Free/Libre and Open Source Software and Art: sharing some thoughts

The Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) communities already developed high quality software tools that can be used for artistic/creative purposes. One could easily write about the features and the impact of the BIG 3 (Blender, Inkscape, Gimp), the LAMP (Linux + Apache + MySQL + PHP) pack, Scribus, Cinelerra, Drupal, etc, on digital and new media arts and creative jobs.

 

For now, I would like to try to list some reasons that might help to understand why artists can and should choose to use FLOSS and refuse the boundaries established by vendor lock-in practices, misinformation, disinformation and political and advertising campaigns. I would like to share some thoughts and facts about FLOSS tools and their relevance to today's artists.

 

1. The FLOSS+Art community is growing and becoming more organized, creating new events, gathering in virtual and real spaces.

- Between 17 and 22 June 2008 there was an Open Source City, a micro-festival of open source practice in the production of media art and music supported by Liverpool Culture Company Ltd. as part of the 2008 European Capital of Culture programme (http://soundnetwork.org.uk/?q=node/48).

 

- From the 24th to the 30th of November 2008, the third edition of "make art", international festival dedicated to the integration of Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) in digital art, takes place in Poitiers, in France (http://makeart.goto10.org/call/index.en.html).

 

- Since 2003, you have an annual festival for FLOSS & Art in Bergen, Norway, it's called Piksel. In Piksel08, between 4 and 7 December 2008, you can participate or visit Exhibitions, Live events, Seminars, Presentations and Workshops about the use of FLOSS for artistic and creative purposes (http://piksel.no/piksel08/).

 

- AHA (http://isole.ecn.org/aha/), GOTO10 (http://goto10.org/) and Piksel (http://piksel.no) are good examples of collectives dedicated to FLOSS and digital arts.

 

- Some virtual communities created around the use of specific FLOSS tools, like Arduino (http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl), Blender Artists (http://blenderartists.org) or Processing (http://processing.org/discourse/yabb_beta/YaBB.cgi), have thousands of members, are very supportive and art-oriented.

 

 

2. GNU/Linux operating systems are used in technologically demanding areas like computer animation and VFX. It is not new that important computer animation and vfx studios use GNU/Linux in their render farms and servers. But many people still don't know that the artists desktops are also powered by GNU/Linux operating systems.

 

- Pixar desktops and RenderFarm use Fedora (source: http://studio-linux.org).

 

- Dreamworks desktops run Red Hat  (source:  http://studio-linux.org).

 

- Rhythm & Hues desktops run SUSE Linux  (source:  http://studio-linux.org).

 

 

3. FLOSS is used in the entertainment industry for a multitude of tasks, including creative/artistic tasks. FLOSS tools are used by creative industries professionals.

 

- DrQueue, a distributed render queue, was used in the production of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (Martian Labs), "Exorcist, The Beginning" (Martian Labs), "Donkey Xote" (Bren Entertainment), "One night with the King" (Gener8Xion Entertainment), and several other movies and commercials (source: http://drqueue.org/cwebsite/).

 

- Cinepaint, an image retouching tool, was used in the production of "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" (Computer Cafe), "The Last Samurai" (Flash Film Works), "Showtime" (Hammerhead), "2 Fast, 2 Furious" (Hammerhead), "Harry Potter" (Rhythm & Hues), "Dr. Dolittle 2" (Rhythm & Hues), "Sixth Day" (Rhythm & .Hues), "Planet of the Apes" (Rhythm & Hues), "Spider-Man" (Sony Pictures Imageworks)(source: http://www.cinepaint.org/about.html).

 

- Blender was used in Spider-Man 2, where it was primarily used to create animatics and pre-visualizations for the storyboard department, the animatics where done by Anthony Zierhut (http://www.blender.org/features-gallery/testimonials/animatics-for-motio...).

 

- Blender, Gimp, Cinepaint, ImageMagick, DrQueue and GNU/Linux workstations were used to make the special effects of "Friday or Another Day", a 35mm film that won the Independant Critics Award at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2005 (http://users.skynet.be/mume//vendredi/blender.html).

