Long live the thing! Temporal ubiquity in a smart vintage wardrobe
by Jonnet Middleton
Very slowly over time my things began to overwhelm me. The bulk of these things were garments, the moderately sized collection of wearable artefacts that clothe me and also, more problematically, the irrationally large hoard of clothes that have rarely or never clothed me at all.
These unworn, largely unwearable but always destined to be worn things created a mounting pressure upon me which one day, whilst I sat submissively in their midst, urged me to act (see Bennett 2011 on hoards). It was 2008, the day I decided not to acquire any more clothing, ever. The clothes in my extended wardrobe at that moment became the only items with which I now clothe myself for the rest of my life. Some time later, both I and these things became part of a technosocial system called Wearlog which uses ubiquitous computing to log how I and the things ‘wear’, that is, how we wear one another and how we wear out.
Patiently, I sew ubiquitous technology into my clothes. RFID tags, like penny-sized black buttons, join with needle and thread to lodge permanently in bikinis, aprons, party dresses and vests. Every last thing in my sprawling wardrobe is retrofitted with this sensor technology and linked to a network which datamines key events in the clothing’s life. Wearlog senses when a garment leaves the wardrobe, when it enters the washing machine and when it lands in the mending basket. And then Wearlog remembers exactly which items have been worn, washed and mended, when.
Force/Magnitude workshop
by Mr Jan Andruszkiewicz and Dr Paul Thomas
The short paper plots the inclusion of an art workshop within the realm of the nanotechnological laboratory. The history given to us by Robert Hooke in his bookMicrographia , reveals a symbiotic relationship between art and science through the drawings created from his enhanced perceptions through the microscope. This history is re-embedded in the present tense with evidence of the research produced by artists engaged in Force/Magnitude workshop exploring the contemporary imaging via the Atomic Force Microscope.
Extending the theatre experience: the potential for wearable and on-stage cameras
by Professor Phil Stenton, Erik Geelhoed, Dr. Stephen Pollard, Gary Porter and Vanessa Bellaar-Spruijt
The National Theatre has led the way in the delivery of live theatre experiences to audiences in cinemas. Audience data suggests that the programme has introduced the theatre experience to a broader audience beyond theatre-goers unable to get tickets for sell-out shows. The success of NT Live led NESTA to conclude that a better understanding of what works for audiences and what does not with respect to digital innovation is ‘crucial for the competitiveness of the Creative Industries in the UK’.
This study presents the analysis of the Extended Theatre Experience project and compares the reactions to a performance captured using camera locations and one that incorporates views from cameras worn by the actors and in the stage props. Home and cinema screenings are compared. Statistical analysis of the data collected is presented and conclusions are drawn regarding the effectiveness of onstage shots to create a sense of the immediacy of the live performance.