Making Toys

Updates from February, 2009 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• 

  Yury Gitman 8:54 pm on February 18, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  time-based library findings 

  •••  Gary Hill – Circular Breathing (1994)

  this video installation uses several projected panels.  audience is intended to watch the panels from left to right follows the structure of reading and writing. the images consist of people doing actions, such as reading a book, or a hand writing on a page. the relationship of the sound and the image, as well as the timing of the images is what tears the audience from normal experience of time passing. sequences of images are triggered by specific actions of other images; each action is symbolic of the splitting of the whole, or the ending of one phase and the beginning of another.  in each sequence, as the images begin to flicker rapidly, accompanied by a loud, agitated sound, and an obscured narrative appears to build.  the flickering and altered speed, like the slow breathing of tai chi, shift the viewer's focus form the habitual linearity that searches for a literal meaning to deep perceptual questioning.

  from: Seeing Time: Ross, David A., Robert Riley, Marita Sturken, Chrissie Iles, Thea Westreich.  Selections from the Pamela and Richard Kramlich Collection of Media Art. SFMOMA, 1999. pp. 120-123.

  •••  David Goldenberg – Microwave and Freezerstilts (1992)

  surveillance cameras which are ubiquitous in contemporary culter appeared in art galleries in the 1970s in anticipation of what was to come.  Goldenberg had his video cameras monitor audiences who could see their images in mirrored chambers they were unable to enter.  past, present and future were collapsed in a maelstrom of self projections.  present tense is no more readily felt than in seeing oneself all of a suddenon a monitor in the middle of an exhibition.  time lapse can also provide immediate experience of time just passed as when a viewer's previously recorded image plays on one monitor as their present image is shown on another.

  from:  Rush, Michael. New Media in Late 20th-Century Art. Thames and Hudson, 1999. pp.124.

  Rate this:
   

  Reply Cancel reply

  Required fields are marked *

  Name *

  Email *

  Website

  Notify me of new comments via email.

  Notify me of new posts via email.

  Δ

• 

  Yury Gitman 8:42 pm on February 18, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Online Timepieces 

  Here are two time-based pieces that I found online

  Polar Clock (http://http://blog.pixelbreaker.com/polarclock/)
  Polar clock is a flash-based clock available as both a screensaver and a web app. While seemingly simple, this clock offers a wealth of information in a compact package, and is both organic and geometric at the same time. As you can see from the site, the clock has gone through several iterations of design, with the latest version (3.0) allowing for full customization by the user.

  

  BeatBearing (http://petes-sonic-art-research.blogspot.com/)

  Created for a PhD program in Belfast, BeatBearing is a time-based audio sequencer using ball bearings in a physical interface to interact with different musical samples. I can explain more but the video explains a lot.

  http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2991443&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
  BeatBearing Interview with Peter Bennett from Gus Sutherland on Vimeo.

  Rate this:
   
• 

  Yury Gitman 8:32 pm on February 18, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Toy Fair 2009 

  The toy fair was huge and awesome. I got kicked out of a few booths, let into a few others, and talked to a lot of really interesting people (for the most part..). Here are some of the coolest things I saw:

  Cloud-B
  Cloud-B creates digital plush/plastic toys that aid children in falling asleep. Some of their products include “Dozy Dolphin” (interactive sounds/sleep sounds), “Sleep Sheep” (sleeping sounds), and “Twilight Turtle”(displays stars on walls of room through its shell). Here is a photo of the Twilight Turtle:

  

  Hex Bugs (http://www.hexbug.com)

  These guys were set up in the youth electronics section, were super friendly, and had AWESOME little robot bugs with a crapload of sensors in them like light, motion, infared, touch, direction, etc. Their site explains things very well, but here is a video I found online of the bugs in action (actually shot at the toy fair).

  Rate this:

  Visvim, home security companies, and Nike Air Jordans are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
  • 

    Nike Air Jordans 1:39 am on December 27, 2010 Permalink | Reply

    Wow an interesting model. Thank you for sharing.

  • 

    home security companies 2:34 am on April 4, 2011 Permalink | Reply

    That is so cute!

