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#IWD2016

heading for International Womans Day

Happy International Women’s Day!

Since moving to rural Ireland, I don’t celebrate International Women’s Day, like I used to. In the cities, there is always some fantastic event or party being organised. but , here in a small town in rural Ireland, its a day like any other. I have been following with great interest, the rise of feminism in Ireland, there are currently several womens rights campaigns going on in Ireland, from #WakingtheFeminists to #Repealthe8th, which I follow on social media with great interest.

For my part, I decided to practise my new GIF skills. I love History.  I was always fascinated, but failed to achieve much, academically, not having a thing for numbers. In other words, I never remembered dates. I’m currently research ways to use tools such as GIF making, for educational purposes, and I love some of the history GIFs that are coming out.

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Gif-ification

A little Gif about gifs

It is hard to be on social media at the moment without coming across GIFs. But what is a GIF, how has it come to be a widely used format for amateur and professional alike? A GIF is a form of computer image that moves as an animation, because it consists of frames, like a movie with no sound.

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Questions Concerning Heidegger

Image of 2 vintage brain maps on heads

I have spent the last few weeks, mentally stuck. Unable to move on, forward, backward, or any direction. Why? Heidegger.

Martin Heidegger, was a German philosopher and a seminal thinker. According to the Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, he is “widely acknowledged to be one of the most original and important philosophers of the 20th century.“1 His philosophy, in particular, his post-war writings reminds me of J. R. R. Tolkein, whose seminal fantasy works The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkein too, lamented the decline of the rural peasant, and the overpowering, dominating aspects of technology on the human soul and the landscape.

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The Migration of the Aura

Le Nozza di Cana painting

Di Paolo Veronese – [1], Pubblico dominio, Wiki Commons

The Migration of the Aura – or How to Explore the Original Through Its Facsimiles

Bruno Latour argues that the in light of such sophisticated technologies of reproduction, that the aura of an artwork is no longer fixed and confined to the original. Instead it has the potential to migrate beyond the original. Discussing the Factum Arte facsimile project, a digital reproduction of Le Nozze di Cana, a painting by Paulo Veronese, 1573, which was painstakingly created for a special occasion. On 11 September 2007, the 210th anniversary of the looting of the painting by Napoleon’s troops, a facsimile of the original was hung in its original place in the Palladian Refectory.1

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The Maker Movement in a Rural Context.

Blurred image of a hand with word Make

The Maker Movement is a world wide movement, of Hacktavists, Craftivists and Activists, who come together in an informal setting, a Maker Space, either virtually and in reality, to create. Unused, discarded or broken electronic, plastic, silicon, thread or any raw material and/or product, is reused, assembled and re-made. Associated with urban movements, future research will show that the possibility of setting up a community of practice in the form of a Makers Space in a rural setting, can provide rural communities with new and exciting technological opportunities.

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“If everything is a network, nothing is a network”

abstract image of network

I was researching open source and advocacy when I came across an interesting blog post about networks on the Visualising Information for Advocacy website. Written by Mushon Zer-Aviv, just a few weeks ago, it is a discussion exploring our concept of networks, and how the current trends in the visualisation of networks are missing important factors, such as flow, narrative and directionality.

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Critique: New York Public Library

graphic with text of new york public library digital collection

The New York Public Library has just released a Mecca for graphic designers, artists, researchers, designers, digital artists, fabric printers, scrapbookers, students, visual browsers and many, many, more.. The no holds barred online publication of over 180,000 digitized public domain images, that include manuscripts, maps, photographs, sheet music, lithographs, postcards, etc.

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Review: Database, Data Stream and Timeline: forms of social media

image of a light digital stream

[Source: Digital Wallpaper www.7themes.com]

Reading Data-stream, Database, Timeline: the forms of social media by Lev Manovich, it struck me how little I know about the organisation and methodology of social media interfaces. We have become so accustomed to either not having to think about it, or a style of certain social networks, that the digital mechanics of what goes on behind the screen are invisible. Formulating critical descriptions, assessing cultural implications and re-adjusting according to the constant changes in technology,  is what Lee Manovich, Director of the Software Studies Initiative is analysing.

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Video Essay

The second part of the Editing Skills module (read about part 1 here)

MADC Visual Essay from stitchlily on Vimeo.

In my video essay, I am exploring my role as I unconsciously edit in my arts practice, and edit my community practise. I am very interested in the process, the difference between arts practice, and other work. The experience of editing a Wikipedia page, has made me not just appreciate but be excited by the concept of open participatory projects.

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