Kristen Baumlier

NEWS

Cheap, Fat and Open – an Open Source Synthesizer Project

Posted on May 26, 2012May 29, 2012 by Kbaumlier

One of the sessions I attended at Camp Pixelache, an event that I attended in Helsinki, Finland a couple of weeks ago, was the Cheap Fat and Open project presented by Jacob Sikker Remin, from Copenhagen, who created a small open source synthesizer project called Cheap, Fat, and Open.

Cheap – because it only costs 60 euro – or 75 dollars, FAT – because it has fat sound, and Open – for open source and modular. It is basically a stylophone that has different sounds, and is small and portable. You can easily change the sound, pitch, modulation, pitch bender, frequency, and other adjustments. It also has a small sequencer on it, infared communication, and most importantly – you can reprogram it. It is backed by Aruduino – and you can easily change and adapt it to make the sounds that you want.

The community for the project is growing – and people can adapt and share their experiments. The piece is a combination of the old and new combining the raw 8bit / chip tune approach, wireless connectivity, state of the art open source hardware, and expandability.

Who is this designed for? The website states that , “The project is designed for geeky musicians, the chip tune (8-bit lo fi musician) community, the makers, the circuit benders, interaction designers musical programmers, and anyone else who wishes to experiment with sequenced / networked / low-level musical exploration.”

The synthesizer is not meant to compete with high fidelity sound – it is meant to be lo-fi and easy to use. One funny story that Remin shared is that a group called 1version out of China developed a smaller prototype of the project and is currently making these available for sale. As Remin said at the workshop,” I am very excited that my open source project has made it possible for something to be produced and sold in China.”

On the CFO website, you can read about upcoming demos, workshos, and updates as to how people are using the synthesizer. Kits are going to be available for sale soon – so you can get all the pieces in one place, or you can get the directions and source them out yourself.

Links:

Cheap, Fat, and Open website

Video demo of Cheap, Fat, and Open – on Youtube

Jacob Sikker Remin – Cheap, Fat, and Open – Vimeo Video

Smog Tasting With Egg Whites: The Center of Genomic Gastronomy

Posted on May 25, 2012May 29, 2012 by Kbaumlier

Ever get a mouthful of smog? In big cities, people breathe it every day. The Smog project by The Center for Genomic Gastronomy explores the taste of smog – by whipping up egg foams in cities with lots of smog, like Bangalore. Why egg foams? Egg foams are 90% air – so in making an egg white, you can actually capture the quality of the air in the taste.

The project is a combination of scientific study and conceptual art, and has been done by Zackery Denfeld and Cathrine Kramer, with seven other students of the Center for Genomic Gastormony. The team was researching biosensors, plants and animals in nature that indicate the state of the environment in their natural state. Densfeld and Kramer wondered if they could test for outdoor air quality by whipping egg whites and capturing some of the air and found that by asking others to eat something made with smog created a strong reaction by others.

Smog is difficult to see, and the damage it causes takes a long time to show. For the project, Densfeld, Kramer, and the students from the Center headed out to different parts of Bangalore with whisks, and made meringues from the batter that came back. Then next offered free samples to visitors, telling them about where they were made, and with what smog.

Can you taste smog? Could you send sweet egg white smog treats to politicians, business owners, and others to draw attention to air pollution issues? The team is planning to explore this – and to continue to generate dialogue about smog and air quality.

The project was part of the “Edible” exhibit at the Science Gallery at Dublin’s Trinity College earlier this year. Want to test your air quality? Whip up a batch of merengues out on the street – and see what you think after eating it.

Image Source:
Smog tasting Project

Links:

Smog tasting Project

About the Edible Exhibit at Science Gallery in Dublin

Gallery Tank: A Portable Jacket Gallery

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Kbaumlier

In the future, in a post apocalyptic time, what will the role of art be, and where will it be seen?

One possible answer to this question can be seen in the project called Gallery Tank, originating from Tallin, Estonia, which is a portable indie-gallery that is built inside of a jacket. It has been designed to host artist works, and to be delivered to the audience directly.

Called a “Jackery,” the creater of the project, Ott Pilipenko, created the art gallery jacket which he wore and showed at Camp Pixelache in Helsinki, Finland last week.

The grey jacket that Pilipenko wore was grey, seemed to be made of a durable fabric good for the outdoors. It had some zippers on it, and was covered with yellow and red caps.

He demonstrated how the jacket works, and invited us see the exhibition. He unzipped an arm sleeve and showed us the artist’s name and the name of the show which was printed on the inside of the unzippered pocket. We were invited to unscrew the yellow and red caps. Inside of each cap was a small printed images of a small drawings that were printed on fabric.

After we opened one of the caps, we were invited to carefully blow hot air onto the image. Some of the images would disappear – and some would not. Each of the 10 “cells” were 2 cm in diameter, and could be opened and closed.

The current show in the jacket gallery is the work of Estonian artist Britta Benno which opened on May 16^th. The artists’ works and theme coincided with the Acadmey of Arts fashion show which had a theme based on the end of the world “Blow away the bad stuff” concept which was clearly used in the design and execution of showing the art.

There also was a gift shop in Gallery tank, which when it was unzipped, held silkscreened pocket handkerchiefs that a number of us were able to get as a souvenir.