  • 

    Visvim 10:37 am on May 5, 2011 Permalink | Reply

    entirely distinct experience. Have you ever gotten back from a trip to a different country and you continually come across yourself talking about a

• 

  Yury Gitman 5:53 pm on February 18, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Time Based Art Works — Library 

  Joseph Beuys is a political artist He was a German fighter pilot in WWII and his plane was shot down in the middle of a snow storm in Crimea. A group of Tartar natives nursed him back to health with traditional folk remedies, that included wrapping him in animal fat for warmth. Beuys viewed this event as a rebirth and related his wounds to that of society's state.
  One of his projects that I found interesting was titled " I Like America and America Likes Me," 1974. For this piece, he wrapped himself in felt, representing a shepard, and locked himself in a cage converted gallery with a wild coyote for a week. Beuys would poke and prod the animal and a time-based recording of a turbine engine would roar through the room. Once the animal's growling grew fierce, Beuys would symbolize defeat by laying on the floor. The coyote never attacked Beuys and the animal was said to achieve "moral consciousness."

  
  
  
  Art on the Edge and Over, Linda Weintraub. p. 178 – 183. Art Insights, Inc. 1996.

  Another work that was based on time was that of Jan Dibbets, titled "Shortest Day at Konrad Fisher's Gallery," 1972. For this piece Dibbets photographed the same same detail of the Galerie Ficsher with the same perspective under different light conditions. He then mounted the individual photographs in chronological order on a large card. Displaying the photographs in this manner blurs the line of individuality and the viewer is forced to view them as a whole and change over time becomes prevelant.

  

  Conceptual Art. Daniel Marzona. p. 54 -55. Taschen. 2005.

  Rate this:
   
• 

  Yury Gitman 5:11 pm on February 18, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  At Toy Fair 2009 

  The Toy Fair was fun and interesting. There were lots of interesting toys but not too many hi-tech ones which I was hoping to see. Here's a couple of toys that I found interesting:

  BluPLAY – A digital handheld art studio!

  
  

  This is a portable electronic touch screen art studio that allows children to paint freely on a blank screen or on a coloring page. This seems like the perfect toy for children and includes music playing capabilities,  although it isn't ready to be hooked up to a computer yet. BluePixo had a single prototype on display which has a PIC32 chip under the hood. Joe and me had a long conversation with the creator of this toy. He apparently started working on this product in May 2008 which seems like a short time to have a prototype and a patent. I can see this toy being really popular if the retail price would be lesser than $60 a piece.

  SPYKEE – the spy robot

  
  

  
  

  This WiFi robot can be controlled with your computer from anywhere in the world. Besides moving about and looking cool it can take pictures, record video and be programmed to do really tiny things like changing channels on your television. The reamining Spykee range of robots are 3 smaller robots that are made for your ipod and can be controlled by Bluetooth or voice. There's a lot of ipod holding gizmos out there but none that look like a cool robot you can ask to change a song. I wouldn't mind owning one of these.

  Oh! I also made a new friend who told me something very funny about Joe and Nick.

  
  

  Rate this:

  joe is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
  • 

    joe 10:40 pm on February 18, 2009 Permalink | Reply

    WHAT DID HE TELL YOU

• 

  Yury Gitman 4:27 pm on February 18, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Passage of time v0.1 

  Here’s my second iteration of the time piece. This prototype is a much higher fidelity and uses a tallish container I got from the container store. I’m using the container upside down with a hole cut at the bottom end for the USB cable and the Arduino stuck on the lid of the container. The LED’s are mounted around a tall cardboard structure, in 3 rows, which sits tight once stuck inside the container. The LED’s light up one row at a time and the light appears to move up and down the container. Row 1 and 3 are blue LED’s while row 2 is green LED’s. Kitchen towels doubled and nicely tucked into the container are used to diffuse the light.

