grow your own media lab

8/3/2019 Grow Your Own Media Lab

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Grow Your Own Media Lab


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Published by:Access Space Network Ltd.

Access Space,Unit 1, AVEC Building,

3-7 Sidney Street,

Sheffield S1 4RG

Text by: James WallbankPictures by: Michael TeshDesign by: Scott Hawkins

ISBN: 978-0-95500-913-6

Version 1.0: 17th June 2008

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. To view a copy of this license,visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/uk/legalcode orsend a letter to Creative Commons, 171 2nd Street, Suite 300, San

Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

You are free: To copy, distribute, display, and perform the work. To make derivative works.

Under the following conditions: Attribution . You must give the original author(s) credit.

Share Alike . If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, youmay distribute the resulting work only under a licence identicalto this one.

For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others thelicence terms of this work.

Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permissionfrom the copyright holder.

Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moralrights.


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Introduction

In the year 2000 a Sheffield arts organisation opened

an experimental internet lab. It provided a freeopportunity for local people to pursue their own

creative projects.

That lab, Access Space, is now the longest running

open access internet learning centre in the UK. It'shelped its participants publish thousands of web pages

on hundreds of servers and produce scores ofexhibitions, workshops and events.

Access Space breaks some basic rules of receivedwisdom about how a community computer projectshould work.

To help people learn more, teach them less. To use the newest technology, don't buy new

technology. To develop work skills, invite people to play.

To get professional support, fix it yourself.

These ideas are counter-intuitive - and Access Space

has faced an uphill battle to convince strategic agenciesthat its model works better. Meanwhile Access Space's

community has grown and thrived while commercialcybercafes and supposedly strategic "digital inclusion"

networks have run out of money, energy or interest.

Access Space moves beyond the digital inclusion

agenda, proposing that networked technologies onlytruly empower when they enable people to create. Todo this without boundaries people may need to repair,re-engineer and re-imagine technology, so AccessSpace helps its participants to see how it works not justhow to work it.

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In 2005 the Arts Council (a key long-term supporter)

funded a project to work with other communityorganisations across the UK to investigate how they

might adopt some of Access Space's successful tactics.That project was called "Grow Your Own Media Lab".

This publication is the final action of that project. Itaims to help communities to understand and adopt

some of Access Space's approaches. It also aims toinform strategic agencies, and challenges them to re-

evaluate their ideas. Is the enduring value of"investment in technology" about hardware and

software, or about people and skills? We hope that thispublication will encourage funding bodies and grant-givers to value this kind of community action andsupport similar activities in future.

There's also one more key audience for this publication- people who are thinking about starting an openaccess community technology project. People like us. To

you, artists, community activists, educators, hackers,regeneration workers, we say, "Do it!". We can'tguarantee success, but whatever happens, the toughprocess of doing I.T. yourself will make you, and yourcommunity, stronger. But beware of the quick and easy

path: pay with cash and you end up poorer; pay withtime and effort and you end up smarter.

Originally, this publication was going to have thecharacter of a "How To" or instruction manual. But

"How To" documents quickly become obsolete as newtechnologies become available. With Google and

Wikipedia you can work out "How To" on your own.(You'll note there isn't a glossary with this book.)

The key here is not How, but Whatand, most

importantly, Why.

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The Ten Second Rule (1/3)

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How Come? (1/2)

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How Come? (2/2)

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Skip Raider (1/2)

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Skip Raider (2/2)

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Do It Yourself (1/4)

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Happy to Help (1/2)

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Happy To Help (2/2)

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Video Wall (1/4)

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Video Wall (2/4)

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Video Wall (3/4)

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Video Wall (4/4)

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You Can Fix It (1/3)

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Spot The Difference (1/2)

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Spot The Difference (2/2)

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Soft Skills (1/2)

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Soft Skills (2/2)

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Safe Desktop (1/1)

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Basic Skills (1/4)

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Basic Skills (2/4)

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Basic Skills (3/4)

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Basic Skills (4/4)

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Trash Server (1/2)

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Trash Server (2/2)

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Finding a Voice (1/6)

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Power Cut (1/2)

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Power Cut (2/2)

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The Cool Factor (1/4)

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Peer Pressure (1/2)

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Peer Pressure (2/2)

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My Project (1/8)

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My Project (2/8)

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My Project (3/8)

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My Project (4/8)

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My Project (5/8)

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My Project (6/8)

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My Project (7/8)

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My Project (8/8)

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The stories in this book are based on genuineincidents, interviews and case-studies. In some casesnames or resemblances have been changed to protectindividuals' privacy.

James Wallbank is CEO of Access Space Network Ltd,the Arts, Education & Regeneration Charity which runsAccess Space.

Michael Tesh is a regular Access Space participant andan emerging illustrator and graphic artist.

Scott Hawkins is a Senior Lecturer in Design and a

member of the Art & Design Research Centre atSheffield Hallam University.

This publication was made possible by the kindsupport of Arts Council England, through its supportfor Access Space as a Regularly Funded Organisation,and through the Lottery-funded Grants for The Artsscheme.

Access Space would also like to acknowledge thesupport of Sheffield Hallam University's Art & DesignResearch Centre in the production of this publication.

Special thanks are also due to the hundreds of AccessSpace participants whose collective efforts havecreated a unique creative learning environment.

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