User:Thijshijsijsjss/Notes on SI22

This page reports on my explorations, findings, unfindings and (more) during Special Issue 22. In the spirit of the wiki, I will resist my current urge to write this introduction in detail -- because I can't write it in detail, yet.

Week 1

Tour at WORM

Monday 2023 - 09 - 18 we (XPUB1, Michael and Steve) gathered at Worm for a tour led by Lukas Simonis, Ash Kilmartin and Florian Cramer.

I'm still in the process of collecting imagery from the event. If you, reader, have something to contribute, feel free to reach out

Field Recording task

Monday afternoon, we started to discuss the concept post-digital, with the presence of a physical analogy in the form of a cassette player. We went on to take a look at Radio aporee and where tasked with finding a field recording that triggered a memory. This is to be used in the first radio show. My work on this task can be found here:

My field recording explorations

Show

Maria, Victor and Bernadette are this show's Caretakers. They are present in the Radio WORM studio, while the rest of us are gathered around stereo boxes connected to the (previously tellingly broken) digital screen. Communication between Caretakers and the Caretakers' caretakers goes via an Etherpad. This communication is semi-continuous. I notice I am hesitant to write in it.

(Retroactive) playlist

Time	Data	Content
0-25	20.6MB	About Radio Aporee
25-27	3MB	Chat from Victor, Bernadette
27-53	23MB	Collective Audio Field Recording
53- 57	~3MB	Studio Field Recording
57 -65	~11.5MB	Cassette Tape Recording
65-68	1.5MB	Bells
68-70	1MB	Victor: making the mixtape
70-77	4MB	Riffusion Jingle
77-86	8.5MB	Maria Reads a text (might be called 'Snow', might be by 'Ina Blom')
86-98	~11MB?	Aporee Mix / Voices / Westminster
98-105	6MB	droning windows movie maker music + voices
105-120	15MB?	The remainder

Shownotes discussion

In the afternoon after the show, we had a discussion with the classroom, this show's caretakers, Michael and Joseph. There are some important takeaways (for me):

• We all like the tension between a preprogrammed playlist and improvisation and the mysterious dynamic it creates for the listerner.
  • Personally, I was impressed by the cohesion of the show.
• We liked the overlays between music / sounds / voices. There is some balancing here that is important, it is easy to overwhelm the listener.
• One of the highlight's of the show was when the caretaker's used the etherpad as a script. This back-and-forth between the caretakers and the classroom is something to be fleshed out over the coming week(s).

We have chosen new caretakers already. Actually, my first instinct was not to pick them already. It will be interesting to see how this will change the dynamic between programmed and improvisational radio. Something to reflect on next week.

Prototyping

Tuesday afternoon we had our first prototyping session. In it, we set up a Raspberry Pi and create our own personal user profiles on it. Some useful commands we used today:

• Log in to the pi: ssh thijsoid@145.24.139.16
• Broadcast a message: wall [message]
• Print to the lineprinter: echo "[message]" > /dev/usb/lp0

Methods

Selected gear I use for annotating (zoom in for a description of this layout)

What is annotating? In it's simplest form: shouting at your TV. We spend some time thinking about the way we currently annotate (examining this Protocol). How do I annotate?

• It depends on the origin of the to-be-annotated work and the purpose of my annotation, but the common denominator tends to be the use of color to structure both the work as well as my notes.
• I tend to prefer physical annotation, because it feels like my annotations are more transformative: my digital notes feel separate from the work, but physical notes feel like a transformation of it.

Some nice quotes from / through Steve:

• Notetaking can be an act of generosity.
• Every text creates a reader.

Together with Victor, Bernadette and Rosa, I read the text On the data set's ruins. We spend quite a big portion of the allocated time on creating, adhering to and reflecting on a reading Protocol (see pad). I noticed I felt more at ease during this discussion. I figure it might have to do with the following aspects:

• Me being more familiar with the article's contents, and hence feeling more confident to speak
• The smaller group size being less intimidating to speak up -- and more easily invited to engage.
• In particular, it might be interesting to reflect on whether the presence of our Protocol had an effect on my at-easeness. It might have, in the sense that I did not have to worry about internally deciding when or where to make a comment: I just had to follow the Protocol.

After this group discussion, we met back with the whole class to discuss our findings (on Protocols and subject matter). In this plenary session, I felt more inclined to speak up that earlier that day. Is this me getting used to the implied Protocols of this class?

Miscellaneous Findings

It is now the weekend. If I'm honest, it has been a lot to take in, and I don't think my brain has caught up with processing the changes yet, let alone the contents of our conversations this week. That said, I'm very excited.

