Call for Entries: LGRU Networked Graphics DEMOCONTEST

then the Free (as in beer) LGRU party on Friday, with the latest addition in line-up being guest VJ Gisle Fr0ysland (piksel.no) :

Free LGRU! with TONESUCKER(uk), CHRS Galaretta(pe), Robert B. Lisek(pl) and Andre Castro(pt)

and the concluding party on Saturday night:

LGRU Networked Graphics DEMOPARTY

in the meantime, have a look here, here and here

The workshop was intended for media artists, wetware activists and professionals who are interested in sustainable energy forms, self-built synthesizers and a good sense of do-it-yourself attitude. It consisted of two parts:

Part 1 – Building a light-sensitive synthesizer from scratch

Together with participants from Yogyakarta, Bandung, Shanghai and Melbourne we build small DIY synthesizers following a schematic created by moddr_. A simple square wave generator (CMOS Schmitt-trigger 40106 order@farnell) was connected to a LDR (light dependent resistor) and some potentiometers, controlling the frequency of the sound with resistance - it made higher pitched sound when there was less light. Thus, it became an acoustic indicator for the strength of the sun-light and a musical instrument.

The synthesizer was connected to a small low-power amplifier (TPA6101 order@farnell) and it needed less than 3V to work. Download full schematic drawing here:

Part 2 – Building a natural solar cell

Creating electricity through the use of organic solar cells is an example of how scientists are trying to alleviate some of the dependence on non-renewable resources. It is the purpose of this activity for participants to see that with a little human ingenuity, other ways to create energy can be attained. Since the production or the import of solarcells in Indonesia is an expensive undertaking, solar harvesting technology hasn’t been widely spread. We were interested in discussion and knowledge-sharing with people and participants about this topic throughout our stay in Yogyakarta.

Before the workshop we prepared some conductive glass ourselves (by melting SnCl2 Stannous Chloride on pieces of broken window glass), and used it together with the industrially produced glass. It’s efficiency was much lower but proper conductive glass is hard to buy in Indonesia and we wanted to be able to produce everything locally.

Within the workshop we were teaching participants how to make solar cells, that convert sunlight by means of photosynthesis into energy. The cells are constructed from the following parts:

- 1 piece of conductive glass - Titanium dioxide coating - Hibiscus dye on the TiO2 coating (the electrons from the dye get excited, negatively charging this layer).

- 1 piece of conductive glass - Carbon layer (formed from candle fumes) on the other piece.

- 1 electrolyte - Betadine between the two pieces; joined together and sealed well.

We also gathered some local materials, like kunyit for dye (from a local market in Yogya), and also TiO2 powder, to test how they would work compared to materials we brought with us.

With the participants of the workshop, we covered our DIY conductive glass sheets with TiO2 coating, using the one plate stove, and wrapped in aluminium. Then we put all coated glass sheets in the dye, and left it for about 30 minutes.

We took non-coated conductive glass sheets and covered them with a layer of carbon, holding them over a candle light for about 5 minutes, watching carefully that the glass doesn’t break. When the anode parts were ready (when TiO2 accepted dye well) we washed them in alcohol and then left to dry. The two prepared glass sheets were then put together, a few drops of betadine were placed on the carbon side and ’sucked in’ the cell with capillar forces.

This cell was sealed with two-component glue and left to dry. The cells were in the end connected together to produce more electricity. The maximum power they gave under a battery light was about 1V. The concept of natural-dye-solar cells has been discovered by Michael Graetzl (read  more about the Graetzel cell).

More photos are available at moddr_’s fflikkr gallery

Thanks to BMUKK Austria, Fonds BKVB and Mondriaan Stichting for supporting this festival and covering our travel costs and workshop materials.

As a collaboration between HONF and moddr_/WORM we went on a tour to Indonesia! On the route between Jogjakarta, Surabaya, Bandung and Jakarta we give digital privacy workshops and lectures. Lots of great people and places, more on this in a few days!

Ever wondered what it’d take to build your own sex toys? Now you can find out!

Kyle Machulis, maintainer of *Slashdong* (http://www.slashdong.org), the blog of open source sex technology, and expert on sex tech, will guide you through the mechanics, electronics, and programming necessary to make a simple Arduino(http://arduino.cc)-based toy that can be programmed and used to make a data stream a sexual stream!

Attendees will be able to build their toy, and then learn how to control it through various means. Audio triggering, internet control, sensors, and more will be covered. We’ll also cover what it takes to hack other already built toys, to fit whatever your needs may be…

/wanna join in/?
send an email with short motivation to *workshop@moddr.net*
! bringing your own laptop is preferred.

