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Curiosity - Wednesday 2nd July
Last Wednesday (2nd July) we had another get-together in McGinty’s. We saw a bunch great stuff, Matthew and his Game Boy Arduino controller, Cefn‘s Wii controlled kaleidoscope, Alex‘s cool RGB lamp (Arduino powered of course!) and John‘s brilliant Perverberator.
We’re now all systems GO with the Proverbial Show! We decided to build two big pieces collectively, plus the pieces individuals and smaller groups submit. The key date we’re working to is 17th September when we’ll first show these off in a member’s show, after which we will tour!
Cheers,
Dave
PS Don’t forget it’s dorkbot London on Thursday - think a few of us will be going down - really good line-up.
Curious Ip-Art
The collective will be exhibiting an interactive video wall to compliment the “Shoot the Scene” film festival this Friday-Saturday at Exposure gallery.
On Saturday PixelH8 will also be conducting a workshop into the basics of chip-tune music; learn how to modify a cheap keyboard to produce new sounds. For booking information see Ip-Art or call 01473 433100.
HAC - Pulse Festival Ipswich, 12th June
A few weeks ago a bunch of us went along to HAC, “…an evening concert of contemporary audio-visual computer performances“ as part of the Ipswich Pulse Festival. It was all organised by our friend of curiosity, Ryan Jordan.
The line-up was: Phil Archer (who also had a nice interactive plant piece), John Bowers (our new friend), Ed Kelly, Ryan Jordan, our own Matthew Applegate - aka Pixelh8 and From Honey to Ashes (Mick Grierson, Matt Lewis, Jeremy Keenan and Edgar Curtis). Many accompanied by curiosity’s Martin Russ and his amazing visualisers.
In the foyer Tom and I created an illuminated inflatable sculpture, using PC fans and an Arduino (inevitably). This was inspired by Paul and Cefn‘s original Flate.
A thoroughly noisy evening was had by all! : )
Cheers,
Dave.
PS - Anyone got any good pictures?
Escalador Mecánico
I love the mechanical simplicity of this and how difficult it must have been to get it to work with such apparent ease. All this is happening with a single motor and cam arrangement.
(via MAKE)
Having seen the wonderful things Tim Hunkin has made, it’d be great to try out some automata for the Proverbs Show. I got a copy of Cabaret Mechanical Movement which looks like a good place to start. Very happy to lend that to anyone who’s interested. I also bought one of the Timberkits kits - lots of fun!
Cheers,
Dave.
Related: Kinetica - Museum of Kinetic Art
Curiosity Field-Trip to Southwold
A couple of weeks ago we had a field-trip to the Under the Pier Show at Southwold. We were shown around by its creator and our new friend, Tim Hunkin.
As Tim puts it the Under the Pier Show is, “A mad collection of home-made slot machines & simulator rides on Southwold Pier”. We got Autofrisk’ed, toned-up with Quickfit and journeyed to the bottom of the sea in the Bathyscape. I think my favourite is the Mobility Masterclass; I really like the combination of mechanics and video - it’s also really good fun!
Tim’s short film For Amusement Only talks about many of the things we saw and some interesting reflections of amusement arcades:
the Curious show
We’ve all been busy getting ready for our third show in Ipswich next week, at St Mary’s at the Quay, Key Street.
We’ve got a really good line-up with lots of news stuff to share with the world:
1. iPhore - Cefn Hoile
Re-imagining of semaphore messages using web-cams and computer vision.
2. Two Wind-up Sculptures - Jonathan Clift
Simple visual puzzles from hacked consumer items.
3. Pixelh8 - Matthew Applegate
Chip-tune musician.
4. train_clock - David Chatting
How transport systems reshape the country. A clock showing the time to travel by train to destinations in the UK from Ipswich.
5. Laser Tag - Graffiti Labs (demonstrated by Tom Juby)
Non-destructive virtual graffiti.
6. Video Feedback - Martin Russ and Cefn Hoile
Emergent imagery from only a camera and a projector.
7. Touch Table - Tom Juby
Multi-touch tabletop.
8. Approaching Years - Craig McCahill
A hybrid portrait which appears to age as you come closer.
9. art is… some theory found on the Internet - Jonathan Clift
Definitions of art scavenged from a well-known search engine.
10. One Pixel Webcam - David Chatting
A view of the changing sky.
11. Bubble Machine - David Chatting, Craig McCahill and Robert Lenne
Leave a message for Bubbles!
Here’s the full programme for the week…
download the poster - designed by Jon Sutton
Saturday 19th
Talk: The Curiosity Collective (7:30pm until 9:30pm)
Things kick off with the opening of the show and a talk about us; what we’ve been doing over the past nearly three years, what we want to do in the future and why we’re doing it.
Sunday 20th
Workshop: How to Solder (3pm until 4:30pm)
Interested in trying-out electronic projects, but put-off by soldering? We’ll show you how to get great results.
We will provide a soldering iron, solder and all the things you need to get going for the afternoon. We ask you to bring a small kit you would like to build, such as those available from Maplin or Rapid Electronics. Typically these are less than ten pounds. Battery powered projects only please.
There are limited spaces available, please contact david dot chatting at mac dot com by Saturday 19th to confirm your space.
Monday 21st
Closed to the public
Tuesday 22nd
Closed to the public
Wednesday 23rd
Workshop: Pixelh8’s Chiptune music (6pm until 7:30pm)
Thursday 24th
Open (4pm until 9:30pm)
Friday 25th
Private viewing (4pm until 9:30pm)
Reception from nightfall, about 7:30pm!
Saturday 26th
Open (12 noon until 9:30pm)
Curiosity - Wednesday 2nd April
Hi – we’re having another get-together this evening (Wednesday) upstairs again in McGinty’s from 8pm
As ever, please come along to chat about your ideas and projects, the main business of the evening is however to get the programme for the show (19th to 27th April) sorted.
Cheers, hope to see you there,
Dave
Arduino Wiimote Hack by Nigel Crawley
Our friend Nigel Crawley made a really nice Arduino Wiimote Hack at the recent Brighton BarCamp:
Curiosity - Wednesday 19th March
Wednesday is all set for curiosity in McGinty’s from 8pm. It’ll be the usual informal mix of stuff people want to show and chat about, plus a focus on the upcoming show - 19th to 27th April.
I’ve already got a list of over ten pieces that we’re hoping to show. Some are ready to go, others need some work. If you’ve got something you’d like to add or you’d like to see if you could help out with someone else’s - come along on Wednesday.
We’re also going to need a hand with publicity and the like - we’ll need posters and flyers pretty soon.
Remote folk: give Cefn or me a shout and we’ll patch you in by the wonders of the Internet - we can do Skype, iChat, etc, etc
Hope to see you then, cheers,
Dave