This isn't really about an arts organization, but it has a lot of interesting examples that show the evolution of copyright law and music distribution over the last decade.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/technology/08pandora.html
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
How Community Arts Organizations Are Using Social Media
http://mashable.com/2009/07/08/community-arts-organizations/
"As more diverse organizations dive into web marketing, for-profit organizations can learn well from their indie counterparts about experimentation and innovation online. A few notable community and arts groups have been inventive in their use of social media and truly collaborative in their outreach in ways that even the most seasoned corporate marketer can appreciate.
Among the arts and community organizations using social media thoughtfully and in big ways (which aren’t necessarily representative of their limited budgets) are independent artists and companies in photography, film, modern art, radio and craft. They’ve capitalized on the audiovisual nature of the Web to showcase the storytelling and community-building aspects of their work, and the results are worth a pass-along."technologyinthearts.org
I'm sure everyone has used this or at least seen it, but I figured I would post it anyway, just in case!
http://www.technologyinthearts.org/
http://www.technologyinthearts.org/
From Pocket to Stage, Music in the Key of iPhone
Keeping with the same theme but in music instead of visual arts:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/technology/05orchestra.html?_r=2&scp=6&sq=music&st=Search
"The Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra’s performance on Thursday used the most unusual of instruments: Apple iPhones amplified by speakers attached to small fingerless gloves."
"While computer music composers once spent hours programming giant mainframes to synthesize a single sound, advances in hardware and software have brought powerful and easy-to-use music tools to personal computers and now, to smartphones."
This article is a fascinating statement about the era that we live in. The arguments, of course, are for the expressiveness, subtle, and response one can get out of a traditional instrument. "Nothing is better than a cello at playing the cello".
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/technology/05orchestra.html?_r=2&scp=6&sq=music&st=Search
"The Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra’s performance on Thursday used the most unusual of instruments: Apple iPhones amplified by speakers attached to small fingerless gloves."
"While computer music composers once spent hours programming giant mainframes to synthesize a single sound, advances in hardware and software have brought powerful and easy-to-use music tools to personal computers and now, to smartphones."
This article is a fascinating statement about the era that we live in. The arguments, of course, are for the expressiveness, subtle, and response one can get out of a traditional instrument. "Nothing is better than a cello at playing the cello".
David Hockney turns the iPad into an art form
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/may/11/david-hockney-ipad-drawings/print
"David Hockney, one of the most influential British artists of the past century, has already been using the Brushes application on the device to draw pictures and email the results to friends.
"David Hockney, one of the most influential British artists of the past century, has already been using the Brushes application on the device to draw pictures and email the results to friends.
The 72-year-old, who lives in Bridlington, was a well-known user of the application on his iPhone, and would similarly create 'paintings' before emailing them to around 20 friends."
He sees the iPad as a way for drawing by hand to "make a comeback rather than an indication that the new technology would lead to the skill diminishing".
This is an interesting perspective, especially from an artist, in a time where there is so much controversy about how technology diminishes the value of art.
The Magic of Adobe’s Photoshop CS5
Adobe’s Photoshop CS5 recently became available, and as usual, there’s plenty of magic for photographers under.
The star of the new Photoshop is without a doubt Content-Aware Fill. This technology takes Content-Aware Scaling, which first appeared in CS4, to the next logical level by enabling you to select an object — a stranger who wandered into your photo shoot, for instance — and then delete him from the photo. Content-Aware Fill will then examine the background surroundings and fill in the white space where your object formerly resided. It’s fun and often amazingly accurate. Here’s a video that shows how it works.
Also in the realm of magic is the Puppet Warp feature. Puppet Warp lets you recompose part of an object to achieve specific design goals. For instance, you can select an elephant’s trunk and change the curve of the trunk. Puppet Warp isn’t as easy to use as Content-Aware Fill and you won’t use it as much, but it’s cool nonetheless.
Adobe also has made it easier to select and mask intricate images with improvements to its Refine Edge tool, an enhancement that is less fanciful that Puppet Warp but will certainly be much more widely used. The software enables you to more accurately isolate an object from its background, and it’s particularly helpful with complicated edges like human hair.
Fans of high-dynamic range (HDR) photography will appreciate the HDR enhancements. The HDR Pro tool enables you to merge identical images taken at different exposures and combine the exposures to create a single shot with a very wide dynamic range. The tool also includes a Remove Ghosts feature that automatically removes artifacts that often occur when merging overlapping shots.
If you’re working with a single shot, however, the HDR filter is a fun addition that enables you to easily adjust the toning of the image to mimic the effects of HDR photos.
The Camera Raw 6 plug-in, which ships with CS5, has been updated to support new camera models; in all, 275 models are supported. Camera Raw 6 also has improved sharpening and noise removal, and lets you apply film grain when editing a RAW image.
Adobe also added a lens-correction feature that corrects the three most common lens-based errors: geometric distortion, chromatic aberration, and vignetting. You can also create custom profiles of your lenses.
As usual, Photoshop doesn’t come cheap. CS5 is $699 for the full version, or $199 for an upgrade from previous versions.
from http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/the-magic-of-adobes-photoshop-cs5/?scp=2&sq=adobe&st=cse
The star of the new Photoshop is without a doubt Content-Aware Fill. This technology takes Content-Aware Scaling, which first appeared in CS4, to the next logical level by enabling you to select an object — a stranger who wandered into your photo shoot, for instance — and then delete him from the photo. Content-Aware Fill will then examine the background surroundings and fill in the white space where your object formerly resided. It’s fun and often amazingly accurate. Here’s a video that shows how it works.
Also in the realm of magic is the Puppet Warp feature. Puppet Warp lets you recompose part of an object to achieve specific design goals. For instance, you can select an elephant’s trunk and change the curve of the trunk. Puppet Warp isn’t as easy to use as Content-Aware Fill and you won’t use it as much, but it’s cool nonetheless.
Adobe also has made it easier to select and mask intricate images with improvements to its Refine Edge tool, an enhancement that is less fanciful that Puppet Warp but will certainly be much more widely used. The software enables you to more accurately isolate an object from its background, and it’s particularly helpful with complicated edges like human hair.
Fans of high-dynamic range (HDR) photography will appreciate the HDR enhancements. The HDR Pro tool enables you to merge identical images taken at different exposures and combine the exposures to create a single shot with a very wide dynamic range. The tool also includes a Remove Ghosts feature that automatically removes artifacts that often occur when merging overlapping shots.
If you’re working with a single shot, however, the HDR filter is a fun addition that enables you to easily adjust the toning of the image to mimic the effects of HDR photos.
The Camera Raw 6 plug-in, which ships with CS5, has been updated to support new camera models; in all, 275 models are supported. Camera Raw 6 also has improved sharpening and noise removal, and lets you apply film grain when editing a RAW image.
Adobe also added a lens-correction feature that corrects the three most common lens-based errors: geometric distortion, chromatic aberration, and vignetting. You can also create custom profiles of your lenses.
As usual, Photoshop doesn’t come cheap. CS5 is $699 for the full version, or $199 for an upgrade from previous versions.
from http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/the-magic-of-adobes-photoshop-cs5/?scp=2&sq=adobe&st=cse
Firefox Add-Ons Double as Art, Pranks and Fun
The Internet doesn’t always have to be serious business. Just ask Tobias Leingruber and Jamie Wilkinson, co-founders of Artzilla, an online repository for plug-ins to Mozilla’s Web browser, Firefox. The extensions found on Artzilla won’t help you organize bookmarks or add nifty features. They’re more likely to scramble Web interfaces, inject misspellings or teleport your browser back to the dark ages of the Internet, you know, circa 1996.
Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Leingruber are members of Free Art and Technology or F.A.T. Lab, a loose-knit group of hackers who tinker with art and technology. “Our mission statement is to pair pop culture with open source,” Mr. Wilkinson said.
The duo created Artzilla at the end of November after noticing that their particular brand of Firefox add-ons weren’t making it into the official directory of Firefox extensions.
Unlike the standard fare available in the official Firefox extension list, most of the Artzilla extensions dabble in media culture and experimental design: Take, for example, two of Mr. Leingruber’s contributions, the China Channel, a plug-in that mimics the Web experience for Internet browsers in China, and Pirates of the Amazon, an extension that made it easy for people who were browsing on Amazon.com to download the same products free through the Pirate Bay, the illicit BitTorrent site.
“That’s when we decided to make a place to put these things,” Mr. Wilkinson said. “They were missing out on the fun.”
In addition to the 10 or so plug-ins listed on their site, Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Leingruber also created an Artzilla Wiki, with tutorials on installing and creating various types of Firefox extensions.
The main purpose behind Artzilla, Mr. Wilkinson says, is to “make the Web a more interesting experience.” In many ways, he said, the “Web browser replaced the television set as the main way we get content.” Artzilla is an experimental way to “hack the Web and change our experience online.”
Here are some of Mr. Wilkinson’s favorites from the Artzilla collection:
Add-Art: Add-Art takes ad-blocking software one step further. After removing all the advertisements from a Web page, Add-Art replaces them with a spattering of images from an up-and-coming artist, who is vetted by a team of curators. Every two weeks, there’s a new “show” or series of artwork presented through the extension. Previous artists featured include an M.I.T. Media Lab graduate, Ayah Bdeir, who showed a series of photographs depicting a woman undergoing a Transportation Security Administration search and a cheeky group show that imagined the future of online advertising. According to Mr. Wilkinson, there are currently more than 25,000 active users of the patch.
Time Machine: In case you have a hankering for early Web design, replete with animated GIFs, clunky fonts and slow-loading wallpapers, this Firefox Add-on will refresh your memory by warping any Web page back to 1996.
Rolltube: On the off chance you haven’t yet been rickrolled, or duped into watching the YouTube video of Rick Astley’s 1987 hit pop song “Never Gonna Give You Up,” RollTube will cure you of that. This Firefox extension switches every YouTube video with Astley’s masterpiece.
Tourette Machine: This Firefox plug-in will sporadically plant curse words and inappropriate phrases while typing. The extension comes in two flavors: Moderate, which inserts swear words every three to five words and extreme, which injects foul language every other word.
from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/firefox-add-ons-double-as-art-pranks-fun/
Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Leingruber are members of Free Art and Technology or F.A.T. Lab, a loose-knit group of hackers who tinker with art and technology. “Our mission statement is to pair pop culture with open source,” Mr. Wilkinson said.
The duo created Artzilla at the end of November after noticing that their particular brand of Firefox add-ons weren’t making it into the official directory of Firefox extensions.
Unlike the standard fare available in the official Firefox extension list, most of the Artzilla extensions dabble in media culture and experimental design: Take, for example, two of Mr. Leingruber’s contributions, the China Channel, a plug-in that mimics the Web experience for Internet browsers in China, and Pirates of the Amazon, an extension that made it easy for people who were browsing on Amazon.com to download the same products free through the Pirate Bay, the illicit BitTorrent site.
“That’s when we decided to make a place to put these things,” Mr. Wilkinson said. “They were missing out on the fun.”
In addition to the 10 or so plug-ins listed on their site, Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Leingruber also created an Artzilla Wiki, with tutorials on installing and creating various types of Firefox extensions.
The main purpose behind Artzilla, Mr. Wilkinson says, is to “make the Web a more interesting experience.” In many ways, he said, the “Web browser replaced the television set as the main way we get content.” Artzilla is an experimental way to “hack the Web and change our experience online.”
Here are some of Mr. Wilkinson’s favorites from the Artzilla collection:
Add-Art: Add-Art takes ad-blocking software one step further. After removing all the advertisements from a Web page, Add-Art replaces them with a spattering of images from an up-and-coming artist, who is vetted by a team of curators. Every two weeks, there’s a new “show” or series of artwork presented through the extension. Previous artists featured include an M.I.T. Media Lab graduate, Ayah Bdeir, who showed a series of photographs depicting a woman undergoing a Transportation Security Administration search and a cheeky group show that imagined the future of online advertising. According to Mr. Wilkinson, there are currently more than 25,000 active users of the patch.
Time Machine: In case you have a hankering for early Web design, replete with animated GIFs, clunky fonts and slow-loading wallpapers, this Firefox Add-on will refresh your memory by warping any Web page back to 1996.
Rolltube: On the off chance you haven’t yet been rickrolled, or duped into watching the YouTube video of Rick Astley’s 1987 hit pop song “Never Gonna Give You Up,” RollTube will cure you of that. This Firefox extension switches every YouTube video with Astley’s masterpiece.
Tourette Machine: This Firefox plug-in will sporadically plant curse words and inappropriate phrases while typing. The extension comes in two flavors: Moderate, which inserts swear words every three to five words and extreme, which injects foul language every other word.
from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/firefox-add-ons-double-as-art-pranks-fun/
No One Quite Does it Like The Met
When it comes to using technology to create an interactive experience for Arts Organizations, no one can compare to the lengths that The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has gone to.
Check out their
Check out their
- Flickr Group
- YouTube Channel
- Twitter Feed
- RSS Feeds
- Not to mention Facebook, iTunes U Channel, and many more
You Tube Your Way to Broadway!
Everyone knows that you can find just about anything on YouTube; Soldiers dancing to Lady GaGa, clips from your favorite TV show, old commercials, and of course; people singing (well or poorly) their favorite Pop, R&B, Country or Broadway songs.
Well, Broadway has recently found a way to integrate YouTube into productions.
Two shoes, Everyday Rapture and Sondheim on Sondheim, feature scenes inspired by or clips from You Tube.
Sondheim on Sondheim features a YouTube montage of different people singing Send in the Clowns.
