On the 15th of Jan I submitted an arts grant to help develop PPR, I think a had a whole 10 days from when I discovered the grant and when it was due, What a crazy ride that was! At times I was on top of the world finding that the universe was aligned, followed by pits of doubt, there were a few moments where I felt is easier to give up and not risk failing but I persisted.
We help from some good friends I submitted what I think is a pretty good bit of writing about the project.
Through the process of writing the grant it made pull the lense much further out then I had been looking previously. Up until then, I had been looking closely at the technology, the process and the mechanics of the project. The grant writing process made verbalise and put down on paper the more artistic and conceptual ideas. Some of the thoughts and ideas that i wish to explore are:
The togetherness that an audience can have, The connection that occurs between the audience and the performer. And why in some case's it the two party dont connect.
It also made me think about what are the expected roles that come with audience and performer and how the project can create a new space that is part performer and part audience.
I plan to investigate these ideas by critically looking at a range of arts and asking questions such as:
Who is the audience?
Who is the performer?
How/Why do the performer and audience interact?
Do they interact?
What are the roles and what does each party gain from the exchange?
On a more technical note I have had some wins with some great discovers about the technology of the project. I have decided on the interface in which the Psychical tangible interfaces will connect to the computer which will be using an Ardunio Mega 2560.
I have also found a great electronics site Spark fun which not only has a massive range of cool button, dials and sensors but also looks to have a really active community around it which I'm excited to get stuck into. Check out my wish list
I got a hot tip from local Melbourne musician Jem Savage was the new styles of controlerism which is very similar to idea of push play republic which also has a great online community.
It incredible how important it is to have have the right keywords when looking out there in the interwebs.
Lastly I would like to share one last little win; Once I had competed said grant I decided to hand it in to the office to make sure that it got there and on time etc etc. On the way out a gentleman held the door open for me, I guessed he had just done the same thing and we began chatting about our respective projects. It was really interesting how our projects where similar in some ways and very different in others. Ben if you by chance read this I would love to catch up and chat more about this stuff and look at building on that discussion.
So on reflection I feel that regardless of the outcome of the grant it has been a really rewarding process which I will no longer fear in the future but I will really look forward to the next one.
josh
