World Maker Faire

WorldMakerFaire1200

New York was lots of fun. The kids were cute and so excited to see LEDs change colors. Can’t wait for next year!


Center Flee + c4ss4ndr4

Center Flee + c4ss4ndr4 showed at Maker Faire Bay Area 2013. The duo will also show at Maker Faire World at the end of September 2013.    (Cassandra was injured in a bike accident and wasn’t able to attend Maker Fare World. The two will be performing at Maker Faire Bay Area 2014.)

Center Flee are accelerometer based, networked LED devices, spun like fire poi, they make music and light effects. They respond to subtle changes in velocity, making a delicate conversation between performer and technology.

The Arduino powered smart poi use the accelerometer data in multiple ways. The spinning motion is translated into RGB LED values, printing colors at specific points in the rotational arc. Accelerometer data is also transmitted to a computer using XBee Wireless chips, producing sounds with each spin. To change between color sequences, ranging from rainbow to red, blue and green channels, simply drop smart poi while at rest or stall while spinning.

The effect is truly mesmerizing, as witnessed at Maker Faire Bay Area 2013. A visceral combination of motion and light, they are simple to use but difficult to perfect.

Center Flee Website


Vizualize.me

Resume time again. Lucky for me I found this nifty way to visualize my LinkedIn profile. Once I imported my work data, I was able to try on different themes and color schemes until I found the one that I liked best.


manifesto

Composed during the Spring of 2005. Flickr had just made a splash with new software that allowed individuals easily take photos, post them online and share with friends. I questioned the aesthetics of the photos and wondered if it would help photographers show interesting photos or if it would be used to share experiences. That debate was answered by the developers. They created ways of letting users rate photos for their aesthetics (interesting-ness). The burgeoning “Status Revolution” of late 2008 – early 2009 made me once wonder if some individuals haven’t already started using social software to create and share art.

Citizen as artist: daydream or future reality?

Manifesto for aesthetics on small devices. With the technology at our finger tips, where are the artisans of the new digital age? What aesthetic criteria will they be judged by?

This is the age of the usual. We are asked by a conservative government (in 2005) to return to a simpler mind. We are asked to re-evaluate our lives, digitize our experience and qualify our existence. This is the end of the data age and the beginning of the real-y digital age. An age as rich with the data of daily life, as the data of our online purchases. An age where lives are lived on the internet, by documenting our experiences and annotating pieces of it. There is no more mystery to being online, no secret identity to protect. Existence happens both online and off. The internet evolved from 8-bit icons, into real pictures, into moving ones. Digital life looks like real life in 72 dpi and full color.

Each man, now, has their own movie camera. Almost one hundred years from the Man With the Movie Camera (1929) by Dziga Vertov. The film maker recorded the streets of Moscow, highlighting the life of every man. His unique point-of-view provided an artistic voice for people lost in bourgeoisie theater and painting. He translated the streets of Moscow, with help of the new technology— film, into art. His art was reality through the filter of the artist/citizen. He was doing nothing more than re-conceptualizing his global environment. This new era upon us is similar to the technological revolution of his industrial age. Are we creating art as we post our personal knowledge, experiences and photos online. Will artisans of the “Status Revolution” emerge from the data mines?

Seldom are we encouraged to stop and ponder the importance of our own seemingly mundane actions. Art thrives in society by bringing to light those moments of pontification. It thrives by creating outlets to reflect the world. The cell phone can act as mediator in this relationship. The desire to create is often times immediate and the moment fleeting. Artistic creation is sometimes solitary, sometimes collaborative, but all of the times it brings ideas to light. This melting of the minds and lightening of the ego can be achieved by encouraging active daydreams, creating art from the world at large and thinking aesthetically. The daydream project begins with a manifesto— encourage the creation of art with the tools of the modern digital age.

