folly and CA15

Grow Your Own Media Lab in a Van

New Media

One day workshop and installation: Saturday 8th Oct 2005

Project description:

Grow Your Own Media Lab is a collaborative research project established to develop creative, low cost, open source IT centres across the UK, twinning the latest free software with locally recycled computers. 

GYOML in a van aims to test the viability of a mobile media lab for folly established to develop community use and creative skills across remote parts of Cumbria.  The project aims to develop a mobile resource and a network of mutual support and collaboration, to enable organisations and individuals to grow their own media labs.

The ethos is to develop media labs as places to access learning opportunities, inspiration, collaboration, skill-sharing and community involvement and to introduce the creative potential of low cost technologies.

Artists statement:

Do-it-yourself culture - Become online producers as well as digital consumers!

Across the world experts have been creating software for themselves and sharing it, free of charge. The sharing system ropes in other experts to fix bugs and make improvements. Free Open Source operating systems are now so efficient that they double the useful life of computers.

Nobody markets free software, and nobody gets rich if you double the life of your laptop – this is a do-it-yourself culture.

This one day workshop aims to act as a basic introduction to the ethics and tools behind low-cost technology and opensource software.  Hands-on creative projects will be delivered by folly in partnership with CA15 throughout the day.