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Open Source

From CT4CT: Creative Tools for Critical Times

This page is a work in progress. Please visit the Discussion section for links to more projects.

Open Source: Linux mascot Tux

Open Source is a set of principles and practices that promote access to the production and design process for various goods, products, resources and technical conclusions or advice. The term is most commonly applied to the source code of software that is made available to the general public with relaxed or non-existent intellectual property restrictions.

Contents

Artistic Projects

AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR FREE

AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR FREE, 2009

Evan Roth's AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR FREE (2009) is a culture jamming project in which consumers are encouraged to download and affix AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR FREE stickers to retail items like software and music CDs. AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR FREE is also the title of Roth's first solo exhibit at Advanced Minority Gallery (February 2009) in Vienna, Austria.

According to Advanced Minority:

The title of the exhibition, AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR FREE, alludes to the friction between the artist’s interest in utilizing the web as a medium for freely sharing content and ideas, and the art world’s interest in unique objects and limited editions. While many of the works created for the gallery are indeed unique, they are also made available for free online in their digital form.

The exhibit coincides with the release of Roth's book entitled AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR FREE. The book was made entirely in Linux using open source software and fonts. It chronicles Roth's artistic work from 2003-2008. The book is available online for free.

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Click: A Crowd-Curated Exhibition

Click was an exhibit inspired by James Surowiecki’s book The Wisdom of Crowds that invited Brooklyn Museum’s visitors, the online community, and the general public to participate in the exhibition process.

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FREE BEER

FREE BEER

Superflex's FREE BEER is an open source beer project in which the recipe and branding elements are published under a Creative Commons (Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5) license, which means that anyone can use the recipe to brew their own FREE BEER or create a derivative of the recipe. It is inspired by Richard Stallman's description of Free Software: “Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech”, not as in “free beer”.

According to Superflex:

FREE BEER is a beer which is free in the sense of freedom, not in the sense of free beer. The project, originally conceived by Superflex and students at the Copenhagen IT University, applies modern free software / open source methods to a traditional real-world product - namely the alcoholic beverage loved and enjoyed globally, and commonly known as beer. FREE BEER is based on classic ale brewing traditions, but with addded Guaraná for a natural energy boost. The recipe and branding elements of FREE BEER is published under a Creative Commons (Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5) license, which means that anyone can use the recipe to brew their own FREE BEER or create a derivative of the recipe. Anyone is free to earn money from FREE BEER, but they must publish the recipe under the same license and credit our work. All design and branding elements are available to beer brewers, and can be modified to suit, provided changes are published under the same license (”Attribution & Share Alike”)

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Freedom Not Fear: The Big Picture

Freedom Not Fear: The Big Picture, 2008

Freedom Not Fear: The Big Picture (2008) is a photo mosaic of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made up of photos of surveillance cameras and other things that embody people's day-to-day lives in the surveillance society. The Big Brother-esque work was created by the Open Rights Group and No2ID to celebrate Freedom Not Fear Day using Creative Commons licensed photos that were uploaded to Flickr by citizens around the UK.

Freedom not Fear is an international day of action for democracy, free speech, human rights and civil liberties.

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Open Source Embroidery Project

Open Source Embroidery Project

Ele Carpenter's Open Source Embroidery explores the connections between the collaborative characteristics of needlework, craft and Open Source software. This project brought together embroiderers, patch-workers, knitters, artists and computer programmers, to share their practice and make new work. As Ele explains:

Embroidery is constructed (mostly by women) in hundreds of tiny stitches which are visible on the front of the fabric. The system of the stitches is revealed on the back of the material. Some embrioderers seal the back of the fabric, preventing others from seeing the underlying structure of the pattern. Others leave the back open for those who want to take a peek. A few integrate the backend process into the front of the fabric. The patterns are shared amongst friends in knitting and embroidery 'circles'.

Software is constructed (mostly by men) in hundreds of tiny pieces of code, which form the hidden structure of the programme or interface. Open Source software allows you to look at the back of the fabric, and understand the structure of your software, modify it and distribute it. The code is shared amongst friends through online networks. However the stitches or code only make sense to those who are familiar with the language or patterns.

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PARK(ing) Day

PARK(ing) Day Perth, 2008

REBAR's PARK(ing) Day is an annual and open event in which citizens transform urban street parking spots into temporary public parks. The event was created in 2005 and has grown to become a global event with over 150 public parking spots transformed in 2007. It is co-sponsored by the Trust for Public Land. REBAR has created a PARK(ing) Day Assembly Manual and Streetscape Intervention Toolkit that can be freely downloaded and used.

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RepRap

RepRap

Adrian Bowyer’s RepRap is short for “Replicating Rapid-prototyper” - essentially a printer that can reproduce itself. The design for RepRap is free and licensed under the GNU General Public License (Copyleft) which means it can be freely copied and shared. It can be built for about $1000 in parts. To put this into perspective, the cheapest commercial machine (which isn’t designed to make itself) sells for about USD$55,000. The Guardian has called RepRap the “invention that will bring down global capitalism, start a second industrial revolution and save the environment.”

What is RepRap? Look at your computer setup and imagine that you hooked up a 3D printer. Instead of printing on bits of paper this 3D printer makes real, robust, mechanical parts. To give you an idea of how robust, think Lego bricks and you're in the right area. You could make lots of useful stuff, but interestingly you could also make most of the parts to make another 3D printer. That would be a machine that could copy itself.


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RiP: A Remix Manifesto

RiP: A Remix Manifesto, 2008

Brett Gaylor's RiP: A Remix Manifesto is a documentary film that explores the cultural, legal, economic, and political issues surrounding our growing remix culture. The film centers around Girl Talk, a talented mash-up musician who has risen through the charts with his sample-based songs.

According to Open Source Cinema:

RiP: A remix manifesto is an open source documentary about copyright and remix culture. Created over a period of six years, the film features the collaborative remix work of hundreds of people who have contributed to this website, helping to create the world's first open source documentary.

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SomeRightsReserved

SomeRightsReserved, 2008

SomeRightsReserved is an online marketplace created by the London-based design cooperative KithKin that allows designers to distribute their designs and ideas directly to the public. Consumers can thus buy the digital blueprints to build products themselves or hire skilled professionals to do it for them.

According to SomeRightsReserved:

Mp3s, file sharing and piracy revolutionised the music industry. Now it’s time for the design industry. Imagine being able to buy the digital blueprints to any object, being able to take it to a skilled professional and have it produced directly. Imagine instant access to quality design ideas and the means to manufacture products on demand. Imagine completely removing the middleman. Some Rights Reserved lets designers get ideas out directly to the public, on their terms. Designers have greater creative freedom, flexibility, spontaneity, and control over licensing. Consumers are given the chance to purchase design instantly, either printing it out on their own printer or taking the file to a listed supplier for production.

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External Links

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