John Maeda + Skateboard

French company Mekanism Skateboards is going to release a model designed by MIT researcher John Maeda. I like this kind of connections:

After its collaboration with the artist Invader, French company MEKANISM skateboards is giving carte blanche to John MAEDA for a limited-edition board. This board is called “thrrrrrrust”, the concept is two thousand little arrows arranged in a collage as a kind of representation of “thrust” as often seen in physics films.

This MEKANISM/John MAEDA board is limited to 100 numbered copies. It will be available in selected stores worldwide and on-line at www.jerevequejedors.com from October 29th 2005. He will have an exhibition from November 19th 2005 to February 19th 2006 
at the Fondation Cartier in Paris, France.

When computer art meets skateboarding!

A performance piece using potatoes as power and sound source

(via) A study of the sonic properties of Genetically Modified (GM) potatoes by Alex Berman, David McCallum and Sue Huang

A performance piece using potatoes as power and sound source in the service of art and science. (...) The potatoes are used as a power source for the performance by supplying conventional potato battery power. Using zinc (galvanized nails) and copper (thick wire), each potato generates .5 to 1 volt. The individual potatoes can be linked together in serial or parallel to increase voltage and/or amperage. The potato batteries power circuits that generate square waves with varying frequency and intensity depending on the voltage and amperage drawn from the potatoes, which is controlled by the performers by manipulating the battery configuration on the fly. Piezo contact mics are used to process physical interaction with potatoes (i.e. slicing potatoes, grinding potatoes, peeling potatoes, boiling and frying potatoes, etc.)

Why do I blog this? I like this kind of project, very 'off-the-wall', hacking vegetable sounds good.

Connected pasta it's close to this idea of creating botanical gameboys.

Bio-art and "meat production without victimization"

Via Networked Performance, a very insightful special issue of CIAC's electronic magazine about bio-art: There are articles about various artists ranging from Eduardo Kac (the guy who did the the lime-green rabbit) to Katy High's embracing animals. It's a very up-to-date picture of the bio-art scene. My favorite piece in this journal is the Disembodied Cuisine by the Tissue Culture & Art Project (Oron CATTS & Ionat ZURR)

In Disembodied Cuisine, a performative installation whose theme was "meat production without victimization", Oron Catts, Ionat Zurr and Guy Ben-Ary from the Australian Tissue Culture & Art Project cultivated tissue to create a pseudo-positivist junk-food alternative to massive factory farming. Edible, "semi-living sculptures" were cultivated out of isolated muscle cells from frogs on biodegradable polymer scaffolds in bio-reactors. Bio-artists 'fed' them daily with a nutrient solution during their cell-cultured lives in a gallery-laboratory featuring a sterile hood and CO2 incubators. Eight weeks later, at a nouvelle cuisine cookout whose invited guests included the happy creatures spared from slaughter as a direct result of the project, they were flambéed in Calvados and devoured. Menu-handbills advertising the barbecue were distributed at the local farmers' market so that the typical contemporary art audience could be enriched by the presence of butchers interested in the prospect of alternative meat production.

For people who are not aware of it, the "Tissue Culture & Art Project" is hosted by SymbioticA:

SymbioticA is a research laboratory dedicated to the artistic exploration of scientific knowledge in general, and biological technologies in particular. It is located in The School of Anatomy & Human Biology at The University of Western Australia. SymbioticA is the first research laboratory of its kind, in that it enables artists to engage in wet biology practices in a biological science department

Temporary Habitat

I find this kind of device utterly marvelous: Temporary Habitat [02] by Saranont Limpanont (NYT):

Because human is the most important factor in any habitats, habitats cannot illustrate their value If nobody utilizes it. The concept of this temporary habitat is to use human body as a part of its structure. If nobody is inside, this habitat would collapse and become just a junk. On the other hand, if we dwell in it and use our body as a part of its structure, this junk cardboard can provide a flexible personal space for us. Form and space of this habitat can be adjusted to many patterns depending on different activities.

Corrupted FTP

Brendan Dawes's work about FTP seems to be cool:

Corrupted: Ftp As Art: Mistakes often lead to new insights and new thinking. This project came out of a complete mistake. Whilst uploading some pictures to my server via my usual FTP software, I mistakenly had the transfer type set to TEXT. It should be set to BINARY or AUTO. When I went to view the images I found they had been distorted and twisted into something new. A techno glitch had created completely new imagery.

