Newsdrip documents the shifting emphasis and subject matter of the online news media. It is as much an index of significance as it is of the ephemeral.
Phase two of the Newsdrip project is a software implementation of the final installation - a kind of virtual maquette. It was produced partly in residence at ISIS in November, 2004. The artists' software reads a series of front pages of online newspapers and then simulates the dripping of water onto the surface of two counterposed maps. The ripples highlight locations of current media significance. The maps draw data from different sources and as such serve as representations of western and eastern perspectives. The software is live and the information updates constantly. The sensitivity of the system will increase over time as the coordinates of new locations are added to the database.
The Newsdrip project will eventually become a physical installation making use of automated dripping water jets.
Anneke Pettican and Spencer Roberts met whilst lecturing on the BA (Hons) Multimedia and Virtual Reality Design Courses at the University of Huddersfield. They began working together in 2000. Their collaborative works play with spatial and temporal realities using text-based experiments. The media they employ ranges from simple subtitling techniques, to custom built interactive pieces and GPS.
Anneke Pettican is a Fine Art practitioner exploring liminal spaces in digital and everyday environments. She is also co-director of Brass Art, a collective based in Manchester and Glasgow, who curate, commission and exhibit both nationally and internationally. Their show Phantasmagoria opens at The Lowry, Salford, April 05.
Spencer Roberts is an artist, philosopher and programmer. He recently designed and built the database imaginary website. He is in the final stages of redeveloping the CRUMB curatorial archive at the University of Sunderland. His work Intangible | Real will be previewed at the Side Cinema, Newcastle, in May 2005. He is interested in the intersections between philosophy, art and technology and will shortly be beginning a Ph.D. which will explore their confluence further.
