Proboscis wishes a happy and productive 2010 to all our Diffusion readers and contributors.

This year we’re hoping to take Diffusion eBooks and StoryCubes to new heights with bookleteer.com and some exciting new services we’ll be announcing in the Spring.

Meanwhile we’ve just published a case study by Kati Rynne on using bookleteer as a creative writer over on the bookleteer blog and yesterday we heard from Thomas Mailloux in France via Twitter that he’s created a library exploration field notebook for his students. We’d love to hear from other users of the Diffusion notebooks (and bookleteer) about what they use them for too.

If you’d like to use bookleteer.com to create your own Diffusion eBooks and StoryCubes please write to us at bookleteer [at] proboscis.org.uk for a test account.

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About : Karen is currently the Director and Curator of Interval. and a Researcher at the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) in Liverpool. She is also currently completing her practice-based PhD in Digital Media and Social Practice at the Digital Research Unit, The University of Huddersfield. The interview with Karen covered topics ranging from getting outside of the white cube to the expanding role of the audience. This interview, the second in the series of eBooks that will be released on www.curating.info, is intended to become part of a larger conversation. Comments on the topics raised in this series of eBooks are welcomed, and responses may be collected later into a companion eBook.

Published June 2008

Michelle Kasprzak is a curator, writer, and artist. Since winning the InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre Emerging Electronic Artist award early in her career, she has exhibited her work throughout North America and Europe, and has been featured in numerous publications and on radio and television broadcasts syndicated worldwide. She completed her MA in Visual and Media Arts from the Université du Québec à Montréal in spring of 2006, and later that year was awarded a curatorial research residency at the Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art (NIFCA) in Finland. She has published essays on art in CV Photo, Spacing, and Mute, and her most recent curatorial project was Otherworldly, a video programme that is currently touring urban screens around the globe. Michelle is currently based in Edinburgh.
michelle.kasprzak.ca, www.curating.info

Over a week in late July/early August 2007 Proboscis hosted a writing workshop for four teenage girls. The girls were invited to participate as part of the Case Study Residencies programme and spent an intense five days in the Proboscis studio during which they conceived, created, wrote, designed and produced illustrated stories to be published via the Diffusion Generator.

The week began with an introduction to Proboscis and the project and the girls talked about their experiences of writing and illustrating stories – what they enjoyed doing, what they found hard, why they wanted to achieve etc. All four were keen artists and writers interested in Manga; they discussed the kinds of things they currently wrote and the problems they faced. All of them commented that they very rarely finished stories – ideas came and went – and that they would move onto another story before they had finished the previous one.

A walk around Clerkenwell and Smithfield Market, an area steeped in history and vibrant with everyday life and change, formed the basis for the girls’ stories. Each of the girls was given a digital camera and sound recorder to capture images and sounds of the area that interested them. Our route took us past Mount Pleasant, through Finsbury down to Clerkenwell Green and St John’s Gate, through to Charterhouse Square, round Smithfield and St Barts, up Saffron and Herbal Hills and back to Rosebery Avenue. Using a small library of books about London’s past and present, we researched histories of some of the building, who lived in these places and what took place there. In particular the girls became fascinated with a former Victorian school building erected on the site of Clerkenwell’s notorious House of Correction, an underground prison of the 17th and 18th Centuries.

Using the walk, their research, and the photos and sounds recorded on the walk as the source material, we spent a few hours as a group planning a master narrative and skeleton storyboard. This set out a single plot and selection of characters which they could all use and base their stories around, with individual stories deviating from this central concept as they chose. Once the bones of the narrative were in place we spent a while coming up with the elements to be included in each scene using the StoryCubes to think about what should and shouldn’t be included.

Concentrating on the storyboarding was quite a difficult task and different to the girls’ usual methods of writing, however it provided a useful framework for working out the characters, their relationships and the major events of the main story. We pushed them to come up with the skeleton story but also let them know that they had the freedom to do what they liked with the stories after this – they could miss out chapters, start at a different point or change whatever they wished.

