Make: Online: Arts Archives

Arts Archive: Arts

July 2, 2009

Metallurgical eye candy

An alloy of 1.3% copper, 0.3% magnesium, and 0.3% manganese in aluminum, etched with potassium permanganate and lye.

So I woke up this morning all pumped up to blog about metallography. If you don't already know, metallography is a type of scientific microimaging that involves mirror-polishing metal surfaces and then etching them with various reagents to reveal their microstructures, which are often of breathtaking beauty.

"Griffith Cannon Flash," by Dr. Frederick E. Schmidt, from the iron of a cannon used at Gettysburg.

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of these images online. ASM International, the big metallurgical professional society, has a large online database of metallographs, but it's locked away behind a members-only paywall. Except for a couple of skimpy .PDFs (2007, 2008), even the winners of their annual International Metallographic Contest seem to go largely unpublicized.

Which is a shame, not only because the images themselves are so beautiful, but because they could inspire a whole culture of amateur and artistic metallographers that does not, as far as I can tell, presently exist. Which fact also surprises me, by the way, because the equipment and techniques of metallography are very accessible to amateurs, especially relative to other modern methods of materials analysis.

"Grain structure in CC cast 3304 aluminum alloy," by Elana Naez.

If you know of anyone who's making metallographs as a hobby or as a means of personal artistic expression, please drop me a link in the comments.

July 1, 2009

Skeleton mirror

This is a cool skeleton mirror, anybody able to laser cut mirrors at home? Via Street Anatomy.

More:

Super skull roundupalooza

Handmade instrument exhibition in LA

Los Angeles art gallery SolwayJones is currently showing a collection of unique acoustic and electronic musical instruments by Reed Ghazala, Nam June Paik and others. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area - press release + photos on the gallery's site. [via GetLoFi]

June 30, 2009

Lithophane-making with the Micro CNC

MAKE contributor Steve Lodefink posted results from his Lumenlab Micro CNC's maiden voyage -

Lithophanes were a popular way to hide girlie pictures in the bottom a of gentleman's tea cup around the end of the 19th century. An image would be molded into the porcelain in the cup so that only when held up to a light would the picture be visible.
[...]
I "lithophaned" an image of a skull into a piece of corian. When viewed under normal front lighting, it sort of looks like a distorted C-3P0 face, but when held up to a light source, it is transformed into a skull.

Check out video of the 'skullithophanery' in process over @ Finkbuilt.

June 29, 2009

Photocopier sculpture

Called "Carbon Copy," by Steven Pippin. What do you think the image looks like on the printed paper? Via VVORK.

Trash menagerie

~~Unfortunately, the artist behind these cool component-sculptures goes unnamed. Anybody know who it is?~~

These cool component-sculptures are the work of Ann P. Smith of Providence, RI. Thanks to Lithium Rain for providing us with her name and homepage.

More:

Vacuum tube chess

Not sure how it is to play on this board, but it sure looks cool.

Paul Fryer - Chess Set for Telsa

June 28, 2009

Creep out your babysitter!

From planetwrite in the MAKE Flickr pool, This ought to scare the daylights out of your average babysitter!

June 27, 2009

Future death machine nose art

I'm pretty sure this TrueType font designed in 1998 by the now-apparently-defunct "Dragon's Den Type Foundry" was intended for players of Games Workshop's Warhammer: 40K tabletop wargame.

But c'mon, seriously: what project wouldn't be improved by a little faux-fascist heraldry? Perhaps a flying skull transfixed by a dagger and with lightning shooting from its eyes?

I can't think of one either.

June 26, 2009

Artomatic 500

Looking to build and race your own kinetic sculpture in the DC area? Don't mIss the Artomatic 500 on Saturday, June 27:

Racers and crew are invited to create a cardboard "vehicle" which could be two dimensional, three dimensional -- even four dimensional if you can make it happen -- as long as it it entirely powered by a walking or running human and is decorated by the driver and his or her team. No engine or propulsion system of any sort is allowed. Wheels are optional. In fact, they are discouraged.

