The Cliff's Edge

19/04/2023

GAmerica: Explorations of the Pixel Frontier
Studio 3, Jarman Building, University of Kent
April 20 - 27 2023
11-3 Daily (closed sunday)
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About the Exhibition:

Since the inception of the digital age, computer programmers have transformed the American experience into interactive entertainment, turning all kinds of U.S history, culture and politics into entertainment and play. Video games have collectively created a digital America for us to navigate and to explore. Featuring a mixture of curated posters, digital art, and playable machines, this exhibition catalogues America as depicted in modern video games. Come learn more about GAmerica and play some vintage titles.
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Exhibitor John Wills is a professor in US cultural history, film and game studies at the University of Kent, and the author of seven books, including Gamer Nation: Video Games and American Culture(Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019), and, with Esther Wright, Red Dead Redemption: History, Myth and Violence in the Video Game West (University of Oklahoma Press, 2023). He is currently a Leverhulme Research Fellow.
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Sincere thanks and credit to The British Academy (London), Future Human (Kent), and the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (Kent).

19/06/2022

It’s a shame that my first post in ages is to share sad news. Our friend Jamie Ferguson has passed away. I’m sure many of you would know him through his work at the Pie Factory Music, or as a volunteer at The Micro Museum Jamie also helped me get The Cliff's Edge off the ground. He was a selfless person.

I find that when I think of someone, it’s often in terms of those little moments. What readily springs to mind is a conversation we’d had reminiscing about the “all your base...” internet meme of the late 90’s. It became the first entry in The ODT (“oddity”) Space, a series of exhibits at The Micro Museum. They’d fall in with the themed event days that the museum was hosting, including Jamie’s own “Beautiful Noise” event, where he brought along his impressive collection of synths and keyboards.

Later, we brought all of the ODT Space exhibits over to Cliffs as a reciprocal way of promoting the reopening of the Micro Museum. Jamie kindly donated me a big old cathode-ray TV to show Zero Wing on, a “Fergusson” brand appropriately. (This never occurred to me at the time, but it makes me smile now whenever I think of it). Sadly it would fall afoul of the infamous damp of the basement at Cliffs. I’d love to get it working again, and fire up Zero Wing one more time. Any tech folks game?

It had been a long time since I’d last seen Jamie, what with my head so rarely popping out of the Cliffs Edge COVID bunker. And now with Jamie gone, I guess I appreciate the value of nostalgia. Life’s little moments.

Got any stories? Would love to hear them.

Nick Thompson

PS. Please consider making a donation to Pie Factory Music, and also make a visit to The Micro Museum, which has now fully reopened for the summer season.

27/05/2022

This is a reminder that the Margate Tech Club will be running at The Margate School this Saturday, 28th May, 10 am — 12 pm.

Address

The Margate School
31-33 High St,
Margate, CT9 1DX

This week there will be workshops from Holly McArthur and The Cliff's Edge. The workshops for this Saturday are:

🕹️🕹️🕹️

Science asks: Are pieces of my brain falling away, like a wet cake?

Hosted by The Cliffs Edge

This workshop will be focused on computer-based exercises comprising simple performance tests of ability (like mini videogames), and classroom style instruction on how to score and interpret them. The tests used are examples of standardised tests used by Clinical Psychologists in the diagnosis of cognitive brain dysfunction, similar to an IQ test.

🎵🎵🎵

KinetiSynth

Hosted by Holly McArthur

KinetiSynth will be a session exploring a method of synaesthetic music-making. Participants can interact with a motion-controlled synthesiser that uses kinetic 3D shapes to represent melodies and chords. Participants are also welcome to write or draw feedback, thoughts or feelings on paper.

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Margate Tech Club is a free drop-in within a safe and welcoming space where you and your family can explore and play with tech, under the supervision and guidance of helpful experts. The Tech Club includes a workshop activity, which you can sign up for on the day. Please bring along a laptop if you have one.

Margate Tech Club is free to attend, however, we will kindly ask for donations in order to keep future Tech Clubs running.


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About this month's Tech Experts:

Holly McArthur is a young art and music technologist from Margate who likes to experiment with audio-visual programming. After completing a degree in Creative Music Technology, she started exploring playfulness and novel methods of interaction with tech. She likes the idea of colourful digital spaces that encourage an audience to feel relaxed and curious.