Focusing on the school and the prison as the place of the story, the characters’ images and their names became important to the girls and they did more intense work on the various chapters and the characters throughout the week. The illustrations for the eBooks were drawn first before being scanned. Some of them were then coloured using Painter and Photoshop. The girls worked on the drawings and stories simultaneously, making decisions as they went along about what images were needed and where. A lot of the Manga-style images were shared between a number of the girls with several of the same characters appearing in more than one of the girls stories. This interweaving of narrative and character giving this series of eBooks a particular coherence and sense of multiple authorship.

By the end of the five day workshop each of the girls had completed the stories and illustrations for at least one eBook; over the next couple of months these were refined and edited before being published on the Diffusion site in November 2007.

The eBooks
Kiddie Crunch Time – Vanda Rjechko
KCT– Grandma’s Story – Georgia Hudson
Crunch! – AyaOluwa Aloa
Deep_’n_Dark 2: Mo(u)rning Rises – Eloise Mitchell
Deep_’n_Dark 1: Dusk Descends – Eloise Mitchell

Why did you take part?
I was invited to take part by Giles, and was delighted at the opportunity given to me to learn how to develop ‘eBooks’ on the Diffusion Generator and work in the Proboscis studio with Karen (mentor) and support from Giles and the rest of the team. I took part because it fitted in well to the aims of an arts and communication project I have been developing with a school in Umulogho Village in Nigeria since January 2007 and art workshops I have been running in the Watford area.

What did you achieve?

• I learnt how to use the Diffusion Generator, with excellent support from my mentor Karen.
• I wanted my eBooks to be illustrative, including photographs and painted images, with some text to ‘tell the story’.
• I learnt how to import scanned images from ‘Flickr’, which was a new site to me.
• I developed two eBooks. The first was an eBook called ‘A Little Something About Me’ and the second was called ‘Kedu?’ (How are You?)
• The eBooks were used as a tool for discussion about the village of Umulogho, Nigeria, with primary, junior and secondary aged pupils in schools in the Watford area.

How did you go about this – what was the process involved / your approach to the eBook Generator…?
I spent about five days in the Proboscis studio between May to September 2007. Karen was assigned as my mentor and guided me through the Diffusion site, she helped me to understand how to develop a draft eBook up to the generated version, scan in images from ‘Flickr’, write text and resolve any problems encountered. This help was definitely necessary and I don’t think I could have worked out all technical issues, without her help. I understand it was useful to Proboscis to have my feedback on my experience of making the eBooks (plus experience of other case studies) and this helped in making further improvements to the Generator, which I gained the benefit of in my later sessions in the studio.

My approach to developing the eBook was as follows:

• The first eBook ‘A Little Something About Me’ summarized the words/ messages that were written by Umulogho Village students and included copies of their paintings, so that a short story could be told of their concerns, hopes and dreams for the improvement of their school, and to tell the reader something about their life and experiences in Umulogho Village.
• The second eBook is called ‘Kedu?’ ‘(How are you?’) This is a collection of questions that came from primary to secondary aged children from Watford (plus some of my own). The aim was to capture their curiosity about Umulogho Village life and young people’s experiences there after seeing the first eBook and a look at the paintings made by Umulogho pupils. These questions were asked by pupils during art/discussion workshops in the five schools I have been working in. The ages of the children I worked with ranged from 6 year olds to 13 year olds. Some of these questions were inputted into the ‘Kedu?’ eBook alongside pictures of the Umulogho students’ paintings. The eBook will be sent to the students in Umulogho Village in March 2008. I have already discussed how the eBooks will be used by students in Umulogho and I am trying to resource this to happen.

What did you learn from this process? How did this process influence (if it did) your way of working?
The experience of the case study helped me to further develop the overall strategy for the work I have been doing with Umulogho Village and schools in Watford and it has had a positive impact on the development of a new charity I have been setting up called ‘Friends Out There’.

Although I have not yet used the eBook in schools as the main focus in the workshops I have been running, it has been an excellent resource to hand out to the pupils after the initial discussion about Umulogho Village and as an aid to the paintings, questions and messages that pupils in England have been making, with the intention to sent back to Umulogho. It was good to watch the pupils look through the eBooks, see their interest in them and want to talk to each other about their content.

What other ways could you see yourself using the Generator for in the future?