Word is that you should bring your own refrigerator box if you're so inclined.

The Artomatic site has lots of info, and check out their Flickr pool.

Old school ceramics, new school robot art

I love this ceramic art, a mash-up of classic blue and white Chinese pottery and modern-day Japanese manga robotics, by Canadian artist Brendan Tang. Brendan tells MAKE: "All works are composted utilizing traditional ceramic processes, from the throwing of the vessels to the hand painting of the forms."

Brendan L.S. Tang

Solar night light circuit art

From the MAKE Flickr pool

Flickr member planetwrite created these rather unique solar night light art pieces - check out his etching process in the project photoset.

June 25, 2009

Raygun Gothic Rocketship

The Raygun Gothic Rocketship is an impressive large-scale installation piece in the works by the same fine crew that created the Steampunk Treehouse. The rough sketch above gives a general sense of perspective (plus it just looks cool); the highest point of the structure is 40 feet. From the site:

The Raygun Gothic Rocketship is an immersive rocket base environment consisting of a tall metal rocket connected via walkway to a taller gantry with a well-defined lighted perimeter. Participants can interactively explore the rocket's three interior chambers accessible through the bottom of the rocket and the top of the rocket via the gantry. Aesthetically the project will be done in a rococo retro-futurist vernacular between yesterday's tomorrow and the future that never was, a critical kitsch somewhere between The Moons of Mongo & Manga Nouveau.

Inside, the three circular rooms have windows and are connected by ladders. There is a control room, a bio lab and observatory, and an engine room. All of the project's specs are listed in detail on the site. Naturally, the piece is headed to Black Rock City, NV, for this year's Burning Man.

Here are some fun video highlights of the Rocketship:

If you're in the Bay Area, hurry on over to the Desert Arts Preview going on as we speak (6:30 - 10 p.m.) at 1590 Bryant Street in San Francisco. Sean Orlando, Nathaniel Taylor, and David Shulman will speak on the past, present, and future exploits of the Raygun Gothic Rocketship. "Questions will be answered. Death rays will be autographed. Mysteries will be revealed. Surprises will be had. All are most heartily invited."

Dorkbot - Seattle art show

The Seattle chapter of Dorkbot, in collaboration with 911 Media Arts Center, is opening a
new juried art exhibit, "Strange Things," with an opening night party on June 27th, 2009.

Sayeth the Press Release:

New and exciting genres of art emerge as artists, scientists and technologists bring together their expertise to push the boundaries of what is possible. Dorkbot-Seattle's annual exhibition, People Doing Strange Things with Electricity, showcases innovative trends in contemporary art by bringing together established and emerging artists who work with electricity in a significant way either in their art or in its creation. This is the fourth installment of "Strange Things"; previous shows have attracted in excess of 1000 visitors. Here for pictures from last years' show.

This year, in addition to showcasing works that in some way involve the use of electricity, we are emphasizing emergent communication: pieces that communicate with each other (and potentially the viewers and environment) in novel ways, to create a larger system that's greater and more complex than its individual parts. The jury selected pieces from 18 regional artists. Our focus on interactive electronic projects encompasses a broad range of creative media: art that borders the line between physical and digital art, digital art and experimental media, kinetic sculpture, reactive sculpture, sound and light installations, web-based art, ubiquitous computing...to name a few.

The show will run until July 24th.

More info

June 24, 2009

Performance with 64 helium balloons

Robert henke & Christopher Bauder made this installation/performance piece called Atom:

A room is filled with deep, evolving noises from a four-channel sound system. An eight-by-eight array of white, self-illuminated spheres floats in space like the atoms of a complex molecule.

Through variable positioning and illumination of each atom, a dynamic display sculpture comes into being, composed of physical objects, patterns of light, and synchronous rhythmic and textural sonic events. Change, sound, and movement converge into a larger form.

