Posted by b. at 14:39

Posted by b. at 14:03

this blog's main function is an archive of sorts. documentation of interests. i realize that i had deleted the turntablistpc info from 2005 so this is an act of replacement as well as an update.



november 2005, i participated in morgens jacobsen's turntablistpc project exhibited at the file05 festival in sao paolo, brazil. morgens project uses a turntable/pc hybrid which relies on "hits" from third-party websites (thats me, and others of course) to control the play of a record placed on the turntable. if the participating webisite is located east of turntablistpc, the record spins clockwise. if it is located west of, the record spins counterclockwise. the graph below represents my hits for each day of the month of november 2005. the average hits per day during this period was 323. i can only imagine what his project was like with multiple participants. it must have been crazy active. it must have been...scratchin'.

323

ill leave you with a quote from lev manovich c/o morgens:

the old media avant-garde came up with new forms, new ways to represent reality and new ways to see the world. the new media avant-garde is about new ways of accessing and manipulating information. new media is post-media or meta-media, as it uses old media as its primary material."

Posted by b. at 19:29 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

no, but close. introducing a new favorite artist: peter flemming. peter uses obsolete, discarded, consumer technology, which you know we have an abundance of, and creates diy mechanical devices and custom electronic installations using "cut-and-paste" techniques. peter is a faculty member of the intermedia/cyberarts department at concordia university. the above machine is called manual. over the course of an hour, manual makes a full revolution, simultaneously pouring dust onto the floor while sweeping up after itself. two other works include:




why do machines think they are humans?
mechanical-digital video surveillance. installed in a closet. a music box-like cam actuates switches, which activate a remote control of the transport and record functions of a VCR. It makes a recording of everyone who comes to see it, and plays it back to them later.




canoe, which will be installed next to the yukon river in dawson this month.
a mechanized canoe paddles back and forth across a 24' long trough of water. the cycle repeats endlessly. each cycle takes about half an hour. themes: mechanization, nature, leisure.

Posted by b. at 17:39 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

so, for the past week i have been studying max/msp/jitter, an object oriented programming language for live video manipulation. i have had the idea of performing video along with performed music for about 4 years now. i originally was using super8 film and slides, but that fell to the wayside. someday i will do something with that film. jitter is a little difficult to learn on your own, but i know i will increase in ability. i want to have a multitude of clips, as well as single images, to crossfade, perform bpm cuts, slow down, speed up, blur, color/contrast/brightness changes, all within a live environment. to fullfill this idea to the best of its ability, i will need to use a midi interface, like a keyboard, where each key is a coresponding clip/image, and each knob being a manipulator of said clip/image. well, today, while taking a break from jitter and searching around for sustainable plants for another project, i came across scrapyard challenge workshops. scrapyard workshops are built on the premise of open collaborative space being conducive for the free flow of creative ideas and prototyping. next sunday, at machine project, scrapyard is holding a midi workshop.

The MIDI Scrapyard Challenge Workshop is an intensive, one-day workshop in which participants build simple controllers using reclaimed, defunct materials such as old electronic equipment, furniture, old computer components, electric appliances, turntables, monitors, gadgets and clothing. Each of the objects designed during the workshop is connected to a MIDI output device that will create sound. At the end of the day the participants will give a short performance / demonstration, playing their new creations to the rest of the group and public.

Posted by b. at 16:56 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

oh my!...it just got better. inquisitor 2.6 not only learns your search but even gives a little metadata on the subject in question.

original inquisitor brought to you by brokenchords

Posted by b. at 12:45 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

question: what grows over one meter a day, is inorganic, and a possible cause for alarm.
answer: that rock slab above which has grown 100 meters since november out of the volcanic dome of mt saint helens.

the last time mt st helens erupted was 1980. i was living in southern california at the time (actually this is where i have lived my whole life, and i think its time to go), and we had a good 1/16"-1/8" of scattered ash covering along with an occasional and mild apocalyptic sky, which is nothing in comparison to the northwest which accumulated up to 5 inches of ash and at times, total darkness. so what does this growth mean? you tell me. im simply gaining pleasure writing "the end is nigh" on an eco-friendly recycled cardboard sign which doubles as a helmet/visor. now...where are those monsters?!

Posted by b. at 10:52 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

introducing the cats paw nebula, aka bear claw nebula. this little guy gives birth to stars ten times the mass of our sun. and for those who dont really know anything about our sun and how it operates, how stuff works has a great article that explains it all in a simple easy to read style. if that doesnt satisfy, watch the planets documenary. towards the end youll realize why our not so distant ancestors worshipped the our sun.

