so...

2009-08-16T23:03:00.002+01:00

long time no blog etc etc

last 3 months have included:
finishing uni
getting a 2.1
leaving kingston
moving to islington

projects at the moment include:
Polite Publishing set up of Exquisite Pals zine and Awkward Art Campaign
Finding a goddamn job
Making more patchwork quilts
Learning to do fashion illustration properly

influences of the moment include:
Elan Zine (elanzine.blogspot.com}
Juneau Projects
Limoncello Summer Fete
Peter Land's suitcases
Bridget and Declan's baby
Chambord
Clare Revolta
Harry Pearce

2009-05-31T22:55:00.002+01:00

hand in is tomorrow, hoping everything will look okay when I arrive in the morning.

have some exciting ideas about what next to do with the arduino, but not going to say yet until I've got them more figured out. will be good though!

arduino on the beeb

2009-05-31T22:54:00.000+01:00

tuesday, 1 day til move, 3 days til deadline

2009-05-26T09:28:00.002+01:00

lots and lots and lots of worry.

had to buy a last minute addition, a PIR sensor from Active-robots.co.uk to go with project two, the proverb machine. the buttons were just too clumsy and wanted something a little less touchy. the PIR sensor should be really quick to connect to 5V, GND & an14 so that's good.

Sketch will be as follows,

#include
#include
#include "util.h"
#include "wave.h"

AF_Wave card;
File f;
Wavefile wave;

#define playcomplete(x) ROM_playcomplete(PSTR(x))

#define DEBOUNCE 100

#define snsr 14 //sensor connected to analogue0

void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600); // set up Serial library at 9600 bps
Serial.println("Wave test!");

pinMode(2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(3, OUTPUT);
pinMode(4, OUTPUT);
pinMode(5, OUTPUT);
pinMode(snsr, OUTPUT);

// enable pull-up resistors on
// switch pins (analog inputs)
digitalWrite(14, HIGH);

// open memory card

randomSeed(analogRead(0));

if (!card.init_card()) {
putstring_nl("Card init. failed!"); return;
}
if (!card.open_partition()) {
putstring_nl("No partition!"); return;
}
if (!card.open_filesys()) {
putstring_nl("Couldn't open filesys"); return;
}

if (!card.open_rootdir()) {
putstring_nl("Couldn't open dir"); return;
}

putstring_nl("Files found:");
ls();
}

void ls() {
char name[13];
int ret;

card.reset_dir();
putstring_nl("Files found:");
while (1) {
ret = card.get_next_name_in_dir(name);
if (!ret) {
card.reset_dir();
return;
}
Serial.println(name);
}
}

void pulseServo(uint8_t servopin, uint16_t p) {

digitalWrite(servopin, HIGH);
delayMicroseconds(600);
while (p--) {
delayMicroseconds(4);
}
digitalWrite(servopin, LOW);
delay(18);
}

uint8_t sensorstate = 0;

void loop() {
int distsensor, i;
long time;
/*
for (i=0; i<50; i++) {
pulseServo(servo,0);
}
for (i=0; i<50; i++) {
pulseServo(servo,400);
}
return;
*/
distsensor = 0;
for (i=0; i<8; i++) {
distsensor += analogRead(0);
delay(50);
}
distsensor /= 8;

putstring("Sensor = "); Serial.println(distsensor);

if (distsensor <= 10) {
digitalWrite(snsr, HIGH);
}
if (distsensor > 10) {
digitalWrite(snsr, LOW);
sensorstate = 1;
// nobody there. one out of 200 times play one of the sounds (once every few minutes)
i = random(200);
//Serial.println(i);
if (i == 0) {
i = random(3);
if (i == 0) {
playcomplete("rise so high.WAV");
} else if (i == 1) {
playcomplete("smoothseas.WAV");
} else if (i == 2) {
playcomplete("to climb steep hills.WAV");
} else {
playcomplete("exhalted throne.WAV");
}
}
} else if ((distsensor > 30) && (distsensor < 40)) {
if (sensorstate <= 1) { // play "smoothseas"
playcomplete("smoothseas.WAV");
} else {
i = random(60); // more often
//Serial.println(i);
if (i == 0) {
i = random(3);
if (i == 0) {
playcomplete("exhalted throne.WAV");
} else if (i == 1) {
playcomplete("to climb steep hills.WAV");
} else {
playcomplete("rise so high.WAV");
}
}
}

