tikul::

this workshop was a part of Newcastle Science Festival – Maker Faire
on 13th of March in Center for Life::

together with CL researcher – Lalya Gaye, a fantastic girl… : )
we had an idea to combine simple DIY electronics – a 555 noise maker circuit [555 timer, photo sensor, mini piezo buzzer, jumper wires, capacitor, resistors...] and craft [sewing, knitting, building objects from plastic fuse beads etc.]

this was an oryginal info, workshop description from the maker faire site —>
[http://www.newcastlesciencefest.co.uk/Events/Details.aspx?Id=120]

/e-Craft Workshop
Sat 13 March: 1pm-5pm
Want to make interactive plush toys? Make your knitting or sewing electronic with conductive thread? Weave sensors into fabric? Iron-fuse beads into game controllers? Change your favourite teddy bear into a noise machine?
At this DIY workshop, you will learn how to hand-make interactive 3D things, using a combination of traditional craft and simple electronics.
Requirements: No prior technical or craft experience required. We will provide plush, textile, sewing machines, fusebeads, irons, needles, thread, soldering irons and other tools and materials; but if you practice a craft (knitting, crocheting, wood-chiseling, origami, soldering, etc) or have fabric/yarn etc you would like to use to build your object, feel free to bring it with you along with your tools. All the electronic parts needed for this workshop will be provided by us. We will also have available different templates and kits for ready-made models: if you have little or no crafting experience, these will get you started by letting you assemble or modify simple objects./

///

Is was kind of surprising.. as we’ve expected some kids as participants… but it was nice surprise to see 12 adult people who came, very excited and keen to work and experiment to build ‘noise toys’
there was such a huge interest in this workshop that we’ve had more participants willing to take part…
but unfortunately we’ve got the electronic components just for 12 people…

it was fun!*
we did the whole presentation and instructions ‘how to get started with the electronics and fabric, how to combine them and finish peoples crazy ideas, we’ve presented a few of our previous works.. circuit/digital+fabric/plastic objects : ] [i've showed some pics of my funny plush toys which i've made some time ago, i've prepared also some fabric templates - fluffy objects for people who are not very comfortable with sewing.. but everyone were : P ... ]
we’ve showed also few examples of hacked plastic toys, circuit banded objects.. and soft fabric circuits…
than we were helping participants to achieve what they want… putting together wires and sensors and creating soft toys…
//

i’ve realise that there is noting more satisfying and touching than observing group of people enjoying themselves with simple creation… learning, smiling and cooperating with each other…. they looked truly happy and excited… it was a nice experience.

that was my first workshop but thanks to Lalya everything went great … [Lalya did lots of similar workshops in the past... as she is an experienced artist who played with electronics and soft circuits a lot : ]

I would like to repeat this kind of activity in the future and present people how in an easy way by experimenting with electronics they could make a nice outcome and enjoy it*

it was so great to work with Lalya and all the participants*

this is a sweet short documentation from our workshop [made by Andrzej]*
from the footage i’ve managed to record…
///
here are some pics from our activity stream’ – objects creationism and below ready objects with interactive electronics inside, made by participants …

and ready interactive objects::

/////////////

andrzejs mobile video workshop:: [it was mad to see couple of crazy kiddies running around with HTC mobiles, shooting their little documentary about maker faire and everything that moves or looks like a robot : )

and some random pics from maker faire::

Dwayne Browne performs Wojciech Kosma’s “Blow Job” in KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin

:::::::: ‘Water in Milk Exists’ a piece of conceptual artporn by Lawrence Weiner
‘When porn does art it’s hilarious. When art does porn it’s tedious.’ i do not agree… this is a truly interesting experiment…. very strong project.
i’ve seen this movie some time ago but it is worth to call out here…

after i’ve read this interview below, where Wojciech Kosma mentioned about Lawrence Weiner movie.. as well as body, performance, sexuality and porn inspiration in his work …
WK interview::

