Pure Data Reigns!

Every Sunday I have been participating in a series of Workshops at Studio XX, in Montreal.

 Automation & Activism:: 

an introduction to open source technology_grass roots software free and open to the public domain. Go Linux! 

My main activities have been playing around with electronics and Pure Data.

With the help of Alex Quessy I have a patch to scrub video or audio tracks with the use of a motion sensor.  The video and or audio plays forward and backward at the speed and motion of your hand moving overtop the sensor. 

---kinda like a theremin....but with a bit more control - the frame rate will play at the speed of my hand going up and down, and I can play whatever audio cue I want to upload---  

For audio it acts like a Dj scratching a turn table, for video it is like scrubbing up and down the timeline...but only a little more magical, cause there is no timeline, and I don't actually touch any buttons.  hehehe  

This new patch will most likely be integrated with my project Primordial Soup....

Le Pays Qui N'exist Pas!

FRINGE FOR ALL!  

This Monday, June 2nd @ 20h00 -  Cafe Campus

Performances at Studio Just For Laughs

Saturday, June 14 @ 21h15

Monday, June 16 @ 23h15

Wedenesday, June 18 @ 19h30

Thursday, June 19 @22h45

Saturday, June 21 @16h00

Sunday, June 22 @ 19h00

See you there!

Mounting the Banners

UPDATES ON THE BANNER PROJECT

S'exposer aux intempries

Mois de l'art Imprime

Atelier Graff - Rue Rachel, Montreal, QC

After long preparation of the images, technical drawings, structural planning, meetings with the city council, meetings with community council, meetings with technicians and engineers, fire men and professional sign makers.....

.....we finally have our banner project successfully mounted on Rue RACHEL!

This project is made in collaboration with artist Arthur Desmarteaux.  All images are made collaboratively.  We used digital photos, mixed with  microscopic photo-imagery and hand-drawn textures to create an illusion of holes and extra windows in the facade of the building.  The imagery inside the hole includes human anatomy (eyes, arms, and legs) and psychedelic molecular landscapes.  

It is our first public art piece, and also our first time printing large scale digital prints. The final pieces are 40 x 70 inches.

It was a rewarding experience to jump through all the bureaucratic hoops involved in displaying art in the public domain.  We certainly learned a lot  in the process.  But none of this would have been possible without the generous support from the great people at GRAFF STUDIOS.  

Thank you especially to Christiane Desjardins (director at Graff) and Laurent Lemarche who helped with many of the technical details.

Opening Reception:

Thursday, May 15, 2008

5pm

963 Rue Rachel est

Montreal, QC

PUPPET UPDATE

Le Pays Qui N'existe Pas

On sunday we had the first read- through of the script written by Marc Boutin. 

The story is about a young boy, Roch who grows up in a poor inner city neighborhood.  His mother works as a prostitute for Alain Grappain who runs his Prostitution business under the guise of a car wash.  Roch has no father so he is left alone most days to entertain himself in the streets.  There is a group of kids that pick on him, and they collectively play a game "terrorist". Roch often escpaes into his imaginary world fighting monsters and rescuing his mother.   

There are many characters, the set is quite elaborate, and the story includes two alternative endings....which the audience decides!   Making for a very interesting pupppet show indeed.

We finally have a set venue and schedule.  Studio JUSTE POUR RIRE

Performances June 14 - 22 2008  (detail description later)

This week has been very productive.    There are 10 completed puppet heads, and most of them have been painted.  Etienne has been laboriously constructing the set and I am also just about done the final Papeir mache details of my LARGE puppet heads, that will be worn for promotional purposes.    

We have to have the press kit ready for Monday distribution, so we have an exciting photo shoot coming up this weekend.

For ticket information please view official website::

Montreal International Fringe Festival

514-849-3378

Eurika! Primordial Soup is Interactive!

This week has been fantastically productive in all projects.

The main breakthrough is finally applying a physical interaction to my video project, Primordial Soup.

Thanks to Alexandre Quessy.  Who has introduced me to Simple Message System - my life has been made so much easier.

(I was getting quite overwhelmed.  All this programing language and electronics seems a bit over my head at times.)

But a basic understanding of wiring and electricity with my breadboard, creating a switch with the arduino....then I Upload simple message system, and I instantly have communication with Pure Data and Arduino!

Eurika!

After tweaking the patch in Pure data a bit, I am sable to send the incoming data to change the variables in my animations.

Now my microbial animation are at the mercy of my control.....by turning the knob or using an infared motion sensor I can alter the speed, attraction and orbiting pattern of the Boids.  All very exciting results.

I finally reap the fruits of my labour.

Thanks to these great people::

Boids = Craig Reynolds

Boids with Pure Data = Eric Singer

Simple Message System = Alexandre Quessy

My arduino Coach  = Patrice Coloumb

Studio xx 

CALQ