity happens.

Renew Newcastle was founded to help solve the problem of Newcastle's empty CBD. While the long term prospects for the redevelopment of Newcastle's CBD are good, in the meantime many sites are boarded up, falling apart, vandalised or decaying because there is no short term use for them and no one taking responsibility for them.

Renew Newcastle has been set up to clean up these buildings and get the city active and used again.

-- info from Renew Newcastle About page

visit http://renewnewcastle.org for more details

The Sydney Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef - In the interest of contributing to the world wide phenomenon initiated by The Institute For Figuring, In Stitches Collective is facilitating the creation of a Sydney Coral Reef. We invite you to participate in this woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and craft, a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world.

The reef was inspired by geometric models of hyperbolic space, originally developed by mathematician Dr Daina Taimina in 1997, using the art of crochet. Until that time most mathematicians had believed it was impossible to construct physical models of hyperbolic forms, yet nature had been doing just that for hundreds of millions of years. It turns out that many marine organisms embody hyperbolic geometry, among them kelps, corals, sponges and nudibranchs. The IFF reef not only looks like an actual coral reef, it draws on the same underlying geometry endemic in the oceanic realm.

The Crochet Coral Reef is a collective and collaborative experience created by The Institute For Figuring (IFF) directors Margaret and Christine Wertheim (www.theiff.org). The project not only draws attention to the beauty and fragility of the coral reef (an ecosystem system most vulnerable to the effects of climate change), but also links communities through science, mathematics, art & craft.

In Stitches Collective are holding a workshop at 2pm on the 21st of Feb at 44 Little Oxford Street, Darlinghurst (behind Taylor Square on the Surry Hills side). visit http://sydneyreef.blogspot.com for more details

The IFF site has instructions for you to build your own hyperbolic plane

One suggestion is to use plastic bags instead of yarn as another method of recycling them. the gooseflesh blog has a plastic bag yarn tutorial on how to reuse plastic bags as yarn.

Narghile is an AV performance project of Brisbane's video & sound artist Lloyd Barrett. Lloyd has also worked using the name Secret Killer of Names / SKON. I googled N4rgh1l3 and found some video works. absolutely amazing! he mentioned he uses Isadora. it's amazing what he gets the program to do - if only I could get it to do half as much I'd be happy!!

this is a video piece submitted for the surface mapping projection at the Queensland Library at the Opening of the "Game On" exhibition (early arcade games & consoles). I went to this exhibition during Christmas holidays - it was great. unfortunately I didn't attend the Opening night as I was interstate. plenty of fathers showing their sons the games they played when younger. visitors were allowed to play the games, and they could read a bit about the history & background of the games. the Japanese 'dating' games was a new one to me!

http://www.vimeo.com/2393663

N4rgh1l3: Game On surface mapping projection from Andrew Thomson on Vimeo

Narghile v0.01 part 1 : Part one of two. First performance of Narghile's new audio visual processing processy thing. Videos made from still images and DV footage taken by the artists and processed live by Isadora and extra audio processing by Audio mulch and a Chaos Pad.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=4cy9Byqofhs

(read more to see videos)

NaVloPoMo - National Vlog Posting Month 2007 is a project where people from around the world posted one video each day in November

the videos were hosted on ning.com.

mefeedia also collated the navlopomo07 videos

my videos from this project are on this site (aliak.com) using the navlopomo07 tag / category

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2008
my 2008 VloMo08 videos are on aliak.com using the VloMo08 category / tag

VloMo08 - Videoblogging Month 2008 has started now that November is here. People from around the world are posting videos on the VloMo08 site

my first post this month is the Strawberry Fields Strawberry looking for lost clubs in the Valley video - it was filmed in Brisbane whilst I was on holidays there on 09/10/2008, but I think it's a nice way to start VloMo08.

http://blip.tv/file/1417068

a quick spur of the moment video since there was a strawberry in the Valley. it made an appearance at the Reunion party with Vision Four 5

The Re-Cycle Wallah blog outlines a project to attempt to redesign the Indian cycle rickshaws in Ahmedabad with aims of "lowering human exertion by at least 30% and lower maintenance whilst keeping prototyping cost under re.5000; the outcome retail price is also to be under re.5000(around $125). Simultaneously providing a micro-credit loan scheme so the riders can own their own rickshaw rather than renting from a middle man." they are interested in ideas and feedback - you can post a reply to one of the articles on their site.