It might be useful -- in a way maybe even necessary -- to fix in time my current thoughts on why I am here. I cannot present an exhaustive list (which to me is wonderful, I hope to find new reasons as time goes on), but it includes:

the collaborative process speaks to me

it seems to allow -- encourage, even -- experimentation with and the use of multiple media

I expect xpub's attitude to help me with some paralyzing struggles of self-curation

I was looking forward to the methods class, and really enjoyed it. In particular, the group's still finding its dynamic, and this was showcase during this class. I'm excited to see this dynamic develop and the undoubtedly interesting conversations we're all going to have.

(AAAHH I'm self-curating again. I'm making this section super small because I'm usure what to do with it but have decided that I should do something to combat this paralysis.)

I have detected the presence of certain social insecurities from which I hoped I had moved on. I'm also terribly self-aware of my English, which is a self-fulfilling prophecy for disaster.

I notice I'm using my desk at home differently than before. Instead of being the 'home base' in my room, it has been a place governed by temporality. I don't think it will remain this way. It is the result of me having to get used to this new routine -- this new Protocol.

Week 2

Collaborative_Emacs

A_case_for_chopchop

Another Tour at Worm

A voice recorder recording a conversation the surrounding feet are having at WORM

This Monday we met at WORM again, this time to tour the radio studio and to talk with Lieuwe Zelle. There, Michael tried to copy the contents of a harddrive with material from radio WORM. This caused the system to fail -- presumably due to moving keyboard messing up the setup: a weird post-digitally rooted scenario.

Lieuwe made an offhand mention of the relationship between radio and podcasts that I think was interesting in the light of Phelan's paper The Ontology of Performance: podcast is to radio what a recording (or otherwise documented work) is to performance. I've been a bit nervous for the radio show, and the Phelan paper and this comment comforted me in the idea that such a show is just that: a performance. The act of doing is what's important, and is in many ways not comparable to the other shows we've done, or, for that matter, to any plans you had for the show beforehand.

Senka brought up a good point on authorship rights and informed consent. Interestingly, Lieuwe felt comfortable using the recordings of other shows by argument of implicit consent. I imagine we'll have to be consiously considerate of these concepts when working with the archive.

The conversation -- and the process of copying the harddrive -- was recorded (see image).

In the afternoon we talked about active archiving, constant, licensing, and more.

Show

For this show, I contributed by being part of the collaborative reading of Barthes's Death of the Author. This show's Caretakers were Anita, Mania and Wang. They decided to surprise us. I was meaning to ask what had prompted this decision, but didn't get to it. If I were to speculate, it was to hide an interactive element. This element was quite well received -- I hope we can expand on the interactive possibilities, maybe even by covering multiple media.

The element of surprise adds a nuanced element to the dynamic between the Caretakers and the Caretakers' caretakers. Michael expressed a worry this might lead to groups trying to 1-up eachother. While I don't think the surprise was necessarily hindering this time, I do agree with this worry. Rosa raised a question on this topic after the show. I expect to continue the group conversation on this next week.

More details can be found in this show's shownotes and the script.

Prototyping

We spend some time naming the server using a new protocol, with names suggested over the weekend in a pad. Ultimately, we chose chopchop (but threadgoat lives on!).

We then set up the server, getting a crashcourse in terminal gymnastics in the meantime -- a nice refresher. I can now create publicly accessible webpages by using placing them in /home/thijsoid/public_html/! After getting set up, the group split in half. The subgroup I was in tried to set up a collaborative emacs session (to little avail) to start tinkering on a soundboard.

Start from the middle

Miscellaneous Findings

The xpub studio. The greenish arrow points to the desk I've been sitting at. Beware the yellow arrow, it is a misdirection.

I had a meeting with Manetta and Michael to dicuss some anxiety I am experiencing. This was a comforting meeting.

This week, we created quite a few new protocols. In particular I had in depth involvement with the Collaborative Emacs and A case for chopchop protocols. In making these, and while having some conversations with my classmates about the start of the program and each other's involvement in the group dynamic, I wonder if we should be more rigorous in the creation of 'social protocols', too. We did introduce (at least) one such protocol: voting by show of hands.

I had the opportunity to spend some time in the studio this week: to work with Riviera, Victor and Alessia on a case for chopchop, to document my findings for the week, but also as a place to process my thoughts and socialize. This final element, in particular, has been nice!

Week 3

EtherPatches

Zinecampprepcamp

Monday morning we talked about zinecamp, the possibilities for a live radio show, tie ins to the Special Issue, and everyone's interests. I feel like there is special opportunuity for (live) interaction during such a show -- something I'm eager to explore.

