tag navigator

Interactive interface for the soundtoys site commissioned by Stanza for soundtoys.net. Thanks to the Arts Council Of England and The Watershed Media Center.

This interface acts as an visual linker to the many artworks on the soundtoys site, using the new API and database. This is an experiment that represent the soundtoys collection as data and creates an easy to use navigational interface. The next version will be multi - user.

VisitorsStudio

The VisitorsStudio is a multi-user online arena for production, display and discussion of audiovisual, screen based work. Visitors experiment and respond to each others' dancing-cursors and chat, live in real-time while uploading, mixing and exhibiting their own compositions.

The VisitorsStudio encourages people to be playful and imaginative in their interactions with each other and the network, making real-time online connection through simple and accessible facilities, crossing social divides on their own terms. It provides the perfect platform for explorations of collective creativity for both established artists and those excluded from traditional art structures for reasons of geography, or social circumstance and facilitates the online manipulation and imaginative recontextualisation of existing media files.

Already, many artists and media-labs in the UK, USA, Australia, Balkans and Brazil have worked with VisitorsStudio as a global platform for live audio-visual jamming events including Autolabs Tactical Week:end (Brazil) and furtherfield's collaborative response to the Republican National Congress, 'Dissension Convention' featuring over 20 internationally located artists and broadcast live at Postmasters Gallery [NY].

The studio has also been used as a multimedia interview space for sonic artists and musicians including Jodi Rose [Australia], MikroKnytes [USA] and Scott Taylor, Mr Mutton_deluxe [UK]. Furtherfields recent retrospective of net.artist Andy Deck [US] also culminated with a live interview and performance using VisitorsStudio.

VisitorsStudio is a creative use of existing technology; a software led environment that operates through the existing network of the Internet. It relies on server technology to allow direct connections between multiple users.

Collaboratively developed by artists, programmers, critics and curators, with significant contributions by audiences new to net art, and members of online art and technology forums, this platform has grown organically in response to their participation. Additions and enhancements to its functionality, usability and communication are made to accommodate and extend the artistic aspirations of its users. The open modular nature of the project is designed so that it can be expanded organically to incorporate additional forms of content.

VisitorsStudio is a Furtherfield.org project and has been developed under the creative direction of Neil Jenkins, Marc Garrett and Ruth Catlow. The project is currently being further developed through funding from Arts Council England. Special thanks must also go to Atty (Andy Forbes) for his programming assistance, Chris Webb who created the VisitorsStudio manual, Roger Mills (furthernoise.org) who has organised many of the live AV sessions with international sonic artists and musicians, and Sim (soy.de) a regular visitor and bug tester.

TECHNICS

Requires live internet connection and web browser with Flash Plugin [v6+].

The studio is also available as a Mac/PC standalone application.

DSL or faster connection preferred, although the studio is accessible over 56k modem connection.

VisitorsStudio is a networked application comprising of two main parts. The User interface was designed and programmed as a series of modules, using Flash MX. The backend is written in Perl, using a socket server for live interaction and MySQL.