I visited the Sticky Institute in Melbourne yesterday and bought a few zines and recorded a video asking the team a few basic questions about zines. The store has a wide selection of zines, and there's a membership / mail list where you can sign up and receive zines in the mail. If you're a zine-writer, you can contact the store and have them stock your zines. Their website also includes an impressive "Zineopedia" of Melbourne based zines which is a great resource for anyone wanting to find out more about zines. Though the best way would be to visit the store if you're in Melbourne, their website if you're not in Melbourne, or a local zine-festival and buy & read some zines. Or even better, start your own!

visit http://www.stickyinstitute.com for more details
store details :
Sticky Institute
Degraves St Subway
Shop 10 Campbell Arcade Melbourne
stickyshop @ gmail.com (remove the spaces)
(if you're not from Melbourne like me, it's opposite the train station on Flinders St, about half way (Flinders between Swanston & Elizabeth) - go downstairs towards the station subway and you'll see it)

PO Box 310 Flinders Lane Vic Australia 8009

One of the zines I bought was the "Anyone can.. " zine (anyone can make a zine) which launched the same day by the City Library Street Press. The City Library Street Press are quite active, having a few projects on the go and regular meetings at the library for zinesters and writers to get involved with. The "Anyone can.." zine also includes a MAP of Melbourne city showing writers & zinester spots of interest eg libraries, stores, artist spaces.

I also bought Anna Poletti's book "Intimate Ephemera : Reading Young Lives in Australian Zine Culture" whilst at Sticky. I've been to some of her panel sessions at the National Young Writers Festival in Newcastle & Critical Animals as part of This is Not Art (TiNA) over the years, so was glad to find her PhD book in the store too. The book is also available as an e-book (pdf) or d-book (pod / print on demand) from Melbourne University Publishing e-store

I haven't finished the book yet, but here's one passage about what a zine is [pg 11-12] :

"Personal zines do not share many of the characteristics of he texts that make up the bulk of sources studied in literary or cultural studies and, more specifically, scholarship on auto/biography. Of central importance to these non-traditional texts is the fact that sines are not mass-produced; they are not published by a professional publishing house, and thus not 'sanctioned as significant by [their] status as a mass produced commodity' (Huff 510). Moreover, zines are not easily available, do not participate in standardised modes of presentation and distribution, and are not well recognised within literary communities or among the reading (most commonly constituted as 'book-buying') public. Zines are homemade, ephermeral and amateur. They circulate among communities of readers through the mail, in out-of-the-way spaces, and are passed around hand-to-hand among social groups. They are also non-traditional because of the modes of emplotment that characterise them; in the case of personal zines, we find a unique mixture of established modes of life writing, such as the diary, alongside zine-specific narratives such as cut'n'paste collage. These material and textual idiosyncranasies challenge the literary critic to practise 'connected reading', which Gillian Whitlock describes as a practice which 'pulls at the loose threads of autobiography, and uses them to make sutures between, across and among autobiographical narratives' (Intimate Empire 204)".

I also like this definition by Richard A Stoddart and Teresa Kiser in Poletti's book [pg 27]
"Zines are a written product of the human need for self-expression. Beyond that, zines are hard to define."

on page 7-8, Poletti gives Duncombe's list for a 'zine taxonomy'. I thought this was very similar to the original definitions of video blogs when they'd first started (video blogs came after zines of course!) - my attempt was this video blog mind map before I realised it was crazy to try and define all the combinations - a simple all encompassing definition of 'video on a blog' was more appropriate, and did it matter anyway.. every now and then the videoblogging list starts up a new 'what is a video blog' thread - I suppose it is the same for all sub-communities that are less commonly known / new. the response below also reminds me of the videoblogging list arguments towards a simpler definition (or no definition), and at least a step away from a taxonomy.

"genres of zines: fanzines (broken down into subcategories by subject, that is music and sports), political zines, personal zines, scene zines (covering local and community events in the zinester's area), network zines (which review zine publications), fringe culture zines (covering UFOs, conspiracy theories and so on), religious zines, vocational zines (detailing 'life on the job'), health zines, sex zines, travel zines, comix, literary zines, art zines and 'the rest'"

... "the collapse of Duncombe's taxonomy into 'the rest - a large category' underscores the futility of attempting to solidify or organise a definition of zines based on their content. As Kirsty Leishman argues: 'Duncombe's work reveals that zines are ill contained and thus it is useful because it relieves subsequent researchers from pursuing such an arduous, yet futile, endeavour'(7)."

Videodefunct is an experimental research project that focuses on inventing a hybrid vlog. A number of work-in-progress prototypes are being developed in the open source blog publishing system WordPress. A key objective is to design an interactive interface that explores the presentation of online video from a poetic perspective. Videodefunct is being developed by the collective of Keith Deverell, Seth Keen and David Wolf in the School of Applied Communication at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

info from the Videodefunct About page @ http://www.videodefunct.net/

Seth Keen from Videovortex explained the system on the videoblogging group mail list

Thanks Jay for the post on the videodefunct project.

no-org.net is a Jerusalem art network, launched in December 2003. It serves a platform for experimental projects in the area of netbased and digital art and for the exchange of independent information on contemporary art.

Last November I took part in NaVloPoMo - videoblog posting month. it was a lot of fun and was a good way to remember to do something creative in between working. I know a lot of people can't help but be creative all the time, but I find sometimes I get so tired from work that I become passive and tend to watch more than do. so this was a good reminder to get into the habit.

in 2008, Semanal is happening - similar to NaVloPoMo but posting one video a week instead of one each day. this is much more manageable for me at least as I can usually make one on the weekend. the hardest part then becomes finding time to watch everyone else's videos!