*from*: 11.00 till 18.00 on Sunday, September 12th
*in*: WORM’s future location on /Witte de Withstraat 63/, Rotterdam
*for*: 30 euros including materials

/about/:

*Kyle Machulis*, aka qDot, is a researcher of alternate input mechanisms and haptics, which is really a fancy way of saying he breaks sex toys. Through his Slashdong webpage (http://www.slashdong.org), he uses the topic of teledildonics (remotely actuated sexual experience) to teach the basic concepts of software, electrical and mechanical engineering.

He also tracks the convergence of sex and technological advances in toys and interaction, building on the idea that paradigms for interfaces people would use for intimate encounters on computers can be extended to other usage experiences. In his spare time, he keeps a full time job as a developer at Linden Lab.

“With a very precise super timing Moddr started the webservice Suicide Machine in fall 2009. Facebook has fallen very deep since then and a wide discussion on social networks and privacy is going on currently in the mainstream media.
The mix of highly professional appearance and sarcastic video credentials makes the project a sophisticated unmissable statement in the era of privacy violating and direct marketing driven social network monopolies.”

so we’re showing this…

tuesday June 8th, starting ’round 17.00
MuseumsQuartier Wien,
Q21/Electric Avenue

full programme here:
http://www.mqw.at/de/programm/detail/?event_id=5753”

some more specifics on moddr_lab/WORM programme:

New site-specific piece ‘Luciolinae’ by Damian Stewart, produced at Multimedia Centre Cyberpipe, Ljubljana

- led lights, sound components, custom electronics.
light/sound sculpture series (w.i.p.) 2009-2010 ::

http://ll.frey.co.nz/

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The illustrious ‘Men In Grey’ emerge as a manifestation of Network Anxiety, a fearful apparition in a time of government wiretaps, Facebook spies, Google caches, Internet filters and mandatory ISP logging.

This award winning project will be on show in our space leading up to the 2010 Ars Electronica festival, where they will collect the Award of Distinction in the Hybrid Arts category ::

http://meningrey.net/

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Danja Vasiliev - re:buntu
“Linux that kills itself and can kill You”

re:buntu is an illustration of a system making decisions by itself, committing to self-maintenance and self-destruction. The system is continuously reloading a copy of itself within itself until the memory runs out. When no free memory is left the system needs to decide which one of the copies of itself it shall kill in order to reproduce itself again, again and again…

re:buntu is an OS intervention ::

http://k0a1a.net/rebuntu/

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‘Detour’ by Bernhard Garmicnig;
A monthly evening of variable dimension, multiformat performances, highlighting artists taking sonic action using the world wide web and/or the urban environment as medium and/or material. Detour accentuates sonic artforms which in some way consider our existence in networked urban spaces as their resonating context ::

http://offspacecenter.com/detour/

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RobotCowboy ::

“A futuristic expatriate American Space Ranger combines wearable computing, midi guitar, and live energy to wander the digi-range as a robotcowboy playing for dying astronauts. This is a lofi-guitar-compu-show with algorithmic balls from a DEVOspud, laptop-stomping idiot wearing exposed electronics.”

http://www.robotcowboy.com/

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Furthermore still on show the (also award-winning) moddr_lab project ‘Web2.0 Suicide Machine’, and coming up early September; new site-specific additions to our space by Julian Oliver, Riley Harmon and Brendan Howell

Liberate yourself and your ‘friends’ with a web2.0 suicide!
The Web2.0 Suicide Machine lets you effectively delete all your energy sucking social-networking profiles, kill your fake virtual friends, and completely do away with your web2.0 alterego. The machine is developed in the moddr_lab at WORM (Rotterdam), and serves as a metaphor for the http://suicidemachine.org website which moddr_ hosts; the belly of the beast where the web2.0 suicide-scripts are maintained…

Our services currently run with Facebook.com, Myspace.com and LinkedIn.com; simply enter your username and password for the required service, and our machine will systematically login to your account, change your profile picture, and then one by one delete all of your friends.

For more specific information on the Web2.0 Suicide Machine please have a look at the videtour and FAQ on http://suicidemachine.org

‘unfriending’ has never been this easy,

Commit NOW!

http://suicidemachine.org
http://wormweb.nl
http://moddr.net

Making code and coding easier, Gamuza can be used like a standalone application or a platform of code to start from. Processing and PureData clients communicate with Gamuza through OSC protocol, offering different approaches and working strategies.

We’ll introduce basic concepts around CV techniques and spatial needs, moving around some artistic references, a short tutorial of the Gamuza graphical interface and some examples showing different kinds of project structures that can be built with the tool.

From this we can discuss specific project proposals that participants may have, setup a working environment on your own machines (bring yr laptop!), and exchange knowledge and ideas around these topics.

EMANUELE MAZZA

Emanuele Mazza’s is an independent researcher of LaboratoriodeLuz since 2005, he participated in the development of various interactive installation projects related with the electronic art area, like d3sombra, a personal work presented at Ars Electronica 2006.