New media, publicity and forms of creation

							New media, public encounters and forms of representation
– research strategy for K3 during period 2007 – 2012

Marshall McLuhan‟s statement that “the medium is the message” appears, after
fifty years, as more penetrating than ever. Nowadays what matters is “the new
media”; interactive media, digital media, the Internet, mobile telephony, Web
2.0, blogs, digital forums and communities, virtual worlds and, not least, media
convergence with more traditional media such as books, newspapers, radio, TV
and film in productions across a range of technologies, different media and
genres.

One of the most tangible social changes in recent decades is the trend towards
the multiplication of encounters or interactions with the public. These new
public encounters (e.g. new „communities‟ relating to gaming, virtual worlds,
digital forums and blogs, frequently in interaction with already existing media
forms) are in a state of permanent transformation, not least by virtue of the new
media.

The Internet site YouTube may be cited as a concrete example, where anyone at
all, whether a teenager in Perstorp or those in command at the Pentagon, are able
to diffuse film sequences thereby changing not only the aesthetics of video but
also the relationship between traditional content producers and consumers. The
Internet has become a political arena for diaspora groups, interest organisations
and terrorist networks. Projects such as Google Earth change our picture of the
planet, Wikipedia our view of knowledge, knowledge builders and the
relationship between knowledge and politics. For instance, during the recent
occupation of the „Ungdomshuset‟ [youth centre] in Copenhagen, for example,
Wikipedia was used as a „war report‟ with continuous, updated rewritings of
articles and contributions.

Traditional TV programmes and newspapers are not limited to just viewing and
reading on the TV sofa or the kitchen table. The new production forms and
technologies are many, mobile and interlaced. For a long time TV programmes
have had homepages and blogs, films have games and „virtual communities‟,
newspapers both digital and interactive editions, the news comes straight to the
mobile phone while the image material may be produced by a reader who just
happens to be at the centre of events. The relations between producers and
consumers, between professionals and amateurs, between broadcasters and
receivers are undergoing dramatic changes.

In terms of research, these new media, public encounters and forms of
production pose a series of challenges that may be tackled from the perspectives
of different disciplines. This applies to the role of the media in society and the


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actual content as well as the design of the technology and the form and
interpretation of the products and services.

These challenges constitute the basis for K3‟s new strategic objective for
research of creating a long-term durable research environment with an
orientation to new media, new public encounters and new representational
forms, including their interaction with and relationship to more conventional
public encounters and representational forms. The basis of this strategy
comprises the establishment of an overall but powerfully integrated
multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research programme.

K3’s current research
The current research programme and research group at K3 was initially
established through MIMS (Malmö Interactive Media Studios). This emerged
from the proposal for a research centre that was submitted by Malmö University
to the Foundation for Strategic Research in 1997 and that subsequently resulted
in the Interactive Institute and the research studios „Narrative‟ and
„Communication‟ and „Space and IT‟ at the university.

During a five-year period this constituted the basis for the research environment,
a context characterised by experimental, design-oriented and practical research.
Within both the studios a series of well-publicised, media-oriented projects were
undertaken from KLIV (in which intensive-care personnel participated in the
design of digital media for everyday learning) to AVATOPIA (in which young
people participated in the design of a public service „cross media‟ IT- and TV-
democracy forum). Even though the research had a very practical focus the two
aforementioned media projects, for example, formed the basis for three doctoral
theses on Interaction Design.

Another example of continuity is the EU‟s research project New Millennium,
New Media in which the group is currently involved and that is based on the
international network that was established as a result of the work in the original
research studies.

Subsequently, there came into being the research studio centred on „creative
environments‟ which focused on design and learning ranging from games and
new social communities in virtual worlds to the interplay between new media
and spatial representation in the creation of „mixed-objects‟ and environments
for design and learning.

The earlier research, with significant external financing, was carried out through
national research projects in collaboration with the media industry and major EU
financed projects. In recent years this environment has also received several


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project grants from the Swedish Research Council‟s allocation for artistic
research and development.

Externally financed projects within the research environment for new media
currently contain a major input of artistically oriented projects. Included here are
projects on the moving image in city planning (Cinescape), writing schools and
representational competence. In addition, there have been projects on computer
games and gaming communities. At the same time, as before, a number of
projects have been undertaken within the EU‟s research programme: New
Millennium, New Media (production tools for non-linear TV narrative and a
news service), Paperworks (new mixed forms of paper-based media and digital
technology), and Palcom (everyday, non-professional media production on
behalf of Malmö).

The research group already today has relevant breadth and depth in respect of
both theoretical perspectives on new media and representational and technical
competence. This is mirrored in the group‟s composition: 4 professors
(interaction design, media and communication science, art, informatics), 3
senior lecturers (literary science, media and communication science), 12 junior
lecturers (media and communication science, interaction design, literary science,
architecture, informatics, electronics), as well as 3 lecturers and 4 subject
teachers appointed for representational/artistic qualifications (culture and media,
stage production, graphic design, moving image, photography, interaction
design).In addition, there are 3-4 doctoral candidates in interaction design and
culture and media.