The height of each helium balloon is adjusted with a computer-controlled cable winch, whilst the internal illumination is accomplished using dimmable super-bright LEDs, creating a pixel in a warped 8x8 spatial matrix.

The sonic events, the patterns of light, and the movement of the balloons are manipulated in real time as a 45-60 minute-long performance.

(Thanks, Tom!)

Spinning sounds with the Servo Seq

Gijs Gieskes introduces another intriguing musical machine, the opto-sensing multi-armed Servo Seq -

The frequency circles speed can be set with a pot on the controller. The arms can be sequenced with the three buttons on the controller, in combination with the joystick.. If the joystick is moved up, the volume will go up for the arm that is being controlled. Moving the joystick left and right will change the position of the arm. On the tip of the arm there is a line detector, that plays back the frequencys, but the arms can also hit objects placed next to the circle to make drum sounds.

The Seq's brain consists of an ATMega168 configured as an Arduino compatible - more info, code and even a web app for generating compatible disc patterns are all available on the relevant project page. [via Create Digital Music]

Musical gadget: Nao-Min

The Nao-Min is one of the more unique instruments that I have come across. The sound is very Theremin-like and the controls are really clever. Check out the video below for more about how the Nao-Min works.

And some more detailed video of how it works:

A little more about Musical gadget: Nao-Min

In the Maker Shed:

MKAS1-2 copy.jpg
555 Noisemusick Kit

June 23, 2009

Flying Loft Musical Bed

Tarver's instrument is unique to say the least. I recently spent some time with him to witness his invention first-hand and was taken aback. High above his loft, entangled into the foundation, sits his creation. It is a beautiful expression of do-it-yourself ingenuity that is one part concrete and two parts found objects. The interlocking elements and nautical details distinguish its custom look and feel. Tarver's ability to reconcile the geometry of its construction proves necessary in achieving musical harmony. Witnessing the instrument being played can only be described as extraordinary.

Tarver, details the precision involved in achieving the sublime resonance which bellows from the instrument:

The main beam was built up with a pair of 2x8's glued together at the outside edge, blocking a short way in along the joists, a 3/8" plywood stress-skin bottom, and concrete fill in the cells. The platform is not supported with any post(s) from the ground, but rather suspended from the I-beam in the ceiling with the 2-inch square hollow steel bar. The steel post terminates in a concrete finial which supports eight steel wires that go from corner to corner. The rings which anchor the wires are supported with railway spikes.

A big thank you to all those involved. Check out the rest of the photos on Flickr.

A different kind of pyro art

Rosemarie Fiore makes a different kind of fire art. She uses controlled detonations of fireworks on paper to disperse bursts of saturated color. Rosemarie tells MAKE how she does it:

I bomb blank sheets of paper with different fireworks including color smoke bombs, jumping jacks, monster balls, fountains, magic whips, spinning carnations, ground blooms, rings of fire, and lasers. As I work, I create imagery by controlling the chaotic nature of the explosions in upside-down containers. When the paper becomes saturated in color, dark and burned, I take it back to my studio and collage blank paper circles onto the image to establish new planes and open up the composition. I then continue to bomb the pieces. These actions are repeated a number of times. The final works contain many layers of collaged explosions and are thick and heavy.

She's also made art with a lawnmower, a car windshield wiper, a pinball machine, and a waffle iron.

Rosemarie Fiore

June 22, 2009

Super skull roundupalooza

Skulls! Who doesn't love 'em?

Well, me, for one, and probably a bunch of other folks who don't care to be constantly reminded of mortality. We seem to be in the minority, however, with most deriving some kind of weird existential thrill, or deep Buddhist-y zen calm, from staring deep into the empty, black sockets of eternally grinning Death. Whee!

So, in honor of you deranged necrophiles, (especially you, Noah Scalin) I've rounded up three years worth of skullaphenalia from MAKE and CRAFT. Whether your taste runs to soft-and-cuddly pink death or cold-and-creepy-with-tentacles death, you're sure to find something among these links that quenches your malevolent bloodthirst. You make me sick! Also: Enjoy!