}
}

void ROM_playcomplete(const char *romname) {
char name[13], i;
uint8_t volume;
int v2;

for (i=0; i<13; i++) {
name[i] = pgm_read_byte(&romname[i]);
}
name[12] = 0;
Serial.println(name);
playfile(name);
while (wave.isplaying) {
volume = 0;
for (i=0; i<8; i++) {
v2 = analogRead(1) - 512;
if (v2 < 0)
v2 *= -1;
if (v2 > volume)
volume = v2;
delay(5);
}

}
//putstring("vol = "); Serial.println(volume, DEC);
}

void playfile(char *name) {
f = card.open_file(name);
if (!f) {
putstring_nl(" Couldn't open file"); return;
}
if (!wave.create(f)) {
putstring_nl(" Not a valid WAV"); return;
}
// ok time to play!
wave.play();
}

hope it's right!!

i want to be her

2009-05-26T09:27:00.000+01:00

this is such a cool use of arduino that is so simple but amazing.

woohoo

2009-05-25T12:47:00.003+01:00

finally uploaded sketch for wave shield onto arduino, works and everything.

hooray!

The sketch looks for the switch, when it's pressed it plays the files on the sd card. well, it should anyway. It plays a set of stupid and pointless proverbs - reflecting the aluminium slapping fortune teller sculptures' beginnings.

had to change the switch to make sure project was completed in time, instead of twitter through ethernet shield, now just going for a simpler microlever switch, with paddle adaption so that it will be triggered by people inside the room, rather than outside in internet space.

would still really like to do the twitter thing, and have the sketch in a draft state to do it, but realistically not going to get it all finished with everything else like log book and drawings and setting up exhibition space by friday afternoon. The plan is to place the twitter machine in a gallery setting sometime in the autumn, maybe in the 'da girlz' exhib?

as for project one, the repetitive sound one, in need of a power amo as the one i have is far too weedy. On testing it out in the space on sunday it sounded weak and feeble and definately not annoying. Need it louder, louder, louder and much more oomphier.

speakers will need gaffa taping as the connectors are a bit wobbly, plinths to house speakers still not here, hoping that workshop guys will have done them so I can get on an paint. Threy prob won't be, but one can hope. Have rediscovered that I am the world's most impatient person ever.

Saturn film

2009-05-24T17:51:00.002+01:00

This is incredible, it's a film of saturn's rotation filmed from Hubble. It looks like a cartoon, almost not quite sure if it's real.

the single most happiest thing

2009-05-19T21:10:00.000+01:00

i've seen today is this

Chasing Children with Hoovers

2009-05-08T12:14:00.002+01:00

from Graham Lineham's Twitter - i think it's impossible not to smile at this

Makezine does good again with their twitter library

Arduino alert!

2009-05-03T11:02:00.003+01:00

Really interesting Interactive Vending Machine by Ellie Harrison.

Everytime the recession is mentioned on the BBC the vending machine in the Viewpoint Gallery gives out free food.

I am thinking that this is being done in a very similar way to the twitter bubblino machine, with a microcontroller constantly checking and relaying info from a website, in this case the BBC RSS feed. RSS feeds are constantly being updated, esp on such a busy site as the BBC. Perfik.

Annoying machine update - shields ordered and shipped. circuitry confusion at a controllable level. for now.

TapeScape Audio Robot by PlayPatterns

2009-04-26T10:16:00.002+01:00

The TapeScape Audio Robot - More DIY How To Projects

awe

2009-04-25T19:44:00.001+01:00

some

imagine this hooked up to an arduino.

...

quite

limpit shell lights!

2009-04-22T20:49:00.002+01:00

how fantastically fun are these?!

Limpit Buttons by Hannah Perner-Wilson

I get more ideas by the minute. I, officially, am in love with electronics.

just to rub it in that i need a mac

2009-04-22T13:45:00.003+01:00

too much to get excited about, too little time to fit it all in before degree ends

TIL116 opto-isolator
- may need one to go in between the arduino and the mp3 player

- another interesting way of controlling audio through an arduino

1 and a half weeks left!

