Additionally, I heard confirmation today that I shall be participating in Alternative Party 2010 in October; further developments in interaction and a new incarnation in This Belongs To are planned; more updates soon so watch this space!

  It’s been a while since any updates at Glittermouse.co.uk as for the duration of the TINT Arts Lab residency all developments to current projects were published here. The final post on July 19th detailed progress made to electronic experiments with the This Belongs To project as well as further realisations of interaction with relation to the installation work. The speed of these developments has slowed down somewhat over the summer months, however they are still very much in progress and the next opportunity to display any of this publically will be at Blacked Out, a group show in London in which nine artists explore light in a blacked out space under a railway arch near London Bridge. It will be the first time that the use of Arduino to generate interactive projections will be realised in this work outside a studio setting. Given the analogue nature of the sensors being used, it is hard to predict how effectively the installation will run until actually set up in the space, however, anxieties aside, it’s certainly working well enough in tests to be an exciting if mildly daunting prospect. Without revealing too much of the actual work, which is still broadly concentrating on issues relating to public ownership in cities, here’s a quick visual update of circuitry, partially built housing and code in a test set up... If you want to see more you’ll have to head along to Blacked Out! The exhibition runs from the 21st to the 28th of August with a private viewing from 6.30 – 9.30 on the 19th. Do come along if you’re London based, the evening event includes refreshments and the return of Ne7 (Andrew Lemon) who worked on the sound for Marking the Territory; he’ll be providing live audio on homemade, hacked and circuit bent instruments.

There’s been lots of reading to do too to develop the conceptual side of this work and not go off into too much of a happy practical tangent (lovely as that would be). I’ve been looking into Urban Planning to contextualise the ideas relating to public ownership and have recently been reading Ground Control (2009) by Anna Minton. I would highly recommend Minton’s accessible coverage of very important and deeply worrying details of current trends in urban management including the removal of rights of way in city centres. Do have a read...

I’m also keeping an eye on RepRap after finding out about it last week... interesting...

Until next time, keep an eye on the TINT Arts Lab... and I’ll be sticking some video of the Arduino workshop up just as soon as I’ve had the chance to edit it!

Regardless of all that, mid April is finally here and it brings with it the opening of Marking the Territory, tomorrow at MMU's Link Gallery. The last two days have been spent finalising work, painting plinths and installing equipment so I shall finally be ready to start the drawing tomorrow morning at 9am. Also on display are six new digital prints as a follow up to the City Poems Series and the newly completed painting Saint Peters Square (acrylic on canvas with a distinctly digital flavour!) which can be found in the Interactive Arts Foyer attached to the Link Gallery. Preview image below but you will have to come along to the gallery to see the actual installation for now! Live installation is open April 14th, 15th and 16th from 09.30 - 4pm and all day on Monday 19th with a special evening event from 5 - 7pm. Hope to see you there!

  Last weekend peaked at a new high of ‘being busy’ even for the constant missions of Glittermouse.  Saturday the 27th of March saw the return of Chorlton’s Big Green Festival, the second year this has been hosted by Green Chorlton. Recent reports suggest approximately 6000 people visited the event which aims to promote sustainable living in an accessible fashion. A workshop based revival of the recycled crafts certainly fitted in with that agenda, albeit with a decidedly urban twist. Participants were invited to create a local souvenir using images they had sourced of their areas that meant something to them. From road signs to lampposts, various images came together to generate craft outcomes using glass painting techniques and salvaged objects. Green Festival visitors of all ages enjoyed learning basic art and design theory as well as practising their new skills. You can see more images from the day here.

As if that wasn’t enough for one weekend, A return to Norvun Sunday at The Roadhouse was the first opportunity to publically showcase all the recent 3D developments involving laser etching and multiple projections. With a set up using two slide projectors and one data projector, multiple visual sources including photos, vector graphics, pixel and digital video brought the etched surface of the new object to life. This provided an interactive opportunity for traditional drawing techniques in much the same vein as the previous 2D installations, however the inclusion of multiple projection and the response to 3D space lent an additional freedom to the piece where the contrast between static and moving image could be much more thoroughly referenced. Focusing on the use of images including environmental text, this installation provided an exciting opportunity to warm-up for and gains an insight into the forthcoming work at Marking the Territory – the first full 3D installation of the work at The Link Gallery from April 14th.

In addition to the installation work, a new public urban interactivity project has just been launched. This Belongs To invites participants to share moments of Urban Ownership by using laser cut cards to project their name (or other identifying mark) directly onto the urban environment.  Best experienced when it’s sunny, the cards do still provide opportunities to Mark your Territory on duller days and even potentially at night. Check out further details of the project and request your own card here. All you have to do is write on it and go out to make stuff yours (not forgetting to upload a photo or two of course!).

  The pace quickens still further this weekend with a return (for the last time sadly) to Breakpoint in Bingen, Germany. I haven’t quite decided if I have an entry or not... It might be leaving it a bit late...and in case you thought it had been forgotten, here’s the latest update in the (slow) progress on the St Peter’s Square commission. Hmmm... Now there’s an idea...