Storyboard - Variable Message Sign Project

Storyboard will provide an opportunity for members of the public to post messages to a mobile Variable Message Sign using a mobile phone. The sign will be located on Hayes Island, Cardiff, UK. The sign will be active between 10am and 11pm on 28th, 29th and 30th October.

To post a message send a text to: (+44)7929 461727

Messages are limited to 144 characters in length.

The intention for the project is to encourage members of the public to find a new use for Variable Message signs, most commonly used as traffic information displays. Instead of their usual role in relaying important but mundane traffic and road safety information the sign will carry text messages, which by their nature are often deeply personal.

The project has involved the development of a bespoke program by Chris Evans (http://www.coolpants.co.uk). Chris has adapted open source software from Gnokii (http://www.gnokii.org) to create a program which interprets the information received from the public and then delivers it for presentation on the mobile VMS sign.

The VMS sign was provided by Leaderboard sports (http://www.leaderboard.co.uk). Thanks also to Cultural Enterprise (http://www.cultural-enterprise.com) for the loan of a laptop for the duration of the project.

Storyboard was originally commissioned by Gallery 39 (http://www.g39.org). Following the Festival, the work will move to the gallery for an exhibition in December.

Biography
Stefhan Caddick is a visual artist based in Wales. His work is often multidisciplinary, encompassing visual art, new media and elements of performance.

His work sometimes takes the form of manoeuvres; strategies or methodologies which result in an action, installation, or other form of presentation; recording a second of sound every minute for three hours in an attempt to produce a 7” single; or cycling 250 miles during a cold February in Wales, avoiding main roads and asking passers-by for hand-drawn directions. The position which Caddick takes within these manoeuvres is often that of the technician rather than the artist. He will adopt a methodology at the outset of the work and then carry out self-imposed instructions until the task is complete. As a result, the work is often as much an invitation to interrogate the methodology as the direct experience of the work in the gallery or online space.