2009-04-22T11:48:00.003+01:00

til studios get cleared for end of year shows. eek.

Plans as always becoming more and more complicated as the time goes.
so far degree show piece will be:

an audio sample playing through surround sound speakers in the big proj space,
it will be triggered through twitter (plan A) or through a simple whisker switch attached to a door somewhere around the uni (plan B).

the audio is a 32 beat finger click that i've zushed up a bit on cubase, the idea being that it's a rhythmical metronome-esque sound that should fill the space and go on a little bit longer than is really comfortable.

Out of the whole of this year the one thing that i have been pleased with is my work being described as dominating and annoying, something I have been called as a person anyway, and by no means take offense to.

The twitter plan would be ace, have my arduino dem. all ready for action and am just trying to figure out code and circuitry. I am a complete novice at arduino tinkering, having entered the realm of the super exciting 'makezine' a few weeks ago thanks to Gail. Adrian McEwan made a very similar bubble machine operated by Twitter, of which I have already shown my jealousy and wonder at, (I started this year with bubbles and filling spaces with them, so it's a bit of a confidence punch when someone does it so much better!) but yes, the whole of the headaches and magical alchemy that is the arduino will be all hidden from view and my input to the show will look quite sparse. thinking it isn't enough.

the basic switch plan would be quicker, and more immediate for the people at the degree show, with none of the technology existing in the ether of the internet.

and therein is my dilema:

- to arduino or not to arduino?
- enough or not enough?
- impressive or understated?

Getting Started With Arduino How To Build A Twitter Monitoring Alertuino

2009-04-20T20:56:00.001+01:00

Adrian who invented Bubblino has ever so helpfully put this up! A thousand thanks in every direction.

Getting Started With Arduino How To Build A Twitter Monitoring Alertuino

View more presentations from Adrian Mcewen.

2009-03-29T13:09:00.004+01:00

A little stunning animation found through Adam Buxton's BUG series. It's a glorious lesson in timing, editing and the importance of gestures. And it's wickedly funny.

Jeff Lewis & Laura Marling

2009-03-28T12:00:00.002Z

Anti-folk 'too cool for everything but still love them' songwriters Jeff Lewis and Laura Marling have done a cover of Eminem's Brain Damage for Lewis' new Guardian online column JEFFREY LEWIS - NEWS TV.

can't link the video in properly so you'll have to click, shame

Laura Marling always feels suitable for a flu-infested Saturday morning slob-about.

getting excited for glastonbury already

2009-03-27T19:02:00.002Z

john peel passes? - check
echo and the bunnymen? - check
brucey? - check
sonic youth? - maybe

eezagonnabeeyagoodaone

wow

2009-03-26T14:39:00.001Z

On from aram bartholl on Vimeo.

2009-03-25T21:29:00.004Z

New series of the Apprentice - 7 minutes in and I have to turn over already. A new record in the unwatchable television category. There is nothing more that these types of programmes are showing, if they can show anything more at all. I know people can be awful and bossy and self-righteous and bitchy. I don't want to see this anymore.

On a happier cultural moment, the manics' new cover art by Jenny Saville is ace.

geek glorious geek

2009-03-25T11:43:00.002Z

love the look on the presenter's face as she tries these out.

a bubble machine operated by twitter?!
Arduino alert!

SS09 selection

2009-03-17T22:22:00.007Z

Some of my favourite SS09 shoes from a couple of high street shops,

It's starting to look a little brighter for men's summer wear after years of grandpa sandals and heavy black office-esque shoes, not much brighter but a little. And it's much the same as last year for ladies' sandals; focus seems to be on straps and gladiator sandals, wedges and platform soles, chunky block colours on block shapes, or light and feminine bows on the pump front. Nothing much inbetween for those of us who would like heels without looking like a dominatrix.

Anyhow, these are one good ones I've seen so far:

WOMEN'S

Clarks have some nice bits if you dig, particularly the originals range, of which they have made another series of desert boots in some great leathers and suedes. These pumps are really cute and tick many trend boxes (tie bow, shiny finish leather, low cut around side of shoe.)

