This weekend: Maker Faire! May 29, 2009

That’s right, boils and ghouls. San Francisco is hosting Maker Faire (sponsored by MAKE Magazine), a place where tinkerers and crafters converge to show of their wares.

Everyone and their GeekDad is excited about Maker Faire. There will be Legos, mechanical fairy wings, epic battles between robotic warships, and even Wall-e.

Their theme this year is how to create a sustainable future, and promoting the idea is that we ourselves have the power!

Unfortunately I can’t get the official site to stay up on my computer, but maybe you’ll have better luck: http://www.makerfaire.com/

Just don’t go over the top with your enthusiasm.

Guiding Light exhibit is all about optics May 29, 2009

From Misericordia University (wow, what a terrible name; “Misery-chord-ia” sounds like a band that specializes in sad music. I realize I’m probably butchering the name, but it’s funnier my way. Anyway, on to the story):

The new Pauly Friedman Art Gallery at Misericordia University is holding its grand opening exhibit, “Guiding Light,’’ featuring a stellar exhibition of large and extraordinary pieces by legendary artist Christopher Ries. The much-anticipated installation will run from Aug. 22 through Oct. 25.

“Glass is the essential material which gathers, focuses, reflects, refracts, amplifies, filters and transmits light,’’ Ries said, describing his sculptures that are on display around the world in art galleries, museums and in private, public and corporate collections. “I use these special light-altering abilities to create a kind of optical poetry.

“We are living in the age of photonics, where heretofore, theoretical knowledge of electromagnetic radiation (light) is now being transformed into practical life changing applications. My work is a tangible symbol of this time,’’ he added.

Unlike many artists who work with glass, Ries is not limited by size. The size of his sculptures does not affect the quality, but it does heighten the impact of the quality. The larger the piece, the greater the impact it has on its setting, according to the artist. His pieces transcend his limitless, creative talents and vision. Similar artists’ pieces are rarely larger than 10 inches in any direction, but Ries oftentimes sculpts contemporary works that are two feet or more in one direction, like his “Moonstone,’’ “Opposing Views,’’ “Clear Flame,’’ “Copper Cove,’’ “Victory,’’ “Motion,’’ and “Chevron 1” sculptures.

Read full release from Misery-Chord-ia University

Functional rideable art May 28, 2009

I’m intrigued by metal today.

“A one-man art bike building powerhouse known as the Montana Transit Authority is distracting pedestrians and stopping traffic with custom-built two- and three-wheelers,” according to Autotopia. Neal Fegan, the “one-man” behind Montana Transit Authority, is originally from Montana, but currently works in Portland, OR. These bicycles he creates are indeed modern pieces of art, but the best part is they work! This is truly functional art. I’ve heard people refer to their cars as pieces of art, but now your mode of transportation really can be.

“I love riding all my bikes,” Fegan said. “I’ll admit they are not the best for climbing hills, but once you figure out how to ride you can go forever. I still get amazed at how well they handle, even being ten feet long I can still maneuver around whatever comes my way.”

While the existing bikes are all steel, Fegan plans to switch to aluminum and other materials soon.

Read the full post, and check out more pictures of Fegan’s work.

 Photos: Montana Transit Authority.

Robots! May 28, 2009

Movies this summer are being dominated by robots, from Terminator:Salvation to the Transformers sequel. So what’s a warm-blooded, fleshy creature like ourselves to do? Learn how to live with ‘em.

Citizen Gamer provides a very interview with “humanity’s foremost experts on the subject — Daniel H. Wilson, an honest-to-god roboticist (who got his Ph.D. from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University no less) and the author of the book ’ How to Survive a Robot Uprising‘.” They discuss, what else, how to survive in a world of robots.

Gamer writes ”If the apocalyptic future depicted in “Terminator Salvation” were to actually come true, Wilson’s book contains all sorts of helpful advice — advice you’ll find in sections titled “How to Spot a Robot Mimicking a Human” and “How to Fool a Thermal Imaging Target Tracker” and “How to Treat a Laser Wound.”

The article provides some good details on what exactly roboticists are making these days, and which robots will probably overthrow us. I’m glad that Wilson also points out just how unlikely it is that machines with artificial intelligence are going to want to overthrow humans. Because it is really, really, unlikely. Really. Despite what all the movies say.

Still worried about a robot uprising? Another way to conquer your fear of robots is to build one yourself. Paul Loughridge makes robot sculptures out of everyday items. He makes all his metal critters out of metal and are made entirely of objects you could find lying around the house. No paint, no welding (he uses pop rivets), and no plastic unless it’s part of the original item. Wave Magazine has a write-up about his work. Another rule Loughridge has for himself is that each piece is named after a component of  the sculpture. So a robot with a coffee pot body is named Mr. Coffee.

Loughridge has an exhibit opening June 5 in San Jose, CA, if you want to check out Mr. Coffee and his buddies.

Best Nests May 27, 2009

The American Institute of Architects recently picked their favorite building projects that combine form and fucntion for both human and environmental needs.