Everyday Rapture has a scene where the star interacts with a fan she discovered on YouTube lip syncing to one of her songs. The scene tries to translate the interactions by having the actor playing the fan in a "computer screen".
The article facilitated a great discussion on using internet media or representations of it in productions and what this could mean to Broadway theater.
Will there be whole shows that revolve around the internet and more multi media production in mainstream theatre works? Multi media elements are common in dance and experimental thatre, and it seems that there could be more of it used in larger productions. Could this be the new way Broadway finds its talent, similar to how music and TV industry find talent through YouTube and MySpace,will producers and directors look to YouTube to find their next star?
Theater Talkback: YouTube on Broadway
Well, Broadway has recently found a way to integrate YouTube into productions.
Two shoes, Everyday Rapture and Sondheim on Sondheim, feature scenes inspired by or clips from You Tube.
Sondheim on Sondheim features a YouTube montage of different people singing Send in the Clowns.
Everyday Rapture has a scene where the star interacts with a fan she discovered on YouTube lip syncing to one of her songs. The scene tries to translate the interactions by having the actor playing the fan in a "computer screen".
The article facilitated a great discussion on using internet media or representations of it in productions and what this could mean to Broadway theater.
Will there be whole shows that revolve around the internet and more multi media production in mainstream theatre works? Multi media elements are common in dance and experimental thatre, and it seems that there could be more of it used in larger productions. Could this be the new way Broadway finds its talent, similar to how music and TV industry find talent through YouTube and MySpace,will producers and directors look to YouTube to find their next star?
Theater Talkback: YouTube on Broadway
Who excatly is following you?
With all the talk about Twitter being a method to market your organization, who excatly are you marketing to?
Well acording to this L.A. Times post, it is not the youth of America:
Twitter: No matter what Hollywood thinks, its totally uncool for kids
Well acording to this L.A. Times post, it is not the youth of America:
Twitter: No matter what Hollywood thinks, its totally uncool for kids
NEWPLAY TV
As part of Arena Stage's New play Institute, the NEWPLAY TV channel was created on livestrem. The purpose is to showcase the new work that is being done at Arena and other theatres around the country. Check it out!
Watch live streaming video from newplay at livestream.com
Will Internet Art Displace Tradition?
The National Endowment for the Arts' (NEA) Survey of Public Participation in the Arts shows clearly that adults are accessing the Internet for a significant portion of their arts experiences. The Survey summary lists that approximately 30% of adults are accessing the Internet on a regular basis. If you have not checked out this survey, the summary is available at (www.arts.gov/research/NEA-SPPA-brochure.pdf).
What I find particularly interesting in the changing nature of artistic participation is the desire for participants to be actively involved in the artistic process itself. It appears that the "age" of the passive audience model is waning. When you drill down to the basics this does make sense, and is quite healthy, as engagement in the artistic process itself allows for the fullest impact to be felt and understood.
In the live arts venues we have seen a number of creative and effective participant involvement efforts in the visual and media arts, and some rare examples in the performing arts, although the latter here are generally found mostly in cutting edge, not mainstream organizations. On the Internet there is an example of participant engagement that I find particularly provocative. It's (www.artistshare.com). Here you can engage actively in the creation of musical works. You can offer ideas and participate in a discussion with composer/artists. You can become so deeply involved as to be listed on resultant recordings. There is a "pay-to-play" fee at raked levels, allowing you access according to the level of your membership.
Given the two factors listed above, of increasing adult participation on the Internet, and increasing demand for active participation in the art formation and performance itself, it's fun to speculate that a fundamental transformation in artistic organizational structure is already underway. Following the trends of exceptionally lower passive audience participation, especially in iconic genres and organizations, plus these two other trend items, what will the "live" arts world, especially the performing arts world look like in 5 years?
Now is the time for emerging leaders to grasp these dynamic trends and shape them for the benefit of all.
from http://www.artsjournal.com/state/2010/03/does-internet-art-displace-the.html
What I find particularly interesting in the changing nature of artistic participation is the desire for participants to be actively involved in the artistic process itself. It appears that the "age" of the passive audience model is waning. When you drill down to the basics this does make sense, and is quite healthy, as engagement in the artistic process itself allows for the fullest impact to be felt and understood.
In the live arts venues we have seen a number of creative and effective participant involvement efforts in the visual and media arts, and some rare examples in the performing arts, although the latter here are generally found mostly in cutting edge, not mainstream organizations. On the Internet there is an example of participant engagement that I find particularly provocative. It's (www.artistshare.com). Here you can engage actively in the creation of musical works. You can offer ideas and participate in a discussion with composer/artists. You can become so deeply involved as to be listed on resultant recordings. There is a "pay-to-play" fee at raked levels, allowing you access according to the level of your membership.
Given the two factors listed above, of increasing adult participation on the Internet, and increasing demand for active participation in the art formation and performance itself, it's fun to speculate that a fundamental transformation in artistic organizational structure is already underway. Following the trends of exceptionally lower passive audience participation, especially in iconic genres and organizations, plus these two other trend items, what will the "live" arts world, especially the performing arts world look like in 5 years?
Now is the time for emerging leaders to grasp these dynamic trends and shape them for the benefit of all.
from http://www.artsjournal.com/state/2010/03/does-internet-art-displace-the.html
Theater Talkback: YouTube on Broadway
Some stranger new moves in the evolving dance between venerable old Broadway and new technology, YouTube has become a supporting player in two recently opened shows (both, as it happens, Roundabout Theater Company productions): “Everyday Rapture” (at the American Airlines Theater) and “Sondheim on Sondheim” (at Studio 54).
full article:
Monday, May 10, 2010
The everything exhibition
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/arts/11iht-birch.html?ref=arts
The article above shows how art exhibitions have become a forum where we now feel that all of our senses have to be stimulated. "Hope and Glory," a multimedia exhibition was of the largest shows to open in Hong Kong, costing $2 million. And it had everything, including a mirrored skate ramp for the kids to skate on (which sounds awesome!), a giant 13 foot silver sphere, repeated videos of circus freaks, and a 3-D fairy tale film about a white horse at the epicenter of the piece.
What I liked about the article is how it shows artists embracing technology to create their art. Many artists include videos or even create their own music for their exhibitions. "Hope and Glory" would be completely different if the artist did not feel the need to include the videos and the 3-d film. It's also great because with the desire to include technology, artists either learn to create within the media, or work with other artists to create that piece (as is the case with "Hope and Glory," which had works from architects, photographers, designers, and filmmakers).
The article above shows how art exhibitions have become a forum where we now feel that all of our senses have to be stimulated. "Hope and Glory," a multimedia exhibition was of the largest shows to open in Hong Kong, costing $2 million. And it had everything, including a mirrored skate ramp for the kids to skate on (which sounds awesome!), a giant 13 foot silver sphere, repeated videos of circus freaks, and a 3-D fairy tale film about a white horse at the epicenter of the piece.
What I liked about the article is how it shows artists embracing technology to create their art. Many artists include videos or even create their own music for their exhibitions. "Hope and Glory" would be completely different if the artist did not feel the need to include the videos and the 3-d film. It's also great because with the desire to include technology, artists either learn to create within the media, or work with other artists to create that piece (as is the case with "Hope and Glory," which had works from architects, photographers, designers, and filmmakers).
The Center for Arts Management and Technology
I have stumbled across a great online resource for those of us interested in getting continuous updates about the relationship between technology and arts management. Our colleagues at Carnegie Mellon have an applied research center that deals with technology for arts managers, their website lists upcoming workshops, they frequently post blogs and podcasts, and offer they offer services for arts managers like website design, consulting, and workshops.
"CAMT investigates ways technology can improve and enhance the practice of arts management and, when appropriate, develops technology solutions and services that meet critical needs in the field."
Some of the products that can be purchased which they have designed or collaborated on include:
CueRate - expedites the panel review process for funding agencies, exhibitors, artists, and panelists. Artist applications and work samples are review through a customizable scoring interface either in-person or remotely.
DoReMe - online class registration tool that allows arts organizations to offer their constituents the convenience of online registration and payment processing.
artsnetCMS - a CAMT hosted and supported content management system (CMS) that simplifies the process of updating your Web site.
Artist Roster - systems to showcase the work of artists, allowing arts organizations and schools to connect them to the public, exhibitors, and others.
Web Hosting - no frills Web hosting through CAMT.
CultureMail - Listserv announcement and discussion email lists.
CAMT is interested in innovating and creating new tools where there are gaps for arts managers by partnering with arts organizations and their students. This is a great resource as we move forward in our careers and potentially for the next section of this course. Enjoy!
http://camt.artsnet.org/Default.aspx
"CAMT investigates ways technology can improve and enhance the practice of arts management and, when appropriate, develops technology solutions and services that meet critical needs in the field."
Some of the products that can be purchased which they have designed or collaborated on include:
CueRate - expedites the panel review process for funding agencies, exhibitors, artists, and panelists. Artist applications and work samples are review through a customizable scoring interface either in-person or remotely.
DoReMe - online class registration tool that allows arts organizations to offer their constituents the convenience of online registration and payment processing.
artsnetCMS - a CAMT hosted and supported content management system (CMS) that simplifies the process of updating your Web site.
Artist Roster - systems to showcase the work of artists, allowing arts organizations and schools to connect them to the public, exhibitors, and others.
Web Hosting - no frills Web hosting through CAMT.
CultureMail - Listserv announcement and discussion email lists.
CAMT is interested in innovating and creating new tools where there are gaps for arts managers by partnering with arts organizations and their students. This is a great resource as we move forward in our careers and potentially for the next section of this course. Enjoy!
http://camt.artsnet.org/Default.aspx
Artists vs.Google
As technology expands, the old intellectual property debate rages on. Photographers and illustrators filed a lawsuit against Google in April, claiming that the search engine displays copyrighted images in books it scans, without fairly compensating the creators. The Google Books feature allows users to read books and magazines that Google has scanned and are stored in a large database. If the book is out of copyright, or the owner has given permission, the pages can be viewed by users. Books in the public domain can be fully viewed and downloaded for print. Google claims that it is up complying with all of its copyright law.
The music industry has already seen a similar problem with possible copyright infringement, proper artist compensation etc, with file share entities like Napster, and the thousands of other file shares where users don't pay for music. The artist Prince had websites shutdown fan pages and videos that featured people singing his songs or had footage (via camera phones etc) of him performing. With the internet being such a wide resource, will intellectual property and copyright laws have to be completely re written, or will artists just have to live with knowing they may be missing out on some revenue?
This also made me think about the whole "digital book" concept, a la Kindle, etc. Is having a book on line taking away from the experience of reading. There is something to be said about just picking up a book and turning the pages. Do we really want to find all of our literature on line?
Artists vs. Google Here
The music industry has already seen a similar problem with possible copyright infringement, proper artist compensation etc, with file share entities like Napster, and the thousands of other file shares where users don't pay for music. The artist Prince had websites shutdown fan pages and videos that featured people singing his songs or had footage (via camera phones etc) of him performing. With the internet being such a wide resource, will intellectual property and copyright laws have to be completely re written, or will artists just have to live with knowing they may be missing out on some revenue?
This also made me think about the whole "digital book" concept, a la Kindle, etc. Is having a book on line taking away from the experience of reading. There is something to be said about just picking up a book and turning the pages. Do we really want to find all of our literature on line?
Artists vs. Google Here
Sunday, May 9, 2010
The typical debate
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/04/alt-text-videogames-as-art/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29&utm_content=Google+Reade
And so, our time-honored debate of video games being art continues. I imagine that 40 or 50 years from now, this debate will be studied how we study the Dadaists, who caused an uproar by using everyday objects, or "found objects," and declared them art.
What I found particularly interesting about this article was that Roger Ebert said that video games can't be art because they are interactive. Let's just ignore the fact that Ebert will be eating this extremely declarative sentence in some point in time, but if video games aren't art because they are interactive, then nothing created by a graphic design program counts either. Does a photograph quit being art because its brightness and exposure were corrected by Photoshop? It's an interesting debate to say the least, and one which will be argued more and more once video games become more complex.
And so, our time-honored debate of video games being art continues. I imagine that 40 or 50 years from now, this debate will be studied how we study the Dadaists, who caused an uproar by using everyday objects, or "found objects," and declared them art.
What I found particularly interesting about this article was that Roger Ebert said that video games can't be art because they are interactive. Let's just ignore the fact that Ebert will be eating this extremely declarative sentence in some point in time, but if video games aren't art because they are interactive, then nothing created by a graphic design program counts either. Does a photograph quit being art because its brightness and exposure were corrected by Photoshop? It's an interesting debate to say the least, and one which will be argued more and more once video games become more complex.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Broadway Using Foursquare to its Advantage
With new social network sites popping up everywhere, there has to be something special for one to catch on and gain national attention. Foursquare, a social networking gps game, has been slowly catching on since it started in 2009. For those who have not heard of it, foursquare uses the gps in your smart phone to locate where you are. When you log into foursquare.com it pinpoints your position and the venue you are at pops up on your screen. You then check in by pushing a button which lets all your foursquare friends know where you are at that moment. The game part of the site includes gaining badges for visiting the most places in a certain area, or becoming "mayor" of a venue for checking in the most times, etc.
