Beyond the Silicon

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noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 04:59:00 +0000

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KarmetiK

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 04:38:00 +0000

We just love it when humans and machines can work harmoniously to create beautiful, rhythmic music. We're referring to the KarmetiK Machine Orchestra. To learn about the individual performers, human and robotic, click here. Catch the orchestra live at CalArts' Walt Disney Modular Theater on May 13th, if you happen to be in the L.A. area. Here's a preview.

The Wall

noreply@blogger.com (E.STRANGE FOR SILICON SOUL) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:31:00 +0000

Berlin resident, Eun Sook Lee created Vanished Berlin Wall to commemorate the 1989 destruction of the infamous structure. The work of plastic textiles and light was installed in 2007 on the western side of the Brandenburg Gate, not far from where the original wall once stood.

Lee also hoped to call attention to the plight of her native Korea where many families currently suffer separations similar to those endured by East and West Germans throughout the tenure of the iconic cold war symbol.

Performance, Feedback, Revision

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:24:00 +0000

Canadian performance artist Baba Brinkman gives mysticism and pseudoscience a bad rap. This video was commissioned by the Geek Pop Festival.

Baba, live at Hammersmith Apollo, London

Formulaic

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:10:00 +0000

The Formula by ex-physicist Tom Beddard is composed of two astounding sequences of Mandelbulbs (3D versions of Mandelbrot fractals) and a soundtrack by The Formula (Laurie Peters). Tom provides source code for all his experiments whenever possible on subblue.com. Check it out. The site is full of info, and there are amazing images to see in Tom's Gallery of Mathematical and Generative Art.

History (in 3D)

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:19:00 +0000

If you happen to have a pair of ChromaDepth 3D glasses (not leftovers from Avatar and not the red/greens for anaglyphs), you can almost get a taste of Ouroboros: The History of the Universe from the video below. But only a taste. With the ambient sound and seven channels of video, it's best to see it in person. Created by Ali Hossaini and SWEATSHOPPE (Blake Shaw and Bruno Levy), the show runs through April 23rd at ISE Cultural Foundation (with 3D glasses provided).

Not Picasso

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 17:26:00 +0000

Our very own K. L. Schafer (You know him as Dr. O. Zone.) currently has an exhibit at the Butler Institute of American Art. It's entitled Beyond Cubism: Octahedronism. From the artist's statement, "They have six sides; we have eight." For further information, watch the video below.

Here is a detail from a single display in the Vanishing Point installation.

A demonstration of how Schafer's music is generated is shown in this episode from the Silicon Soul Show.

If Picasso is rolling in his grave, let's hope he rolls to the beat.

Immersion

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:41:00 +0000

PurForm members, visual artist Yan Breuleux and composer Alain Thibault, are known for creating immersion videos, where the audience in completely surrounded by the video/music presentation. You'll get a much better idea from the Black Box video below.

Check out this page for a list of current projects.

Pixelated Sculpture?

noreply@blogger.com (E.STRANGE FOR SILICON SOUL) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:14:00 +0000

Do you regularly expose your child to art and culture? Have you seen the inside of every kiddie museum in your town at least 10 times over? Out of options and dreading yet another pilgrimage to the Hall of Dinosaurs? Have we got an exhibit for you.

Brick by Brick: The LEGO Brick Sculpture of Nathan Sawaya is currently at Agora Gallery in NYC from Mar 23 - Apr 13, 2010. (OK, this one is definitely low tech, but the kids will love seeing a familiar toy employed to a grand scale, and you'll be surprised by the sophistication of the work.)

Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:53:00 +0000

Earlier this month The Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology announced the winners of Margaret Guthman New Musical Instrument Competition. Sharing third prize were The Loud Objects (live circuit construction as performance art, seen in this 2007 video) and Steve Litt's The CrudBox (amplified step sequencer as sophisticated rhythm box, seen in this 2009 video.) In second place was Kieth McMillen's K-Bow, explained and demoed here.

With two independent slides, two hand controllers, utilizing sensor technologies and Max/MSP software, the first prize went to The Double Slide Controller, a distant descendant of the trombone, developed by composer/researcher Tomás Henriques.

More Zimoun

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:35:00 +0000

Here are more sound sculptures/installations from Zimoun, always an inspiration.

To view a Zimoun's compilation video (includes many other works), see our previous Zimoun post.

Pool Party

noreply@blogger.com (E.STRANGE FOR SILICON SOUL) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:53:00 +0000

No jumping. No diving. No water. Nobody’s getting wet here.

Leandro Erlich’s Swimming Pool is a truly accessible interactive experience. You don't need to be an art expert to get under the surface of this one. The pool at the Museum of Modern Art’s P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center will remain open until April 5th 2010. Catch it!

For stills and more info click here

Low Light Kinetic Field Art

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:46:00 +0000

True, this vid went viral months ago, but BTS would be slacking if we didn't pay homage to electric sheep. Realization by the BaaaStuds, dream by Philip K. Dick.

(Thanks J. Stone, our stoned-strange viral filterer!)

Walking on Infinite Grass

noreply@blogger.com (E.STRANGE FOR SILICON SOUL) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:26:00 +0000

Performance art gone green or an organic treadmill heralding an agro exercise boom. You make the call.

