Community Forums Online, June 19, 1999 - October 10, 1999

Community Forums Online (1999)

June 19 - October 10, 1999 The Andy Warhol Museum hosted three community forums on its web site during the course of the exhibition, The Architecture of Reassurance: Designing the Disney Theme Parks. These forums explored the similarities between Andy Warhol and Walt Disney, how life imitates Disney's theme parks and key elements in community building. With this experimental new web project, the museum took its community forums to the internet for the first time.

Community Forums Online was created in a collaborative partnership between The Andy Warhol Museum and Carolyn P. Speranza, Research Fellow at the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, Carnegie Mellon. The Carnegie Institute's Electronic Information Network and GMD Studios in Orlando, Florida also contributed their expertise to the creation of this project. The Andy Warhol Museum In this partnership, the “Warhol Web Team” worked to plan a web site which truly reflects the spirit of Warhol and the medium of the web itself. Community Forums Online is a pilot project and offers an opportunity to experiment with collective ideas as well as to coalesce many different expertise. Jessica Arcand, Curator of Education, lead the team as project chair and was joined by staff members representing each department of the museum. Multidisciplinary artist Carolyn P. Speranza is committed to the realization of community vision through public discourse, collaboration and inventive use of contemporary technology. During her STUDIO fellowship, she investigated the implications of utilizing the Internet as a public space for building communities. Community Forums Online is a milestone in Speranza’s exploration of web interaction, as it tested her research by making the discussion accessible to an international public. The STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, Carnegie Mellon This partnership exemplifies the experimental and interdisciplinary projects housed in the STUDIO since its inception in 1989, where artists initiate projects that engage contemporary science and technology. The Electronic Information Network (EIN) is emerging as the leading provider of regional information access and information technologies for Libraries, Museums, Schools and Community Technology Centers. Bob Namestka, Chief Technology Officer, was instrumental in producing the Community Forums Online interface. Guest programmer and sysop, Douglas Davidson from City-Net was an extraordinary partner in building this project. (In this timeframe, EIN served both the Carnegie Museums and the Carnegie Libraries as all three were under the umbrella of the Carnegie Institute) GMD Studios Since its inception in 1994, GMD Studios has excelled in such diverse arenas as online content production, commercial design services and software development. Brian Clark, President, lent the project his expertise on bulletin board systems supporting online community building. 1) Community Forums Online project announcement and overview, full color on 6.5" x 8" postcards (11 copies) 2) STUDIO Fellow Creates Online Forum with Andy Warhol Museum, Good Neighbors, a publication of Carnegie Mellon (2 copies) 3) (10) 35mm full color slides, in (1) archival sleeve, documenting layout, design and color scheme, web site navigation, interface, functionality and the administration tools for the browser-based Bulletin Board. All web pages are housed in the 1999 version of the Netscape web page browser. 4) SLIDE LIST for (10) 35mm full color slides documenting layout, design and color scheme, web site navigation, interface, functionality and administration tools for the browser-based Bulletin Board. All web pages are housed in the 1999 version of the Netscape web page browser 1. Community Forums Online proscenium web curtain with project and Disney exhibition titles 2. Community Forums Online web site splash page featuring Carolyn P. Speranza's portrait of Andy Warhol and Walt Disney, in a collage with parallel icons from their work and the tagline: "warhol and walt: designing experience, creating environments" 3. Community Forums Online web page introducing the forums including: • the schedule of forum themes for discussion during the course of the Disney exhibition: Warhol and Walt, What do they have in Common? Where Does Life Imitate Disney? and How are Communities Made, With Images, Bricks or Pixels? • listing of forum hosts: Barry Joseph, Supervising Producer at Weblab, PBS; Anna Couey, Telecommunications Artist; and Stacy Horn, founder of ECHO • listing of forum core participants • curated excerpts and highlights from the forum discussion • critical elements of site navigation and interface 4-7. Designed by Carolyn P. Speranza with implementation assistance from guest programmer and sysop, Douglas Davidson, the Community Forums Online browser-based Bulletin Board with its functionality, navigation, interface and color scheme. Additionally, this series of slides present a series of discussion topics, a new member sign-up with options, the Bulletin Board list and excerpts from the discussion in paragraph form. 8-10. Admin back end for the browser-based Bulletin Board: discussion area editing and maintenance for forum hosts, Hyperthread Administration for individual conversations  5) Grey Binder with Community Forums Online full color web site printouts with examples from each of the 3 online discussions that were each three weeks in duration a) Warhol and Walt, What do they have in Common? June 19 – July 25 Forum Archive, moderated by Barry Joseph, Producer Weblab. Example from Disney/Warhol Critiques: "Warhol and Machines" exchange between VR and telecommunications artist Fred Truck and The Andy Warhol Museum Head Archivist Matt Wrbican. Example 02 from Andy and Walt: "Andy and Walt" exchange between VR and telecommunications artist Fred Truck and Malcom Miles and Fred Wagner. b) Where Does Life Imitate Disney? July 26 – August 29 Forum Archive, moderated by Anna Couey, Telecommunications Artist. Example from Baudrillard and Disney: "It had to happen" exchange between Don Carter and Anna Couey and Malcolm McCullough. c) How are Communities Made, With Images, Bricks or Pixels? August 30 – October 17 Forum Archive. Moderated by Stacy Horn, Founder and CEO, ECHO. Example from Community from the Inside Out: "What’s a community?" exchange between Robert Atkins and Stacy Horn and then, "How Communities are Made" and "How to Build a Community for Your Black Independent Filmmakers" exchange between Mabel Haddock and Stacey Horn. Example 03 from Community from the Inside Out is "The edge of a neighborhood" posted by Jen Saffron. d) Additional participants in Community Forums Online include Barry Chad, Penny Arcade, Bob Weis, Graham Shearing, TRET, Pauline Oliveros, Malcolm McCullough, Igor Vamos, Chris Potter, Kim Perrier, James Crary, Tim Collins, Joanna Moon Dhalle, Don Carter, Joan Blaustein and Herb Gilliland.