Dorian plugging his story

Dorian explaining the latest collector software update

Each evening the computer from the float gets hooked up to the internet and gets synchronised with the database on the server which is the one feeding the website. At the same time the collector software used to register the stories on the float gets updated whenever Dorian has a new version.
All this remote updating works a treat but it does not replace going down and checking how things work live. The response to the project has been very strong and we are collecting a huge amount of stories. The tireless invigilators on the float are doing a fantastic job communicating the project and capturing the stories. The week point at the moment are the 'add-on signs' which break very easily. They either snap (which is easy to fix) or the jack simply comes apart (which is not easy to fix at all). Ones broken we have to register a new 'add on' in the database, transfer the sticker and merge the different sets of data in order not to get too much confusion. This is actually rather high maintenance as it entails getting the broken signs to London, fixing them and getting them back. In the meantime important signs might be missing on site and temporary signs are used which is further confusing the data...... Anyway we live and learn.
Saturday Dorian and I went down early to have a good few hours before the float goes out at 10am and check the system, repair signs and spend time with the float on site to see how everything works when it is live. It was very helpful as we noticed little problems that caused confusion which we could only understand properly when seeing the mapping in action.

Posted July 21, 2008 12:05 by Andreas Lang

Sun protection - Evidence of sunny spells in an old fashioned British summer

Olivia with rain jacket and sun glasses

Posted July 20, 2008 10:37 by Andreas Lang

Audi's latest advert in Folkestone - looks somewhat familiar

Posted July 20, 2008 10:33 by Andreas Lang

Regular visitors to the site may notice that we've added a couple of sections to the left hand navigation: Map Items and Stories. These are my first steps in visualising all of the data we have, and the connections between them, so that we can create further maps over time.

The map items are all the plug-in items we have on the float. Browsing through the lists of items you can see how each item is connected to others, through connections Kathrin mapped out prior to the start of the Triennial.

On top of all the relations between the plug-in's there are your stories. These are the connections that are inferred by the mapping we make at the float. Each story is split up into a 'portrait' and a number of stories. The portrait reflects where the visitor we've mapped have come from and how they ended up at the triennial, the stories are how they are connected to the cultural spaces in Folkestone.

It's taken a while to get these up due to a number of teething difficulties with the whole setup - it's quite a complex system and this is the first version of it. We will now be uploading new stories onto the site each day, along with photographs, and if you've already come and told us your story you can search for yourself if you know your story ID, or if you gave us a name you can search by your name (or your friend's names).

Please let us know if you see anything wrong with your mapping: there are quite a few issues with some of them from the early days, and we've not been able to attach images to mappings as reliably as we'd like to, so there may be some missing or some attached incorrectly. A quick email letting us know the Story ID ( eg m48625ab2 ) and what's wrong and we'll get on with updating it.

This might not look like a map, in the traditional sense, at the moment, but if you start browsing through the links you'll start to see how places are interconnected by people's stories, how certain places are more fundamental to stories than others. These connections are a map, albeit represented like a text based adventure game on an 80's computer. My ability to see the map in my head probably comes from too many hours spent playing them as a kid.

My task now is to start to gather all of the data we have hear into some form of visualisation. The first step of this is for me to start visualising each of the stories we've been given. Once I can see the spread of those I'll be able to see how we can clearly map the relationships between the stories.

So, please keep checking back to see new bit's appear, and if you want to be kept updated of changes subscribe to out mailing list or our blog's RSS feed.

Posted July 18, 2008 22:42 by Dorian Moore

Locating the Float on the Triennial map in the Visitors Centre

stereo Tagging

Posted July 13, 2008 23:40 by Andreas Lang

Parked up at Cafe It

Friday night workshop with the youth from Cafe It.
the end to a long, windy and sunny Friday.

Posted July 13, 2008 23:21 by Andreas Lang

cables

into the box

The analogue plugging of the narratives works very well and most people respond strongly to the pictogram language. The umbilical cord that between the analogue and digital world is brightly visible.

Posted July 13, 2008 23:12 by Andreas Lang

Friday afternoon soldering in the old Bank

Some of the TAG signs needed some repair work. The soldering came loose and it needed some urgent repair. If one connection is lost part of the story might not register properly on the computer.
Williams - the local electric shop was very helpful and gave me a 1 minute tutorial in soldering which I duly applied on the floor of the Old Bank. Its all working fine again.

Posted July 13, 2008 23:07 by Andreas Lang

Maintanance Monday

Emma's first day

Monday afternoon is maintenance day - prepare for the stormy mapping week ahead. Melita kindly took charge to make sure the float is in top condition every Monday night. Batteries checked, Signs cleaned... In the process Melita has become a battery specialist after some discussions with her father and his army experience. Specific Gravity, hydrometer readings and sulphuric acid content all standard words of her new vocabulary....

It also happened to be Emma's first day on the float - Welcome!

Posted July 3, 2008 17:02 by Andreas Lang

Folkestone Triennial recording of visitor numbers

In the end some things will always be done by pen and paper ....

Posted July 3, 2008 16:26 by Andreas Lang