Technology seeks to broaden the minds of the individuals who use it. New marketing trends push towards creating on the, “every-man” level; create, compose, cut and edit. World citizens rich with the ability to perform these tasks aren’t grasping the role of artisan or crafts-person. Still in a society where the ability to make surrounds; few are moving from the role of consumer into the role of producer — although most still retain the role of critic. Along with the tools for creation, is there a similar discourse on the aesthetics of how to create. If everyone can be an artist, why isn’t the world rich with new artists? The ability to record and the ability to create seem to be at odds.

To better understand the manifesto, first we must discuss the nature of photography and videography with mobile devices. The screen size is quite small and the environment intimate. This makes for more personal recording and viewing platform. The resolution is low, on even the best devices. Since portability is of the essence, resolution isn’t important. The creating and viewing platforms are micro in scale. Given this, there must be new ways to discuss the aesthetics of mobile media.

Mobile devices provide quite a few technological barriers that encourage creating new protocols. The frame speed on video (in 2005) is 12 frames per second, which creates more of a flicker effect. The calibration for exposure, white balance and zoom are mostly manual. The videographer has little to manipulate on the camera so an understanding of light and shadow must be expressed. The direction of the light, distance from the subject and the subject itself must all be carefully chosen. Video on a mobile device feels like a step back in time, peering into a quarter zoetrope and watching the images flicker, but with over saturated color.

The content must be considered. Close-ups and micro images work well on a small screen. The user doesn’t want to squint when viewing the clip. People are best pictured with face and torso instead of full body, since the screen doesn’t allow for the wide-screen aspect ratio. Choices of objects that speak to the psyche will make for more meaningful video clips. Color is essential since the saturation on mobile devices is enhanced over resolution. While the surrealists used black and white film because of technological restraints, mobile media should be vivid. If color is eliminated then it must be used to enhance the content.

The cut is created by the user or the recording limits of the device. Typical documentary techniques can’t be used since the device can only hold video clips up to 2 minutes in length. The shots need to be short and full of meaning before switching to the next. Clips will be best viewed on the go, a bit here and a bit there, each time compounding the meaning of the subject. The surrealists in their manifesto encouraged life affirming accidents through the juxtaposition of images. This moving image juxtaposition lead to the typical Hollywood cuts every four seconds. While a good rule of thumb, on mobile devices the length should be longer to allow for the added distraction of the user’s environment.

The mobile device is personal, intimate and a digital extension of the person’s life and consciousness. By this nature the media’s content should be personal. To avoid any lewd references to the adult entertainment industry, personal can encompass the psychology of the relationship between user and viewer. The intimate relationship that occurs when an object is examined on this personal level. It can be the macro focus of ants walking along a sidewalk or leaves being crushed underfoot. The characteristics of the recording devices dictates the subject matter. Small screens and personal size leads the mind to want personal, inspiring and compelling video. If Marshall McLuhan’s “medium is the message,” the message of the mobile device is personal.


D A Y D R E A M • M A N I F E S T O

Composed during the Spring of 2005. Flickr had just made a splash with new software that allowed individuals easily take photos, post them online and share with friends. I questioned the aesthetics of the photos and wondered if it would help photographers show interesting photos or if it would be used to share experiences. That debate was answered by the developers. They created ways of letting users rate photos for their aesthetics (interesting-ness). The burgeoning “Status Revolution” of late 2008 – early 2009 made me once wonder if some individuals haven’t already started using social software to create and share art.

Citizen as artist: daydream or future reality?

Manifesto for aesthetics on small devices. With the technology at our finger tips, where are the artisans of the new digital age? What aesthetic criteria will they be judged by?

This is the age of the usual. We are asked by a conservative government (in 2005) to return to a simpler mind. We are asked to re-evaluate our lives, digitize our experience and qualify our existence. This is the end of the data age and the beginning of the real-y digital age. An age as rich with the data of daily life, as the data of our online purchases. An age where lives are lived on the internet, by documenting our experiences and annotating pieces of it. There is no more mystery to being online, no secret identity to protect. Existence happens both online and off. The internet evolved from 8-bit icons, into real pictures, into moving ones. Digital life looks like real life in 72 dpi and full color.

