(via beyond the beyond) Christopher Baker did a beautiful installation in Copenhagen, where viewers send SMS messages to a building and their questions and answers become part of the building and the sonic environment.
It does much more than simply projecting onto a large surface. The digital information interacts with the architectural features of the building, going around windows, with its own physics and gravity. Lately I've been thinking about the coming convergence of the digital and physical worlds (augmented reality, an internet of things, unmediated user interfaces). It's already starting to happen.
This installation is a great example of how it would feel to have digital data truly integrated with the environment, as opposed to being a self-contained projection or veneer. The next step would be enabling the data to change the physical structure...
I live for the day when Bladerunner is outdated, as long as we can unplug whenever we want to.
Last year we were in Brooklyn for New Year's, but this year we resumed our tradition of heading up to Vancouver on New Year's Eve, staying at the Sylvia Hotel, and diving into English Bay with a few hundred other silly people at the Vancouver Polar Bear swim.
Ed, not deterred by crutches, thought this might be the time to don the Captain Fantastic outfit in Canada. Waxy Photography (John Goldsmith) caught him as he emerged from the salty 44 degree water...
I'm working on our annual "holiday" card, which will be technically late for Christmas, but still within reason for the holidays in general (I have till Chinese New Year, right?). I try to come up with something amusing each year, some are better than others. Here are some from the last few years.
JOY - 2003
We got our fake pink xmas tree and wanted to celebrate. Our kitty was not pleased.
Christmas merry - 2004
This card was inspired by a trip to visit the studio of Werner Nekes, who has an extensive collection of illusions, magic lanterns, and artifacts from the evolution of animation and film.
His book Eyes, Lies, and Illusions: Masters of Deception is wonderful.
(flipped)
And inside... (this idea is stolen from Werner Nekes business card)
The hint is to tilt the card away from you and close one eye. There are two messages.*
We weren't planning on it, but we stumbled onto Fasching at the Köln Dom. People from all over the world pilgrimage to the Cologne Cathedral for the start of Carnival at 11:11am on November 11. I recorded some audio on my Edirol/Roland stereo digital recorder. It's a good sound recording, but you'd never know it because it's compressed and uploaded to Youtube. (Whatever happened to high-fidelity?)
The middle of November might seem like an odd time to travel to Germany--more than one person has said so. The weather is cold, but not so cold to snow. The Winter Markets that Americans find so adorable compared to the crap we're served in the local mall aren't open yet. Many of the tourist attractions are closed for the season. So why go in the middle of November? Well, I like travelling when nobody else wants to. The lines are shorter at the airport. The locals have forgiven the trespasses of summer tourists and so are friendlier. These are all good reasons, but of course the real reason we picked November for travel was because it just worked out that way with our schedules.
Now, however, we can tell people we travelled to Germany in the middle of Novemeber so we could participate in Fasching.
...and Cologne and Oberhausen, Luxembourg City, and Amsterdam.
Here's a collection of our photos... seems I'm taking more and more these days (sorry). At least they are organized by city so you can check out what interests you the most.
Romping through the chilly woods with kindergarteners carrying homemade lanterns behind a little brass band playing St. Martin's Day songs
Getting caught in the middle of the first day of Karnival at the Cologne train station, where people from all over northern Europe come to celebrate with costumes and heavy drinking
Wandering around Luxembourg City in the freezing wind
Zoning out on the train to Dead Texan with Ed
Having a schnapps at the top of the Berliner Fernsehturm
Dancing to vintage 60s pop with Christian and Kim
Drawing and folding paper with my goddaughter
Having dinner from 6:30pm to 3:30am while talking about quantum physics
Hearing a composition by Astor Piazolla live on the bandoneon at the Berlin Philharmonic with constant goosebumps
I'm so happy! The owner of Blue C Sushi contacted me via Flickr to license one of my Japanese vending machine photos to use in their new Alderwood location, which opens very soon.
It was random chance... he didn't know that Blue C is pretty much my favorite restaurant (it always puts me in a good mood), that I'm a Japanophile, that I live in Seattle, or that I'd be overjoyed to have any of my work in their establishments (Fremont has Kozyndan for heaven's sake).
I'm catching up on posting photos. Here are a few from the Goodbye Bridge Motel night at the Bridge Hotel next to the Aurora bridge, September 15, 2007. Ed and I stopped by there after going to our friend's 40th at the Swedish Cultural Center. It was such a Seattle night...
We got there just before midnight, as the Number 9 fire engine idled in the street. The revelry was coming to a crescendo. The parking lot was full of squashed beer cans and people, spilling from the glowing red rooms of the motel. In the parking lot full of furniture and grafitti, a woman bounced on mattresses piled from the rooms, and a young man jumped onto a long dining table, sliding down the length and clearing it of plates, glasses, and empty beer bottles with a crash. Soon the organizers were yelling that the party was over and it was time to go home. People slowly started to disperse into the streets, taking with them the spririt of the evening.
Not sure how fun this actually is, but the concept is killer. I want to see it in person. (via gizmodo)
"Julian Oliver, from New Zealand, has put together an awesome interactive cube game, called levelHead. The idea behind it is pretty simple; software is used to detect the cube's motion and a set of digital cameras are then utilized to display an appropriate image, depending on your response."
We recently visited Chicago and looking back on the trip, some of the most fun we had was with public sculpture.
Sky's the Limit
Sky's the Limit is a neon installation in the United terminal at O'Hare in Chicago. It was created by Michael Hayden, and was installed in the connector between United concourses B and C in 1989. The music is by William Kraft. It's 744 feet long, reportedly the longest neon sculpture in the world.
When it's busy, the space feels hyperexcited and confusing, probably not the intent. But on this day, it wasn't too crowded, and people seemed to relax into the environment. It's fun to watch the kids react.
Cloud Gate
Cloud Gate was created by British artist Anish Kapoor, and was installed in Millenium Park in 2004. It's constructed of highly polished stainless steel plates and measures 66 long by 33 feet high. It's like a giant blob of mercury reflecting everything around it--the buildings when you stand far away, and people when you stand closer.
One of the best parts of being around this sculpture is watching the people approach and interact with it. People of all kinds walk up with giant grins on their faces, completely unselfconscious. It begs to be touched, and most people do, or take pictures of their reflections. Adults and kids run underneath, giggling.
Hi Bob
Bob Newhart's original show that ran from 1972-78 is one of our favorites, especially the opening music. We encountered Bob Newhart on our way to the Navy Pier. He was originally installed outside the building that was Bob's office in the opening credits of the show (430 N Michigan Ave) in 2004, but was later moved to the Navy Pier because he attracted so much attention and needed a little more space. TV Land commisioned the sculpture from Studio EIS.