Posted by b. at 01:55 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

75 minutes: your weekly source for independent music has a february 2006 podcast interview with don wilke, co-founder of constellation records. don talks about the original idea of constellation being a live venue, the lack of a musical infrastructure in montreal at the time, and philosophies/ideologies behind constellation and how that fits into late capitalism. ive listened to it twice already, and thoroughly enjoy it. don is a passionate thinker, and he and ian, his partner, have over the past 9 years created a catalogue of 41 invaluable records. i urge you to download the interview and listen to it. it clocks in at approx. 40 minutes and is well worth it if you are a fan of any constellation artists.

we prefer people to not try and find a word to describe what we do. the amalgamation of influences in an awful lot of our music is coming from an awful lot of different places. what is interesting to us as im sure is what is interesting to an awful lot of people involved in creative labels, is the very setting aside of genres, the very things that make these musics unclassifiable. yeah, of course its human nature to try and find ways to describe it to others and find words that dont offend people, and i think thats possible. its probably not possible using a single word or two. i can sit down with somebody who doesnt know music very well, and describe tentatively at least in a few sentences what it is we think we are doing musically, and give them some idea, which is a far more valuable excercise than saying its "x-rock" or its this or its that which to me is just utterly pointless.

Posted by b. at 19:08 | Comments (3) | Trackback (1)

future city: experiment and utopia in architecture 1956-2006 at the barbican gallery in london.

what a great show with a fantastic list of architects. i only wish i was in london to see it. the show features 300 original models, drawings, photographs and films, with additional events, like the screening of rem koolhaas's 55 min. film lagos/koolhaas. the film documents the population explosion happening in lagos, nigeria, which projected estimates suspect it to be the 3rd largest city in the world by 2020. rem documents over the course of two years how the city overcomes its downfalls and inadequacies, and turns them into opportunities.

the above image is from david greene's achigram. archigram was a playful, pop-inspired vision of the future that occupied the avant guard in the 60's and 70's. from david greene:

A new generation of architecture must arise with forms and spaces which seems to reject the precepts of ‘Modern’ yet in fact retains those precepts. We have chosen to by pass the decaying Bauhaus image which is an insult to functionalism. You can roll out steel – any length. You can blow up a balloon – any size. You can mould plastic – any shape.

Posted by b. at 15:42 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

update: 06/21/06
i am retarded...todd schmodd

update: 06/15/06

superstar: the karen carpenter story is a film made by todd haynes of safe and velvet goldmine fame, which tells the 'life demised' story of karen carpenter through barbie/ken dolls. yes...barbie and ken dolls. you know...mattel.


superstar: the karen carpenter story. i have not seen this yet. i first heard about it a little over 10 years ago from a friend who was going to chafey college for photography. one of her instructors i believe lent it to her. she told me that you end up forgetting that barbies are being used...you fall into the story. i was hooked. but i have yet to see it. i did find it recently on illegal-art.org for sell on a dvd-r, but they also offered a small download version which of course i hit that shit quick. sadly, it did not work. i recently visited the site again, and found that they have switched hosts and the videos are down at the moment. im hoping once uploaded again, it will work. those of you interested, i would suggest bookmarking illegal-art.org, and checking back periodically to download.

and for those who dont know, go to wikipedia. the following is a quote:

An unusual facet of the film was that, instead of actors, almost all parts were played by modified Barbie dolls. In particular, Haynes detailed Karen Carpenter's worsening anorexia by subtly whittling away at the face and arms of the "Karen" Barbie doll. Sets were created properly scaled to the dolls - including locales such as the Carpenter home in Downey, Karen's apartment in Century City, restaurants, recording studios - including minute details such as labels on wine bottles and Ex-Lax boxes. Interspersed with the story were documentary-style segments detailing the times in which Karen Carpenter lived and also detailing anorexia; these segments were seen as dry and melodramatic parodies of the documentary genre. The underlying soundtrack included many popular hits of the day, including songs by Gilbert O'Sullivan, Elton John and - of course - the Carpenters."

Posted by b. at 20:15 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

richard fenwick is a screenwriter and director known in some circles for his rnd# shorts illustrating the contamination of technology in our daily lives. we make money not art has pointed to another short, safety procedures, which taps my tissue. although not mentioned, there is definitely a chuck palahniuk influence in this work. safety procedures brings to life the in case of emergency airline safety card. i dont want to spoil anything...but pay attention to the audio when submersion takes place.

watch safety procedures now
real player or windows media player required

Posted by b. at 17:48 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)