All we know is that Walking on Infinite Grass was recorded and preserved for the ages at CSAW Gallery back in 2006. The creator remains anonymous.

Karo & Tetra

noreply@blogger.com (E.STRANGE FOR SILICON SOUL) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:42:00 +0000

Ever view a deceptively simply kinetic sculpture and wonder how it came together? Well wonder no more, at least as far as Karo #1 by Ralfonso is concerned. The profile below takes us from design sketches to computer modeling to the real deal in less that five minutes.

Karo# 1 is like a fluid diamond undulating in the wind. Light reflective, multifaceted shapes and fluid movement are recurring themes in Ralfonso’s work as evidenced in our second offering from the artist, Tetra.

A Clockwork Onion

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:01:00 +0000

At the recently concluded 13th Japan Media Arts Festival artist David Bowen (whom we featured last November) won the grand prize in the art division. With a laser device for eyes, his Growth Modeling Device watches and reproduces the growth cycle of an onion as a beautiful, mechanical abomination. Click on the photo below to view a video of this kinetic installation.

Antimonument

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:58:00 +0000

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is known for large scale installations in public spaces beyond his Vectorial Elevation pieces. (See post from last week). From his bio: "Using robotics, projections, sound, internet and cell-phone links, sensors and other devices, his installations aim to provide 'temporary antimonuments for alien agency.'" Below is a video documentation of Underscan (2005).

Singing Ringing

noreply@blogger.com (E.STRANGE FOR SILICON SOUL) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:24:00 +0000

Created by architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu of Tonkin Liu, the Singing Ringing Tree was designed to take advantage of the perpetual winds buffeting the hills of Lancashire, England.

Sounds like choral humming to me, but I have a bad ear. Take a listen for yourself in the video below.

But wait there’s more. The tree was one of four structures commissioned by a progressive public art program. The development of the project, the construction of the tree and the official launch of this permanent installation are covered in the following profile.

Vectorial Vancouver

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:21:00 +0000

Artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer has mounted the interactive light sculpture Vectorial Elevation in several cities. His current installation was commissioned by the 2010 Cultural Olympiad and the City of Vancouver and runs through February 28. The best part is that unlike the Olympic Games, which require years of training, determination and sacrifice in order to participate, anyone with an internet connection can join this event and transform the skies over Vancouver. Click here to learn how. See what others have done in the public time-lapse videos below.

From 2010timelapse

Here's an entire night with music from KitsKam.

The Beast Master

noreply@blogger.com (E.STRANGE FOR SILICON SOUL) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:17:00 +0000

Theo Jansen is a kinetic sculptor and creature builder. He creates wind powered, alien looking beasts whose movements have a life like quality. Check out his Animaris Rhinoceros and see for yourself.

Take a tour of Jansen's studio and see how he puts it all together.

Jansen talked about his work at the TED Conference in March 2007.

Listening Post

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:27:00 +0000

Listening Post by Ben Rubin and Mark Hansen grabs text fragments from internet chat rooms and spits them back out via synthesized voice in realtime. (Admittedly, this is a rather coarse description of a truly exquisite piece.) Having toured internationally and won many awards over the years, Listening Post can be considered a "blockbuster." First seen at the Whitney Museum in 2002, it's good to be able to revisit with this video.

Flora and Harmony

noreply@blogger.com (E.STRANGE FOR SILICON SOUL) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:34:00 +0000

Electrical appliances and stage equipment come together to form Flora and Harmony. Creators Niklas Roy and Wojtek Kucharczyk describe this work as a "technoid, kinetic indoor jungle“.

This interactive exhibit attempts to engage you through all the senses. Come gaze at the structure's complexity, feel the breeze from the electric fans, smell the air freshener, handle the controls, eat the candy.

Kinetica

noreply@blogger.com (Silicon Soul) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:41:00 +0000

The second annual Kinetica Art Fair, produced by the Kinetica Museum in London, concluded yesterday. Over 35 galleries and art organizations participated with over 150 artists exhibiting. From the website:

The Kinetica Art Fair provides collectors, curators, museums and the public with a unique opportunity to view and purchase artworks from leading international galleries, artist's collectives, curatorial groups and organisations specialising in kinetic, electronic and new media art. Kinetica's aim through the fair is to popularise artists and organisations working in these genres and to provide a new platform for the commercial enterprise of this field.

Here's the coverage from London's Channel 4 News

and a slide show from Where the Art Is.

Fiber Wave

noreply@blogger.com (E.STRANGE FOR SILICON SOUL) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:20:00 +0000

Makoto Sei Watanabe, creator of Fiber Wave, classifies the project as a work of environmental sculpture. Illuminated by the sun. Animated by the wind. This one was made for the great outdoors.

There's also an indoor version of the work for you less outdoorsy types to enjoy. Click on the photo below for information and photos of Fiber Wave 2.

Mech Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (E.STRANGE FOR SILICON SOUL) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Much like its organic namesake, the appearance of Cloud is in constant flux. Created by David Rokeby, the work is composed of 100 individual elements suspended from a grid and manipulated by computer automated motors.

You can find this piece in the Great Hall at the Ontario Science Centre.