Now, the only city in the world currently open on the screens is Shanghai. See u soon in China e-by FA
http://franck-ancel.com/photos/spn/spn_urbanscreens.pdf > Message du 08/02/06 12:03 > De : "Geert Lovink" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > A : [email protected] > Copie à : > Objet : [spectre] first monday special issue on urban screens > > http://firstmonday.org/issues/special11_2/ > > Urban Screens: Discovering the potential of outdoor screens for urban > society > > By Pieter Boeder and Mirjam Struppek > > Introduction to First Monday, Special Issue #4: Urban Screens: > Discovering the potential of outdoor screens for urban society > (February 2006) > > Welcome, gentle reader, to this First Monday Urban Screens special > issue, the first publication of its kind. With the advent of digital > media, the global communication environment has changed dramatically. > In the context of the rapidly evolving commercial information sphere of > our cities, especially since the 1990s, a number of novel digital > display technologies have been introduced into the urban landscape. > This transformation has intersected with other major transformations of > media technology and culture over the last two decades: the formation > of distributed global networks and the emergence of mobile media > platforms such as mobile phones. Their cumulative and synergistic > impact has been profound. Convergence of screen technologies with > digital communication technologies such as GSM, RFID, Internet and > database technologies has lead to the emergence of a new, interactive > and increasingly pervasive medium: Urban Screens. > > Urban Screens can be defined as interactive, dynamic digital > information displays in urban environments. Their genesis is the > consequence of two parallel technological developments: evolution and > subsequent growth in magnitude of the traditional display screen, and > its subsequent convergence with other digital media technologies. Forms > and appearances range from large daylight compatible LED billboards, > plasma or SED screens, information displays in public transportation > systems and electronic city information terminals to dynamic, > intelligent surfaces that may be fully integrated into architectural > façade structures. Their introduction in the urban environment poses > new, unparalleled challenges and opportunities, which we will explore > and document in this issue. > > Currently, the primary purpose of this new infrastructure appears to be > the management and control of consumer behaviour through advertising. > Commercial companies are starting to realise that digital billboards > are a powerful medium to communicate their goals and missions, in line > with the new paradigms of the digital economy. Interconnected Urban > Screens have tremendous potential to serve as a platform for > information exchange. Such large networks are already being developed > Russia, China, USA and South America, where Urban Screens are rapidly > becoming a key element in commercial and government informational > infrastructure. The implications for the public sphere are profound. > Information density per square metre is increasing, yet at the same > time individuals have less control than ever over the actual format and > content of that information. > > Public space has always been a place for human interaction, a unique > arena for the exchange of rituals and communication. Its architecture, > being a storytelling medium itself, plays an important role in > providing a stage for this interaction. The ways in which public space > is inhabited can be read as a participatory process of its audience. > Its (vanishing) role as a space for social and symbolic discourse has > often been discussed in urban sociology. Modernisation, the growing > independence of place and time and individualisation seem to devastate > traditional city life and its social rhythm. The Urban Screens project > explores the opportunities for opening this steadily growing > infrastructure of digital screens, currently dominated by market > forces, for cultural content, along with its potential for revitalising > of the public sphere. > > Urban Screens 2005 was the first international conference that was > solely dedicated to the emerging Urban Screens phenomenon. > Presentations covered a broad spectrum of topics and issues, ranging > from critical theory to project experiences by researchers and > practitioners in the field of art, architecture, urban studies and > digital culture. It addressed the growing infrastructure of large > digital moving displays, which increasingly influence and structure the > visual sphere of our public spaces. Urban Screens 2005 investigated how > the currently dominating commercial use of these screens can be > broadened and culturally curated: can these screens become a tool to > contribute to a lively urban society, involving its audience > interactively? > > A new medium that is digital, interactive and pervasive > > What we are seeing is the emergence of a new medium that is digital, > global and local, interactive and pervasive at the same time. What > happens if the convergence of new technologies such as Internet, > database and mobile technologies suddenly enable interactive access to > the visual streaming of