• I would still like to develop a few variations to the eBook, ‘A Little Something About me’ changing the amount of words, length of the eBook and use of language for different audiences/ages etc and perhaps breaking up into different themes about village life.
• I have about 200 paintings that have now been produced by up to five schools in Watford and I am excited about developing further eBooks, hopefully with some school and pupil involvement in the process. The next set of eBooks I hope to make are from the paintings and messages produced by Queens Secondary School and from Field Junior School in Watford. They would like to send a record of their images back to students in Umulogho and get a dialogue going between the schools. I haven’t approached the school about making an eBook yet. Queens have made a four minute DVD of the art workshop I ran with them that I would also like to send back to Umulogho Village.

Any other comments?
I think the case study experience has been a fantastic opportunity for me and I now need to find the time to continue on with ideas I have for future eBooks and look forward to discussing this with Giles. I could see it becoming more integrated into the work I am doing, not just as part of the workshops, but using the format of the eBook as a way to record events, workshops with schools, helping to establish and continue conversations between different school communities I have been working with in England and in Nigeria.

Overall, I think it’s an excellent, usable tool for educational learning and sharing. I particularly like the detective like, pocket sized feel of it. It’s great that it is available on the Diffusion website, and so can be accessed around the world and I have sign-posted many people to it.

Bev Carter
February 2008

The eBooks
Kedu? How are you?
A Little Something About Me

Why did you take part?
I was looking for an innovative way to engage readers with my blog. My blog is about curating contemporary art, and there is some editorial content but there is also a lot of “news” content, such as job postings and funding opportunities for curators. I wanted to create a special series of interviews with curators and really make that content stand out from the rest. It seemed clear to me that the way to do so would be to provide a “take away” item for readers – something that they could download and share. I was (and still am) very excited by the possibilities of the DIFFUSION Generator.

What did you aim to achieve?
I aimed to conduct interesting interviews with a variety of curators and find a way to make visually appealing eBooks using the Generator. I also had a personal goal of investigating the possibilities raised by providing something for my readers that is a downloadable thing that becomes physical.

How did you go about this – what was the process involved / your approach to the eBook Generator…?
I dove in and just tried things. I got an idea for something in my head, for example, to do a stylised pull-quote, and when I couldn’t exactly achieve it within the Generator, I simply created an image of what I wanted using a different piece of software and dropped the image in. The Generator was pretty cooperative for me, and little workarounds like adding images to make the eBook more graphic was fine – in fact, I’m glad the Generator has very basic, simple tools – there’s no need to re-create Photoshop within it!

What did you learn from this process? How did this process influence (if it did) your way of working?
In particular, I found the process of working in the Proboscis studio and receiving ongoing feedback on my intended use of the eBooks very valuable. For example, I originally intended to simply produce and disseminate the eBooks on my blog. Through discussions in the studio, I became aware that I could use the accessibility and tactility of the actual eBook as object to solicit further feedback and responses, by printing and creating eBooks that I could give to selected people who would be invited to share their responses. The fact that I could disseminate the eBooks in both digital and physical formats was very intriguing to me and altered the course of how I thought of my project.

What other ways could you see yourself using the Generator for in the future?
I could see myself using the Generator, as others have as well, to create notebooks or sketchpads, provding some ccntent but also space for reflection. I also see myself using the eBook format to disseminate other types of research and writing. In future, adding a ntoebook element could also encourage a greater level of personalisation by the audience for these eBooks, which I find very appealing, and would like to try.

Any other comments?
I think everyone should have a go at publishing their own photos or writing in the DIFFUSION eBook format. It’s amazing the transformation that occurs when you put your content into physical book form. I remember being quite thrilled when my first one came off the printer! It gives you another way to look at your own thoughts and ideas, which is a rare thing.

Though the eBook exists in a digital form, once it has been generated and designed it is, in my mind, better for timeless information (research, interviews, writing), and my regular blog posts will still serve well for timely information (the “news” that I referred to above). I do think that combining these approaches is an excellent way to diversify my blog output and is a tool that could be further exploited by bloggers to highlight special content – particularly research.

Michelle Kasprzak
February 2008

The eBooks
Alissa Firth-Eagland

My involvement with the eBooks case study can be considered a continuation of my ongoing collaborations with Proboscis both as an independent artist/curator and as Director of RENDER (University of Waterloo, Canada).