… an evening of international noise in CultureLab with Karkowski ‘and friends’

purifying powerful sound wave :: primitive resonance of every cell in my body* meditative violent vibrations.. and my favorite spectrum of mind blowing frequencies…
its not true that my hearing sense it fatigued because of the massive loud notorious sound…
feels incredibly relaxed after extreme amount of ‘Loud Speaker’ noise…
as I’m perceiving the sound through my body… it doesnt harm the hearing… it is like a sweet lullaby meditation… i desired it even to be louder as loud as possible.. it is hard to fill the huge space with the sound …

but it filled my body completely.. i could hear it through me…. and i wanted to stay in this estate for a long time…
intensity of noise performance experience depends on timing [and amount of decibels]… and it is often quite short… it was too short for me i have to say… but at the same time i cannot even tell how long the performance was in the period of time and for how long i was lying on the floor.. as i completely lost myself …. sense of time is disappearing while my mind is immersed into intense notion of sound… the moment of cutting out the noise was like a sharp awakening… i didnt wanted to wake up…. it was another beautiful experience…

i’ve travel. through nice vibration massage and strange states of mind…
thoughts: it brought in my mind ‘resonator’ debate and the point of sound healing…. and particular vibrations which are very friendly to [i guess some] people…. but for me simple harsh frequencies are the most powerful forces of sound … as well as drone vibrations… [equivalent of mantra]
if some believe that the sound can physically heal the body and mind .. i would say for me personally the best treatment is a impossibly loud stream of Karkowski’s noise. digital brutalism brought me another catharsis.
[for some people impossible to listen because of the loudness and noiseyness : ]
i love his approach to music and natural tendency for burning the speakers…

he is also controversial [bit arrogant for some people?] lovely character* with piercing intelligence :: a kind of strong person which im into.

//
i was happy and satisfied to listed to some CL residents too… Bernard who put the eloquent spell of the sellotape ‘onkyo impro* and Ben who send us for a trip into the ghostly shaped drone landscapes…

that was musically the best evening in CL*

slitscan play:

I’ve made two prototype/sketches in processing for DOING presentation::
as i havent finished my first concept but at the same time i was playing with a second processing code so i’ve decided to show two works in progress…

//my idea of mirror – water – transformation – liquid – surreal*
pretty straight forward…

one of the projects was a play with slitscan code, i found few example codes on julapo blog.
i’ve adapted it a bit to achieve the effect i wanted …
i found slits can very interesting and surreal, the idea of deforming time, and messing up with the frames, shaping them, building a new structure is very exciting…
the magical footage of massive sea waves was shooted few weeks ago in Hartlepool* [at steetley magnesite area]
the definition of slitscan – /slit scan images are created by exposing film as it slides past a slit-shaped aperture. In the digital realm, thin slices are extracted from a sequence of video frames, and concatenated into a new image./
and some link with SLIT-SCAN SOURCE CODE and DEMO PROJECTS:
: http://www.flong.com/texts/lists/slit_scan/
and a bit of history [as it is quite 'ancient' effect used in photography ] –> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slit-scan_photography

for the /mirrors/ presentation i wanted to create time-based phenomena… the concept of mirror for me is somehow related to landscape transformation which i’ve could observe in Hartlepool* [the place where the video footage was recorded] the abandoned landscape as a reflection of human mark, the leftover of a human presence, also reflection of nature power who is ‘decomposing’ the concrete walls made by human hands in the actual space, bit by bit until everything will fall apart… /maybe that i could call it 2 way mirror of our environment?/

