Revealing the Arts - Day 2

Well the sessions appeared to sizzle today, we at least from the outside. There were a few flames that caught my fancy along the way.

Bag out the major institutions...

There were a few taunts from the twitter stream about 'us' well funded major performing arts companies and 'our' emergence from the dark ages...speaking the truth?

socialinterior I find this event very focused on the major performing arts and the issues they are having catching up on where everyone else is at #rtarts

A wonderful profound comment from one user about the resistance to open up to new media had me hoping to use a new favourite phrase...

artsdigitalera RT @The_Art_Life: New media world collides with old world art politics of entitlement.#RTArts

Ahhhh the 'politics of entitlement' that would make a wonderful PhD chapter I'm sure.

Whose Right is it anyway?

It seems rights management was a huge issue...I won't pull out some of the quotable quotes but again, here is us (them?) squabbling about who owns and who profits when all audiences want to do is engage? Surely everyone can see that?

Lessons Learned?

But the big fun of the day was some of the er, comments that heated up the Twitterverse when the Aussie Cosi presentation began. A summary of the presentation can be found here.

Snarky comments...there were a few...

socialinterior The Australian Opera discovers social networks#rtarts

commuter_dirge @aussiecosi has 88 following, 54 followers, and 91 tweets. Hardly a roaring success...#RTArts

commuter_dirge twitalyzer score for @aussiecosi:http://tr.im/Db2n: "0.3 influence" "0.0% generosity" "0.7% clout" (now I'm just being mean) #RTArts

unsungsongs . @commuter_dirge and 66 facebook firends. That's a #fail surely?#RTArts

commuter_dirge @fireinthesouth well, that's you're brand, just as@AussieCosi is a branded account. It's really not a great case study. #RTArts

unsungsongs I am extremely curious about whether those involved in Aussie Cosi see it as a success and how they judge that?#rtarts

mattriviera @aussiecosi What did you learn thru social media feedback you couldn't have gotten thru a survey? Best use of social media? #RTArts

mattriviera @aussiecosi Wouldn't a good way for fan community to engage with the work be for them to appropriate it? To re-interpret it? #RTArts

shoes_off @elliottbledsoe @commuter_dirge true, but showcasing a more active community than cosi would have displayed the scalability of SM #rtarts

commuter_dirge @bimyou_bimyou I'm not talking monetising twitter in and of itself. but you need to show some proof of it working & a correllation #RTArts

dziga @aussiecosi doesn't seem to have a lot of followers #rtarts

revealingarts Katrina Sedgwick: "Messing", "playing", "getting in there", these are the kind of mind frame to approach digital, not "sell tickets" #RTArts

Snarky yes... but justifiably snarky...I leave that to you dear readers. What struck me about the response to the session and the overall experience of watching this conference unfold online was a clear realisation that you can't wait and then be forced into a situation where you have to play catch up. There is nothing wrong with experimentation...and sometimes, that in itself is the way forward until strategy catches up..."Messing", "playing", "getting in there"... I can't wait.

Revealing the Arts

As I sit down today to get back into the swing of essay work about the impacts of digital and new media on museums, across town (well down the street, really) our National Broadcaster and the overseer of our cultural institutions are likewise engaged in conversation about just that.

Are you wondering what’s happening to arts and culture in the new digital world? Where will the money come from? How will we manage rights? Where do we find creative partners? What works and what doesn’t? And what are we leaving the next generation? The Australia Council for the Arts and the ABC invite you to be part of a selected group of strategic thinkers, artists, practitioners and directors who will uncover the opportunities for the arts that the digital era presents.

Today and tomorrow, the ABC and the Australia Council are hosting 'Revealing the Arts: creative conversations and solutions for the digital era'. The program of discussion appears to be covering the current and future role of digital across areas such as a education and opening up access to arts, while tackling 'issues' such as copyright, rights management and commercial opportunities in the digital era.

