Morena, Thought I'd better point y'all towards Makerspace - already happening in Wellington: http://makerspace.org.nz/
...sounds a bit like what you were describing Damien. There is a real techy focus at the space in Wellington, but I'm sure the fine folk there would be most welcoming to ADAers, and even more keen to hear of funding possibilities! Bronwyn On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 4:47 AM, Julian Oliver <[email protected]>wrote: > ..on Thu, Oct 01, 2009 at 04:27:39PM +0200, Damian Stewart wrote: > > 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. > > I reckon this is also a good basis for a proposal. Good words Dames. > > More often than not it's the medialabs that help make media-artists sing. > I've > especially seen this again and again with the Medialab Prado in Madrid, > who've > I've worked as teacher and participant. You've seen it first hand too > Damian, > being a valued collaborator and artist at the Medialab Madrid on more than > one > occassion. > > There's an excess of technical/creative talent in NZ. Recycle! > > A hacklab with: > > - coffee machine > - hard and soft knowledge archive (leverage FLOSSManuals) > - strict open-source distribution and development models > - working area with lockers > - free code repositories for remote collaborations > - Friday arvo "I'll tell you how I made this project" talks with > a beer and concert chaser > > .. would be a great contribution. > > Take 'Grow Your Own MediaLab' as a good model for aquiring a basic > inventory vis > a vis Sheffield's Access Space; ie engineer a little guilt with a > corporation > like BNZ, convincing them to redirect the mandatory obsolescing of 20 PCs > and > give them a sponsor badge on your web site. > > Here's a template: > > http://www.access-space.org/?c=recycling > > This is something I'd be tempted to sink my teeth into one day. > > >From what I see NZ seems to have overlooked this opportunity.. Rather, it > seems > a culture of individualism in art and curatorial interest is predominant, > even > at the artist-run-space level. > > Chairs, > > -- > Julian Oliver > home: New Zealand > based: Berlin, Germany > currently: Berlin, Germany > about: http://julianoliver.com > > > > > 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/ > > _______________________________________________ > Ada_list mailing list > [email protected] > http://aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz/ >
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