Trimester II Assessment

This is a work in progress, shoo!!

Special Issue #25

☆ Highlights☆

⇔ Bureaucratic Review Committee (SI25)

Interest:

1. I was really interested in collaborating on an interactive work, especially trying to figure out together with Sevgi and Fred how we can make the rotary phone work with the raspberry pie. This was a first for me, especially trying to understand how the r. pie works together with the code.
2. This project made me more motivated to work with interactivity and immersive installations.
3. During the set up day at UBIK, I was really pleased with the scenography of the office space we created- I would love to research further about scenography in exhibition making.

Collaboration:

1. I helped with the documentation of the wiki, especially since we were three people in one project and would occasionally work individually then meet to recap on what we did.
2. I worked on the draft script for the telephone, then recorded each 'entry'.
3. Being part of the logistics team together with Claudio and Fred, helping out with set up and general equipment that was needed on the day.
4. I sourced props for our installation together with Sevgi, we wanted to go for vintage office decor to immerse the listener when interacting with the phone.
5. Sevgi and I worked together on the BRC report, compiling all the recordings from the event, adding visualisations, printing and binding.

Frustrations:

1. Since I joined a bit later and didn't have much coding experience (especially with JS), I found it a bit hard to follow the code that Fred was working on. We reached a solution where Fred would upload the code to the wiki page and I would read it in my own time, as it did not make sense to work on the code together since this would slow down our process. I would occasionally follow Fred’s explanation of the code as he would be working, to also familiarise myself with JS.
2. I think this is more of a personal note, but I wish I joined this project before so I could help more with the initial research.

⇔ Prototyping

• soundboards: during this session, I became interested in preserving sounds from back home, similiarily to the archival company I worked for. They would digitise videos, audio and images that were donated to the organisation. I eventually pitched to them the idea, which took on a whole new approach through the workshop with Sustain delay.
• pianola: this session had sparked an idea for Sevgi and I- we want to host a workshop where we create a tapestry pianola using Arduino to create sounds through stitching.
• piezo microphone making: this was really fun! It was my first time soldering and made me feel accomplished to craft something that I can record with. It was a great opportunity to learn about how certain devices are made, I want to explore this further maybe through small projects (repurposing the tamagotchi, maybe?)
• graphiz: I found graphiz to be an amazing tool to create visualisations, I used it for the BRC project to create the 'scripts' for the telephone.
• intro to server: this was my first time being introduced to how a server works, how to access it and how to upload stuff onto it. It feels great to have this knowledge and I want to explore servers further!

Special Issue #26

☆ Highlights☆

⇔ Quilting <p> (SI26)

Interest:

1. The initial interest started while Sevgi and I were making web extensions, we were imagining that the changed webpages looked like weaving patterns. We got really excited by this and started to research more about quilting, where the project started to develop further into how we can apply physical mediums like quilting, to the web.
2. I also have an understanding of textile works, so I was really interested to work on this project. My previous textile works were quite traditional and I was mainly using them together with clay, but I feel motivated to find ways of translating the digital, to the physical and vice versa.
3. I want to gather a better understanding of finding connections between css elements and physical quilting techniques
   

Collaboration:

1. We are currently using the wiki as our point of research, we update all the collective and individual work we do here.
2. Through our digital exploration of incorporating iframes into digital quilting, we have also had our own quilting session. This helped us understand the many steps of making a quilt, helping us build connections with how the design of a webpage can share aesthetic similarities.
3. We also held a workshop with the class, where we asked them to contribute to our special issue project by sending us: an old screenshot, a bookmark they never visit anymore or an html file of a website they made and don't use anymore. With these quilting tops, they will be stitched together and presented as a quilt at the SI event.
4. I am currently writing a few 'chapters' for a research object that will be presented at the event. Sevgi and I plan to take pieces from this research text, that we are both writing individually, but then combining them by stitching the pieces of research together.

Frustrations:

1. As of now, I am wondering how we will be able to set up the quilt within the space, so I guess this is more of an installation frustration?
2. Glossary for the digital online quilt, we are still working on this!

