transitlab

Adam Zaretsky, artist
Does Cloned Animal Safety take into account the effect of Aesthetics on the long-term Ecological effects of Food Chain Design?

Roger Malina, astrophysicist, Director of L’Observatoire Astronomique de Marseille
Dark Energy and the Ethics of Curiosity

I first saw the friispray system at the MakerFaireUK in Newcastle this year  where they were exhibiting in the same space as me and my Light Responsive Devices. It was great that they were invited to talk at the DIY show and tell at Thinking Digital.

They are building on the wiimote hacks of Johny Chung Lee (johnny lee.net/projects/wii/), to make the prototype electronic grafetti friispray(http://friispray.wordpress.com/).  What is wonderful about this technology it gives to people an intuitive canvas on which to start drawing.   The innovation is modifying a spraycan so that it can be used as an infrared drawing device. This coupled with a rear projection screen, a wiimote , a data projector and some software that they have made produces a cheap whiteboard drawing system.  They have had audiences of all abilities, showing in situations from schools to nightclubs.

One of the amazing opportunities they have had is workshopped this technology with childen with disabilities. These children cannot express themselves using pens and paints. In this instance they made a different infra red stylus that was easy to hold. The no mess/pigment means that Friispray is also applicable to teaching situations where vulnerable people are prevented from using normal pens and paints because of risks to them and others.

 Friispray is an example of open innovation, by publishing the information on the net, they have seeded or inspired other people to ‘go crazy’ with the idea.  For example Derrick Welsh. He has been running a project around sketch messaging, and has been using nokia tablets in collaborative electronic sketching. When he saw friispray at the MakerFaireUK, he ran with the idea, buying a wiimote and hacking a remote control to make novel drawing styluses. Each day his children suggested something else that he should change into a drawing object and he ended up making wonderfull styluses around paint brushes, fishing rods, & childrens toys. Derrick has also worked out how to sketching on his mobile phone using the wiimote.

 I look forward to seeing many more exciting innovatotions coming out of the Jam jar Collective and also  Derrick Welsh.

Ian Forrester, BBC (chair) “Make Epic Shit”

• lesson of the wiiMote: a piece of technology that is not crippled, has amazing functionality and is cheap +  a community of developers means that we all can make Epic Shit if we want to

Alexandra Deschamps Sonsino, TinkerIT called on us to:

• consider technology as a tool, rather than something to consume. She argues that we are in a similar place to the pre-industrial time, where ‘ordinary folks’ are making things that help solve there own personal problems, or fulfill desires. (see t!pot a weighing device that tells you when the teapot is empty so you can decide whether you want the last cup)

Andy Huntington Interaction and sound

Originally uploaded by sctv

On Wednesday the 13Th I attended the Show & Tell: Gadget DIY session at Thinking Digital- Digital University
A number of different speakers with compatable relationships to technology (coming from the Maker/Hacker ethic of If you cant understand it, take it to bits, you dont own it)

AH I have seen her talk at ISEA2008, and her case study PPS (Public Private Spaces), where she talked about Yolande Harris’s piece SunRunSun and Drew Hemment’s Set to Discoverable.

JS New Institutionalism, trying to generate documentation that does not exist, based upon what else is known of the piece.

Mappings, putting yourself on a 2d map of how do you describe your research area and your methodology.

They also described the aRt&D triangle classification by

Anne Nigten at http://www.processpatching.net/triangle/

Following this was small group discussion and filling in of the 2d matrix. Our group talked about the appropriateness of the map of digital research and methods, and how it needs have some focus on audience. However this may have been hidden in the terms used. For example physiology/user/audience may all be applied to the same concept in curator, hci and other fields.

Beryl talked about a number of exhibitions currated by Sarah E Cook, Ellie Carpenter, Domnic Smith / Sneha Solanki, Kurator by Joasia Krysa, All Maps Welcome/Chris Dorsett

Paul O’Neill -Spectator Curating Subjects, curating architectures, on getting away from the white cube ideal. He had done that in the past, his curatorial difficulties with this resulted in his later shows on juuxtaposing works.

Axell Lapp Cat chasing its tail. Addressing what is research, and what isn’t. So a curator can get three rare pieces together, and this is a wonderful research thing eg Subversive Spaces at Whitworth Gallery. This is a novel experience, fascinating. It may not be interesting as a catalogue, but the reality of the show is. There are interesting things done with research, and if is dull we will forget about it.

Uncurated artist works
24Hr museum, Public art, It was destroyed after 24hrs, (())

Jeanne Van Eisb “Blue House”, a place for artsits, philosphers, people interested in finding out about city planning. Artists making cultural institutions.

Acting Curatiationally…rather than being a curator.

Avoidance of defining oneselfs practice.