Working with my daughter Maggie (11), our goal was to produce a series of image-based eBooks based on walks around the city of London. This approach is consistent with one dominant thread in my practice which involves the exploration of places and histories through walking (my recent project “Dark Matter” which involved documented walks on the Somme battlefield of WW1, is a good example of this approach). We also chose to work with a walking/photographing approach as this was Maggie’s first visit to London and so we adopted a form of sightseeing. Maggie determined the primary focus which was animals (in any form) and their presence in the city determined where we went and what we photographed. Basically we used the eBook format to produce “souvenir” books of our visit that documented a rather idiosyncratic approach to the city.

The eBook was an ideal tool for this kind of informal exploration allowing us to produce in a very quick and simple fashion a concrete document of our explorations that now exist as sketches for future more intense investigations. I can certainly see continuing to use these as both a unique kind of sketching/story-boarding tool and as a very effective way of disseminating works in progress. I should add that in addition to this series, Maggie produced her own eBook as a school report on her trip and it is certainly a format ideally suited for such a project.

Andrew Hunter

The eBooks
London Journal
An Accidental Menagerie 3
An Accidental Menagerie 2
An Accidental Menagerie 1

Bev Carter, who participated in last year’s Case Study programme, is organising the launch event, Friends Out There, for a charity which will run arts based projects with residents of Umulogho Village, Nigeria at the Watford Colosseum (Map) just 20 minutes by London from Euston Station.

A celebration of African dance, art and music, the main aim of the event is to raise funds to improve facilities in Umulogho village and establish a new school building. Bev’s Case Study project, A Little Something About Me includes two eBooks (A Little Something About Me and Kedu? How Are You?) based on the experiences of children at the school and is part of a long term exchange being developed between Umologho schoolchildren and schoolchildren in the UK.

Visit the Friend Out There blog

Doors open at 6pm with live performances from 7.45pm until 00.45am featuring:

• Kakatsitsi, Master Drummers from Ghana
• Chimanimani from Zimbabwe,
• Fire juggling and stilt walking by Area 51, the Masters of Breathtaking
• and special guest Rolf Harris performing live accompanied by his friend Shining Bear on didgeridoo

More details and tickets available from the Colosseum box office: 01923 225671

Originally blogged by Kevin Harris

This year Proboscis is planning to commission a new series of Diffusion Shareables, Transformations, and to run a further programme of case studies with both UK and international participants.

The theme of the new series is Transformations – we are planning to commission 10 new titles (both eBooks and StoryCubes) which reflect on the construction of identity: how and why we are who we are. What changes or transformations have we made to become who we are, or who we wished to be? The contributors have been asked to consider the theme from either a personal or a more societal point of view. We aim to announce the list of contributors in April.

This year’s case studies are also themed around two key areas: schools/education and museums, libraries and archives. Over the next few months we will begin inviting participants from professions engaged in these areas (teachers, librarians, archivists, curators etc) to explore with us how the Diffusion ethos and tools can be harnessed to deliver innovative benefits for their communities.

The international case studies will form a key part of our forthcoming Human Echoes programme to create and share bodies of knowledge across cultures, geographies and communities about different attitudes and practices of looking after our human and social ecologies – environmental stewardship. What impact can the collection and sharing of these knowledges have, especially by people in developing countries or indigenous communities who have previously had limited access to publishing and sharing technology? Can this point to next practices in developing local dialogues around sustainability in a global setting? How can the Diffusion ethos of public authoring, cultures of listening and its hybrid digital/material tools effectively contribute to greater dialogue and understanding between global communities?

We are seeking funders/sponsors and partners for these projects – do please get in touch if you would like to support Diffusion or collaborate on the projects.

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About : Maggie Hunter produced her eBook while visiting London in the fall of 2007. It consists of photographs and writings based on her daily walks around the city highlighting the sites that she was most intrigued by including the the observatory at Greenwich and the sphinxes at the base of Cleopatra’s Needle. During her time in London, she also collaborated with her father Andrew on the three Accidental Menagerie eBooks.

Published January 2008

Maggie Hunter is a grade 6 student living in Dundas Ontario, Canada.

