Category: digital interpretation
Sketch notes from #mozfest Saturday keynotes
I’ve always doodled and mind mapped my notes from lectures and workshops, though I only recently learnt this was a “thing”!
I thought I would share some notes, hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed making them!
An exciting project for the next two weeks…
Not that what I do isn’t normally exciting (it is!) but I am particularly excited to be part of a collaborative pop up media centre called Citizen 2014 over the next few weeks.
As you can see from the Citizen2014 website, a number of partners (Digital Commonwealth, University of the West of Scotland, Somewhereto_, Beyond the Finish Line, Mind Waves, The Media Trust, Third Sector Lab and the Big Lottery Fund) are all working together on this project to encourage citizen journalism during the two weeks of the Commonwealth Games activities. It’s brilliant to be able to be part of a team of enthusiastic digital media ambassadors who want to bring out the stories of all the cultural and community activities around Glasgow 2014 and share their skills and show other people how to do this.
As well as my usual role as educational coordinator for Digital Commonwealth (where for the next few weeks I will be working with the Citizen 2014 team, where will all be planning and running our citizen reporting activities) I will also be running a series of free digital workshops (bookable online, or in person at Beyond the Finish Line) as part of the project:
- Love postcards- make an animated postcard to send to someone you love, or tell the world what you love about Glasgow (using Mozilla Thimble)
- Newspaper remix- find out about all the events ‘on this day in history’ in the Commonwealth, and tell people your news of what you have been up to by creating a digital newspaper using Mozilla Thimble
- Commonwealth building sketching- Try your hand at some sketching of Glasgow architecture on paper, then experiment with making your sketches digital (using paper, pens and some apps)
I am so happy to be involved in all of these activities and hope to see you at 7 Trongate and taking part in the #citizen2014 conversations. Perhaps I am being a bit ‘cheesy’ in my closing statement, but, to use the statement which I have seen all over the city recently, ‘Bring it On’!
Fun at the festival of museums
This weekend it has been the Festival of Museums throughout Scotland (and Museums at Night throughout the UK). We had a great time yesterday (May 17th) on an architectural art bus tour organised by the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art, and hosted by Dress for the Weather architects. There is currently an exhibition at GOMA by Nathan Coley, using the architectural form of places of worship in Edinburgh to form a dramatic model landscape, our tour was inspired by this and we visited two religious buildings in the South Side of Glasgow (Glasgow Gurdwara and Govan Old).
I have included a taster of some of the sketches and models in the video, but I am looking forward to seeing them all on display in GOMA together.
What does creativity sound like?
I like to work with music when I am typing.. recently I have been listening to Spotify playlists. This afternoon I am putting the finishing touches to a proposal which I hope is successful. I like this playlist called ‘creativity boost’, it has a nice mixture of uplifting, happy and hoppy songs, with some artists which I had not heard until today. What would you put on your playlist? What does Creativity sound like to you?
My life in a museum? 30 days of biking sightseeing
architectural cycling sightseeing!
Day 27 of day 30, a day of cycling sightseeing combining art, architecture, digital photos and cycling. I went to see the Glasgow architectural masterpiece which is Scotland Street School. This is a wonderful and free tourist attraction, easily accessible from the city centre via cycle routes from Bells Bridge, and also subway (it is opposite Shields Road station). It is not your ordinary school, it was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and is fitted as a museum with class room s from various periods (Victorian to 1960’s).
There are wonderful architectural details, typical of Mackintosh, with nature inspired motifs, vibrant colours and Locharbriggs red sandstone.
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Experiments and reflections on digital media community exploration
As someone with a huge passion for exploring my local environment and digging into the history and architecture of an area, and ways of presenting this creatively I am rather taken by a project which I found on Twitter called “Walk My World”, the invention of William O’Byrne who is based in Newhaven, USA. The idea is that you carry out a journey, once a week, and then record and share that using various digital media tools (he suggests Twitter, Vine and Instagram and produces a handy guide for newcomers to these on his site). There’s still an opportunity to take part if you wish… join in!
I personally have not used Instagram much as until fairly recently I didn’t have a phone with a very good camera (it was quite a low resolution), preferring to play with my SLR, but since I got a new phone in November I have been playing with the many free and low cost apps which allow you to snap, shoot and share your view of the world. The Walk My World project seemed a good time to try out Instagram.. so I took a wander around Govanhill in Glasgow.
A wonderful multi-lingual community cafe, in an Evangelical church hall, which asks for only donations for breakfast:
Said free/ donation breakfast (which was lovely, as were all the people in the pop up cafe):
Library exhibition on wartime experiences:
The library history exhibition, including a little alcove devoted to R D Laing, an influential psychiatrist born in the area:
The many languages of Govanhill:
International peace garden:
Community baths (I had visited these at Doors Open Day before):
Wonderful tenements, a Glasgow architectural icon:
I discovered a lot about the area, even from this short walk! I had not created a video in Instagram before, and also played with the tagging and mapping functions. I know Instagram is not exactly “new news” but it is funny how sometimes we need a reason to play with new stuff. I also learnt that embedding Instagram posts in WordPress only needs the URL, not the embed code. I like to learn through play, and this sort of project is “right up my street”, thanks William!
