MediaWiki has been successfully installed.
Consult the User's Guide for information on using the wiki software.
Contents |
Art of Digital London (AoDL) research area
Background information
This is the research and documentation wiki for the Art of Digital London (AoDL) programme which began in September 2009. The programme has two distinct areas, the Digital Salon & Surgeries and the Knowledgebase. The research conducted here during the Salon & Surgeries series will eventually become the foundational structure for the future Knowledgebase site that is due for launching in Spring/Summer 2011. AoDL was commissioned under ACE’s Digital Opportunities scheme, a three-year digital research programme investigating the impact digital technologies are having on the public experience of art and how, on an organisational level, they are effecting artistic management and production. Previous investments under this scheme have been with initiatives such as Art of Digital North West and AmbITion England.
Further information on the Digital Opportunities scheme can be found here:
AoDL Digital Salon & Surgeries
The Art of Digital London (AoDL) programme was initiated to facilitate the establishment and maintenance of a London RFO network, which investigates the relationship between art organisations and digital technology. The project began in September 2009 with a series of ten ‘Digital Salon & Surgeries’ - day long events where London arts administrators and producers, business and media consultants, developers, innovators and funders gather together and discuss the current relationship that exists between arts and technology communities and the tools that are used in the creation, production, distribution and marketing of artistic programmes. Through these events we have been able to build a comprehensive picture of the problems and benefits that digital media offer.
AoDL is an exploratory exercise in that this is something entirely new to arts production - namely digital technologies' role in the creation, management and distribution of art. The sector has traditionally adopted working methods specific to certain disciplines. The advent of digital media – whose effects arguably cross such boundaries – means there is now an urgent need to create an arts-appropriate operational framework that is not only alive to this fact but also encourages the development of an associated discourse capable of examining and pushing forward the intersection of art, technology and their respective communities.
AoDL Knowledgebase
Further to the event series we are also producing an online Knowledgebase or information gateway that will initially act as a site for the compilation and synthesis of information and experiences gathered during the AoDL workshops. Pooling this collective knowledge further, it will also function as an area where people can find out about relevant experiences undergone by other RFOs as they strive to establish a personalized digital strategy. This secondary function as a support framework will enable arts professionals to interface with CEOs, innovative groups, artists, curators, consultants, technologists, funders and their various perspectives. In time, the Knowledgebase aims to become a core destination for those interested in the application of new media tools and methodologies to contemporary cultural practice, demonstrating new approaches that expand audiences’ notions of how to produce, promote and experience art.
Towards the beginning of the AoDL programme we drew up a long list of issues that members of the network highlighted for discussion that can be seen here: Digital Knowledgebase
AoDL Meetups
The AoDL Monthly Meetups came about after the completion of the AoDL Digital Salon and Surgeries event series in February 2011. They are conducted in partnership with The Photographers' Gallery in London and are open to all those interested in bridging the gap between the arts and tech communities and exploring new ways to implement digital techs in creative processes. We would also encourage any suggestions for topics to discuss. Past meetups:
Online areas for AoDL
Digital strategy for the arts
As part of the AoDL series we are also exploring the term ‘Digital Strategy’, a key piece of terminology associated with the 'Digital Britain' report of 2009 but one that did not yet have any grounding definition. And so, a digital strategy, as defined from the outset by Openmute and WCIT, is an individual project plan drawn up by each cultural organisation for the creative and efficient implementation of new technologies, helping them to:
- better connect with their audience
- share artistic and resource material with their audience
- get their audience to support the organisation both artistically and financially
- measure and evaluate online projects and engagement
Below are a some areas we have created relating to digital strategy:
Research areas
Each topic has been researched in relation to a particular event within the AoDL Digital Salon & Surgeries series. During each period of study we examine the current landscape and map out the technologies both in use and emerging and also outline which cultural organisations are producing relevant digital projects.
Publishing
This research has been complied to accompany session 6 of the AoDL Digital Salon & Surgeries,'Publishing - The digital word and the arts'. It coincided with an interesting time for the publishing industry, namely the emergence of new platforms and economies in publishing; the iPad, iPhone, eBooks, Kindle, Apps, as well as the now established digital ‘Print on Demand’ paper books. The research includes an extensive guide that covers the basics on how to publish online or in eBook format, and then goes on to look at the various supporting networks that exist within the sector and innovative projects being produced by cultural organisations.
Video
This research has been complied to accompany session 7 of the AoDL Digital Salon & Surgeries: ‘Video – Public service content? Producing video for online and mobile platforms’. This session proved to be another timely event as during the same period Project Canvas was launched under the Digital Britain agenda, a project that proposed a partnership between Arqiva, the BBC, BT, C4, Five, ITV and Talk Talk to build an open internet-connected TV platform to build, run and promote a platform that provides an upgrade for free-to-air TV and make it large enough in scale so that it can bring a wide range of internet services to the shared screen offering diverse potential to anyone producing video content and web style apps. Alongside a consideration of the future of broadcasting during this piece of research we looked towards how small to medium scale arts organisations can produce increasingly accessible and affordable video productions for online and mobile platforms.
Sound
This research has been complied to accompany session 8 of the AoDL Digital Salon & Surgeries, 'Sound: Post-copyright communities'. The session focuses on the new landscape that has developed within sound and music environments through the use of digital media which have enabled the arts and music sector to connect with audiences in entirely new ways, nurturing positive relationships that result in different kinds of value production - encouraging interdisciplinary performances, widening social networks and strengthening bonds with paying supporters.
OpenArchiving
This is a key theme of AoDL and looks at how new technologies and emergent paradigms of the public domain are encouraging public involvement in public and active archiving. This area encompasses the use of OpenIPR and new business models. Key component in OpenArchiving are collaborative systems like WikiMedia, Archive.org and AAAARG.ORG as well as the structuring of content using APIs like our own ArtAPI.
Digital Lab
When we discover or employ any innovative new tools in the development of the AoDL network they will be profiled here.
Gaming
This area looks at forms of play through the city landscape, social media and "gamification," educational gaming in the cultural sector, and immersive theatre.
