Phtzone

flickr.com/groups/2220743@N22/

(flickr Phtzone Gallery)

Lucacurci.com/ArtExpo
Fragmented Cities)

(ArtExpo, Italy Venice Borders

(ArtExpo, Argentina)

Phtz_tw

Project Outline
Phtzone is a form of antidote and diversion to a 'selfie' oblivion with a
focus on how social media technology can be a resourceful energy in rapid
and incredulous technological developments.
The 'on the fly' look at society returns intimate transients of networked
social behaviour that database Open Social change , adaptation, and
evolution in Digital societies. The focus is on access to open source media
and public as agents of social communicative space. The aim to reevaluate societies spaces and identity exploring open source agency,
extended networks and communities.
The content is open source , and photos are feed from the open source
photography social media networks ; flickr, twitter, fBK, square, (inc.
instathingy :() and the website photo gallery. For exhibition and the
ArtExpo festival the photogallery phtz are animated on a random loop
vizualisation on either a single plasma screen or 6 grid LCD (same
animation script can be used and set randomly for each LCD pane)

Context and Project Concept

Photos taken using a smart phone camera and smartphone technology.
The content is public participation and all photos are accredited on a CC
basis and with the photographer and subjects consent.
Quick snaps; reportage photos - taken of people in 'public' spaces (with
their consent);
people that in the photographers opinion look
'comfortable' - that is they are 'comfortable' with themselves connecting
a comfort zone between the photographer and the subject. Photos are
uploaded via the project website, social networks and interactive screen.
Uploads are immediate via flickr, social media and a mobile phone widget

(Bluetooth?) on the project website. The project is active as a Net Art,

event / gallery space.

For all those with a curious interest in the rapid changes in technology
both on a global and smaller community basis Phtz is a hybrid project
that's scope spans both art and technology. A transitory artwork and
global network and can play a vital role in adjusting perceptions and
bringing forward new forms, considering and analysing both, including
smaller community workshop interventions of change in accelerated
transitions of technological change.
The form and process is a collaborative interdisciplinary network structure
drawing on knowledge and thinking from diverse and immediate sources
of thought and research on form, space, public space, 'cultural scripting'
syntax space. Development in digital technology inspires new design
processes and opens up new territories and terrains - social, spatial and
technical. Experimental event spaces, hackspaces and pop up spaces
actively collaborate on Phtzone community projects.
Depending on the screening selected, photos display as animated panes
(windows), or grids of photos that update as photos are uploaded onto the
project website. With further funding the animation can screen on large
scale media screens and media facades as a random photo clouds - the
images replenished randomly on a loop. Plasma screens have morphed,
peeled wafer thin, can roll up, adhere to faade surfaces, gallery windows
allowing an extensive vocabulary of public media activism, connecting
public media (bill boards, windows, exterior surfaces) with Art gallery
spaces, public environments and media technology.

ArtExpo Festival (Its Liquid)

Exhibition of Phtzone at the Venice ArtExpo (Borders, Fragmented Cities
May to October) has the potential to exhibit the artwork in multiple
formats and sites across Venice and again at the ArtExpo Argentina (June).
All funding, sponsorship would facilitate the development of the artwork
and project from small scale to a social network with interconnected
public events both on a global and intimate scale. By developing the
technology for interactive media , and adapting the media for temporary
public spaces, transient events enfolding and interconnecting public
spaces, social interaction,
emergent
technologies
and digital
anthropologies across multi-level spaces and satellite communities.
Further potential community projects, festivals and events are
Hackspace, community projects are both intimate events where audiences
can participate, interact closely with the artist and artwork. Studio, event

space workshops also encourage audiences to explore the possibilities of

art and technology, learn and involve in new social interactive networks.
The project objectives appraisal
The first active version on flickr in 2013 response was minimal although
the flickr groups the project was part of were mostly smart technology
groups with members of 10k or more! when unknown bloggers bring in
1000s of followers with very little effort and have cult status overnight,
the immediate objectives were revision of social network marketing and
research to adapt and updated the project to encourage intuitive audience
participation. Optimising the website and marketing strategies to facilitate
a social network portal are immediate requirements for investment.
Investing resources in small event space workshops extends the
involvement of participants with both the artwork and artist which invites
communication and interaction. The websites also crash with the
technological requirements of software and website with little funding or
resources to improve. Inspiring imagination and involvement with the
development of smart phone tec. apps that participants can use from their
phones and a sense of contributing, communing, and involvement in
multiple digital communities and networks. On an artistic level combining
an artwork that is both conceptually and technically challenging but also
engaging and inspiring and engaging has been an important and
transforming process
The outcomes of the project are educational, research for visual data on
digital cultures and communities; conceptually approaching questions of
computational design, architecture and evolving spaces and communities
through art activist community projects and network