The Cliffs Edge is the brain-child and alter-ego of Nick Thompson; a technology led, sometimes collaborative, creative arts project. Presenting regular retro video gaming social events, pop-up installations and workshops that use old technologies to explore contemporary themes; including mental health, social media and nostalgia. Professionally, Nick is a Margate- and London – based Research Psychologist, Clinical Database Designer, and oft-times aspiring artist. His projects are characteristically subversive, encouraging us to ask questions about our place in society, values, preconceptions and relationships with authority. The Cliffs Edge is part of Resort Studios, based at Dreamland, Margate.

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Interested in being one of our Tech experts at a future session? We are looking for a Tech Expert for July 2nd for a Tech x Nature themed session. Details are:

£50 for the session (10 - 12 pm plus set up time)

Deadline - Monday 13th June

Ideally DBS checked but children will be supervised by guardians for the duration of the session.

If you are interested in applying please email [email protected] with the following:

Mini bio

Name of activity planned

Mini description of activity

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We will also be looking for experts for the following dates:

October 29th - 1 x Tech club Expert (Halloween x Tech themed workshops)

September 24th - 1 x Tech Experts (Tech x Design themed workshops)

December 10th - 2 x Tech Experts (Christmas x Tech themed workshops)



The deadline to apply for these Autumn/Winter sessions is 31st July.

22/03/2022

🕹🤛❤️

14/12/2021

Christmas shopping done and lateral flow tests under the tree! It’s Jingle all the Way at The Cliff's Edge

‘tis the season… 🎅

17/10/2021

Where the hell is everyone hanging out now? MySpace?!?

RIP Facebook 2004-2021?

The Cliff's Edge is out of the loop because we’ve been socially distant for so long.

We know you’re trying to trick us by ignoring our Facebook posts and pretending everything is back to normal. But we know you’ve all got GERMS, and we won’t be leaving our COVID bunker. We’ve got a Super Nintendo down here, so we won’t get bored.

02/09/2021

Teletubbies Mexican wave at Ramsgate Festival of Sound.

Metachronal rhythms courtesy of LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER spreading faster than a TikTok dance craze. A glimpse into a post-COVID future where humanity gives way to the robots? We have made peace with that at The Cliff's Edge

23/07/2021

This coming Saturday The Cliff's Edge will be joining fellow local tech magnates for the inaugural family-friendly Margate Tech Club, hosted by Genetic Moo and The Margate School. Or will we?

We will permit a rare and exclusive behind the scenes look at some of the retro technology used by The Cliffs Edge. The Cliffs Edge’s mascot, EDGE-E will be overriding his programming to give YOU, future tech entrepreneurs - full control of his audio circuits! He’ll then be interfacing with Boy 8-Bit via a 14.4k modem for some beats and rapping freestyle, as you learn about voice synthesis technology.

Tech Club is a drop-in event, within a safe and welcoming space where you and your family can explore, learn, and play with tech, with the supervision and guidance of helpful experts. Other Taster Day activities will include interactive artworks, digital painting, coding, live mixing and electronics.

As with all previous post-COVID events featuring The Cliffs Edge, a strict dress code will be observed: vintage hazmat suits, distressed or “retro” PPE, steampunk-style or post-ironic decommissioned Soviet gas masks. Absolutely no zorbing.

Book Here: https://bit.ly/3zyxLhh

The Margate School Tech Club this Saturday

Jul 24, 2021 13:00-16:00
The Old Primark Building, High Street, Margate, CT9 1DS

24/01/2021

Gambling is a matter for casinos. It shouldn't become public health policy. 😡

2nd Covid Vaccine should be 21 /28 Days NOT 12 Weeks: Challenge Government

23/12/2020

Now that the flight ban has been lifted, Superspreader Santa threatens to infect millions with COVID-19 over the festive period. has used our elite photoshopping skillz to create this handy sign so that you can keep your family safe by STOPPING SANTA. Just place this sign beside home entry points, such as traditional chimneys, letterboxes and cat flaps to STOP SANTA.

We understand that this will come as a disappointment to many children. We hope our daughter will in time learn to appreciate the stockpile of tinned tomatoes and toilet paper in our basement. And we promise to make it up to her next year, with a stocking full of turnips and some black market Ferrero Roche after Brexit.

12/12/2020

The Cliff's Edge has been uploading our video cassettes to The Internet Archive, so you can see what we taped off the telly in the 80s and 90s.

I know we haven’t posted on social media much lately. That’s because we have been locked in our house, refusing to see people in case they have the lurgy. We didn’t want to encourage you, as there will be no Cliffs Edge Retro Videogaming Social until we have found a hazmat suit or run out of toilet paper.




https://archive.org/details/

08/09/2020

The Cliff's Edge will remain in stasis until it is safe to pick up our joystick once more....
500 years later...