The below article talks about how Broadway is using foursquare differently. Instead of having patrons check in at the theatre, they allow patrons to check in at the show itself. This creates buzz around individual shows. Once someone checks in at a show, foursquare broadcasts that person's location to all their foursquare friends, letting them know that their friend is watching "Wicked" that evening instead of just saying they are at the Gershwin Theatre. Smart way for theatres to promote their shows via word of mouth without doing anything but listing them on foursquare.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-sims/broadway-marketing-ready_b_565892.html
The below article talks about how Broadway is using foursquare differently. Instead of having patrons check in at the theatre, they allow patrons to check in at the show itself. This creates buzz around individual shows. Once someone checks in at a show, foursquare broadcasts that person's location to all their foursquare friends, letting them know that their friend is watching "Wicked" that evening instead of just saying they are at the Gershwin Theatre. Smart way for theatres to promote their shows via word of mouth without doing anything but listing them on foursquare.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-sims/broadway-marketing-ready_b_565892.html
Rapture or Ruin?
Theater Talkback: YouTube on Broadway
By BEN BRANTLEY
Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Eamon Foley plays a teenager who goes by the screen name Broadwayislove09 in the musical “Everyday Rapture.”
There was a time, not so long ago, when if a Broadway diva – say, Carol Channing or Patti LuPone – wanted to watch somebody else singing her signature songs in her signature style, she had to leave her dressing room and find a drag show.
Now she need only turn on her computer and settle in at that 24-hour virtual piano bar called YouTube. There, staring into their own cameras (usually from their own bedrooms), would-be Carols and Pattis and Bernadettes and Idinas of all ages and sexes can be discovered crooning (or lip-synching) away on private clouds of narcissism, for the delectation of the general public.
Of course, such dedicated exhibitionists weren’t meant to be confined exclusively to the small screens of laptops and iPhones. This season, a chosen few of them are making – gasp! – their Broadway debuts. Yes, in one of the stranger new moves in the evolving dance between venerable old Broadway and new technology, YouTube has become a supporting player in two recently opened shows (both, as it happens, Roundabout Theater Company productions): “Everyday Rapture” (at the American Airlines Theater) and “Sondheim on Sondheim” (at Studio 54).
In “Sondheim on Sondheim” — a multimedia tribute to Stephen Sondheim that mixes live performance, filmed interviews with the composer and a variety of video clips – one of the highlights is a masterly YouTube montage of different people singing “Send in the Clowns.” The featured vocalists include Sinatra, Streisand and LaBelle. But the segment that particularly captures our attention (and is allowed to end the sequence) appears to be homemade, by a preadolescent girl who has obviously put great time into her own rendition.
Fascinating as this Sondheim compilation is in tracing the many lives of a single song via Internet tools, it’s “Everday Rapture” that takes us to a new level of identity-blurring surrealism. In this semi-memoir of the self-described “semi-, semi- semi-star” Sherie Rene Scott, the show’s heroine (played by Ms. Scott, natch) discovers she has a fan on YouTube, one with whom she kind of identifies. His nom de screen is Broadwayislove09; he is 15 years old, and he does a lip-synch to a recording of Ms. Scott singing “My Strongest Suit” (from one of her semi-Broadway hits, “Aida”), with a panoply of gestures that Lady Gaga could learn from.
Sherie reaches out to this seemingly Scott-struck lad, whom she imagines to be a misfit in school, rather as she was at that age, when she would sing to her reflection in a pie plate. But Broadwayislove09 (played with deliciously rabid self-obsession by Eamon Foley) sticks to the logic of virtual reality, in which no one’s identity is to be trusted. This leads to an increasingly bizarre exchange of e-mail messages between Sherie and her imitator that leaves her asserting “I am me,” but in a feeble, self-doubting voice. It’s as if musical comedy has met “The Matrix.”
What’s great about this scene, from a theater-lover’s point of view, is how it re-translates a mini-cyber-drama into completely theatrical terms. (Broadwayislove09 appears on a make-believe computer screen that’s rather like an old Punch and Judy puppet stage.) And did I mention that the connecting musical number in the sequence – in addition to “My Strongest Suit” – is “Killing Me Softly With His Song”?
The show is taking back the Web, as it were, for the purposes of an older form of self-expression. At the same time, “Everyday Rapture” is one of the first pieces of mainstream theater to suggest how the rules of the game of Broadway stardom – and Broadway music – are changing. The hall of mirrors that the Broadway musical has become in recent years – with its insider references and quotes and jokes and homages – has acquired a new set of reflections that may well stretch into infinity.
How do you feel about the impact of the Internet on Broadway? Is it a friend or foe? What Web-born forms and influences can we expect in the future?
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/theater-talkback-youtube-on-broadway/
By BEN BRANTLEY
Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Eamon Foley plays a teenager who goes by the screen name Broadwayislove09 in the musical “Everyday Rapture.”
There was a time, not so long ago, when if a Broadway diva – say, Carol Channing or Patti LuPone – wanted to watch somebody else singing her signature songs in her signature style, she had to leave her dressing room and find a drag show.
Now she need only turn on her computer and settle in at that 24-hour virtual piano bar called YouTube. There, staring into their own cameras (usually from their own bedrooms), would-be Carols and Pattis and Bernadettes and Idinas of all ages and sexes can be discovered crooning (or lip-synching) away on private clouds of narcissism, for the delectation of the general public.
Of course, such dedicated exhibitionists weren’t meant to be confined exclusively to the small screens of laptops and iPhones. This season, a chosen few of them are making – gasp! – their Broadway debuts. Yes, in one of the stranger new moves in the evolving dance between venerable old Broadway and new technology, YouTube has become a supporting player in two recently opened shows (both, as it happens, Roundabout Theater Company productions): “Everyday Rapture” (at the American Airlines Theater) and “Sondheim on Sondheim” (at Studio 54).
In “Sondheim on Sondheim” — a multimedia tribute to Stephen Sondheim that mixes live performance, filmed interviews with the composer and a variety of video clips – one of the highlights is a masterly YouTube montage of different people singing “Send in the Clowns.” The featured vocalists include Sinatra, Streisand and LaBelle. But the segment that particularly captures our attention (and is allowed to end the sequence) appears to be homemade, by a preadolescent girl who has obviously put great time into her own rendition.
Fascinating as this Sondheim compilation is in tracing the many lives of a single song via Internet tools, it’s “Everday Rapture” that takes us to a new level of identity-blurring surrealism. In this semi-memoir of the self-described “semi-, semi- semi-star” Sherie Rene Scott, the show’s heroine (played by Ms. Scott, natch) discovers she has a fan on YouTube, one with whom she kind of identifies. His nom de screen is Broadwayislove09; he is 15 years old, and he does a lip-synch to a recording of Ms. Scott singing “My Strongest Suit” (from one of her semi-Broadway hits, “Aida”), with a panoply of gestures that Lady Gaga could learn from.
Sherie reaches out to this seemingly Scott-struck lad, whom she imagines to be a misfit in school, rather as she was at that age, when she would sing to her reflection in a pie plate. But Broadwayislove09 (played with deliciously rabid self-obsession by Eamon Foley) sticks to the logic of virtual reality, in which no one’s identity is to be trusted. This leads to an increasingly bizarre exchange of e-mail messages between Sherie and her imitator that leaves her asserting “I am me,” but in a feeble, self-doubting voice. It’s as if musical comedy has met “The Matrix.”
What’s great about this scene, from a theater-lover’s point of view, is how it re-translates a mini-cyber-drama into completely theatrical terms. (Broadwayislove09 appears on a make-believe computer screen that’s rather like an old Punch and Judy puppet stage.) And did I mention that the connecting musical number in the sequence – in addition to “My Strongest Suit” – is “Killing Me Softly With His Song”?
The show is taking back the Web, as it were, for the purposes of an older form of self-expression. At the same time, “Everyday Rapture” is one of the first pieces of mainstream theater to suggest how the rules of the game of Broadway stardom – and Broadway music – are changing. The hall of mirrors that the Broadway musical has become in recent years – with its insider references and quotes and jokes and homages – has acquired a new set of reflections that may well stretch into infinity.
How do you feel about the impact of the Internet on Broadway? Is it a friend or foe? What Web-born forms and influences can we expect in the future?
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/theater-talkback-youtube-on-broadway/
What next???
Noises off: Is the internet killing the theatre show?
Does Twittering and texting during a play mean the audience is engaged or disengaged? Some theatre-makers are embracing the new age of interactivity, while others are not so sure
Interactive ... Rider Spoke, first shown at the Barbican in 2007, is a work for cyclists combining theatre with game play and digital technology
Is the internet good or bad for the theatre? Does it provide exciting opportunities for interactivity that should be exploited? Or, as in the case of Twitter, does it only serve to further reduce our attention spans and our ability to connect with anything that needs to be said in more that 140 characters? These are the questions bloggers are exploring this week. For Lyn Gardner, the web certainly holds enormous promise and potential for theatre-makers. In a recent post on this blog, she argued that "the growth of pervasive media and digital technologies is offering theatre-makers and audiences unprecedented new challenges and opportunities".
Yet not everyone is so convinced. George Hunka recently came across this article in the New York Times by Michiko Kakutani about the effect of the web on our ability to appreciate art. Kakutani suggests that the rise of the net has helped create a culture with attention-deficit disorder in which people will "tweet and text one another during plays and movies, forming judgments before seeing the arc of the entire work". And where the constant feedback demanded by interactive technology can, in effect, become like a "giant focus group" that challenges "the autonomy of the artist".
Hunka shares this cautious scepticism towards cyber-interactivity. "Internet users," he says, "seem to be a jumpy lot, demanding the instant gratification that is denied by more complex art of any kind. It is a call for an increased shallowness in some ways, and these digital and virtual connections, it must be remembered, are digital and virtual, not particularly human."
Yet perhaps the real issue the internet poses for artists is that, as 99 Seats suggests, it forces them to work harder. "Audiences," he argues, "are smart ... They see plot twists coming a mile off. They know tropes and devices the instant they appear and are rarely fooled … Too often, in theatre, they're getting the same old slop; even when it's postmodern slop, [they] see where it's going and would rather engage in something that engages them back. If someone is texting or Twittering during your show, maybe – just maybe – it's not them. It's you."
Of course, interactive art is not just confined to the virtual reality of the web; it can also flourish in the concrete reality of the city. At its best, it can traverse the two. Theatre-maker Tassos Stevens was recently in Tokyo for the British Council's Connected festival, where he took part in a panel discussion about how we make art in the city. He posts his notes from that discussion on his blog, and they provide an excellent insight into how the real and virtual worlds can be combined.
Stevens's company, Coney, creates events that are "about the audience. We often talk to them using digital technology to bring them into the story wherever they are. Digital infrastructure means that we can bring people to work that is happening in any place." And once they have gathered people in this way they can then work to transform their audiences' view of their surroundings. To illustrate this, he describes one project that took participants on an adventure through and around the National Theatre: "By having an adventure in the building about the building, we could transform the way people felt inside that place and the way they perceived the building."
Andy Field, who also took part in this discussion, gives another example of how the virtual world can be used to transform our view of the real world. He cites the work of the company Blast Theory that "often examines our relationship to new digital technologies in the city. GPS tracking devices, mobile phones, the internet. Their art asks its audience to reconsider their relationship to these everyday technologies. In Rider Spoke, the matrix of isolated Wi-Fi networks arrayed across the city are repurposed as a way of building up a map of memories and experiences."
Arguably, in both of these examples, the audience is being asked to work much harder, and concentrate much more than they would in more traditional pieces of theatre. So perhaps, ultimately, we should avoid looking at the net as either intrinsically good or bad. Rather, we should see it as a tool, and like all tools, it is only as good as the person or people using it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2010/mar/31/internet-theatre-twitter-texting
Does Twittering and texting during a play mean the audience is engaged or disengaged? Some theatre-makers are embracing the new age of interactivity, while others are not so sure
Interactive ... Rider Spoke, first shown at the Barbican in 2007, is a work for cyclists combining theatre with game play and digital technology
Is the internet good or bad for the theatre? Does it provide exciting opportunities for interactivity that should be exploited? Or, as in the case of Twitter, does it only serve to further reduce our attention spans and our ability to connect with anything that needs to be said in more that 140 characters? These are the questions bloggers are exploring this week. For Lyn Gardner, the web certainly holds enormous promise and potential for theatre-makers. In a recent post on this blog, she argued that "the growth of pervasive media and digital technologies is offering theatre-makers and audiences unprecedented new challenges and opportunities".
Yet not everyone is so convinced. George Hunka recently came across this article in the New York Times by Michiko Kakutani about the effect of the web on our ability to appreciate art. Kakutani suggests that the rise of the net has helped create a culture with attention-deficit disorder in which people will "tweet and text one another during plays and movies, forming judgments before seeing the arc of the entire work". And where the constant feedback demanded by interactive technology can, in effect, become like a "giant focus group" that challenges "the autonomy of the artist".
Hunka shares this cautious scepticism towards cyber-interactivity. "Internet users," he says, "seem to be a jumpy lot, demanding the instant gratification that is denied by more complex art of any kind. It is a call for an increased shallowness in some ways, and these digital and virtual connections, it must be remembered, are digital and virtual, not particularly human."
Yet perhaps the real issue the internet poses for artists is that, as 99 Seats suggests, it forces them to work harder. "Audiences," he argues, "are smart ... They see plot twists coming a mile off. They know tropes and devices the instant they appear and are rarely fooled … Too often, in theatre, they're getting the same old slop; even when it's postmodern slop, [they] see where it's going and would rather engage in something that engages them back. If someone is texting or Twittering during your show, maybe – just maybe – it's not them. It's you."
Of course, interactive art is not just confined to the virtual reality of the web; it can also flourish in the concrete reality of the city. At its best, it can traverse the two. Theatre-maker Tassos Stevens was recently in Tokyo for the British Council's Connected festival, where he took part in a panel discussion about how we make art in the city. He posts his notes from that discussion on his blog, and they provide an excellent insight into how the real and virtual worlds can be combined.
