Key questions are along the following lines and constitute a further refinement in the Dwell-Time; concept and are as follows and were presented in the introductions:

•    What are the site specific qualities of this new medium?
•    In what ways are public screens transforming the experience of urban space?
•    Are new forms of public event, ritual and forms of civic engagement being created as a consequence of their use in

prominent city centre location (especially within the framework of APS)?

There were many participants from many different contexts and professional backgrounds. But the introductions at the beginning of the day and the two keynote presentations were intended to get participants up to speed as quickly as possible. John Foxx presented some of the research that had gone into his installation Cathedral Oceans. But also, he presented some very interesting and challenging issues relating to the design of urban spaces and the concept of having sustainable environments in city centres. John also shared some of his insights and vision associated with the future design of urban spaces. Ava Fatah gave an overview of her current work Encounters in the Digital City.

This was followed by a panel discussion with Mike Gibbons (Live Sites UK), Chris Nriapia (BBC), Geraldine (BBC), David Wilson (Bradford Council). Each was asked to highlight an issue that they were grappling with. Mike kicked the session off by describing the current state of the network of screens in the UK. He gave brief details of what was involved in installing the screens, some of the contextual issues and the various partners involved and the costs of setting them up. He also described some the issues relating both the build up to the Olympics and the legacy that is intended from the implementation of the screens and the types of public event that they are intended for. A key issue here is exactly what is going to happenin terms of the continued support for the screens once the Olympics have finished.

(Interestingly, Mike corrected me when I referred to the screens network and the BBC Big Screen Network – leaving me still thinking what are we going to call this network?)

Chris gave a brief presentation of issue relating to how to get community groups and, in particular, underrepresented groups involved with the screens and developing events not usually associated with the medium.

(There are already two key issues coming out here in relation the site specific qualities of the screens: 1) the their management, which always involves a range of partners, including the BBC, Locog, and a local authority – this management structure will always be different wherever you go, and 2) developing uses for the screens for community groups, which again, will be dependant on the locality.)

Dave Wilson gave a brief outline of Bradford Council’s involvement and the use that they are putting to the screens and how this ties in with what Chris is doing. Geraldine highlighted the fact that it is only through generating novel uses and getting a wide variety of partners involved before people really “get it”, so to speak.

The discussion that followed was very lively and a good debate ensued.

Key issues:

Lack of research – though I would argue against this.
Access – to those who do not normally get involved with media or with large public events.
What happens when you turn the screens off!
When these screens are in such prominent locations to many they occur as intrusive – not everyone likes them.

Some of these arguments have been debated elsewhere by CADE.

The issues raised here were then taken into the discussion groups after lunch. Whilst there was no plenary – because the discussions went on over time. A wide range of issues were debated by all participants.

Bradford University and the Centre for Creative & Cultural Knowledge Exchange (C3KE) invite you to Dwell-Time, a one day professional development workshop bringing together Performers, Cultural Programmers, Visual Artists, Technologists and Urban Designers to create new forms of programming and curatorial practice for the display of artistic content in urban space. Showcasing creative work and recent innovations developed for the BBC’s big screen network, the workshop will present research findings on the use of urban screens, specifically in the creative and community context. The workshop is open to anyone with an interest in public art, the use of large scale urban screens for the display of creative content, new media and public space.

Presenters include:
Mike Gibbons – Head of ‘Live Sites UK’
Ava Schiek, Bartlett’s School of Architecture (UCL)
John Foxx (urban artist/musician)
Members of the BBC’s Big Screens Network

For further information and booking details contact Patrick Allen, Bradford Media School, p.t.allen@bradford.ac.uk
01274 236139

• The mediation of place and locality

• The distinction between the real and the virtual

• The body as a frame of information

The work presented here is based on a long-term study of the BBC’s Big Screen network, a unique network of connected screens across the UK. The case study that forms a central part of this paper is drawn from the analysis of content designed specifically for presentation on the BBC’s Big Screen in centre of Bradford. Whilst they key focus of the paper is the transformation in the experience of urban space as a consequence of the introduction of the screens into prominent city centres locations, many other issues come to light in respect of the management of media content designed with the locality in mind and the ways that key partnerships develop that means that the screens have a distinctively local quality. In addition, more general issues are discussed in relation to the rapid rise in augmented public space and the role played by the interaction of a number of media technologies. Finally, this paper will briefly consider some innovative ways in which large-scale LED screens have been combined with other technologies such as mobile gaming and social networking in ways that transform participant’s engagement with the locality.

This link goes to the latest draft of the paper submitted to Cyberworlds ‘09.

[7-11 September 2009, University of Bradford, UK, Sponsored by IEEE Computer Society and organised in-cooperation with ACM - link to conference website]

A one-day workshop, 26th June 2009

The National Media Museum

The public space is a mass of cellspace activity. Numerous technologies are functioning in sync from bluetooth mobile devices and laptops to CCTV cameras and led screens. A virtual bombardment of the senses is in progress. These experiences bring our physical understanding of space to a whole new level. The internet is virtually accessible on any hand held device and our own physical perceptions are dominated by media saturated advertising and television screens.

These occurrences bring the physical ‘real’ world experience into question. The ever increasing cellspace technology at our disposal interrupts the nature of the real and pushes it towards the virtual or ‘unreal’ world. Realism, which has generally been associated with television and film now spreads to the pubic space. We now live our public lives on camera and our surroundings are now influenced by the virtual. The virtual is the screen and when we interact with the screen our physical awareness and realist behavior becomes questionable.

A one-day event at the National Media Museum, Bradford, UK

Friday June 26th

Here we are creating professional development opportunities for the creative use of display media, performance and artistic expression in urban spaces and city centres. We’ll be working in close collaboration with Live Performers and Visual Artists in the creation of the programme.

The event associated with this will take place at the National Media Museum – date to be confirmed – but much of the content and interaction will take place online prior to the day and with an event in Centenary Square, Bradford.

Here we begin to use our Web 2.0 tools in parallel with urban screens both experimentally and creatively as part of the build up to a pubic exhibition and event.

This link goes the presentation slides for the MeCCSA 2009 Conference (pdf format), hosted by the University of Bradford and the National Media Museum, January, 2009.