⇔ Prototyping

• pen plotting: I've always been interested in penplotting but never got around to explore it, I really enjoyed the sessions and would love to continue working on some fun graphical works. I made these in class by juxtaposing many of the HPGL commands on top of each other:

This was an attempt with the python script together with Feline and Fred

• media archaeology approach

⇔ Methods

• The fan fiction exercise was great, Claudio and I wrote an "email" response to Olia Lialinas essay "Vernacular Web". Sometimes I find it hard to remember or summarise texts from class but this exercise was a great opportunity for me to add commentary after reading the text and helping me do so through a fun approach. I come from a very strict academic background, they would critique the way we write, especially if it does not sound formal, which took me a while to feel a bit relaxed in theory classes. In a nutshell, I would like to thank this exercise for helping me feel more comfortable with my writing!
• Pippin Barr workshop: this workshop, including his talk in the evening with Jaret Vadera, made me feel really inspired and motivated. It was really interesting to learn more about his work process, especially the idea of note taking in markdown or in vs code (version control!). The workshop encouraged me to use the Wiki way more often, as one of my frustrations is not documenting enough, which is something I want to work more on. My notes from this workshop can be found here.

Future works

★ Thesis research

inheritance documents and such

I am really interest in exploring ways in which we:

• collect
• gather objects and data
• compile
• archive
• preserve
• record
• store

SSTV transmission of the painting "Island of the Dead" by Arnold Böcklin.

My interest in material culture also inspires me to learn more about the idea of inheritance, I have been thinking a lot about digital inheritance, is that a thing?

I am also really interested in ways of transmitting information/ sharing of information / data storage and structures. Relating to the transmitting of information, I've wanted to explore how images are transmitted through radio waves, specifically through SSTV imagery.

Printers (the beating heart):

I remember a year ago I watched an episode of Better Call Saul and there was a scene where Saul is being interviewed to be a salesman for a printer company and he says:

"I know-- I know better than anyone...that the copier, it's the beating heart of any business. It goes down, it causes delays, that is lost money...that is frustrated employees, that's a negative work environment. That's a business on life support. But you plug one of your new machines into the system...whoo, that is a healthy, strong heartbeat.

(imitates heart beating)

That is a healthy business.

(imitates heart beating)

That is a successful business."

Of course, I did keep in mind that this was his salesman technique speaking, but I could not help and think about what he said about printers and the frustrations they bring. I also started to think about how could anything exist without the printer, how could I print my documents to send over to an embassy, or to a scholarship application or the validate something at a bank? These are things I often take for granted.

★ Possible residency

Four week residency: Beyond What Drifts Us Apart 2025

I have been invited to be one of the artists representing Malta in the BWDUA residency of 2025. This residency is part of Unfinished Art Space, run by Margerita Pulè and curated by Elyse Tonna.

"Beyond What Drifts Us Apart (BWDUA) is a multi-year interdisciplinary research and residency-based project that uncovers the less dominant narratives associated with the environments surrounding Malta’s historic (300-year-old+) coastal towers. As colonial legacies have dispersed over time, the relevance of these towers beyond their military and cultural significance has faded. However, their continued presence within fragile landscapes reveals the evolving relationships between impacted ecosystems, human intervention and non-human communities."

The project asks:

How can a shift in focus towards the non-human reveal environmental challenges and human interventions shaping coastal landscapes?

By embracing the ecotone of these in-between zones - the spaces where land and sea, past and present, human and non-human meet - BWDUA facilitates the development of new relationships between geographical, geological and ecological factors. The project fosters collaborative research, artistic production and public engagement to explore alternative models for conservation and coexistence.

This edition of BWDUA at Għajn Tuffieħa Tower - a 17th-century coastal defence structure at risk of cliff erosion, environmental instability and unsustainable development - will delve into the physical and conceptual transformations of this coastal site. Through a four-week artist residency, workshops, temporary artistic interventions and public engagement, BWDUA will offer alternative ways of thinking about these landscapes, challenging fixed historical narratives, zooming in on the natural environment and advocating for sustainable futures.

Some initial ideas:

Server in The Watchtower:

• Server = storing data related to the watchtower

• I was also thinking of the perspective of watching from the watchtower and vice versa from ground up
  

  Għajn Tuffieħa Tower under repair works following storm damage, 2023.
• I am currently thinking of a server but I guess it could be anything that stores current information of the tower, and how can this data be stored constantly?
• This residency will take place in the first few weeks of September but I think the research and work that will be produced during this time could benefit the research question/ thesis production.