For instance, the left picture is the original and then the corrupted version is on the right:

Why do I blog this? I like this kind of corrupted art.

'Table de synchronisation'

(via) At the Paris FIAC 2005 there is this intriguing and somehow fascinatin table called 'Table de synchronisation', a project by Suchan Kinoshita (more about the project on his galery's website):

Suchan Kinoshita who grew up in Japan emigrated to Cologne at the age of twenty in order to pursue a musical education at the institute where the contemporary composer Maurizio Kagel was teaching. Later, she worked for a theatre company in which members alternately assumed the role of actor, stage designer and director. Therefore, it is no coincidence that her work can be situated in many fringe areas: inside or outside the walls of the exhibition, with or without an active input by the public, recognisable as a work of art or camouflaged as such. For Ravenstein Galleries she create a specific environment, a "dépot de mots" like a storage and a table of sounds like a sound kitchen.

Why do I blog this? I like the concept of a 'sound kitchen' and they was it's represented is so weird that I find it cool.

Technorati Tags: Suchan Kinoshita

Rooftop tennis court

I really enjoy Arno Piroud's street artwork. One of is best piece is definitely this tennis court painted on a rooftop in Lyon, France:

Photo featured in the great book 'Art de rue' by Kanardo.

Laptops in wooden logs

The Owl Project (Simon Blackmore, Antony Hall)is a band from Manchester who plays laptops in wooden logs at Emergence, a french arty event:

They developed the log1k, a wooded laptop described as: "' The all-new Log1k® is here. And it's unlike anything you've seen or experienced. With a brilliant flat-panel display and phenomenal performance, Log1k® is the first computer built from the ground up to be the ultimate hub for the owl project lifestyle. Its time to log on...' The Log1k® was designed and constructed by the Owl Project. They have been using the Log1k® to perform their own brand of electronica, which combines electro-magnetic fields and signals to produce complex beats and ambient sound. ' Down-to-earth ease of use. Out-of-this-world performance and looks. Log1k® is great in the home or the forest. '"

Usable in trains too, and of course there is the more portable version: the iLog (on the right)

Urban transportation systems hacking

I am crazy about this project by HeHe (Helen Evans and Heiko Hansen): Train : urban structure for aesthetic urban transportation, a very intriguing and relevant project about transportation:

Using existing, past and future railway transportation systems and Reverse Cultural Engineer them. Technological process feathers at its periphery. Similar to a fractal image an innovation is followed by other innovations, based on the original one. In a recursive environment like this we would like to go back to the origin, the innovation of railway and propose a different solution, here an individual perpetuated vehicle. In this way artistic process starts by going backwards to propose utilitarian design scenarios.

The Train project is a speculation into the language and aesthetics of transportation, particularly those that have become so ubiquitous and unquestionable for us. By proposing different real installations which would work within active or abandoned public transport structures and a series of conceptual designs a dialogue should be raised that engages in questions about the reality and "real fiction" of traffic.

The project has been inspired by the demise of ARAMIS (french research project about an high tech automated subway that was developped in France during the eighties), which is well summarized in Bruno Latour's book Aramis or the Love of Technology (hey A. I know it's one of your favorite book).

Why do I blog this? I find the project interesting, a kind of hack of current transportation system (they don't steal or hack a vehicle, just the 'physical network' which is smart (conversely I like people building temporary architecture on walls or mountains while climbing). Plus, I also like the way they define themselves: "reverse cultural engineer the technological systems, that surround us". The "ersonal Rapid Transport system, Cabin Taxi, Germany" they show is also amazing:

Conway's Game of Life LED tank top

An interesting tank top for people who are both into AI and flashy dressers like Mauro: LED tank top by Leah Buechley:

84 LEDs, a microcontroller and battery were sewn onto a tank top with conductive thread to create a wearable LED matrix display. In the movie the shirt is initialized with a glider on the back of the shirt and a blinker on the front. Periodically, a new glider is added to the back of the shirt. The tank top "board" for the Game of Life is a torus; the cells on the top row of the tank top are neighbors to the cells on the bottom row and vice versa.