 

 

4. When it comes to websites creation, FLOSS is an outstanding solution. The LAMP (Linux + Apache + MySQL + PHP) pack and the available Content Management Systems (i.e. Drupal, Joomla, Wordpress, etc.) are priceless tools for any webmaster.

 

- Apache Http Server is used by Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.com), CNN (http://www.cnn.com), Blizzard (http://www.blizzard.com), FaceBook (http://www.facebook.com), Hi5 (http://www.hi5.com), Photobucket (http://www.photobucket.com), Deviant Art (http://www.deviantart.com), Megaupload (http://www.megaupload.com), BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk), Apple (http://www.apple.com), to name a few. (used http://www.securityspace.com/sprobe/doprobe.html)

 

- MySQL, a relational database management system, is used by YouTube, Flickr, Amazon, del.icio.us, Nokia, Linden Lab (Second Life), Yahoo!, ebay, CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), to name a few... (source: http://www.mysql.com)

 

- Drupal is used by these sites: MTV UK - British MTV, Official Ozzy Osbourne Site, German Playboy, Sony BMG Myplay, Warner Bros. Records, Sun Learning Exchange (website from Sun Microsystems), Battlefield Heroes (new game from Electronic Arts), Mission:Metallica (new Metallica album), Universal Music, Amnesty International, etc. Can find more Drupal sites here: http://buytaert.net/tag/drupal-sites

 

- Joomla is used by these sites: Samuel L. Jackson, Muhammad Yunus (Nobel Laureate), Danone (yap, the yogurts...), Latvia (The country's official site), English National Ballet, Porsche (Brazil), Toshiba (Greece), United Nations Regional Information Centre, Vodafone (Iceland), Yamaha (Mexico), ...

 

 

5. Videogames are another good example of FLOSS quality and potential for creativity and software development. Some games are developed from scratch, others are developed upon or are heavily modified versions of previous work. All show that FLOSS has a lot to offer to videogames creation.

 

- FLOSS videogames: Sauerbraten (http://sauerbraten.org/); Yo Frankie! (http://www.yofrankie.org/); Battle for Wesnoth (http://www.wesnoth.org/);  Scorched 3D (http://www.scorched3d.co.uk/); Frozen Bubble (http://www.frozen-bubble.org/); PlaneShift (http://www.planeshift.it/); Vega Strike (http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/); OpenCity (http://www.opencity.info/); LinCity-NG (http://lincity-ng.berlios.de/wiki/index.php/Main_Page); TORCS (http://torcs.sourceforge.net/), etc.

 

- FLOSS videogames developed upon previous technology: Nexuiz (http://www.alientrap.org/nexuiz/) uses DarkPlaces, a modified Quake engine; OpenArena (http://openarena.ws/) and Tremulous (http://tremulous.net/) are based upon ioquake3, a bug-free, enhanced open source Quake 3 source code distribution; Warsow (http://www.warsow.net) is based upon Qfusion, a 3D game engine based on the GPL'ed Quake II source code; etc.

 

- FLOSS for videogames: the source code of Quake 1, 2 and 3 is available under GNU GPL (http://www.idsoftware.com/business/techdownloads/); Genesis3D (http://www.genesis3d.com/), Irrlicht (http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/), Crystal Space (http://www.crystalspace3d.org/) and OGRE (http://www.ogre3d.org/) 3D rendering engines; Pygame (http://www.pygame.org), Python modules designed for writing video game; DarkPlaces (http://icculus.org/twilight/darkplaces/), Ultimate 3D (http://www.ultimate3d.org/), Open Game Engine (http://www.opengameengine.org/), Panda3D (http://panda3d.org/), WorldForge (http://www.worldforge.org/), Delta3D (http://www.delta3d.org/) game engines; GtkRadiant (http://www.qeradiant.com/) level editor; etc.

 

 

6. The FLOSS community already developed high quality software tools specifically for artistic/creative purposes. It would unreasonable to list all the software here, but I can share with you some of the most interesting examples (in my humble opinion...). 

 

- Processing (http://www.processing.org/) is an open source programming language and development environment built for the electronic arts and visual design communities.

 

- openFrameworks (http://www.openframeworks.cc/) is a free application framework designed for "creative coding".

