From: Bill Beaty [mailtobeaty chem washington e d u] Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2003 336 PM To: Kate Seekings Subject: pond machines How much wall space might still be available in the COCA Dorkbot show? Is there room for something huge (like eight feet tall and ten or twenty feet wide?) One batch of my never-built devices is "pond machines," wet or dry devices which involve liquid surfaces. I just realized that having a huge pile of galvos makes one of the larger devices possible (even easy.) It's a black or silver surface, a multi-segment dynamic mirror which covers a single wall. Subject RE pond machines Date Thu, 3 Jul 2003 18:04:38 -0700 From "Kate Seekings" To "Bill Beaty" Bill, hi This is very exciting - the pond machine sounds fascinating... we'd possibly be able to do it on the back wall of the main room (i.e. the wall *opposite* the wall on which we usually project slides). There are a couple of giant sculptures I'm thinking about for that room, and then we'd still have plenty of space for other 2D art from Davis and Mars elsewhere... It'd look particularly cool if it was a silvered surface, don't you think? You'll be on the mail I'll be sending out tomorrow with the process for submissions, and I'll look forward to doing my best to make this happen. K From kates@microsoft.com Thu Jul 3 18:37:12 2003 Subject: RE: pond machines Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 18:36:40 -0700 From: "Kate Seekings" To: "William Beaty" ************* below > That would work. It would be best in a room with many well-lit visitors > and objects to reflect. ************* We can certainly give you that... > A pool of mercury. ************* Ooh - I have a thing about mercury, but wouldn't that limit the size? > On the other hand, black (or dark green) acrylic might > be subtly disturbing. ************* Indeed > It would look more like a rippling dark pool, but a > pool in a very unphysical position. Mirror strips would give the > impression of "mirror with waves." ************* Hmmm - perhaps it might be more alien without mirror strips, but your call - any way I can see a sample at some stage, btw, or should I stick with my mind's eye? > "Dark still pool... turned sideways" > might be better for damaging the human mental filters, shattering the > thick growth of man-bark. Psychedelia in the original sense: > brain-hurties. ************* Yes! > Putting it on the ceiling might be even more disturbing, but that would > cover up light fixtures for other works, and it would be much more > difficult to tension all the long flexible plastic strips to prevent > bowing and spoiling the "flat mirror" optics. Strips hung from gavlos > is easy. ************* Then let's stick with that (do-able)... > Another pond machine is a black pool of totally still water with a pump > and an edge-skimmer. ************* Might be hard to achieve with all those people about, audio installations etc., though CoCA does have a concrete floor... > Tiny oil drops fall from an overhead device. When a > droplet hits, it explodes like circular rainbow fireworks which expand > until invisible, and the oil is returned above. Multiple simultaneous > droplet-explosions interact (they repel each other.) Ever see a wet > parking lot with those rainbow colored "blast patterns" from oil dripped > from cars? This is the dynamic version. ************* Sounds beautiful > I lack the time to do both. And piles of galvos cry out for employment! ************* Go for it (the 'Dark, still pool - turned sideways'): there's always next year for the oildrops exploding... K From: William Beaty [mailto:billb@eskimo.com] Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2003 4:00 PM To: dorkbotsea@dorkbot.org; coca@cocaseattle.org Subject: Pond Machine II Yarg! I was going to get this out during "Weird Sci" meeting last night, but fell asleep on the couch. NAME OF WORK: Pond Machine II NAME OF ARTIST: William J. Beaty TYPE: Kinetic sculpture; computer/mechanical cellular automata DIMENSIONS: Wall-mounted, somewhat flat, attaches to a wall at the top, approx 4ft vertical, 8 ft wide (will be wider if space permits.) It's heavy, so four or more equally-spaced wall brackets at the top will connect to its upper rail. It could