Tag: Digital Humanities

Writing the Digital Future: Dispatches from Bundaberg

Mechanical Dolphin

I’m joining the team from Queensland University of Technology’s Writing the Digital Futures project to deliver a two-day creative writing event in Bundaberg next month.

It’s part of the broader Digital Futures season at the State Library of Queensland this year.

king_of_the_rocket_men_filmposter

“Dispatches from Bundy: Visions from the Future, Stories From the Past” will blend digital media, oral storytelling, play, speculative fiction, and archival materials to help local people explore the past, present, and future of their town.

You can join in the fun on 4th-5th March, and check out the flyer here..

Beyond the Wall of Sleep

Mechanical Dolphin

Melbourne-based digital artist Peter Miller, who featured in last month’s Library as Incubator piece on the links between libraries and musicians, has released a new piece: Beyond the Wall of Sleep.

The piece blends H.P. Lovecraft, NASA recordings, and a reading of the rules and regulations of the Insane Asylum of California, drawing on material from Librivox and Prelinger Archives.

You can read more about the history of Beyond the Wall of Sleep at Peter’s website, and read about how libraries, archives, and multimedia artists might work together in Library as Incubator’s “Sing Me A Library”.

Or just enjoy the spooky video, above.

Marvellous, Electrical: Play Both

Mechanical Dolphin

“I want to see technology used for good, but I’m fascinated by the possibilities for destruction!”

Joel Edmondson, CEO of Queensland’s QMusic network talks digital technology, music beyond entertainment, mysterious orchestras in the middle of the ocean, and the “nefarious, sulphuric beginning of life” in this week’s Marvellous, Electrical.

David Cronenberg's VIDEODROME

Read “Play Both” here.

Digital Inclusion Forum, Sydney, 16 November

Mechanical Dolphin

On Wednesday 16th November, I’ll be moderating panels and giving a short plenary at GoDigi’s Digital Inclusion Forum in Sydney.

Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House, by Wikipedia user Hpeterswald – used under a CC BY-SA 3.0 licence

We’ll hear about innovation and equity, digital technology and social housing, and accessibility in the information age – from speakers like Rachel Thomson of Australia Post, Ishtar Vij of Google, and Laurie Patton of Internet Australia.

You can find out more about the Forum, and the accompanying Expo and Pop-Up Festival, at the GoDigi website.

It’s free to attend, so if you’re in Sydney and interested in our digital future, come along and say hi.

Losing control in digital space: Liberact 2016

Mechanical Dolphin

Last month I spoke at the Liberact conference of digital interactive experiences.

My paper was ‘Play, Chance, and Comics: Losing Control In Digital Space’.

Annotated whiteboard at a Brisbane gym

We explored comics, creativity…and what digital designers could learn from the noticeboard at a gym.

You can see an annotated PDF download of my presentation here.

Hope and Holodecks

Mechanical Dolphin

i.

Like anyone, I worry about the future.

Right now we’re on the cusp of Trumpocalypse. Even if Donald J. doesn’t get to power, the US – and the world – will have to face the consequences of his campaign. The US election is the second scary vote in the English-speaking world this year, after Brexit – and look at how riven that’s left British culture and society.

And yet – I feel hopeful.

I’ve just been reading Digital Identity 3.0 (PDF download), a report from the Chair of Digital Economy at Queensland University of Technology.

Read more →

What are you playing at? Digital comics at the Writing Platform

Mechanical Dolphin

Why would an Aussie library get its designers to build a drag and drop comics website?

Aren’t there already plenty of free comic makers online?

What are you even playing at?

pic-3

The Writing Platform, a joint venture by Bath Spa University in the UK and QUT in Australia, has my latest piece, on the new remixable comic maker from State Library of Queensland.

pic-1

Read more about the State Library’s Comic Maker at The Writing Platform.

Rock and Roll Writers’ Festival: Playlist

Mechanical Dolphin

My playlist is up for Brisbane’s first Rock and Roll Writers Festival.

Growing up at the tail-end of the mixtape generation, compiling songs was a way of connecting with friends and strangers alike, all through high school.

Now Leanne de Souza and her team at the Festival are working with the team at Playlistr to share music selections from Festival contributors and friends.

If you’re not a Spotify user, you can find my mixtape on YouTube, too.

And the one must-listen track is this…sweet video, too.