An Event for a Conversation

5-Minute-Phonebox-Experience

2007-05-10T18:42:00.000+01:00

Date:
01.05.07
Duration:
5 minutes
Method of invitation:
I sent or gave a postcard to friends, family and artists, with an introduction to the project and an invitation to participate. I gave suggestions rather than instructions for what I was asking them to do.
Participants:
20 and on going
Environment:
Phonebox
Telecommunication:
Public telephone for the event, some participants then text or emailed photographs, sounds and videos of their experience.
Documentation:
The participant is asked to document their experience on the postcard provided and any other form they want to use.
Outcome:
I received the postcards in the post, and sound recordings, films and photographs were sent separately by text or email.
Conclusion:
The open invitation meant the results were varied and interesting; each response really represented the individuality and personality of each participant.

5-Minute Phonebox Experience Responses

2007-05-10T18:40:00.000+01:00

5-Minute Phonebox Experience Responses

2007-05-10T18:35:00.000+01:00

5-Minute Phonebox Experience Responses

2007-05-10T18:31:00.000+01:00

Template Conversation

2007-04-20T23:30:00.000+01:00

My sister and I had a conversation through text message, using only the text message templates on our mobile phones
This was an interesting method of communication between two close sisters who normally share long conversations, but instead used a series of short, impersonal template test messages, which made no sense as a narrative.

"20.04.2007 20.34 Fr: bex. Please give me a ring.
20.04.2007 20.41 Fr: tash. Call me when you get this message.
20.04.2007 20.53 Fr: bex. Sorry, I am going to be late.
20.04.2007 20.59 Fr: tash. When can we meet?
20.04.2007 21.07 Fr: bex. Please send me the directions.
20.04.2007 21.13 Fr: tash. Where is the meeting?
20.04.2007 21.22 Fr: bex. Let’s go to the pub. Mine is a large gin and tonic.
20.04.2007 21.28 Fr: tash. Sorry I missed your call, I am in a meeting.
20.04.2007 21.42 Fr: bex. The train is late again. I will be there at 10.
20.04.2007 21.51 Fr: tash. I am here?
20.04.2007 22.00 Fr: bex. Hi honey. I love you.
20.04.2007 22.03 Fr: tash. I love you.

Laughing Phonebox

2007-03-31T18:11:00.000+01:00

I invited two friends to enter two public phoneboxes in a busy city centre, and to call each other. I asked no for dialogue to be shared, only laughter. I let them decide when the event started and ended, so they could be in control of what could be a difficult and embarrassing moment. The participants enjoyed their experience, and the laughter spread to the passers by outside the phonebox

Screen Grab images from the Skype Event

2007-03-27T17:46:00.000+01:00

Fancy a Skype chat? Report

2007-03-26T17:59:00.000+01:00

TITLE: Fancy a Skype chat?

DATE: 25.03.2007

DURATION: 6 hours

ABSTRACT: The event “fancy a skype chat?” was an online social event I created; it took place on Sunday 26th March, between 6pm and midnight. It used the online communication system Skype to connect people from their home environments, internationally, into a shared virtual space, through conversation.

INTRODUCTION: The scenario of a social drinks event was introduced, as a way of connecting everyone through other senses, I asked everyone to explain what they were drinking, what they were listening to, and what websites they were looking at.
I researched Skype and its protocols, to find out the possibilities of sharing conversations, numbers of possible participants and any restrictions.

“Skype is a little piece of software that lets you make free calls to anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world.” 17

The term ‘Chat’, in Skype language means texts, similar to instant messaging. You can host a ‘Group Chat’, this is a chat between up to 100 Skype users. A list of all chats is shown on the Chats tab of Skype, which all participants can see, and which is saved as documentation automatically by Skype. The term ‘Call’ refers to a voice call, where the Skype users speak to each other, this can be between two people with the option of using webcams, or through a ‘Conference Call’ with up to 3 other Skype users, however the use of webcams is not permitted.

METHOD:

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION: Group chat, calls with webcam and conference calls

APPARATUS: A computer with internet and Skype downloaded. A microphone and web camera (this is not essential). Drinks and food of your choice.

THE EXPERIMENTER: My role was moderator. To become part of the chat, participants were asked to contact me, in order for me to add them to the chat, this role of moderator didn’t seem to affect any interactions, however, it was needed for one occasion when a chat became slightly inappropriate, and also to start and end the event.

