Signals in the City - Colloquium Programme

Colloquium
1 May 10am – 5pm

Jen Southern will discuss her collaborative projects with Jen Hamilton and Chris St Amand – This collaborative group have a social and tactile approach to technology and work with audiences to explore location and sense of place. Through commissions, exhibitions and residencies they produce installations, performances and websites to explore how new technologies influence the way we inhabit an environment. She will also talk about industry collaborations and the development of new tools for collaborative mapping.

Clive Gillman will discuss the nature of 'commons' - both physical and virtual and how using technology can open up the local dialogues; also contextualising his art practice which reflect the themes of urban visualisation.

Simone O’Callaghan will present her findings from the exhibition and evaluate the ways in which people interacted with the ubiquitous media and its new visual codes of narrative and intimacy.

John Isaacs will talk through S-City VT research and how it provides a common language for the theory of sustainability. How the tool can be used by the wide variety of stakeholders when considering the regeneration of a city.

Mark Shovman will present findings from his research into Visualising Complex Data Sets. By using a haptic interactive virtual environment (HIVE) and the theoretical foundations of gestalt theory of perception to create visualisations, this project aims to create visualisations that enable a user to immediately and effortlessly analyse large complex and multidimensional data sets. By applying rigorous psychophysical methodologies to assess human perception of HIVE-generated visualisations a set of guidelines will be produced for the efficient data visualisation and an extensive knowledge base.

Chaos Computer Club will talk about Blinkenlights created in 2001 as a celebration of its 20th birthday. A light installation in the Haus des Lehrers building at the Alexanderplatz in Berlin transformed its front into a giant monochrome low-resolution computer screen. Some novel uses of the screen were for people to call a number and play Pong via mobile phone or display animations sent in by the public. Other projects include Metalab a non-profit hack space in Vienna offering space for free exchange of information, and collaboration between technical-creative enthusiasts, hackers and founders. http://metalab.at/

Dundee Business will discuss wireless cities; the technology, the logistics, the pros and cons and whether Dundee could become a wireless city.

visit www.abertay.ac.uk/exhibitions for booking information

'stitchers' & 'urban ramblers'

The HMC is looking for people to take part in creating a large scale social interactive art work.

Running Stitch, a large 8ft x 8ft tapestry map of Dundee, will be created live during the exhibition Signals in the City.

Artists Jen Southern, Jen Hamilton, Chris St Amand along with Onteca Ltd, a Liverpool games company, have developed Landlines, software which enables an audience to use GPS mobile phones as a drawing tool.

Visitors are invited to journey through Dundee whilst their movements are tracked via satellite and projected live back to the gallery. These individual GPS drawings of visitors’ journeys are then stitched onto the evolving tapestry revealing hidden aspects of the city, creating a sense of place and interconnection.

The artists are looking for 'stitchers' & 'urban ramblers' to work with and help create this map of Dundee. Visit the gallery to pick your GPS mobile phone and embark on your journey through the streets of Dundee. Take your favourite walk, track your day to day journey, go somewhere you’ve never been before - explore! Upon your return to the gallery see your travels mapped out on the tapestry and watch as the city of Dundee emerges from the canvas.

To get involved please contact us T: 01382 308324 or email us at exhibitions@abertay.ac.uk

New Media Residency

In partnership with the Scottish Arts Council’s Visual Arts Department the University of Abertay Dundee hosts a New Media Residency; with a £10,000 bursary it is open for visual artists resident in Scotland.

Each year the Residency runs for a 9-month period from October to June. Located in Whitespace, the artists selected for the programme have access to the newly developed integrated learning and research environment along with the facilities that Whitespace and the University has to offer.

Whilst on the residency programme the artists undertake an identified process of personal and professional development, get actively involved within the UAD environment and make presentations to research staff and students about the nature and objectives of their work. At the end of their time with UAD the artists have the opportunity to exhibit in the Hannah Maclure Centre.

To find out more about the application process please visit www.scottisharts.org.uk

Signals in the City

exploration of the urban data, technology and its visualisation

By tagging the urban space using data systems and wireless technologies we can create and explore maps and representations of the urban environment in order to experience a place like never before. Invisible complex data, once visualised, can uncover new ways of thinking about, interacting with or discovering our urban surroundings.

Exhibition

3 March – 2 May 2008

Hamilton & Southern

with Chris St Amand (UK, Canada)

Clive Gillman (UK)

Simone O’Callaghan (Australia)

John Isaacs (UK)

Michele Pred (USA)

In The Fields (Germany)

Colloquium

1 May 10am - 5pm

Jen Southern (UK)

Clive Gillman (UK)

Simone O’Callaghan (Australia)

John Isaacs (UK)

Mark Shovman (Isreal)

Chaos Computer Club (Germany)

Admission to the exhibition and colloquium are free but places for the colloquium are limited therefore booking is required. For the full programme and booking details contact E exhibitions@abertay.ac.uk T 01308 308 324 or visit www.abertay.ac.uk/exhibitions

Introduction

Abertay University's Hannah Maclure Centre (HMC) works with contemporary and interdisciplinary cultural producers and artists from the UK and abroad, as well as supporting teaching activity and developing opportunities with staff and students.

The Centre is uniquely placed as a cultural facilitator, working in conjunction with a range of University divisions and research projects along side developing partnerships with external institutions.

In partnership with the Scottish Arts Council’s Visual Arts Department the University hosts a New Media Residency; with a £10,000 bursary it is open for visual artists resident in Scotland. The new media residency plays a significant role in recognising the importance of artists embracing new technologies and new media, providing a strong academic context and access to the wider public through the Hannah Maclure Centre programme giving it not only an important local relevance, but also a UK national and international relevance. For further information about applying and deadlines please visit the Scottish Arts Council Website.

Projects are scheduled around a year in advance, concentrating on artists based in Scotland and internationally. Primarily artists and curators are invited to develop projects with the Centre and this selection is developed by the University’s Cultural Projects Officer in consultation with a highly active Cultural Development Team.

The University has a commitment to the dissemination of its culture, intent on realising large scale projects and continuing research. Being a window into these activities, the Hannah Maclure Centre endeavours to bring in new work by influential and acclaimed artists whilst also being a champion of exceptional, less exposed artists.