Technical Spec version two

Apologies for the delay in posting this. Here is the updated version of the technical specification.

Technical Specification

This is a first-cut attempt at a technical specification. I've outlined a number of approaches which we could take to the impementation of a working system. These should be used to inspire debate. It's worth noting that I've gone only for open-source and Free technologies.

Protoypes

Chris R and I have been discussing how to move forward.

We started by thinking about the project deliverable which is a specification. What does specification mean in this type of work? We aren't totally sure but we know what it isn't. It's not a conventional software or systems analysis output. That would be a text-based document, possibly with some pictures. There are various diagramming techniques that can be used including rich pictures and UML diagrams but most are based in documentation.

We thought that building some form of "prototype" as a specification would be useful. There is no intention to build a working system, but we thought that we would mock-up something animated and interactive. We thought that SVG or VRML or, more easily, Flash would be a way forward.

Free Culture

Got this from Linux User and Developer.

A group of "free culture" advocates have created a new site to promote a "Free Content Definition" as an analog to the Free Software Definition, which aims to fill the void in setting clear standards for the freedom of artistic and literary "content" as opposed to software. The group hopes to moderate a discussion leading to a consensus on a "free content definition", and possibly an alternate name for the organisation. Project co-founder Eric Möller comments, "In the free software world, the two primary definitions -- the Free Software Definition and the Open Source Definition -- are both fairly clear about what uses must be allowed. Free software can be freely copied, modified, modified and copied, sold, taken apart and put back together. However, no similar standard exists in the sphere of free content and free expressions. "We believe that the highest standard of freedom should be sought for as many works as possible. And we seek to define this standard of freedom clearly. We call this definition the 'Free Content and Expression Definition', and we call works which are covered by this definition 'free content' or 'free expressions'".

Being A Visitor

Viewers need far simpler tools. Many developers are building interfaces which are both simple and powerful. In this situation visitors to the online exhibitions need to see previews (thumbnails?) of works, be able to view complete works, move through a "gallery space", comment on works and see comments which others have left. This is all interesting and useful stuff but it's not really groundbreaking. The photo sharing site Flick'r is an excellent example of this type of application. It demonstrates all of the necessary functionality with relatively few limitations.

We might have two goals here: to get a working prototype and to do some interesting research. If we prioritize the former goal then knocking up a Media Arts Flick'r clone would be a relatively painless way of meeting the goal. From a research viewpoint, though, it's not very exciting. It might be an innovative use of the technology but is it a worthwhile way to spend our time?

Creating Exhibitions

I wrote this...

I wrote this on my daughter's laptop, away from a network connection. I see from your blog Colm that you're not overly interested in the whole area of curatorial tools. The kurator.org project that you mention is doing interesting work there and I'll be looking at more closely when I get time.

My own feeling is that there might be a disconnect between visitors to exhibitions and curators and that that is something we can examine. Anyway here's the original blog entry.

The Curator needs a simple tool which can be used to gather works, catalogue them, select some for exhibiting and create an exhibition.

The Curator

This one is somewhat presumptious of me. I really ought to leave this to Colm. But at least he can use these ramblings as a starting point and refine them into something meaningful.

The primary function is to assemble works in meaningful ways. In a traditional gallery the assembled works become an exhibition (or a happening if Yoko Ono's around). Exhibitions aren't random collections of work. They have themes and are built around ideas. The Curator defines the theme and selects appropriate pieces of work. Sometimes pieces may be arranged so that there is a flow through the work, so that pieces complement each other.

Defining functionality

The functionality of the system needs to be defined. I've already written that I'm not happy using scenarios, I find it a difficult process to get my head around. The next few entries in this blog are going to define aspects of the functionality of the system. I'll list some activities which I think different users will perform.

Web 2.0?

Some general thoughts on design. Sites obviously need to be usable but Web sites which display any form of art work have other constraints. The primary constraint is that the works have to be viewable. In fact the works really need to dominate. Often when we use a Web browser we are aware of the browser, its infrastructure of menus and toolbars clutters the screen and we always know that we are Web surfing. When we talk to some artists we may find that they generally don't mind this, but I would expect otherwise.

The new generation of Web applications use a mix of XML and JavaScript to bring interactive functionality. If you think about something like Google Maps then may find that your experience of using it is very similar to that of using a conventional desktop application. Google, and others, have spent a lot of money and time thinking about how this type of application can work. We need to borrow some of their ideas and apply them to our problem domain.

CMS software

Here's some more thinking about applications. There are lots of useful libraries and applications out there. Some have been listed in previous entries and many of them may be things that we will play with as we build a prototype. But it occurred to me that what we are really thinking about is a Content Management System.

Lots of CMS applications have been built. Some are proprietory systems but a number of them are Free Software. One that's particularly interesting to me is Plone. Plone is a relatively user-friendly front-end which sits on top of an object-based data infrastructure called Zope. These programs interest me because they're written in Python. I'm a big advocate of Free Software scripting languages in general but I'm particularly fond of Python. I'm really excited by the idea of using Python in a Web-based research context. I've used it in the past when researching traditional business things and Chris has used it to write Web clients.