///
2nd idea engaged more work, struggle, devotion and time… i’ve combined few different processing codes together:
water ripple code + face detection. [i was using j.myron library for processing face detection] I’ve used + live fee laptop cam + video footage as a background [again video footage from the the same place - Hartlepool - Steetley Magnesite abandoned factory - magnesium water tank nr 9]
the original concept was to have 2 videos layered on top of each other : one – video footage of the water, second – live feed from camera … the background video footage is a still water video, through the laptop camera collecting data and detecting a face…. when the person is looking at the screen they could see the background and there own face but not very clearly… the interactive element of the whole thing is water ripple – the ripples are appearing in the place where the person is [through face detection].. in begging the ripples are smaller, then getting bigger and more intense, the video opacity is changed so the whole vision looks like a blurry lake from gloomy fairytale but at the same time very real, so if someone is looking at the camera too long the effect looks like they are drowning in the lake… [or their face is drowning] – that was an inspiration with narcissus story, and a reflections of the human beauty concept, self-evaluation.. /beauty must be defined of what we are, otherwise the concept itself is our enemy/
//

but lack of time and probably skills were on the way to accomplish original idea. i’ve ended up for now with ‘half made project’ – a surface of water which responds to a human appearance. . every time someone face is appearing in front of the camera the soft is detecting the face and in the place where the face is the water ripples are appearing in the water .. if someone decides to look at the camera few seconds more the ripples are getting bigger and more intensive…
movement of the face and amount of people looking at the camera is triggering intensity, size and different placement of the water ripples.

despite that, when im looking at it now i think maybe it is better the way it is and maybe i should leave it in this way… but my plan is to finish the original idea and follow it to the end, spend more time with processing and flowing code and find the way to combine the codes to achieve the ‘real mirror reflection’ and a desired effect of a face reflection in the water + ripples.

experimenting with face detection for /water ripple/ project :: /j myron library

///

here is the video of a interaction [im sitting in front of the cam]
the colour of the water of background video is so intense turquoise, because of minerals [or chemicals!?] at steetley magnesite [that is the footage of one of the water tanks in there..]
i havent done any colour correction in the video footage… it is completely raw! it is amazing and natural ::

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: warm thanks to joey, davy and tom with whom we’ve struggled together through java fog…

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

and here some slitscan pictures – impro play with the slit code and my face :: turnded into a weird shapes ::

////////////////////////////
the code for the ‘water ripple:face detection’ video::

import processing.video.*;
import JMyron.*;
import FaceDetect.*;

Movie mov;
PImage[] frameBuffer;
Ripple ripple;
int movFrameRate = 25;
int movWidth;
int movHeight;
int i;

JMyron m;

FaceDetect fd;

int MAX = 10;

int[] x = new int[MAX];
int[] y = new int[MAX];
int[] r = new int[MAX];
int[][] Faces = new int[MAX][3];
int[] img = new int[320*240];
boolean isRecording = false;

//——————————————————————————–
void setup() {

frameRate(25);
ripple = new Ripple();
mov = new Movie(this, “water_tank_7qt.mov”, movFrameRate );
frameBuffer = new PImage[ (int)(mov.duration()) ];
mov.loop();
//mov.speed( 0 );
mov.read();
movWidth = mov.width;
movHeight = mov.height;

size(movWidth, movHeight, P2D);

m = new JMyron();
m.start(width,height);
fd = new FaceDetect(this);
fd.start(“haarcascade_frontalface_default.xml”, width,height,30);

}

//——————————————————————————–

void movieEvent(Movie mov) {

i++;
mov.read();
frameBuffer[ i ] = mov.get();
}

//——————————————————————————–

void draw() {
image(mov, 0, 0);
m.update();
img = m.image();

loadPixels();
arraycopy(img,pixels);

for (int loc = 0; loc < width * height; loc++) {
pixels[loc] = ripple.col[loc];

}
updatePixels();

//——————————————————————————————
//——————————————————————————————
//——————————————————————————————
//this is the section for drawing the capture video
// loadPixels();
// for(int i=0;i
// pixels[i] = color( red(img[i]), green(img[i]), blue(img[i] ), 10);
// pixels[i] = (127 << 24) + ( img[i] & 0xFFFFFF ); // 127 = alpha 50%
// pixels[i] = img[i]; //draw each pixel to the screen
// }
// updatePixels();

//——————————————————————————————
//——————————————————————————————
//——————————————————————————————

ripple.newframe();

