Thanks Sarah for inviting us to participate in this month’s topic.
As you mentioned in our intro, we have recently completed a permanent
public artwork in London -a version of our gallery installation,
'Decorative Newsfeeds' but for a specially built LED screen that
hangs in a window attached to a revamped supermarket (which forms a
small part of a wider urban regeneration plan devised by the local
council).
This work is not interactive, but it is networked and pulls RSS
newsfeeds from the web and then unfurls them endlessly in overlapping
curves of ultrabright LED's. It has been quite a steep learning
process for us, not least because there are only a few examples of
'new media' permanent public artworks in UK (and elsewhere really) to
compare and we are used to working in galleries or just online.
The first thing we realised of course is only a few permanent works
are indeed permanent. Even lumps of bronze get torn down, moved and
replaced.
Our permanent work currently has a contract that comprises two parts –
the first few years and then beyond the five year mark. So during
this first period we have agreed to look after the software side of
things, not least because that is what’s least likely to be
maintained. The council keep the space clean, and the window clean
(we hope) and look after the hardware. The supermarket have taken
responsibility to maintain the internet connection, and because the
work is networked, we can do pretty much all we need to remotely, and
so far that’s worked pretty well (it’s been switched on for nearly 8
months now)
During the first few years we will evaluate how well it’s stood up
and will follow this with a complete hand-over to Lewisham council
(who own the work). If following the hand-over we feel it is not
properly maintained then we reserve the right to have it de-
commissioned.
Nevertheless, when discussing the upkeep of the work we have found it
difficult really to differentiate this work from many other types of
public art, which all require maintenance of some sort or another.
Looking after the software doesn’t seem to represent any more work
than tending the flowers on Jeff Koon’s puppies for example and
replacing bulbs in the LED screen should rarely have to take place –
probably less often than glass has to be cleaned.
Of course to some extent we have developed the work with these things
in mind. One of the reasons for transcribing this particular piece
into its 'permanent' form was because while RSS technology is subject
to change, news headline feeds and tickers per se are likely to
persist and software can be modified, so the set of rules governing
the generative aspect of the work can be followed. Of course we
can't know these things for sure and we do have some contingencies in
place, but it's perhaps worth remembering that drawings fade if hung
in direct sunlight and even paintings degrade --in some cases
spectacularly so if either made poorly or not looked after. And
while we hope we've done our job as makers, in the end our
'permanent' work will only last if the owners look after it.
We have made and are developing a few works that try and utilise what
might constitute (relatively) stable live data sources –things like
news headlines, weather data, time measurement, search engine data
and the like, in the hope that they can last for as long as possible
as live works before their passage to archived states, or simulations.
In terms of absolute longevity with this version of Decorative
Newsfeeds, what was important for us was making sure the screen
itself is industrial strength, with a long lifespan (twenty five
years +) and that can be seen in direct sunlight.
It’s early days yet though.
best wishes,
Jon & Alison
--> web
http://www.thomson-craighead.net
http://www.lightfromtomorrow.com
--> soon
Unprepared Piano, ISEA 2006, San Jose CA
Edge Conditions, San Jose Museum of Art, CA
Flat Earth. Animate! commission with Channel 4 Television.
|
