NETMAGE Festival - Jan 24-28

Me and Theo are going to play Controlled Dream Machine animations with live interactive music in Netmage Festival Bologna-Italy, from 24 to 28 January 2008.
http://www.netmage.it/

electronics leds + ping

The light sculpture is sensible. It is measuring the distance of the audience by an ultra sound sensor PING, sold on Parallax.com. The sensor is going to be annexed in the head. The sensor activates the intensity of 5 Red Leds inserted in the middle of the head. The sensor responds to the distance of people by sensing waves of sound. I am using an Arduino board to program the sensor and the Leds. The circuit uses 220 Ohm resistors.

Each head uses one computer with Bluetooth.

doing animations

Doing animations to be the memories of the head (showed at the small TV inserted at the back of the head) and preparing the dialogues (speakers as a mouth), all of them based in dreams. The artist Juliana Mundim (www.pocketfilmfortravelers.com) is collaborating with the preparation of the dialogues as if it were a script.

doing a resin HEAD model

We did a special box made of wood to prepare the resin model which was filled with a special plaster to make figures, we had to made two plaster models using the same box. The glass model is symmetric but we couldn't use only one model because it’s an opposite symmetry. Marino and Tito helped preparing the model.

How to do a resin model:
First you choose a model or prepare one in ceramic or any hard material.
In this case I used a ready glass head that I bought in a mannequin shop.
Then, you build a wood box able to fit half of the head. Make sure this box is completely without any holes (better filling the holes with modeling clay
Prepare the plaster and fill the box until the half of the head is filled. Let it dry for one or two days. Now that is dried, take the glass head out of it, dismantle the wood box and now you have to do the same thing with the other face of the head.
Remember that the heads are symmetric, but are an opposite symmetry that doesn't allow you to use the same plaster model.
Now you have two plaster models that you have to fix the holes and let it very flat and smooth using water modeling clay and polishing until it gets perfect.
Now the plaster models are done to do the resin model.
Buy the resin and the appropriated wax (see the pictures)


The resin model (materials and cost):

Costs:
The sculpture:
4 glass heads: 66,17 Euros
Two 5 inch BW TV: 40 Euros
Cables to connect computer with TV:
2 ultra sound sensors PING: 90 Euros
2 Speakers: 5 Euros
1 Arduino board: 30 Euros

The resin model (materials):
20 kilos of a special plaster to make figures: 52,00 Euros
Water modeling clay: 5,00 Euros
5 kg transparent resin: 27,72 Euros
octoato de cobalto 20 GR: 1,50 Euros
Peroxido de MEC 100 gr: 3,05 Euros
G4 Imprimacion PUR 1LT: 12,10 Euros
Cera mirror en pasta (wax) : 22,57 Euros
Sand paper: 2,00 Euros

Connected Memories installation-starting

This is the project Connected Memories developed in Mecad/Esdi Barcelona.
The project are two heads exchanging memories and experiences. The memories can be seeing in a small TV under each head and the dialogues are expressed through speakers positioned in the mouth.
The audience can interfere in the head's dialogue by sending a bluetooth message to each head and also they can send a video to the head.
Also, the head emits red lights sensing the presence of the audience.
and more more...

First I bought a glass sculpture, but I found a problem. the glass can not be modified, neither holed. So, I had to do a model with plaster to do a head model of resin.

The television is a black and white 5 inch.