Time to Stream: Tom Hamilton’s work at Brighton Museum

Tonight, it will be time to be Too Late? at Brighton Museum, a Late event inspired by our new Ice Age display.

We have a great range of speakers and events lined up, but for me it will be a chance to complete a project that began last summer. During last year’s Brighton Digital Festival, we ran New Cabinets for New Curiosities, an event that was intended to encourage the use of open data and re-usable images from our collections. The winning entry was provided by artist Tom Hamilton, who submitted the idea of Wunderflies. Wunderflies has subsequently morphed into something more mineral than animal, and where prehistoric ice melts into contemporary water….

Work in progress shot from Tom Hamilton’s ‘Stream’

Stream captures Tom’s experience of exploring our digital collections. I won’t do Tom the injustice of trying to fully explain his concept, but it incorporates themes of cultural memory and consciousness, with an interface based around different forms of touch. It’s an unusual approach to thinking about the meaning of museum collections in the digital age and also, I hope, rather fun.

Tom will be on hand tonight to talk about his work, so please come along with fingers poised…

Kevin Bacon, Digital Development Officer

New Cabinets for New Curiosities — what happens next?

Submissions for our Brighton Digital Festival 2012 project, New Cabinets for New Curiosities, closed on 30 September. We only received one submission — but, happily, it’s a good one.

Tom Hamilton has proposed the idea of taking our open data and images and creating Wunderflies: ‘Chaotic combinations of the abstracted forms of artefactual elements – architectural motifs, wheels, bones, buttons, shells etc… these conceptual beings are only briefly rendered visible as they digest their prey – the scraps of human curiosity, as they fall from our conscious attention down the back of the sofa of our subconscious minds….’

We are currently in discussion with Tom about how to develop this proposal, but you can find a good expression of his initial ideas on this blog. Watch this space to see how the project develops, but we hope to have something running in Brighton Museum over the next few months.

We will be closing the small display on the south balcony of Brighton Museum slightly earlier than planned. Its last day of opening will now be Tuesday 16 October. But you will still be able to view the content elsewhere. A version of the Map the Museum interactive can be found in the Brighton History Centre (and an updated version is also available online). We will also post online a version of the short video clip Tom has produced demonstrating a prototype of his idea in action.

Kevin Bacon, Digital Development Officer

New Cabinets for New Curiosities — what can you expect to see today?

Our Brighton Digital Festival event, New Cabinets for New Curiosities, opens in Brighton Museum today. If you’re thinking of coming along over the next few days, here’s what you can expect to see…

The core idea of this project is that we are encouraging digital developers to use open data and images relating to our collections. We will showcase these works in the museum, and have £8000 worth of funding to turn one prototype into a completed project. As yet, we have received no submissions for this project, although the deadline is not until the end of September. We hope to feature some submitted works over the next few weeks, so keep an eye on this blog for updates.

Brighton Digital Festival 2012 logo

But the gallery is not empty. We have taken the opportunity to show off our beta Map the Museum app. We launched the web version of this back in March, but this is a localised gallery version running with a fresh dataset. Later this month, we’ll be updating both the web and local versions with some new features. Again, keep an eye on our blog or our Twitter and Facebook accounts for details…

The other computer is being used as a place holder, while we await submissions, but we are using it to throw out a few ideas about what could be done with museum data. But we also want to know what you think. If you have a great idea for a digital project we could run, jot it on a sticky note and add it to the board. We’ll be posting some of these ideas on this blog. If you’re a Twitter user you can also comment with the hashtag #newcabs.

If you would like to develop something we could showcase in the gallery, and would like an informal chat, drop me a line at kevin.bacon@brighton-hove.gov.uk. Although the deadline is not until the end of September, the earlier you submit your work, the more exposure we can give to your ideas and talents.

Kevin Bacon, Digital Development Officer