Each man, now, has their own movie camera. Almost one hundred years from the Man With the Movie Camera (1929) by Dziga Vertov. The film maker recorded the streets of Moscow, highlighting the life of every man. His unique point-of-view provided an artistic voice for people lost in bourgeoisie theater and painting. He translated the streets of Moscow, with help of the new technology— film, into art. His art was reality through the filter of the artist/citizen. He was doing nothing more than re-conceptualizing his global environment. This new era upon us is similar to the technological revolution of his industrial age. Are we creating art as we post our personal knowledge, experiences and photos online. Will artisans of the “Status Revolution” emerge from the data mines?

Seldom are we encouraged to stop and ponder the importance of our own seemingly mundane actions. Art thrives in society by bringing to light those moments of pontification. It thrives by creating outlets to reflect the world. The cell phone can act as mediator in this relationship. The desire to create is often times immediate and the moment fleeting. Artistic creation is sometimes solitary, sometimes collaborative, but all of the times it brings ideas to light. This melting of the minds and lightening of the ego can be achieved by encouraging active daydreams, creating art from the world at large and thinking aesthetically. The daydream project begins with a manifesto— encourage the creation of art with the tools of the modern digital age.

Technology seeks to broaden the minds of the individuals who use it. New marketing trends push towards creating on the, “every-man” level; create, compose, cut and edit. World citizens rich with the ability to perform these tasks aren’t grasping the role of artisan or crafts-person. Still in a society where the ability to make surrounds; few are moving from the role of consumer into the role of producer — although most still retain the role of critic. Along with the tools for creation, is there a similar discourse on the aesthetics of how to create. If everyone can be an artist, why isn’t the world rich with new artists? The ability to record and the ability to create seem to be at odds.

To better understand the manifesto, first we must discuss the nature of photography and videography with mobile devices. The screen size is quite small and the environment intimate. This makes for more personal recording and viewing platform. The resolution is low, on even the best devices. Since portability is of the essence, resolution isn’t important. The creating and viewing platforms are micro in scale. Given this, there must be new ways to discuss the aesthetics of mobile media.

Mobile devices provide quite a few technological barriers that encourage creating new protocols. The frame speed on video (in 2005) is 12 frames per second, which creates more of a flicker effect. The calibration for exposure, white balance and zoom are mostly manual. The videographer has little to manipulate on the camera so an understanding of light and shadow must be expressed. The direction of the light, distance from the subject and the subject itself must all be carefully chosen. Video on a mobile device feels like a step back in time, peering into a quarter zoetrope and watching the images flicker, but with over saturated color.

The content must be considered. Close-ups and micro images work well on a small screen. The user doesn’t want to squint when viewing the clip. People are best pictured with face and torso instead of full body, since the screen doesn’t allow for the wide-screen aspect ratio. Choices of objects that speak to the psyche will make for more meaningful video clips. Color is essential since the saturation on mobile devices is enhanced over resolution. While the surrealists used black and white film because of technological restraints, mobile media should be vivid. If color is eliminated then it must be used to enhance the content.

The cut is created by the user or the recording limits of the device. Typical documentary techniques can’t be used since the device can only hold video clips up to 2 minutes in length. The shots need to be short and full of meaning before switching to the next. Clips will be best viewed on the go, a bit here and a bit there, each time compounding the meaning of the subject. The surrealists in their manifesto encouraged life affirming accidents through the juxtaposition of images. This moving image juxtaposition lead to the typical Hollywood cuts every four seconds. While a good rule of thumb, on mobile devices the length should be longer to allow for the added distraction of the user’s environment.

The mobile device is personal, intimate and a digital extension of the person’s life and consciousness. By this nature the media’s content should be personal. To avoid any lewd references to the adult entertainment industry, personal can encompass the psychology of the relationship between user and viewer. The intimate relationship that occurs when an object is examined on this personal level. It can be the macro focus of ants walking along a sidewalk or leaves being crushed underfoot. The characteristics of the recording devices dictates the subject matter. Small screens and personal size leads the mind to want personal, inspiring and compelling video. If Marshall McLuhan’s “medium is the message,” the message of the mobile device is personal.