On Friday 30th November, an informal evaluation of the Diffusion Generator Case Study Residency programme took place at the Proboscis studio. Those who participated included Bev Carter, artist and community development consultant; Paul Goodwin, a writer, curator and urban researcher; Andrew Hunter, artist, writer and the Director/Curator of RENDER, University of Waterloo, Canada; Michelle Kasprzak, curator, writer, artist and the Programmes Director of New Media Scotland and finally Tony White, a writer – author of novels including Foxy-T (Faber and Faber), and the non-fiction work Another Fool in the Balkans (Cadogan). They were hosted by Karen Martin who facilitated the residency programme, Phil Ayres, an architect, programmer and lecturer at the Bartlett School of Architecture (programmer of the Generator), Giles Lane, Alice Angus, Orlagh Woods from Proboscis.

The day began with an informal look at the different approaches and processes taken by each of the participants in the residency programme, exploring and sharing how they each used the Diffusion Generator to create and publish eBooks (as well as the occasional StoryCube). These included two way communications between children in the UK and Nigeria, a way to collate research for a book creatively, as a means to document an exhibition and research programme, as a visual journey through the city, as a series of interviews with curators and as a storytelling device.

In the afternoon, several other people were invited to take part in a larger discussion to explore other ways the Generator could be used. Among our guests were Linda Doyle of Trinity College Dublin, Michael Bhaskar of Pan Macmillan, Ellie Smith and Charles Beckett of Arts Council England, London.

Some of the various ideas for future uses of the Shareables and Generator included:

• as an evaluation tool for conferences or events
• within galleries or museums as interpretation tools
• for community engagement projects
• for internal marketing within organisations
• as a brand consulting tool
• to collect conversations and feedback dialogues
• for a short story competition
• to promote emerging writers alongside mainstream first publications
• for sampling ideas
• for rapid publishing of poetry slams
• and as educational tools

A more detailed evaluation will be published as an eBook in the new year.

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About : Second in a series of eBooks created by Paul Goodwin as part of Proboscis’ Generator Case Study Residencies. This eBook is the text of a lecture given by Paul Goodwin at the Royal Society of Arts London, October 18th 2007. It was part of a series of lectures called “No Leader” with Bonnie Greer and Kevin Spellman.

Published November 2007

Paul Goodwin is a writer, curator and urban researcher. He is director of the Re-Visioning Black Urbanism Project based the Centre for Urban and Community Research, Goldsmiths, University of London. The project explores new modes of inhabiting, imagining and making cities from progressive black and culturally diverse perspectives by organising exhibitions, film screenings, lectures, seminars and publications. Paul is also a creative consultant for IniVA’s (Institute for International Visual Arts) Mapping Project and a member of the Franco-British Council for whom he co-organised (with Bonnie Greer) an international symposium on the “Challenges of Cultural Diversity in the UK and France” in November, 2006. Paul is currently in the process of setting up a new strategic urban intervention office and think tank with the architect John Oduroe that will launch in London in 2008.

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About : Vanda took part in a Writing Workshop for young writers run by Proboscis in July/August 2007 as part of the Case Study Residencies. This eBook is a gothic tale of ghosts, prisoners, schoolkids and cannibalism!

Published November 2007

Vanda Rjechko is in Year 9 and lives in east London.

Download A4 | US Letter PDF 3.9Mb

About : Georgia took part in a Writing Workshop for young writers run by Proboscis in July/August 2007 as part of the Case Study Residencies. This eBook is a gothic tale of ghosts, prisoners, schoolkids and cannibalism!

Published November 2007

Georgia Hudson is in Year 9 and lives in east London.

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About : AyoOluwa took part in a Writing Workshop for young writers run by Proboscis in July/August 2007 as part of the Case Study Residencies. This eBook is a gothic tale of ghosts, prisoners, schoolkids and cannibalism!

Published November 2007

AyoOluwa Alao is in Year 9 and lives in east London.

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About : Bibliography v.01. This bibliography gathers together all of the sources used to generate stories for the Balkanising Bloomsbury project for the Case Study Residencies. It is an iterative, rolling process – i.e. each time a new story is uploaded through the Diffusion Generator, the bibliography will be updated and a new version will be published.

