Crossroads of CuriosityThe British Library meets Burning Man
Open House – Boston SpaFriday 12th June 2015, 1400 - 1530
Mahendra MaheyManager of British Library Labs
http://labs.bl.uk 3#bl_labs [email protected] by the Andrew Mellon Foundation
http://labs.bl.uk 4#bl_labs
Snipping out imagesfrom 65,000 Digitised Books
Face recognition
Mechanical Curator
Flickr
Worked better for female faces than men’s
Press
http://mechanicalcurator.tumblr.com> 260,000,000 views
> 380,000 tags
http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/
1,020,418 imagesneed tagging!
Creative uses of imageshttp://goo.gl/qPPgxX
http://labs.bl.uk 5#bl_labs [email protected]
David Normal…
• Visual artist
• Specific interest in collage art
• Was looking for a source of digital 19th Century illustrations
• Found our collection through Facebook posting
http://labs.bl.uk 6#bl_labs [email protected]
http://labs.bl.uk 7#bl_labs [email protected]
Interview with David Normal about Crossroads of Curiosity
https://youtu.be/Q3SBxO34Zlc
http://labs.bl.uk 8#bl_labs [email protected]
Burning Man and after…
• Initial contact with David Normal and Nora McGregor in Summer 2014, continued with Labs after…
• David gave talk at Library in October and December 2014
• Proposal to commissioning board: David Normal, Mahendra Mahey and Jamie Andrews approved late 2014
• Claire Robe joined March 2015
http://labs.bl.uk 9#bl_labs [email protected]
Funded by…
• British Library
• Eccles Centre for American Studies
• Friends of the British Library
• Burning Man Global Arts Programme
• Kathryn and Lewis Shepherd
• And others
http://labs.bl.uk 10#bl_labs [email protected]
The British Library Meets Burning ManInitial Drawings…
http://labs.bl.uk 14#bl_labs [email protected]
http://labs.bl.uk 28#bl_labs [email protected]
Event details
•Talk from David Normal about Art Work
•Larry Harvey in conversation with David about the literary influences on Burning Man
•Viktor Wynd, Cabinet of Curiosities
•Mandra
•DJ Yoda
http://labs.bl.uk 29#bl_labs [email protected]
Event Details
•Rob Sherman – Interactive Fiction Writer in Residence
•Bob Nicholson – The story of a joke from Nevada that went viral in the 19th Century
•Moving Europe – Burning Man inspired troop of performers and musicians
•Others…
http://labs.bl.uk 30#bl_labs [email protected]
The British Library Meets Burning Man
https://youtu.be/Q3SBxO34Zlc
http://labs.bl.uk 31#bl_labs [email protected]
Installation for 5 months…
In poet’s circle until 8th of November 2015
Free