easa010 Final Report
Section Four: Output
Section Four: Output
Introduction This section of the Final Report focuses on the output of the assembly, it is the place to find the glossy photos of the workshops and such like. Output is a broad umbrella, so this section includes workshop reviews - again the angle of the chapter is their operation and lessons organisers can learn. The section also covers easaDAY, a mostly photo review of the different elements of the final day of easa010, as well as a chapter on Legacy, everything from this report to the future of easaHQ. [cma]
page 354
easa010 Final Report
page 355
Section Four: Output
Chapter 1 - Workshops Considered by many to be the cornerstone of he summer assembly the workshops were given a level of protection that no other aspect of easa010 enjoyed, an engaging experience and successful output for the workshops was the central focus of the organising effort. The urban environment of the assembly gave an unusual opportunity for workshops to explore a variety of different locations, build spaces, experiences with the added incentive that the results would be part of a city wide exhibition, meaning genuine engagement with residents - if they wanted. This chapter of the Final Report is all about the The application forms from selected workshops, and is far to short to do them the workshops are included in Section Five. the individual justice the tutors and participants so richly deserve, so much so that we are putting together a separate publication that will cover the workshops in much greater detail - more information in our chapter on legacy. In this chapter we will look briefly at the workshops that made up easa010, and talking about their key talking points - output, working style, reasons for being chosen, and so on. [cma]
page 356
easa010 Final Report
page 357
Section Four: Output
DATASCAPES
Understanding and exposing the digital and electronic analogues of the urban environment In their words <<<<<< ‘Datascapes’ is the newest addition to the EASA roster, and Manchester is an ideal city to explore it in. Building on the parallels between digital and constructed architecture, of parallel digital landscapes cohabiting and grounded in the built environment, the Datascapes workshop aimed to achieve several things: •
To explore the new thinking around this area TUTORS • To learn the language of digital networks, Vik Kaushal (chairTV, http://chairtv.com ) & Dave particularly social, geolocative and signal-related Mee (TANDOT, http://tandot. co.uk & MadLab http:// terminology madlab.org.uk ) • To learn strategies to identify and acquire data and metrics from the electronic realm •
To visualise and export meaningful information from these data sets
•
To develop skills with tools to visualise and explore captured data
We looked at a number of preexisting works exploring digital space and means of reinterpreting them. Christian Nold’s Emotional Cartographies provided one way to capture digital data to reinterpret the map. Other approaches reimagine the underlying topology of the map to reflect the flow of data and traffic over time, such as Alan Mislove’s Mood Of The Nation project. The first few days were exploratory in nature, as we looked for the electronic layers of the urban environment. We used the practice of ‘warwalking’ and copies of iStumbler(1) to analyse the networks and device population of the city; from geolocating the densities of WiFi networks to counting the numbers of Bluetooth devices in space, we looked at what understanding we could derive based around simple strolls around the city. We looked at other aspects
page 358
easa010 Final Report
of the data capturing layers of the city - CCTV, traffic monitoring, weather stations - which do not grant public access or identify the destination of their output, despite their presence in the public realm. Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the particular British obsession with unfettered CCTV or an increased awareness of the presence of data in space, participants seemed genuinely surprised at the volume of monitoring, broadcasting and invisible digital and spectrum traffic pervading the city. A key aim of the programme was to inculcate the digital as a frame for understanding, and to develop some programming ability to realise outputs and support mediation. The approach was to break the core group up into smaller project groups, each of which would develop their own projects around the themes of the broader programme. We explored a number of ideas; one proposal was to map spaces not covered by surveillance, to another of monitoring the linguistic flow of EASA. In the end, we settled on two projects, one to redraw the map of the city based on real-time twitter activity, and another to create a reactive installation reflecting human traffic through sound and projection. The second week saw production begin in earnest. Processing(2) had been chosen as our platform of choice; it is cross-platform, easy to pick up and forgiving in operation, but critically with the support of a large network of modules and functionality contributed by other users to support more complex operations. Tweetstream(3) and jMyron(4) both allowed us to focus on the tasks, rather than the implementation details. The TwitFlickScapes project developed to explore multiple cities, quantising geolocated messages to a grid and displaying relevant photographs from flickr to create an emergent patchwork of images reflecting other places and their flow in a new visual manner. The Umbrelladisco project created a playful environment where visitors were sheltered from the (constant) rain of Manchester with virtual umbrellas as they walked through the stage of the running project.
