A giant Leap for computer users
Posted on: June 15, 2013
Today I preordered Leap: a new motion control device which is capable of replacing a mouse if you use a Windows OS on your computer.
For those familiar with sound art, motion controllers to trigger computer interactions are nothing new. In fact, I own several Eowave devices, such as the Eobody2 to trigger and control VSTi’s on my computer using MIDI and hand motions:
But the Leap motion controller extends this concept to PC applications in general. The Leap software is not only capable of recognizing movement on 2D surfaces, but also in 3D. This means it enables you to model 3D objects on your computer using your fingers…
This is the stuff of science fiction movies of the past, like Bladerunner or 2001: A Space Odyssee! Leaf will be delivered to buyers in July.
I can’t wait to get my hands on it..
- Harrison Ford in Blade Runner: Voice Command Interface
- LeapMotion website
- Eowave website
- In: Art | Exhibition | Experience | Installations | Sound art | Technology art
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I have been an admirer of the work of Swiss artist Jean Tinguely almost all of my life. It started while at university, when I bought this poster of a Tinguely exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London.
Since then I have been collection exhibition posters and graphic works of Tinguely and other artists and started to develop an interest in technology and media art.
Today, I stumbled upon another Swiss artist focusing on sculptures and installations that move, have rhythm and make noises – somewhat similar to Tinguely’s works – who works under the name of “Zimoun”:
According to the CV on his website
Zimoun builds architecturally-minded platforms of sound. Exploring mechanical rhythm and flow in prepared systems, his installations incorporate commonplace industrial objects. In an obsessive display of simple and functional materials, these works articulate a tension between the orderly patterns of Modernism and the chaotic forces of life. Carrying an emotional depth, the acoustic hum of natural phenomena in Zimoun’s minimalist constructions effortlessly reverberates.
Zimoun currently has an exhibition in The Netherlands in Groningen at np3TMP:
An interesting artist to check out in Groningen and follow IMO.
Prosthesis: the anti-robot
Posted on: May 10, 2013
Found on eatART.org, a website of a Vancouver based technology art collective: Prosthesis, another exo-skeleton based artwork comparable to the works of Stelarc.
According to eatART Prosthesis is
an independent art project by Jonathan Tippett. It is a 5m tall, 3000kg, four-legged wearable walking machine, powered by a cutting edge, modular, expandable hybrid-electric power plant. Prosthesis uses this power to amplify the pilots movements through a full body, on-board exo-skeletal interface. The machine has no computerized control system or giros and is entirely dependent on the skill of the pilot to operate properly. The pilot’s skill and the configuration of the power system all contribute to the machines overall efficiency.This relationship reminds us, in very immediate way, how our use of technology can convert small acts in to movements of great consequence.
The Prosthesis project has it’s own website were you can track it’s progress: http://www.anti-robot.com .
“Anti-Robot” because according to the Prosthesis website:
Prosthesis is not being built to fulfill any practical need. It is not a tool, nor a weapon, nor a rehabilitation device. The purpose of Prosthesis is to explore what it means to be human by creating a challenging, completely unprecedented, interactive human-machine experience. Prosthesis is being built to push the age old pursuit of mastering a physical skill in to new territory. Prosthesis is a new sport, a new dance, a new martial art.
Prosthesis reminds us to question whether or not we really want to automate everything we do. It asks us to remember our bodies—remember how it felt when we first rode a bike—when we fist did a cartwheel—when we first landed a jump. It puts the human back in the driver’s seat, and then makes them learn to walk again.
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by Joost Fonteyne
(Like in 2011 and 2012, also in 2013 the yearly Sounding City sound art program of the Flanders Festival in Kortrijk (Belgium), will include a fine showcase of RESONANCE works. Between April 21st and May 5th in Kortrijk you can experience Pascal Broccolichi’s Table d’Harmonie, Jitske Blom & Thomas Rutgers’s The Beaters, and Writings, a new work by Norwegian artist Signe Lidén, that will premiere in Kortrijk. Also a RESONANCE premiere in Kortrijk is David Helbich’s Kortrijk Tracks: a soundwalk. David’s work is the second in a collection of soundwalks for the city of Kortrijk, curated by the Festival’s director Joost Fonteyne, and not only available during the Festival weeks to visitors of the Belgium town, but all through the year.
In the following article, Joost provides a historic and artistic evaluation of the soundwalk as a genre. The article previously appeared…
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Noise toys expo: Sounds Like Art
Posted on: April 14, 2013
- In: Art | Artifacts | Event | Exhibition | Installations | Instruments | Noise boxes | Sound art
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Now in Mu Gallery in Eindhoven, Netherlands: the exhibition Sounds Like Art.
This is an excerpt of the description of the exhibition on the Mu Gallery website:
“In the vanguard of music, sound artists are always exploring new ways of creating music. Often the search will not only lead them to the new sounds they set out to find, but also to some unique instruments. Instruments which, besides being functional, can also be seen as works of visual art in their own right. Especially when they combine the aesthetics of craftsmanship with the possibilities offered by the latest in technology. Usually these works of art perform their humble services exclusively on the stage, where they can hardly be observed from up close. But in the exhibition SOUNDS LIKE ART the spotlight is not on the artists, but on the instruments they create. It has resulted in an exhibition in which we can hear and, most importantly, also see the unique interplay between form, material qualities, and technology of these new instruments.”
The artists participating are the Andy Cavatorta, who created a series of harps especially for Björk, which are played using gravity.
Other artists in the exhibition include Dutch hardware hacker Gijs Gieskes who compiles new synthesisers from existing electronics, and musician/artist Tom Verbruggen, better known as TokTek, who creates some ingenious sound-producing sculptures.
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