geek week 6

well, today is the end of the official transition stage. it may explain the weird level of sadness or something i've been feeling. either that, or the lack of exercise, sleep or regular meals.


this week, another short one thank to the aus v ger game queen's birthday holiday, has been quite frenetic and frustrating. i spent most of the week juggling shitty tech difficulties: on hold with adobe and their appalling tech support, trawling tech forums, drawing wiring diagrams and cloud diagrams to work out the best way to run the network, upgrade the modem and enable remote access. today, thankfully, most of that has been sorted (save the final ethernet cable party later).



the first stages of our new website framework has been developed and we're now setting about uploading easy content, figuring out the best way to arrange dynamic content and generally getting our hands dirty movin' stuff around. it's so exciting to have it all in so early.



and then last night i found myself feeling quite despondent about what i'm doing here, thanks to a line by stan johnson - a blogger and creative heavyweight whose conviction and attitude i admire.


in his blog, he talked about uniqlo as a stellar brand that were really at the forefront of really using intergrated digital content/technology within their identity. the punch-line was "Because I'm sick and tired of so called digital creatives who seem to think that designing a bloody website is a big digital idea.".



most of my time as a geek is helping build the kids here a new website. it's not wildly innovative, in terms of digital output.
it is practical, necessary and long-overdue. but it's not really a big digital idea. and part of me feels guilty about that. especially as artists have a long history of being innovative and at the forefront of digital exploration and excitement.

and yet, what is the point of innovation, if your basic services don't work?

i do think that arts organisations will benefit greatly from access to ebooks - imagine artist catalogues available on ipad/iphone? and the relationship between mobile technology and spatial arts practice is also interesting.

but this current website does not accurately reflect the depth of artistic innovation that happens in this organisation. it doesn't support arts practice by doing what a website should, at its basic level, which is communicate with the audience.

so, the innovation in this program is to get the basic pragmatic stuff done, share it and leave resources and possibilities for other exciting outcomes. teach a man a fish...