web stream boat, installation shot, site gallery, 2007
web stream boat takes a slow, physical approach to moving through internet data. An interface in the form of a boat is used to navigate through a number of live mp3 web-streams. The physical location of the selected streams are mapped to a 3D map of the world and are placed accordingly, offering a geographic context to the streaming content.
web stream boat, texture map (map of the world with land and data cables, pencil on paper, 2007
The environment is very simple with hand drawn lines representing land masses and underwater data cables. Sign posts show you what webstream you are approaching.
web stream boat, detail, site gallery, 2007
The interface is relatively low-tech. Using 3 wooden cogs, the whole structure rotates like a real boat as you move the rudder, the boats position is detected with with some simple sensors (image below) and then adjusted accordingly in the 3D projection.
web stream boat, detail, site gallery, 2007
The work aims to offer a sonic experience closer to drifting along a river that our more usual experience of the web that abruptly moves through content. The radio streams currently lean towards independent radio projects. This is partly due to being the type stations that I actually find myself listening to and because I feel the streaming media format offers a way to expose sounds and ideas that are often avoided from mainstream media.
Much of the work was inspired by a 3 month residency I spent in Colombia, One aspect of the project was to attempt to capture the overwhelming sensation of moving through the waterways of the amazon rainforest. It occured to me that there are many parralels between these river networks the data networks of the internet, however the experience is completly different. Our experience of the internet is usually one of abrubtly moving through content as opposed to it all blending together.