Party Hardy December 31, 2008

Artist Giles Walker has created a robot pole-dancer as part of his collection of interactive robots.  See the somewhat creepy footage. Walker has also created robot DJs, and soon drunk robots. He can have his own dance party, just in time to bring in the New Year.

The footage was “shot at Mutate Britain, an art exhibit at London’s Behind the Shutters Gallery. The clip shows the racy robotic work of Giles Walker, a member of U.K. guerrilla art group Mutoid Waste Company.” There isn’t much on the Mutoid website yet, but I’ll be curious to see what develops.

According to Walker’s own website “These ‘robots’ are built from 12V motors found in cars (windscreen wiper motors, etc.) and then controlled through a PC using a DMX programme. The robots that I am currently building involve live interaction, and incorporate sensors that react with their immediate environment. I am hoping to get these onto the street and reacting with the public.”

So if you’re out dancing tonight and think that girl’s moves are a little robotic, maybe you’ll know why.

Happy New Year! Wishing everyone a 2009 full of science, art, and good fortune!

Eroding beach scenes December 30, 2008

Dr. Robin McInnes in England is using paintings made almost 200 years ago to track erosion of beaches on the Hampshire coastline and the Isle of Wight.

From the BBC article: 

Dr McInnes began to examine images from the 1770s to the 1920s. From more than 400 paintings, prints and illustrations he drew up a scale to asses how useful such artworks were as coastal engineering tools.

“I looked at issues such as the material and the nature of the media, oil paintings versus prints; generally, water colour allowed the most accurate depiction…Followers of the pre-Raphaelites captured in precise detail this period, it coincided with an interest in geology and natural sciences,” [said McInnes]. He added that the paintings of the period were not just a tool for categorising physical change, but also environmental and developmental issues.

“Many artists returned to the same spot to capture the same scenes over a period of years. The study shows how Victorian development has radically changed the coastline; it’s nice to strip it back because it helps you understand what might be the underlying problems of erosion and instability.”

This method is only effective in places with a long history of visual documentation, and as McInnes points out himself a qualitative analysis, but is an effective way to study geological changes, both man-made and through nature. Photographs have been used in California, usually for beach restoration.

Artists’ call – Manifest Hope:DC December 29, 2008

Are you a graphic artist that’s worried about the potential hazards of nanotechnology? A painter that believes in alternative energies? Well now is your chance to have those beliefs and your artwork presented to an international audience.

There is a current call out for artwork for the Manifest Hope: DC exhibition that will be presented at the Jan 20th inauguration of president-elect Barack Obama. Inspired by the original exhibit displayed at the Democratic National Convention, the exhibit hopes to showcase three different themes:

• Manifest Opportunity – Stimulating The Green Economy
• Manifest Change – Health Care Reform
• Manifest Unity – Protecting Workers’ Rights

Taken from the press release: “MANIFEST HOPE: DC and its partners MoveOn PAC, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Obey Giant launches a contest calling for entries of visual artwork from artists across the country in an online contest. The online contest calls for works that use positive messaging to convey the urgency and importance of encouraging a national dialogue about three themes – Heath Care Reform, the Green Economy and Workers’ Rights.

 ”Art played an unprecedented role in this election.

 ”Artists can make one submission per category, totaling a maximum of three submissions. 

 ”Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of judges including famed artist Shepard Fairey; Director Spike Lee; Washington DC based musician Eric Hilton of the Thievery Corporation; Curator of Contemporary Art at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Anne Ellegood; SEIU 775NW Healthcare President David Rolf; Creative & Cultural Director of MoveOn.org Laura Dawn; and Co-Founder and President of Green For All Van Jones. 

 ”Fifteen finalists will be selected to show in the MANIFEST HOPE: DC Gallery alongside well-known artists such as Shepard Fairey, David Choe, Ron English, Ray Noland, Maya Hayuk, Sol Sender and Mike Murphy.”

 ”MANIFEST HOPE: DC , shown at 3333 M Street NW, Washington DC 20007, will be open to the public from Friday, January 16th, 2009 through Monday, January 19th, 2009 from 10:00 am – 6:00 pm.”