"The Għajn Tuffieħa Tower, also known as Riviera Tower, is a 17th-century coastal watchtower located along Malta’s north-western coastline. It originally served as a warning system against maritime threats. The tower is now a Grade 1 listed heritage site under the guardianship of Din l-Art Ħelwa and sits within a Natura 2000 protected area, surrounded by cliffs, sand dunes and marine ecosystems. Due to coastal erosion and structural instability, access to the tower has been restricted by authorities, requiring a broader investigation of the surrounding landscape and ecological networks."

★ Past projects / works since starting XPUB

I hosted my first coding workshop!

During February 2025, I had the opportunity to host my first coding workshop! My expertise with workshop hosting usually focuses on clay and jewellery making, but I wanted to explore the idea of using workshop giving as a tool for my artistic research. When pitching my idea, Sustain Delay happily accepted that I would host their first ever workshop! Sustain-Delay is a programme of adventurous music presented by the Malta Society of Arts. It is a series of concerts, workshops or talks spread over four seasons in 2025: Winter (February), Spring (April), Summer (July) and Autumn (November). My workshop, Save as: sonic fieldwork and collective coding session, took place in the town of Ħamrun, Malta. During the workshop, we gathered for a collective sound walk around Ħamrun, capturing the sonic textures of the area. After walking back to the workshop space, we transformed these recordings into digital soundboards, exploring ways to archive and preserve local soundscapes through collective coding.

'the sounds of devices' soundboard

In preparation for this workshop, I made a soundboard dedicated to the sounds of devices (as mentioned in the thesis research section, I'm very interested in the rhythmic sounds of things turning on/off). You can test out the sound board on cereal box.

One of the soundboards shown during the workshop.

I wanted to prepare two soundboard examples for the participants, so instead I opted for an image + sound based example and the other one could change the pitch, pause, and loop the sound. I shared these examples, along with a few notes prior to the workshop, so the participants could get familiar with the work and use it as a guiding structure.

This is the image based soundboard that was shown, once you click on each image, the sound associated with it would start playing.

Reflections:

I really enjoyed the overall outcome of this workshop, people were initially a bit intimidated when they heard the word 'code' but I wanted to host this type of workshop to invite creatives that have always wanted to do something like this but never found the space to do so!

our first stop, Education bar!

In my previous workshops, I would use clay as a medium to record, preserve and narrate. Similarly, the soundboard holds the same characteristics: we could collectively preserve the sounds of the town and collect them onto our online soundboard, share them with the public, etc..

workshop participants recording sounds

Overall great vibe, I made new friends and I love the communal aspect of these workshops. 100% will do again!

collectively coding away

soldering practice with dad!

weaving? stitching? soldering?

My dad has a radio license and he loves to build his own radios. During the Christmas holidays, I asked him if he could give me some soldering tips and we also dismantled my old tamagotchis to take a look inside them! He also shared with me some of his own radio building project and I helped him set up his Arduino which I gifted him in Christmas! I guess this isn't necessarily a work update but it made me happy to connect with my father and get him interested in what I was exploring in the course.

tamagotchi!!

my dad explaining to me his project, he's so xpub!

★ my own website

This was the 'archiving page' of my old website that I made during my bachelors degree. I used to collect a lot of images from charity shops and I wanted to compile them all in one single page, some of them juxatposed over one-another and it was a great way to use this page to work with layering/ collaging.

This was the homepage.

Since I graduated from my bachelors in 2021, I've always dreamt of making a website for my works. I've always resorted to cargo collective to make a portfolio website but I did make my own in my bachelors and I remember feeling so accomplished with this page! I want to get that feeling again, so I plan to slowly work on it.

☆Website manifestations☆

• I want my website to be a space to show my work, but also showing my process and research / things i find interesting.
• I want my website to look like a repository. During my time at Heritage Malta, I was very inspired by archival cataloguing systems, where I renumbered and filed numerous amounts of archival imagery - i want my website to feel the same way?
• I want my website to be a container of information.
• I want my website to be my diary/ note taker.

A screenshot of one page showing a project I did last year. I was testing out the use of columns in the layout and the documentation appears when the user clicks anywhere on the screen.

I started to experiment on how I want the core structure of my website to look like:

This is the homepage, I want the information to be displayed in columns. The arrow is way too large here, but I'm figuring out how to use them as a visual guiding point.