page 359
Section Four: Output
Both teams performed exceptionally, to have created interactive and responsive works in such a short space of time - from conceptualisation to not only implementation, but mastery of tools and languages needed to realise their visions. As ever, the most interesting lessons are the unexpected ones; that twitter geolocation is mostly adopted in US cities, and that those cities are operating to a different time zone than the one the project was running in lead to some misleading results, but ultimately a fascinating sense of being in another time and place. As ever with computer vision, that finding new things was always easier than recognising existing things placed a few caps on the range of response available. Ultimately, participants got a better idea of how programmatic approaches to data could allow a unique experience and output aesthetic to emerge, and developed the skills to embrace and adopt these approaches. As a tutor on the project, I extend my thanks to the participants and the insights they shared with me about their own practices and ideas, and the fresh eyes they let me see my own work and environment through. (1) http://www.istumbler.net/ (2) http://processing.org/ (3) http://mccv.github.com/processing-tweet-stream/ (4) http://webcamxtra.sourceforge.net/ [dme]
Being honest this workshop had one of the most interesting introductions/ presentations of the assembly however I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t actually understand this workshop once it started going, which may be down to me not actually having time taking it all in. However at the end of the assembly I had some time to investigate and ask question and the concept seemed really interesting, and I suppose that it highlighted, through having to target New York, that Manchester just was that â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;sociallyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; connected via the internet. [mla]
page 360
easa010 Final Report
Above: Screen shot 2010-1009 at 16.36.27 Below: Screen shot 2010-1009 at 17.01.58
page 361
Section Four: Output
Identityscapes
Seeing the amount of effort that was put into this workshop I was really impressed and surprised with the outcome. The surprise again came from not being able to see the working product so therefore being unaware of what the outcome would be. From what I saw the editing and the production were impressive and you could see the effort put in from the outcome. [mla]
Below: Work in progress Opposite page Above: Hard at work in Mad Lab Below: Screen shot
page 362
easa010 Final Report
Tutors: Jose Mayoral Moratilla Rodrigo Castro Pe単alva
page 363
Section Four: Output
easaTV
This was the first year that easaTV was a separate workshop to Umbrella. I feel that this could really work as an idea, and due to the nature of the workshop there will certain aspects that will always be hit and miss in terms of audience. There was a little bit of humour in it for everyone and it reminds easaians of the dialogue, be it humourous, that makes EASA work. The ability to tap into people and what they are thinking is a good thing and the fact that its not printed means it can also be a bit more risque, as it is not so permanent, however it just needs a year or so more to get comfortable and really find its feet. [mla]
Tutor: Andreas Nordstrรถm
page 364
easa010 Final Report
Umbrella
As a workshop I felt Umbrella worked very well together this year, they seemed organised in their approach and passionate about what they were doing. They were very good at keeping to their deadlines and more copies than previous years. It was always good to see how much participants anticipated the release for the day. One very small note of improvement would be in the proof reading of the copy, which generally was really good but at times could have been better. [mla]
Tutors: Giulia Nardi Jeanne WĂŠry
page 365
Section Four: Output
Fedentity
This workshop probably surprised me the most in terms of outcome as it produced things that I and I think not many other people were expecting at all. Their brief seemed interesting but at the beginning gave the impression of a totally different outcome, with the idea that they would be more of traditional or predictable relation to architecture in terms of reacting to the facade or form. However this wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the case and gives credit to their overall investigation. The scale and form of their work sat nicely in the settings of Downtex and which definitely contributed to the aesthetic. [mla]
Tutor: Iryna Bulunenka
page 366
easa010 Final Report
page 367
Section Four: Output