The Caretakers of this week's show gave a demonstration of Tidal Cycles and we discussed how they explored the Worm Radio archive to select samples: semi randomly.

Show

How do we look at something that is both fish and water? Both means and meaning?

This show was more 'being made' than 'made'. I felt like it invited reflection on what we consider protocols, and how we might apply them (see pad). In particular, some of the Personal Protocols were intimate.

As per protocol, we scheduled an hour of reflection on the show Tuesday afternoon. Maria suggested the 'natural extension' of a radio play -- a thing I like. Maybe the physicality of being in the studio can be part of that, as well as new ways of engaging with the show.

This conversation led to one about protocols, and how we feel about incorporating some in our group. This is a difficult question: at times it might come natural (e.g. when voting), while at other times it doesn't. Maybe the question isn't whether we want protocols, but rather how specific we would want them to be, and to what extend we would want to adher to them. We can think of these protocols not as a current list of rules, but as an archive of experiments. We can start to think about protocols as a verb, rather than a noun.

Raspberry Radio

We are going to broadcast radio with a Raspberry Pi. First, clone a Git repository:

 sudo apt install git
 git clone https://github.com/markondej/fm_transmitter

Now, compile the transmitter using make

 cd fm_transmitter/
 sudo apt install make
 sudo apt install build-essential
 cat makefile
 make

Test an example:

 ./fm_transmitter acoustic_guitar_duet.wav

Wow.

Put a USB soundcard into your Pi and get your mixtable ready:

1. Connect a microphone.
2. Connect one of the mixtable's audio outputs to the soundcard's input.
3. (you might want to look at alsamixer)

We will need an antenna to transmit the signal:

1. Inspect your Pi and find its model number.
2. Search online for the functions of the pins.
3. Connect your antenna to the pin associated with GPIO 4.

Start broadcasting:

 arecord -D hw:1,0 -c 1 -d 0 -r 22050 -f S16_LE | sudo ./fm_transmitter -f 100.6 -

(This is a utopian guide. It's ambiguous if we got it to work...^{However, today I did find out that I have trouble making loud noises.})

Methods

We (Victor, Bernadette, Rosa and I) continued our readings of On the Dataset's Ruins, joined by Riviera. This was good, though I didn't feel as comfortable as I did last Methods class. I think this had to do with my general state of mind of the day. This continued in the afternoon session, where we started a visual map. In retrospect, I didn't feel comfortable during this activity either*. My hypothesis is this: a normal group conversation is almost ethereal. Now, there was a physical aspect. Not only the tanglible writings, but more so the physical act of conveying your words: physically moving in the group, on the paper, and writing. I deem this worth mentioning here, as I did not expect these feelings to trouble me, and is might prove insightful in looking at my position within the group.

(*Lídia did a great job keeping an eye out throughout the day though. Thank you Lídia :))

Oh, and I tried out the free printing today by printing the text! Amazing!

Miscellaneous Findings

EtherPatches

On Monday I discussed the aesthetic of the Etherpads with Mania -- we move love them. We wondered how it might look without the text, so I created a a program to remove it. The result is pretty cute, and can maybe be connected to our current special issue: it present an archive of our learning. Mania suggested this archive might become active (1) as a zine, or (2) by allowing people to write new text on the patched pads. I look forward to exploring this more -- I am happy to have found an opportunity to 'use my expertise'.

Plotting Penplotters

Lineart selfie we made using some code I wrote last year.

Penplotted lineart selfie.

Victor, Alessia and I were excited to try out the penplotters in the studio. It took quite some testing (thank you Stephen, Manetta and Victor for your help and dedication), but we figured it out. I might write a wiki page at some point (or not, see miscmisc). Here is a (pretty spectacular) result.

Setting up the Studio

(photo of new setup goes here)

Uncategorized Findings (Miscmisc)

I feel like the Wiki has captured my attention -- nice, but I seem to give it more priority than I should.

A Carefree Caretaker Scares Me (Onzeker)

I have not been a Caretaker yet (I wanted to, but maybe I've not been adamant enough). As we take turns, this means I will probably be one at the show of October 17. If I'm honest with myself -- and everyone (the wiki's public nature remains a tension I intend to explore) -- if I'm honest with ourselves, I feel conflicted. This show will broadcasted be during our autumn break. Although I have nothing planned yet for that day, my overwhelmdness these last weeks and my inability to let go of the study material at home suggest (demand?) that I maybe should honor the break as that: a break. However, (1) I wouldn't feel comfortable to call upon my classmates as replacements Caretaker, and more importantly (2) if I were a Caretaker, I would feel opposed to make requests for content for the show during their free days -- I feel the need to honor their break too. Moreover, if we we're to do the show on the 17th, there's maybe individuals, but no class listening. This I find sad.

