Digital Art Workshop
'Creative Solutions' Art & Regeneration Conference, Reebok Stadium,

Bolton 12-13 June 2001
Two hours. Lunch inbetween. Eight people from various aspects of housing, tenancy, resident representation, arts administration, arts production and arts management. Two lap-tops. Eight strangers. One original image...
Hamilton, 1993 Car Park

central Hamilton

Lanarkshire, 1993

BRIEF

Hour 1. Discussion: new media art, Constable, artists' briefs, computers, cut/edit/copy/paste, fear, accidents, sites, problems, fun, solutions, education, digital, do-it-yourself, participation, selling digital art, (legal) grafitti, 'tell us what you want', rotate, mouse control, bravery,

Proposals

Hour 2. Production: alter image while being aware of accidents, 'real life' equivalents, unrealisable schemes, traditional solutions, public opinion, politics (click image on left)

Afterwards, remove all colour and look at the ideas.

Between them, the two groups came up with between 20-22 ideas for the one site in about 45-50 minutes. Some unrealisable ideas. Some realisable.

For the last ten minutes they were asked to create a brief 'web-site' blurb about what had just taken place:

Dizzy Heights plc

Vertical Solutions

A very free treatment of an intractible problem

Colour, inversion, urban decay and digital bloom

Homage to Jean Michel Basquiat and an incredible waste of public money production

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The Lost Vegas of Lanarkshire

****

one large xmas tree 3000 light bulbs one yellow brick road arizona sky through a tequila haze ten thousand metres of flourescent lighting one slide from exit removal of road a big opening paint party with food and drinks, and smiles

Can we read anything into the digital ramblings of eight people at a busy national conference on art, regeneration and housing?

Can we detect real desires to be free, radical and honest within our given confines and our experience of (previous) public opinion?

Can we detect a way of using new media to generate (ideas) rather than regenerate?

The 'Creative Solutions' conference was organised by Bolton %for art, with support from North West Arts Board, Northern Arts, Bolton Community Homes, The Housing Corporation, Bolton Metro, Northwest Development Agency, Yorkshire Arts, Northern Consortium of Housing Authorities and the Chartered Institute of Housing.

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