PARTICIPANTS:

- HOW WERE THEY APPROACHED?
I sent the invitation for the event over email, multi-media text message and posted it in the online community Netbehaviour. The invitation read:

“Rebecca Gamble would like to invite you, and friends to ‘fancy a skype chat?’ an online social drinks event on Sunday 25th March 2007, 6pm – Midnight.
This is the first event in a series, for the project ‘An Event for a Conversation’, which celebrates social networking, and explores the social and technological methods we use to communicate.
‘fancy a skype chat?’ explores the online communication method of Skyping; by specifying a time and virtual space for a social drinks event, it hopes to encourage dialogue between people, and connections between places. The conversations and those you share them with are not prescribed, to participate, you are simply asked to:
Download: Skype
Bring your own: drinks
Plug in: Your speakers, microphone and webcam
Log on: to Skype anytime between 6pm and Midnight, on Sunday 25th March 2007
And start chatting…
This event will be documented by the participants, through text sent to the artist and through screen grab images of desktops.
The conversations themselves will not be recorded.
For more information on what Skype is and how to use it, and for more details on this event, please check out http://an-event-for-a-conversation.blogspot.com/”

- HOW MANY?

ENVIRONMENT: Peoples homes or offices, worldwide, were connected through a virtual, online social environment of Skype. This included Germany, Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, Canada and the UK.

DOCUMENTATION: Skype documented all the chats and even made these available to people who joined the event later, Skype also documented the timings of the calls I made and received, I didn’t want to record the content of any of these as I thought it was too close to surveillance, and could make people feel uncomfortable. The other method of documentation, which I invited others to do also, was take screen grab images of their desktops while participating in the event.

DISCUSSION: During the 6 hour event, a social network was created between the participants, some of whom were friends, some artists, but mostly strangers, some of whom were very informed about this type of art work and collaborative events, others who were completely new to it, some who used Skype everyday, and others who were using it for the first time. The places connected were worldwide, including Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Turkey, Spain and England. The types of communication used during the Skype event, included calls, conference calls, chats, and group chats, as well as sharing web links and photo and music files.

I am pleased with the vast documentation I have from this event, as it offers the chance to use all the data to make a piece of work. I am experimenting with ways to represent this data, such as in an artistic version of a scientific report, including graphs mapping the levels of interactivity.

CONCLUSION: The key concerns I have identified in my work include, conversations, social networks, telecommunications, spatial connections, and events. My work has been influenced and informed by many artists and artworks, which share similar artistic concerns around communication, networking and events…

APPENDICES:
Action Research Methodology
Quantitative and Qualitative research

Interactivity Levels

2007-03-26T17:49:00.000+01:00

TIME NUMBER OF PEOPLE NUMBER OF CHATS
18.00 – 18.10 2 8
18.10 – 18.20 2 3
18.20 – 18.30 2 0
18.30 – 18.40 3 22
18.40 – 18.50 3 6
18.50 – 19.00 3 7
19.00 – 19.10 4 19
19.10 – 19.20 5 4
19.20 – 19.30 5 32
19.30 – 19.40 6 35
19.40 – 19.50 5 21
19.50 – 20.00 6 37
20.00 – 20.10 5 48
20.10 – 20.20 5 26
20.20 – 20.30 6 44
20.30 – 20.40 5 34
20.40 – 20.50 5 30
20.50 – 21.00 5 31
21.00 – 21.10 7 44
21.10 – 21.20 7 80
21.20 – 21.30 8 94
21.30 – 21.40 8 67
21.40 – 21.50 5 (I did not participate) 53
21.50 – 22.00 8 (I had to intervene and change the subject) 86
22.00 – 22.10 7 59
22.10 – 22.20 6 44
22.20 – 22.30 8 45
22.30 – 22.40 7 56
22.40 – 22.50 8 52
22.50 – 23.00 7 54
23.00 – 23.10 6 53
23.10 – 23.20 7 42
23.20 – 23.30 7 45
23.30 – 23.40 9 74
23.40 – 23.50 9 73
23.50 – 24.00 7 56
00.00 – 00.10 5 12
00.10 – 00.20 0 0
00.20 – 00.30 0 0
00.30 – 00.40 2 8
00.40 – 00.50 4 27

LAST CALL!!!

2007-03-25T23:46:00.000+01:00

CALLING LAST CONVERSATIONS AT THE VIRTUAL BAR!!! PLEASE FINISH YOUR CHATS AND WIND DOWN!!!

I would like to thank all the people who participated!

You are all wonderful!

We will no doubt speak again, keep an eye out for the doco of this event on this site...

Thanks again and goodnight!

'fancy a skype chat?' COUNTDOWN!

2007-03-25T15:00:00.000+01:00

'fancy a skype chat?' begins in 3 hours!!!

You are invited to start a conversation, or a contestation!

To participate in this project please bring your own drink, log on to skype TONIGHT anytime between 6pm and Midnight (GMT) and contact Rebecca Gamble...
If you already have Skype, simply click the icon above!
for more details, please read the blogs below....

'fancy a skype chat?' Invitation...

2007-03-24T17:41:00.000Z

Rebecca Gamble would like to invite you, and friends to: ‘fancy a skype chat?’; an online social event on Sunday 25th March 2007, 6pm – Midnight.

This is the first event in a series, for the project ‘An Event for a Conversation’, which celebrates social networking, and explores the social and technological methods we use to communicate.