Artificial Identity Artificial Identity would be the ideal subject for a case study into the benefits of having a super well prepared set of tutors. Due to the preparation done before their arrival in Manchester the workshop was able to carry out the construction part of the workshop early in the first week and therefore had free reign of the tools and the workshop. A credit has to go to the tutors for the inspiring way they spoke to the participants in their workshop following the issues surrounding the middle weekend, demonstrating the role tutors have in creating a great event for all. [cma] Tutors: Inger Marit Skorstad Rune Madsen Ji Soo Han
page 368
easa010 Final Report
page 369
Section Four: Output
Aural Mapping Manchester Based on an investigation into the sounds of Manchester, A.M.M. were an easy choice for the organisers as they had a pedigree of delivering large public accessible EASA pavilions. My person high with this workshop came when I managed to secure 4 high grade sound recorders half way through the first week - having thought they were bringing their own. The low points were when I had to discuss limitations to their vision due to the permissions for the siting - no power source on site apart from a generator, and the pavilion needed to go up and come down in 12 hours. The boys were so enthusiastic, it was like kicking a puppy, all I could do was sympathise as my workshop, Kraftka, had the same issues in 2008 Over all A.M.M. was an impressive triumph [cma]
page 370
Tutors: Emmet Kenny Donnchadha Gallagher Paul Flynn
easa010 Final Report
page 371
Section Four: Output
Canalizing Canalizing was an unassuming workshop and in comparison to the built output workshops it would be easy to underestimate it, but for me it typified the importance and contribution that theoretical workshops can have and their vital importance to the EASA experience. I also feel the output - a giant model of the River Irwell - was stunning and added enormously to the easaDAY exhibition. [cma]
Tutors: Luis Palacios Sergi Romero
page 372
easa010 Final Report
page 373
Section Four: Output
Communicating Cities Communicating Cities was a good example of bending the rules once in a while. Having spent hours deciding which workshops would be part of easa010 we had one slot left and a split decision over this proposal, some people wanted it, and some - ironically - didn’t understand the application, at all. So we reached a compromise of asking the tutors for more information before making the decision. It’s worth pointing out that if we’d decided not to take this workshop we would have had one less, we didn’t choose it in the place of another, so no one missed out by the rule bending. I’m glad we did ask for more information and were satisfied as the workshop did a great job, they were especially good at handling the task of construction away from site and completion on easaDAY. [cma] Tutors: Luke Gleeson Simon Harrington
page 374
easa010 Final Report
page 375
Section Four: Output
Docu + Mation Docu + Mation was a workshop put together by the organisers and despite the ups and downs I believe it goes down as one of our better ideas. The workshop was inspired by the 2008 EASA photo competition, the competition meant that the organisers had a wealth of photographs to use in their output documents, but we wanted to take it a step further. The workshop was opened up as a competition after the application deadline had passed, the idea was that winners of the competition would be part of this workshop only, that the workshop would start before the assembly and be the last one going at the end. The name for the workshop came from a contraction of documentation and information, the remit of the workshop was to both document the assembly but also gather information from the hard drives of all workshops, meaning the organisers ended with a total of 363 GB of photos and videos - around 50,000 photos. The workshop photographed every aspect of the assembly every day, but they also filmed every lecture, allowing us to put together an archive web site as part of the legacy work. The success of the workshop was in the photographing work when it focused on workshops and events, though some participants returned only photos of parties, and we totally lacked photographs of people working â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;behind the scenesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; or the middle weekend move. Another success was the dutiful way each and every lecture was recorded. [cma]
page 376
easa010 Final Report
page 377
Section Four: Output
Environmental Response The discussion to select this workshop was not a short one.