The AIA has been giving out these awards for 12 years, but only recently have people really started to get interested.

Building green can be difficult. And, as Scientific American wrote about last week, they haven’t often been considerate to the humans inside them. “Surveys of occupants generally find that buildings meeting the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, the benchmarks for greenness, score higher on all measures except one: acoustics.”

Fortunately, AIA’s award also takes noisiness into account, and ”created a list of green buildings that also meet the aesthetic and functional needs of the people and communities that encounter and inhabit them. From a low-income apartment building situated by a light rail line to a new town center that reused materials from its old municipal buildings for construction, these projects are putting Earth and its residents on equal footing.” AND, they’re not all in the U.S.

Enjoy the natural man-made wonders.

Jackson Pollock: loved or scorned by mathematicians everywhere May 27, 2009

For art historians and museum folks, authenticating a Jackson Pollock painting can be hard. I mean, it’s just splatters on a canvas.

Not so, according to several different computer analyses. There is actually a method to Pollock’s madness. SPIE Newsroom has the latest article on the subject.

This painting is an example of work that has been debated as to whether or not it is or is not Pollock. “Teri Horton purchased [the painting] for $5.00 in a thrift shop in San Bernadino (CA) in the early 1990s. Although some art scholars have attributed this painting to Pollock, others have contested or rejected this notion.”

The authors of the SPIE Newsroom article hope to answer the question.

Trashy fashion May 26, 2009

From The Bellingham Herald:

“Recycled clothing is nothing new. You can pick some up at Goodwill, Value Village or any number of local consignment shops.

But clothing made out of recycled goods, that gets a little more interesting.

Kilts that started life as beer boxes and coffee-cup collars were just a few of the creative ideas at this year’s Haute Trash fashion show, put on by Haute Trash and the RE Store on April 11 at the Wild Buffalo. The fashion show has been going on in Bellingham since 2006, but with the recent all-encompassing trend to go green, this year’s show was the best yet.”

Read full article…

This is more of a DIY post, but I always like the possibilities of finding new uses for wires, lighting, and other technologies.

Microscopic photos from the garden May 26, 2009

William Gurstelle, author of the book Absinthe and Flamethrowers: Projects and Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously, expresses his love of microscopic photography, from ants to spiders on GeekDad.

He describes it as “Cheap, Geeky, Summer Fun.”

 One of Gurstelle’s photos: just your friendly neighborhood ant.

You can see a video of this little guy, and an even littler guy, below.

Budding architects rejoice May 22, 2009

Lego has just released a Frank Lloyd Wright Lego set!

Gadget Lab explains:

“It is releasing the almost ridiculously fitting Architecture series, beginning with the Frank Lloyd Wright Collection, six planned sets including the Guggenheim in New York and Fallingwater, the iconic cantilevered waterfall-house outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“This, we don’t need to tell you, is inspired. Real bricks turned into Lego bricks. What’s better is that this is just the beginning of Lego’s Architecture series, as we can see from the teaser on the product page.”

How awesome is that?! It seems especially fitting that they are introducing the series with particularly artistic structures. Frank Lloyd Wright is considered a demi-god where I live in the Pacific Northwest.

You can currently buy them at the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition at the Guggenheim, as well as at Lego.

Compare:

The Original Masterpiece

                               And the Lego masterpiece!

How to revamp science education May 21, 2009

I have the answers! All of ‘em, right here, in one post!

Wow, wouldn’t that be awesome if that were possible, but unfortunately that is not the way the world works. *sigh*

BUT, with the end of the school year wrapping up, there seems to be a lot of talk about how to make science education more exciting and engaging for the youngens. And there seems to be an underlying theme among all the people I’ve been reading, watching, and listening to. Can you guess what that is? Ok, not art, but interaction! And for many of the science education experts, that DOES include a healthy does of art, literature, and other creative forms of media.

Observe:

Jo Handelson is a microbiologist at University of Wisconsin-Madison. As featured in Seed Magazine, she is a vocal advocate for revamping the way science is taught. Scientists don’t use tools from 30 years ago to do research. They’ve built on discoveries to improve their techniques. But teaching suffers from neglect, she astutely points out. “Science is really about discovery and inquiry and the excitement of finding out how the world works,” and she feels it should be taught that way, in a hands-on style.

Another strong advocate for science education revitalization is Norman Augustine. Former president of Lockheed Martin, Augustine believes that engineering education in particular needs to be seriously revamped. The link provided has a video interview of him and a plenary talk he presented at SPIE’s Defense, Sensing and Security symposium, as well as a transcript of the talk. I LOVE the part where he points out that the curriculum for engineers at MIT at the turn of the last century was much more diverse and robust, and says engineers need a good dose of humanities. Here, here!

Blogger Miss Baker, a high school biology teacher, actually went to the source and interviewed some of her students about how they believed scientists could better engage students. In one form or another, most of the kids said they wanted more hands-on experiences or information delivered to them in a different way, particularly multi-media.