Pictures of the jacket, and a list of upcoming shows are listed on the Gallery Tank website, which also features a map that shows where the jacket and exhibition have been shown.

Image Source:
http://tank.kelder.ee
Links:

http://tank.kelder.ee

Historical, Useful, and Tasty Weeds – Weeds Walking Tour @ SPACES

Posted on May 21, 2012May 21, 2012 by Kbaumlier

Yesterday I went on part of the Walking Tour of Historical, Useful and Tasty Weeds which was led by Leslie Williams, Herbalist and Herbal Educator. The tour started at SPACES gallery, and we walked around the block for the tour.

As we would walk, Williams would point out weeds, bushes, and trees that could be used as food, medicine, and for other uses. We did not get very far – because surprisingly almost every weed along the way was something that was edible or useful. Williams would share historical stories, and I learned a lot about some of the weeds that I see everywhere in Cleveland.

Some of the things that we found on the walk were:

Mugwort – which can be used to help with sleep. It is put in dream pillows, and you can also make a tea.

Lamb’s Quarter – a weed I see everywhere and is tasty. You can eat it like spinach.

Dock – which is a “bitters.” You can use the root and boil it to make a bitters which is good for the stomach

Wild Grapes – you can eat the leaves and cook with them. Also the fresh tendrils growing are good to eat and are a tasty snack when hiking.

Burdock – they are a good tonic and the seeds are good to eat. Many years ago these were considered a “secret ingredient” for salves that people made to feel like they could “fly.”

Garlic mustard – a known weed in the Midwest – you can eat the small leaves or the seeds.

Aster – you can eat the flowers. They are said to improve your vision, but Williams said she has not experienced this.

Primrose – you can make primrose oil from the root which is rich in Omega -3 vitamins and really good for you.

Japanese barberry bush –the root is a good substitute for goldenseal. It makes a slightly bitter yellow tea and is good for allergies. This bush was first planted ornamentally – and now is invasive and spreading.

Catnip – good for stomach cramps, also good to induce sleep.

Milkweed – the fibers were used to make parachute cords in WWII. Some say you can boil the milk weed and then eat – others say you can just eat.

Blackberries – you can eat the leaves, they are a good tea. Similar to raspberries they are good for the muscles. You can crush them, dry them, then the ferment a little like black tea.

During the walking tour, Williams urged us to always try a little bit of a plant – and see how you react. She advised to not eat a whole bunch of something until you know it is safe to eat.

I was surprised to learn that so many weeds are edible or useful. It makes me see weeds in a new light. I still plan to pull them out of my flower beds at my house, but maybe will consider to use them for something before putting them in the compost.

Want to learn more about weeds? Williams belongs to the American Herbalist Guild, and will be doing historical artisan work in the Cuyahoga National Valley Park near Cleveland this summer on herbal medicine, ethnobotany and native herbs for dying fabric. You also can look up on various wild food sites, which list different plants and their uses.

Links:

Leslie Williams Website

Forager Harvest Site

SPACES Walking Tour Information

The Hexayurt Sauna @ Camp Pixelache

Posted on May 20, 2012May 21, 2012 by Kbaumlier

One of the kick-off activities at Camp Pixelache in Helsinki, Finland was a group activity to build a hexayurt structure that would later in the evening become a sauna.

A hexayurt is a 6 sided structure that can be built out of any materials including plywood, has little waste in its construction.

To make the simplest hexayurt, you make a wall by putting six sheets of plywood on their sides in a hexagon. Nex, cut six more sheets in half diagonally, and screw them together into a shallow cone. Finally, you lift the roof on to the wall with a large group of people, then fasten it down with more screws. You can seal and paint it for durability – and the hexyurt is done.

For the sauna design, Justin Tyler Tate and Ernest Truly were commissioned to build a mobile stove (kiuas in Finnish) for the Hexayurt Sauna. They built the stove in a shopping cart, and created a chimney from a long box like metal piece that came from a local factory. The outside of the hexayurt was a local material, also from a local factory. The stove design was made by putting ghte chimney structure in the center of the cart, and then putting rocks around this. The fire was made in the chimney, which then lit up the rocks.

It was rainy when the stove was lit, but we all stood around getting warm near the stove, and also took turns checking out the hexayurt structure. I did not wait for the stove to make it into the hexayurt since my feet were wet, but I heard the rocks did get warm – and people stayed up til 3 am in the sauna hexayurt structure.

The hexayurt shelter is meant to be an easy to build shelter, and is inspired by the Buckydome geodesic dome structure. The designs of the hexayurt are online and are open source. Since the design was put on the web 10 years ago, there are now more variations on the designs, one of which has expanded headroom and a full-height doorway.

The hexyurt design has no copyright or patent, and anyone can build it for free. It is meant to enable areas to create shelter, and in a crisis these could be made quickly and efficiently when shelter is needed.

A Hexayurt has been built in Haiti, were used at Occupy in Pittsburgh, and many hexayurt structures popped up at Burning Man this year (over 500!)

They goal is to get hexayurts all over the world – and I plan to see if we can build one where I work – maybe to use as another classroom, mediation room, clubhouse, or a sauna?

Links:

hexayurt.com/

Video about the Mobile Stove for the hexayurt at Camp Pixelache