LED Array Homework && Maker Faire Observations

HOMEWORK DOCUMENTATION:

6-LED Array with 4 different modes / includes potentiometer and buzzer

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MAKER FAIRE NYC 2013

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 FLOAT TABLE – by Rock Paper Robot

A piece of furniture comprised of interconnected suspended cubes. The connecting elements are what seem like impossibly thin wires, giving the piece the illusion of floating. When I noticed a crack in one of the blocks that had been patched with gold, the artist explained to me their nod towards the wabi-sabi Japanese ceramics technique of kintsugi. I thought this small detail added another layer of interest to this already sublime table.

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Do-it-yourself aerial photography: A guided tour – by Engineers Without Borders – NY

These guys went to Cambodia and built this amazing kite with a camera mount for getting areal snapshots from 300 feet in the air. I found this project interesting because I have done aerial photography in the past in the context of field archaeology. We sure as hell didn’t use a kite; we used a more standard method: attaching a roboticly-articulated camera rig to a small, tethered hot air balloon. When I asked Engineers Without Borders why they didn’t use a balloon, they told me that acquiring the necessary gasses such as helium is impractical in the remote areas of Cambodia. I found the invention of this kite system an elegant solution to that problem.

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Scale – by Leo Kang, Taezoo Park, Steven Jackson

I think this piece was the most engaging of any at the Faire that I saw, if the excited reactions of the participants I saw is a indication of real engagement. This is an interactive conceptual art installation that speaks to us about the the trail of forgotten and obsolete devices we abandon in the wake of our lives as our consumers. Suddenly, their ghosts come back to haunt us in a chaotic and overwhelming groan. I think the biggest take away for me personally from the fair is despite how complex, practical, or innovative projects are, the quiet poetry of fine art has the most impactful and lingering resonance.

BONUS VINES:

https://vine.co/v/hvlVLmWuizx (scale in action)

https://vine.co/v/hvLPuxZMwdE (coproduction with Stephanie Farah)