This issues
that came up was the relevance of the workshops to architecture and the viability for the workshop to deliver a successful output, as well as our ability as organisers to support the workshop in these aims. In the end though the workshop justified the faith put in it with a splendidly varied output of small projects [cma]
Tutors: Stig Anton Nielsen David Engell Jessen
page 378
easa010 Final Report
page 379
Section Four: Output
Flex Space If I had only one word to describe both the workshop, the output and the tutors, it would be Delightful. The decision to choose this workshop was fairly straight forward mostly because the tutors included examples of what they hoped to achieve, and the simplicity of their requirements. The output fit excellently into the fabric of the exhibition space and it was a crying shame for it to be removed. [cma]
Tutors: Anne Katrine Røien Pernille Siggaard
page 380
easa010 Final Report
page 381
Section Four: Output
House of Everyone This workshop faced the most problems of all the selected workshops, and the problems were routed in a certain amount of naïveté on the part of the organisers in selecting the workshop in the terms of the application. The application called for a public space in which they could work and leave the products they collected and built during the weeks. We felt we would be able to compromise the type of space but unfortunately the tutors were quite set on their initial vision. In the end no compromise was found and the workshop went ahead with the much reduced remit of producing furniture from salvaged material. Salvage workshops are a staple of EASA and when viewed from this aspect HoE was a success. In general the workshops is evidence that despite everyone’s hard work things might not work out as planned, and compromise is unavailable [cma]
page 382
Tutors: Alvaro Leon Rivas Blanca Dominguez Jesús Díaz Osuna
easa010 Final Report
page 383
Section Four: Output
Hunter Diaries With this workshop we as organisers nearly bit off more than we could chew. The workshop application asked for 15 bikes, and though this was a tall order there was a desire in the team to have the workshop on board. As it turned out we were only able to get hold of around 6 bikes, but the tutors were flexible enough to work around this. The one disappointment from an organising point of view was we had arranged a space for the output of the work to be exhibited for a month following the assembly, but no provision was made for this and the majority of participants in the workshop took their work home leaving nothing to be displayed. [cma]
Tutors: Boris Stanic Jasna Cizler Marko Salapura
page 384
easa010 Final Report
page 385
Section Four: Output
InterACT A great example of the experimentalism that can come with an EASA workshop. Lead by three tutors the workshop investigated public spaces and how they were used for public performance, they then built mobile pieces to improve the locations, all the while creating and rehearsing a performance to go along with the work. I was delighted to secure some of the busiest and best places for the performance, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only a shame that for this document there are no photos available! [cma]
Tutors: Cecily Quetin - Weeks Helen Rose Condon Ruth Hynes
page 386
easa010 Final Report
page 387
Section Four: Output
Picture ID After debuting in Italy with â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Photoshopingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, a quick change of name and the workshop was shoe horned into fitting the polar opposite theme of the following EASA. Picture ID had to be fairly robust as a workshop as they were the most affected workshop as a result of the move - their darkroom had to be dismantled and a new location hastily found. [cma]
Tutors: Christine Boss-Mortensen Frederick Beckett-Nilsson Mikkel Nielsen
page 388
easa010 Final Report
page 389
Section Four: Output
POP-UP shop The shop goes down as an unmitigated failure for easa010. As organisers we had planned on a new approach to the shop, instead of mass produced shirts in place before the assembly, a pop-up shop would act on the lines of a day workshop, allowing participants to make their own shirt to be sold with other items for the benefit of easa010 budget. We weer approached prior to the assembly by a participant willing, coincidently, to run the shop in much the same manner as we had planned. As our philosophy was to get as much interaction in the assembly as possible we decided to hand the shop over, offering as much support as was needed. Unfortunately somewhere along the line nothing materialised and it came to quite stern conversations toward the end of the second week and a direct intervention on the part of the organising team before any T-shirts were produced. The chaotic planning of the T-shirt production and sale lead to the shop producing nothing in terms of income for the assembly. I would suggest that this approach to the shop could be investigated again as it would surly offer a more involved feeling to the assembly in the participants, and perhaps it was unfortunate the way it turned out in Manchester. [cma]