these digital surfaces? Can it revitalise the > public sphere by creating an information-dense urban environment or is > it a major threat? How does the growing infrastructure of digital > displays influence the perception of the visual sphere of our public > spaces? Metaphorically speaking, can or do Urban Screens already > function as a mirror, reflecting the public sphere? > > The Urban Screens project aims to address these questions in a > transdisciplinary debate and present new approaches to answering the > most pushing urgent questions, exchange experiences and create and > maintain a thematical network around the subject for initiating future > collaborations. The Urban Screens 2005 conference in Amsterdam > addressed the existing commercial predetermination and explored the > nuance between art, interventions and entertainment to stimulate a > lively culture. Other key issues were mediated interaction, content, > participation of the local community, possible restrictions due to > technical limits, and the incorporation of screens in the architecture > of our urban landscape. > > Urban Screens 2006: Demonstrating the potential of public screens for > interaction > > Building upon the results of Urban Screens 2005, the 2006 Urban Screens > 2006 conference (Berlin, October 5-6) will elaborate on the discussion > and develop the broad spectrum of possible formats and usage of this > emerging new media infrastructure. Urban Screens 2006 will be a > platform for demonstrating the potential of public screens for > interaction in a trinity of infrastructure, content and cooperation > models. Interconnected topics will be the politics of public space, > multimedia content as a service for an array of portable devices, urban > neighbourhood reactivation, interaction design of urban screens, > standardisation and integration in the urban landscape. Using existing > screens infrastructure as well as future 'Urban Screens furniture' in > the urban space of Berlin, we will demonstrate the impact of Urban > Screens, their contextualisation and situatedness. This unique > accumulation of projects will serve as a playground and research field > for practical observations on the interplay of screen technology, > content, location and format. > > Urban Screens 2007: Expanding the potential of content for community > screens > > Urban Screens 2007 is currently under preparation in collaboration with > BBC Public Space Broadcasting. While Urban Screens 2006 will have > 'brick & mortar' accents, Urban Screens 2007 will have a distinct focus > on the potential of journalistic content: issues surrounding the > production and display of media content for Urban Screens, as well as > adaptive reuse of 'old' content for new media will be explored in > detail. Key issues and topics will include Public Space Broadcasting > (PSB), the politics of public space, mediated interaction and > participation, as well as experiments with new participatory formats. > PSB can energise the hearts of cities by bringing together communities > to share events and broadcasts, creating public news and information > points that double as local meeting places. Largely due to the > innovative work of the BBC, PSB is starting to prove its potential to > provide an outlet for community and educational activities, public > service information, visual arts, digital innovation and local content > production, revitalising the public sphere. > > We hope that you will share our excitement. > > --- > > Table of Content: > > Introduction: Discovering the potential of outdoor screens for urban > society > by Pieter Boeder and Mirjam Struppek > > Urban screens: The beginning of a universal visual culture > by Paul Martin Lester > > The politics of public space in the media city > by Scott McQuire > > The poetics of urban media surfaces > by Lev Manovich > > Interpreting urban screens > by Anthony Auerbach > > Story space: A theoretical grounding for the new urban annotation > by Rekha Murthy > > The urban incubator: (De)constructive (re)presentation of heterotopian > spatiality and virtual image(ries) > by Wael Salah Fahmi > > Urban screens: Towards the convergence of architecture and audiovisual > media > by Tore Slaatta > > Towards an integrated architectural media space > by Ava Fatah gen. Schieck > > Art and social displays in the branding of the city: Token screens or > opportunities for difference? > Julia Nevárez > > Hijacking the urban screen: Trends in outdoor advertising and > predictions for the use of video art and urban screens > by Raina Kumra > > For an aesthetics of transmission > by Giselle Beiguelman > > Intelligent skin: Real virtual > by Vera Bühlmann > > Programming video art for urban screens in public space > by Kate Taylor > > Augmenting the City with Urban Screens > by Florian Resatsch, Daniel Michelis, Corina Weber, and Thomas > Schildhauer > > > > > ______________________________________________ > SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe > Info, archive and help: > http://coredump.buug.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spectre > > > ______________________________________________ SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe Info, archive and help: http://coredump.buug.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spectre
