Kittler at transmediale 07

Bad enough that I didn't have the opportunity to attend transmediale in Berlin for two years in a row now, but thanks to the avid documentation-frenzy of some of the attendees, the ones who weren't there and are whining about it in the same fashion as I do have the chance to get at least Friedrich Kittler's keynote speech on the last day of the conference online. Kudos to Rainer Kohlberger. Direct link to the video here. (German only, sorry...)

In his lecture, he [Kittler] presents his current research concerning theories of machine, media and music and asks for the meaning of reversibility and infinite loop-d-loop which is being re-processed, after its execution as long as this is not prevented by external influences. What power lies in the knowledge that is hidden in computers and their algorithms?

Kinetica once more

Kinetica put on a new show since I last was there. This time, it's about "Visionaries & Luminaries", so all the works exhibited have something to do with light or its absence.

One of the works that struck me both with its simplicity and effect was Jim Campbell's picture of moving shadows.


As you can see, the method is achieved via an LED panel superimposed on a photograph, but the effect is stunning since the matrix of the panel can be addressed dynamically. The shadows look very convincing and vary in size, shape and movement.

There were also some pieces experimenting with fluorescent surfaces like this "lamp-shade" here:



The picture below is of a camera-obscura-style piece which works with strobe light. It's hard to document it with a single frame, so in case you like it, make sure to check it out for yourself.



Some more images below...










Pictures in this post are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 UK: Scotland License.

RCA Interaction Design Interim Show

Last weekend I went to the RCA Interactive Design show which displayed several works in progress. Having attended the last two consecutive graduate shows which were held annually, I was curious to get a glimpse on future gadgets and conceptual ideas.

Among the works which really interested me was "Flat Future" by Miquel Mora which showed practical applications for super-thin microprocessors applied on tape to suit various everyday purposes. Whether it's labeling fruit, attaching speakers to a book you read at the moment or taking exact measurement via "smart tape", the possibilities are endless.



I was aware that Siemens are currently doing active research in the field of super-thin displays. The above project seems like the logical progression. While I would suspect that a lot of marketing experts would only deem these displays to have advertising on them all the time, Flat Future shows luckily enough that it doesn't at all end there.

The guys over at we make money not art also have a post about the whole show, for those among you who would like to check it out....

Next up was an Origami remote control. Nice one. Although I loved to play with the folded object which served as a model for the remote control, I wasn't able to fold one myself back in the day when I was a kid, as I focused more towards the perfection of the paper plane per se.



However, it is yet another example that new and exciting innovation with electronic media does not need to stem from more powerful hardware, as more hardware usually means that more things can break, lag or freeze, it is also more complicated. In the wake of Nintendo being the rejoicing third party while Sony and M$ are engaging in a console (and DRM) arms-race, this remote control not only shows that simple and effective is the right way to begin with, it might even have commercial success one day...

I also liked the emotoscope which gives you a vintage super-8 feeling while looking through it, along with the flickering and the sound.



Some more images of other projects below.












Pictures in this post are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 UK: Scotland License.

Tim's graduate piece

Last week I went to Germany again to visit the graduate show of my friend Tim. He made a very nice interactive installation piece. It's kind of a plotter which paints a picture according to certain set algorithms.
One of these algorithms -for example- entails the command that it is not allowed to paint a previously exisiting line twice. The plotter is therefore forced to branch off into another direction every time it crosses a previous line.
The whole process is triggered by a motion sensor, which results in a situation in which the piece only actively works when somebody is present in within the range of the sensor.

The concept of the piece derives from the ways in which composers like John Cage were trying to find different ways to transcribe their pieces. I have yet to read the essay which accompanies the piece but I will keep you posted!