The ANU Laptop Ensemble

Ben Swift

19 Nov '18

Ben Swift

livecoder

ANU Research School of Computer Science

@benswift

code is my instrument

The code/creativity/culture group (c/c/c) is a research group within the Research School of Computer Science. Our goal is to create spaces for talking about the way that code (software), creativity (especially the arts) and culture (life) intersect in the modern world.

https://cs.anu.edu.au/code-creativity-culture/

Alec Hunter

ANU School of Music

Performer, composer

Jean-Philippe Demarais

ANU School of Art & Design

{:.fragment} plus many more…

context (CS)

but not all...

meanwhile, on the other side of campus...

the next generation of new media creators are spread across the whole campus

cross-campus collaboration

innovation/entrepreneurship programs are all the rage

Our provocation:

the modern university has a huge untapped potential for new media content creation, but departmental silos stifle its flourishing; and current ‘de-silofication’ initiatives (e.g. innovation/entrepreneurship) are too crassly-commercial to support many forms of collaborative content creation

what pragmatic, short-lead-time activities can we support to release this untapped potential?

LENS

the ANU Laptop Ensemble

run by Alec and I through our TechLauncher innovation/entrepreneurship program

currently ~10 students from computer science, art and music

creatively

it’s gone pretty well (several student-driven gigs around campus)

pedagogically

students bring their existing skills (great!) but lots of missing knowledge between domains

administratively...

creation without critique

what can we do to release this huge untapped potential?

links

LENS homepage

LENS on YouTube

c/c/c group

creative-commons creative-commons-by creative-commons-nc creative-commons-sa bluesky github vimeo envelope