Field Works: landscape + activity visualizations

Currently close to my place in Geneva, there is an interesting art exhibition by MASAKI FUJIHATA called "Field Works" (at the Centre Saint Gervais). It happens to be close to locative media arty concepts:

Masaki Fujihata has worked for some fifteen years on new forms of visualizing knowledge, space and time. He is intrigued by the possibilities of recording three-dimensional data and has elaborated a complex yet ultra-lightweight electronic system that goes along with him in his travels around the globe, enabling him to capture in a surprising way the landscapes he has encountered. This equipment consists of a backpack topped by a GPS receiver and a wide-angle video camera to which are attached a directional microphone, a pocket computer, and an electronic compass.

Kitted out with his equipment, Fujihata records the regions he visits, inviting us to tag along with him on his singular walks. Each of the sites where these walks take place was chosen in terms of the possibility of developing a project there linked specifically with its geography and history. (...)

All of the material (images, interviews, spatial coordinates, camera positions) gathered in the course of these trips is brought together in a computer. At the editing stage Fujihata cuts and recomposes the itinerary along the route recorded by the GPS, attaching frames—their orientation and movements—to its tangled threads and thus staggering the shots throughout the space-time. Viewers can then see recreated on the projection screen the different views captured during the walk. These are exactingly restored to their spatiotemporel sequence thanks to the coordinates furnished by the GPS, which serves as a thread running through the reading.

This three-dimensional cartography introduces a topography that immerses viewers in the experience of a virtual excursion. They navigate in front of a screen, building other stories while following the GPS itinerary, which guides them through the twists and turns of a landscape that has been laid out by multiple points of views.

Why do I blog this? I appreciate the 'spatial' dimension of his visualizations, especially with regards to the fact it's aim is to form "a collective memory determined the walks taken by the participants".

Sound vehicle by Peter Keene

I like this 'communicating vehicle' by Peter Keene and Sophie Piet.So: the public can participate through the use of 2 self-guided vehicles that can communicate. I found this device nice ;)

« Paysage sonore » de Peter Keene et Sophie Piet.So Circuit interactif , performance collective (création) Collaborant ensemble depuis 2001, ces deux plasticiens revisitent la technologie qui redevient imprévisible et inquiétante. Cocooning guidé par satellite... nomadisme sur moquette du salon... L’installation « paysage sonore » de Sophie Piet.sO et Peter Keene, invite le public à jouer à la voiture communicante. Deux véhicules électriques monoplaces auto guidés, équipés d’un périscope pour un visionnage sélectif, vous promènent dans un appartement sonore.

PSP to do funny things (+see under clothes)

The PSP factory, a french place/group who do/link stuff about PSPs, have an intersting gallery of people doing crazy thing with PSPs: Why do I blog this? The picture depicting the usage of a PSP to see what's under the clothes of people is of particular interest (see this one ot that one). Personally I am impressed by this kind of stuff, people from Sony should (and actually did pay attention to this, as a testimony + a way to gather new ideas for their device!). It's going to be shown at the GamePaused Exhibition in London.

S.O.U.P: a visual and acoustic representation of the wireless communication network

Locative media artist Alejo Duque and his colleague Lorenz Schori are working in a very cool project in Luzern, Switzerland, it's called SOUP: the Shapes Of [Un]warped Packages:

S.O.U.P provides a visual and acoustic representation of the omnipresent wireless communication networks which surrounds us in urban spaces. think of our application as a soup ladle spooning arbitrarily up the boiling air and transforming the data into sound and video.

a computer terminal shows a map of the surroundings plus basic points of reference of the city or town that hosts physically our installation. the observer now can jump or fly to some places in the city and choose from different datasets recorded at different daytimes. the software will provide a visual and acoustic representation using surround sound and a beamer.

An example can be found here:

walchedump sound of data gathered on june 22 for the swiss dorkbot hacienda. a simple sinewave cluster is feeded with the distance, the position and the channel of the 60 networks we found. the voices are raising and falling according to our movements. the whole log is played back at a higher rate, so things sound more interesting.

Why do I blog this? I really love the idea of visualizing radio/wireless information flows; it reminds a project by Dunne and Rabby about hertzian spaces I alreads blogged about. Good job Alejo!

Album of the year 2005

Fantomas' last album is great, 30 tracks (one for each day in the month of April), 43 minutes! illustrated with a lovely calendar by japanese artist Yoshimoto Nara.