Published November 2007

Tony White is a writer. He is the author of novels including Foxy-T (Faber and Faber), and the non-fiction work Another Fool in the Balkans (Cadogan). Editor and co-editor of the fiction anthologies Britpulp (Sceptre) and Croatian Nights (Serpent’s Tail/VBZ). Tony White has edited and published the artists’ book imprint Piece of Paper Press since 1994 and contributed to numerous magazines and journals – he is also literary editor of the Idler magazine. Tony is currently working on another novel and undertaking research into creative writing in interdisciplinary and research contexts which is supported by Arts Council England through Grants for the Arts.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

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About : The Scene is part of the Balkanising Bloomsbury project for the Case Study Residencies – these are fragments of a novel-in-progress. The story was created by cutting up, remixing and re-narrativising fragments from various sources including Eleanor Benson, E.M.Forster, Anthony Hope and the author.

Published November 2007

Tony White is a writer. He is the author of novels including Foxy-T (Faber and Faber), and the non-fiction work Another Fool in the Balkans (Cadogan). Editor and co-editor of the fiction anthologies Britpulp (Sceptre) and Croatian Nights (Serpent’s Tail/VBZ). Tony White has edited and published the artists’ book imprint Piece of Paper Press since 1994 and contributed to numerous magazines and journals – he is also literary editor of the Idler magazine. Tony is currently working on another novel and undertaking research into creative writing in interdisciplinary and research contexts which is supported by Arts Council England through Grants for the Arts.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

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About : Hyde Park is part of the Balkanising Bloomsbury project for the Generator Case Studies – these are fragments of a novel-in-progress. The story was created by cutting up, remixing and re-narrativising fragments from various sources including the Richard Burton translation of The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Karl Marx, Robert Taitt and transcripts from the trial of Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Hyde Park was written for Barbara Campbell’s 1001 Nights Cast project.

Published November 2007

Tony White is a writer. He is the author of novels including Foxy-T (Faber and Faber), and the non-fiction work Another Fool in the Balkans (Cadogan). Editor and co-editor of the fiction anthologies Britpulp (Sceptre) and Croatian Nights (Serpent’s Tail/VBZ). Tony White has edited and published the artists’ book imprint Piece of Paper Press since 1994 and contributed to numerous magazines and journals – he is also literary editor of the Idler magazine. Tony is currently working on another novel and undertaking research into creative writing in interdisciplinary and research contexts which is supported by Arts Council England through Grants for the Arts.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

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About : Do You Hear That? is part of the Balkanising Bloomsbury project for the Generator Case Studies – these are fragments of a novel-in-progress. The story was created by cutting up, remixing and re-narrativising fragments from the Richard Burton translation of The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Joshua Partlow and transcripts from the trial of Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Do You Hear That? is one of three stories written for Barbara Campbell’s 1001 Nights Cast project.

Published November 2007

Tony White is a writer. He is the author of novels including Foxy-T (Faber and Faber), and the non-fiction work Another Fool in the Balkans (Cadogan). Editor and co-editor of the fiction anthologies Britpulp (Sceptre) and Croatian Nights (Serpent’s Tail/VBZ). Tony White has edited and published the artists’ book imprint Piece of Paper Press since 1994 and contributed to numerous magazines and journals – he is also literary editor of the Idler magazine. Tony is currently working on another novel and undertaking research into creative writing in interdisciplinary and research contexts which is supported by Arts Council England through Grants for the Arts.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

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About : Bottle Orchestra is part of the Balkanising Bloomsbury project for the Generator Case Studies. – these are fragments of a novel-in-progress. The story was created by cutting up, remixing and re-narrativising fragments from various sources including E.M.Forster, Jan & Cora Gordon and transcripts from the trial of Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Published November 2007

Tony White is a writer. He is the author of novels including Foxy-T (Faber and Faber), and the non-fiction work Another Fool in the Balkans (Cadogan). Editor and co-editor of the fiction anthologies Britpulp (Sceptre) and Croatian Nights (Serpent’s Tail/VBZ). Tony White has edited and published the artists’ book imprint Piece of Paper Press since 1994 and contributed to numerous magazines and journals – he is also literary editor of the Idler magazine. Tony is currently working on another novel and undertaking research into creative writing in interdisciplinary and research contexts which is supported by Arts Council England through Grants for the Arts.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

Download A4 | US Letter PDF 160Kb

About : Ahead in the Line is part of the Balkanising Bloomsbury project for the Generator Case Studies. The story was created by cutting up, remixing and re-narrativising fragments from various sources including the Richard Burton translation of The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, the letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and transcripts from the trial of Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Ahead in the Line was written for Barbara Campbell’s 1001 Nights Cast project.

