An artistic project that allowed Onteca to work for three years on cutting edge applications involving GPS through mobile phones, geographically sensitive upload of data from mobile phones, and the combination of all of this with map systems on the Internet.

Landlines is a multi-user drawing tool for mobile phone and Bluetooth GPS, that allows users to draw by moving in real space. As you walk through the city with Landlines your latitude and longitude is periodically sent via mobile phone to a database. A website then displays your live tracks.

Landlines was designed for use in exhibitions, websites and artists projects.

As new routes are drawn, old ones decay and fade and thus the city is written and rewritten daily in the actions of its population.

Developed initially through the ITEM programme, which was designed to create and maintain collaborations between artists and technologists. ITEM as a programme was formulated and facilitated by FACT, the UK’s leading organisation for the development, support and exhibition of film, video and new and emerging media. ITEM was funded by NESTA and the Arts Council of England and was being co-produced in association with the FACT Centre. ONTECA worked together with artist Jen Southern to create this dynamic multi-user GPS as collaborative drawing tool application.

Technologists working on this project on behalf of Onteca included Jon Wetherall, Dan Davies and Chris Orton. Jen Southern’s artistic collaborator was Jen Hamilton. Work on the initial ITEM element of the project occurred between 2004 and 2006.

Landlines went on to receive further support from the Arts Council, be an integral part of several exhibitions and interventions and is now live as a separate project with its own site. Its history as a means of constructing aesthetic experiences is elaborated in more detail there.

Onteca has continued to develop the range of technologies created for this project and adapt them to new purposes and platforms. Initially, the application required a separate GPS unit which then linked with mobile phones through a Bluetooth. With the new generation of phones, such as the Nokia N95, having GPS installed as standard, this IP currently has a more universal appeal.

Further Details of ITEM.
Research ? The Itemisation of creative knowledge. Ed: Clive Gillman. 2006. FACT and Liverpool University Press. ISBN 1-84631-038-5
http://www.fact.co.uk/main/services/artistdevelopment/item