The official roster is:
Robert Bernecky, Rob Cruickshank, Paul Davies, Robert T. Erlich, Jodi Franklin, Jimmy Green, Kim Humphreys, Tom Leonhardt, Jeff Mann, Derek Robinson, Jim Ruxton, Graham Smith, Mike Steventon, Jean Trivett, and Wendy Whaley.
and a total of (lucky) 13 new installation works for the show. Tom Leonhardt has done a great job on the posters and invitations, which have been printed and go out this week; you can pick some up Tuesday night. Contact the InterAccess office if you have anyone you want to mail an invitation to. We'll need to do a postering campaign in early March. We're also hoping to have a catalogue ready for the opening. I'll be taking photos during the upcoming workshop, and we'll need brief artist statements from everyone - how many words for each, Tom?
It would be great if everyone could e-mail their proposals to the arg-list for comments and as documentation. If yours was hand-written I can type it in for you, but I'd like your permission first.
The Worx:
Robert Bernecky - using X-10 controllers to change lighting based on activity - sense bus - although I think he's modifying this proposal...
Rob Cruickshank and Wendy Whaley - laser scanner w. 3D photos, and a new addition which will trace out patterns in free space with a moving light source. Possible connection to sense bus.
Paul Davies - the Quantification of Humans work, with the addition of an interface to the new sense bus. He will be sending: number of mats pressed, number of mats changed since last reading, on-off status of first 8 mats, on-off status of second 8 mats.
Robert Erlich - mobile autonomous robot which catalogues its environment, as shown in Mexico show, this time communicating with others which are in different parts of the city.
Jodi Franklin - modified toy car robot with BASIC Stamp controller. Moves around a tiny fan set off my a mercury switch which would then trigger a recording, or bump into tin cans which contain triggered sounds.
Jimmy Green & Derek Robinson - an eyepiece fitted with galvanic skin response sensors, which control a computer-monitor display, seen through the eyepiece. Tries to "please" the viewer. Will take data from the sense bus to generate noise components, and place skin-response data on the bus.
Kim Humphreys - voice-recognition software senses specificity and vehemence of a conversation, and certain related shadows get projected in response.
Tom Leonhardt - spider-like object w. video camera moves around suspended from ceiling, tries to find "interesting" areas. Will communicate on sense bus.
Jeff Mann - bird/satellite-like structure, resonant, with mechanized movement and response to air currents and viewers' hand gestures. May communicate on sense bus.
Jim Ruxton - breath amplifier - breath sensor will control large fan. Could send signal to sense bus.
Graham Smith - floor mat sensors control the rotation of a 3-foot metal sphere containing "rain stick" sound-makers.
Mike Steventon - figure in hospital bed moans and strains toward TV screen in reaction to its brightness. TV channels are selectable by viewers; some will be video feeds from other works in the show. Will create animations representing sense-bus data. Will send "health information" out.
Jean Trivett - "furbot" scoots around its limited environment and random collisions with walls trigger vocalisations.
Next Tuesday, February 24th, will be the last regular SpaceProbe meeting before the show. Doug Back's class will be attending from 7-10pm. I'll be giving a summary of the project and what we've accomplished. The following two weeks will be a production-intensive workshop for finalizing the works for the show, starting on Tuesday March 3rd. The opening is on Saturday, March 14th, at 7pm.
Previous Meetings:
In January, we had a week-long workshop. A number of people participated and got some interesting stuff going. Paul, Mike and others have got a new version of the Sense Bus running, and have wired up several Stamps into a working system. Eric and Willy have almost completed a Polaroid sonar distance sensor with MIDI output. Robert Erlich has set us up with a '486 LINUX system with a new real-time operating executive for precise timing of motor control, etc. I did some testing/evaluation of various motors, solenoids, chips, etc., and I also built a Theremin-style interface to the Stamp. A few other people dropped in to work on various things.
I must say that I was a bit disappointed that the turnout for the workshop was kind of low. I put a lot of effort into arranging the equipment and materials setup, and stayed there from noon to past midnight every day. You missed out on a great opportunity to develop your work and to learn from the people who were there. Please let me know if there's something I should do to make it more appealing to you the next time - which is the first two weeks in March.
At the following two meetings in January, I led workshops on various aspects of interfacing and programming the BASIC Stamp, such as connecting volume pots and photocells as sensors, and motors and solenoids as expressors.
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Jeff Mann