desperate optimists have brought together a diverse range of artists to contribute to a challenging and refreshing web-soap played out over 63 episodes. In essence map50 is a story in 9 parts but desperate optimists have commissioned 7 individual artists to each make their own unique version of events. map50, then, is seven radically divergent takes on the one narrative. The story itself takes place in North East London over a 24hr period and is played out across the individual grid co-ordinates of map 50 of the Greater London Street Atlas.

The first 7 episodes of map50 were launched on February 9th 2001 with a further 7 episodes uploaded every Friday until 9th April 2001.

desperate optimists would like to thank Helen Cadwallader and Nicola Hood of the Arts Council of England and Andrew Chetty, Rose Hempton and Kathryn Kelly of the ICA for their help and support in the making of map50. We would also like to acknowledge the significance of the Live Art Development Agency/London Arts One to One Bursary in the making of map50.

For map50 Chris Dorley-Brown 'restaged' a number of photographs he'd taken up to 14 years earlier while building a photographic archive of Hackney which he then used to create 9 interactive episodes that employ a disarmingly simple 'then' and 'now' jump cut strategy

Roney Fraser-Munroe, using the filmic tradition of the establishing shot as a visual reference point and foregrounding an original sound score, tracks a female character as she attempts to 'Live It Like It Is' on the streets of Hackney.

For map50 Alan Howley uses still images, text and music to describe one woman's experience of 24 hours in London. The London we see is one which appears cold, hard and unyielding. Yet, we also see a place which just might colonise the imagination. A place where - if only in the minor details ­ a certain romance can (and must) survive.

Joe Lawlor - uses footage borrowed from over 48 strategically placed surveillance cameras in and around the Hackney area. From these tapes, Lawlor painstakingly pieces together the movements of a single white female over a 24hr period.

Exploiting the possibilities of multi-layered narratives Christine Molloy's episodes contain hidden movies - triggered by mouse interaction - which piece together the actions of a woman as she thinks and works her way through an intense day in London.

pleasant_net's episodes were made from the point of view of who they are - German tourists visiting North East London for the first time. By adopting the 'outsider' stance and mindful of the serendipity that walking the streets can allow for, they journey through this very 'untouristy' part of London as if it was a recognised tourist destination.

The Max Factory combine their hallmark raw frankness and a 'behind the scenes' approach to live performance making, with the 'slick sophistication' of web design and the technological possibilities of the Flash software. The Max Factory would like to thank the artist Virgil Tracy for allowing them to use text from his 'good book' bible filo-fax.