One thing that has struck me is the inclusion of OA's Chief Executive among the speakers list in a presentation with David Ford on Aussie Cosi entitled 'SHOW ME HOW - Revealing the Creative Opportunities'. As a small initiative that may or may not have reached it's strategic aim (bums on seats? access? sorry was there a strategic aim?) it will indeed be interesting to hear what is said about this project.

The ABC is providing live streaming of the event on both days, so there's no excuse not to watch. You can also follow the blog or the twitter stream (see cultural caretakers can interact with digital media! my bad).

Of perhaps most interest to me is the last session entitled 'Where to from here'. Hopefully by the end of tomorrow we might all know (we can dream can't we?).

And if you need anymore proof it's one to watch, here's another great article in The Age this morning from Marcus Westbury. Marcus takes a slightly different tack and for me, one who has watched a large cultural institution grapple with the impact of the digital...I would say....right on!

there are vital basic assumptions that are rarely questioned: that the culture, the cultural organisations that deliver it, the cultural needs and infrastructure of Australia will remain more or less fixed. Technology is merely about the marketing, the branding, the language, the revenue and the education programs. The idea that the culture itself is changing and evolving is rarely considered. Technology merely changes the hype and the pitch to keep the kids interested.

The ABC has long moved beyond that. The broadcaster has realised that in order to justify its continued existence, it needs to keep questioning and evolving its roles.

I would love to (but I won't) comment on how just the opposite to the ABC approach where a lack of innovation (fostered by a lack of strategic thinking and not helped by having no budget for experimentation) seems to be one of the many blockages at the arts organisation I know intimately.

Well lets just hope that some of those attendees from the large cultural institutions are paying attention over the next few days.

Image source: http://revealingthearts.com/blog/

An Age column worth the reading...if you can find it online!

In the space of a month, two columns written by Marcus Westbury for The Age have just clicked with me. Unfortunately The Age doesn't necessarily like to have these online and searchable for everyone...imagine free content online and available to all! (I'm sure Marcus would appreciate the irony...)

Anyhow...thanks to a certain gorgeous publicist and her keen clipping skills these have landed in my lap. Once there is was 10 seconds on Google to track down the man himself. So I present, Marcus Westbury's recent columns that fell into my lap and just clicked...

• It's time to liberate collections from their dusty confines and share them in the spirit of enriching us all (EDIT: Monday 24th August - now online!)
• Is the flagship arts company destined to be a relic of the 20th century?

An experience of free content

Some great reading for today from the Powerhouse's Seb Chan on the museum giving away content for free. The main jist is that opening up content has enabled:

• better documentation on part of its collection - hey after all that's their job
• the ability to reach much wider audiences - hey that's another part of their mission!
• the development of new markets for commercial activities - the old promotion thingo!

Seb also briefly outlines some cost rationalisation that has been experienced through delivery of imagery online...I'm sold...are you?

Read the whole blog at Some clarifications on our experience with 'free' content'

If you haven't seen any of the Powerhouse's Flickr images sourced from their vast photographic collections have a look here. They are wonderful!

Racegoers at Warwick Farm racecourse

...another digital hero

Can't speak highly enough of the role he plays....another person from whom inspiration springs.

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog/

http://ow.ly/iFMv

Arts Council (UK) Digital Content Snapshot

MUST READ!!!

These lot know their stuff...wonder if Ozco will catch up?

About the digital research programme

Digital opportunities is one of the Arts Council's four priorities for 2008-2011. Part of the programme is a three year research programme. The research will perform three key functions:


• Generating in depth knowledge of the way digital technology is changing the context in which artists, arts organisations and the Arts Council are operating


• Providing a clear understanding of the opportunities and challenges that this changing context creates for artists, arts organisations and the public


• Identifying where the Arts Council could intervene in order to create most public value

Issues to be investigated include:

• the impact of digital technology on how the public perceive, understand and engage with the arts


• how digital technology is transforming art and artistic practice


• the implications for content creation, distribution and ownership

Copyright is an artefact designed exclusively to encourage the continuation of a society based on debt

Is that a great statement or is that a great statement!

So...how do we get rid of copyright on the stuff the place of toil owns?

Link