  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3272939&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00adef&fullscreen=1
  CODE:

  int timer = 50; // The higher the number, the slower the timing.
  int pins[] = { 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 }; // an array of pin numbers
  int num_pins = 12; // the number of pins (i.e. the length of the array)
  int timer2 = 1000;
  void setup()
  {
  int i;
  for (i = 0; i < num_pins; i++) // the array elements are numbered from 0 to num_pins – 1
  pinMode(pins[i], OUTPUT); // set each pin as an output
  }
  void loop()
  {
  int i;
  //down up
  //bottom row
  for (i = 8; i < 12; i++) { // loop through each pin…
  digitalWrite(pins[i], HIGH); // turning it on,
  //delay(timer); // pausing,
  //digitalWrite(pins[i], LOW); // and turning it off.
  }
  delay(timer);
  for (i = 8; i < 12; i++) { // loop through each pin…
  //digitalWrite(pins[i], HIGH); // turning it on,
  //delay(timer); // pausing,
  digitalWrite(pins[i], LOW); // and turning it off.
  }
  delay(timer);
  //
  for (i = 4; i < 8; i++) { // loop through each pin…
  digitalWrite(pins[i], HIGH); // turning it on,
  //delay(timer); // pausing,
  //digitalWrite(pins[i], LOW); // and turning it off.
  }
  delay(timer);
  for (i = 4; i < 8; i++) { // loop through each pin…
  //digitalWrite(pins[i], HIGH); // turning it on,
  //delay(timer); // pausing,
  digitalWrite(pins[i], LOW); // and turning it off.
  }
  delay(timer);
  //
  for (i = 0; i < 4; i++) { // loop through each pin…
  digitalWrite(pins[i], HIGH); // turning it on,
  //delay(timer); // pausing,
  //digitalWrite(pins[i], LOW); // and turning it off.
  }
  delay(timer);
  for (i = 0; i < 4; i++) { // loop through each pin…
  //digitalWrite(pins[i], HIGH); // turning it on,
  //delay(timer); // pausing,
  digitalWrite(pins[i], LOW); // and turning it off.
  }
  delay(timer);
  //up down
  //
  for (i = 0; i < 4; i++) { // loop through each pin…
  digitalWrite(pins[i], HIGH); // turning it on,
  //delay(timer); // pausing,
  //digitalWrite(pins[i], LOW); // and turning it off.
  }
  delay(timer);
  for (i = 0; i < 4; i++) { // loop through each pin…
  //digitalWrite(pins[i], HIGH); // turning it on,
  //delay(timer); // pausing,
  digitalWrite(pins[i], LOW); // and turning it off.
  }
  delay(timer);
  //
  for (i = 4; i < 8; i++) { // loop through each pin…
  digitalWrite(pins[i], HIGH); // turning it on,
  //delay(timer); // pausing,
  //digitalWrite(pins[i], LOW); // and turning it off.
  }
  delay(timer);
  for (i = 4; i < 8; i++) { // loop through each pin…
  //digitalWrite(pins[i], HIGH); // turning it on,
  //delay(timer); // pausing,
  digitalWrite(pins[i], LOW); // and turning it off.
  }
  delay(timer);
  //bottom row
  for (i = 8; i < 12; i++) { // loop through each pin…
  digitalWrite(pins[i], HIGH); // turning it on,
  //delay(timer); // pausing,
  //digitalWrite(pins[i], LOW); // and turning it off.
  }
  delay(timer);
  for (i = 8; i < 12; i++) { // loop through each pin…
  //digitalWrite(pins[i], HIGH); // turning it on,
  //delay(timer); // pausing,
  digitalWrite(pins[i], LOW); // and turning it off.
  }
  delay(timer2);
  }

  Rate this:
   
• 

  Yury Gitman 7:17 am on February 18, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  international toy fair 2009. 

  just putting these down; i will add  mmore later.

  1. Snap Circuits. Brilliant learning tool for constructing simple electronic circuits. Joel Murphy should teach from this.  kits were cheap – less than $30 to build your own AM/FM radio or power a clock using a photocell. brilliant. probably my favorite product from the entire fair (except pillow toys).  If you want to build more advanced    things i think the most expensive kit which comes with A LOT of pieces was around $60. sooo cool. i want i want.
  
  2. Mattel's MindFlex.  Essentially allowing for telekinesis (using your mind to move objects) the user wears an apparatus on their head and controlls a ball floating atop jets of air. 

  

  HERE  is a pretty good blog article with a video demo and explanation from a mattel rep. game will retail for $80 (pretty expensive, but dirt cheap considering the technology being employed) and will be available in fall of this year. When i asked a mattel rep at toy fair he said "definitely before holiday season of this year". 

  …and i also had an "exciting time" with a "special someone"

  

  i'll add more, also a link to some of the videos i took while there —

  Rate this: