Are museums useful and necessary? Yes, they store significant examples of production and culture that are needed for accurate history and as material for further research & creativity. Bad recall can sometimes inspire new work (e.g. current ‘retro’ music is based on a fantasy of the actual period) but while it is trivial to misunderstand it requires research to understand.

I know there is an endless debate about ‘accurate history’, let’s avoid that for the moment. Please.

What is a significant example? One that is not redundant to another better example, is consequential – supports understanding of other examples, is of wide interest now or possibly in future, has applicability to problem solving, entertaining and inspiring…

How do we decide what is significant? Usually a curator that demonstrates excellent knowledge and understanding of the material is appointed to choose what is significant. It’s not an absolute, rather a formalised expert opinion.

Is that the best way? Perhaps not, but it seems difficult to create absolute curatorial rules that a machine could follow. People can act effectively even when rules are fuzzy.

Why is this post so dull and boring? Sorry I have to really try nut this topic out for the damn PhD. And because I am kind of stupid, asking questions like this helps think it out.

Thinking about video history, is YouTube a museum? Not if you are coming from the opinions I’ve outlined so far. But simply by being popular and efficient (by its own terms) it acts like a proto-museum with extra layers of noise (by my terms). That is to say, it could be filtered by a curator to create a collection.

So then, it simply acts as a buffer between all potential material and a collection? Yes but not so simply, as the mechanism is ad hoc. The buffer is not filled with a goal in mind, and is seeded with insignificant (multiple, inconsequential) material – perhaps making the task harder.

So many hands make light work? Too many cooks spoil the broth.

Is there a curatorial opinion being demonstrated by the crowd? Actually there’s a lack of opinion. Where some see ‘market forces’ deciding a solution, I think that’s anthropomorphic. It’s like saying ‘Australia elected a Labor government’ when there were many voters who didn’t. The crowd doesn’t have a single purpose, it’s ambivalent with a generalised result. You might use a survey to indicate a statistical tendency but that’s not an intent.

So then curation by an individual (or tight group) is a key factor in the definition of a museum? That is a central element in my viewpoint. Because new tools are being developed to quickly poll multiple opinions there’s considerable enthusiasm for crowd dynamics (Web 2.0). I think this will hit a wall in a few years but rather than wait for the resulting synthesis I’d like to get busy with the inevitable refinements.

If a curator wishes to make a collection in YouTube all they need do is create a channel. That’s a good way but it’s not the best way. In my opinion, you need to actually remove bad copies and duplicates and false information rather than just pretend it’s not there. However when I’ve talked about deletion there’s been horror mixed with some good critique that I need to think about.

A channel is a view from inside the confusion. I think you need to move outside of the confusion. I think a museum is also a sanitarium or refuge that is not subjected to the market place. If it is respected it can cause a change in the outside, e.g. objects will be withdrawn by suppliers as being ‘not good enough’.

There’s also tagging. Here I have no respect. Tagging is fool’s gold. One person uses ‘dog’, another uses ‘pet’ and a third uses ‘canine’. Now we have three identical objects divided uselessly by point of view. When there is an ISO number for tagging I’ll stop laughing at it.

How then to create a museum? In the past you’d steal or buy the original artefact and store it yourself (a la British Museum). Even with video that can still be true (thinking here of Stephen R Jones’ collection of primary sources) but if a copy exists we can keep Ted Nelson happy by linking to the original. Also roughly in tune with Nelson’s hyper documents also we can create a web mash up.

How does a web mash up approach the ideals laid out here? A web mashup is a recipe that draws upon multiple data sources to synthesise a particular viewpoint. So it can e.g. draw upon YouTube and Google Maps for example to point out a relationship between places and productions. OK, so far, nice technology, no great use. But it might be possible to build a language, like the meaning of ‘film language’, or an interface that an individual curator could use. It might be possible to – rather than tag or exclude data (negate it), create a metawork that positively links up data in a manner that expresses a curatorial opinion.

That’s so fucking vague. I know, I know but there’s a little seed of sense in there that I know leads somewhere.

Q: You Bastards!

A: All the team at Antithesis were in fact born to married parents except Jimbo the CEO.

Q: You mean yet again I have spent hundreds of dollars on 3D software only for you to shut shop the moment my credit card gets the hit? Come on, what is it with online 3D?

A: Antithesis3D regrets failing to make a buck out of online 3D. We make no claim regarding your dealings with the next bunch of losers.

Q: You could have warned me…

A: We are not your Mum. We are a seller of 3D technology. Were.

Q: What happens now?

A: We have licensed our technology to the site www.giantvirtualjugalloos.co.be where we are sure you will find items of interest. Me, I’m starting a pie shop. All our current customers will receive a free fish pie by mail as a special thanks. I think Jimbo is getting some kittens and

Q: I don’t want a fish pie I want my money back.

A: It comes with home made white sauce.

Q: By the time it makes it to Australia that won’t be the only thing it comes with.

A: How about a kitten?

Q: No.

A: Three kittens in a basket, white fluffy, with little bows and they are all cuddly wuddly.

Q: Look, every damn time I buy this kind of software the company ends up selling it to some other company that cans the whole project and sacks the people that made it. Then some other lot starts up with their Web2.0 take on VRML and waits ’til I pay the license fee and then they shut shop and it goes on and

A: Last offer. Six Kittens and a 10 Euro voucher at Giant Virtual Juggalloos.

Q: and the fish pie frozen.

A: Done.

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James R suggested this:

Frog Man

A new subsection of this site will carry the journey onwards. Because, having done it, I now know what I want to do.

Comedy. They had sent me an email saying there was severe penalties for handing it in after 10AM on a certain day. I was sitting there with my three suitcases at 9AM, waiting. No one showed up to pick it up. Finally another student rang around. The research officer was away on holidays.

Must always remember that it’s all nonsense. Must always remember that it’s all nonsense. Must always remember that it’s all nonsense. Must always remember that it’s all nonsense. Must always remember that it’s all nonsense. Must always remember that it’s all nonsense. Must always remember that it’s all nonsense.

Huh, how heavy can it be? Answer, what the hell is in here? Anvils?

I finally get to see how it all hangs together – the pillow cases are hilarious – the boxes go inside, like they were left by Santa at Christmas. Good move by Frank. And I get to see how my design looks on paper… some good news some bad news. The actual sleeves came out great, as did the labels. The booklet not so good, some of the PDF files have gone awry and there’s one point where a character has dropped out leaving a mess. Main thing is that the booklet font is huge… as if for impaired eyesight. Shit. This is what happens when you try visualise a 12 inch square print job scaled down on an A4 preview.

The records are ridiculously thick. I grew up in an age where records were quite thin, extremely flexible, it was promoted as being advanced technology for some reason, but obviously the tide has turned to ‘quantity is king’. The sound is good – for vinyl. (You have to trust me, I worked on this thing for about six months and I know how it sounds on the original recordings. Vinyl is not warm, it’s muddy.) These pressings are better than most of the ones we got back in the day.

And the records have patterns on them made by the grooves… I could cry… this is what I was trying to do with the LP in Album, but obviously it depends on the era of the lathe – the lathe has to manage the groove distance to get the effect I wanted. I also think that acetates just don’t have the same sound quality as pressed vinyl. OK, so we learn. We learn.

At least I am going to get the damn booklet right. Went out and got a Hewlett Packard A3+ printer (cheapest), 250 sheets of German high finish paper, and I’m going to print the damn things myself this time. Kinkos can bind it, but there’s no way I’m letting this one go wrong.

We now have three printers set up here. Getting silly. The HP, being an A3+ is of course an utter pain in the arse and will spew out errors if looked at the wrong way.

—

Can’t wait for the academic session to be over. I know that sounds a bit harsh but I miss being able to do my own shit. The paradox – you are employed because you are an artist, as soon as you are employed you have no time to be an artist. I have a strong work ethic – this leaves me feeling like a charlatan.

The main line of investigation in academia seems to be how to minimise contact hours. We already lopped a few weeks off the session, shut down our winter school – now we’re working on moving courses partly online. If you had asked me a few years ago I would have said bollocks, but I start to get the point – instead of me racing through a blur of films it’s going to make more sense to let students watch full titles at their own pace.

And frankly if they are going to play with their laptops in lectures, they deserve to see me via streaming video.

Not all wonderful. I distrust peer assessment – it’s OK for people to compare notes but I don’t agree students should judge each other. Maybe they could just judge each other and save the HECS fees. What are we offering? Equipment? So what. Experience? Any young hot head artist is not going to give a shit what I think, and that’s pretty much been the case this year. A degree? Is that the whole point? I thought there was something more than that.

A big shift is needed in the whole idea of a university. I learned by apprenticeship. I teach best via apprenticeship. With 100 students at a time, the relationship breaks down. How do we provide personal inspiration? Online?

Technology, and prime usage.

Score, of course. Sibelius?

Player Piano – prime usage Nancarrow, maybe Stravinsky. In any case the use of assisted notes.
So I have no means to construct a piano roll, given that the Mastertouch factory closed in 2005. The equipment probably exists somewhere but I don’t think there’s time to find that. There’s two possibilities:

a. Create or locate software that can take a MIDI stream and create a print of a piano roll, using black for holes. While that is rather cute, on reflection it’s not central to the issue here, it’s a translation of the score but not in any way augmenting it.

b. Better idea – locate a disklavier. Somebody must have one, and might let me load up a disc.

http://www.yamaha.co.jp/english/product/piano/product/europe/dl/dl.html

They are jolly expensive!

Gramophone/Cylinder – topologically the same and probably should be considered as such. It’s hard to pick a distinct usage and perhaps better if we consider the general knowledge of acoustic recording that built up despite secrecy. Task then is to make an acoustic recording.

Another thought – can I create an impulse from an existing gramophone and then reuse that to treat my recording? So how do I do that? I could easily pass an impulse through a horn… but what about the playback mechanics? Ideally what I need is the same sound on a 78 disc and completely raw. Which means making up a 78 disc. Which goes in circles, because I’d be simulating a 78 disc with a 78 disc. Shit. Maybe the horn is the key.

CBS 33rpm disc – there are multiple aspects of this disc worthy of consideration but I suspect that the 12 inch single A/B side as a recipe is probably the most fruitful. Q: what is the first dub version we have? I have multi sources here e.g.

In 1968, Kingston, Jamaica sound system operator Ruddy Redwood went to Treasure Isle studio to cut a one-off dub plate. Engineer Byron Smith left the vocal track out by accident, but Redwood kept the result and played it at his next dance with his deejay Wassy toasting over the rhythm. Singles started to appear with a vocal mix on one side and the word “version” on the other.

http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=114&csid2=779&fid1=27342

RCA 45rpm disc – I am leaning towards Magical Mystery Tour as a possible example only because I owned a copy of this in 45 form. But I am not able show for example that sides are arranged so that tracks are interleaved for the auto stacker mechanism. I need to get the track listing. Also, was it ever available with auto stacker holes? I need to think this. I also need to think if I need an auto stacker.

Question then is: do I need to press some 45′s? This is getting expensive.

8 Track cartridge – even though it seems to been an accident I still think that Lou Reeds Metal Machine Music my prime usage for 8 Track.

http://www.8trackheaven.com/

I have the 8 track machine up and running and I still think the idea of tape loops is the most stimulating.

Compact Disc, prime usage was by Brian Eno, Thursday Afternoon, 1985

http://disquiet.com/2005/12/04/after-thursday-afternoon/

http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/TA-txt.html

To be honest, the CD is becoming the least interesting format. What’s so interesting about a CD?

Mini Disc, prime usage was by GESCOM – 1998 (Prix Ars Electronica Winner)

http://touchshop.org/product_info.php?products_id=110

This recording is going great! I am really happy with it – sounds like Gescom on the piano

DVD – we have United States Patent 7085844. Still to find a musical usage that predates my own but this could be a matter of it being too trivial!

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7085844.html

This one is going great too.

Internet – perhaps this starts with Tracker musicians on BBS sites – then perhaps http://www.kosmic.org/ or I think earlier