Snout aims to create conversations about the health of our local communities and environments through physical interventions in public space, and by the collection, collation and aggregation of data – environmental, statistical, social & cultural – about the places we inhabit. By exploring the human and natural ecologies of the world around us we become aware of our own impact on our environment. Picturing what we know, and discussing it with others offers an opportunity to change what we do, why we do it and what kind of future we wish to grow into.
Snout uses the theme of carnival and two specific characters, Mr Punch and the Plague Doctor, to suggest fun and engaging ways to collect data about the environment (through sensors in the costumes) and to start conversations with friends, neighbours and other people around us as part of popular events and festivals.
The Snout costumes are instrumented with four sensors (Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Benzene & Noise) and LED displays. Snout proposes ‘participatory sensing’ as a lively addition to the popular artform of carnival costume design, engaging the community in an investigation of its own environment, something usually done by local authorities and state agencies.
Scavenging – a recipe for public authoring
To enable online conversations as a pivot for wider community engagement, Proboscis is developing a scavenged web interface using free mapping and sharing technologies. Through this kind of guerilla public authoring communities can gather and visualise local environmental evidence, which can then become the basis for participating in or initiating local action. Snout is a model for social and cultural action that could be adopted by schools, carnival clubs or other community groups.
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Venue: Cargo, 83 Rivington St, Kingsland Viaduct, London, EC2A 3AY
The performance will start at Cargo and the route will include Hoxton
Square and Hoxton Market
Dates/Times: Tuesday 10 April, Performance 10am, Conference 1.30-5pm.
Tube: Old St, Liverpool St
Admission: Free, but booking is essential (via inIVA)
Access: Limited, please call in advance for details
Information: +44 (0)20 7729 9616, www.iniva.org, institute@iniva.org
Supported by Arts Council England & Esmée Fairbairn
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We recently spent several weeks in Australia participating in dLux Media Arts' Coding Cultures project. They have just published the Coding Cultures Handbook (edited by Francesca da Rimini) which is available as a PDF to download for free from dLux.
The Coding Cultures handbook features six invited writers and groups from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, England, Italy and Hong Kong who share their experiences of building imaginative digital tools, social networks, open labs and internet-based knowledge platforms for communication and creativity.Andrew Lowenthal (Aus) introduces an exciting free video sharing website, EngageMedia, built as an alternative to increasingly regulated commercial platforms. Furtherfield.org (UK) develop flexible and fun software tools to “Do It With Others”, participatory media tools for realtime image jams and performances over the internet. Leandro Fossá (Brazil) shares his enthusiasm for the groundbreaking “Pontos de Cultura”, or Digital Hotspots, 100s of free community-based multimedia centres to enable all Brazilians to access their rights to “digital citizenship”.
Complementing these commissioned texts are be contributions from the Coding Cultures Symposium speakers including internationally renowned artists Giles Lane and Alice Angus from Proboscis (UK) and Mervin Jarman and Camille Turner from the Container Project (Jamaica/Canada).
A 'carnival' performance and public forum
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Venue: Cargo, 83 Rivington St, Kingsland Viaduct, London, EC2A 3AY
The performance will start at Cargo and the route will include Hoxton
Square and Hoxton Market
Dates/Times: Tuesday 10 April, Performance 10am, Conference 1.30-5pm.
Tube: Old St, Liverpool St
Admission: Free
Access: Limited, please call in advance for details
Information: +44 (0)20 7729 9616, www.iniva.org, institute@iniva.org
Supported by Arts Council England & Esmée Fairbairn
Download the eFlyer
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With increasing concerns about climate change, individuals and communities are looking for new ways to take action and make a real and lasting impact.
In the Snout 'carnival' performance and public forum, artists, producers, performers and computer programmers demonstrate how to create wearable technologies from scavenged media, in order to map the invisible gases that affect our everyday environment. The project by inIVA, Proboscis and researchers from Birkbeck College also explores how communities can use this visual evidence to participate in or initiate local action.
The performance will show in action two prototype Snout sensor 'wearables' based on traditional carnival costumes. Carnival is a time of suspension of the normal activities of everyday life – a time when the fool becomes king for a day, when social hierarchies are inverted, a time when everyone is equal. Snout proposes 'participatory sensing' as a lively addition to the popular artform of carnival costume design, engaging the community in an investigation of its own environment, something usually done by local authorities and state agencies.
A public forum on 'participatory sensing and media scavenging' will be held after the performance. This will demonstrate the Snout wearables, discuss evidence collecting for environmental action and how communities can reflect on the personal impact of pollution and the environment. The forum, led by Giles Lane (Proboscis) and Dr George Roussos (Birkbeck) will look at 'participatory sensing' as a form of social engagement. The forum will share tactics on how to 'scavenge' free online services and resources, as well as exploring the relationship between information, aesthetics and design and how to make these ideas and issues accessible to more people.
Snout is a new collaboration between inIVA, Proboscis and researchers from Birkbeck College exploring relationships between the body, community and the environment. It builds on a previous collaboration Feral Robots (with Natalie Jeremijenko) to investigate how data can be collected from environmental sensors as part of popular social and cultural activities.