Stevens's company, Coney, creates events that are "about the audience. We often talk to them using digital technology to bring them into the story wherever they are. Digital infrastructure means that we can bring people to work that is happening in any place." And once they have gathered people in this way they can then work to transform their audiences' view of their surroundings. To illustrate this, he describes one project that took participants on an adventure through and around the National Theatre: "By having an adventure in the building about the building, we could transform the way people felt inside that place and the way they perceived the building."
Andy Field, who also took part in this discussion, gives another example of how the virtual world can be used to transform our view of the real world. He cites the work of the company Blast Theory that "often examines our relationship to new digital technologies in the city. GPS tracking devices, mobile phones, the internet. Their art asks its audience to reconsider their relationship to these everyday technologies. In Rider Spoke, the matrix of isolated Wi-Fi networks arrayed across the city are repurposed as a way of building up a map of memories and experiences."
Arguably, in both of these examples, the audience is being asked to work much harder, and concentrate much more than they would in more traditional pieces of theatre. So perhaps, ultimately, we should avoid looking at the net as either intrinsically good or bad. Rather, we should see it as a tool, and like all tools, it is only as good as the person or people using it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2010/mar/31/internet-theatre-twitter-texting
UK Embraces Digital Technology
A new stage age: why theatres should embrace digital technology
Whether it's Skype or interactive websites, new media technology can hugely enhance live theatre – as a new scheme by iShed recognises
•
Facing the future ... Unlimited's The Moon, the Moon, which invites online public participation. Photograph: Robert Day
There was a time, back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when "multimedia" was a real buzzword. In practice, what this meant was a few video screens dotted around a venue, merely the borrowed trappings of technology rather than a geniune attempt to make art or engage audiences in new ways. But the growth of pervasive media and digital technologies is offering theatre-makers and audiences unprecedented new challenges and opportunities. Unlike multimedia theatre, these technologies are not a passing fad; in fact they are as likely to have an impact on our theatregoing and theatre-making as the Oyster card, Facebook or mobile phones have had on our everyday lives.
Theatre Sandbox is one such opportunity. A new national scheme delivered by iShed (already responsible for the very successful Media Sandbox) is offering six companies (or artists) who wish to use media technologies in their work a chance to win one of six £10,000 commissions to create work in a supported environment and with the help of mentors. You certainly don't have to be a technology buff to apply. In fact, those who are new to digital technology will be welcomed because it's the idea that will be judged; you will be given the support to deliver it. The project is not set up to turn artists into geeks or create shows full of expensive kit, but rather to explore whether technology can help people to take creative risks, collaborate, develop audiences and enhance and extend the reach of the live theatre experience.
There are already plenty of examples of how technology has transformed theatre. Skype makes it possible for artists to collaborate across thousands of miles – and even closed borders – as projects such as Paves have proved. Research commissioned by Nesta into NT Live's pilots – in which performances are broadcast live to cinemas around the country, hugely widening the audience – has found that those experiencing the live event in cinemas had an even greater emotional engagement than those in the theatre. Companies such as Unlimited, with its show The Moon, the Moon, and Coney have explored how online engagement can enhance audiences' experience of the theatre event. Soho theatre has set up Soho Interactive, encouraging writers to engage with how storytelling can be changed and enhanced in the digital age.
As Andrew Taylor over at the Artful Manager has suggested, "participatory technology seems foreign to many, but it is also intriguing as it carries many of the qualities we value in the arts. [It] is by nature disruptive, but so is artistic expression." So rather than being scared of technology and seeing it as a threat to real-world social interaction, which research increasingly suggests it is not, why don't we embrace these new technologies, and use them to develop new forms of theatre?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2010/mar/23/stage-theatre-digital-technology-ished
Whether it's Skype or interactive websites, new media technology can hugely enhance live theatre – as a new scheme by iShed recognises
•
Facing the future ... Unlimited's The Moon, the Moon, which invites online public participation. Photograph: Robert Day
There was a time, back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when "multimedia" was a real buzzword. In practice, what this meant was a few video screens dotted around a venue, merely the borrowed trappings of technology rather than a geniune attempt to make art or engage audiences in new ways. But the growth of pervasive media and digital technologies is offering theatre-makers and audiences unprecedented new challenges and opportunities. Unlike multimedia theatre, these technologies are not a passing fad; in fact they are as likely to have an impact on our theatregoing and theatre-making as the Oyster card, Facebook or mobile phones have had on our everyday lives.
Theatre Sandbox is one such opportunity. A new national scheme delivered by iShed (already responsible for the very successful Media Sandbox) is offering six companies (or artists) who wish to use media technologies in their work a chance to win one of six £10,000 commissions to create work in a supported environment and with the help of mentors. You certainly don't have to be a technology buff to apply. In fact, those who are new to digital technology will be welcomed because it's the idea that will be judged; you will be given the support to deliver it. The project is not set up to turn artists into geeks or create shows full of expensive kit, but rather to explore whether technology can help people to take creative risks, collaborate, develop audiences and enhance and extend the reach of the live theatre experience.
There are already plenty of examples of how technology has transformed theatre. Skype makes it possible for artists to collaborate across thousands of miles – and even closed borders – as projects such as Paves have proved. Research commissioned by Nesta into NT Live's pilots – in which performances are broadcast live to cinemas around the country, hugely widening the audience – has found that those experiencing the live event in cinemas had an even greater emotional engagement than those in the theatre. Companies such as Unlimited, with its show The Moon, the Moon, and Coney have explored how online engagement can enhance audiences' experience of the theatre event. Soho theatre has set up Soho Interactive, encouraging writers to engage with how storytelling can be changed and enhanced in the digital age.
As Andrew Taylor over at the Artful Manager has suggested, "participatory technology seems foreign to many, but it is also intriguing as it carries many of the qualities we value in the arts. [It] is by nature disruptive, but so is artistic expression." So rather than being scared of technology and seeing it as a threat to real-world social interaction, which research increasingly suggests it is not, why don't we embrace these new technologies, and use them to develop new forms of theatre?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2010/mar/23/stage-theatre-digital-technology-ished
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Natural Disaster, Internet Videos, and the Arts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFjaQoOdJvI
So most of you probably know that I'm from Knoxville, TN which is about 2 hours away from Nashville. What some might not know is that Nashville was recently flooded...and I mean "flooded bad." The above video represents how the internet can help to keep us informed and show people around the world of what is going on in other parts. This catastrophe never really made the DC news as the NYC attempted bombing and the Oil Spill took top national headlines.
I found this video on Facebook and it brought the thought of how individuals can distribute information faster and more efficient than the news. As individuals we are biased, but normally we don't have an agenda. This video in particular was created to tell people about a forgotten disaster.
On another note its' a great use of video images and music to create something that "pulls at the heartstrings." Reminds me a bit of the humane society videos.
On a final note, TN is the home of country music...what will happen to the brithplace of a national arts treasure? This is going to be something for arts managers to watch to see how the arts will be and are affected by national emergencies. TN does not have great arts education programs nor is it big arts state like the DC area, but there is art and people who appreciate it. Yet art will be one of the first things to be pushed aside during something like this. I wonder if art could be something to help bring a torn and distraught area togheter.
For me this video reminds me of the complexity and emotional appeal that art can do. Pictures tell a story and music provides compassion to a situation.
Lesley
So most of you probably know that I'm from Knoxville, TN which is about 2 hours away from Nashville. What some might not know is that Nashville was recently flooded...and I mean "flooded bad." The above video represents how the internet can help to keep us informed and show people around the world of what is going on in other parts. This catastrophe never really made the DC news as the NYC attempted bombing and the Oil Spill took top national headlines.
I found this video on Facebook and it brought the thought of how individuals can distribute information faster and more efficient than the news. As individuals we are biased, but normally we don't have an agenda. This video in particular was created to tell people about a forgotten disaster.
On another note its' a great use of video images and music to create something that "pulls at the heartstrings." Reminds me a bit of the humane society videos.
On a final note, TN is the home of country music...what will happen to the brithplace of a national arts treasure? This is going to be something for arts managers to watch to see how the arts will be and are affected by national emergencies. TN does not have great arts education programs nor is it big arts state like the DC area, but there is art and people who appreciate it. Yet art will be one of the first things to be pushed aside during something like this. I wonder if art could be something to help bring a torn and distraught area togheter.
For me this video reminds me of the complexity and emotional appeal that art can do. Pictures tell a story and music provides compassion to a situation.
Lesley
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
iPhones and iPads revolutionize beatmaking, piano playing, and symphony conducting
To most people, the iPhone is a cellphone with interesting extras. But to musicians like Tom Freeman, a Bay Area producer who records as Freematik, the device is a portable replacement for a roomful of music gear. Freeman made an entire album with his iPhone. His beat-and-synth-heavy iMatik, which he self-released in March, deals in hip-hop's curt synth lines and turntable scratchings. It doesn't sound like something a cellphone could create. Freeman and other tech-savvy producers and composers say the sonic possibilities allowed by the iPhone and its larger cousin, the iPad, could revolutionize music-making.
Freeman obviously isn't alone in making music with his iPhone — other Apple devotees have used them to rock Wembley Stadium and cover MGMT with eerie accuracy. There are iPhone apps that mimic vintage synthesizers, a 12,000-year-old flute, and a Gibson electric guitar. But iMatik is currently the only known album composed and performed entirely on the iPhone.
The idea struck Freeman after he downloaded a few apps — BeatMaker, iDrum, and Jasuto — out of curiosity, and toyed with them when he couldn't use pro equipment. "There are certain times where I'll have 15, 20 minutes to work on music," he says. "At first, it was just a hobby, [but] once I listened to the sounds with headphones, I knew I could actually do professional sounds with this thing."
As cool as some music apps are on the iPhone, Freeman says they're nothing next to the creative revelations available with the iPad. The release of Apple's tablet computer has triggered a flood of new music software from designers eager to explore the possibilities in the iPad's 9.7-inch touchscreen and zippy processor. Freeman and others say the device could ignite a revolution in electronic, portable music-making.
"It just feels totally different [than the iPhone] — it feels liberating, actually," says Ge Wang, a professor of music at Stanford University and cofounder of the Palo Alto "sonic media" start-up Smule. The company created the popular Ocarina music app, which uses the iPhone's touchscreen and microphone to imitate an ancient Chinese flute. Magic Piano, Smule's first app exclusively for the iPad, turns the tablet into a virtuosic keyboard anyone can play, with configurable keys, sci-fi graphics, and the ability to jam with users around the world.
Wang has long been experimenting with music and mobile computers. He currently directs the Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra, an ensemble of varying size that uses the iPhone's GPS, accelerometer, touchscreen, microphone, and networking — along with glove-mounted speakers — to perform a repertoire that includes Bach, Led Zeppelin, and the orchestra's own experimental compositions.
Wang says that the iPad's large touchscreen is perfect for making music. "I don't think I would have ever wanted to build a piano for the iPhone," he says. "But as soon as the iPad came out, it suddenly made sense to build a crazy, wacky, whimsical piano. There's suddenly a whole new class of things which we wanted to do before, but that didn't make sense."
The mobile phone orchestra recently acquired a few iPads, and its members may show off what they can do during a performance at the reopening of the Oakland Museum of California on May 1. But Wang's mobility-focused group is waiting for the release of the 3G-enabled iPad before buying more. That increased functionality will enable collaborative performances from anywhere in the country with cellphone service.
Of course, there are numerous limitations with the iPhone and the iPad that laptops — and those old-fashioned things known as musical instruments — don't have. But with a screen that responds to every touch, and a starting price of $499, the iPad makes a startling range of musical possibilities available to the mass market. The iPad "definitely has the potential to transform how music is currently made," Wang says. "But I'm also excited to see how it pushes people to do things that we don't even know we want to do."
http://www.sfweekly.com/2010-04-28/music/iphones-and-ipads-revolutionize-beatmaking-piano-playing-and-symphony-conducting/
- Wen Ting Chiu
Audiences, and Hollywood, Flock to Smartphones
It might be hard to imagine watching “The Office” on a screen no bigger than a business card. But tens of thousands of people — by the most conservative estimate — are already doing just that.
- Wen Ting Chiu
As Hollywood shrinks its films and television shows for the small screens of cellphones, its assumptions about mobile viewing are being upended by surprisingly patient consumers.
“We all thought they’d be watching video clips in the checkout line or between classes,” said Vivi Zigler, the president for digital entertainment at NBC Universal, summing up the industry’s conventional wisdom. But owners of iPhones and other smartphones are actually watching long episodes and sometimes complete films, so a growing number of media companies are vying for people’s mobile attention spans.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/business/media/03mobile.html?partner=rss&emc=rss- Wen Ting Chiu
Monday, May 3, 2010
Musical Planets
The Houston Symphony recently commissioned a performance of Gustav Holst's "Planets" suite that was accompanied by images of the planets. Although it was not the first time visuals were added to this particular orchestral work, this production was an up-to-date version that used actual images gathered over time and many less than a year old. These images were all collected by the army of probes, orbiters, and rovers developed by NASA in recent years. The work has been titled "An HD Odyssey".
Duncan Copp, who created the imagery, has a doctorate in planetary geology and knew where to find the images and what sort of pictures were out there. Copp reviewed more than 10,000 images to create the film.
The concept is to create a synergy between the music and the pictures, to find a natural rhythm between the themes of each movement and the images. The images are designed to exude feelings of rationality and science. Many of them were collected from the Messenger spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, and some from the Magellan spacecraft that date back to 1989.
It is an incredible concept and bridges emotions through imagery and music. To check out the "teaser" for The Planets, you can see their YouTube clip. The teaser begins roughly around 1:40.
