Hidden Histories

Lost Music

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My research today took a poetic wander. In thinking about the electromagnetic environment and how 'on land' we are submerged in modulated mumblings, my thoughts turned to the electromagnetically silent world of the deep, a world where radio and light don't penetrate, a world that can only be felt through other senses; the skin, the emotions, sound. Today I started looking at the Titanic.

Rewriting of History - Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici

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Thanks to Doll Yoko for making us aware of Caliban and the Witch - Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation by Silvia Federici. In Caliban and the Witch, Silvia Federici looks at the transition from feudalism to capitalism from the point of view of 'women, the body and primitive accumulation'. Her key thesis is that the witch hunts of the 16th and 17th century were instrumental to establishing a new capitalist order through 'the development of a 'new sexual division of labour subjugating women's labour and women's reproductive function to the reproduction of the workforce.' Yet by telling the story also from Caliban's point of view, symbol of the 'trans-Atlantic' proleterian, Federici achieves what she claims: to transcend the dichotomy between "gender" and "class". This book is also a brilliant description of the process of primitive accumulation, in particular the enclosures of the common land starting at the end of the middle age and the various forms of resistance to that by renegade women and the 'motley crowd' of the working classes.

A new public wireless interface: Hivenetworks successfully launch 'Street Radio' in Southampton

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On Friday the 14th of March 2008 ten 'street radio' nodes went live in Southampton narrowcasting Hidden Histories -- stories from Southamptons Oral History Archive selected and arranged to correspond with the location of the 10 nodes. Participants started to meet at around 11 am at the gallery cafe in Southampton's Civic Centre. There they received maps of the Hidden Histories trail and those who needed them could borrow little FM radio receivers. Here you can get a digital version of the Hidden Histories map http://www.solentcentre.org.uk/files/A4_download_map.pdf and here you get a Hidden Histories Guide http://www.solentcentre.org.uk/files/A4_download_info.pdf

Hidden Histories: We are getting flak and we love it

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The local newspaper Basingstoke News has carried Rosy's press release and some punters found it necessary to react. So, even though we haven't yet launched the application we are already being critiqued.
http://www.thisishampshire.net/news/hampshirenews/display.var.2111648.0....

Hivenetwork Topology

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This image shows the network topology of the mesh network created by Hivenetworks in Southampton for the Hidden Histories project. Interestingly, it is not really congruent with the physical topology. You can clearly identify the gateway and from there it goes to node 1 but then it gets all meshy, and this is exactly what you want. Each node 'sees' more than just one other node, some have 4 or more connections. Well, lets see what will happen when the trees grow leaves.

Musicology: Early British Bands and Music Hall artists

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This is an image of a youthful Billy Reid, well known in the 1930ies as bandleader of Billy Reid and his piano accordion orchestra. Billy started out as a boiler maker apprentice in the Southampton docks.

Anyone who can bung me some tunes from Billy is very welcome.

Arthur Lloyd website
http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/index.html

Domestic Sub-mariner

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I’ve always been into submarines and ships, and basically anything that is big, metallic and man-made with an engine. From my grade C in physics and the realisation that ‘I ain’t no Einstein’, I allowed my working life to direct my interests. Two of my early career choices were apprentice mechanic and HGV driver, where I viewed myself as a practical pioneer of women’s rights to work in jobs that were at that time, mainly dominated by men.

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