September 22, 2006
terminus1525.ca takes over the city !
Disseminating Canadian Cultural Content
terminus1525, Canada's online arts community, is proud to announce a partnership with community wireless groups Ile Sans Fil and Wireless Toronto, which uses new technology to engage Canadian audiences with art in their local cafes, libraries and parks. Ile Sans Fil's and Wireless Toronto's 27,500 users are being introduced to art by young Canadians when they use any of the 135 free public wireless hotspots operated by the two groups. Most of the hotspots are located in Montreal and Toronto, but the project includes resources for interested volunteers to set up hotspots in their own cities and towns.
terminus1525 is proud to support and participate in this ground-breaking large-scale project, which is developing new methods to promote Canadian art. Maintained by zinc Roe Design, terminus1525.ca is a collaborative workspace brought to life by the ingenuity and imagination of young Canadian artists working in a wide range of disciplines. A project that has been funded by Canadian Heritage and administered via Canada Council for the Arts, t1525 operates free online studios where emerging artists can show their work, find support, feedback and inspiration.
Ile Sans Fil (ISF) and Wireless Toronto (WT) are volunteer-run non-profit organizations which develop, deploy and support community-focused wireless infrastructure. This is accomplished through providing free Internet access in public spaces, as well as geographically-specific information and cultural content at each hotspot.
Through this collaboration, the three organizations aim to innovate in methods of disseminating Canadian cultural content. Work by t1525 artists is shown to a large captive audience of mobile wireless users. Already echoing the mandate of ISF and WT in supporting community via technology, t1525 also wants to introduce members to the creation of locative, mobile and syndicated artistic content.
Through the community-owned wireless infrastructure installed and managed by ISF and WT, users are directed to a website specific for each hotspot before they can surf the web. This opportunity is used to showcase local information or content, and in this case, art from terminus1525. At 30 select hotspots where the project has supported advanced audio and video service, an on-site mini-server allows the delivery of location-specific, large files of music and videos at speeds currently impossible over the internet.
The size of this project is impressive. By harnessing the infrastructure and contribution of volunteers at Ile Sans Fil and Wireless Toronto, content from terminus1525.ca young artists will be disseminated to over 27,500 users, many of whom make daily use of these infrastructures.
Sources:
Michael Lenczner
Ile Sans Fil
michael[at]ilesansfil.org
514 708 5112
Michael Pereira
Wireless Toronto
michael[at]wirelesstoronto.ca
416 821 5081
Sophie Le-Phat Ho
terminus1525
sophie[at]terminus1525.ca
514 993 2312
Posted by jo at September 22, 2006 08:30 AM
