Introducing a Splendid Blog
posted by: Nathan Stevens 19th July 2009
What do you get when you combine ten of Australia's freshest emerging artists, a bunch of accomplished provocateurs, 54 rock stars, and an "immersive lab-styled think tank"...?
We're about to find out... here live and in real-time, well, kind of...
The idea behind the blog is that the Splendid artists and provocateurs can use this space as a communication depot. A place where things can find their home, get stored, deposited, and cached. You know, things like thoughts, ideas, conversations, dialogue, notes, sketches, photos, and pretty much anything else you can convert into 1's and 0's.
At times the blog will act as a tool, a means of communicating things that have difficulty finding their voice in the material world. At other times it will function as a virtual collaborative sketchbook, a cross-media platform for artistic collaboration and documentation promoting observation and invention. In its essence, the blog is a place where the artists and provocateurs can narrate the dynamic of the Arts Lab.
A 'quickie' tour:
So the blog has been designed with these concepts in mind. Kudos to the design team down at Icon! You guys are rock-n-roll! Basically this blog works like most other blogs. People write stuff about things that they experience, this writing gets uploaded to the blog along with other forms of documentation (video, audio, images, etc.), then you, the 'world', can read about it, follow it, and all that good stuff. The Lab gets archived weekly, mapping the progression of the synergy beginning to end. We've included some great features like Flickr and Vimeo feeds that will help to keep the blog up to date with what's happening in the Lab. Each artist and provocateur can catalogue their experiences and ideas on their own page, accessible through the sidebar. There is also a thing called the 'Splenditorial'. This is the section of the blog that helps make sense of all that's happening in the Lab, offering an editorial voice.
Hi, I'm the editor:
What would a lab be without a researcher? Part of my role in the Splendid project is to help document the collaborative, creative processes as multiple artists work together in a group and offer a critical perspective into these processes as they transpire throughout the Arts Lab. I'll be coordinating the blog and taking notes on what happens, identifying key concepts that emerge the various dialogues and narratives, and raise/offer commentary on these topics and ideas. I like to refer to this role as 'collaboratarian'; interactively and reflexively documenting the Splendid Arts Lab, working directly with the artists to help map out and communicate the collaborative artistic development process. In these capacities I hope to facilitate the synergy and inventive interchange in ideas and practices.
As the Lab is fundamentally, experimental, so is the blog. How the lab gets documented, how the artists and provocateurs direct the blog is entirely part of the process of this collaborative residency and think-tank. I'll be posting regular updates, notes, and observations on the progress. Stay tuned for the splendour.
About the editor:
Nathan Stevens is currently completing his doctoral studies at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia. He is developing a critically reflexive approach to sociality in contemporary artistic activity, specifically concentrating on the correlations between relational aesthetic theory and new media, and the emerging art practices that maintain critical focus on inter-subjective relationships. Stevens is a practicing interdisciplinary media artist who has exhibited nationally and internationally. He enjoys floating in the ocean, people-watching, and fixing bridges.
Comments
see you soon, sorry its been hard to find time to blog so far. you will see why when you get up here (busy,busy,busy). have a good plane ride.
Kristy Ayre - July 28, 2009 at 22:51Submit a Comment
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Can I come and visit the Arts Lab in progress? The whole thing sounds absolutely amazing!!
Robin Hood - July 23, 2009 at 14:28