Month: July 2010

Professional Portfolio – Week 01

Professional Portfolio – Week 01

It happens to everyone at some point: your computer will die. Depending on which way you look at it, I have been through this experience before and fortunately now keep a thorough backup of all my work on an external hard drive (I’ve even been 

Dusk (2010)

Dusk (2010)

After all the work that Lukasz, Eli and I put into Dusk, I thought a quick video about the work was in order. In the artist talks at Underbelly Arts, I often found it difficult to explain to people concisely just how the project works 

Dusk – Opening Night

Dusk – Opening Night

%CODE1% Underbelly Arts kicked off last night with an opening party and a successful launch of Dusk. We were all happy (and relived) to see the project come together, and it was especially nice to watch people playing with the work. Today marks the final 

Dusk – Construction (Part 3)

Dusk – Construction (Part 3)

It took 10 full days, but the project is (all but) finished. The last coat of paint hit the floor this afternoon and lights went into the tree. We also did a very quick test of video mixing from 2 laptops, and whilst it isn’t 

Dusk – Lighting Test

Dusk – Lighting Test

%CODE1% Just a quick video tonight: a test of the faux lighting I created in Quartz Composer and Max/MSP for Dusk. It’s far from perfect, but great to finally see projected onto physical objects for the first time. Thankfully, the perspective issues I had worried 

Dusk – Construction (Part 2)

Dusk – Construction (Part 2)

We’re now at the stage of trying to bring all the elements of the Dusk project together. Physical objects and software systems need to start playing nicely with each other to make this project work well, and so a lot of testing is needed. The 

Dusk – Boid Test

Dusk – Boid Test

%CODE1% For the first time, we saw what will become the basis for our fireflies projected onto the warehouse floor. These little fellas are called ‘boids’ and at this stage look like a certain male reproductive cell. They’ll take a more complete form soon. As 

Dusk – Construction (Part 1)

Dusk – Construction (Part 1)

Saturday was the first opportunity we’ve had to spend a full day working on Dusk, in the warehouse. We took the opportunity to start construction on the physical objects that will occupy the projection space: a thatch tree and papier mâché rocks have begun to 

Dusk – Quad Panner

Dusk – Quad Panner

Whilst not true ‘surround sound’, the audio for Dusk will be presented through 4 speakers, placed around the installation. One of the goals of Dusk is to create a level of immersion for the viewer, to try and surround them with sound and vision. To build 

Dusk – Scale Model

Dusk – Scale Model

With the direction of our project – and therefore the coding development – on hold until we lock down the arrangement with projectors, I decided to start working on a scale model of Dusk today. This will make changing and communicating ideas much faster, as 

Dusk – Projector Test

Dusk – Projector Test

Day 2: our first major hurdle(s)… Last night we tested the projector inside the warehouse space. At 5000 lumens, brightness was not a problem, but the limited throw certainly was. The model of projector we’re using needs a lot of distance (throw) between it and 

Dusk – Warehouse Space

Dusk – Warehouse Space

The Underbelly Arts’ artist Lab kicked off today, with some site inductions and an opportunity to measure up the space in which Dusk will be constructed. We’ll be living in an old warehouse space, at the south end of the strip of venues that make up 

Dusk – Faux Lighting

Dusk – Faux Lighting

As part of our Underbelly Arts project, Dusk, I am working on a way to create the illusion of moving lighting on objects. In fact, the way I’m approaching the task is not so much about lighting, but instead generating false shadows on and around 

Underbelly Arts Festival

Underbelly Arts Festival

Next week, a few of the members of angryPixel will embark on a 10 day artist residency to create an interactive installation project at the Underbelly Arts festival in Sydney. Aside from being a great opportunity to work on a piece that will be presented 

Danger Shield

Danger Shield

Now that I’m on break from uni (at least in the sense of official classes), I’ve had a chance to sit down with my Ardunio, a new soldering iron and the unbuilt Danger Shield. Aside from some basic cable-fixing during a previous life as a