(Clarks)

These below are surprisingly feminine despite being a chunky wedge and tick the peep-toe/t bar/wrapped leather trends. Haven't tried them on yet but hoping the sole is as comfy as the majority of Clarks sandals are.

(Clarks)

Camper are an obvious style influence on many high street retailers, as they are a good fitting brand with an emphasis on fun and individuality. These wedges are superdooper. There are many many crisscrossing strap sandal wedges this season, but these are among the most subtle and wearable.

(Camper)

As usual, the twins range by Camper is among the most exciting, I'm particularly wanting these heels with really on-trend split colour monotone leather uppers.

(Camper)

United Nude have some bold styles as expected, this white sandal with crossing straps is a particular gem, although the whole range itself has much more of a sculptural aesthetic, the main feature being the Eamz shoe, whose heel is modelled on a Charles and Ray Eames chair.

(United Nude)

(United Nude Eamz Mary Jane)

I wouldn't be able to do a spring summer flit without looking at Terra Plana. This is the first complete collection to come out of the AMC deisgn house and it is a job fantastically done. One thing to look out for is the range of styles with quilting and fabric interwoven with the leather, they look great and the fabric will change next year from floral into coffee beans and shells. These yellow platform heels are amazing and the strap across is surprisingly flattering. Yellow has been quite a heavily featured colour so far this season. I have a need for these to walk with happy summer feet.

(Terra Plana)

The VivoBarefoot range is looking ever so comfy and desirable, most of all these trainers:

(VivoBarefoot @ Terra Plana)

want. badly.

MEN'S

Having to search for nice men's sandals that don't automatically age or de-age the wearer used to be damned near impossible. Shoe companies are wary of producing a variety of men's sandals and alternative summer wear because they feel that men buy their shoes in a different way to women. It is assumed, and I don't think it's too far wrong, that men will buy one pair of shoes for work, have one alternative such as trainers, and then stick with that until it is necessary to buy more because of breakage. Spending £50 or so on sumemr shoes can seem unnecessary and stupid in the philosophy that 'these'll do'. Making interesting footwear for men is therefore a risky business, and shoes not in brown or black even more so, but there are some intersting things going on at affordable prices:

Camper sell these rubber flip flops for £25 and they fit much better than standard flip flops. They are super flexible and mould around the foot for comfort. Plus they look much sleeker than stringy flip flops.

(Camper)

These are some really interesting Clarks sandals, that seem to work for most age groups, and with the leather upper, are smarter than most sandals around.

(Clarks)

Terra Plana's Dopie sandal is set to become a design classic and available in many many many colours. Look out for a sock/whole foot version next year currently in the design process.

(Terra Plana)

Cleaner cut trainers and sneakers are everywhere at the moment and so here are some of my favourite men's trainers, particular kudos to the toe shape of the Clarks Originals and the incredibly flexible VivoBarefoot and recycled bike tyre sole of Worn Again @ Terra Plana.

(Clarks Originals)
(VivoBarefoot @ Terra Plana)(Worn Again @ Terra Plana)

Smart Black Shoes (SBSs) for men will occur in every collection despite season but some of the nicest summery ones are again, Camper and Terra Plana. Camper's quirky twins range is responsible for the laces on these slick black leather shoes, whilst Terra Plana's use of eco tumbled leather creates a shoe very very soft and comfortable, with ultra thin sole for a new walking experience.

(Camper)(Terra Plana)

PHEW.

"Roots" brick table installation

2009-03-16T20:39:00.003Z

this is really exciting. Using Processing technology and the touch sensor brick table, users can alter the output, which manifest as music; as series of notes and sounds controlled by touch.

Roots Multi Touch Tangible Installation Teaser from BricK Table on Vimeo.

2009-03-15T19:42:00.002Z

want to recreate this movement.

it's really not going to happen as i want it to is it?

a machine that creates something akin to poetry

2009-03-15T19:33:00.001Z

is the task this week.

eek.

