Syndicate: Convergence: University of Luton Year of the Artist project

[Inke Arns <inke@snafu.de>]

Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2001 17:32:22 +0100
Subject: University of Luton Year of the Artist project
From: Convergence <convergence@luton.ac.uk>
To: YOTA mailing list <convergence@luton.ac.uk>


**NOTE** If you have subscribed to the Convergence mailing list you will
automatically receive information about the Convergence Year of the Artist
project.  

Dear colleagues,

As you may know, in October of last year the Dept of Media Arts at the
University of Luton received funding from East England Arts/YOTA to host a
Year of the Artist residency.  The aim of the residency is to develop a
web-based artwork which is to be located at and integrated within the
*Convergence* web site.  The full brief for the project is attached.

We have now appointed Joe Lawlor and Chris Molloy of desperate optimists to
the post of 'artist(s) in residence' and they will be commencing work on the
Convergence web site at the beginning of April.  The plan is for them to do
some preliminary work off-line during the first half of April, and then to
go live on 18 April.  From this date they will be soliciting and would
welcome comments about the work in progress.  The project will remain live
during the rest of April and throughout May as work progresses.  The final
date for making comments will be Friday 1 June 2001.  Please visit the site
during this period and offer feedback, suggestions etc.

The project will then go off-line for completion and will be launched on 20
June 2001.

Julia Knight/Jeanette Steemers/Alexis Weedon
Convergence, Co-editors


-------------------


The University of Luton is recipient of a Year of the Artist award which is
being used to host an artist? residency to develop a web-based artwork.
We are seeking applications from interested artists who fulfil our person
specification given below


Outline of the project

The residency is to form part of the on-going development of the website of
Convergence: The Journal of Research into New Media Technologies.  The
journal is edited from the Media Arts Department of the University of Luton
and published by the University of Luton Press.  It is currently a paper
journal, published quarterly, and is just entering its seventh year of
publication.  The journal? website is currently a text-based information
site only. Although it has has recently been given an award by
Key2Resources because it is one of the top 50 most visited sites on
Conferences and Journals, the design of the site does not reflect the
creative possibilities offered by the web which have been discussed in the
pages of the journal.  The aim of the residency would be to create a
web-based artwork exploring the convergence of communication technologies
on the web, which would be located at and integrated with the Convergence
website.  

Two aspects of the new media have repeatedly been the subject of discussion
in the journal ? the nature and quality of ?nteractivity?in on-line
media; and the need to redefine our notions of ?arrative?within new media
?exts?? and we would like these concerns to inform and direct the
artwork.  This would be with a view to the artist also exploring, as part
of the residency, possible ways of creatively presenting the information
already lodged on the Convergence site, while retaining the accessibility
of that information.  It is not intended that the artwork simply be an
add-on extra to the site, rather it is important that the site retains its
overall coherence.  For instance, the artwork could form the homepage for
the site and provide an imaginative but accessible route into the site?
other pages.

Although the specific nature of the project would be finalised via
discussions between the artist appointed and the project managers, one
possible way we see this project developing is to have the artwork and
development of the site go live early on, so that it develops over time
on-line.  This would enable the showcasing of the artist? work as it
evolves over a period of several weeks.  As part of this process, comment
and feedback would be invited from visitors to the site, readers of the
journal, via our on-line Convergence discussion list, and from students
enrolled on our multimedia modules at both under- and postgraduate level.
As the residency comes to an end, the artwork would take its final form and
become a permanent ?tatic?part of the Convergence website.

---------------------------------


Convergence: The Journal of Research into New Media Technologies

Convergence is a paper journal. To join our emailing list, for further
information and for details of back issues, see our web site at
http://www.luton.ac.uk/Convergence

The copyright of all articles, papers, reports and reviews published in
Convergence rests with the University of Luton Press. Any author(s) wishing
to have their published text reproduced elsewhere should seek the necessary
permission via the Editors

Edited by Julia Knight, Jeanette Steemers & Alexis Weedon
Dept of Media Arts,
University of Luton,
75 Castle St., Luton, LU1 3AJ, UK
Editorial email: Convergence@luton.ac.uk
Tel: +44 1582 489031/489144
Fax: +44 1582 489014
Web site: http://www.luton.ac.uk/Convergence

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