Published November 2007

Tony White is a writer. He is the author of novels including Foxy-T (Faber and Faber), and the non-fiction work Another Fool in the Balkans (Cadogan). Editor and co-editor of the fiction anthologies Britpulp (Sceptre) and Croatian Nights (Serpent’s Tail/VBZ). Tony White has edited and published the artists’ book imprint Piece of Paper Press since 1994 and contributed to numerous magazines and journals – he is also literary editor of the Idler magazine. Tony is currently working on another novel and undertaking research into creative writing in interdisciplinary and research contexts which is supported by Arts Council England through Grants for the Arts.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

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About : Gobbledegook is part of the Balkanising Bloomsbury project for the Case Study Residencies. The story was created by cutting up, remixing and re-narrativising fragments from various sources to tell a completely new story. Sources include Alan Burgess, Lawrence Durrell and transcripts from the trial of Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Further titles and the first version of a rolling, iterative bibliography for the whole series will be published shortly.

Published November 2007

Tony White is a writer. He is the author of novels including Foxy-T (Faber and Faber), and the non-fiction work Another Fool in the Balkans (Cadogan). Editor and co-editor of the fiction anthologies Britpulp (Sceptre) and Croatian Nights (Serpent’s Tail/VBZ). Tony White has edited and published the artists’ book imprint Piece of Paper Press since 1994 and contributed to numerous magazines and journals – he is also literary editor of the Idler magazine. Tony is currently working on another novel and undertaking research into creative writing in interdisciplinary and research contexts which is supported by Arts Council England through Grants for the Arts.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

Bev Carter has been developing an arts and communication project with students in Umologho village, Nigeria since December 2006. “I’m excited that there are many ways that the eBook can be used explore how people feel about and interpret the environment around them, using pictures and words. I like the idea that thoughts, on the run, can be captured.” Bev is finding ways to share this information between young people in Nigeria and England. Contact bevalittlesomething@hotmail.co.uk

Paul Goodwin is a writer, curator and urban researcher. He is director of the Re-Visioning Black Urbanism Project based the Centre for Urban and Community Research, Goldsmiths, University of London. The project explores new modes of inhabiting, imagining and making cities from progressive black and culturally diverse perspectives by organising exhibitions, film screenings, lectures, seminars and publications. Paul is also a creative consultant for IniVA‘s (Institute for International Visual Arts) Mapping Project and a member of the Franco-British Council for whom he co-organised (with Bonnie Greer) an international symposium on the “Challenges of Cultural Diversity in the UK and France” in November, 2006. Paul is currently in the process of setting up a new strategic urban intervention office and think tank with the architect John Oduroe that will launch in London in 2008.

Andrew Hunter is the Director/Curator of RENDER, an interdisciplinary art based research, teaching, production and presentation centre at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Hunter also works as an independent artist, writer, and curator and has produced exhibitions, writings and publications for art galleries and museums across Canada, in the United States and Europe. He was a contributor to the Proboscis project Navigating History. For his Generator Case Study, Hunter will visit London in November of this year to develop a poetic, illustrated guidebook in collaboration with his 11 year old daughter Maggie.

