Ars Virtua Guild Lives!

last night, the first WoW office hours were instantiated. several Ars Virtua Officers met and were able to establish the Ars Virtua Guild. Here is a shot of our founding members. this is the first step into our further exploration of WoW as a mixed reality and art platform iniatives. here are some more shots from our nList flick group.

for the HORDE!

molecules that matter

The Molecules That Matter show opens this weekend at the Tang Museum, Skidmore College. I am exhibiting my soft sculpture titled Fluoxetine. Here's a clip from the press release:

"SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. —Ten of the 20th century’s most profoundly
significant organic molecules will be the stars of an unusual and innovative new
exhibition called Molecules That Matter, on view Sept. 8, 2007–April 13, 2008, at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College.
In spotlighting ten molecules whose common element is carbon—a magnificently multitasking element—the exhibition will illuminate the science of the molecules and their historical impact, and will heighten both dimensions with a provocative selection of material artifacts and contemporary artworks related to each molecule.
“This mix of science, art, and material culture is quite experimental, and unlikely to be found in either art or science museums,” says John Weber, Dayton Director of the Tang Museum. Weber co-organized the show with Ray Giguere, the Skidmore chemistry professor who proposed the original concept and serves as the exhibition’s co-curator and scientific overseer.
For Giguere, the exhibition represents an important look at the history of organic chemistry and an exciting new way to introduce non-scientists to the vital but invisible role that chemistry plays in their everyday lives. “Molecules That Matter explores our expanding knowledge of the invisible world of molecules,” says Giguere. “Throughout the 20th century, our knowledge of the molecular level has significantly defined our world, and even life itself. How we have changed as a result of this remarkable molecular evolution is the overarching story the exhibition conveys.”

Junkbot Safaris

Dumpster Dives and Junking for Bot parts
I have been going out on Junkbot Safaris looking for pieces and prts for the robots I want to build. I put a simple scrapping tutorial on instructables.com to help the people who want to come to my seminar. The Engineering Dept. does a bang up job of up dating equipment regularly and before the recyclers come, it usually sits for a week or two. As far as I can tell it is a win-win, the dept. has pays less because the waste load is reduced and we get 'monetarily' free materials. And if you dispose of your scrap with a proper recycler it is a responsible act as well.

My policy is to make sure the area is as clean or cleaner than when I arrived.They know that folks like me are on salvage operations. A sure way to get them to lock down this valuable material is to make a big mess of small parts for someone else to clean up. Please be kind to those who allow you access to this material. Here's an image from my tutorial.

insert images

For the next bot seminar I want to get as many folks to part out old devices as possible. We will probably have to do a two part seminar. Part A: Salvage, Part B: Bot Construction.

t-shirts part deux

this week nList partied down again in the silkscreen lab. Vera developed an awesome design and we came together this time for our first 2color screen print. The process of screening was ardous. on our first day we were plagued with problems with the emulsion not once but, three times. late in the afternoon i had to call it quits i was tired and it was going to take several hours to prepare the screens anew.



Ethan, Shao, and i put our heads together, did some error analysis, and re-planned. we came back together on Thursday evening. we worked hard to get the base coat onto the rest of the shirts, and in the nick of time too because at the end of our run the emulsion started to break down. And almost excatly the same thing happened with the second color. i am not buying that emulsion again.

the absolutely awesome thing is that the team worked incredibly well together and i have nothing but thanks an kudos to them.

in other words, WE ROCK!

Many thanks (in no particular order) go to:
Vera
Kyung
James
Cookie
Ethan
Shao
Xiaoqing
Danielle
Julia