‘fancy a skype chat?’ explores the online communication method of Skyping; by specifying a time and virtual space for a social event, it hopes to encourage dialogue between people, and connections between places. The conversations and those you share them with are not prescribed, to participate, you are simply asked to:

Download: Skype
Bring your own: drinks
Plug in: Your speakers, microphone and webcam
Log on: to Skype anytime between 6pm and Midnight, on Sunday 25th March 2007
And start chatting…

The artist hopes to re-create the pub-like environment of informal chat around a table over a drink, in to this virtual environment, by inviting people to ‘bring their own’, ‘log on’ and start chatting over Skype.

This event will be documented by the participants, through text sent to the artist and through screen grab images of desktops.
The conversations themselves will not be recorded.

For more information on how to participate, what Skype is and how to use it, and for more details about this event, please click 'Home' and read the blogs below.

'fancy a skype chat?' Instructions...

2007-03-24T16:17:00.000Z

To participate you will need the free software Skype on your computer.

“Skype is a little piece of software that lets you make free calls to anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world.”

To download, please visit http://www.skype.com/download/ or click on the link ‘Skype download’ link at the top, right hand side of this page.

When you have downloaded Skype you will need to re-open the software on your computer and ‘create an account’.

Once you have a Skype account, you can log on using your Skype name and password.

When you have logged on, please contact the artist, by clicking: Contacts – Add a contact – type in Rebecca Gamble and click – Search – highlight the contact and – Add contact.

When this new contact appears in your Skype window, highlight it, and click the blue button with a speech bubble symbol. Please write a message to the artist to make her aware you are logged on.

You will then be added to the ‘Group Chat’, which will include all the participants involved in the event.

To invite a friend to this virtual space, simply give them this blogspot address, where they can follow these instructions: http://an-event-for-a-conversation.blogspot.com/.

To take part in a video call, you will need to plug in a microphone and speakers. If you have a webcam you can also plug this in, however it is not essential.

To take part in the Group Chat you do not need the above.

You are invited to bring your own drinks, as this virtual, social space aims to create a pub-like environment online.

You are welcome to start or join in a conversation with anyone, and discuss any subject you like. These conversations will not be recorded. The artist is interested in what places are being connected online, and will text questions about people’s environment on the Group Chat. These responses and any other feedback from the participants will be used for the documentation of this project, which will be presented on this blogspot following the event.

Your interaction and participation is key to this event, so please get Skyping!

If you have any more questions, please contact; rebeccagamble@btinternet.com

Thank you for your interaction

'fancy a skype chat?' Introduction...

2007-03-24T15:34:00.001Z

‘fancy a skype chat?’ is the first experimental event for the project 'An Event for a Conversation'.

‘fancy a skype chat?’ invites people to an online, social event hosted by the artist Rebecca Gamble.

The artist hopes to re-create the pub-like environment of informal chat around a table over a drink, by inviting people to ‘bring their own’, ‘log on’ and start chatting over Skype.

This event aims to connect people and their different environments through online conversation, in a virtual environment.

This event will be documented through the texts of the ‘Group Chat’ on Skype, from screen grab images of the artists’ desktop at 10-minute intervals, and in other ways the participants add to it. The conversations themselves will not be recorded.

Mail-Art-Kit

2007-02-28T23:00:00.000Z

Mail-Art Kit: Contents

25 x 9x14.2cm Postcards
5 x 9.2x14.5cm White envelopes
8 x 7x9.7cm Brown envelopes
10 x 9x11.3cm Clear sealable plastic wallets
2 x 13x13cm Clear plastic CD wallets
6 x Address labels
20 x Hanging tickets
5 x Silver paperclips
2 x First class stamps
2 x Small red pegs
1 x Sheet of colour stickers
1 x Circle badge
1 x 9.5x15cm Clear plastic wallet

All sealed and sent in a 12.7x14.8x1.6cm cardboard package

The Do It With Others (DIWO) E-Mail-Art exhibition aims to highlight the already thriving imaginations of those who use social networks and digital networks on the Internet as a form of distribution. Just like Mail Art, E-Mail-Art bridges the divide between artists and non-artists to share a freely accessible form of distribution.

The Mail Art projects of the 60s, 70s and 80s demonstrated Fluxus artists' common disregard for the distinctions of 'high' and 'low' art and a disdain for what they saw as the elitist gate-keeping of the 'high' art world. They often took the form of themed, 'open calls', in which all submissions were exhibited and catalogued. Mail Art has always been a useful way to bypass curatorial restrictions for those who wish to create active and imaginative exchange on their own terms; this form of activity usually flourishes outside of the gallery system.

This E-Mail-Art exhibition, intends to follow the spirit of past Mail Art endeavours by asking those submitting their works to open themselves to a shared dialogue as part of the process and medium on the NetBehaviour mail list, as a playful platform for experimentation together at the same time.

The theme of this E-Mail-Art project is Do It With Others (DIWO).