"Suspended Animation" (Fantômas)

According to the label (Ipecac):

Patton describes the new album as “nursery rhymes, cartoon sound effects and choppy arrangements.” 

As with all Ipecac releases, the artwork and packaging are just as integral to unfolding the full story as the piece of music, Suspended Animation is no different. Perhaps the most intricate packaging to date, the thirty page booklet/calendar is illustrated by Asian pop cartoonist Yoshimoto Nara. In a recent San Francisco Bay Guardian feature, Nara’s influential style was described as “cartoonlike images and sculptures of kids and puppies – sporting world-weary adult expressions, major attitude and salty vocabularies.” The paper went on to say that Nara’s pieces “are among the most cutting edge of Japanese exports in the contemporary art world.”

And I like the BBC's review:

Neural overload can result, but in the right frame of mind it's a cold shower for the brain. In fact, Fantomas' insertion of the maximum number of events into the minimum amount of time has the same disorientating effect on the listener's temporal awareness as the longest minimalist dronepiece. By the time Bugs Bunny picks his way through the smoking wreckage to have the last word in your shell-like, the dizzying accretion of events has pulled you through so many emotional states you might not even know what day it is. And that's no bad thing.

Art/Military happenings

Today I was in Lyon, France and I saw this intriguing art happening (meant be part of the 'Biennale d'Art Contemporain', an contemporary art festival). There is this military truck with a huge missile on it wandering around through the city. I did not have my digital camera but I found a picture of it in the free newspaper '20 minutes' (photo B. Amsellem/20 minutes):

It's actually a piece of art from Wang Du, a chinese artist based in Paris described by 'the artists.org' as 'has been recognised as a master of manipulating images related to the mass media. He is an iconoclastic hero in re-appropriating and deconstructing the spectacular images of our contemporary society founded upon the logic of creation, consumption and manipulation of information, both textual and imagery...". With this kind of happening I am sure he is reach his goal. The written information on the truck are things like 'Do we have to be scared?'.

It reminds me this french artist called EastEric who painted a tank in pink during the night one or two years ago shocking military-friendly people from the village where it happened:

The Memory Wall

(via and regine), The memory wall a project developed by Jason Bruges

Working in collaboration with architect, Kathryn Findlay, the interactive installations are the only integrated artworks created for the hotel [Puerta America Hotel] and will be a permanent part of the 8th floor lobby and corridors. Memory Wall shown here is integrated into the lobby space and interacts with individuals passing by.

The Guardian has a good piece about it:

At the Hotel Puerta América, a cast of starry international designers - half of them British or British-based - has been commissioned by the Spanish hotel group, Hoteles Silken, to design an entire floor each (28 rooms, two suites, plus corridor and landing).

Jason Bruges's amusing Memory Wall picks up the colours of your clothes - in the rooms, there's more good clean white fun. The architect hopes the cantilevered beds and feature baths will tempt guests to be a bit raunchy. Carry on up the design hotel? Blushing, I move on.

The article explains what happened on the other floor, it's amazingly rich!

John Bock's work

I really appreciate John Bocks' work: The first one presented here is called "MultiplexKomplex Petit-four transmits the BeWorldMigraineSolution through the metallic NoseAirHairPeriscpoe", 2004 installation view at Klosterfelde Berlin. The second is Lombardi Bängli, 1999.

Why do I blog this? What I like in how work is well described by Artfacts.net as:

In his practice Bock samples a diverse range of artistic and non-artistic disciplines resulting in disordered and often absurd connections. Mixing art references with theatre, economics and fashion, Bock has realised for the ICA a vast and often anarchic collage. Within the Lower Gallery four seemingly haphazard buildings, connected by a series of crawl spaces, ladders and walkways, have been constructed with everyday materials from hay bales to scaffolding. Into these structures, Bock has assembled a surreal collection of artworks, appropriating sculptures, paintings, films and artefacts.

I think he's presenting something at the Art biennale in Lyon currently.

Found space

An intriguing project by Matthew Keeney: it's called Found Space. Specially devoted to people who're into interstitial space or trying to fill physical gaps

As users of space, we create associations to certain spaces by establishing connections between ourselves and those whom we share it with. As a result, there are spaces with in our built environments which become discarded due to a lack of human presence with in them. Through the use of my physical presence, I look to activate these unused spaces.