Open Source Curating

It's about time that I dealt with the question of open source curating, and what this might be. Not only is the methodology of OS seeping into institutional discourse (see the debate at Positions in Flux), I'm increasingly aware of the 'unconventional' methods of curatorial research which I have undertaken for the Open Source Embroidery exhibition. I've also just started teaching on the MFA in Curating at Goldsmiths which is immersing me in diverse curatorial cultures and practices.

There are certain protocols which are ingrained in an unwritten ethics of curatorial practice which I professionally uphold, for example: don't show your own work in an exhibition you are curating; always view work in its real time and space (or the space/media in which it was made) before you show it. Then there are considerations of 'aesthetic standards', 'critical rigour' and 'conceptual integrity'. I use inverted commas here because these criteria are nebulous, hard to define, and often critiqued by art itself. I would probably refer to my process of preference (dare I say selection) as based on the critical relation between form and content, and the ability of the work to problematise the way meaning is constructed in the world. But in general curatorial selection seeks to maintain professional and critical standards. So what happens with open processes? Of course there is no such thing as pure openess - open exhibitions include a large amount of solicited works. Open Calls are sent to certain networks, even Linux was developed on a fairly centralised model. In open methodologies the principles of organisation are defined by the participants in the group. Whilst artist-run spaces have the ability to make such tactical manoeuvres, the institutional requirements of art galleries and museums require more strategic planning, or so they say. My curatorial role flirts with both tactical and strategic modes of operation, and the principles are set through dialogue and discussion with both artists and the exhibition team.

In Open Source Embroidery I break all the rules. I have included my own artwork in the exhibition, selected works recommended on the OSE email list, and am showing some works that I've never seen. Many artworks are by people who have taken part in workshops, and in most museums they would be relegated to the education spaces. But this is the whole point of the project, and rather than compromising the exhibition, the use of 'open source' to transgress the protocols of high culture is a delight. A delight that enables the ethical frameworks of creative practice to become transparent. The politics of the Everyday, the Personal, and of the methods of production and distribution are what is being investigated here. The materials are craft (mostly textiles and some plastic) and code (mostly HTML, some Processing, lots of pixels and some knit patterns). But I fall back to my fine art education and clearly state that I'm no programmer or knitter and I'm not in love with fabric or cables! It's true that I'm not interested in material or technological determinism, or the ambitions of 'fine craft' or even (for this moment in time) the completely horizontal artspace.

Open Source Embroidery is not an 'open' exhibition in the traditional sense. The exhibition has been researched and selected by me. However 'open-ness' did take place at the OSE workshops, and the exhibition will include artworks by people who got involved in the project and made interesting things work. Also curating is not a solitary process, like most jobs it involves working very closely with a team within the constraints of time, space and money. It's also probably accurate to say that the Open Source Embroidery exhibition is an outcome of a research process. It began with B+B back in 2005, when I started to embroider a scarf as a tool to discuss the politics of open source software with artists using open methods in socially engaged practice. My desire to make things to embody the complexity of social and technical language through a folk history of making and collective culture in both craft and coding led me to such an amazing range of artwork I felt that a curatorial response was appropriate.

The challenges of hanging the exhibition start next week. It's all about balancing the critical relationships between works in the exhibition so that people can find their own way through. The works need to have their own space, but also a complex set of juxtapositions without fixing meaning, or worse determining a narrative. Although there are common themes explored through the workshops. A key concern is to present pieces as current, and not static moments in time (always tricky in a museum), to keep the energy and dynamic aspects of process rather than being archival.

Here's Emma Ferguson on her fantastically beautiful stall in Brick Lane market. Emma is showing a selection of embroideries from the 'Expression of Femininity' series, and has made some embroidered tech jewellery for sale during the exhibtion.

Eclectic Tech Carnival comes to Umeå

Eclectic Tech Carnival (/ETC) in Umeå 8-12 June 2009

The Open Source Embroidery exhibition will welcome the Eclectic Tech Carnival during the first week of the exhibition at BildMuseet. On wednesday 10th June the /ETC will be invited to take part in SketchPatch processing, Running Stitch GPS walks, barcode scanning and bluetooth broadcasting. There will also be time to watch the fantastic documentary of Ada Lovelace, and her influence on the history of computing.

