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Vital Regeneration and FreqOUT!, as part of the NODE London season of media arts in March this year hosted the inaugural meeting of the Artists In Social Housing Forum.

The aim of the day was to bring together housing professionals and artists to share and discuss good practise around resident engagement; comissioning, paying and developing artists; working with young and vulnerable people and finding funding.



Speakers included David Bowler from Hammersmith and Fulham NDC, Emilia Telese from a-n magazine and artists Melissa Bliss (Living Cinema), Adnan Hadzi (Deptford TV) Michael Needham (Neighbourhood Watching), Nina Pope (Bata-Ville)and Amy Robins (FreqOUT!).



As a result of the day, an email list was set up to support further discussion and to disseminate information and opportunities.

Join our list - So we can grow and support as many people as possible! If you would like to email arobins@cwh.org.uk .

Related links are:
Node London
a-n magazine (The Artists Information Company)
Hammersmith and Fulham City NDC
Michael Needham - Neighbourhood Watching
Adnan Hazi - Deptford TV
Melissa Bliss - Living Cinema
Nina Pope - Bata-Ville

FreqOUT! visits Peninsula Voices

FreqOUT! delegates Amy and Nick went to check out the 'Peninsula Voices' project in Greenwich this weekend.

Independent Photography and artist Daniel Belasco Rodgers have created a fantastic GPS triggered sound walk experience around the Greenwich Peninsula where the Dome has its home. The project uses location-aware technology which delivers stories and memories which relate to the landscape.

Visitors can share a mobile pack between two people. Each pack contains two headphones, a handheld device using software developed by Mobile Bristol and a gps card which make it possible to walk round the area and hear the voices of those whose lives echo in the bricks and mortar, the pavements and railings. Once the device is switched on there is no more button pushing - its just like having a local with you revealing the dramatic changes in the area over the years, and the memories that lie in the places and spaces.



You can see the pair wearing the earphones and carrying the handheld device with gps card in the photo above. Over the next two years anyone can contact Andy or Isabel at Independent Photography on +44 (0)20 8858 2825 or email dan@planbperformance.net and make a date to take the equipment out. We highly recommend it!

To find out more go to:
Peninsula Projects
Daniel Belasco Rodgers / Plan b

Safer Neighbourhood Teams join forces with FreqOUT!

Westminster Safer Neighbourhoods Police Teams in Churchill Gardens and Lisson Green have offered to support the FreqOUT! project 'CCTV Is Following Me' when it goes live later on this year. The project, facilitated last year by artists Melissa Bliss and Jake Novak allow young people to learn about the new digital CCTV equipment that has been installed on some Westminster estates and debate the pros and cons of public saftey measures.

Last year, using a CCTV camera mounted in the ceiling of their youth club for their exclusive use by Capgemini, the young people learnt to control the camera using various handheld and wireless devices and make their own film.

This year PSCO Simon Fielder, based in Churchill Gardens has offered the young people access to a mobile CCTV van, and to answer questions they may have on public safety issues. Sargent Ian Rowing is also assiting the FreqOUT! team in identifying how the 2006 project can assist reducing crime in the area.

See FreqOUT! GPS Drawings online

Artist Jeremy Wood led several FreqOUT! workshops in 2005 along with his co-collaborator Hugh Pryor at Churchill Gardens Youth Club in Pimlico, Westminster.



Jeremy has recently published the animations showing the routes taken by the young people holding gps receivers around Battersea Park and Churchill Gardens Estate. You can see an animation of the tracks above, including superimpositions of the track onto maps of the ares and more on his web site at... www.gpsdrawing.com...along with shots of the ICA showcase.



Joining in with this experience allowed the young people to gain some knowlege of satellite technology - including triangulation and how their mobile phones work; local geography, applications of GPS technology such as The City of Westminster Council's rubbish truck tracking and encoraged the participants to be creative on a really large scale!

The impact of new technology on the Arts

Hari Kunzru, the novelist and ex Wired Magazine contributer was in conversation with Hannah Reddler from the Science Museum today, talking about the impact of new technologies on the arts.

I was particularly struck by the assertion that the 2000 is characterised by, 'high culture available to everyone' (as opposed to the 90's as 'low culture as high culture') and instant global reach.

This statement chimes with the FreqOUT! vision of high quality arts, education facilitatied by technology. However - we're not forcing teenagers to look at jpegs of the Mona Lisa online! We're changing models of education to be more relevant to their lives.

Thanks to Rachel Baker of The Arts Council, England for arranging the talk.

Related Links:
Arts Council, England
Hari Kunzru
Wired Magazine

FreqOUT! Graduates set up their own business

FreqOUT! graduates from the 2005 summer programme, who were previously housed at the Cardinal Hume centre for ex-homeless young people have recently set up their own production company.



The group with ICA Director Ekow Eshun at the FreqOUT! Showcase



Nathan (21), Kane (20) and Matthew (19), first took part in the 'Victoria Voices' workshop with Melissa Bliss and Jake Novak in August 2005. They enjoyed the experience so much that they lobbied FreqOUT! and their hostel workers for a second opportunity to grow their skills and work with the artists.

They wrote a proposal for a short film called 'First Impressions' and we were so impressed by their effort we agreed to run another workshop. The group of six young people started filming a few weeks later. The resulting film features the reactions of a range of Westminster residents and workers to the question, "Should you judge people on first Impressions". The idea grew out of their own experience of discrimination. They spent two days filming and on the first day they dressed in hoodies and casual wear, and on the second day in smart suits in order to guage the public's shift in attitude towards them.

The film was shown at the FreqOUT! ICA Showcase in October 2005 and impressed a representative from the Science Museum so much that they offered to buy the film as a training video for their staff.



Encouraged by their success the young people, who are now living independantly have founded their own production company called 'Wiseroot' and are currently filming a short documentary for London Transport.

FreqOUT! 2005 at the Institute of Contemporary Art

FreqOUT!'s 2005 inagaural Showcase took place at The Institute of Contemporary Art on 18th October 2005



Films, animations, sound scapes and were exhibited in an interactive exhbition attended by supporters, artists and the young people who took part in the workshops.

In a 'CCTV Documentary' world first, the exhibition used live digital CCTV supplied by Westminster City Council and their Wirelss City Partners Capgemini and Vertex. An audience of FreqOUT! corporate supporters, artists and the young peopless and their freinds and family were both cinematographers and actors in a documentary of the opening evenings activities.

The audience was able to use a palm top devices to control the camera angle and zoom in, filming themselves and other visitors. The footage was edited on site by artists Melissa Bliss and young people, and viewed by the audience on a giant screen.