Tech Coding Call for Coders

Coding Requirements for Phtzone (Website / Artwork ready ) ArtExpo festival 1
May !
A call for coders to work on scripts for artwork ready website and plasma screen
animation for 1 May. Working as a team both on the website database and in
London. The coding isnt technically ground breaking and most the bulk of the
coding is preset wordpress plugins. The call is for contribution for website script
tweeking and modification, social media API and database integration,
optimization, and priority scripting for a random loop photo animation updated
fro the wp database for a plasma screen (LCD).
The main wordpress set up is quite easy but the urgency is to have artwork and
interactivity ready for May 1 and to work with other coders in London as a team
(learning and coding with them!). The pitch isnt a client spec but a team coding
opportunity and all contributor mentions as collaborators on the artwork and on
promo accreditations.

Website
Social network integration

The website is active (temp revision) on a free host Wordpress website and can
be quickly transferred to a paying host site. The reasons for using wp , for those
that arent familiar with wp, is that the scripts are mostly javascript, and
proliferated with free open source plugins and widgets, ( javascript). And the
software is built, modified and hacked by wp developers and volunteers.
Most the plugins are specifically scripted for creative commons / MIT licence
modification to specifications and are updated with all the evolving libraries
regularly, eg. Json, reactor.
Info links
https://wordpress.org/plugins/flickr-api/
https://wordpress.org/
http://codecanyon.net/item/justified-image-grid-premium-wordpressgallery/2594251?
ref=surfarama&ref=cirvitis&clickthrough_id&redirect_back=true
http://enviragallery.com/
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/03/ten-things-every-wordpress-plugindeveloper-should-know/

Social Portal Network

Coding
Interface The website visual emphasis is a flickr style photo gallery animation .
For May with revision and adaptation for site specific artwork.
The theme a variation of a flickr photo gallery either a preset theme or can fully
script from a html/ css javascript blank page BUT the wp themes have full theme
support for any problems with the preset themes . Open to recommendations
and comment but havent time for a full discussion
Theme links
Imbalance theme http://wpshower.com/themes/imbalance-2/
https://wordpress.org/plugins/awesome-flickr-gallery-plugin/
https://wordpress.org/plugins/flickr-album-gallery/

Social media database feeds

The website photo pool is feed from as many of the optimum photo social media
networks as possible : flickr, fBK, twitter, insta.. etc. The Social media APIs have
to be scripted to intergrate photos from each of the social networks directly to
the website gallery , which might prompt as little as widget modifications or
require plugin re-scripting but should have developer support material for
adapting the scripts
Checking all the feeds integrate smoothing into an homogenous photo link
Database optimisation photo animations notoriously eats up memory and using
a free wordpress site the website is slow, crashes frequently and is down
frequently while solving trivial debugging. A recommended solution is using
scripts for a fixed image pool that pulls photos from the database, minimzing the
number of images loaded into the memory at one time , and bring down memory
usage considerably (eg. 900 MiB to ~ 90 MiB)
Again wp seo, optimsation set up is fully supported and scripts are all javascript
for developer modification. Coders can work directly on the site.
Coders interested in tweeking / modifying the wp javascript :
Customization of photo pool eg. ; with cc, MIT licence attributions,
accreditations, gallery grid dimentions, image thumbnails, image size

Resources sourced for base scripts

http://davetayls.me/blog/2016/04/06/image-pooling-for-the-win

Website Photo upload

The website interface also requires a direct upload to the website (widget/
plugin)
Customize of upload page for photos directly to website photo blog image pool
and directly to the photo gallery, with attributes and accreditations
Automatically Updated
Artwork
Animation Media Loop
Using a base script for a photo pool again for an animation for either a plasma
screen or smaller LCD grid (the same scripts can be used on a random loop for
each LCD ) similar to http://davetayls.me/blog/2016/04/06/image-pooling-for-thewin
Considerations for animating for plasma screen
Most plasma screens require graphics resized for the specific resolutions and
dimensions of the screen and the screen resolution to aspect ratio is rectangular
pixels and the graphics are compressed horizontally as the screen stretches the
image is stretched to configure to the right definition aspect ratio. Resolution
acceptability and plasma screen size have to be taken into consideration.
Other considerations are Loop times, viewer focus and attention, animation feed
website rss update
Configuring the Plasma screen / LCD

Scripts
Media technology
Other media material
http://www.datapath.co.uk/
High definition media facades
Public space media facades and displays
LCD, silicon, Laser Diode, CRT ,hybrid projectors
Portable media skins