Digital Utopias

Tomorrow, I am compèring the Digital Utopias conference, an event curated by @ANDfestival and produced by @GoogleUK @ACE_NAtional @Hull2017 @theSpaceArts and @BritishCouncil It's an extraordinary programme. Here's the brief:

Digital Utopias is a one-day conference which will inspire and incite debate about how new technologies are enabling creativity across the arts. The conference aims to capture topical and diverse approaches to curation, archiving, collecting and creating from a range of art forms, from the visual arts to theatre.

The event will provide an opportunity to discuss new tools and emergent practice, whilst delegates will connect with international arts organisations and specialists in the field to unpick the creative and critical challenges facing organisations today.

and here's the programme:

Morning Sessions

Sessions in the main theatre will be compèred by Prof Andy Miah.

10:00-10:20

Welcome from Sir Peter Bazalgette, Chair, Arts Council England and James Davis, Programme Manager, Director, Google Cultural Institute

Main Theatre

10:30-12:00

Debate: After the future

Main theatre

After the future examines how art is changing in the digital age and how new behaviours and systems are emerging in the creation, exhibition, interpretation and dissemination of art. Through sharing recent and historical examples, the panel will examine the challenges of classifying a growing and chaotic field. Asking questions such as; What are the practical challenges and values, which should inform the future? And how can our media art history inform the sector?

Chair: Sarah Cook, Morgan Quaintance, Ruth Mackenzie (The Space) and Jon Thomson (Thomson and Craighead)

Or choose from the following sessions:

10:30-12:00

Clinic: What to do with your data?  

Rehearsal space

Puzzled by Open data, big data and meta data? You are not alone!  Led by CEO Gavin Starks and Art Associate Julie Freeman, this Open Data Institute session demonstrates what art organisations can do with their data and the small steps you can make right away.

Led by CEO of ODI Gavin Starks and Julie Freeman.

10:30-11:30

Showcase: Presentation and talk by James Davis, Programme Manager at the Google Cultural Institute 

Studio theatre

Google Creative Lab UK will talk about their chrome web experiments, games and prototypes.

12:00-13:00

Lunch  lower and upper foyer

Afternoon Sessions

13:00-14:30

Debate: Disruptive Innovation

Main theatre

This panel will unpick alternative models of “innovation” through examining production models and their cultural value. Interdisciplinary artistic practice can create new platforms, resources and art forms,  but what are the benefits to artistic practice and how can cultural appropriation be avoided?

Led by Tatiana Bazzichelli (Curator and writer) Memo Akten (Artist), Lynn Scarff (Programme Director of The Science Gallery) and Jose Luis de Vicente (curator and researcher).

Or choose from the following sessions:

13:00-13:45

Showcase: Designing Performance (Performance & Interactivity)

Studio theatre

From sensory performances to projection mapping technologies, we invite The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Sarah Ellis, artists Marshmallow Laser Feast and theatre company Extant to discuss how performance is being enhanced by new technologies and the challenges of live performance in the flesh and online.

13:00-14:30

Clinic: Archiving & preserving in the Digital age

Rehearsal space

How do we ensure long-term access to digital information through collecting, archiving and preservation? This session gives hands on tips for museums, curators and collectors on both moving image and social media archiving.

Led by Dragan Espenchied, Rhizome  and Luke Collins from Lux, Scotland.

14:00-14:45

Showcase: Copy and Paste (Literature & Publishing)

Studio theatre

Changes in technology have played pivotal roles in literature (from Gutenberg to GoogleDocs) and we invite showcases from writers, publishers and software developers who are looking at everything from generative writing, books as code and alternative distribution models.

Led by Jim Hinks, Comma Press and Joanna Ellis from the Writing Platform.

Afternoon break – 15 mins

Choose from:

14:45-16:15

Debate: Activate the Public Space

Main theatre

The public space is augmented with information, networks, forces, bodies, buildings and technology. How do we define the public space? How do we create work for a time where the distinction between being offline and online is harder distinguish. We hear from a range of organisations, who have opened up new social spaces, data and communities through gaming, networked objects and growing DIY communities.

Led by Ruth Catlow (Furtherfield) Prof Jennifer Gabrys (artist), MolMol (Yes Yes No) and Iain Simons (GameCity).

15:00-15:45

Showcase: Curating Networks

Studio theatre

Curating Networks showcases projects that rethink ideas of authenticity, ownership and authorship in relation to archives, collections and traditional formats and gallery spaces.

Led by Katrina Sluis (Photographers Gallery), and Irini Papadimitriou (V&A) and Hullcraft (Joel Mills and Hannah Rice) University of Hull.

16:15

Closing remarks

Main theatre

16:45-17:30

Showcase: Crafting Code (Art and Science)

Studio theatre

Crafting Code explores the role of new materials in art production and how data can be materialised, examining the interchangeable role of artists, engineers and makers. We invite presentations on the ‘algorithmic’ opportunities this expanding field is developing, from design, digital sculpture and science to 3D modelling & wearable technology.

Speakers include Karen Gaskill (Crafts Council), Gretchen Andrew and Matthew Plummer-Fernandez.

16:45-18:00 Clinic: R&D as serious play

Rehearsal space

This session will bring together representatives from a selection of recent R&D projects to discuss how to design and manage a process that is playful and serious at the same time. Facilitated by a representative from the Digital R&D Fund, each representative will share their experience, before moving into a panel discussion and workshopping ideas with the audience. Creative technology projects are not just about delivering an end product - managing a R&D process which is creative, useful and rewarding for all parties is where the magic happens.

17:00-18:00 Networking Drinks

Foyer

18:00-18:30

Performance: The Measures Taken

Main theatre

The day will finish with an immersive digital art work. ‘The Measures Taken’ is a collaboration between Marshmallow Laser Feast and Alexander Whitley Dance Company. Both a dialogue, and a duet between human movement and the digital world, this performance promises to be visually striking and kinetically charged.