2009-03-11T18:00:00.003Z

Proving I have lost 'youth' status at 21, I now have to use urban dictionary to find what phrases mean. And still don't have the ability to use them. I am officially grown up/old/boring and turning into my parents. therefore have compiled a list of things I now think are inappropriate for me to do:

- chew bubblegum in public without irony
- use the phrase 'like' in a non comparison sense
- wear bunches
- expect sweets on a friday
- have sugar in my tea
- not tip in a restaurant
- draw lightning bolts as underlines for titles
- wear a tie

urban dictionary phrase of the day:
Stanky Leg - A dance in which the dancer drops it while rotating one leg behind them

"Hey everyone, Susie is doing da Stanky Leg"

what?

Shivering Sands

2009-03-09T19:18:00.003Z

as seen on diamond geezer's blog and ffffound.com

They look amazing. Really want to go and see them for myself. Nine miles off the coast in the Thames estuary, not that difficult surely ?!

Pancakes and blenders

2009-03-09T17:51:00.003Z

It may seem like I've been absent from studio work for the last few days but there has been an element of research and decision-making to the time spent. Promise. Everything I do falls into one of 4 categories and places: Sodbury/Family things; Hotwells/Henry things; Hackney/Shoe things; Kingston/Fine Art things. The Fine Art things have taken last place this last month and it really can't be so anymore.

So...

Have yet to figure out the electronics for moving cootie catchers, am going to go to the engineering dept for some expert help. I'd like to be much more proficient in automation and automatons than I currently am.

1) Go to engineering
2) Learn something helpful
3) Make something that works to go on a cootie catcher

Saw The Pancakes on Saturday night at the Folkhouse. Was once again struck by the simplicity and honesty of their instruments. (Not the Hong Kong pancakes, the Suffolk Pancakes.) They have a less well-made Juneau Proj feel about them and the way they present themselves.

(not my photos)

Their drum kit, as you can see, is a wooden box, with a stick nailed on and a saucepan lid on top. The kick pedal is a homemade pulley system and it's a shame i forgot my camera as I really wanted to record it. I think it's a lovely object. It exists as a static object, one that can be imagined to play as well as be played. A normal drum kit, of the sort that's gathering dust in my room in Bristol, is there to be played and when static, looks no more than a familiar drum kit. It can be overlooked, unlike the Pancake kit. It has become something other. It is not a box anymore, the saucepan lid is not a saucepan lid.

On a similar note, the current show Ujino and The Rotators at the Hayward Gallery Project Space is incredibly exciting. Notified by Rosa, I went and I loved, and felt a little like what I was doing was a shoddy shitty version. But I will carry on nonetheless and try and take something from it.

Ujino's work revels in a punk sensibility, a mish-mash of unwanted domestic appliances, appliances now outdated and redundant, and creates a sound piece with them. He calls the pieces a band, much like I wanted to call the cootie catchers an orchestra, and treats them as such, letting groups of them combine to become one instrument, and each group playing for a set amount of time. I would have really liked to see them all play together, without the organised and planned structure. When the focus shifted for the first time, I thought it was my presence moving around the room that had caused the shift, and was quite (ego ego ego) disappointed when it wasn't. I really wanted to be part of the piece and the denial of any kind of interaction annoyed me greatly. I'm sure that this does not apply to everyone, I know a lot of people would like to just look at artwork, but my my I needed to play with those things.

This, I think it what I have been looking for in many pieces that don't offer it, and so I must make work myself that offers it. I like the unexpected, the idea that someone could come along and break the damn thing if they really wanted to.

For something fantastic, have a look at the opening credits and indeed the whole hour and a half, of The Company, Thursdays on BBC2. 1st episode is on iplayer. do it do it do it.

Applause Machine

2009-03-03T11:14:00.002Z

I am making a machine that claps you as you pass it, when looking for ideas on the mechanism I came across this by Martin Smith:

This feels more like an office toy than a piece of art. You can't actually hear it clap, which is disappointing. The whole point of a clap is that it is a sound generated through an action rather than just an action.

The plan for mine is that it will be wall mountable about shoulder height, and the hands will be life size. The tricky part will be getting the shape of the hands right to make the right sound. eek.

