Led by Gareth Loudon
These notes are representative of the participant's views and do not necessarily reflect the views of Wales Arts International.
Gareth opened the session by speaking about how his attitudes towards travel have changed. He’s less interested in travel than he was, partly because technology now enables him to ‘travel’ without moving, but also because of family reasons and also importantly, ecological issues.
Simon Whitehead increasingly wants to be based at home in his village, and increasingly this is becoming possible. He uses social networking methods to respond to artists in Australia, but he gets frustrated with his lack of knowledge about technology. One of his collaborators on a project effectively sets up systems that take away such frustrations of travel associated with certain projects. Technology creates possibilities, but also creates frustrations.
David Drake stated that the next level of technology is at an early stage. We need to learn about this and engage with it as we are now all familiar with social networking. Open source technology seems to be the next stage, and that information will be free. He described how he’d used social networking to promote his work. He researched who to target and it snowballed and led to much more work.
Bill Hamblett said that competition will increase, so the key will be focusing, editing and targeting. Increasingly the role of ‘online curator’ will become important as will the role of information, art and peer-reviews from trusted sources.
There are no longer ‘gate-keepers’, and the technology is not moderated, opinions can be challenged.
Gareth Loudon suggested that Google had changed the model of gatekeeping. Now, if you’re good and proactive online there will be more opportunities.
David Drake said that Ffotogallery do not moderate or post on their facebook page, they leave it up to the fans. He raised the distinction of when top down is useful and where bottom up is useful.
Yvette Vaughan Jones stated that cost effectiveness is an issue.
Eddie Ladd asked how networks might change.
Gareth Loudon responded by stating that there’s a huge opportunity to break off outside of Wales and celebrate cultural diversity.
Eddie Ladd questioned further regarding how it might change artist/performer relationships with the audience? Could it become interactive? She felt that nothing could replace face to face contact.
Simon Whitehead said he was interested in working with existing technology.
Gareth Loudon raised the issue of the artist’s role in collaborating with technology development to co-create new technology.
Catrin Webster agreed that there was a need for interactions and collaborations with technology specialists so that artists could understand the potential of technology, both for the mainstream, and for their own work.
Ingrid Murphy, Head of Ceramics at UWIC said she wished to have a digital space for ceramics students. She further stated that enhancing technology experience has to be driven by the users. Finds a need to engage with open source and learn to use it as a creative tool.
Gareth Loudon spoke about the experience of learning through software communities who shared ideas in the early nineties. This led to a boom. The cultural community can learn from such models. He said that in the mid nineties technology companies often employed artists, sociologists etc, but there’s been a move away from this. He believes there’s a role for everyone to play.
Bill Hamblett spoke of a need for industry link ups of technology e.g. mobile phones.
Yvonne Cheal mentioned a story she’d read about in which a heart surgeon had used Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical drawings because they were so accurate. These are now being digitised.
Catrin Webster stated that such collaborations between technology developers and artists should be on an equal footing.
Gareth Loudon stated his belief that many companies would be interested in approaches from artists. How can educational establishments connect science and arts? Why should students choose one or the other?
Yvette Vaughan Jones inquired how UWIC achieved this?
Gareth Loudon responded that UWIC is getting better at this.
Ingrid Murphy said that she wanted to work with sound technology, but found it difficult to find a way in.
Gareth Loudon said that UWIC has the necessary kit and can provide access to technology. This could be made open to artists as at present, technologies are not used to their full potential.
Ingrid Murphy said she would look into how sole practitioners might be able to use UWIC’s technology.
Bill Hamblett stated that international communication culture can be very different.
Gareth Loudon stated that much creativity is sparked by research. Technology can provide us with exposure to new experiences.
Gareth Loudon highlighted the Strategic Insight Programme as an example of how companies and sole traders can link up with Universities and can get funding for doing so.
Catrin Webster discussed the potential of creating something which can then become initial pieces of work which would only exist on the web.
Yvette Vaughan Jones mentioned a project to map square miles around the UK through art. International residency artists are then invited over to work with the communities. The project is called 1 Square Mile and is supported by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
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