 

- Apophysis (http://www.apophysis.org/) is free, open source fractal flame editor and renderer.

 

- Context Free (http://www.contextfreeart.org/) is a program that generates images from written instructions called a grammar.

 

- vvvv (http://vvvv.org) is a toolkit for real time video synthesis. It is designed to facilitate the handling of large media environments with physical interfaces, real-time motion graphics, audio and video that can interact with many users simultaneously.

 

- Ubuntu Studio (http://ubuntustudio.org/), pure:dyne (http://code.goto10.org/projects/puredyne/), dyne:bolic (http://dynebolic.org/) and JAD - JackLab Audio Distribution (http://jacklab.org/) are GNU/Linux distributions, a complete operating system and a collection of application, specifically created for media artists.

 

- and MUCH more...

 

 

7. The showcase of art created with FLOSS is an important task. But does it really matter? If it's art, does it matter if you used Gimp or Photoshop? Well, I believe it does matter if you used FLOSS. Not only because I agree with Camus when he said "Without freedom, no art", but also because if we want to disseminate the use of FLOSS for artistic/creative purposes it is important to call attention to relevant examples, make best practices widely known. Here's some good examples (again, in my humble opinion...).

 

- Processing and openFrameworks used for installation art and performances: "Le Sacre du Printemps" (http://www.exile.at/sacre/), "memento" (http://memento.smugo.com/), "Magic Torch" (http://www.playthemagic.com/index2.htm), "drawn" (http://thesystemis.com/drawnInstallation/), "Wiremap" (http://wiremap.phedhex.com/).

 

- Blender used to create beautiful 3D digital art images (http://www.blender.org/features-gallery/gallery/art-gallery/
), videogames, like Yo Frankie! (http://www.yofrankie.org/), and 3D animations, like Elephants Dream (http://www.elephantsdream.org/) and Big Buck Bunny (http://www.bigbuckbunny.org/).

 

- Inkscape is used for comics creation: A Moment of Clarity (http://claritycomic.com/) and Last Bus (http://lastbus.rydia.net/).

 

- Visit the websites of the Piksel festival (http://www.piksel.no/) and Make Art (http://makeart.goto10.org/), international festivals dedicated to the integration of free/libre and open source software in digital arts, and explore the art and software presented/created during the previous editions of the events.

 

- urban art interventions/happenings of the Graffiti Research Lab (http://graffitiresearchlab.com/), artists with open source technologies for urban communication.

 

 

8. FLOSS tools, ideas and communities are already present and influent in the artistic and creative scene. FLOSS quality and beliefs or principles cannot be neglected.

 

- Prix Ars Electronica, one of the most important yearly prizes in the field of digital arts, awarded prizes to Wikipedia (2004), Free Software Foundation (2005), openFrameworks (2008), Drupal (2008), Processing (2005), Creative Commons (2004) and Linux (1999), just to name the more obvious (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prix_Ars_Electronica).

 

- In 2002, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, in New York City, presented "Open_Source_Art_Hack", an exhibition, public programs and events where hacking practices, open source ethics and cultural production were explored by several new media artists. It was organized by Steve Dietz, Curator of New Media, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and Jenny Marketou, artist, New York City, in collaboration with Anne Barlow, Curator of Education and Media Programs (http://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/363/open_source_art_hack).

 

- The Netherlands Media Art Institute open call for the summer and autumn 2008 period of its Artist in Residence (AiR) programme: "The AiR programme at the Netherlands Media Art Institute aims to support the exploration and development of new work in digital/interactive/network media and technology based arts practice. The residency provides time and resources to artists in a supportive environment to facilitate the creation of new work. We encourage a cross-disciplinary, hybrid and experimental approach. This is a practice based residency designed to enable the development and/or completion of a new work. Preferably the production is based on open source software." (http://rhizome.org/announce/view/51243)

 

- The Esther Klein Art Gallery, March/April 2008, hosted the exhibition "Given Enough Eyeballs": "This exhibition, curated by Annette Monnier, takes the idea of open source software and applies it to art and artists' practice. Using both traditional and new media, including online applications and specially created software, the artists in the show approach a problem/task, collaboratively, and find a common way to "work it out.""(http://www.kleinartgallery.org/exhibitions_archive/2008_march.htm)

