Akousmaflore

-->

http://www.scenocosme.com/akousmaflore_en.htm

This piece of art Akousmaflore (2007) is a musical garden composed of a number of hanging plants that can swing and create sounds based on contact and

The artists Grégory Lasserre & Anaïs met den Ancxt were aiming to create a living musical instrument that can be used via human gesture and lightly moving or touching the plants, the sounds created can range from screams to melodies but the sounds are at random generated by software.

This piece of art is intriguing t me because it blurs the line between digital and organic installations and how we as humans interact with our environments around us. The aspect of an organic virtual instrument is ground breaking because the line between organic plant growth, and digital programming used in artistic installations. This art installation is place din a hallway full of hanging plants that each produce a unique sound, based on the people and objects and stimuli around the plants.

I think that this group of artists has achieved their goal of mixing both the digital world and the organic world intertwined to create a unique piece of musical programing art.

Arduino

Arduino

-->

http://www.arduino.cc/

Arduinio is a readily available micro controller developed by the makers of RasberryPi micro-controller. This micro-controller is revolutionary for two reasons, the program it uses is called SKETCH to run the program libraries onto the board and then executes them. The second reason that this micro controller is so revolutionary is that it is so easily accessible and easy to learn and access over the internet.

I made a digital clock with Arduinio and used a GPS board to parse out the date and time data and segment it into a 8 digit 7 segment LED display board. Arduino come in two sizes Decimela and Micro for two seperate applications for different processing power to hold larger "sketches" or just perform more elaborate functions.

I have also used Arduinio to make software guitar effects by modifying the PWM of an audio signal into a mono guitar amplifiers effects in / out. 

Arduino will change the way that we make and implement small scale programming projects, soon high school and college students are able to start designing their own programs and installations for art and kick starting the younger generation to program and take advantage of these tools.

MAKE Zine

-->

www.makezine.com

MAKE magazine is a monthly zine that is distributed to subscribers across the world, within the magazine contains a plethora of DIY projects and plans. I have a subscription to this magazine and used to regularly try its projects. I have built many of the projects contained within the volumes of magazines, from a cigar box guitar to a miniature metal forge. The magazine is really well done on nice card stock paper and the magazine comes once every month, although it is kind of pricey the cost is justified especially if you are getting a subscription instead of individual copies.

Alternatively if you do not want to get a subscription the website contains a number of archived projects which you can access now for free.

This website is similar to instructables in that it contains an archive of projects and art ands crafts ideas but it differs from instructables in that it is much more well put together and laid out in a more professionally and aesthetic manner.

Ken Rinaldo - Paparazi Bot

-->
http://kenrinaldo.com/

Ken Rinaldo

http://www.paparazzibot.com/

Another interesting piece by Ken Rinaldo is paparazzi robot, a multimedia exhibit. The robot stands at face level with people and has cameras all around its body, it then takes pictures of only certain individuals faces based on wheter or  not they are smilling at the camera or noticeably frowning towards the camera. This piece of art is a statement about Paparazii and how the modern world is overly obsessed with certain people for their traits, this robot knows no boundries and treats certain people as celebrities taking pictures of them.

I think that the paparazii robot is genuius because it not only plays on the strings of modern technology interfering with out everyday existence it is also unpredictable and that behavior is worth replicating if it can appear to be random when in fact there is certain criteria the robot must meet to snap a picture of a smilling person or a frowning person.
I hope to see ideas like this one improved upon in the future with technology getting smaller like cameras and sensors will enable us to make further pieces of art, maybe one day we will be able to make it for flying drones for actual pappaarazi to use.

Sensless Drawing Robot - By Yamaguchi & Kanno

http://www.creativeapplications.net/arduino-2/senseless-drawing-bot-arduino/

Created by So Kanno and Takahiro Yamaguchi
 Metal work by Hitt Asai

http://www.creativeapplications.net/arduino-2/senseless-drawing-bot-arduino/

Sensless drawing bot is a open source robot created by two tokyo DIY artists.It is robot with four wheels that paints onto surfaces like walls, or boards to facilitate a randomized artistic expression conveyed via a machine.

The senseless drawing bot is a 4 wheeled cart that has a large column in the middle with a rotating 360 degree arm with a second pivot attached, this is controlled by a motor internally which is programmed via Sketch using the Arduinio board. The medium the bot is controlling is spray paint and the nozzle is moved by the either the cart itself moving on its own via electric motor, the first arm and motor inside it or the second pivot arm attached to the larger main arm.

The Sensless drawing robot is the brain child of So Kanno and Takiharo Yamaguchi and is a prime example of how the DIY maker movement is being impacted by artists utilizing new tools such as micro controllers and their ability to store a number of complex programs while running processes that can determine a set method of use or programmed to randomize their functions.

This robot was featured in the Japan Media arts festival 2012 and did a performance piece of art by painting a wall with spray cans.


This robot is autonomously creating graffiti, which is interesting to me because graffiti is a very human activity to deface property or make an artistic statement in public, while the senseless art bot is not intended to make illegal graffiti it is interesting to consider in the future if AI were to come to a point where human activity such as graffitti could be part of their own programming, just like humans have flaws and make the decision to spray graffiti. Maybe in the near future so could robots or humanoids have that behavior attached to their AI, its human nature almost.

http://yang02.org/sdb/2/
or
http://kanno.so
 for pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yang02tm/with/6259615673/#photo_6259615673

Open Source Ecology

-->

http://opensourceecology.org/

 

 
Open source ecology is a novel new way of looking at both agriculture and DIY culture mixing. The technologies showcased in this website could one day help rebuild civilization or more realistically help to empower low wage agriculture workers to develop their own equipment and methods of harvesting and growing food. 40 different agricultural industrial machines and their instructions and blue prints to build are freely avaliable online to those in need. I think it is novel that this project in particular is funded so well for a grassroots agriculture movement.

 The founder of the open source ecology MARCIN JAKUBOWSKI is a very interesting character, because he made all of this foundation from purely his idea. He built all of the designs shown by him in his own garage workspace. He is a testament to the fact that anybody of any class and walk of life can start creating their own resources to pull them out of farm debt and/or increase agricultural earnings potential.

This work is ground breaking in the fact that through a globally connected communication system like the internet a farmer in India could download the plans for a back hoe or tractor that is relatively reliable and the blueprints and replacement parts would be readily available. This could change the face of agriculture in the modern world, this movement could empower peasant farming communities to no longer rely on the animals to plow a field but a hand made tractor or digger machine could do the work through them. This is all the result of the internet connecting people and ideas together to spread knowledge, and knowledge is power.

Encyclopedia Pictura

-->http://encyclopediapictura.com/
Encyclopedia Pictura

-->
 I thought that Encyclopedia Pictura was an interesting art and music production studio, their DIY approach to music videos in particular is of noted interest. For instance the Bjork - Wanderlust music video that was presented in class was a prime example of Encyclopedia Picturas collaborative efforts to design new 3D music videos for experimental artists.

http://encyclopediapictura.com/bjork

I liked the depiction of fantastical mule/hybrid animals and the lone girl from the Bjork music video it was like a trippy adaptation of a storybook scene or something similar to that aesthetic.

Encyclopedia picture is a good example of the DIY and maker movement taking in almost mainstream success in terms of developing and producing their own artistic masterpieces. Through their well designed and their music video productions are top notch and will for sure become classics in the future.