Faces = fd.face(img);
int count = Faces.length;
if (count>0) {
for (int i = 0;i
x[i] = width-Faces[i][0];
y[i] = Faces[i][1];
r[i] = Faces[i][2] * 2;
noFill();
// ellipse(x[i],y[i],r[i],r[i]);
rippleDetect(x[i],y[i],r[i]);
}
}

if( isRecording ) save(“data/export/export”+frameCount+”.png”);
}

//——————————————————————————–

void rippleDetect(int x, int y, int r) {
for (int j = y – ripple.riprad; j < y + ripple.riprad; j++) {
for (int k = x – ripple.riprad; k < x + ripple.riprad; k++) {
if (j >= 0 && j < height && k>= 0 && k < width) {
ripple.ripplemap[ripple.oldind + (j * width) + k] += 512;
}
}
}

}
void keyPressed()
{
if(key == ‘s’)
{
save(“data/screengrab”+frameCount+”.png”);
}

if( key == ‘r’ )
{
isRecording = !isRecording;
}
}

//——————————————————————————–

/ you need 50 years to get smart.. and then you die /

as fabulous as his art* finally.. i’ve had a chance to meet one of the greatest body art icon – stelarc.
im amazed* he turned out to be very nice, open and generous, strong energizing character …
he is one of the most important personas in the art/body performance/cyberrobotics field for me.

suspension performance::

extra ear::

AV to be continued… [ last two days sound adventures ]

yesterday::

/Rivers/
at Sage.. 3 sound artists – Kaffe Matthews, Lee Patterson and Jana Winderen and their visions – field recordings of river network using underwater microphones. Beautiful granulised sound scapes convey the dramatic energy, ecology and power of rivers and environment.
ambient calming experience of dripping sounds of little waterfalls …

day before ::

/nothing is new everything is permitted/ at Star and Shadow*

and the great Felix Kubin whos music I’ve truly appreciated since long time but i’ve seen him live for the first…
so i thought i can introduce here this unique german artist … whos theatrical dadaist live performances full of irony, lyrical harsh poetry, scream of his statement and ideological engagement and ::electro sound a la polish 80s resistance style are tasty mixture of bitter-sweet cold cynical symphonies-protests.. ['music of idiots is my girlfriend'] :: ['get out of my dreams donald duck!']
charismatic energy and dramatic sci-fi atmosphere dressed in aggressive anarchistic pervert plastic electro + political approach// = purifying terror-age style rebel synth music*

i loved the video for the track ‘lightning strikes’ in honor of ‘one of the first popular AIDS victim’ – german artist – Klaus Nomi

i love*
also some psychedelic animations produced by Felix Kubin’s partner – polish animation and performance artist – Mariola Brillowska :
Morgenröte [music by Felix Kubin]

[track from Felix Kubins album - Matki Wandalki - polish title [ Mothers Wandals eng. ]

http://www.avfestival.co.uk/

highlights … and lights in my head::

charming and naturally charismatic – Brandon LaBelle with his talk/presentation during CL conference –>
http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/10/events/production-through-exhibition
+++ 3 concerts of Charlemagne Palestine [+an installation] in the last 3 weeks [one on TM berlin] is an accurate amount : D

Beast-by-Charlemagne-Palestine::

great exhibition in Hatton Gallery:: –> all art is, is rhythm theme of energy and sound::
[Sculptural objects are brought to life by electrical, mechanical and human energy, uniting technology with the forces of nature.]:: i really liked the work of Liliane Lijn

//
stunning sound installation inside the Tyne Bridge… by our dear Will Schrimshaw:
/Space Against Itself/

[Will Schrimshaw creates a new installation that manipulates the acoustic signature of the Tyne Bridge’s vast North Tower. Based on the idea that buildings emit a recognisable acoustic energy, Space Against Itself manipulates soundwaves from the tower itself to occupy and saturate the frequencies at which the building is normally heard. During a looped cycle, the shifting sounds create the uncanny sense that the space is closing-in on you.]