easily be held a few inches out from the wall if no flat walls exist. MATERIALS: Acrylic mirror strips, pen-motor galvanometers, PC, software, power supply. INTERACTION: Interaction added only if I finish the main work, or added later after the opening. Hidden microphone to detect clapping. Light sensors along the bottom edge to detect visitors walking past. DESCRIPTION: POND MACHINE II KINETIC SCULPTURE COMPUTER, MIRRORS, PEN-MOTOR GALVANOMETERS (more needed?) CATALOG ENTRY DESCRIPTION ... BIO ... INSTALLATION - It's positioned against a wall like a large canvas or any large mirror, with the top edge at approx 6ft above the floor, bottom edge at 2ft (and either 7ft wide or 15ft wide depending on space avail.) It's attached at the top, with the mirror strips hanging down. It could be within an inch of the wall, but depending on flatness, pipes, etc., it could be brought out from the wall by 6in at most. It needs to face a busy area with a scene to reflect. Mounting it in a hallway would only work if the opposite wall was not blank. - I'm planning on using a row of standard L-shaped shelf brackets running along the top of the device and spaced approx every 24in. These have 3 wall screws each. Total weight might approach 70lbs for the smaller version. If the walls are concrete or sheetrock, we could screw the brackets to a wooden rail at the top and then figure out how to bolt the rail to the gallery wall. - A (ribbon?) cable runs from the PC to the work. I can make a very long cable if needed. It could drop down from the ceiling to keep it hidden. - No high power, just a normal PC & small power supply (few hundred watts.) No lighting (the mirror just reflects the scene in the gallery.) (((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) ))))))))))))))))))) William J. Beaty http://staff.washington.edu/wbeaty/ billb@eskimo.com From kate@ Mon Jul 14 17:59:42 2003 From: "Kate Seekings" To: "'William Beaty'" Subject: RE: Pond Machine II Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 17:59:10 -0700 Bill, that's completely fine - thank you for getting this to me so promptly. Please excuse the delay in replying: I've been able to receive email fine all weekend, but only to send since yesterday. And fwiw, some of your fellow artists must still be asleep on the couch ;]. K From Bill Beaty [mailtobeaty chem washington e d u] Sent Thursday, July 31, 2003 1038 PM To Kate Seekings Subject Pond machine II? Question about COCA space... right now I'm planning on 10ft wide or a little more, but if I have the time to keep going, how wide can it grow? Is there wall space for 20 ft? (Still 4ft tall, from knee level to just above eye level, with weight supported at the top by a horizontal row of brackets.) Also there's a couple of cool effects I've noticed which would require some lighting from above (two or three halogen spots.) I didn't request lights initially, and no biggie if there's no time for changes. If small spotlights are available, then the moving plastic strips can make dynamic reflection patterns on the floor. Also, the dark transparent plastic reveals dim details of the wall behind. Very pond-like (a dynamically warping room- reflection, and also some dimly-seen "pond bottom" down within. (((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) ))))))))))))))))))) William J. Beaty http://staff.washington.edu/wbeaty/ billb@eskimo.com From "Kate Seekings" To "Bill Beaty" Subject RE Pond machine II? Date Fri, 1 Aug 2003 135759 -0700 Organization WhimsyFree Knitwear Bill, hi I'll be able to tell you this afternoon re. width - I'm off to CoCA shortly with my tape measure to make sure we can fit everything in. I'd love 20 ft, but we may have a bit of a crunch with other wall-mounted work, so I'll let you know. This sounds brilliant, though - I can't wait to see the work! We should talk with Phil (electrician) onsite re. halogen spots; I can also raise it with him if I see him on Monday. Btw, if you were planning to begin installation on Monday, let me know and I'll try and encourage CoCA to get the SSOLE people to clear 'your' wall first... K From Bill Beaty [mailtobeaty chem washington e d u] Sent Friday, August 01, 2003 535 PM To kate@ Subject RE Pond machine II? At 0157 PM 8/1/2003 -0700, you