Open Source Art...

Feeling a bit nostaglic (again!) today.

I like the rather utopian - but still very possible - idea of democratised creation. The model used for open source software can very easily be applied to other creative forms ie. writing, music, etc.

With artistic forms it can be very interesting as the ideas of intent, tangible outcomes, aesthetics and context can become skewed.

Together with Jens and Micheal, we explored this in 2001 with Kommando Konrad Zuse. The idea being that the viewer was empowered to participate in the creative process by simply being able to manipulate various elements in the space... essentially a large, constantly moving canvas.

This was done by not 'fixing' the location of imagery & words other than facilitating a basic mood by 'placing' sounds through headphones. 144 nails were put into the room and a library of elements were supplied.

The viewer then was free to add, move or even remove components to generate narratives.

What was exciting (and occassionally disturbing) was some of the associations people made. Some went very post-modern and hung multiple elements on one nail or even moved the hanging device to skew the elements themselves.

People reacted to the narratives created by others and either embellished or destroyed them. There was an almost complete lack of preciousness that I still find refreshing.



The '(de)valued' object is something I'd explored in 1996. This was an exhibition of large scale b/w photocopies attached to the wall with gaffer tape. The work was then simply destroyed after the showing...

Update: 'Still Open' is coming to the Bakery in Perth. Read more here.