Duncan Copp, who created the imagery, has a doctorate in planetary geology and knew where to find the images and what sort of pictures were out there. Copp reviewed more than 10,000 images to create the film.
The concept is to create a synergy between the music and the pictures, to find a natural rhythm between the themes of each movement and the images. The images are designed to exude feelings of rationality and science. Many of them were collected from the Messenger spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, and some from the Magellan spacecraft that date back to 1989.
It is an incredible concept and bridges emotions through imagery and music. To check out the "teaser" for The Planets, you can see their YouTube clip. The teaser begins roughly around 1:40.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Music with or without Musicians
For a music performance, are musicians required? Not for electronic music. Take out musicians from the equation and what do you have left? A turntable and laptop. For some forms of music, technology has replaced the actual need of a musician. In this article you can read a review of composer, Matt Wright's electronic music creation which is being described as "self-sustaining". To me this is a scary thought, what kind of music can be created without the human touch? Technology cannot replace the part of the equation an actual musician brings to a performance. Their ability to express feelings and make the music come alive. That is what music is to me. To be moved by the music because the performer is feeling something his or herself and that is what is being transferred to the audience. I say there is no music without musicians.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
XSpasm Focuses on Technology in Dance
XSpasm is a website created for all those dancers who want to learn how to expand the limitations of the human body. XSpasm offers information about the application of technology to dance teaching, learning, choreography, performance and viewing. The site focuses on all types of dance ranging from Kathakali to Hip Hop. The organization places information on its site about dance/technology conferences around the world. Unfortunately, I see info only on past conferences. The website does not appear to be updated. I see no upcoming concerts posted. Dancers may post their videos and get some free publicity or they may contact other dance "geeks" like themselves to share information. Interestingly, it appears a lot of the information is from out of the country. That says alot. "Let's Go Girls...." It is time to get something going in DC. Anyone up for starting a festival of dance and technology? I am!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Alt Text: Are Videogames Art? Time Will Tell Read More
Roger Ebert is at it again, declaring that videogames can’t be art. It’s a bit of an odd choice for a crusade, given that the topic is not up for a vote or anything. There isn’t a Secret Treehouse for Real Artists that Ebert — as the screenwriter of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls — gets to hang out in and Will Wright doesn’t.
Ebert’s central argument seems to be that if it’s interactive, it can’t be art, which is silly because that excludes pop-up books, Choose Your Own Adventure stories and Mister Potato Head, which are clearly the best forms of art.
Here’s my point of view: Videogames can be art, but not for the reasons most videogame fans bring up. People inevitably trot out cutscenes as an example of True Videogame Art, which is perplexing.
First off, cutscenes are nearly always the worst part of the game. Secondly, they’re the only part of a videogame that isn’t actually a videogame. Trying to prove a videogame is art by pointing to the cutscenes is like trying to prove a bacon double cheeseburger is delicious by pointing to the lettuce.
You know what’s one of the finest pieces of videogame art of all time? Pac-Man. Aesthetically, it’s a masterpiece of techno-primitive color, sound and interactivity. I’m not just talking from a retro/grognard point of view, though; the same could be said of Katamari Damacy. And Portal isn’t just one of the best videogames of all time — it’s one of the best comedies of all time.
I can’t get behind any theory of videogame art that excludes these games just because they don’t have at least six hours of cutscenes where a guy with pointy hair and a sword the size of a side of beef muses about the nature of being.
True Art Timeline
In the end, though, nothing Ebert or I have to say about videogames and art matters one tiny bit. Ultimately, what’s generally considered True Art by academics and critics is a simple matter of the age of the creation.
Let’s examine:
0 to 25 years old: Almost nothing is true art. Certainly nothing common or popular. Art is created by a few geniuses denied popular acclaim by their own uncompromising vision.
25 to 100 years old: Not everything is art, but a lot is, even some of the popular stuff. At the time, people thought they were just enjoying something fun and entertaining, but actually they were in the presence of true brilliance.
100 to 2,000 years old: Any creative work made by anyone is worth investigation, preservation and in-depth academic criticism. Every painting, poem and rustic folk song is indicative of the ineffable zeitgeist of the cultural disposition. People were surrounded by art all the time and didn’t even realize it.
2,000 to 30,000 years old: Everything is art. Not just words and pictures, but pottery and baskets and huts. Even if they just wanted to make something to boil the tannins out of their acorns, these artists were actually participating in an age-old ritual where the creative soul and utilitarian necessity united into a singular expression of their culture’s unique viewpoint. And if they scratched a little picture into the rock that meant “stand here to watch the women bathe without them seeing you,” they were the Michelangelo of their time.
The point here is that if you want to see videogames considered seriously as true art, all you have to do is not die. Videogames are right on the cusp of being recognized as something that might be art sometimes. Another 75 years and all videogames will be considered art, even those porn games for the Atari 2600 where eight pink blocks meant boobs.
If you can make it to the year 4000, you’ll find that not only are videogames art, but so are videogame ads, videogame controllers and those stress balls with the names of videogame publishers on them that you get at trade shows. And, God help us, even snarky humor columns about videogames.
- Wen Ting Chiu
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Art Made at the Speed of the Internet: Don’t Say ‘Geek’; Say ‘Collaborator’
Interesting article about web-based art and how to bridge the gap between technology and art.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Arts Management Network
The Arts Management Network is a clean, well designed website that serves an international network of arts businesses. The network has served as a resource to professionals for over eight years.
The website includes:
- current articles that discuss arts events
- a subscription service to a monthly newsletter
- a list of arts management/administration courses (inter/national institutions)
- a calendar of events and conferences
- a reading list of recommended books on culture and management
- a list of links that include networks, associations, resources, and online magazines
Two German men created the international network as a sister network to the German "Kultur Management Network." Although they operate from Germany, the content of their international network is relevant and pertinent to American arts managers.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Online Advertising---- The E-blast
I've come across some really great and creative e-blasts and some not so hot ones in my inbox. What makes a great e-blast? Why do we use them? What companies are best? I think every arts organization uses e-mail to communicate to patrons, but what seems so simple can be oh so complicated.
Hopefully some of you will comment with your design experience or programs that work for you but this week I learned some exciting and not so exciting news about e-blasts. I am most familiar with Constant Contact (http://www.constantcontact.com/) as an easy to use web based design tool. However easy it is I have also found it's templates to be limiting and technology a bit outdated. This week we received a stunning template from an outside design firm and we were trying to decipher how to upload or copy it into a not so sophisticated system. Until we called tech support.
We learned that you can, in fact, copy in not only your own template, images, and backgrounds, but flash as well. This was so exciting. They told us it would be very easy to do and sent us a word document with simple steps to upload our own design. Finally I thought "this is what I've wanted to do with this program for years!" Then I read the instructions.
Sure it was easy, click on a bunch of links add the subject line and then copy paste your own code into the space provided use html or htmx. Aye there's the rub. Not only do I not know how to really design something in html or htmx I don't even have a program that I could design in and convert to those formats. I suddenly realized, those e-blasts I had turned my nose up at in the past because they looked boring or unprofessional were probably created by people either as tech savvy as me or who lacked the budget and resources to really make something beautiful. The most important advice I have on e-blasts is find what works, make the best of it you can, and remember once you hit send you can't take it back so make sure your information is correct.
Easy is relative but hopefully I'll have the chance to learn something new and some more polished and exciting e-blasts will be coming to an inbox near you.
Hopefully some of you will comment with your design experience or programs that work for you but this week I learned some exciting and not so exciting news about e-blasts. I am most familiar with Constant Contact (http://www.constantcontact.com/) as an easy to use web based design tool. However easy it is I have also found it's templates to be limiting and technology a bit outdated. This week we received a stunning template from an outside design firm and we were trying to decipher how to upload or copy it into a not so sophisticated system. Until we called tech support.
We learned that you can, in fact, copy in not only your own template, images, and backgrounds, but flash as well. This was so exciting. They told us it would be very easy to do and sent us a word document with simple steps to upload our own design. Finally I thought "this is what I've wanted to do with this program for years!" Then I read the instructions.
Sure it was easy, click on a bunch of links add the subject line and then copy paste your own code into the space provided use html or htmx. Aye there's the rub. Not only do I not know how to really design something in html or htmx I don't even have a program that I could design in and convert to those formats. I suddenly realized, those e-blasts I had turned my nose up at in the past because they looked boring or unprofessional were probably created by people either as tech savvy as me or who lacked the budget and resources to really make something beautiful. The most important advice I have on e-blasts is find what works, make the best of it you can, and remember once you hit send you can't take it back so make sure your information is correct.
Easy is relative but hopefully I'll have the chance to learn something new and some more polished and exciting e-blasts will be coming to an inbox near you.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
The Power of Twitter - To Tweet or Not Tweet
With so many people on Twitter, I often wonder why is this the new thing. I can't lie, I have an account, I tweet...but why do I do it? I rarely remember to do it, I follow celebrities like Ellen and Kevin Spacy while also following fellow MAMers and DC arts organizations. The catch is - do I get anything out of this.
I think those who are active do, but it really depends on what you want. Some tv shows offer behind the scenes exclusives on Twitter, Arts groups offer discount tickets etc...but if you have 100 friends - do you ever see these?
If you ever go on Facebook you'll notice the "minutae" details of your friend's lives...tweeting is the same...do we really want to know all this.
So let's break it down:
Pros:
1. Connection to those you don't see
2. Exclusive offers and discounts
3. Sense of Community and connectivity to those we don't see/know (Celebrities)
4. Quick and easy access to news
5. It's easy - if you have Tweet Deck of HootSuite you can filter out the "nonsense"
Cons:
1. Do you really want to know everything about everyone?
2. You have to "want to tweet" to remember and it requires time for organizations
3. It can become annoying.
So when do you not Tweet as an artist/arts organization:
First, if you have a purpose to Tweet - then Tweet...but if you don't put the phone away. Don't just join Twitter b/c it's the new "in thing."
Second, think about why you wnat to use Twitter? Can it help you drive your message to a wider audience or would a blog, podcast, video stream etc do this just as effective or even better? Twitter can help you increase your stats, it can drawn people to your site - but you have to utilize it. As mentioned above you might be able to offer exclusive deals that will draw people into your crowd.
In order to do this you must have a clear "Tweet" plan and follow it.
Finally does your organization/yourself have time to Tweet? Social Media is about connecting and that means spending time Tweeting (and tweeting right). I read on a blog the recommended amount is 5 minutes three times a day, five days a week. Do you have the staff to do this?
Twitter is a real time application, things are constantly happening and changing, so you also have to keep track of your account on a daily basis. You must respond, re-tweet, etc if you want to make an impact. Just look at how much tweeting those you follow do...you notice those who are always on.
If you don't tweet then people loose interest in following you.
Neilson Blog stated only 40% of people that join this month will continue to post next month the rest become "Twitter quiters."
So think about tweeting before you jump on the band wagon and contimplate if you really have what it takes to become a true "Tweeter!" Make sure you have a plan, have time, and have something real to say.
- Lesley
I think those who are active do, but it really depends on what you want. Some tv shows offer behind the scenes exclusives on Twitter, Arts groups offer discount tickets etc...but if you have 100 friends - do you ever see these?
If you ever go on Facebook you'll notice the "minutae" details of your friend's lives...tweeting is the same...do we really want to know all this.
So let's break it down:
Pros:
1. Connection to those you don't see
2. Exclusive offers and discounts
3. Sense of Community and connectivity to those we don't see/know (Celebrities)
4. Quick and easy access to news
5. It's easy - if you have Tweet Deck of HootSuite you can filter out the "nonsense"
Cons:
1. Do you really want to know everything about everyone?
2. You have to "want to tweet" to remember and it requires time for organizations
3. It can become annoying.
So when do you not Tweet as an artist/arts organization:
First, if you have a purpose to Tweet - then Tweet...but if you don't put the phone away. Don't just join Twitter b/c it's the new "in thing."
Second, think about why you wnat to use Twitter? Can it help you drive your message to a wider audience or would a blog, podcast, video stream etc do this just as effective or even better? Twitter can help you increase your stats, it can drawn people to your site - but you have to utilize it. As mentioned above you might be able to offer exclusive deals that will draw people into your crowd.
In order to do this you must have a clear "Tweet" plan and follow it.
Finally does your organization/yourself have time to Tweet? Social Media is about connecting and that means spending time Tweeting (and tweeting right). I read on a blog the recommended amount is 5 minutes three times a day, five days a week. Do you have the staff to do this?
Twitter is a real time application, things are constantly happening and changing, so you also have to keep track of your account on a daily basis. You must respond, re-tweet, etc if you want to make an impact. Just look at how much tweeting those you follow do...you notice those who are always on.
If you don't tweet then people loose interest in following you.
Neilson Blog stated only 40% of people that join this month will continue to post next month the rest become "Twitter quiters."
So think about tweeting before you jump on the band wagon and contimplate if you really have what it takes to become a true "Tweeter!" Make sure you have a plan, have time, and have something real to say.
- Lesley
Using Twitter and Social Media for Artists
With the twitter buzz all around us, it's hard to tell what is what and why twitter is such the new rage. But it is what it is and twitter seems to be a way to help promote your art.
I read on one blog that an artist said this about social networking online.
" I use social media to share my work with collectors, fans, and all those anonymous people who find me through Google searches. I post to Facebook regularly, update my blog each week, and send out a monthly e-newsletter to close to 400 subscribers. Each communication asks me to reveal myself in different ways and, while I’m always truthful, I do edit myself. I don’t share details about my family life. I talk about what I’m creating and feedback I’ve received, but not how I spend my time every day or my worries. I don’t talk about my fears. I still have secrets. I have a private life I don’t expose to the world."