wrote >We should talk with Phil (electrician) onsite re. halogen spots; I can >also raise it with him if I see him on Monday. Any lights would work, but frosted bulbs give fuzzy shadows and reflections, while tiny halogen spots should give the moving reflections on the floor some very sharp details, though I haven't tried this yet. The effect might be too subtle to spend a lot of time upon. >Btw, if you were planning to begin installation on Monday, let me know >and I'll try and encourage CoCA to get the SSOLE people to clear 'your' >wall first... I'll certainly be in on Monday to see the location. A wooden wall would let me screw in those brackets directly. If it's sheetrock or concrete, I'd have to somehow mount a long horizontal 1 x 4 board, then screw the brackets into that. (((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) ))))))))))))))))))) William J. Beaty http://staff.washington.edu/wbeaty/ billb@eskimo.com Reply-To From "Kate Seekings" To "'Bill Beaty'" Subject RE Pond machine II? Date Mon, 4 Aug 2003 221837 -0700 Organization WhimsyFree Knitwear Let's see what the electrician says tomorrow. Thank you so much for coming in; I'll ping you an email if the wall is NOT sheetrock, and will look forward to seeing you for installation. And if it's any consolation, I've got a million last-minute things going on, too, and I feel as if I'm hosed ;]. It'll all come out fine for both of us. K From billb@eskimo.com Fri Aug 22 18:25:17 2003 -0700 Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 18:25:17 -0700 (PDT) From: William Beaty To: weirdsci-announce@eskimo.com Subject: pond machine, dynamic mirror at COCA At 11:08 AM 8/22/2003 -0700, you wrote: >Woo hoo! Bill, that's great news - I can't wait to see it working! Well Pond Machine II is running, doing things, but not "working." But at least it's a *very interesting* failure. The way I created this thing was to simulate a transmission line made from small segments, then apply a signal to the end of the cellular array while having the voltage of each cell drive the plexiglas rectangles. After putting it in full operation, I see that some internal values need some tuning. And now I realize that my mental image has an entirely different alternative interpretation. The segments of the transmission line are also NEURONS. They all communicate with their neighbors. There is a bit of gain, and a bit of noise. Each neuron has a nonlinear regime which must be avoided. At the edge of the neural net there is a system clock, a pacemaker, which imposes organization on the dynamic patterns. But what happens when there's a flaw? In that case positive feedback causes multiple emergent oscillations which make complicated travelling flickers: Chaos patterns and soliton waves propagating across the array. Plug it in and it wiggles crazily, but the wiggle patterns are not simply random noise, instead they're full of (unwanted) complexity. Or in more familiar terms... ...my sculpture has developed epilepsy. Either that, or the heart muscle has entered a fibrillation mode. It's a really cool system bug. Maybe I shouldn't fix it. Just rename the Chaos-wiggly device... "Polished dancing thoughts thought fiercely." "The consequences of reflective reflection." "A flawed mirror of deranged mentation." (((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) ))))))))))))))))))) William J. Beaty http://staff.washington.edu/wbeaty/ billb@eskimo.com From billb@eskimo.com Mon Aug 25 16:04:32 2003 -0700 Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 16:04:32 -0700 (PDT) From: William Beaty To: m sharp Subject: Re: pond machine, dynamic mirror at COCA On Sat, 23 Aug 2003, m sharp wrote: > that's hilarious!! maybe when you 'fix' it you can leave in a way to get > back to that mode.... or add a mode that filters out the nastiest > deviations so you get the occasional reflection showing up out of > nowhere, propagating for a while, then fading away - that sounds > relaxing! (electro-zen...) I left it with three fibrillating sections, with two "normal" wave sections in between. I found that when I turn it on now, only one of the sections breaks out in chaos. The others stay silent, so I have to poke them with a signal to make them explode. Once started, it