If I were to create an interactive digital exhibition I would call it “Slipping Through The Cracks” and it  would be about me, technophonbia and adaptation. Don’t get me wrong. I love technology but somehow I always ended up getting by with a paper and pen instead of a keyboard and code.  As my interest in technology grows, I see what’s out there and I see there is so much possibility.  The number of people working on interesting projects combining art, video, technology and gadgetry continues to grow.

Thanks to the good folks over at EYEBEAM, I can get a look at what some of these artists are working on this weekend. Maybe I can even have them explain things to me really really slowly.

EYEBEAM OPEN STUDIOS

Date: Fri., October 23 + Sat., October 24, 2009 | 3–6PM
Location: Eyebeam, 540 W. 21s

Eyebam is pleased to host Open Studios for its 2009 Senior Fellows, Resident Artists, and Student Residents at Eyebeam’s state-of-the-art design, research, and fabrication studio; showcasing video performance, wearable technologies, code and humor, party technology, and sustainablity design. This two-day presentation at Eyebeam Art + Technology Center will allow a rare, inside look at current research. Guided tours of artists’ work will be given every hour from 3–6PM.

I just got word that passes are now available for this year’s New York Television Festival which goes on on September 21-26th 2009.  The event consists of a Independent Pilot Series, Panel Discussions and Events. If your pilot didn’t get into this year’s festival or if your just curious about what made the cut, be sure to check out this week long event. It’s surely a great way to promote your work, network and check out the best of independent TV making. 

The NYTVF was founded in 2005 as the industry’s first recognized independent television festival, providing a platform to elevate the work of artists creating for the small screen.  Held annually each fall in New York City, the birthplace of modern television, the Festival unites artists, executives, industry figures, and fans together in one forum to celebrate the medium and to help shape its future.  Along with the Independent Pilot Competition, the Festival features panel discussions, premiere screenings, and other special events designed to honor television as an institution and as an art for

You can find out more information about the festival and how to get passes here. Also for those of you who can’t afford the $125-$300  passes be sure to check out the FREE EVENTS happening that week as well.

Ah, August in NYC . You know what that means. It’s hot, it’s smelly and the Summer is almost over. The Back to School commercials are playing and the last of the Summer trips are being planned. Oh and Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds comes out in a few weeks! 

As this Summer starts to wrap up, I’m starting to gear up. This week I start on the Art Under The Bridge Festival which will take place September 25, 26 and 27 in DUMBO, Brooklyn. 

For those of you who are not familair with this festival as there are SO MANY art, film and music festivals happening at any given time here in NY. Let me fill you in:

ART UNDER THE BRIDGE is a multi-site happening unique to Dumbo since 1997, the historic post-industrial neighborhood spanning the East River waterfront between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. The event’s enduring magic is the transformation of an entire neighborhood into a vibrant platform for self-expression over 3 days once a year. New artworks by young visual artists are created on-the-spot everywhere and anywhere: they may be specific to a particular site or they may wander. They may be projected or afloat. They may be performed or make sound, they may glow in the dark or ride an elevator, they may occupy a corporate lobby or beg your interaction, or they may just sit there and demand your attention.

I’m on a bus coming back from Philly from DIY DAYS, thanks to the BOLT BUS for it’s FREE WiFI!

DIY DAYS is a FREE day of talks and networking centered on how to fund, create, distribute and sustain your creative work. Organized by LANCE WEILER (THE LAST BROADCAST and HEAD TRAUMA), a team of 20 volunteers (including myself) and a few sponsors (POP TENT, BRANDYWINE, UofArts, Filmmaker Mag, Dive, IndieFlilx). The conference aims to answer the question; as filmmakers, game-makers or musicians how do we sustain ourselves in these hard economic times?

The conference had two rooms going at a time each with a great line-up of speakers, panels and round table discussions. Some of the speakers included: 

Scott Kirsner (Friends, Fans and Followers), Dan Goldman (Shooting War), Lance Weiler (Head Trauma, The Last Broadcast). Michael Monello (co-founder of Campfire Media & Blair Witch Project producer), Brian Clark (GMD Studios) Esther B. Robinson (ArtHome), Ana Domb (MIT) Arin Crumley (Four Eyed Monsters), Scott Macaulay (Producer Gummo, Raising Victor Vargas, editor Filmmaker Mag), Don Argott (Rock School), Eugene Martin (Diary of a City Priest) Alex Johnson (WBP Labs), Anita Ondine (STM) Brian McTear (record producer Miner Street Studios), Mark Schoneveld (the Poverty Jetset) and Geoff DiMasi (founder of P’unk Avenue). 

I spent the better half of the day managing the AV of the Black Box Theater which started off with a great discussion on the evolution of storytelling by Lance Weiler and Chuck Wendig who talked about developing stories that travel from screen to devices using HEAD TRAUMA as an example. What interested me most about their conversation is how they used technology to engage their audience by creating a real-world game which allowed audience to be part of the film in a really unique way. I really do LOVE interactive cinematic experiences. It also proves an excellent way to promote and market your film especially when you are DOING IT YOURSELF. 

The afternoon continued on with a visually entertaining presentation by Scott Beiben (Lost Film Fest) on SCEINTIST ARE THE NEW ROCKSTARS and then  NOAH HARLAN (2.1 Films & Two Bulls) who gave a good run down of WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW to BULID A GOOD APP. Followed by a panel discussion on collaboration.  