New media, public encounters and forms of representation – towards a new
research programme
The importance of a research programme into new media, public encounters and
interpretive forms, with the focus, competence and network that the research
group at K3 currently represents should not be underestimated. This applies to
social, democratic and cultural attitudes to a media landscape and public sphere
undergoing rapid change, as well as opportunities, through this research, to
contribute to content and technical quality in the media producers‟ operations
and to the media technology companies‟ international competitiveness.

The proposed research programme is a concrete expression for the research area
prioritised at the university, namely „design, culture and media‟ and the profiling
towards „new media and social change‟. The research programme is closely
connected to all educational programmes at K3.

This research programme ties together the media-oriented parts of the research
environments‟ „interaction design‟ and „culture and media‟. Media is a basic


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theme of cultural and media science research and this focus on new media
represents a strong link with the design research which is increasingly focused
on media and design materials.

At the same time, the spatial context of the media in recent years is playing an
ever larger role in the research both within interaction design, where the
technology has everywhere become present in things we surround ourselves
with and in media science which also theoretically is undergoing a „spatial
change‟.

Common inspiration is obtained from e.g. architecture, cultural geography,
anthropology, sociology and philosophy. A characteristic of the research
environment is also a strong interest in the interplay between theory and
representation in the research process and representation that spans technologies
and creative content in media production. Moreover, the research environment is
characterised - in terms of interpretation - by an interest in artistic research and
development processes.

The research into the public interaction we believe we see across current
research environments concerns different aspects of public encounters in
relation to culture, media, design and IT and deals with democratic, ethical and
aesthetic challenges. It may relate to participatory forms in the design of new
media, sub-cultural strategies, new mediated arenas and meeting places for
discussion, new forms of encounter between the public and the culture
producers etc.

Which then are the new public interactions, what is the role of the media in
these, and what is their significance in a social and cultural perspective? How is
trust and credibility built up in the new media, what is the shape of the
relationship between fact and fiction? How do new cultural forms arise and how
do they interact with existing forms, in terms of content and aesthetics and in
relation to cultural and social infrastructure? Which strategies for cultural and
city planning are developed in new media and how can they be used, for
example, to pursue environmental issues across the arc between individual
action and local/regional/national/global political forums and structures? What
potential do the new media have in renegotiating existing political and economic
power structures, locally and globally?

Which technological and representational forms bring about the preconditions
for these new public interactions and their possible interaction with a more
established public audience? And which technologies and interpretive skills are
able to utilise the potential inherent in the representational forms, media formats



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and media products and operate together with more established mass media
forms?




Background and preconditions
The research interest at K3 is both representation- and design-oriented. The
accent is on representational practice itself and the technology (in collaboration
with producers and consumers), and theoretically and reflectively oriented
towards the social and cultural significance of the representational forms.

A research programme with this orientation towards new media, public interface
and representational forms is largely based on an experimental and practical
research approach in close co-operation with the media producers and users in
concrete development projects. At the same time, the theoretical basis of the
research in specific projects must be developed in relation to other research,
both design research and cultural and media-oriented research into media, the
public and representation.

What is required for clearer profiling, implementation and sustainable
development of a research programme focused on new media, public
interactions and representational forms is primarily basic financing of the
programme (at least SEK 5 m./year and for at least 5 years) preferably organised
in the form of an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research centre placed
in the relevant environment. This, as before, may then be complemented with
both international joint collaborative projects and national projects relating to
specific problems.
.
The research programme proposed under this research strategy is a development
and integration of what is, in many respects, an already established research
environment comprising a research group with unique interdisciplinary and
multidisciplinary knowledge and competence which is jointly built up at K3
over a ten-year period.

It can be interesting to note that this strategy document has emerged from
workshops and seminars where this group actively participated and, on the basis
of its individual research interests, has contributed to the chosen orientation
towards new media, public interactions and forms of representation.

Summary
The goal for K3’s research strategy orientation for the period 2007-2012 is to
develop a long-term sustainable, well-integrated and internationally powerful


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multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research environment, and a research
programme with specific orientation towards new media, new public encounters
and forms of representation. The research interest is both focused on the
representational practice and technology and theoretically and reflectively
oriented towards the social and cultural significance of the forms of
representation. This means, on the one hand, a conscious and consistent joint
conception of the strengths of the previous research contexts relating to culture,
media and interaction design and, on the other hand, a focusing of research on
new media, public encounters and representational forms in process of change
and a common research programme for the implementation of this approach.

The next step is to convert this strategic direction into a concrete plan of action.




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