Michelle Kasprzak is a curator, writer, and artist. Since winning the InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre Emerging Electronic Artist award early in her career, she has exhibited her work throughout North America and Europe, and has been featured in numerous publications and on radio and television broadcasts syndicated worldwide. She completed her MA in Visual and Media Arts from the Université du Québec à Montréal in spring of 2006, and later that year was awarded a curatorial research residency at the Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art (NIFCA) in Finland. She has published essays on art in CV Photo, Spacing, and Mute, and her most recent curatorial project was Otherworldly, a video programme that is currently touring urban screens around the globe. Michelle is currently based in Edinburgh, and is the Programmes Director of New Media Scotland. michelle.kasprzak.ca, www.mediascot.org, www.curating.info

Tony White is a writer. He is the author of novels including Foxy-T (Faber and Faber), and the non-fiction work Another Fool in the Balkans (Cadogan). Editor and co-editor of the fiction anthologies Britpulp (Sceptre) and Croatian Nights (Serpent’s Tail/VBZ). Tony White has edited and published the artists’ book imprint Piece of Paper Press since 1994 and contributed to numerous magazines and journals – he is also literary editor of the Idler magazine. Tony is currently working on another novel and undertaking research into creative writing in interdisciplinary and research contexts which is supported by Arts Council England through Grants for the Arts.

As part of the Case Study Residencies, Proboscis ran a writing workshop for 4 teenagers – Ayalouwa, Georgia, Eloise and Vanda – over 4 days in July and August.

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About : Eloise took part in a Writing Workshop for young writers run by Proboscis in July/August 2007. This eBook is part two of a gothic tale of ghosts, prisoners, schoolkids and cannibalism!

Published October 2007

Eloise Mitchell is studying for her GCSEs and lives in Cambridgeshire.

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About : Eloise took part in a Writing Workshop for young writers run by Proboscis in July/August 2007. This eBook is part one of a gothic tale of ghosts, prisoners, schoolkids and cannibalism!

Published October 2007

Eloise Mitchell is studying for her GCSEs and lives in Cambridgeshire.

During 2007 Proboscis is hosting a programme of short residencies enabling artists and writers to spend up to five days in Proboscis’ London studio exploring the potential of the DIFFUSION Generator for creating eBooks and StoryCubes. The participants include:

• Bev Carter – artist and community development consultant
• Tony White – novelist and writer
• Andrew Hunter – artist, curator and director of Render
• Paul Goodwin – writer, curator and social researcher at Goldsmiths College
• Michelle Kasprzak – artist, blogger and programme manager at New Media Scotland
• Ayooluwa, Georgia, Eloise & Vanda – a group of young aspiring writers and comic artists.

The results of the case studies will be published on DIFFUSION in the Generator Case Study category. We’ll announce some public events in late 2007 where case study participants will discuss using the Generator and the Shareables they have created with it.

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About : the first in a series of eBooks created by Paul Goodwin as part of Proboscis’ Generator Case Study Residencies. This eBook acts as a catalogue for the Peckham Rising exhibition curated by Paul.

Published October 2007

Paul Goodwin is a writer, curator and urban researcher. He is director of the Re-Visioning Black Urbanism Project based the Centre for Urban and Community Research, Goldsmiths, University of London. The project explores new modes of inhabiting, imagining and making cities from progressive black and culturally diverse perspectives by organising exhibitions, film screenings, lectures, seminars and publications. Paul is also a creative consultant for IniVA‘s (Institute for International Visual Arts) Mapping Project and a member of the Franco-British Council for whom he co-organised (with Bonnie Greer) an international symposium on the “Challenges of Cultural Diversity in the UK and France” in November, 2006. Paul is currently in the process of setting up a new strategic urban intervention office and think tank with the architect John Oduroe that will launch in London in 2008.

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Abstract: the first of a series of eBooks created by Michelle Kasprzak as part of the Generator Case Study Residencies. Michelle is interviewing contemporary art curators about their practice for her blog on curating: www.curating.info

Published September 2007

Michelle Kasprzak is a curator, writer, and artist. Since winning the InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre Emerging Electronic Artist award early in her career, she has exhibited her work throughout North America and Europe, and has been featured in numerous publications and on radio and television broadcasts syndicated worldwide. She completed her MA in Visual and Media Arts from the Université du Québec à Montréal in spring of 2006, and later that year was awarded a curatorial research residency at the Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art (NIFCA) in Finland. She has published essays on art in CV Photo, Spacing, and Mute, and her most recent curatorial project was Otherworldly, a video programme that is currently touring urban screens around the globe. Michelle is currently based in Edinburgh, and is the Programmes Director of New Media Scotland. michelle.kasprzak.ca, www.mediascot.org, www.curating.info