Sound and Cardboard
Working with motors, string, paper and cardboard Swiss artist Zimoun makes amazing installations that dramatically change spaces both sonically and visually.
www.zimoun.net
Playtronica - Touch interfaces and performance
The Russian / French company Playtronica is definitely the most prolific creators of touch-based musical installations. They currently have two devices that they sell that allow anyone to create the kind of work that they put into public spaces (or perform in concert settings).
This blog post will grow over time as I develop a greater understanding of their work and look at examples of their performances and novel uses of their devices (Touch Me and Playtron).
Playtronica at the Pompidou
Playtronica created this performance piece in collaboration with Arte Radio at the Centre Pompidou. It is a re-imagining of György Ligeti’s music and inspired by the Endless Column sculpture b y Constantin Brâncuși in the background.
The passers-by had to, step onto Playtronica-wired floor, and touch the skin of the “columns”. Thus, by spontaneous interaction of strangers, a new interpretation of a famous masterpiece was born.
‘Inclusive’ testing of their installation at the Pompidou
The album that made me delete all my News apps
Last week was a rough week, I was coping pretty well in this mess of a year up until last week. Like many folks here in Melbourne I think the lockdown is getting to me a bit more than I had been letting on.
Last week was a rough week, I was coping pretty well in this mess of a year up until last week.
Febm - Tape 3
Like many folks here in Melbourne I think the lockdown is getting to me a bit more than I had been letting on. Not seeing family and friends, never really breathing fresh air (we have no outside space and are masked every time we leave the house). And to top it all off I am very closely watching the shipwreck that is unfolding in the United States. I know my interest is outsized, I lived there for a couple of years and still have close friends in Lincoln, Nebraska but really if I follow any news I should be following what’s happening in my own backyard!
I don’t think it is actually the news that I am following, I have no agency, I have no control over what happens in American politics. The reason I follow it is for the show, the drama, the twists and turns. Every day is a new episode of an Orson Welles radio drama (is this real? Surely this isnt real!).
So I say farewell (for now) to the supreme court, the tax returns, the protests and the gun-toting white supremicists. I’m turning off, apps are deleted…
Oh and what was the Album that got me thinking about this? It is the new Album from Netherlandian Felbm. His last two albums (Tape 1 & Tape 2) were fantastic mellow almost ‘elevator lounge’ but somehow not in a daggy way. This new tape (Tape 3) adds real drums and a much bigger sound, there is some real soul in this album but with the same Felbm tone and weirdness.
There is nothing about this album that directly made me want to stop listening to American political news (so no guarantee it will work for you!). I think it is simply that there are no words that can ever be a substitute for good music, so I’ll stop.
-Glen
Interview on State of the Art - PBS
I had the great pleasure to chat to Annika on State of the Art about Playable Streets’ new online platform ‘Playable Web’. We discuss moving from interaction online onto the internet. How does a company that is so focussed on real and tangible touch interactions create work that is still collaborative in spirit?
You can listen to the interview here and go to the PBS website to listen and support their great work!
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Inspiration, musings and cool stuff from the world of music, technology, art, design and probably other random stuff!
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