22nd July 2008 Sykpe conversation notes with Blast Theory, Matt and Julianne in Brighton, Adrian in Reading and Kate in London

We started the conversation with Adrian describing the equipment available at Reading talking about the Power wall and the CAVE at that point my Skype connection broke so I missed a bit.

Matt The moment you went was when I asked you what your interests are and then you went silent and I was beginning to think that maybe I had upset you!

Kate Hah Hah ….yeah..ok I got involved working with Adrian through using VRML and made some work using the CAVE and 3d modelling working with a composer and a dancer and also through a public art project where he built some 3d text for me for a memorial wall for the Bartonwall project. I also have been doing quite a lot of work in Second Life and been talking with Adrain about trying to integrate the two sides of my interests in virtual worlds the immersive CAVE and the immersion of a online virtual world. So when we read the proposal Steve had written I could see links between the proposal ideas and my own interests. I got all excited about Jeffery Shaws work Legible City, I thought that would be an interesting interface between the body and the virtual world for a replay of two other artists work, so that was some of the stuff that got me excited about working on the project.

Matt Yeah Jeffery Shaws work was something we discussed in the making of Rider Spoke we were very careful not to stray into the same terrain because the work is so well known and that work it’s a wonderful piece we love it, it’s the obvious reference. From our point of view Yes obviously were are very thrilled and excited that people are interested in Rider Spoke and that there are things there of value and interest.. er.. Kate something that I’m sure your aware of is that it is very important for us that our work it is public facing and that engages directly with the general audience we see the creator project providing an obstacle, an opportunity to do something which is more private and therefore providing more room for experimentation, more playful, engaging with the research goal and as such we don’t have very strong feelings about what might be done, the one essential thing for us is that it is not public facing it would all be private for research purposes, then obviously if later down the track if there’s something that we are all excited about or we think should be shown publicly then we would have that discussion a that stage.

Kate Yes that was one of the questions that keep coming up, the idea of it being replayed.
Who were we replaying it for, was it for the people who had already done it or is it for someone who’d never been there?

Matt Exactly and obviously when we come to engage with the project more directly than we are able to at the moment that would be exactly the kind of question that we would want to examine. Our aspiration is that we will make some kind of interactive archival project within the Creator project that would have ultimately have some kind of public showing but that is quite along way down the track and what we are aware of is this is a research project with research goals. Our first priority is to ensure that we fitting in nicely with what the research agenda is and various researchers who are engaged with the research project and what they are hoping to achieve. But you know Kate, you in particular, you are an artist, and I presume your work is made for the general public, how do you feel about engaging on this project under the understanding that it is not going to be public facing?

Kate I don’t think its been an issue for me, I got into it in terms of wanting to find out more about developing a link between different virtual worlds, but also I’m interested in the idea of collaboration as well. So I didn’t see it as a way to get publicity, that’s not how I saw it, so for me it’s not a problem. I have to admit when I read the project I thought, oh god that’s a way I’ve never worked before, working on another artists work, on something that’s so established, especially when we were in the workshop at MRL it felt a bit awkward say things and wondering how it would fit in.

Matt I guess were all in the same boat in that respect aren’t we? It’s a fairly unusual, if not an unprecedented set of collaborators, the breadth of disciplines and institutions that all come together to face particular kinds of research questions, the flip side is that by keeping it private it gives us a lot more freedom for us to follow our own interests and passions

Kate And see what happens …

Matt Exactly we will all learn as we go won’t we……

Kate I’m working in some other collaborative groups I’m interested in the dynamics of working within them I guess that’s one of the main reasons I enjoy it, I don’t feel that it has to serve my ‘art ego’……

Matt Yeah

Kate I’m more curious to explore how to work with all these different strands.

Matt Right

Adrian I think that’s something that applies to the whole creative field certainly its something that the Troubadour Projects have picked up on wanting to measure how we interact with each other.

Julianne My guess is that the first phase is very much about the research, developing the partnerships and how the partners might work together, I see this project very much investigation some of those research questions that are about replaying, remixing and how do you recreate the experience.

Kate One of the things I’m thinking about having read and now heard the questions was what would happen if you were in a virtual environment and asked similar or the same questions would you get the same about of intimacy, because they are really particular the way that they are said you are kind of led to certain sorts of responses.
First I only read the answers when up in Nottingham it seemed strange the things that people told you, how intimate it was, but when I heard the questions I thought oh maybe I would have told you intimate things too…how would that be in a virtual world.

Matt Yes a lot of the focus of Rider Spoke and our work generally is how you establish a context in which people will participate in a meaningful way and I think the idea of being alone on a bicycle at night, almost certainly off the beaten track, quite possibly slightly lost, those things are all critical in terms of what we present and say and I think it would be very interesting to look at that in virtual space. I’m sure it would be very different. Peoples own safety is a very major issue, how to design spaces and peoples own awareness of their safety or lack of it, will determine what they are saying and how they behave.

Julianne Ok, do you think that’s ok, I think Matts nodding his head, do you have any more questions?

Kate Erm… well…. I suppose…as long as its kept within the research group….we can follow where we think we should go……is that right?

Matt Yes I think that’s what I would suggest……yes obviously we are very happy to continue the discussion, but on the other hand I’m very mindful of not wanting to kind of limit you, you both have your own practice, you come from different fields and you’ve both got your own trajectories and styles of working, it feels to me that would provide you the scope to be able to be very free about it. Clearly if you have questions or things you want to discuss I’d be very happy to do that.

Kate Brilliant ok

Matt And hopefully well get to meet each other

Kate Yes I wondered if it maybe part of the research project should be that I never get to meet you at all!

Matt I’m not going to make the next workshop either it’s two days before the start of the Royal Opera House project

Kate Oh yes I heard

Matt So you may joke about it now!

Kate Hah Hah I know….. but it may be the reality!