Prayas Abhinav's blog

The "Shadow Search" launched by n.e.w.s. on 15 October closed yesterday, 22 November. The Call was read by a record number of people (and machines). Five proposals were received for consideration by the reading committee. After some five hours of spirited deliberation, the jury found itself at loggerheads. The deciding vote was cast by the n.e.w.s. collective in favour of "Narcissus Search Engine," submitted by Aharon Amir and Phil Jones.

The jury was immediately struck both by the quality and the heterogeneity of the submissions, and divergent opinions notwithstanding, was unanimous in seeing the experience as a learning process.

n.e.w.s. hopes to work with all the participants in further developing their proposals. Any and all readers are also encouraged to contact the authors of the submissions -- published here under n.e.w.s,' site-wide creative commons license -- to help carry them forward.

Shadow Search

October 15-November 22 2009

Continuing our research on our forthcoming book 'Arbitrating Attention: reinvesting attention surplus in plausible artworlds' that rethinks the social and economic conditions of art and explores alternative models of remuneration, n.e.w.s. will interact with the dynamic entrepreneurial, academic and scientific community CIS in Bangalore. Imagining “new social and economic contexts for art” this open seminar, brainstorming session and prize-awarding event brings together interested students, professionals and motivated institutions in working to solve the following conundrum:

Shadow Search

February 16th-March 4th at n.e.w.s

Introverts are people who do not generally demonstrate an enthusiastic social appetite. Most Internet interfaces and applications assume a voluntary and natural tendency for social bonding and seem to reward behaviour that fits these assumptions. What is our understanding of people who would broadly identify themselves as introverts? Can this inquiry inform our design efforts and guide us in reconceptualizing ways of working?

This forum will try to understand the position of the introvert and their actions. How do the questions of access and representation in context of attention reconcile with our desire to sometimes be quiet? Being quiet, because silence is comfortable, there are things that need to be said, but only if we remember or because it is necessary to speak, write. Being as introverted as we choose to be. Without a need for attention.

If we are to understand the attention economy of the web as it exists and as it is being shaped, understanding the invisible -the shadow-players in the system- is crucial. How can we measure and value actions that might never have been done? Would the systems, design paradigms and business models we take for granted, change with a better understanding of the introverts? Is it possible to strike a balance between showing and hiding, between spectacle and subtlety, privacy and transparency?

The chat was happening concurrently to the voice conference.