My brain’s in knots December 26, 2008

I can’t believe I’d never heard of this before: The Museum of Fabric Brain Art. This is a collection of anatomically correct brain art. With inspiration taken from MRIs and other scanning images, artists Marjorie Taylor and Karen Norberg created different brains using a variety of techniques, including “quilting, applique, embroidery, beadwork, knitting, and crocheting. Materials include fabric, yarn, metallic threads, electronic components such as magnetic core memory, and wire, zippers, and beads.”

They also have a sister gallery of wooden brain art.

They also provide links to other neuroartists and their work. Wow, this is an entire genre of art? Awesome! And good for people who are not fantastic knitters: the brain is supposed to look kind of lumpy.

Christmas light dance December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!

My gift to you: The Christmas Lights Dancing to Music video!

This video has been around for a couple of years, but it is still always a treat to see. This house’s light-show was created by an electrical engineer who spent two months and almost $10,000, and who obviously LOVES Christmas.

Enjoy.

Last minute gift ideas December 24, 2008

As I scrounge through my closet looking for last minute gifts for family and friends, I feel somewhat better knowing that Christmas Eve is the second-busiest shopping day of the year. For those of you looking for last-minute home-made gift ideas, I have the perfect thing: The catapult. Compiled by MAKE magazine are several how tos and kits to make a variety of trebuchet and catapults. Think of it as a family project, and the perfect use for that century-old fruitcake. I’ve got nothing against a fresh panettone, but some of those things are just scary.

For the less mechanically inclined, and speaking of baking, NPR recently aired a great story about the chemistry behind the perfect cookie. Food scientist Shirley Corriher (yes, an actual food scientist!) divulges how to keep your cookies from crumbling.

Hmm, looks like my nephew is getting my old audio recorder. Hopefully your last minute gift recipients will fare better.

Oh yeah, and keep an eye out for Santa on one of the many Santa trackers!

For the snowed-in: Star Wars Origami December 23, 2008

A lot of us are currently stuck at home, with lots of snowy, icy, cold weather, especially in cities where snow is not a common occurrence. And those of us who did make it home for the holidays are possibly now stuck inside with our wonderful families. So for those of you at home, with family, or even work, with nothing to do and getting a little stir-crazy, here is a fun/geeky activity for you to take on: an Origami Millenium Falcon from Star Wars. The link has directions in both still- and moving-picture form.

Created by paper-folding artist Philip Schulz, his website has a whole bunch of different Star Wars ships and shapes to try out.

Origami is a fun art, a great way to kill some time, and an applied way to learn about Geometry. And it’s just fun to fly your own personal Millenium Falcon around making the sound effects.

Be ecofriendly: use holey font December 22, 2008

A new type of font has been released, open access, that is supposedly friendly to the environment because it uses 15% less ink.

“Spranq, the Utrecht-based marketing and communications company that designed the font, struck on a Swiss-cheese design after failures with earlier experiments using thin letters and partial letters — like the stripes of a zebra.” Read more of the article.

It reminds me somewhat of Broadway lighting, and despite what its creator says, I think it’s quite nice looking.

But the best part is the creators are inviting people to try and create better version of this Eco-friendly font. Again, the program is open source, and so anyone and everyone is welcome to download it and try their hand at creating a font that makes a statement in more ways than one. It’s also a great form of advertisement for creative communications company SPRANQ.

In memoriam: Majel Barrett-Roddenberry December 19, 2008

It is with a sad hear that I report to all you fans out there that Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, died Thursday morning from Leukemia. She was 76.

Barrett-Roddenberry played many roles in Star Trek, as ship computer’s voice, Deanna Troi’s mother Lwaxana, and other characters. She also appeared on other TV shows. While she herself didn’t create Star Trek, she was a staunch supporter of her husband’s work and this science-fiction fan favorite.

Her final work was the voice of the ship’s computer in the upcoming Star Trek movie.

RIP Majel.

Photovoltaic art installation in San Jose library December 18, 2008

From the article: “A new branch library that opened in San Jose, California, this week sports an art glass window installation that is also a solar-power generator.” more here.

I think this is a great location for this type of art/science installation. It is in a very public space and can education people about solar energy and some of the different options surrounding it.

They have installed a couple of these in Canada, which I’ve written about before on this blog, but I believe this article is correct in claiming this is the first installation in a major U.S. city.

I’m actually surprised this type of art installation hasn’t picked up more in popularity. It’s not like the windows need to power the entire building, and it’s a nice statement to add to any LEED or other wanna-be-green, or wanna-be-artistic, building. And, they’re really pretty.