Self Portrait; Relational Map

Over the course of 2011, which is the Arnolfini's 50th anniversary year I will be working to develop a series of self-portraits of the institution using information from their archive.

Presented throughout the building, these four data portraits will accumulate throughout the year, tracing the Arnolfini's histories and speculating on possible futures.

In the second of these self portraits we are tracing the Arnolfini through space.

A relational map plots all the actual locations in the city of Bristol the Arnolfini has been, all the places it has been connected to, spaces where it has desired to be, and other locations that have influenced the Arnolfini.

As ever, there was an intense few days of installation with the fantastic technical team at the Arnolfini. Thanks!

The previous portrait, Self Portrait: Timeline uses data mined from composite memory and three relational threads are intertwined.

Data-sprites dart, spurt and flow through the public spaces of the building. 

From the Bristol Riots of 1831, the sprites trace loops of financial market expansion and collapse, the struggle for real-time direct democracy, Transaction tax implementation, rights for Organic Synthetic assemblies, corporate museum expansion and implosion, the evolution of the Arnolfini, the foundation of the multitude social enterprise coalition, the growth of the iCommons, and much else besides.

Other portraits will follow, a social network will trace staff, directors, artists, event programmers, and curators, and finally resource flows of money and people will be remembered.

The project is being developed with designer Stephen Coates, archivist Julian Warren and curated by Nav Haq

See related projects like Museum Futures and Utopography, or More things can happen...........