I completely agree with the comment in William’s blog post that educators should create an online brand for themselves (thinking before they share), I am quite aware of my “digital footprint” and in some ways my background may appear somewhat diverse (town planning, conservation, education, creative media) but I am lucky enough to be able to combine all of these through the various strands of my professional work (on reflection, I am needing to revisit my own website to better represent this; although I was very happy with it when I created it at the time and I have gradually added content such as my “Are You Here” project exploring family history links and the environment of Bristol and Brighton, my professional practice has evolved to represent a variety of skills).
As well as undertaking freelance illustration and digital interpretation projects in arts and heritage, and volunteering my time for Planning Aid Scotland, in my other professional persona I am currently working as Educational Co-ordinator at the University of the West of Scotland, on the Digital Commonwealth project. This is a project which is designed to help marginalised communities (such as those who live in areas of socio-economic deprivation) develop digital media literacy skills using readily available technology and tools. The project is framed around the digital reporting of Queen’s Baton Relay for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, with projects based around the topics of people, place, culture and exchange. I have been really impressed with the creative results of the #walkmyworld project beginning to be shared on Twitter and it made me even more excited about the possible results of planned creative digital media projects which will take place as part of the Digital Commonwealth project!
Here are some of my favourite #Walkmyworld posts so far:
Vine poetry:
Happy Twitter dogs!
I think my rescued pups Watson and Tyson are ready to #walkmyworld with #ENGL3241! pic.twitter.com/tOMg7T5GJD
— Caitlyn Keller (@CatierayeK) January 13, 2014
More dogs (but Vine):
The wonders of Islay:
#islay#beauty#lifeisbeautiful#glen#loch#oa#scotland#walkmyworld#happy#nature#winter#island#lifepic.twitter.com/mJEHbfRlBE
— Emma Revie (@EmmaReviex) January 16, 2014
The fabulous benefits of creating enthusiastic online communities!
“@_mlsg: #walkmyworld the kids who I inspire, continue to push and inspire me. pic.twitter.com/A6qKmd0Giz” #eng152
— Molly Shields (@ShieldsMolly) January 18, 2014
Happy exploring, creating, learning and sharing!
The azure sea and beautiful white sands of the Outer Hebrides
Today’s unconventional advent calendar is a short in words but rich in imagery; in today’s rather dark and dreich weather I was thinking about the wonderful colours I saw on a happy trip to the Outer Hebrides. It was a kind birthday gift, and a rare treat to see the world from an entirely different perspective as we got to go on one of those tiny wee planes out to Benbecula. The weather was stunning, we flew over lochs and islands and felt very privileged indeed.
From a cultural planning perspective, I was considering the links between the islands and their shared heritage, but unique identity.
For other calendar entries, have a look at these posts.
In praise of free: December 17th unconventional advent calendar
Today’s unconventional advent calendar celebrates our cultural venues, formal and informal, and their place in the life of the community.
arts cafe venue break
I personally feel quite at home in arts venues but to some they can be alien spaces with an unwelcoming or elitist feel. Living in Glasgow, I am very lucky to have a huge range of free museums and galleries on my doorstep, so I do make an effort to see the wonderful range of free events which are on. I feel that free facilities and events are really important for people to be able to have the chance to see new cultural events and explore their area without the added barrier of cost. That can be one reason why I don’t tend to visit the theatre or cinema much, I have to really want to see something to justify spending money on seeing something which is not free! It is also why I love events like Doors Open Day, every September buildings are open for tours and events at no cost throughout Scotland (and Europe!).
Independent cafes and other small community halls or spaces can be really important in what makes the cultural map of a place work, where activities and get togethers are easy to organise and local groups or artists can sell or showcase their newest creations. It’s not free to have coffee, of course, but I’ve seen some great free events at local cafes.
Do you have a favourite free venue?
December 16th unconventional advent calendar
Today’s unconventional advent calendar celebrates archives and the release of over 1 million images owned by the British Library on Flickr.
I previously blogged about the Glasgow image I found, but there are literally millions to see, from all over the world! You can also add tags to any of the images yourself, and use the usual “favourite” tool in Flickr which will make it easier for you to re-find what you’re after again.
Some of my favourites are below, this time with a tourism and transportation theme… for cultural planners this is an amazing research resource.
![Image taken from page 233 of '[Our own country. Descriptive, historical, pictorial.]'](https://i0.wp.com/farm4.staticflickr.com/3669/11306724805_676b4fc010.jpg)
For previous unconventional advent calendar entries see this link.
British Library Flickr images
Image taken from page 595 of ‘Le Monde pittoresque et monumental. L’Angleterre, l’Écosse et l’Irlande … Cartes en couleur et … gravures’, a photo by The British Library on Flickr.
I have been browsing the new Flickr resources from the British Library, some wonderful things on there, including this great image of Trongate in Glasgow’s Merchant City.
Crenellated Arts 