Hope everyone enjoyed the festivities, and best wishes to all for 1998.
I think there's going to be quite a buzz going on in ARG over the next couple of months. First off, there's a new look to the website and a bunch of new features including an extensive list of resources links, photos of the XXX show, and more. Have a look at:
http://www.interaccess.org/arg
We'll be ringing in 1998 with a week-long occupation of the InterAccess space, starting this Saturday, January 3rd, at noon. The main focus will be on working with the BASIC Stamp II's - programming and interfacing with sensors and actuators - but everyone is invited to come in and experiment with whatever they're interested in. This weekend will be mostly unstructured play time and setting-up with whatever equipment and supplies we need, plus a few impromptu workshops as needed. If anyone has a PC-compatible computer they could bring in to use as a Stamp programming workstation, that would be appreciated. Also, if you have one of the Stamps, please bring it in or get it back to me by Saturday afternoon, thanks.
Tuesday evening there will be an in-depth workshop/review covering all the fundamentals of using the Stamps:
power supplies and wiring-up
using the programming software
Parallax BASIC programming for the Stamp II
interfacing with resistive sensors (photocells, pots & sliders, mercury switches, etc.)
interfacing with DC actuators (H-bridge control of motors, R/C servos, and on/off control of solenoids, lights, buzzers, etc.)
There's a lot to cover, so we'll be starting at 8pm sharp. Don't be late!
I'll be at InterAccess (599-7206) this weekend and next from noon to 8pm or so. Monday the office is closed and I won't be around until about 7pm so please make arrangements with me if you want to come in during the day. During the rest of the week, the office is open from 11am, and I'll be coming in in the afternoon and evenings. I'll be arranging various other workshops and presentations - let me know if you're interested in giving one, or have any suggestions - depending on what times are good for people, so stay tuned...
The final dates for the SpaceProbe show have been set for March 14th to April 11th, 1998, at InterAccess. Depending on how things shape up in the next week or so, we might also want to think about submitting something for the ISEA show in England - the deadline is January 15th.
Previous meetings:
Screen and Fleabotics
On November 18th, we visited the studio of Willy LeMaitre and Eric Rosensweig of "Screen", a hypermedia collective. Willy, Eric, and third member Phil Giborski have created a long-term project called "Fleabotics". We watched several pieces dating from 1993 through '96 on videotape, and then had a live performance and demonstration of the system.
"Fleabotics has encompassed a touring ensemble of up to 10 performers but is often a non-performative live 'aesthetic exercise' used to generate audio-visual material which is then assembled in post-production."
"In performance, situations comprised of moving assemblage are created by visual artists and appear on a large projection scree, musicians provide a live soundtrack and a writer's subtext sometimes appears as on-screen subtitles."
Tiny robots are created using found materials, and animated using fans, motors, and a vibrating platform driven by a loudspeaker. Video cameras, routed through stop-motion and other special effects, display the "fleabots" on the large screen, and also drive video analysis devices which generate musical information based on the motion of the characters. Generated sound is fed back into the vibrating platform. Music improvised by the live performers is also routed into this system. "Each performer has the ability to 'play' any aspect of the performance in addition to their own instrument: lighting, videomixing, audio effects processing, character control, etc. ... A spontaneously generated narrative results by the grace of the wired 'group instrument'. The fictions created are a living anectodal elaboration on our daily preoccupations, desires and actions."
The work is based on improvisation and jamming; creating abstract non-narratives. The mixing of multiple sources creates an "elastic space". In the future, they plan on removing the artist from the loop and creating a self-generating drama or "appearance generator" that will use autonomous robotics.
Play Days:
Rod Prouse and Victoria Scott organized two meetings of experiments in construction. In the first, the group worked with simple materials such as cardboard and plastic sheets, creating various objects that were inflated and animated using an air jet pump. On the second night, we worked with wind-up "wobblers" from Active surplus, to which we attached various wires and bits and pieces to create small robots that would move by vibration. Several cats had wonderful Christmas presents this year, I'm sure!
Garnet Hertz:
At the last meeting in December, we visited with Garnet Hertz in Saskatoon. Garnet sent us some video documentation of his web-controlled mark-making robot. We visited his website at:
http://www.conceptlab.com (be sure to try "the simulator"!)
and had a group conversation over the speakerphone about his work and experiences. Have a look at his website for more in-depth information and documentation.