it was quite intense experience .. . the bizarre feeling of entering the huge wet frozen industrial space inside the Tyne bridge [i havent got idea that it exists!...] termo-mental shock as it was much colder inside than outside… [but with the sound it seems like my sense of temperature have gone to sleep for a moment... ] the air was moist and freezing so i could see the air coming for my mouth… like an entering a different planet… ha. and the sound vibrating over and over space was the sound sound was the space… i was there melted into steal pole ….
it felt like i wanted to stay there forever…

///
Star and Shadow concert … Kanta Horio – the magician* of perfect randomness of everyday and non objects and electromagnetic fields …. the whole process of building sound was a part of the totality… so beautiful, subtle electric energy and spontaneously constructed installations… ideal micro harmony*
–> http://kanta.but.jp/

after that a harsh bright stream from Atsuhiro Ito… an Optron::

classic. I’m glad it was loud enough. very bright evening…

:::::::::::::::::::
at least the trip to the forest! i was looking forward to this since few weeks…///

/resonator!*/ project by our dear again Will Schrimshaw [ + Jamie Allen ] –>
[ http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/10/events/resonator ]
::::…….. [http://largervibrationalcontinuum.org/]
vibrating experience… where the silence can whisper in your ear more than you’ve ever heard…
::

on Wednesday we did a ‘white noise trip into the woods’…
strange contemplative experience in the complete darkness listening to white frequencies… diving into black hole of space and time… experiencing the sound in this unique environment… after this listening experiment the hearing sense is getting extremely sensitive…
Kielder Forest is truly beautiful and magic*
///
some photos from kielder [during the setting and cabling up..] – by tikul and his magic diamond kaleidoscope +++

//
it was amazing to work and be around Resonator ‘Head Quarter’ for few days, meeting new people, experiencing presentations and workshops together with incredible guests participants and amazing artists:: Ann Rosén, Martin Howse, Hankil Ryu, Nurit Bar-Shai…

:::::::::::::::
i didnt got a chance to see few positions in the AV line up which i was really looking forward to … because during this week I was trying to finish the preparation of an e-Craft workshop together with Lalya Gaye for a Maker Faire – Newcastle Science Festival… which hopefully will be great. we will introduce participants to some simple DIY electronics and help them to build 555 little noise machine toy:: plush+circuit sound good!*
Unfortunately I will miss Alan Moore and Stephen O’Malley performance [very important for me..] as it in the same time as our Workshop/Presentation….. cannot wait the Maker Faire and our crazy electro craft* group experiments!* –>
[ http://www.newcastlesciencefest.co.uk/Events/Details.aspx?Id=120 ]

most intense loose thoughts while bringing a MIRROR to my mind ..
:: water / liquid form / sea / river / wave / time / memory / reflection / blob / ::
:: the very first mirrors people were using were reflections in the water…
:: it appears as something very dangerous :
:: liquid, like a liquid mirror form from ‘Alice from wonderland’ :
:: a reflection in a river : narcissus : transformation :
:: distortion
:: other side : journey
:: water nymph
:: dual
:: false
:: representation
:: beauty addiction object
::::::::::::::
first idea was about some kind of distortion… footage of water and time warp … [using processing slitscan] to bring disturbing feeling of transformed time reflection….
then another idea was born…. again by using processing, still water footage and webcam, i’ve come up with idea of self reflection in the water… disturbed by movement…
a vision of our own reflection on the water surface………. by using the face tracking code to trigger water ripple effect on the face, every time the person will look into the ‘laptop screen mirror’ /camera…
2 layers of video .. [live cam feed on top of the water footage with less opacity] to cause an effect [when face is appearing] of water distortion/ripple and image of drowning in the water… or appearing through water.. /under the water ?

i am now struggling to put together bits of code …
//

i would definitely like to work on the other idea of slitscan in the same time… [not necessarily regarding MIRRORS exhibition] slitscan with the water footage looks extremely effective and surreal…

picture of raw water footage [water tank in the steetley magnesite factory...]

/ I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see, I swallow immediately.
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike
I am not cruel, only truthful –
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me.
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish. /

Sylvia Plath – /Mirror/

my dear space::