Digital Fringe seeks participants to join a collaborative new media work that involves mapping Melbourne through walking, mobile phones and new media. You will contribute to a 'map' of the Melbourne CBD that reflects participants take on the city. Interested parties will attend an introductory talk and then participate on the walk. read more or visit http://horsebazaar.com.au for more details

"SLOz is a site devoted to bringing an Aussie slant to the Second Life experience. Launched in November 2006, SLOz believes that Second Life at the very least may bring a new approach to internet-based interaction, and we want to cover the fun ride to be had along the way. We'd like to hear from any SL members who have Australian-specific events to promote in-world, or even just a heads-up on something new and interesting happening. We cover business, health, education and anything in-between."

Mars Hill Cafe in Parramatta will be organising and hosting a local music competition that will allow up and coming and established local music acts to perform several acts each in the popular Church Street cafe. They will compete for the chance to record a 3-track EP recording session with 2 tracks from the competition and a third recorded studio style in the performance space. Supported by a grant recently awarded to Mars Hill Cafe by the Parramatta City Council, the 10 best acts from the competition will be recorded and released on a compilation album later in the year.

Local Musicians (from any suburbs covered by Parramatta Council) are encouraged to apply. Styles included will be: Singer/Songwriters, Folk, Acoustic Rock, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Acoustic and Country. Applications for the competition will be taken throughout August and single-song auditions will be held on the 25th of August. Each artist chosen for the competition will perform 3 songs each for the final competition on the 23rd of September. Mars Hill Cafe is a popular Parramatta music and arts venue, located at 331 Church Street. Further information about the competition and details on how to apply can be found on the website www.marshillcafe.com.au

PDF Mags is a site listing hundreds of free arts and music pdf magazines / zines. they also have a calls for submissions listings area so you can find out where to have your work published

Electrofringe 2007 programme is now online. This is one of my favourite festivals, and it takes place annually in Newcastle, north of Sydney, Australia. During the festival Newcastle comes alive with creatives from all parts of Australia and overseas. The umbrella festival is called This is Not Art. Last year's festival was really hands on, which made it extra fun. This year looks set to keep your creative juices flowing also, with sessions such as Physical Computing : 1, Radio Locus Workshops such as Build your own Radio, Mulchwerk, a Dorkshop Sense & Control, a Homemade Instruments workshop Gestural Control & Feedback plus heaps more. The electrofringe website has the full program and a day by day listing of each workshop / panel session / project presentation / gig and happening. The other bonus to the festival is stopping to chat with friends and strangers about the festival and projects everyone has been working on over the year. Some documentation from previous years festivals is on this site, or check out the previous years festivals links on the electrofringe site.

Artabase is a website dedicated to promotion and networking of the arts, on both a local and international scale. Artabase's mission is to provide an accessible, useful insight into the world's art activities. On their website, you can subscribe to arts email lists, and list your arts project and gallery exhibitions.

For all of the Fellowships we are seeking applications from artists, hackers, designers, engineers and creative technologists to come to Eyebeam for a year to undertake new research and develop new work. The ideal Fellow has experience working with and making innovative technological art and/or creative technology projects and has a passion for collaborative development. Fellows will bring this experience and working approach to their own independent projects, projects initiated by other Residents or Fellows and projects conceived collaboratively during the Fellowship period.

Read more for details or visit
http://www.eyebeam.org/production/production.php?page=felcall

If you have any questions, please email fellowshipinfo@eyebeam.org or visit the online application page @ http://www.eyebeam.org/production/onlineapp/

Hidden away on the Watch/Listen section of the the Darrren Hayes website is a link saying Found a Bird?. What is this you ask?

It's a project on the neonbird website involving writing a wish inside a folded note / paper bird & leaving it for a stranger to find. Write the NEONBIRD.COM website on the outside of the note, then take a photo of it & where you left it. Upload the photo to the Made a Bird page.

The person who finds your wish can visit the website and claim their bird.

It's a bit like geocaching but you don't need a gps. And a bit like bluetoothing but you don't need a bluetooth device. And a bit like leaving books in public spaces, but you get to check the website and see what happened to your wish and see how far it went.

Full details are on the http://www.neonbird.com/something-wonderful/ website.

Soundscapes Exhibition, in the courtyard of the Tower of David, Old City of Jerusalem, Israel, wednesday 25/07/2007. Outdoor instruments play compositons as people walk around the grounds. there's a light show also which highlights the instruments playing. it's a beautiful space and the sounds are very melodic.

www.towerofdavid.org.il/

"Numerous oversized instruments, including a harp, drums, tambourines, bells and contrabass, are automatically played by computer command producing an original composition. Mechanical arms play the instruments and each creates its very own sound."