De GERMINADOR wiki

Contingut 1 keywords 2 approach 3 starting point 4 sprouter of proposals 4.1 sprouting seeds 4.2 "bio" seeds 5 copyleft 6 Sprouter on the net 6.1 an open web 6.2 a wiki 7 Areas of performance

keywords

collective creation, net.art, cooperation, collaboration, participation, social sculpture, technological appropriation, ready made

approach

The aim of this project is to explore within several paths the field of net collective creation, identifying opportunities for experimentation and developing proposals and prototypes of systems that would end up unfolding a wide range of possibilities for production in this area.

Taking the metaphor of the "sprouter" we could say that we have some seeds and we expect to gather in more and to germinate them all together. It is a process of research that feeds the land for future productions. A sprouter for future projects.

With this research we would like to contribute to on-line collective creation by means of ideas, designs, prototypes, work and discussion lines.

The project "GERMINADOR: sprouter of net collective creation proposals" starts off in autumn 2005 and finishes (open to be continued) in one year time with the presentation of the proposals generated so far.

starting point

One of the TAG's areas of interest as artistic group has been the collective creation and the cooperation systems on-line. This interest has been taking shape, throughout different projects and activities, into one of our lines of research.

We understand "collective creation" as a dynamic concept that changes depending on the contexts and interpretations. Temporarily, we can talk about those practices when several people build up the same work or aesthetic experience in a collective way. In these processes different factors can come to play (rules of the "game", technological infrastructure, cultural background, etc...) and spring up situations of collaboration, cooperation, competitiveness, etc...)

sprouter of proposals

It is common that at the stage preceding the development of an artistic project many ideas and lines of work are discarded. With "GERMINADOR" we would like to set up a creative process where the priority is the depiction of ideas and the identification of the lines of work rather than its development. In order to create favourable conditions for this to happen, the following aspects must be taken into account:

• discussion and debate: by means of periodical meetings and on-line discussions
• study of technologies: to identify possibilities of experimental use
• external contributions to the group: by means of workshops, meetings andfeedback through Internet
• design and prototyping: of some of the proposals trying to depict the diverse lines that may emerge

sprouting seeds

In some of these areas we have already developed systems, prototypes or projects. They are the first "seeds" of the sprouter. But we expect to gather in some more during the process.

"bio" seeds

We have thought that it could be interesting to make the metaphor literal and parallel to the project, we search for seeds to make them germinate in a kitchen sprouter. We transplant the sprouted and take some pictures of all together. These photographs are the graphic dressing of the project. At the same time, this whole process is used to explore the relationships between the project and its metaphor.

copyleft

We support open culture and the free spreading of knowledge. A new frame of (self)regulation of the cultural, scientific and technological productions facilitating the creativity and the innovation at the same time guarantying access and socialization. As a consequence all the software and the documentation generated for the project will be published under these open licences and copyleft. In the case of the software to the greatest extent it will be based on GPL licence implying the publication of the code and the authorization of distribution and modification. If not possible (because of some code dependencies used which are incompatible with GPL) it will explicit together with the necessary modifications to achieve it. Regarding the written documentation some modes of creative commons licences will be used so as to guarantee free distribution.

Sprouter on the net

an open web

We do not understand a project on collective creation without being on-line and enabling participation. During all the process with the web GERMINADOR we will try to accomplish this intention.

a wiki

An important factor in this process would be the use of a wiki as the working tool of the group. This system is useful to write down notes, share information, write texts jointly, carry on discussions, being informed about other contributions, etc...

Areas of performance

The project will work on five areas that feed each other:

• EXPLORATION
  • Identifying and testing technologies that are susceptible to be used for net collective creation. In some cases this could imply the installation of systems and the study of their running.
  • Identifying and experiencing net.art projects and on-line collective creations paying special attention to those open software. Testing them, identifying typologies and possibilities they give way to, stating some other developments or hybridizations.
• CONCEPTUALIZATION AND DESIGN
  • Brainstorming and conceptualization. Discussion on the possible projects and systems of collective creation.
  • Designing of systems by means of diagrams, pseudo-code, interface design or interaction scenarios.
• PROTOTIPYING AND DEVELOPMENT
  • Some ideas come up when it is developing, thus the project also includes development and prototyping of some of the proposed systems. This would also enable their testing and their subjecting to feedback from other people.
• FEEDBACK: There are several lines of what we call "feedback" or exchange of ideas among other people:
  • Web communication tools: that allow sending comments on the project and partial reports, making contributions or stating ideas. These are: mailing list germinador-iua.upf.edu and the edition tools of the GERMINADOR wiki.
  • Workshops: some workshops are meant to be carried out among reduced groups where the status of the project would be commented on, there will be experiments with the systems of collective creation, the generated prototypes will be shown and debates will arouse regarding all this process. These workshops can be carried out in art centers, vocational centers, tele-centers, hacklabs or associations working with IT. Depending on the context where the workshop takes place, co-development or co-authorship aspects may be considered.
  • Guests: we are getting in touch with people from different spheres and with different careers to ask them for contribution with opinions and comments once having been exposed to the status of the project. The meetings with these people will be scheduled in different moments of the process so that they function as "inputs" enriching it.
• SPREADING
  • At different stages of the project during the year 2006 we will publish partial reports on the status of the project in the web Germinator. In autumn 2006 we will publish an annual report of assessment and results of the project with the range of proposals generated so far.
  • Mailing list germinador-iua.upf.edu is a channel for those people who want to be posted about what we are doing and about the activities linked to the project.
  • At the same time, the project is spread through other mailing and news lists, on-line publishing sites, etc...
  • It is planned to present the project and to inform about its evolution and esults in meetings, conferences, seminars or congresses linked to topics such as digital art, open software, open knowledge, interaction person/computer, etc...