persists forever (although there's a chance that, by random, the solitons would all anihilate each other at the same time.) Next: set it up so I can zero the mirrors from a laptop and store the values. That way I can adjust the whole thing so it's perfectly flat and will look much more like a wobbly mirror. > PS is it 5 bucks to get in now? Yep, suggested donation. From billb@eskimo.com Tue Aug 5 18:55:54 2003 -0700 Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 18:55:54 -0700 (PDT) From: William Beaty To: weirdsci-announce@eskimo.com Subject: Gallery opening Wed. nite 8pm For those interested, the 'art thing' I've been frantically building this week will be displayed at COCA's gallery opening tomorrow (Wed) night starting at 8pm. See below. It's a wall-mounted kinetic sculpture, a cellular automaton running a simplified EM wave equation... which tilts the many segments of a large, vertically-sliced dark mirror. It looks somewhat like black water with smooth waves travelling across the surface, but mounted on a wall. (At the moment it's still not working, so I expect to be up all night.) (((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) ))))))))))))))))))) William J. Beaty http://staff.washington.edu/wbeaty/ billb@eskimo.com DORKBOT-SEA PEOPLE DOING STRANGE THINGS WITH ELECTRICITY EXHIBIT AND PARTY Shocks away it s show time!!! This month s dorkbot (http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotsea) is a full-on, no-holds-barred *party* to celebrate the opening night of our month-long exhibition at CoCA (http://www.cocaseattle.org ), People Doing Strange Things With Electricity . Join us for FREE on Wednesday, August 6th from 8 pm til late; preview the multifarious (and nefarious) exhibits, quaff a beer, listen to extraordinary music and talk to the 29 exhibiting artists who ll all be attendance. Performers at the party include DJs Canton Becker, Ario and gLoRy B, with live performances from RAZREZ and Morpheme (formerly Eclectolounge). Works exhibited run a wild and woolly gamut from interactive sound installations to crazed kinetic sculpture to digitally-manipulated or generated images to things that go bleep or talk back but all use electricity as an integral and essential component of their creation or display. Exhibiting artists include Maribeth Back, John Bain, William J. Beaty, Canton Becker, Carlos da Silva, Meredith Finkelstein, Davis Freeman, S. Lyn Goeringer, Laura MacCary and Lawrence MacCary, Paul McCall and Pete Brady, Cathy McClure and Seth Sexton, Chris McMullen, Peter J. Mundweiler, Patrick O Dowd and Christopher O Dowd, Peter Reiquam, Stephen Rock, Dave Rubin and Mandy Greer, Mars Saxman, Mark Taylor-Canfield, W. Scott Trimble, Trimpin and Eric Hungerford, Jeremy Winters, and Mark Zirpel. Check out the exhibition any time from 8/6 to 9/3 but come along on Wednesday 6th at 8 pm and party in dorkbot style: it s gonna be an electric evening! Please RSVP as usual to dorkbotsea@dorkbot.org so we can ensure that you have a drink to call your own. * * * * * * * * * * * * * -----Original Message----- From: Kate Seekings [mailto:kate@] Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 11:40 PM To: Cc: 'coca@cocaseattle.org' Subject: PRESS RELEASE: GRASSROOTS ART COLLECTIVE dorkbot OPENS MONTH-LONG EXHIBIT AT CoCA Importance: High Contact: Elise Lahnstein or Don Hudgins Center on Contemporary Art 206.459.3976 coca@cocaseattle.org *OR* Kate Seekings dorkbot-sea 206-726-7863/206-321-1204 dorkbotsea@dorkbot.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 30, 2003 (Seattle) GRASSROOTS ART COLLECTIVE dorkbot OPENS MONTH-LONG EXHIBIT AT CENTER ON CONTEMPORARY ART AUGUST 6TH CoCA (http://www.cocaseattle.org) presents People Doing Strange Things With Electricity , a month-long show featuring works created by Seattle s dorkbot community (http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotsea) that use technology (electricity in particular) as an integral and essential component of their creation and display. The exhibition begins on Wednesday, August 6th at 8.00 pm with an opening party and continues throughout the month of August until September 3rd. The works shown range from kinetic, interactive, multi-media sculpture to 2D printed images created by