From 12-6pm on Sat 16 Apr, Edinburgh-based digital design company Line present Under The Hood for the Edinburgh International Science Festival. Creative Director Rufus Spiller spoke to us about the project’s showcasing and exploration of “the innovative ways in which the arts and digital sectors can collaborate”
Could you tell us what the project is about?
Well we were asked to be the digital partner for Edinburgh Science Festival and as part of that we were offered the opportunity to do an event. As an agency we wanted to show the connection between data and the science end of online media, alongside what the agency does. So it’s really an opportunity for us to demonstrate various ways that data can be interpreted in creativity.
We’ve got a couple of guys doing some audio stuff and a couple of guys here who are doing some projects and then we’ve got an illustrator coming in. Then they’re all going to be taking the data set which is all the data from previous festivals; so from the times of the events, to where they are, to how many people turned up etc – they can basically take it and do whatever they want with it. At the moment it’s just about the logistics of getting it all done because they’re all working on very different things so it’s not like you’ve only got a bunch of visuals, there’s got to be audio and also the ability to project etc.
We’ve got six participants at the moment and we’re still not sure how many of those will happen on the day and how many might happen after the event. But the audio and illustration are definitely happening on the day, along with two developers, so there’ll certainly be people in the space, we just want to get the right balance.
How will the day itself work?
Everyone has been briefed beforehand and they’ve got time to look at what they want to do before the date. Then on the day they can just come up and work on it until 6:00pm, and then probably at about 5:00pm we’ll show everyone’s work. That will go onto a website that we’ve already got set up, and then we’ll promote the website to support their work and the individuals themselves.
During the day it’ll switch from different people’s screens so everyone’s will be projected up. And there’ll be an introduction to what we’re doing but also the ability to read a bit more about the people who are working in the room at the same time. So it’s kind of like a live lab really; Inspace treat themselves as a sort of live laboratory, so they want us to ensure that that theme is kept. And it’s the idea that the guys will still be working in the space throughout the event and whatever they come up with will be projected.
Do you feel that this project is a genre mash-up?
Yeah I think it’s very much an opportunity for people to come in and see there are people working as the day progresses, which will hopefully attract some people. But I think what will be more interesting is learning a little bit more about what we’re doing and what we’re trying to say with it because I think there’s perhaps a simplistic view of what creatives do in the online space and that, actually, it takes a lot of people to do something creative online. And so it’s trying to make sense of that whole concept; if you can bring very different skills into the agency and they all produce something vastly different, and that all comes together in one grouping, the event is almost like a large metaphor for what the agency does.
we’re stepping out of our comfort zone by doing an actual event – and we felt that we had the skills internally to do something relevant and interesting
Mainly, is the raw data provided a vehicle for the artists and creatives to simply explore?
Yeah I think so and if you were to see it, the data is not something which is easily penetrable. As a creative I don’t look at it and go “right, I know what I can do with this” straight away but you know that if you look into it patterns emerge and you can look at it in more abstract ways. But the developers and the more technical people on the project will be taking it in a very direct stream, for instance if we look at location-based things where we can see how popular a certain venue is, that can just be mapped, giving an element of digital mash-up to it in which they can develop their side of things.
And I’m very interested in data visualisation, how data can be seen in a more abstract sense. I’m particularly enthusiastic about one of our illustrators and how he’s going to work as I think that’s a real challenge; to take something very digital and make something which is very analogue – but I think he’s got an opportunity to do something very interesting.
Have you done anything like this before?
We haven’t run events like this before no. I’ve run events for designers and we have done certain data visualisation projects but they’ve been for clients. We did one which we won a BEAMA award for Best Use of Visual Design for a sort of industry lunch and that was all based in data visualisation. So we have done certain things like it but we’re stepping out of our comfort zone by doing an actual event – and we felt that we had the skills internally to do something relevant and interesting. Also it’s an opportunity for us to examine something that we already know is there but are able to demonstrate to the public.
there’s an opportunity for technology to become part of the theatrical experience
Do you feel this project could be a metaphor for theatre as a growing technological medium?
I think it’s a metaphor for all arts-based projects. I think theatre, as well as what’s happening in televisual media and anything on screen, faces the reality that it is now at a certain technological point. There’s a great David Klein quote from years back where he said “the internet will only be successful when it’s unseen, unheard” and that’s something I’ve gripped onto as a great quote throughout my career. So I think all arts/media needs to be aware of that; now you can infuse technology into any part of a performance or installation.
Also the audience almost expect it now. They expect to be able to contribute and the access is much closer. We saw it years ago with the Red Button on Sky, and with the introduction of reality TV. So theatre should be doing the same thing really, just looking at how that crossover can work between art and technology. I worked in a very progressive theatre in Aberdeen where I saw how much innovation can happen in theatre. Budgets aren’t what they are and audiences are probably a little less willing to just sit down through the traditional performance; so there’s an opportunity for technology to become part of the theatrical experience.
How will the online transfer of the project work?
Once the event finishes, all of the elements which have been produced on the day will go up with an explanation of what each person did, what equipment they used and what data they used. And then there’ll be an open invite for anyone to use the same data to do the same thing which we’ll just curate as and when it comes in (I’m hoping it will provoke a few thoughts for people to do various things). And it shines a light on what Festivals Innovation Lab does and also allows the festivals to have a different view of what their data can be, which hopefully the online publication will help achieve.