This came from the Art of Business. If anyone is in Canada this could be a cool site to check out.
Twitter/Art + Social Media, that’s what.
From April 1- May 1, 2010, the Diane Farris Gallery will be presenting an exhibition called Twitter/Art + Social Media, an exhibition of work by artists who use social media for the inspiration, production or presentation of their work. How cool is this??
From the Diane Farris blog:
Since 1984, Diane Farris Gallery has been known for finding and establishing new talent. In the year 2010, the gallery recognizes the strong role played by social media in the production and/or promotion of artwork. We are particularly interested in how social media is affecting the practice of artists who use it to share feedback on their artwork, to promote their artwork, to organize shows or to produce artwork collaboratively.
Social media may include websites, blogging, instant messenger, rss feeds, social bookmarking, Facebook, Blogger, Flickr, MySpace, deviantART, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Skype and podcasts. Artwork may include painting, drawing, photography, printmaking and three-dimensional work as well as computer-based art, video and performance formats.
- Lesley
I read on one blog that an artist said this about social networking online.
" I use social media to share my work with collectors, fans, and all those anonymous people who find me through Google searches. I post to Facebook regularly, update my blog each week, and send out a monthly e-newsletter to close to 400 subscribers. Each communication asks me to reveal myself in different ways and, while I’m always truthful, I do edit myself. I don’t share details about my family life. I talk about what I’m creating and feedback I’ve received, but not how I spend my time every day or my worries. I don’t talk about my fears. I still have secrets. I have a private life I don’t expose to the world."
This came from the Art of Business. If anyone is in Canada this could be a cool site to check out.
Twitter/Art + Social Media, that’s what.
From April 1- May 1, 2010, the Diane Farris Gallery will be presenting an exhibition called Twitter/Art + Social Media, an exhibition of work by artists who use social media for the inspiration, production or presentation of their work. How cool is this??
From the Diane Farris blog:
Since 1984, Diane Farris Gallery has been known for finding and establishing new talent. In the year 2010, the gallery recognizes the strong role played by social media in the production and/or promotion of artwork. We are particularly interested in how social media is affecting the practice of artists who use it to share feedback on their artwork, to promote their artwork, to organize shows or to produce artwork collaboratively.
Social media may include websites, blogging, instant messenger, rss feeds, social bookmarking, Facebook, Blogger, Flickr, MySpace, deviantART, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Skype and podcasts. Artwork may include painting, drawing, photography, printmaking and three-dimensional work as well as computer-based art, video and performance formats.
- Lesley
The Art of the Business Blog - WebPress Website
I started following this blog this year and it's great.
http://artofthebiz.wordpress.com/category/marketing-with-blogs/
A publicist from Candada has some great ideas on marketing and a lot of simple online marketing techniques...check it out.
Her last one was about building a webpage in Word Press: April 16, 2010
Ever since I wrote the post last week about the Belfry Theatre’s website, I’ve been getting lots of questions from folks about building their website in WordPress.
Creating a website in WordPress is a great idea, for a couple of reasons:
It’s essentially free
The interface is easy to learn
It allows you to integrate your blog and your website in the same page, and will help to drive up your Google Ranking
When creating your website in WordPress, you have two options, the same as if you were starting a blog:
WordPress Hosted
Self-Hosted
Today’s post is focused on how to start a WordPress-hosted blog or website. I will cover how to start a self-hosted site in a later post.
To start a WordPress hosted blog, simply go to http://www.wordpress.com. You will first have to sign up for an account.
Then, you can choose the name of your page. If you are using this for your website, ideally, you’d want to use the name of your business.
Your new URL will be http://yourname.wordpress.com. If you want to lose the ‘WordPress’, you have two options:
Buy your domain name (maybe you already have) and create a redirect (your internet hosting service can help you with this)
In your WP dashboard, click on ‘Settings’ and then ‘Domains’. For $15, WP will allow you to drop the ‘WordPress’ and map your domain, assuming it’s not already taken.
Now you can begin to build your site.
Decide what you’d like your site to look like. In your dashboard, click on ‘Appearance’ then ‘Themes’. You can browse through all the different themes and find one that suits your fancy. You may want to look for a theme with a customizable header, so that you can integrate your logo and branding in there. Also, think about whether you want one or two sidebars. You can use your sidebar for your contact information, or to import your Twitter feed. At this moment, there are 85 themes to choose from.
Start to set up your ‘pages’. You probably currently have a website, or, if you don’t, think about what pages you’d like to have on your site. For example, you’ll want an ‘About’ page, a page devoted to your work, a contact page, and, of course, your blog. For each page you want to have on your blog, go to the ‘Pages’ menu and create a new one. You can populate it with content and copy, adding photos/video, etc. Your front page, the page that people see when they type your URL into thier browser, will be your blog.
Choose your widgets: one of the great advantages of having a WordPress page is the vast amount of widgets that are available to you. For example, you can use the Flickr widget to import your Flickr stream directly into the sidebar of your blog. To use widgets, go to the ‘Appearance’ menu on your dashboard, and click on ‘Widgets’. Choose which ones you want, and drag them into the sidebar.
I think starting a WordPress-hosted website or blog is a great option for someone who is just getting started. There are limitations, however, because you do have to work within the WordPress system. If you are just learning how to use WordPress, it might be a good option for you. Once you are more familiar with the interface, you might want to take the leap to a self-hosted WordPress site, which allows you much more freedom and creativity.
Lesley Irminger
http://artofthebiz.wordpress.com/category/marketing-with-blogs/
A publicist from Candada has some great ideas on marketing and a lot of simple online marketing techniques...check it out.
Her last one was about building a webpage in Word Press: April 16, 2010
Ever since I wrote the post last week about the Belfry Theatre’s website, I’ve been getting lots of questions from folks about building their website in WordPress.
Creating a website in WordPress is a great idea, for a couple of reasons:
It’s essentially free
The interface is easy to learn
It allows you to integrate your blog and your website in the same page, and will help to drive up your Google Ranking
When creating your website in WordPress, you have two options, the same as if you were starting a blog:
WordPress Hosted
Self-Hosted
Today’s post is focused on how to start a WordPress-hosted blog or website. I will cover how to start a self-hosted site in a later post.
To start a WordPress hosted blog, simply go to http://www.wordpress.com. You will first have to sign up for an account.
Then, you can choose the name of your page. If you are using this for your website, ideally, you’d want to use the name of your business.
Your new URL will be http://yourname.wordpress.com. If you want to lose the ‘WordPress’, you have two options:
Buy your domain name (maybe you already have) and create a redirect (your internet hosting service can help you with this)
In your WP dashboard, click on ‘Settings’ and then ‘Domains’. For $15, WP will allow you to drop the ‘WordPress’ and map your domain, assuming it’s not already taken.
Now you can begin to build your site.
Decide what you’d like your site to look like. In your dashboard, click on ‘Appearance’ then ‘Themes’. You can browse through all the different themes and find one that suits your fancy. You may want to look for a theme with a customizable header, so that you can integrate your logo and branding in there. Also, think about whether you want one or two sidebars. You can use your sidebar for your contact information, or to import your Twitter feed. At this moment, there are 85 themes to choose from.
Start to set up your ‘pages’. You probably currently have a website, or, if you don’t, think about what pages you’d like to have on your site. For example, you’ll want an ‘About’ page, a page devoted to your work, a contact page, and, of course, your blog. For each page you want to have on your blog, go to the ‘Pages’ menu and create a new one. You can populate it with content and copy, adding photos/video, etc. Your front page, the page that people see when they type your URL into thier browser, will be your blog.
Choose your widgets: one of the great advantages of having a WordPress page is the vast amount of widgets that are available to you. For example, you can use the Flickr widget to import your Flickr stream directly into the sidebar of your blog. To use widgets, go to the ‘Appearance’ menu on your dashboard, and click on ‘Widgets’. Choose which ones you want, and drag them into the sidebar.
I think starting a WordPress-hosted website or blog is a great option for someone who is just getting started. There are limitations, however, because you do have to work within the WordPress system. If you are just learning how to use WordPress, it might be a good option for you. Once you are more familiar with the interface, you might want to take the leap to a self-hosted WordPress site, which allows you much more freedom and creativity.
Lesley Irminger
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Ballet Dancers on Twitter
Thanks to Twitter, famous ballet stars have a forum to put their thoughts out in the world. A recent New York Times article explores how followers can keep up with a dancer's perfomances (some even tweet during intermission, which to me is kind of like tweeting in the middle of your wedding, but anyhoo...), injuries, and a personal look into the goings-on of the ballet world. This is a great way for the stars' followers to get to know them on a more personal level, and not just see them on stage. Now, followers can read the dancers' thoughts and get to know their personalities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/arts/dance/29ballet.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/arts/dance/29ballet.html
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Arts Advocacy Day in DC: April 12-13
Celebrating 50 years, "Americans for the Arts" is sponsoring Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, DC, on April 12th and 13th.
The conference highlights include a public policy lecture at the Kennedy Center, the Congressional Arts Kick Off on Capitol Hill, and appearances by arts advocates Jeff Daniels and Kyle MacLachlan.
Advocate with Facebook here.
Arts advocates are also trying to push "arts" into Twitter's trending topics on April 13th.
Tweet for yourself here.
--Emily A. Flores
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Instant Encore
Developed in 2007, Instant Encore is an online community designed to enhance and extend the classical music concert experience to just about anyone. The website makes it simple to find over 82,000 concert listings and information, provides over 4,800 videos, share and view concert reviews, download music, and even download over 40 iPhone fan apps. Through the InstantEncore Buzz Crawler, people can sift through hundreds of blogs, news feeds, or podcasts and automatically find the ones pertinent to the information they want.
In addition to helping the consumer, InstantEncore is designed to help artists and arts organizations reach fans in ways they never thought was possible. InstantEncore provides the tools necessary to build websites and mobile applications. Partners can also enter content once through InstantEncore and instantly have the messages published to their websites, iPhone app, social networks, and fan e-mail alerts.
InstantEncore is revolutionizing the way consumers can access information for classical music. The 21st century audience wants to find what they want, when they want it. Fans can easily track their favorite artists in their personalized fan feed and choose to set up alerts for new music, videos, concerts and buzz. As they say, if you can't find it on InstantEncore, then it's probably pop music.
You can sign up for free, or just check it out at InstantEncore.com!
In addition to helping the consumer, InstantEncore is designed to help artists and arts organizations reach fans in ways they never thought was possible. InstantEncore provides the tools necessary to build websites and mobile applications. Partners can also enter content once through InstantEncore and instantly have the messages published to their websites, iPhone app, social networks, and fan e-mail alerts.
InstantEncore is revolutionizing the way consumers can access information for classical music. The 21st century audience wants to find what they want, when they want it. Fans can easily track their favorite artists in their personalized fan feed and choose to set up alerts for new music, videos, concerts and buzz. As they say, if you can't find it on InstantEncore, then it's probably pop music.
You can sign up for free, or just check it out at InstantEncore.com!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Branding the Experience of Art
In My Country is Not a Brand by William Drenttel (originally published on www.designobserver.com on November 25, 2004), the topic of branding is criticized. Creating an effective brand identity for a company contributes to the success of its business. Typically, branding is the collaborative job of graphic designers, marketers, and managers.
As a graphic design major, I found Drenttel's reference of another article, by Nick Bell, particularly interesting:
Nick Bell's discussion on "The Steamroller of Branding" in Eye is a thoughtful critique which examines the process of creating identities for art museums and performing arts centers. Bell notes in particular the way branding has crept into the experience of the art — how it has actually invaded the space of the gallery and performance locale— rather than focusing solely on the commercial activities of these cultural institutions. I agree wholeheartedly with this assessment — yet I find this singular focus on the branding of art and performance institutions somewhat vexing, as it inherently leads back to an impenetrable dichotomy between art and commerce.
That "dichotomy between art and commerce" calls for a respect between the art and the institution.
--Emily A. Flores
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Virtual Dance
Virtual Dance
Posted by Debra Kramer 3-27-2010
All those dance teachers who want to keep up with the latest moves no longer have to run off to take class in New York City. Dance classes are offered online. You can order hip hop, jazz, lyrical and/or tap for $4.99 a class. The class comes to you via e-mail with unlimited access for 3 days. For years I would take the train up to New York City, stay in a hotel and push as many classes as my body would allow into one day. I had to write my notes down and remember what they meant. This task is not too easy after the fourth class of the day. I started bringing a video camera and would video whatever I remembered of the conversations. Teachers were possessive of the dance combinations, so I had to secretly video myself back at the hotel.
o Virtual dance is cost and time effective, but it cannot replace what dancers give to each other. Dancers teach each other to dance, not only through imitation, but through physical connection. A 90 degree classroom full of 50 sweating dancers in New York City has an energy that cannot be captured in the virtual world. More importantly, the friends I made in the dressing room while trying to recall the combinations are still my friends over 20 years later! After all is said, I am happy to add the very affordable virtual world to my repertoire. Dance teachers - check it out!
www.virtualdanceclass.com
Posted by Debra Kramer 3-27-2010
All those dance teachers who want to keep up with the latest moves no longer have to run off to take class in New York City. Dance classes are offered online. You can order hip hop, jazz, lyrical and/or tap for $4.99 a class. The class comes to you via e-mail with unlimited access for 3 days. For years I would take the train up to New York City, stay in a hotel and push as many classes as my body would allow into one day. I had to write my notes down and remember what they meant. This task is not too easy after the fourth class of the day. I started bringing a video camera and would video whatever I remembered of the conversations. Teachers were possessive of the dance combinations, so I had to secretly video myself back at the hotel.
o Virtual dance is cost and time effective, but it cannot replace what dancers give to each other. Dancers teach each other to dance, not only through imitation, but through physical connection. A 90 degree classroom full of 50 sweating dancers in New York City has an energy that cannot be captured in the virtual world. More importantly, the friends I made in the dressing room while trying to recall the combinations are still my friends over 20 years later! After all is said, I am happy to add the very affordable virtual world to my repertoire. Dance teachers - check it out!
www.virtualdanceclass.com
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Virtual Choir
Many of you may remember the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, YouTube brought together musicians from around the world to create the first online collaborative orchestra. Auditioning solely online, nearly 100 musicians were assembled at Carnegie Hall to debut their performance. Participants were chosen from over 3,000 submissions from 70 different countries.