Ventriloquist @ Timothy Taylor

2009-02-27T11:58:00.003Z

A Mayfair PV was always going to be a bit different from a Hackney/Hoxton student one but I didn't expect that I would not be able to see any art properly.

http://www.artrabbit.com/all/events/event/10596/ventriloquist

Going primarily to see Steve's work, I hadn't even noticed the other names on the poster. The idea of the show, as far as I could gather, was that established international 'art stars' are displayed alongside and mingled with new emerging artists. The title, Ventriloquist, derives from the Jasper Johns piece from the early eighties, and the idea that an artist speaks through the voice of something that appears to be elsewhere.

I don't know whether it was because the gallery was so busy and packed that I couldn't see the work as a whole properly, or whether I was distracted by all the absurdly pretentious twonks*, but I really didn't feel the show had a strong enough connection between all the work. It felt like the new work was overshadowed by the familiar pieces. Seeing a Duchamp next to person x from the RCA was a good idea on paper but it seemed that noone was looking at person x's work, just the Duchamp. Did the curator think that the new work wouldn't be able to stand up by itself? I think it would have done.

As I said at the beginning, I went to see Steve's work of which I knew already. It worked well within the gallery space and was one of the newer works that people seemed to be discussing with genuine interest.

Steve Bishop will be at Kingston University doing one of the Wednesday lectures in March, which should be a really good one.

(*I'm not naive enough to think this wouldn't happen but the volume of twattery was truely astounding. Having come straight from the design studio and dressed in the usual slop and slightly smelling of Hackney sweat, it was a bit of a 'don't really belong here' moment.)

2009-02-24T22:41:00.002Z

I can only think of things in Illustrator now,
so I'm going to add an anchor point here,
and round it out til about here,
so it looks like this,
and then cmd shift ] it to front,
then right click then
explode
in a wondrous vector explosion,

Good things in Illustrator:

- the A key
- the I key
- the clipping mask maker
- cmd shift ]
- shift C
and not forgetting
- cmd -/cmd+

www.terraplana.com - this is the brand I am helping with, SS10 collection
www.amcdesignhouse.com - this is the company
www.freeform.org.uk/hothouse.htm - this is the beautiful building

A dirty week

2009-02-22T19:40:00.004Z

Been a little bit busy on the old working this week, therefore not been doing this.

Since last post I have:
- had an interview at AMC Design House for an internship
- got the internship
- been working at said internship
- (almost) mastered the pen tool in illustrator
- been to two gigs
- drunk 10 beers and 1 glass of wine
- been on 24 trains and 5 buses
- slept in three different houses/flats
- eaten three burgers
- not cooked any food myself at all

tonight i will sleep
and also charge/sync up the ipod, as last time I did something wrong and only podcasts and selected songs would play. Therefore have spent the last week listening only to Morrissey, Echo & the Bunnymen, Frank Turner, Adam and Joe podcasts and Compliment Sandwich podcasts, all of which adds up to many surreal train journeys.

"human existence as a process of perpetual falling"

2009-02-16T19:27:00.004Z

Kerry Skarbakka is an American artist whose photographs are incredibly cinematic. The photographs show the artist falling in various contexts, often at the moment before impact or at the moment of no return. Bas Jan Ader comes to mind when first seeing them, both retaining references to slapstick and conversly being quite macabre.

In his own words, he 'questions ... the nature of control and its effects on this perceived responsibility', the photographs' 'exploration resides in the sublime metaphorical space from where balance has been disrupted to the definitive point of no return. It asks the question of what it means to resist the struggle, to simply let go. Or what are the consequences of holding on?'

I think they're stunning. Can't wait for them to travel over here so I can see them 4 Real.

http://www.skarbakka.com/

if you go down to the kino today

2009-02-12T16:55:00.003Z

This is my contribution to the goodie bags at tonight's CAFE KINO gig featuring the fabulous Tiger and Panda, Rachael Dadd, Phil Dodd and Grizzly and the Bears. It was done quite quickly but it is for photocopying and I wanted the detail to get a bit lost and damaged when it's been photocopied. Because those DIY kids like that yes?

If anyone is free in Bristol tonight then do go, Cafe Kino, free entry, Stokes Croft, 6pm
then head to the Fleece for some New Rhodes, also free entry, 9pm; two fab gigs in one evening and I can't go.

j-j-j-j-j-jon stewart

2009-02-11T23:28:00.001Z

in honour of my dissertation

2009-02-10T22:14:00.002Z

and it's imminent marking, that will at some point reveal a mere simpleton's understanding of the greatness of Stewart, Jon.

image from ffffound.com

cootie catchers

2009-02-10T20:33:00.005Z

Some of the shots from the photo sesh with Niall this morning. It's all terribly a bit more professional than my gekken or diana could manage and I'm really quite pleased with them.

