About Screening Circle Screening Circle was inspired by the tradition of the quilting circle: a group of people who make a quilt together, each producing small squares that are later sewn together. Screening Circle reinterprets this popular craft tradition in the context of interactive electronic media. As you draw in this circle you may notice icons changing, because other people are drawing at the same time.

The title refers to the screen because it is not a material product that people are making with this tool-like artwork. The products are composed of flickering light that can be "screened" in a variety of ways.

Constraints There are only nine colors and the ways of drawing are limited, too. Each icon in the loop has four frames. The frame rate is fixed. Screening the whole loop at four frames per second takes about two minutes and fifteen seconds.

These restrictions may not appeal to some people. But in earlier online work, I have found that keeping things simple lets more people participate. The emphasis shifts to the many things that are variable. People may wish to produce sequentially related imagery, or not. Some will use words. Some will use symbols. Others will work abstractly. Some will carry on a dialogue with other people who are simultaneously "tele-present." Still others will work alone.

Freedoms Screening Circle is uncensored, except in so far as the graphics are low-resolution by design. How low-resolution must a picture be before it is inoffensive? Uncopyrightable? How high-resolution must graphics be before they are expressive and valuable to protect as "free speech"?

If you would like to use any of the graphics that you find within Screening Circle, you are welcome to do so. The graphics are a collaborative product and should be considered part of the creative commons.