Two days ago, famous choral composer Eric Whitacre released a video presenting his Virtual Choir. Similar to the YouTube Orchestra, applicants submitted video performances to become a part of the Virtual Choir. Although they never assembled in person, "Lux Aurumque" is performed through digital media by compiling 185 voices; each from individual recordings. Each performer appears to be on risers and Whitacre is conducting the piece; however each choir member is "performing" from their own individual settings.
It is an incredible YouTube clip to watch. It is amazing to consider how video footage has in some way become a part of the performing arts industry; how traditionally composed music has become a part of our digital and technological times!
Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs
Two days ago, famous choral composer Eric Whitacre released a video presenting his Virtual Choir. Similar to the YouTube Orchestra, applicants submitted video performances to become a part of the Virtual Choir. Although they never assembled in person, "Lux Aurumque" is performed through digital media by compiling 185 voices; each from individual recordings. Each performer appears to be on risers and Whitacre is conducting the piece; however each choir member is "performing" from their own individual settings.
It is an incredible YouTube clip to watch. It is amazing to consider how video footage has in some way become a part of the performing arts industry; how traditionally composed music has become a part of our digital and technological times!
Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs
Using Constant Contact and It's limitations
I've been using Constant Contact over the past few years, however I have to wonder what else is out there. It is a great software, but the limitations are great. I spent twenty minutes the other week trying to move a picture to exact location I wanted it in, yet because of these limitations I finally gave up and accepted defeat.
The question comes to mind of is it better to use software, such as Publisher (a simple to use word product), or Adobe products to create e-newsletters or e-blasts versus all-inclusive sites such as Constant Contact.
The question becomes two-fold and depends on what your main goal is.
1. Do you want to send this to a huge list of people with one click?
2. Do you want the images and content to be top notch?
3. Do you want to "pay" for the service?
4. Is tracking important?
The questions are endless, but what it comes down to is the simple fact that each arts group is unique and what each can do/can't do varies. I personally like being able to track each e-blast and the small inconvenience of limited design is worth the ease of sending/proofing etc.
On that note - there is an abundance of things to search. I did a simple google search and found the following:
E-Newsletter Pro: www.enewsletterpro.com/
My Newsletter Builder: http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/
I-Contact: http://www.icontact.com/
Vista Print: - Yes Even Vista Print has taken a bite out of "e-marketing"
http://www.vistaprint.com/email-marketing.aspx?mk=Email+Newsletter+Program&ad=broad&GP=3%2f23%2f2010+11%3a17%3a16+AM
This just goes to show there is a lot out there to choose from, as Arts Managers it up to us to find the right software for our organization!
Lesley Irminger
The question comes to mind of is it better to use software, such as Publisher (a simple to use word product), or Adobe products to create e-newsletters or e-blasts versus all-inclusive sites such as Constant Contact.
The question becomes two-fold and depends on what your main goal is.
1. Do you want to send this to a huge list of people with one click?
2. Do you want the images and content to be top notch?
3. Do you want to "pay" for the service?
4. Is tracking important?
The questions are endless, but what it comes down to is the simple fact that each arts group is unique and what each can do/can't do varies. I personally like being able to track each e-blast and the small inconvenience of limited design is worth the ease of sending/proofing etc.
On that note - there is an abundance of things to search. I did a simple google search and found the following:
E-Newsletter Pro: www.enewsletterpro.com/
My Newsletter Builder: http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/
I-Contact: http://www.icontact.com/
Vista Print: - Yes Even Vista Print has taken a bite out of "e-marketing"
http://www.vistaprint.com/email-marketing.aspx?mk=Email+Newsletter+Program&ad=broad&GP=3%2f23%2f2010+11%3a17%3a16+AM
This just goes to show there is a lot out there to choose from, as Arts Managers it up to us to find the right software for our organization!
Lesley Irminger
Making Websites Accessible
As Arts Managers we strive to get as many people to see our productions and visit our exhibitions as possible, but have you ever stopped to think about those audience members with disabilities? People with low vision or who are blind often use screen readers to assist them with web content but is your website accessible to these types of software? Below are ten tips to help people with disabilities have better access to your website and e-blasts. For more information look into Section 508, while the law does not apply to non-profit organizations it is a great standard of best practices.
1.) Caption all of your images. While not required on most webhosting programs it is best to caption your image as well as credit the photographer and people featured.
2.) Caption your links, yes you can make a little scroll over bar that will describe for a person with a screen reader where the link will take them, and always underline links on your page.
Example instead of www.bing.com which is what the alt tag will automatically set, change it to: Link to Bing search engine.
3.) Don't use flash to convey text. Screen readers are unable to read text in flash design, ideally it's best not to use any flash on your site.
4.) Use captioning on any video content you have created or provide a transcript.
5.) Provide PDF and Word Document downloads, not all pdfs can be read by a screen reader.
6.) Check the contrast of colors on your site between backgrounds and text black on white is best.
7.) Avoid flickering on screen or flash and video applications that cause the screen to flash.
8.) Provide a link to a text only copy of your website.
9.) Although it is possible to zoom in on small text use font that is size 12 or larger and san serrif.
10.) When possible avoid the use of tables, or ensure lables are titled with row and column information in the alt tags.
1.) Caption all of your images. While not required on most webhosting programs it is best to caption your image as well as credit the photographer and people featured.
2.) Caption your links, yes you can make a little scroll over bar that will describe for a person with a screen reader where the link will take them, and always underline links on your page.
Example instead of www.bing.com which is what the alt tag will automatically set, change it to: Link to Bing search engine.
3.) Don't use flash to convey text. Screen readers are unable to read text in flash design, ideally it's best not to use any flash on your site.
4.) Use captioning on any video content you have created or provide a transcript.
5.) Provide PDF and Word Document downloads, not all pdfs can be read by a screen reader.
6.) Check the contrast of colors on your site between backgrounds and text black on white is best.
7.) Avoid flickering on screen or flash and video applications that cause the screen to flash.
8.) Provide a link to a text only copy of your website.
9.) Although it is possible to zoom in on small text use font that is size 12 or larger and san serrif.
10.) When possible avoid the use of tables, or ensure lables are titled with row and column information in the alt tags.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Van Gogh Blogging
Located in Amsterdam, the Van Gogh Museum's mission is to present Van Gogh's artwork to a wide an audience for personal enrichment. While the museum currently displays many of his works and does extensive research on the artist, it has started a blog detailing the restoration of Van Gogh's painting "The Bedroom." The blog's authors include the head of conservation, a curator, and the museum's director. According to an article in The Independent, it is the first time that the public will be able to follow the process through online videos, pictures, and documentary. Additionally, the blog also gives some history on the painting and an explanation of the work leading up to restoration. This is a neat project to follow, and everyone should check out the blog.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Hidden Features in Smartphone Apps
I work at Tudor Place Historic House and Garden in DC and we are looking into developing an app for our self-guided garden tour. Currently, for $3, you get a site map with some descriptions of various sections of the garden, are told to "enjoy" and you are on your own. We think we can do better.
We have been talking to a Canadian company called Tristan about developing the app. One of the interesting parts of their proposal for me as the Communications Director was the marketing tools within the app. Tristan's app software allows us at Tudor Place to access a back-end through the Internet and update it ourselves with upcoming events, news etc. This would allow us to keep a direct connection to anyone who downloaded the app as long as it was on their phone. As anyone with an iPhone knows, when there is an update to an app there is a little notification on the apps icon. From a marketing point of view this kind of audience connection is gold! Pricing was pretty on target with the last article posted on this blog about apps for non-profits. The only thing we didn't consider was hosting fees, which are much more expensive than website hosting fees...that is a hurdle we'll have to jump later.
I wonder if I can buy an iPhone and call it a work expense....
Recent article in the NY Times about museums using apps.
We have been talking to a Canadian company called Tristan about developing the app. One of the interesting parts of their proposal for me as the Communications Director was the marketing tools within the app. Tristan's app software allows us at Tudor Place to access a back-end through the Internet and update it ourselves with upcoming events, news etc. This would allow us to keep a direct connection to anyone who downloaded the app as long as it was on their phone. As anyone with an iPhone knows, when there is an update to an app there is a little notification on the apps icon. From a marketing point of view this kind of audience connection is gold! Pricing was pretty on target with the last article posted on this blog about apps for non-profits. The only thing we didn't consider was hosting fees, which are much more expensive than website hosting fees...that is a hurdle we'll have to jump later.
I wonder if I can buy an iPhone and call it a work expense....
Recent article in the NY Times about museums using apps.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Updating Opera
This article talks about how the Florida Grand Opera used digital media to help meet their season's budget. The Opera cut its budget and number of productions in the 2009-2010 season, therefore needing innovative ways to keep production costs low while still producing high-quality performances. Their design team worked with Lava Studio to create a 22 x 40 foot screen to use in place of a built set. By using this technology, they were able to work within their cut budget and also achieve a more modern backdrop by projecting scenery in addition to various accent images on the screen. This has subsequently helped them attract younger audiences and give a tasteful update to an older art form.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/article/778620--digital-comes-to-florida-grand-opera-s-rescue
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/article/778620--digital-comes-to-florida-grand-opera-s-rescue
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Dance and Technology
Post by Debra Kramer on March 7, 2010:
As funds run out to hire dancers a solution is here. We may soon become managers of a Virtual Dance Company where dancers and dances are created by software programs. Think of the funding we would not have to raise if a few companies partnered to share computer programs that allow the choreographer to create dances without dancers. Audiences are raised on high tech communication, so I believe we will sell tickets without having to convince a prospective patron that he can enjoy an artistic experience with human beings. In fact, we will not have to worry about booking theatre or raising money to build and maintain them when we can sell theatrical dance productions over the Internet. Enjoy the article on the expanding world of computer-based virtual dance. Virtual dance will expand the definition of dance by utilizing the graphic design capabilities of the computer. Even the choreographer can relax because the software-based algorithmic processes will decide how to get from point A to point B. Read this excellent article entitled: Dance and Technology: A Pas de Deux for Post-Humans by Kent de Spain from Dance Research Journal, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Summer, 2000), pp. 2-17 published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of Congress on Research in Dance
As funds run out to hire dancers a solution is here. We may soon become managers of a Virtual Dance Company where dancers and dances are created by software programs. Think of the funding we would not have to raise if a few companies partnered to share computer programs that allow the choreographer to create dances without dancers. Audiences are raised on high tech communication, so I believe we will sell tickets without having to convince a prospective patron that he can enjoy an artistic experience with human beings. In fact, we will not have to worry about booking theatre or raising money to build and maintain them when we can sell theatrical dance productions over the Internet. Enjoy the article on the expanding world of computer-based virtual dance. Virtual dance will expand the definition of dance by utilizing the graphic design capabilities of the computer. Even the choreographer can relax because the software-based algorithmic processes will decide how to get from point A to point B. Read this excellent article entitled: Dance and Technology: A Pas de Deux for Post-Humans by Kent de Spain from Dance Research Journal, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Summer, 2000), pp. 2-17 published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of Congress on Research in Dance
Monday, March 1, 2010
AAAE Conference GMU and American University Arts Management Collaboration
Conference 2010: Making Connections
Join your colleagues in arts administration education in America's capital city June 3-6, 2010, for Making Connections: Preparing Cultural Leaders for Future Challenges. The American University Arts Management Program and George Mason University's Arts Management Program will co-host this year's event.
The location will provide an ideal backdrop for intensive networking, teaching, and learning, and a wealth of extraordinary speakers to inform our work and advance our vision.
The AAAE annual conference is a unique opportunity to share, to listen, to grow as educators, and to connect to international trends and issues that impact our work.
We'll begin an exciting three days as we have the past several years, with an intriguing pre-conference offering: a bus tour of the innovative Cultural Development Corporation projects in DC. Executive Director Anne Corbett will be on board to give us a first-hand account of the important work of this exciting cultural and economic development organization.
Join us later that evening at The Phillips Collection for opening remarks by Michael Kaiser, President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, fresh from his 50-state Arts in Crisis tour.
Many more special guests, fascinating keynotes, relevant workshops and peer panel presentations await you in Washington, DC. Don't miss it - register today!
11:30 am - 1:00 pm AAAE Board Meeting
.
1:00 - 2:00 pm Registration Conference Orientation: Especially, but not exclusively, for first-time attendees
.
2:00 - 5:30 pm Pre-Conference Program – Washington DC Tour, with Anne Corbett, Executive Director, Cultural Development Corporation. Includes a backstage tour at the Kennedy Center with Robert Pullen. Strictly limited to 27 participants. (Extra fee required)
.
6:00 - 6:45 pm Opening Plenary: Michael Kaiser, President, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, LOCATION: The Phillips Collection
.
6:45 - 8:00 pm Opening Reception: Sponsored by George Mason University and Succession
.
Evening On your own.
.
FRIDAY, JUNE 4
.