autonomous computer graphics software that requires no human input, and a wide spectrum of creativity in between. The first dorkbot (http://dorkbot.org) meeting was held four years ago at the Columbia University Computer Music Center in New York City by Douglas Irving Repetto, and people doing strange things with electricity has been the tagline for this informal, international group ever since. dorkbot has no fees, no dues, no official membership roster but on the first Wednesday of every month or thereabouts, in nine cities around the world, artists (sound, image, movement, whatever), engineers, designers, students and other interested parties involved in the creation of electronic art meet to discuss new work or technologies, share ideas, establish collaborative relationships and see the cool things that everyone else is up to. This exhibit aims to represent the diversity of this community, the diversity of the work that the community generates, and, in the spirit of dorkbot, have an excellent time to boot. People Doing Strange Things With Electricity at CoCA gives 29 local artists whose biographies range from emerging to established, and CoCA s wide, local audience, the chance to do exactly that. Exhibiting artists include: * MARIBETH BACK, Listen, Reader , an experiment in the future of reading * JOHN BAIN, Autocaster , an interactive sound installation * WILLIAM J. BEATY, Pond Machine II , a vertical liquid surface * CANTON BECKER, Udderthump 2000 , a portable sound transducing platform that lets you feel as well as hear music created by Carlos da Silva * CARLOS DA SILVA, an original musical composition designed to provide a sonic backdrop for the entire exhibition * MEREDITH FINKELSTEIN, Cyborg Self-Portrait , an acrylic painting incorporating LCDs * DAVIS FREEMAN, two digitally-printed photographs created using Davis s Illustratype Polaroid process * S. LYN GOERINGER, Application #2 , an interactive sound installation * MANDY GREER AND DAVE RUBIN, That s Not A Toy , a kinetic sculpture * LAURA MACCARY AND LAWRENCE MACCARY, Dialectric: The Space Between Us , woven electronics * PAUL MCCALL AND PETE BRADY, Ay, Tu Apestas (Oh, You Stink) , a kinetic sculpture * CHRIS MCMULLEN, INDUSTRY , a large-scale kinetic sculpture * PETER J. MUNDWEILER (AKA DON PEDRO THE MAGNANIMOUS), Xerox Drawing No. 4 , a flashlight powered by photocopies seen via flashlight * PATRICK O DOWD AND CHRISTOPHER O DOWD+, Solar Music Box and Snake Robot , sound and kinetic sculptures * PETER REIQUAM, Shark-O-Matic Maneating Machine and Ring of Fire ; coin-operated kinetic sculptures * STEPHEN ROCK, three digitally-manipulated images using scanned 3D source material * MARS SAXMAN+, three images created with no human input by Starfish, an autonomous computer graphics program * SID, INC. (AKA CATHY MCCLURE AND SETH SEXTON), a cabal of feisty, interactive kinetic sculptures * MARK TAYLOR-CANFIELD, a video kiosk showing three video works * W. SCOTT TRIMBLE, Conveyorscape and Landscape Dispenser , coin-operated kinetic sculptures * TRIMPIN AND ERIC HUNGERFORD, interactive kinetic sculpture with a mission * JEREMY WINTERS+, The Mood Channel , an interactive sound installation * MARK ZIRPEL, Swimulator , Teeth and Circuit , kinetic and/or interactive sculptures * + indicates an exhibition debut Performers at the opening party: * DJ ARIO * CANTON BECKER * dj gLoRy B * MORPHEME (formerly known as Eclectolounge) * RAZREZ * Additional lighting by THE LIGHT MAN Party details: WHERE: Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA); see http://www.cocaseattle.org for directions WHEN: 8.00 pm on Wednesday, August 6th til late WHAT: Opening party for the dorkbot-sea People Doing Strange Things With Electricity show; opportunity to preview the work and talk with exhibiting artists DRESS: Informal spinning, glowing wearables or clothing that talks back encouraged ADMISSION: FREE; voluntary donation to CoCA suggested Press packs will be available at the opening party or by mail on request; images and CDs will be available on request. Contact elise@cocaseattle.org for press packs, images, CDs. Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA) serves the Pacific Northwest as a catalyst and forum for the advancement, development, and understanding of contemporary art. CoCA provides opportunities for the art audience in this region to view new and experimental artwork firsthand in exhibitions which show the work of international, national and local artists. CoCA is committed to exploring issues, media, and concepts relevant to the world and times in which we live. Site-specific installations, performance art, multi-media and multi-disciplinary programs, and gallery exhibitions of visual art are all within the focus of the organization. CoCA is committed to commissioning new work and providing exposure for emerging artists in a variety of media. CoCA's galleries serve as an artistic proving ground resulting in programming that is experimental in nature--an important distinction between CoCA and other visual arts institutions and organizations in this region. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -----Original Message----- From: Kate Seekings [mailto:kate@] Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2003 2:37 PM To: 'dorkbotsea-announce@dorkbot.org'; 'dorkbotsea-blabber@dorkbot.org' Cc: 'Kathy Cain'; 'coca@cocaseattle.org' Subject: * * IT'S DORKBOT SHOWTIME!!!* * Importance: High Artworks aweigh!!! People Doing Strange Things With Electricity , the month-long show featuring the strange stuff our strange dorkbot-sea (http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotsea) crew gets up to professionally and in its spare time, for money, for love or for kicks and grins, blasts off at CoCA on Wednesday, August 6th at 8.00 pm with a giant party, fantastical exhibits, smashing performers and the smell of ozone in the air. The show runs from the first Wednesday in August (8/6) through the first Wednesday in September (9/3), but if you re not there on the opening night, well& you re not just a dork, you re a dork sitting at home thinking about being out having fun, talking with the exhibiting artists, listening to great music and waving your martini as punctuation for your eloquent discourse, all for FREE, and what s not to love about that? Note this preview, discussion and celebration replaces this month s regular dorkbot meeting. Please, though, do send your RSVP to dorkbotsea@dorkbot.org so we can plan refreshments, space etc. we re looking forward to hearing from you, and to seeing you there. Read on for more&: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Exhibiting artists: * MARIBETH BACK * JOHN BAIN * WILLIAM J. BEATY * CANTON BECKER * CARLOS DA SILVA * MEREDITH FINKELSTEIN * DAVIS FREEMAN * S. LYN GOERINGER * MANDY GREER AND DAVE RUBIN * LAURA MACCARY AND LAWRENCE MACCARY * PAUL MCCALL AND PETE BRADY * CHRIS MCMULLEN * PETER J. MUNDWEILER (AKA DON PEDRO THE MAGNANIMOUS) * PATRICK O DOWD AND CHRISTOPHER O DOWD * PETER REIQUAM * STEPHEN ROCK * MARS SAXMAN * SID, INC. (AKA CATHY MCCLURE AND SETH SEXTON) * MARK TAYLOR-CANFIELD * SCOTT TRIMBLE * TRIMPIN AND ERIC HUNGERFORD * JEREMY WINTERS * MARK ZIRPEL * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Performers at the opening party: * CANTON BECKER * DJ gLoRy B * DJ ARIO * RAZREZ * MORPHEME * Lighting by THE LIGHT MAN * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Those essential details again: WHERE: Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA); see http://www.cocaseattle.org for directions WHEN: 8.00 pm on Wednesday, August 6th til late WHAT: Opening party for the dorkbot-sea People Doing Strange Things With Electricity show; opportunity to preview the work and talk with exhibiting artists DRESS: Informal but if you have anything wearable that spins, glows or talks back, now s the time to bring it out of the closet ADMISSION: FREE; voluntary donation to CoCA to help them continue to support events like dorkbot RSVP: dorkbotsea@dorkbot.org so we can plan beer, wine and cocktails BRING: Work in progress to discuss; anything you d like to share * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * As usual If you would like to speak and/or perform at a later dorkbot, do please let Kate or Kathy know via dorkbotsea@dorkbot.org. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Lastly, I d like to thank our exhibiting artists, CoCA staff and our performers for pitching in to make this a great event. See you on the 6th! K