This is the starting point for this term's work, the fortune tellers, cootie catchers, flexagons that you make out of paper in the playground at school with stupid things written inside; things like 'you're going have seventeen billion children and be really really fat yeah,' or 'u eat poo and you like it'. I wanted to change the qualities of them. When you make them out of paper they are always imperfect, disposable toys, meant for a moment's fun and nothing else. I wanted to make them become visible, tangible, definate objects; objects that display the geometry and become an aesthetic sculpture.

The latter images are of the 2nd and 3rd attempt at a cootie catcher in aluminum, the larger being 800mmx800mmx400mm using 0.8mm aluminium sheet. The next one will be approx double that.

When the smaller one was actually made the overall feature became not the surface or aesthetic qualities, but the sound that it made when the faces banged together. Being only part adult and still mostly child, continual loud banging noises and being just generally irritating are still a phenomenally fantastic way to spend time. (I think Alessandro and Ish can testify this after showing them my skill with a microphone and portable amp, otherwise known as 'The Feedback Sessions 2009') The bigger one makes an amazing clang sound, especially if you clang it in the lift at people who ask what it is. It takes up most of the lift space as it is, so when it bangs people tend to shut up, or go 'argf'.

Anyway, this is where I am going now, exploring the qualities of sound against a sculpture. I would like the sound to be heard or noticed before the work is seen. And for the work to be placed within a context where it can be mistaken for something else. I will be looking at sound within cause and effect, small actions that make big noises, big actions that make small noises. The destruction of sound also, what happens when you take away something's natural sound? The vinyl massacre of last year is something that I am still very interested in, even if it doesn't fully develop within this work.

Alongside this, creating a mechanism for the larger cootie catchers to create noise and sound without need for the deliberate human interaction of picking it up and smashing it around. This will be done by harnessing the power of Maplin to make a swinging arm for one of the sections. I'd ideally like it to still have some element of interaction but an interaction that is unavoidable and unintentional on the part of the viewer, so far this has indictaed somekind of motion sensor. All ready to change though.

Ann says it's too dominating and aggressive to work within a shared space, which I guess is true. But I at least want to see it chase and scare someone before I tame it.

so, in summary, purely for my own benefit:
paper = no
aluminum = yes
still = no
moving = yes
noise = yes yes yes

to try:
sound cause and effect
bigger one
context/space
amplified small sounds
hushed loud sounds
destruction of sound

Pancake of despair

2009-02-04T23:58:00.003Z

If I am in Bristol on this weekend, it is imperative that I go to this. LOVE the pancakes, if they're anything like how I remember them. It's organised by Blake of Third Ear which just guarantees a good gig and at least one good conversation. go go go go go!

http://www.myspace.com/thepancakessuffolk

Clunk Clunk Whizz

2009-02-03T23:37:00.004Z

The greatest fear I have this year other than not doing very well, is making boring work. Therefore as soon as I start to become disinterested in what I'm doing I know I have to revert to what is essential and integral within the work. For me I know that I have to maintain a sense of playfulness and motion in order to keep myself interested. I fear that I am being swayed by various inputs, be them all of valid and authoritative origin, into making something I'm really not that interested in. Have a tutorial tomorrow so will hopefully be a bit more coherent of the possibilities of where I am heading soon. I know what I want to do, which is nice for a change. But if it's a crap idea then I'd like to know, just in a nice way.

I've been thinking about what actually makes me enjoy work that I do and see.
Roughly, and susceptible to change, it is:

- movement, preferably repetitive or circular motion
- involves some kind of low-tech medium, such as cardboard or sheet metals
- being allowed to touch the work or interact with it in someway
- noise, the clankier and repetitive the better, something someone in a Berlin minimalist rave might be able to dance to.

there are always artists and work that I go back to when I have a brain melt:

Jean Tinguely

Gary Hill

G&G

Bas Jan Ader

if it's not funny, i think i've failed.

yes, more snow pictures

2009-02-03T20:44:00.003Z

Because you don't realise how many other students live on your road until the snow arrives.

