i remember some discussions that happened hear a couple of years back along the lines of 'does New Zealand need a medialab?' well, i don't know about a /media/lab, since 'media' is a bit of a loaded word and corries with it a lot of the kind of pretentious nonsense that can have a whole lot of money spent on flash without very much content (eg the Film Archive 'Mediaplex' in Wellington).
but, based on what i've seen in my travels, some of the most interesting creative stuff seems to be happening in and around /hack/lab spaces: the kind of spaces which put together, in one place, open-source enthusiasts who want to spread the word, and artists who are interested in working with new technology and want access to equipment, workshop space, or just a social space to hang out with other likeminded people. i just went this morning to visit the Metalab in Vienna (http://metalab.at) and am inspired. they have a very small space - 200 square metres - and in it manage to pack the following: . main room with couches, chairs, tables and cheap roll-down projection screens for presentations, meetings, or just hanging out . library/meeting room with books, tables, a more quiet/intimate workshop/work space. . tiny sound studio with some basic synth gear (lent from one of the members, who occasionally takes it back to use at his house) . kitchen with cooking equipment (to facilitate social interaction), honesty-box fridge with beer and energy drinks (Club Mate of course) . the 'whateverlab', with a bunch of electronics gear, electronics books, two kitset 3d printers (offspring of the RepRap), a 3-axis CNC lathe, and a laser cutter. . a darkroom/chemistry experiment lab . blinkenlichts of some kind in every room membership is 20$/month but you can go in and hang out and use the equipment without membership; it's a lot smaller, friendlier, and more practical/workshop-feeling than CBase in Berlin (if anyone else has been there). it's funded by the City of Vienna and some commercial sponsors, and seems to have been initially set up as an 'innovation incubator' kind of project. so, in my mind, the best, cheapest single thing they could do is part-fund the formation of a hack-space or several hack-spaces, strategically located in major cities. in Wellington, a small space (Happy-sized) somewhere in the not-yet-gentrified bits around upper cuba or tory st, or in newtown. in Auckland, divert some of the funding from the absurdly enormous Galatos place into a smaller, more realistic sized space. this could be funded all sorts of ways, in Wellington at least. if only the City Council still owned Citylink, that would take care of some things. and back in the day i'm sure paradise.net would have been interested. the Wellington Linux Users Group might like to play. certain people associated with 127 Abel Smith would be interested i'm sure. on the open source side, Catalyst IT might be interested; from the graphics programming/hacking side, Sidhe or Wandering Monster might like to play too. 2c. damian Douglas Bagnall wrote: > So this one is really boring. I mean, "Creative New Zealand Strategic > Plan" -- any one of these words would send you to sleep by itself. I > won't be surprised if no-one answers. Here's the link > > http://www.creativenz.govt.nz/WhatWeDo/StrategicPlan/StrategicPlanPublicConsultation/tabid/4910/language/en-NZ/Default.aspx > > but don't look. It's boring. It is better that we have an uninformed > and interesting debate. Supposing we did submit something, what should > we say? > > The obvious and expected tactic would be to notify them of our > unrecognised brilliance and diversity, of the exceptional art > experiences that we offer New Zealand and International Audiences, of > the warm glow they will feel from seeing our well-funded, important, > edgy work rise up on the world stage and represent the wise, culturally > aware, courageous CNZ. But we will be cunning, and carefully frame it > in such a way that we don't look like greedy sycophants. We don't like > money, but we will accept it for the good of the nation. We will also > not mention that they are funding our rivals to make crap, nor that they > are a bunch of conservative retards, nor anything else at all that might > sound disparaging of bureaucrats or strategic plans. > > That would be expected, and it would probably be wise. Perhaps > accurate. But it also sets up the temptation to do the opposite, to > scream and yell, and let them know that they have no idea about > anything. They are at best irrelevant, we'd say. They should disband > and give the money back to the paupers who bought lotto tickets. > > Then, of course, there's an expanse of middle ground, where we outline > the areas about which they have no clue, and try to tell them how they > could do better. Most likely they would like to. Which brings us back > to: what should they do, actually? > > Personally, I have few ideas at the moment. That's mainly because it is > one in the morning, but also because I haven't had much to do with them > for a while. The paperwork is not worth it for the piddly amounts I > apply for: I do better just getting a job for the days that I would > spend writing proposals and aquittals, and I don't get bound up in the > kinds of idiotic commitments I put in funding proposals, nor do I have > to wait at the letterbox to know what I'll be doing over the next six > months. But you lot will have ideas. > > > Douglas > _______________________________________________ > Ada_list mailing list > [email protected] > http://aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz/ > -- damian stewart | skype: damiansnz | [email protected] frey | live art with machines | http://www.frey.co.nz _______________________________________________ Ada_list mailing list [email protected] http://aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz/