/ETC is a week long gathering for women interested in open source technology, art and grass root activism. It encourages women to share experiences and find new opportunities for international collaborations through the use of technology and art. /ETC is an 'on the road-event' held in a new place each year. It was started by the organisation Genderchangers that aims to break stereotypical roles related to technology and encourage and support women to use technology, art and networks as a tool for social change.

/ETC in Umeå is scheduled to take place during the first week of the Open Source Embroidery exhibition at BildMuseet, and will provide an opportunity to engage with the artworks and meet some of the artists.

Flash Company Worker Stitcher

Matt Cowan invited me to embroider a handkerchief for his exhibition at the English Dance and Folk Song Society at Cecil Sharp House in London (opens April 29th). I carried the envelope with the music to the song 'Flash Company' round in my pocket for several months, waiting for an opportune moment to arise.

So when I heard about the Umeå Folk Festival in February - I had to go along with a needle and thread in my bag. On the first day I met up with my friend Phil and lost my ASCII green thread in the bar, so not much sewing took place. But I went back another night and met up with Magnus and Linda, still searching for inspiration for my stitches.

Then the amazing Nano Stern took the stage. On arriving in Sweden Nano was intrigued to hear a children’s song familiar to him from Chile. Nano sang his own version of the song, starting with the original character of the spider, but translating the work of the spider into the idea of a worker, and the spinning of thread into knitting. Weaving together the threads of webs, workers and making, Nano’s passionate song struck a chord with my project. I took out my needle and thread and started stitching in the dark. The picture above shows Folkoholics intense combination of Nano Stern and Matija Solce in the full infectious energy of their song. They certainly blew away the cobwebs from my memories of folk (sitting on a hay bale drinking cider in Cornwall) and brought the whole room into the present with Czech-Chilean humour.

To keep my tradition of html stitching, with a nod to the folk culture of the net, I added www.folkwiki.se embroidered across the bottom of the handkerchief.

Circles of Participation

This weekend I'm preparing my 'short course' for HUMlab, entitled Net Art and Craft (or Circles of Participation). So rather than spending this glorious sunny afternoon walking by the river and visiting the art school exhibitions I am chewing over the connections between what we might call classic net art, and what might equally be called classic craft. But of course, we have moved beyond the classic modes of craft and net art. The overlaps between these established modes of operation have paved the way for an explosion in super-hip, gender encompassing, flexible circles of participation in which anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of pixels, sewing basket and bandwidth can take part.

These days ask young people what they think of participation on the web and they will tell you of the typical web2 sites, secondlife and the massive online gaming environments. But how many people think of the basic graphics and clunky interfaces of net art as innovative spaces for online creative participation? It's true that without the advertising friendly slickness of gender stereotyped avatars, we may feel a bit lost. But, I'm always more intrigued by the things people build in their sheds. Reliant on my own choices, and a more individual relationship with the intentions of the artist and the possibilities and restrictions of the programme, I am more inclined to try and find out how the art website works, rather than my natural desire to find the edges of the commercial programme, and try and break it.

One of my favourite pieces is Glyphiti by Andy Deck. I first came across this at Furtherfield's HTTP Gallery in London, where I became instantly hooked. Andy Deck has also created Screening Circle, which "adapts the cultural tradition of the quilting circle into online format" as described on the http://artport.whitney.org

Andy's work has the feeling that if you know a bit of programming, and you put your mind to it - you could do this too... if you wanted too. His work is an example of how people can be creative on the net without subscribing to a media giant. But what's really exciting about the web2.0 is its raised the stakes in user-friendlyness, and taught a large section of the population that the web is a space to participate and not just consume. In 2009 artists are creating websites and spaces which have the open principles of the net art generation, with the participatory dexterity of web2.0. The Open Source Embroidery exhibition anticipates this moment, tracing histories and presenting practices which make Net Art and Craft a potent combination for a sustainable culture.

So now to prepare the course!