On the other hand, maybe this is an opportunity to explore possibilities with the show with less pressure.

All in all, the circumstances are unfortunate. It is weird how I have somehow gotten a feeling of responsibility for this.

Update: on Monday it was brought up by Manetta, and I expressed some of my conflicting feelings. We decided to have a 'holiday special' during the break -- something I may or may not be a part of -- and then the next real show would be October 24.

Week 4

Reading and Conversations

Monday we started with the possibility to discuss the reading material (A text on Georges Perec and one by Simon Yuill, see Ethereal Library). I really was quite fond of the Perec text, in general for the playful constrained creativity it presented, and in particular for all the ideas it spawned for the radio show I will Caretake October 24th. I've really enjoyed the reading material so far; every week -- especially the first -- I thought: how come these texts cross my path only now!? I think this is a very good sign, a sign that this program is pushing my boundaries in a direction I feel passionate about / I feel is important / I was hoping for? / ...

I want to make 3 notes on our group conversations:

• Sometimes, they do not reach a conclusion. We tend to pick up these topics later, creating a fluid conversation that invites associativity. A part of me likes this, another part struggles with this open-endedness (maybe it's a fear of failure; without a conclusion, what should I do?)
• With so many voices, a conversation can move at lightspeed. My thoughts tend to linger for a while, before they are fully formed. (hmm maybe I should make a reading corner so I can reference Elaine Aron here)
• I think I am more present than earlier. This is a good thing. I still feel uncomfortable most of the time im speaking, but I'm glad there's a positive trend. I briefly talked about this with Senka on Wednesday. Starting to feel comofortable with the individuals helps me to feel comfortable with the group.

On that last note: when Manetta asked us at the start of the week if we had any suggestions for protocols, I proposed it would be nice to have a moment to update eachother with projects related to the special issue. We had a moment for this Monday afternoon. I think a moment like this is nice and necessary, but I felt weird 'presenting' the EtherPatches and the case for chopchop projects. I worry my classnotes might not have appreciated this moment as much. But maybe this is anxiety talking. It probably is.

We had breakfast during our radio show and I laid on the floor meditating

See header title.

Prototyping

curl and grep and sed and weasyprint

We used curl and weasyprint:

 $ curl https://pad.xpub.nl/p/SI22-Monday-Oct-09/export/html  > todays-pad.html 
 $ weasyprint todays-pad.html todays-pad.pdf

You can also use a stylesheet. In fact, we can use a pad as a collaborative stylesheet. This blew my mind.

 $ weasyprint -s https://pad.xpub.nl/p/print.css/export/txt todays-pad.html todays-pad.pdf

Also, we used grep and sed. I want to make some poetRE.

• Link to the syllabus of my Languages and Automata class, which uses RegEx as an entrypoint to automata theory.

Graphviz and Pens not Plotting

We used graphviz for diagrams, which I was somewhat familiar with as there's a CTAN package for it I've used in LaTeX. The plan was to plot these with some pen plotters. For this, I wanted to setup Inkscape for HPGL conversion. I ran into the usual Linux shenanigans. I tried to manually set the Python version:

<group
    id="extensions"
    python-interpreter="/usr/bin/python2.7"
    ...
>

Hypothetically, this is how one could plot using chiplotle

1. connect to plotter to computer with usb
2. Start the plotter
3. Wait! until it is started
4. Activate the venv you made: ~/Documents/xpub/penplotter-venv/bin/activate
5. Start chiplotle: chiplotle3
6. send hpgl file to plotter: plotter.write_file('FILENAME.hpgl')
7. when you're done, close chiplote: exit()

We also (tried to?) make chopchop a printing station. It didn't work. But I think we made a virtual environment here: var/www/penplotter-venv

Autumn break

PoetRE

I recorded some introductions for segments in the holiday special.

A 'you're listening to' intro: 

The 'Call to Victor' segment: 

The 'Sleep protocol' segment: 

Tuesday I went to the radio studio to be there during the show with Rosa. Most of my time this week was spend on the radioshows, in fact. More on that here: /Caretaking_show_5 Caretaking show 5

Week 5 or 6 I'm not sure whether we're counting the break as a week honestly

Monday

• If you don't specify what you want, it makes a decision it thinks is intelligent. I don't always like this.
• Planned Obsolescence.

Tuesday

• Even the earliest taperecorders were able to capture three piano notes faithfully. However, is was the possibility to unfatithfully recreate sounds that were particularly exciting. (paraphrased)

Ethereal library