Favourite snow creations seen/heard of so far include the snowman bar party on Prince's Ave, Tolworth and the snow dalek in Kingston. Kudos to the dads bringing out homemade sledges, Boos to the people of Blockbuster and Subway for destroying my plans of a trashy horror film and meatball sandwich for lunch. And yes, I hate myself for wanting one too.

Our front garden!

Attempt at snowball fight

Laura and Hannah

Hannah

Teeny Football Goalkeeper Brother Update : 1-13,
getting better!

2009-02-01T14:41:00.007Z

Still not quite comfortable with this blogging thing, it's all a bit self indulgent but I spend so much time on the computer for research I might as well put some of it to use I guess.

Recently went to New York and Hampton Lakes, Fl. Tried to see as much as I could, particularly in Chelsea, NY. Cannot get one particular show out of my head,

Kate Clark at Claire Oliver Gallery 513 W26th

Clark's fascination with the tension between animal and human is obvious and even though you expect it to be unsettling, seeing the work in person in installation is very much a psychologically intimidating experience. She works with previously living animals, stitching human faces onto the bodies, transforming bears and coyotes into menacing mythical creatures. The stitches and bolts are too visible to make the creatures seem anything but a disasterous Dr Frankensteinesque experiment.

The effect on the viewer when being confronted by such unnatural beings is quite massive. I couldn't stay in the gallery space longer than a few minutes as I felt that I was being watched, surrounded, sized up by the things. The expressions on the faces are distinctly human, but even the smiling ones are not friendly. Animals usually make me want to touch them, even taxidermied animals in museums have an air about them that I'd want to stroke their head just to check if they're real. But here, I wasn't going anywhere near them. They were too animated, too ready to pounce.

does crossing your fingers ever actually work?

2009-02-01T00:01:00.003Z

New Rhodes - The Joys Of Finding And Losing That Girl

I'd give up liquorice for a good long time for this to do well. And I dayam loves me liquorice.

The Fear

2009-01-31T22:56:00.002Z

Done some bad things recently that will soon have to be addressed:

1) I laughed at someone falling off those big red balls on Total Wipeout. As Saturday mass audience family fun telly goes it's bad, a shameless excuse to laugh at cellulite wobbling dental assistants from Dorking, but my god I can't not watch it.

2) I actually just bought the Lily Allen single. yes. And I like it.

3) Instead of paying for my prescription I bought edamame beans from M&S. So will be flipping out in the workshop this week, fantastic!

4) I very nearly voted for the twins on Eurovision: Your Country Needs You. Infact, it was only because I couldn't find my phone in time that I didn't. The blatant insertion of Jade the super-duper at the last minute was such an indecent attempt to guarantee the outcome I was angry enough to vote blonde. When Jade won, I was surprised Webber didn't flick the cameras the Vs and lick her face right there on prime time BBC.

Teeny Tiny Goalkeeper Brother Football Update - today's score 0-15
(almost a personal best)

'The Wires' video

2008-10-12T23:52:00.003+01:00

A video that is almost as good as the song.

because I like it

2008-09-19T11:08:00.000+01:00

WHUBBLE

2008-09-17T21:19:00.002+01:00

Haven't thought about Jamie Smart's work since I was 16 or so. It seems Looshkin is no more. you may need to click on the picture to view it properly, i'm still figuring out how the layout things of this works. forgive.

WHUBBLE

Blogged with the Flock Browser

2008-09-17T17:12:00.001+01:00

I take it back. I love it.

2008-09-17T15:31:00.002+01:00

this starts quite badly and doesn't go as far into mixing it up as I would like it to but it still is quite pleasing.

2008-05-23T12:29:00.001+01:00

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1051232559167413536&postID=4954996202288926447

finding this really interesting at the moment

heroic failures are something i might look further into i think.

mark gubb lecture = inspiration overload

new beginning new blog

2008-05-14T14:07:00.000+01:00

here's a new blog then for research log and general things for work

seems like a good time since I guess the 3rd year starts quite soon.

eek

dissertation blog = www.frhdixon.blogspot.com