page 390
easa010 Final Report
page 391
Section Four: Output
Small Interventions Small interventions is somewhat a staple of EASA, having been a workshop in the last 8 assemblies. There was quite a lot of discussion regarding Small Interventions in the decision making process for the workshop selection. The opinion of the organisers is it is an ideal workshop for EASA, but with its selection each year there is a feeling other tutors can’t make similar proposals. It is a real shame, it’s not our opinion Small Interventions shouldn’t get selected, but it is our opinion that EASA could cope with two workshops of similar type. This year Small Interventions faced a bigger threat to its selection - we didn’t know I we could do it justice in the type of EASA we were arranging. Our problem was with gaining permission for the pieces and covering them in our insurance without limiting the options of the workshop. [cma]
page 392
Tutors: Arvid Wölfel Malte Wittenberg
easa010 Final Report
page 393
Section Four: Output
Syn-Tactics The perfect workshop. A bold statement, and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get me wrong I loved all the workshops at easa010, but Syn-Tactics had it all. A good clear application form, good tutors who werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t demanding and worked with us to get things right, a great set of participants who turned up and got the work done, a good working process that just got on with it and a great output that will be around for years to come. In selecting the workshop we had no idea where to locate it and were considering easaHQ for a long time, until we were able to use the inclusion of the workshop as a bartering piece when negotiating the use of Hope Mill. [cma] Tutors: Leanne Martin Wendy Adams
page 394
easa010 Final Report
page 395
Section Four: Output
The Exploding Synesthetic Inevitable TESI was an experience for the organisers in feeling like the bad guys. TESI was selected as a workshop after exhaustive conversation, half the group felt that we would have to limit the vision of the tutors too much in order to have an output, the other half felt that the limitation would not be a problem. In the end we were all glad we selected the workshop, but the discussions about having to limit the mobility of the object as well as not being able to supply all the equipment all the time due to excessive cost exemplify the bad side of organising - none of us want to say no, but sometimes its the only way to make progress. [cma]
Tutors: Javier Guerra Lucia Rodriguez Ricardo Paternia
page 396
easa010 Final Report
something tangental goes in this box text text text text text text text text text text text text text text
page 397
Section Four: Output
Competition We had always wanted to have a built competition output as part of EASA but we were very wary about the cost of them at previous EASAs and the chance it would have a negative effect on the budget of other workshops. The opportunity to include the competition came up naturally as Paul and I discussed the use of Hope Mill for the built workshops, instead of paying rent for the space EASA made an agreement with the owner to run an international competition for a design for another floor of artist spaces. In fact the building of the competition was in doubt right until the last minute when we secured sponsorship of materials from British Gypsum that allowed construction to take place. [cma]
page 398
Tutors: Alison Katri Christina Kontana Christina Tsakiri Tonia Papanikolaou
easa010 Final Report
page 399
Section Four: Output
Walking Through Walls WTW was a challenge. The workshop required access to clear spaces to gather footage for the project, but despite finding around a dozen spaces through the city the tutors remained unwilling to consider buildings other than they identified on their travels through the city placing a huge burden on the team to get hold of the spaces. The sign of a good team though is to find triumph amidst disaster. WTW were the only workshop to benefit from the move of accommodation out of Downtex, as they now had thousands of square feet of abandoned building to work with - if only we’d planned it that way! [cma]
Tutors: Bence Pasztor Roland Dániel Németh
page 400
easa010 Final Report
page 401
Section Four: Output
Who is Joe Bloggs? No one new quite what to expect from Joe Bloggs, not even the tutors. It was a simple choice to be accepted, it was free and it was completely theoretical and there werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t too many applications that were either. Joe Bloggs was an interesting workshop for the organisers as it showed the capability of EASA workshops to plug into larger, real world, investigations, should the desire be there. In the end Joe Bloggs was a success due to the earnestness of the tutors. [cma]
Tutors: Patrick Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor Sam Patterson
page 402
easa010 Final Report
page 403
Section Four: Output
