====================== 9. *selected projects* ====================== What follows is documentation of three projects that relate to the overall thesis, in the form of print-outs of web pages and video documentation on DVD. They are all highly collaborative and involve other individuals and institutional support, as indicated in the following brief descriptions. Although referred to in the text, the projects do not illustrate the thesis but embody its argument through practice. --------------- 9.1 _generator_ --------------- http://www.generative.net/generator/ The exhibition _Generator_ presented a series of self-generating projects, incorporating digital media, instruction and participation pieces, drawing machines, experimental literature and music technologies. It placed an emphasis on the productive apparatus and processes running in real-time, rather than end-products. The exhibition title referred to the term 'generator' in describing the person, operating system or thing that generates. Commissioned artists included emerging computer artist-programmers, as well as more established figures from a conceptual art tradition, all of whom work with generative forms and ideas: Mark Bowden, Stuart Brisley, Angus Fairhurst, Alec Finlay, Tim Head, Jeff Instone, Zoe Irvine, Sol LeWitt, limbomedia, Alex McLean, Guy Moreton, Netochka Nezvanova, Yoko Ono, Organogenesis Inc., Jon Pettigrew, Colin Sackett, Sulawesi crested macaque monkeys from Paignton Zoo, Joanna Walsh, Adrian Ward. _Generator_ was a SPACEX touring exhibition, curated by Geoff Cox and Tom Trevor, with support from the National Touring Programme of the Arts Council of England. It was shown at Spacex, Exeter (2002), then toured to the Liverpool Biennial (2002) and Firstsite, Colchester (2003). The video documentation on DVD shows the installation as part of the Liverpool Biennial (2002). ----------------------------------------------------- 9.2 _notes towards the complete works of shakespeare_ ----------------------------------------------------- http://www.vivaria.net/experiments/notes/documentation/ The publication _Notes Towards the Complete Works of Shakespeare_ was produced in response to the familiar idea that if an infinite number of monkeys are given typewriters for an infinite amount of time, they will eventually produce the complete works of Shakespeare. The process was translated to a computer environment, producing live updates published on the web, alongside a webcam view of the production scene, showing the creative activity in its fuller context. The resulting texts were generated in Paignton Zoo by a group of Sulawesi Macaques as their contribution toward the exhibition _Generator_ (2002). A limited edition artist book _Notes Towards the Complete Works of Shakespeare_ was later published by Kahve-Society and produced by Book Works, with an accompanying DVD of documentary footage of the project. The project was produced by Geoff Cox (with George Grinsted) as part of a research stage for _Vivaria.net_ funded by the Arts Council of England (produced by Geoff Cox and Adrian Ward), that also included commissioned software projects: Alex McLean's _animal.pl_ by (2002) and Adrian Ward's _Carbon Lifeform_ (2002). Video documentation of _Notes Towards the Complete Works of Shakespeare_ (2002) is included on the DVD. ------------------------- 9.3 _uk museum of ordure_ ------------------------- http://www.museum-ordure.org.uk/Audio_Library/ The UK Museum of Ordure collects examples of ordure (rubbish, shit, waste), aiming to draw attention to the relationship between what we produce and its relative value in the wider culture and economy. In the Museum of Ordure, the value and status of the objects in its collection are left in question. There is a certain ambiguity about the material status of its collection in terms of what can be seen to be objectively present, as both the collection and the museum are virtual (or immaterial). The Museum is managed by three trustees (Stuart Brisley, Geoff Cox and Adrian Ward) and exists online; it also on occasion displays its collection as part of gallery exhibitions: _The Suicide of Objects_ at Catalyst Arts, Belfast (2004), and as part of _Trackers_ at PM Gallery, London (2004). The Museum has recently added an _Audio Library_ to its collection of ordure, which invites the participation of the public on a range of important topics. This work was commissioned by low-fi, and exhibited at Stills Gallery, Edinburgh (2005). The Museum builds upon earlier work, including _ordure::real-time_ (2001) that was included in _Generator_, and its online version _dust_ (http://www.ordure.org). On the DVD is video documentation of UKMO's _Audio Library_ at Stills gallery, Edinburgh (2005).