 

 

9. The connection between FLOSS and art raises issues far beyond the nature of used tools. Inspired by the Free Software movement, the free culture movement and the Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org/) licenses promote the freedom to share, remix, reuse cultural and creative works. According to L. Lessig , professor of law at Stanford Law School and founder of Creative Commons, the Internet presents us with a choice between the "permission culture" of the antiquated copyright laws or the "free culture". The Creative Commons licenses, with Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike leading the way, are already  one of the symbols of this growing trend. 

 

- Jamendo (http://www.jamendo.com), a music platform and community where all music is free to download and licensed through one of several Creative Commons licenses or the Free Art License.

 

- Open Clip Art Library (http://www.openclipart.org/), a collection of vector clip art that can be used for free for any use.

 

- Elephants Dream (http://www.elephantsdream.org/) and Big Buck Bunny (http://www.bigbuckbunny.org/) are 3D animations distributed "with all production files freely available to use however you please, under a Creative Commons license."

 

- The OpenEndedGroup (http://www.openendedgroup.com/), a group of 3 digital artists who create works for stage, screen, gallery, page, and public space, released their authoring system,  Field, as open source and released an open source recording of Merce Cunningham performing a new version of his renowned piece, Loops.

 

- Brad Sucks (http://www.bradsucks.net/) and Tryad (http://www.tryad.org/) are two good examples of musicians that released their work under a Creative Commons license. And Nine Inch Nails (http://www.nin.com/) also understood that the time is changing.

 

- The Freesound Project (http://www.freesound.org/) is a collaborative database of Creative Commons licensed sounds and ccMixter (http://ccmixter.org) is a community music remixing site featuring remixes and samples licensed under Creative Commons licenses.

 

- Open Circuits (http://www.opencircuits.com/Main_Page) is a wiki for sharing open source electronics knowledge, schematics, board layouts, ports and parts libraries.

 

 

10. Using FLOSS is not a matter of price or efficiency, it's a question of freedom. Of course the price factor and the software features matter but choosing to use FLOSS is, must be, essentialy, an ethical issue. We should approach the software choice as a statement about the world we live in and how we choose to live in it. If you think that using proprietary software doesn't deprive you of some of your freedom, you should know that...

 

- In 1998, Bill Gates, about the unauthorised use of Microsoft software in China, said: "As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade."(http://news.com.com/2100-1023-212942.html?legacy=cnet)

 

- "A federal district judge in Washington State handed down an important decision this week on shrink-wrap license agreements and the First Sale Doctrine. The case concerned an eBay merchant named Timothy Vernor who has repeatedly locked horns with Autodesk over the sale of used copies of its software. Autodesk argued that it only licenses copies of its software, rather than selling them, and that therefore any resale of the software constitutes copyright infringement." "(...) Autodesk argued that Vernor was not the lawful owner of the software he was selling because Autodesk only licenses copies of its software rather than selling them." (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080523-court-smacks-autodesk-affi...)

 

- In Portugal, the minimum wage is little more than 400€. In Portugal, you pay 219€ for Windows Vista Home Basic and 160€ for Windows Office 2007 Basic (student license).

 

- According to the EU Commission's Final Report on its "Study on the Economic impact of open source software on innovation and the competitiveness of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector in the EU", it is desirable to promote the use of FLOSS in education and all educational activities that have a bearing on the cultural relationship with information technology because it will "have a strong impact on the future usage of FLOSS products and the build-up of the related skills"; "it builds up essential ICT skills rather than the knowledge of specific applications from specific vendors (leading to the current locked-in-for-life situation, where vendor lock-in applies not only to organisations but to individuals who have typically not chosen their software but been provided it for free by schools)"; and "it is likely to install an attitude towards information technology that favours the ability to create and actively participate rather than just consume". (http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ict/policy/doc/2006-11-20-flossimpact.pdf)

 

 

 

Can creativity be captive? Can an artist choose to be deprived of his freedom? Of course not.