Lightwave 2009: call for submissions August 29, 2008

In fairness to our friends across the pond (okay, for anyone who can’t make it to Austin, TX), I present LIGHTWAVE, put on by the Science Gallery at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. I covered the LIGHTWAVE exhibit last year, and what’s awesome about this exhibit is that while Maker Faire is geared more towards artists with a tech-bend, the Science Gallery is geared more towards scientists with a wild, artistic streak. They currently are gearing up (get it?) for a Robot art contest.

According to the Science Gallery’s call, “Examples of project themes already proposed are the development of sustainable light sources in Africa, light pollution, effects of light on the body and the creative control of light through technology.” And yet they want you to be artistic about the whole thing.

Submissions are due September 19. They won’t be going up until February of 2009, and (if I remember) I’ll post something about the actual exhibit then.

Just say no to Tech August 28, 2008

I stumbled across this very creative tech monster and had to share. He apparently was created for an ad campaign in Alberta, Canada, that ran last year trying to scare kids off of too much computer time, and too much junk food (check out the junk food monster), and basically just get kids moving (which I fully agree with; the website also has TV ads and the site design itself is pretty cool). 

I think the creatures sort of have a Muppet-y look to them. I don’t know if creating monsters is going to keep kids off the computer, but it’s still a cool idea.

LEDs for peace August 27, 2008

The Beijing Olympics ran a very tight ship and did not allow many protests or even unsanctioned entertainers to appear near the events. One of the few protests that was able to be seen, even if for 20 seconds, was the Free Tibet banner hung out by U.S. protesters associated with Students for a Free Tibet on a wall near the Bird’s Nest stadium. They made the banner using “throwies,” traditionally LED lights with a battery taped to a magnet that are thrown onto buildings to create light-up designs and stay lit for a couple of days until the battery dies. Directions on how to make them are available here. As the article points out these protestors technically sewed the LEDs onto the banner, so would they be called “sewies”?

The protestors were arrested and then released on the Monday after the Olympics were over.

Maker Faire: Call for submissions August 26, 2008

The Maker Faire is an opportunity for amateur makers of all things, from arts and crafts to robots to everything in between, to showcase their work and be inspired by others of a similar mind. There is one held each year in San Francisco and one more recently popping up in Austin, Texas.

The Austin Texas Maker Faire is being held this year from October 18th and 19th (the San Francisco one occured in May. The deadline for submissions is September 4th (a little over a week from now!). Anyone who is interested in submitting or just going should definitely check it out.

I have unfortunately never been able to make it to one, but have had several friends attend or present at these fairs, and aside from some parking issues have always heard good things.

Happy Birthday all you Star Wars fans August 25, 2008

Once again brought to us from GeekDad, or rather a friend of GeekDad: a cake in the shape of a Star Wars robot. I am a big enough Star Wars geek to know this is not R2-D2, but not a big enough geek to know what the name of this robot actually is. It was created for a three-year-old’s birthday, which frankly I think is a waste since no three-year-old can appreciate just how awesome that cake is. BUT, nonetheless, this is a beautiful example of tasty art inspired by geekiness and science (fiction).

To paraphrase Homer Simpson, “Hmmm, delicious robot, aughghgh *drool*.”

This day in art/science history August 22, 2008

Okay, technically it was last Tuesday, I missed it, I’m sorry. WIRED news has written a great article about the development of the daguerrotype, with co-inventors Daguerre and Niepce publicly debuting the how-to of the technology on August 19, 1839. And for all you history buffs, if you scroll to the bottom of the article you’ll see a collection of “history of the photograph” articles, from polaroids to high-speed photography. What better way to while away a Friday afternoon while waiting to get out and take one’s own pictures.

Crafting book for techies August 21, 2008

Wired has this book review of Fashioning Technology: A DIY Intro to Smart Crafting, a book that combines the itching needs of crafters and tech tinkerers (Published by O’Reilly; $20 on Amazon). John Baichtal of GeekDad does a great review. I haven’t read the book, but already I think this is a great concept, and I’d be interested to see just how doable the techy crafts actually are. I’m intrigued by the mere mentioning of electronic finger puppets.

My only gripe with the book right away is the subtitle: A DIY Intro to Smart Crafting. You can argue that it implies traditional crafting does not require smarts or technical know-how, when in fact crafting definitely requires brains, or at the very least a keen spatial awareness, and often the same skills required for techy endeavours (which is another reason why I think this book has major potential). I was a straight-A student throughout school, and I can’t figure out knitting at all. I guess everyone has their strengths. *sigh*

The evolutionary impacts of song August 20, 2008

To add more fuel to the “who owns music” fire, I’ve been collecting some tidbits on just how important music is to all animals.

Singing and music has been around since as long as we can determine. Some Neanderthal artifacts found can best be described as flutes or music makers.

Frogs, mice, and other animals, will sing to try and win a mate (whales do so with different regional dialects). Frogs can also tune their ears to ultrasonic frequencies to listen for different songs.

But singing and rhythm are not just things used to impress the ladies. Songs with a strong beat have been used by soldiers to march in step together and sailors to pull ropes in unison, or whatever else they needed to do at the same time. According to one survey, 90% of humans can sing, i.e. they are not completely tone deaf , and of the 10% who are, many of them recognize the right notes but just can’t quite create them. It is also easier for humans to remember things if they rhyme or have a rhythm or pattern to them.

Music soothes, agitates, or depresses people. Music is pretty powerful stuff.

Art to appreciate film? August 19, 2008

This article about the Fonz getting his own statue (not Henry Winkler, the character he played on TV) reminded me of how technology has really shaped the lives of people in the 20th Century. Movies, TV, telephones, photography, special effects, not to mention computers and the Internet. 

Making a movie is considered an art, but it also requires a lot of technology know-how. Movie- and photo-making and editing has also become more democratized, where film editing programs come standard on new computers

It’s also weird how often the false character becomes more famous than the creator or actor. Most people know the Fonz; most people don’t know Henry Winkler. Princess Leia vs. Carrie Fischer. Alice vs. Lewis Carroll. It’s amazing how people are captivated by a good character, in any form.

The price of music August 18, 2008

This article about how Pandora, a popular Internet radio site, is losing money and is considering shutting down, prompted me to think about music and the affect the Internet has had on its distribution.

Traditionally music was played or sung by anyone who felt the urge; then we started specializing and paying traveling bards a coin or two for their songs; then we were able to record music and distribute the same voice singing the same song all over the world; and before you know it millions of dollars are being exchanged between bands and recording companies and fans and merchandise and what have you. The fight over control of music on the Internet, and digital music in general, is just a symptom to a larger issue of what are songs worth and what are people willing to pay for music.

Bands use the Internet all the time to promote their own music on their websites. Music fans copy, download, and share digitized songs and music videos for free. Lots of websites sell songs to consumers, and you can purchase a band’s CDs from third party websites. Recording companies want royalties paid for songs played on all radio stations or by other bands, on the Internet or off.

I honestly am not sure where I stand on this issue – I believe that artists should be paid fairly for their work, and my job for years was to be an expert on copyright rules, but at the same time I have downloaded music for free (though not for several years), and if someone gives me a burned CD as a birthday present I’m certainly going to play it. Some bands are fine with their music being shared for free, others are vehemently against it. Overall, this is an issue where the current laws are counter to the current culture and behavior, and there needs to be a consensus made around the issue, especially in this era of the ”Communications Revolution” as the world becomes more and more dependent on the Internet and modern technology.