Wo!Manchester No workshop had more time invested in it by the organisers than Wo!Manchester. The workshop was always seen as having huge potential, and time was invested in helping put the proposal together - an option open to all potential applicants but not always taken. We also looked for talent for lectures, but this proved impossible due to being the holiday season. One criticism would be the hyperactive and sometimes schizophrenic nature of the workshop, it changed on such a regular basis that it was impossible to pin down and as such at one time or another had four different organisers as itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s liaison. The workshop delivered in the end, but perhaps a firmer hand in guiding tutors should have been shown by the organisers. [cma]
page 404
Tutors: Olivera Lazarevic Yvonne Michel
easa010 Final Report
page 405
Section Four: Output
Chapter 2 - easaDAY 15th August 2010 Manchester city center, the culmination of 2 years and 9 months work by the organising team, of months of planning by tutors, of two weeks graft by participants, made possible by kind and supportive members of the council, funded by forward thinking individuals in expansively minded institutions and companies. The day when 427 students of architecture from 43 countries around Europe and 5 from further than that showed what this current young generation of creatively minded students is capable of, even in the face of significant disruption and discomfort. It was the day the Pinocchio easa010 became a real boy. With little in the way of text, the next few pages are dedicated to the photography of the final Saturday of EASA Manchester. [cma]
page 406
easa010 Final Report
page 407
Section Four: Output
Public Space
page 408
easa010 Final Report
page 409
Section Four: Output
page 410
easa010 Final Report
page 411
Section Four: Output
Hope Mill
page 412
easa010 Final Report
page 413
Section Four: Output
page 414
easa010 Final Report
page 415
Section Four: Output
The HIVE
page 416
easa010 Final Report
page 417
Section Four: Output
page 418
easa010 Final Report
page 419
Section Four: Output
Downtex
page 420
easa010 Final Report
page 421
Section Four: Output
Victoria Baths
page 422
easa010 Final Report
page 423
Section Four: Output
page 424
easa010 Final Report
page 425
Section Four: Output
Final Party
page 426
easa010 Final Report
page 427
Section Four: Output
Chapter 3 - Legacy Legacy, its a huge word, one that can be manipulated to make any action sound good, not only good, but timeless. Legacy was one of the pillars of our bid, but what does that mean? What was our aim? Did we achieve it? How tell me how?! For much the same reason we looked at ways to improve integration we felt that EASA has power to engage and leave an impact. This impact could be felt by the location, by people, or by the network itself. A lot of the legacy of easa010 was intended to be on the network itself - leave the network stronger than we found it - and this document is part of that, as will be the discussions at INCM. Of course all assemblies are discussed in the following INCM, but our goal, as can be seen in the introduction and reviews of each section, was to stimulate even provoke certain subjects. We will take the presentation to the network just a seriously at the end as we did when we bid. Within the UK EASA network the potential for a significant legacy was huge. As discussed in Section One, the UK team has not been the strongest for the last decade, but the decade ended with us hosting the summer assembly. The conference organised as part of the build up and fund-raising is hoped to be the first step to the formation of the ASA or similar, a move towards the UK Winter Schools of old that spawned EASA. For Manchester too there was huge potential to leave a lasting impression. Part of this potential came from the nature of Manchester and its inhabitants, and the fertile nature of their imagination. Hope Mill now has two physical manifestations of this with SynTactics and the competition, both of which will affect the daily lives of dozens of artists in the city.
page 428
easa010 Final Report
The effect of easa010 will also be felt for years to come in the art community through the work that easaHQ has already done in giving more than a hundred artists their first taste of exhibiting and in some cases curating. As this report is going to press easaUK2010 have reached a deal with ASK for the building to pass from us to Blank Media Collective, so the good work can continue. To cement this long term impact we are working on two further publications, one covering the life and exhibitions of easaHQ, the other covering easa010 from the angle of hundreds of students gathering in the former mills of a northern industrial town during yet another economic down turn and discussing the issue of identity, these two books will hold for prosperity the attitude of EASA to get students together to make the best of things. We are also producing an archive web site to accompany the two books and this Report that will contain photographs, but also videos of the lectures of easa010. [cma]
page 429