8:30 - 9:00 am Registration and Continental Breakfast
.
9:00 - 9:30 am Welcome and Orientation: Andrew Taylor, President, AAAE
.
9:30 - 11:00 am Concurrent Sessions
.
LEARNING FROM ONLINE EDUCATION
Rachel Shane, Jean Brody, Rose Ginther
RESEARCH IN ARTS MANAGEMENT
Antonio Cuyler, Mike Wilkerson, Carole Rosenstein
ARTS INCUBATORS & ARTS ENTERPRISE INITIATIVE
Anthony S.R. Lake, Nate Zeisler
. 11:00 - 11:15 am Break
.
11:15 am - 12:30 pm Working Groups/Roundtables: Potential topics: Continuing the Undergraduate Standards Process (Helwig & Borwick), Member Field Study (Pope), Syllabus Sharing (Brody), Toward a More International AAAE (Poole, Huijsmans), Arts Entrepreneurship (Booth), Today’s students and Pop Culture (Rosewall & McGowan)
.
12:30 - 2:00 pm Lunch & Program
.
Emerging Leaders – What Do They Have to Tell Us? With Stephanie Evans (AFTA), Edward Clapp (20Under40), Michael Bigley (The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation), Alison Dornheggen (Chair, AU EALS)
.
2:00 - 3:30 pm Concurrent Sessions
.
CASE METHOD STUDY and NEW EDUCATION FOR FUTURE ARTS ADMINISTRATORS
Rosemary Polegato, Angela Branneman
ARTS MANAGEMENT RESEARCH: THREE RECENT STUDIES
Richard Maloney, Patricia Dewey, Carole Rosenstein
EXTERNAL INTERNSHIPS
Larry Epstein, Todd Alan Price, Kay Osborne, Rick Lester (CEO, Target Resource Group)
.
3:30 - 4:00 pm Break
.
4:00 - 5:30 pm Plenary: Ben Cameron, Program Director of Arts, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
7:00 - 9:00 pm Catered Dinner, Katzen Arts Center Rotunda
.
9:00 pm - ? AAAE After Hours: sing, dance, perform with and for your peers, cabaret-style. Details coming soon!
.
SATURDAY, JUNE 5
.
8:30 - 10:00 am Annual Membership Meeting: Full members gather, discuss, and vote on essential issues of the association. Coffee, tea, and continental breakfast
.
10:00 - 11:30 am Concurrent Sessions
.
SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING & LEARNING PROJECT
Susan Badger Booth
NEW MODELS FOR ARTS ORGANIZATIONS
Laura Zucker, Jim Undercofler
COMMUNITY THEATRE: MANAGING A STATE OF MIND
Angela Branneman, Maryo Gard Ewell
.
11:30 am - 12:15 pm Lunch
.
12:15 - 1:15 pm ASSESSING THE ROLE OF FORMAL EDUCATION IN ARTS ADMINISTRATION
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: REVISITING THE CONDITIONS 15 YEARS LATER
J. Dennis Rich, Dan Martin
. 1:30 - 3:00 pm Concurrent Sessions
.
PRESERVING THE LEGACY OF AMERICA’S AGING ARTISTS – AN INTERDISCIPLINARY, INTERGENERATIONAL COURSE ACROSS THE UNIVERSITY
Joan Jeffri
CONTEXTS IN CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Ximena Varela, Constance DeVereaux, Richard Maloney, Sherri Helwig
.
3:00 - 3:30 pm Break
.
3:30 - 5:00 pm Plenary: CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND DIPLOMACY
Kimber Craine, Director of Program Initiatives, President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities
.
5:00 - 6:00 pm Closing Reception: Kreeger Lobby – American University Art Museum
.
6:30 - 7:30 pm AAAE Board Meeting
.
Evening On your own
The Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE) is an international organization incorporated as a nonprofit institution within the United States. Its mission is to represent college and university graduate and undergraduate programs in arts administration, encompassing training in the management of visual, performing, literary, media, cultural and arts service organizations. Founded in 1975, the AAAE was created to provide a forum for communication among its members and advocate formal training and high standards of education for arts administrators. The Association, moreover, encourages its members to pursue, publish, present and disseminate research in arts management and administration to strengthen the understanding of arts management issues in the academic and professional fields.
Recognition of arts administration as a profession is a recent development. Because formal education was not begun until the mid-1960's, the profession is still in its adolescence, even as arts institutions are demanding higher levels of sophistication from their administrators.
The Association believes that higher education remains the appropriate response to these demands and to the present and future management needs of the arts. Information is available on each member program's history, purpose, background, administration, degree(s), curriculum and application procedure through this web site.
http://www.artsmanagement.net/
Join your colleagues in arts administration education in America's capital city June 3-6, 2010, for Making Connections: Preparing Cultural Leaders for Future Challenges. The American University Arts Management Program and George Mason University's Arts Management Program will co-host this year's event.
The location will provide an ideal backdrop for intensive networking, teaching, and learning, and a wealth of extraordinary speakers to inform our work and advance our vision.
The AAAE annual conference is a unique opportunity to share, to listen, to grow as educators, and to connect to international trends and issues that impact our work.
We'll begin an exciting three days as we have the past several years, with an intriguing pre-conference offering: a bus tour of the innovative Cultural Development Corporation projects in DC. Executive Director Anne Corbett will be on board to give us a first-hand account of the important work of this exciting cultural and economic development organization.
Join us later that evening at The Phillips Collection for opening remarks by Michael Kaiser, President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, fresh from his 50-state Arts in Crisis tour.
Many more special guests, fascinating keynotes, relevant workshops and peer panel presentations await you in Washington, DC. Don't miss it - register today!
11:30 am - 1:00 pm AAAE Board Meeting
.
1:00 - 2:00 pm Registration Conference Orientation: Especially, but not exclusively, for first-time attendees
.
2:00 - 5:30 pm Pre-Conference Program – Washington DC Tour, with Anne Corbett, Executive Director, Cultural Development Corporation. Includes a backstage tour at the Kennedy Center with Robert Pullen. Strictly limited to 27 participants. (Extra fee required)
.
6:00 - 6:45 pm Opening Plenary: Michael Kaiser, President, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, LOCATION: The Phillips Collection
.
6:45 - 8:00 pm Opening Reception: Sponsored by George Mason University and Succession
.
Evening On your own.
.
FRIDAY, JUNE 4
.
8:30 - 9:00 am Registration and Continental Breakfast
.
9:00 - 9:30 am Welcome and Orientation: Andrew Taylor, President, AAAE
.
9:30 - 11:00 am Concurrent Sessions
.
LEARNING FROM ONLINE EDUCATION
Rachel Shane, Jean Brody, Rose Ginther
RESEARCH IN ARTS MANAGEMENT
Antonio Cuyler, Mike Wilkerson, Carole Rosenstein
ARTS INCUBATORS & ARTS ENTERPRISE INITIATIVE
Anthony S.R. Lake, Nate Zeisler
. 11:00 - 11:15 am Break
.
11:15 am - 12:30 pm Working Groups/Roundtables: Potential topics: Continuing the Undergraduate Standards Process (Helwig & Borwick), Member Field Study (Pope), Syllabus Sharing (Brody), Toward a More International AAAE (Poole, Huijsmans), Arts Entrepreneurship (Booth), Today’s students and Pop Culture (Rosewall & McGowan)
.
12:30 - 2:00 pm Lunch & Program
.
Emerging Leaders – What Do They Have to Tell Us? With Stephanie Evans (AFTA), Edward Clapp (20Under40), Michael Bigley (The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation), Alison Dornheggen (Chair, AU EALS)
.
2:00 - 3:30 pm Concurrent Sessions
.
CASE METHOD STUDY and NEW EDUCATION FOR FUTURE ARTS ADMINISTRATORS
Rosemary Polegato, Angela Branneman
ARTS MANAGEMENT RESEARCH: THREE RECENT STUDIES
Richard Maloney, Patricia Dewey, Carole Rosenstein
EXTERNAL INTERNSHIPS
Larry Epstein, Todd Alan Price, Kay Osborne, Rick Lester (CEO, Target Resource Group)
.
3:30 - 4:00 pm Break
.
4:00 - 5:30 pm Plenary: Ben Cameron, Program Director of Arts, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
7:00 - 9:00 pm Catered Dinner, Katzen Arts Center Rotunda
.
9:00 pm - ? AAAE After Hours: sing, dance, perform with and for your peers, cabaret-style. Details coming soon!
.
SATURDAY, JUNE 5
.
8:30 - 10:00 am Annual Membership Meeting: Full members gather, discuss, and vote on essential issues of the association. Coffee, tea, and continental breakfast
.
10:00 - 11:30 am Concurrent Sessions
.
SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING & LEARNING PROJECT
Susan Badger Booth
NEW MODELS FOR ARTS ORGANIZATIONS
Laura Zucker, Jim Undercofler
COMMUNITY THEATRE: MANAGING A STATE OF MIND
Angela Branneman, Maryo Gard Ewell
.
11:30 am - 12:15 pm Lunch
.
12:15 - 1:15 pm ASSESSING THE ROLE OF FORMAL EDUCATION IN ARTS ADMINISTRATION
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: REVISITING THE CONDITIONS 15 YEARS LATER
J. Dennis Rich, Dan Martin
. 1:30 - 3:00 pm Concurrent Sessions
.
PRESERVING THE LEGACY OF AMERICA’S AGING ARTISTS – AN INTERDISCIPLINARY, INTERGENERATIONAL COURSE ACROSS THE UNIVERSITY
Joan Jeffri
CONTEXTS IN CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Ximena Varela, Constance DeVereaux, Richard Maloney, Sherri Helwig
.
3:00 - 3:30 pm Break
.
3:30 - 5:00 pm Plenary: CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND DIPLOMACY
Kimber Craine, Director of Program Initiatives, President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities
.
5:00 - 6:00 pm Closing Reception: Kreeger Lobby – American University Art Museum
.
6:30 - 7:30 pm AAAE Board Meeting
.
Evening On your own
The Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE) is an international organization incorporated as a nonprofit institution within the United States. Its mission is to represent college and university graduate and undergraduate programs in arts administration, encompassing training in the management of visual, performing, literary, media, cultural and arts service organizations. Founded in 1975, the AAAE was created to provide a forum for communication among its members and advocate formal training and high standards of education for arts administrators. The Association, moreover, encourages its members to pursue, publish, present and disseminate research in arts management and administration to strengthen the understanding of arts management issues in the academic and professional fields.
Recognition of arts administration as a profession is a recent development. Because formal education was not begun until the mid-1960's, the profession is still in its adolescence, even as arts institutions are demanding higher levels of sophistication from their administrators.
The Association believes that higher education remains the appropriate response to these demands and to the present and future management needs of the arts. Information is available on each member program's history, purpose, background, administration, degree(s), curriculum and application procedure through this web site.
http://www.artsmanagement.net/
Friday, February 26, 2010
Distance Learning
The New World Symphony (NWS) implemented the use of Internet2 in 2000, and it was recently highlighted at the end of January during a symposium held at the Lincoln Theater in South Beach, FL. Internet2 is similar in function to technology like Skype, providing live audio and visual screening over distances, but it is much faster therefore giving it clearer audio quality that is useful for artists trying to perform live over the Internet. NWS has been using this technology to allow for distance learning among its musicians and conductors, including giving lessons, masterclasses, and holding auditions. It has become a very successful that other arts institutions have begun to use as well. In addition, if you look on the NWS website, you will see that using Internet2 to connect with artists has become part of the orchestra's statement of purpose.
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/02/silicon_beach_new_world_sympho.php
http://www.nws.edu/AboutMission.asp
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/02/silicon_beach_new_world_sympho.php
http://www.nws.edu/AboutMission.asp
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
There's An App for That!
I found this article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy about non profits creating iPhone apps for their organizations. Theaters, aquariums, and civic groups have built apps that range in features such as updates on events to blowing out "virtual candles" through the American Cancer Society.
The problem some non profits face in creating iPhone apps is the cost. The cost to develop an app can run about $12,000, and some groups have been able to get those services donated. Some tech firms are beginning to design applications that can be sold to groups by subscription and customized for each organization.
Reaching out to iPhone users is attractive to many non profits because statistically, iPhone users tend to have high levels of education and high income levels, the type of profile many organizations look for in potential donors.
I thought this article was very interesting, to see how the "app craze" is becoming a useful tool in the non profit world for communication and engaging their stakeholders in what the organization does.
http://philanthropy.com/article/For-MoreMore-Charities/64271/
The problem some non profits face in creating iPhone apps is the cost. The cost to develop an app can run about $12,000, and some groups have been able to get those services donated. Some tech firms are beginning to design applications that can be sold to groups by subscription and customized for each organization.
Reaching out to iPhone users is attractive to many non profits because statistically, iPhone users tend to have high levels of education and high income levels, the type of profile many organizations look for in potential donors.
I thought this article was very interesting, to see how the "app craze" is becoming a useful tool in the non profit world for communication and engaging their stakeholders in what the organization does.
http://philanthropy.com/article/For-MoreMore-Charities/64271/
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Keeping Up With the Times
I read this article for another class and think it applies well here also. The Philadelphia Orchestra has been tracking declining record sales since the internet grew in popularity within the last decade. Because of online sources for music, fewer and fewer people are buying CD recordings. The Classical music venue has been among the hardest hit.
In order to combat this, the Philadelphia Orchestra signed a deal with IODA, a company in San Francisco, to help bring its live recordings to amazon.com and iTunes. Songs that were not previously up for release are now easier to distribute, and the orchestra plans to post 10 live recordings every year.
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