[dorkbotphiladelphia-blabber] Very excited about dorkbot

[emily]

Hi everyone, 
I'm working towards becoming a new media curator. I co-curated "Hyper-runt" a
new media exhibition for InLiquid last fall, and I have an online project
coming up in September, "Alphaville Under Construction."  I've worked as a
curatorial assistant to Tanya Leighton at the ICA and Carol Stakenas at
Creative Time. Before that I worked as a program assistant at Location One, a
new media gallery in nyc, where I first became interested in artistic
experiments with emerging technologies. In the fall I'm moving back to new
york for grad school at Bard's Center for Curatorial Studies. 

I  wrote an article for InLiquids monthly column in art matters (which was
published with the wrong author, title, etc. -- retraction coming in the next
issue), please see below. I think the wireless plan has incredible potential
for the new media community in Philadelphia, I wish I could be around to see
how the city changes in response to the network.


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InLiquid.com, being a web-based entity,  is always heartened by developments
in expanding public access to the Internet.  Mayor John Street's business
plan for Wireless  Philadelphia, announced on April 7 after months of
negotiations to find a feasible strategy  for  creating a citywide wireless
network, could be a significant step toward integrating the creative
resources and cultural enrichment available on the Internet into the fabric
of  everyone's day-to-day activities.   On a civic level, the plan promises
that by providing  affordable broadband Internet access the city will
experience enhanced quality  of life, a marked improvement in the  economy,
and a bridging of the digital  divide. The proposed services,  slated to be
fully available by the summer of  2006, include providing  low-cost Internet
access to businesses and residents,  and to provide  free wireless access in
public parks, a feature that may hold the  greatest possibility for creative
experimentation. Wireless nodes  are now  available in Love Park, along the
Benjamin Franklin Parkway,  in Reading Terminal  Market, at the Pennsylvania
Convention Center,  and around the South Street  district. As this extensive
wireless  network is implemented, it is important to  consider the
implications  of this infrastructure for cultural production in 
Philadelphia,  in particular, the potential to foster the new media community
and  give rise to new forms of digital culture. 

As  citywide wireless networks are increasingly investigated and deployed, 
with networks already in place in cities such as Ashland, OR and  Birmingham,
AL  (with major cities such as Chicago, Amsterdam and  London in the initial
research  phases), there has been a proliferation  of research and
exploratory projects  devoted to examining the  impact of wireless on urban
environments. Artists have  contributed  significantly to this process,
investigating topics such as the  potential for wireless networks to
decentralize media production,  to cultivate  social aspects of technology,
and to give rise to  collaboration through the  formation of ad-hoc networks.
Examples of  projects that have stimulated  technological innovation and
investigated  the discursive possibilities of  wireless networks and their
associated  mobile technologies (laptops, cell  phones, PDAs, GPS devices, 
etc.)  in other cities are Urban Tapestries developed  by Giles  Lane, based
in London; and Umbrella.net by Katherine Moriwaki and Johan Brucker-Cohen 
from Trinity College, Dublin.  

Urban  Tapestries (http://urbantapestries.net)  is a research project that
attempts to explore  the social uses of wireless networks and  technologies
through  public authoring, a process for sharing experiences by  placing 
wireless annotations in precise locations in the city that can later  be 
received on mobile devices by individuals passing through that  space. As an 
investigation into the social possibilities of ubiquitous  wireless
networks,  Urban Tapestries functions as a form of digital  oral history,
exploring the  ability for individuals to share their  experiences while
continuing to live  within the anonymity of the  city.

Umbrella.net (http://www.undertheumbrella.net/) is a tool  for creating 
transitional networks in cities between individuals  brought together by
chance  conditions.  The system is composed  of umbrellas outfitted with
PDA’s and  software to automatically  connect to other similarly configured
umbrellas when  it is raining.   The project allows individuals with wireless
umbrellas within a  given range to chat with one another and provides a map
detailing  the locations  of active umbrellas.

Of course, the synergy that developments between a particular community  and 
a technology can vary widely and are impossible to predict, so it will be
interesting to witness how the creative  practitioners of Philadelphia
resolve their relationship with  and contribute to this emerging  field as it
unfolds.