- See more at: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/jobs-and-conferences/conferences/digital-utopias/programme/#sthash.ymmObLsu.dpuf

Credit: Karl Andre Photography

RIP Google Glass?

GoogleGlassGoodbye

Today, I received an email from Google Glass, telling me that it's over! Here's what they had to say:

and I am also posting the 'memories' file they sent us - 'Volume 001 as they put it (how many volumes are expected?!). I will write a piece about this over the next few days, but what I find most fascinating is the sense in which this may be seen as a failure by critics. Certainly, we expect anything new to stick around for a while - even though we change our iPhones every couple of years hmm. Ok, well, maybe Google Glass for 2 years isn't so bad - but it's only been 6 months or so in the UK. That's a bit too brief.

It will still work of course, just no further development. But, so what? Does that matter? IT does enough as it is is and I can't imagine needing much support. Although, my first Glass did break due to overheating and the reflective foil of the projector bubbling up and rendering it unusable. The did send another one though, quickly. hmm, I don't know how to feel. Abandoned? Let down? Disappointed. Or, the owner of what will become a cult object - the first wearable camera, kind of.

Truth be told, I have had nothing but fun with this device, and the people who have tried it out have loved it. Here's the video I made from the IAAF World Junior Championships last year. This was typical.

So, I think I will stick with Glass for a while, but then RideOn just contacted me about these. Next..

eSports

This question frames a @BBC5Live debate tomorrow night I took part in @MediaCityUK . The show was in front of a live audience and went out on @BBC1 'red button' and Twitch, where it had 83,000 concurrent viewers. You can also tune in through the BBC Radio 5 Live channel. If you are nearby and would like to come to the live show, email me and let me know. I can put you on the audience list.

Here's the full brief and deets:

We have a special programme tomorrow night which you can hear on BBC Radio 5 live and watch via the BBC Sport website and Twitch, as we explore Gaming, and the Rise of the Cyber Athlete. With computer game events now attracting thousands of spectators, the industry has teams, managers, star players, they compete in the X Games, and there's even a transfer window - so is it a sport? We'll be debating that question with those involved in eSports on Thursday 15 January from 8.30-10pm.

We’ll be broadcasting from the Blue Room at Quay House in MediaCity, Salford, in front of a live audience. It’ll have a Top Gear feel to it – with refreshment provided to all

Take a look at this cool new tech from RideOn, which I mentioned in the prog, showing how augmented reality is fusing with real world sport experience to create a hybrid gaming experience.

Uploaded by Alon Getz on 2014-12-04.

A career in sports broadcasting?

Back in the summer of 2014, the International Amateur Athletic Federation brought me in to give some social media training for their athletes at the World Junior Championships. The others involved were the extremely accomplished Olympians Ato Boldon, Joanna Hayes, and Charmaine Crooks. While there, I conducted this interview with Ato Boldon, to give people an insight into a career in sports broadcasting. The interview focuses on what Ato did while he was competing to start making his way into this highly competitive industry.

By the way, in case you are wondering about the t-shirt, the back story is from the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, when the Opening Ceremony ring display failed to open. It became a bit of a meme online, so there is an interesting story in terms of social media and sport behind it. Read more here

My #REF2014

The #REF2014 results came out, but the details are still unpublished. I led the Unit 36 submission for the University of the West of Scotland, which managed to achieve a 25% growth in 3-4* research activity. We were particularly successful in our Research Impact evaluation and the two case studies each related to my work. Until the full documentation is made available, here's a snippet of what was submitted, along with my research output details.

Research Outputs

• Miah, A. (2011) Bioarte: actuación transhumana y posthumana, Technokultura, 9(1), 85-104 (full translation available)
• Miah, A. (2008) Engineering Greater Resilience or Radical Transhuman Enhancement? Studies in Ethics, Law and Technology, 2(1), 1-18.
• Miah, A. & Rich, E. (2008) The Medicalization of Cyberspace. London & New York: Routledge.
• Miah, A. (2008) A Critical history of Posthumanism. In: Chadwick, R. & Gordijn, B. Medical Enhancements and Posthumanity. Springer

Impact Case Studies

“Bringing Science to Society”: Influencing Public Engagement with Bioethics

Professor Andy Miah’s research on the ethics of human enhancement has transformed the working lives of three principal professional communities: curators of UK flagship festivals and exhibitions (Abandon Normal Devices festival, the Wellcome Trust, Edinburgh International Science Festival); journalists (coverage on doping); and politicians and civil servants working on technology policy (European Parliament, World Anti-Doping Agency). His pioneering research has led to the creation of new artistic work, shaped policy directions, contributed to public engagement with bioethics, and advanced debate on the ethics of digital and biological technology.

“We Are the Media”: Enabling Media Citizenship

Research from the Creative Futures Institute (CFi) has generated original understandings of how social media has triggered change within the practice of journalism. The evidence shows how findings from 3 inter-related projects were a catalyst for skills development and generated new contributions to both civil society and the creative community. Impact is demonstrated across 15 organizations where new community media collectives were developed around the Vancouver 2010 (W2 Centre & True North Media House) and London 2012 Olympics (#media2012 & #CitizenRelay). UWS research led these organisations to invest £115,000 additional funds and implement these findings in their current work.

There are a lot of people to thank beyond the researchers involved in the creation of the impact case studies. For legal reasons, their names are omitted from the final documentation, but institutions include Abandon Normal Devices, London 2012 Creative Programmer in the North West, FACT Liverpool, CamGlen, Media Trust UK, Wellcome Trust, STV, and the Edinburgh International Science Festival.