more cool kinetic sculptures

I am fascinated by the ability to fool a human viewer into assuming a motion is natural, so much so that he or she feels drawn to interact with a familiar, almost instinctual response. As these drops fall, even though they are larger then life, this caricature is linked by association in our minds and a connection between the two are made, much like those made between commands in Pd. The assumptions and reactions are sure to shortly follow....

"Kinetic Rain" Changi Airport Singapore from ART+COM on Vimeo.

Box

by: Tarik Abdel-Gawad & Bradley G. Munkowitz

Described as a "human choreography encompass " the project, Box, works with the "synthesis of real and digital space through projection-mapping on moving surfaces" so as to work in conjunction with the performer to illuminate both an artistic statement as well as technical experimentation, which is pretty inspirational. It checks so many boxes:

• Large Scale Robotics
• Software Engineering 
• Creativity in general 
• Projection Mapping 

creating a ... Magical  experience (the title of my blog). 

Lindsay Bottos

Click Here and Here

While I do acknowledge that there is a naive feel to Bottos' work at times, there's something nostalgic in a romantic way about embroidery, like polaroid pictures (which probably shows my age) that appeals to me. Maybe I just take a liking because my mother and grandmother use to give me embroideries that they created as presents, so I associate them with care. They are a lot of work though, and do hold sentimental value due to the level of meticulous attention required to be executed in order to successfully complete one. The personalization and added sentiment of an already intimate moment is an interesting way to narrate and reflect on good and bad times gone past.  

Golan Levin

Golan Levin is an American artist who currently lives in Pittsburgh and is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He describes himself as someone who, "develops artifacts and experiences which explore the expressive use of computation". By designing works that focuses on "manipulation and performance of simultaneous image and sound", he is able to engage and stimulate viewers as they watch and interact with his pieces through numerous senses. He allows a relationship between the viewer and piece to grow as a way to abstractly analyze our relationships with one-another. 

One work that caught my eye was a performance from 2003 called Messa Di Voce. The piece, "augments the speech... touches on themes of abstract communication, synaesthetic relationships, cartoon language, and writing and scoring systems". Through a whimsical mean he is able to reflect on and translated our forms of communication into a visual experience as well as an auditory one. 
(Video Below)

Footfalls (2003) is piece that was derived from Messa; by utilizing the balls that the performer once interacted with, Footfalls allows the audience to interact with the technology in both a personable and instinctual way. The project works through "stepping and stomping sounds produced by the visitors' feet [which] are detected by microphones under the floor, and used to govern the size and number of virtual objects that fall from a six-meter high projection. The harder the visitors stomp, the more items fall. Using their silhouettes, visitors can then "catch" and "throw" these projected objects around".
(Image Below)

Levin also keeps a Blog where he writes about new steps in technology (ie. 3D Printing flutes and such) in both artistic as well as just general contexts. I thoroughly suggest a look through.

I win!

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