(Stay-tuned for Part 2 ) Need to take a nap. The motion of the bus and the rain drops falling on the window are making me sleepy.

Interested in the role technology is playing in the arts?  If you answer is YES please keep reading. 

Arts, Culture and Technology Meetup group is putting on an event July 23rd 6pm at Roger Smith Hotel (501 Lexington) that is focus on Mobile Technology and the Arts.  The event with cover everything from interactive mobile design theory, to iPhone apps, to Twitter/SMS interactive initiatives, and more.

The list of presenters is as follows:

1. Koven Smith - Senior Analyst for Enterprise Content Management for the Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Koven will be giving a brief talk based on his recent paper, “The Future of Mobile Interpretation.”

2. Peter Nofelt - Co-founder of Perk Mobile, a New York based mobile consulting and development firm that focuses primarily on Blackberry, Android and iPhone development. Peter also organized last year’s MobileCampNYC3 event hosted by Microsoft. He will be speaking about the options available for people/arts orgs/companies entering the mobile space.

3. Jeffrey Inscho - Media and Public Relations Coordinator at the Mattress Factory Art Museum 
Jeffrey will be talking about the museum’s MFSCREENtxt project and how they are using insight from this initiative in designing an iPhone app.

4. Untravel Media - Michael Epstein, founder and creative director of Untravel Media will be talking about documentary storytelling on mobile devices. Some of the concepts can be found in his recent paper “Moving Story.”

5. Sonali Sridhar - Sonali is an artist whose work explores wireless devices in urban spaces. She uses mobile technology and hardware to “create objects that carry a narrative in them.” Some of her previous works have used GPS modules, Bluetooth, and mobile hacking techniques. You can read more about her work here: http://sonalisridhar….

Additional details: 
- Doors open at 7pm, presentations will begin promptly at 7:30pm 
- Each speaker will give an 8 minute presentation followed by 2 minutes for Q&A 
- There will be a networking session after the presentations 
- There will be a CASH bar. Please bring cash.

Great event coming up Saturday August 1st in Philadelphia that aims to focus on self-distribution, filmmaking and networking. Details below:

ABOUT
DIY DAYS - fund :: create :: distribute :: sustain 
How do we sustain ourselves as storytellers in this day of shifting distribution systems? How do we monetize our work and get the word? Presented by the WorkBook Project - DIY DAYS aims to answer these questions with a day of panels, roundtable discussions and workshops: A look at how to fund, create, and distribute and sustain.

TARGET AUDIENCE
Anyone wanting to make creative work - film, music, games, art. Self-Identified Independent storyteller, Creatives and Tech-philes.

THE EVENT
The day flows through a mix of both structured and free form activities to encourage open discussion and the opportunity to break into groups and get everyone talking to each other. Pack a lunch and network offline with fellow creatives.

Proposed Discussion Topics
- New Forms of Storytelling
- New models of Finance, Production and Distribution
- Audience Building & The Audience Becoming Collaborators
- War Stories: “What’s The Real Deal?”
- Self-Sustaining: what to know when trying to make a living from your art
- Case Studies
- Think Tanks
- Workshops

Open Discussion Topics
- What are you working on? What are you looking for?
- How do you consume your media?
- What needs to change in order for you to sustain?

SUGGESTIONS, SPEAKERS AND VOLUNTEERS
If you have a suggestion of something you’d like to hear discussed or a speaker that you think should take part, or if you’re interested in volunteering please email us at work [@] workbookproject dot com with the subject “DIY DAYS”

REGISTER HERE

This morning as I was thinking about going out and getting The Times to read while I sit in the park,  I came across this website of the NY TIMES, which is telling bite-size stories of some very unique NYers. As someone who LOVES documentaries, characters and meeting interesting people, I thought this was a brilliant idea! Stories range from a “Mature Actress” to a “Treasure Hunter” to a “Sneaker Connoisseur” to well any type of character you can dream up! The Design of the site and the style of the storytelling is just perfect!  

Check out New York Times  One in 8 Million - New York Characters in Sound and Image.

So I finally made it to one of the NY Tech Meetups (it only took 4 months). Although I missed the first presentation and I have an overall rule that maximum time for any event with speakers should not exceed 90 mins, it was pretty good.  So what were some of the highlights?

Zagat’s new NEAR YOU (NU) APP which is an augmented reality mobile tool that gives you the location and stats of restaurants within a 360 degrees of where you’re standing! Actually, I really need to get in touch with these guys. If they can make an adjustment and add the ability to bookmark restaurants of interest while you are passing by, for use the next time your in that neighborhood, that would just be the best thing since the Internet. 

I also enjoyed the Irainian Technologist  that talked about his first hand account of the Iranian Election and the Irianian Government. His short last minute presentation was awesome. Unfortunately for me, I had no pen and my phone died so I couldn’t write down his information. BUT I will track it down and update!

Lastly, as much as I hate online ads (sorry advertisers) but the folks over at SpongeCell have created a new way to attract online revenue and sales. Straight from their website here’s the info “SpongeCell is a rich media technology that converts engagement to participation. It helps advertisers increase ROI (or RO Engagement) by creating ads that make it easy for messages to flow into calendars, mobile devices, social networks and email inboxes right from the ad unit. By offering more options than just a click through to move past engagement, Spongecell increases the yield from each impression.”