GOLDSMITHS Research Online Thesis (PhD) Hadziselimovic, Adnan FLOSSTV Free, Libre, Open Source Software (FLOSS) within participatory 'TV hacking' Media and Arts Practices You may cite this version as: Hadziselimovic, Adnan. 2012. FLOSSTV Free, Libre, Open Source Software (FLOSS) within participatory 'TV hacking' Media and Arts Practices. Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London. [Thesis]: Goldsmiths Research Online. Available at: http://eprints.gold.ac.uk/6922/ COPYRIGHT This is a thesis accepted for a Higher Degree of the University of London. It is an unpublished document and the copyright is held by the author. All persons consulting this thesis must read and abide by the Copyright Declaration below. 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This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. http://eprints-gro.goldsmiths.ac.uk Contact Goldsmiths Research Online at: [email protected] FLOSSTV Free, Libre, Open Source Software (FLOSS) within participatory 'TV hacking' Media and Arts Practices Adnan Hadziselimovic Goldsmiths, University of London for the degree of PhD in Media & Communications 1 I hereby confirm that the work presented is my own: Adnan Hadziselimovic, April 2012 2 Abstract This research operates in the context of a European political discourse, where the main concern is counter-cultural approaches to non-mandatory collaboration and contractual agreements. FLOSSTV (Free, Libre, Open Source Software TV) covers a broad range of practices, from television via documentary up to media arts productions. This thesis documents the endeavour to formulate a policy for FLOSS culture. FLOSSTV studies the impact of new intellectual property legislation on media production, as well as conceptions and applications of collective authorship and alternative licensing schemes. FLOSSTV sets out to explore methods that can facilitate media and arts practitioners wishing to engage in collaborative media productions. The thesis sets out to investigate the theories and histories of collaborative media and arts productions in order to set the ground for an exploration of the tools, technologies and aesthetics of such collaborations. The FLOSSTV thesis proposes a set of contracts and policies that allow for such collaborations to develop. It is through practice that this research explores FLOSS culture, including its methods, licensing schemes and technologies. In order to focus the research within the field of FLOSSTV I initiated the practice-based Deptford.TV pilot project as the central research experiment for the FLOSSTV thesis. DVD ONE contains a series of films produced collaboratively for Deptford.TV that express the characteristics and contractual arrangements of FLOSS culture. Deptford.TV is an online audiovisual database primarily collecting media assets around the Deptford area, in South-East London, UK. Deptford.TV functions as an open, collaborative platform that allows artists, film-makers, researchers and participants of the local workshops in and around Deptford, and also beyond Deptford, to store, share, re-edit and redistribute their footage and projects. The open and collaborative nature of the Deptford.TV project demonstrates a form of shared media practice in two ways: audiences become producers by submitting their own footage, and the database enables the contributors to interact with each other. Through my practice-lead research project Deptford.TV I argue that, by supporting collaborative methods and practices, FLOSS (Free, Libre, Open Source Software) can empower media and arts practitioners to collaborate in production and distribution processes of media and arts practices. 3 FLOSSTV Table of Contents Abstract........................................................................................................................................ 3 FLOSSTV Table of Figures....................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER ONE......................................................................................................................... 9 1. Introduction........................................................................................................................... 10 1.1. Collaborative Media and Arts Practices......................................................................... 10 1.2. Free, Libre, Open Source Software (FLOSS)................................................................. 12 1.3. TV Hacking as Media and Arts Practice........................................................................ 13 1.4. Deptford.TV and Database Film-Making....................................................................... 16 CHAPTER TWO...................................................................................................................... 20 2. Contextual Review................................................................................................................ 21 2.1. Emerging Technologies: from Past to Present................................................................ 21 2.2. Data Spheres................................................................................................................... 37 2.3. FLOSS Culture............................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER THREE.................................................................................................................. 47 3. Contracts................................................................................................................................ 48 3.1. Social Contracts.............................................................................................................. 49 3.2. Open Contracts............................................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER FOUR..................................................................................................................... 62 4. FLOSSTV Methods.............................................................................................................. 63 4.1. Action Research.............................................................................................................. 63 4.2. Participatory Action Research........................................................................................ 65 4.3. Against Methods............................................................................................................. 66 4.4. AVPhD: Practice Based Research ................................................................................. 71 4.4.1. Metadata and Taxonomy............................................................................................. 73 4.4.2. TV Hacking................................................................................................................. 77 4.4.3. Deptford.TV as Living Archive................................................................................... 85 4.4.4. Deptford.TV method.................................................................................................... 90 4.4.4.1. FLOSSTV AVPhD and Action Research................................................................. 90 4.4.4.2. Critical Video Editing............................................................................................... 92 4.4.4.3. Participatory Media.................................................................................................. 94 CHAPTER FIVE...................................................................................................................... 97 5. FLOSSTV Practice............................................................................................................... 98 4 5.1. A Symphony of Deptford............................................................................................... 98 5.2. Deptford.TV and the Politics of Sharing...................................................................... 106 5.3. Dérive: A Trail of Images of Deptford......................................................................... 115 5.4. Psychogeophysics: Following the Crisis.....................................................................