Why is this the last time?  Well, it is now part of Dogfish Head Brewery!

The install is going well, and the folks at the brewery are [...]]]> At this very moment I am with the rest of the Five Ton Crane Crew in Milton, Delaware (Rehoboth Beach, really) installing The Steampunk Treehouse for the very last time.

Why is this the last time?  Well, it is now part of Dogfish Head Brewery!

The install is going well, and the folks at the brewery are amazingly cool and incredibly excited to get the house. We’ve just begun the install, and we’ve not had any time to get proper photos or video together, but it’s all going really well.  I’ve been posting some updates on twitter if you want to stay up to date on the install. I’ve built a whole new set of apertures for them, and there are lots of other new details we’ve added, so I’ll be sure to get some photos of all that.

Also, there is a film crew from the Discovery Channel here who are doing a series on the brewery, and they’ve been focused on us for the past few days. They have gotten some great footage.  The show won’t air until January, but we’ve been told the Treehouse install will be the subject of one of the 45-minute episodes.

In other news:  The Raygun Gothic Rocketship has been 100% enthusiastically approved for a 14-month-long, public installation on the San Francisco waterfront at Pier 14! The landing is scheduled for August 8!  Yikes, that’s soon!

As part of that, the Almost Scientific team has been designing a Rocket Stop. What is a Rocket Stop?  Well, a Rocket Stop is to Rockets what a Bus Stop is to buses.  It will be a 11′-tall steel sculpture with a 40″ back-lit graphical display (graphically designed by by Five Ton Crane’s ever-awesome Jody Medich.)  There will be a lot more posts about that in the coming weeks.

A lot going on this summer!

Oh, and, The Raygun Gothic Rocketship was also just featured on Wired! Let David take you a nice tour of the RGR:

We are going to have a lot going on this year.  In addition to once again showing new work with the ever awesome Applied Kinetic Arts,  we are also going to be putting together our mother fucking [...]]]> I think we’ve just recovered from bringing The Neuron Chamber to Maker Faire 2009 and now Maker Faire 2010 is upon us.

We are going to have a lot going on this year.  In addition to once again showing new work with the ever awesome Applied Kinetic Arts,  we are also going to be putting together our mother fucking rocketship with Five Ton Crane, complete with The Uira Engine (in low voltage mode only … sorry kids).

Additionally, Almost Scientific principle investigator Alan Rorie will be part of a panel discussion at 5pm on Saturday.

And, finally you’ll be able to purchase Almost Scientific’s laser-cut, wooden model, and the papercraft  model, of the Raygun Gothic Rocketship.

The Uira Engine

The Raygun Gothic Rocketship

Aperture Lamp

Laser cut wooden model of the RGR (assembled)

Laser cut wooden model of the RGR (as kit)

Papercraft model of the RGR (assembled)

Papercraft model of the RGR (1 of 6 sheets in kit)

Below I’ve posted the visual part of the presentation, but sadly there is not audio or video recording to go along.

Here is a brief summary of my 30-minute presentation to help you make sense [...]]]> Last week I had the great pleasure of of speaking to the National Cancer Institute about the relationship between art and science.

Below I’ve posted the visual part of the presentation, but sadly there is not audio or video recording to go along.

Here is a brief summary of my 30-minute presentation to help you make sense of the visuals.

I began by emphasizing that I am in no way an academic expert on the relationship between art and science.  I was, however, a rare example of someone formally trained in science, but working as an artist.  Then, before I got into the big picture of Art and Science, I spent some time discussing the similarity between working as an artists and working as a scientist. Both involve long hours of hard work for little pay or recognition, during which nothing ever seems like it’s working or going well or coming out the way you’d hoped; and this work is rarely punctuated by brief moments when the stars align, the universe unfolds and amazingly beautiful things happen. Finally, I emphasized the important role of community and criticism to both artists and scientists.

From there I touched upon some of the big picture relationships between art and science. They are the two great modes of human thought, both pushing the boundaries of what we know and how we know it; what we can perceive and how we perceive it. I quickly went over the role of aesthetics and experimentation in both. I pointed out that because art and science share so many things in common, it’s often suggested that the line between them is blurry. While I understand this suggestion is often made in an attempt to elevate both, I believe it actually diminishes both. We know there is a difference between art and science, but what is, and what can it tell us about their relationship and importance, we are still exploring.

Ironically, art and science differ most noticeably in the last great trait they have in common: communication. While both art and science are principally about communication, they differ in the direction in which they are communicating. Science begins with the physical, observable, concrete occurrences in the world and scientists generate abstractions that communicate their understanding of these phenomena. I used Newton’s law of gravitation as an example. He began (the story goes) by observing an apple falling from a tree. From this (and a lot of other observations and work) he generated his formulation of gravity, an abstraction that has nothing to do with apples or trees. It is pure science, a beautiful and clear abstraction, that is its power.

Art, I suggested, ran this reaction in the opposite direction. Artists begin with their abstract internal understanding, beliefs or feelings, something that exists within them. Artists then work to generate specific, concrete, physical manifestations of these abstractions: paintings, songs, dances, sculptures, etc.  As an example of this, I presented The Neuron Chamber as an attempt to take an abstract understanding of both how neurons work, and my experiences studying them, and create a sculpture that communicates that.

I discussed how this led me to think more explicitly about the role of education in my work, and how I viewed teaching as very close to generating artwork. I pointed out that when you teach, you are forced to take all the things you know about a topic, all the abstractions you understand, and communicate them using the solid and specific, usually speaking. I reminded them that when you teach something you often develop deep insights into what you are teaching. I suggested this was because you are forced to make the abstract concrete, you are in a sense working as an artist. I spoke about my work at the Exploratorium developing hands-on and interactive ways to teach science.

Finally, I encouraged them all to go and try this with their own work. To generate specific, aesthetic, physical representations of what they were studying scientifically. When forced to find a set of mappings between what you know and what you are creating, you develop a new understanding. I told them that just as they can get the benefits of exercise without thinking of themselves as athletes, or competing in the Olympics, they do not need to think of themselves as artists to get the benefits of creating art.

The show is at 416 26th Street, Oakland, (Betw.Telegraph and Broadway)

This is the first show of the nascent Five Ton Crane.

]]> Almost Scientific will be showing The Triaparator and some new odds and ends on Friday, March 5th.

The show is at 416 26th Street, Oakland, (Betw.Telegraph and Broadway)

This is the first show of the nascent Five Ton Crane.

]]> http://www.almostscientific.com/blog/2010/02/23/almost-scientific-showing-on-march-5/feed/ 0 http://www.almostscientific.com/blog/2009/11/18/almost-scientific-and-the-neuron-chamber-in-wired-video/ http://www.almostscientific.com/blog/2009/11/18/almost-scientific-and-the-neuron-chamber-in-wired-video/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:00:12 +0000 Alan http://www.almostscientific.com/blog/?p=1502 When we did our last show at the Exploratorium I did a video interview with Wired about what The Neuron Chamber was and how it worked.  I loved that they wanted me to explain in detail how it worked and not just give a 5 second sound bite.  Well the video just went live and [...]]]> When we did our last show at the Exploratorium I did a video interview with Wired about what The Neuron Chamber was and how it worked.  I loved that they wanted me to explain in detail how it worked and not just give a 5 second sound bite.  Well the video just went live and it’s really great.  They wove in some footage I gave them from our show at The Science Gallery in Ireland and Maker Faire.  Thanks Wired!

I’d like to [...]]]> Thank you all for coming to the show last night at The Exploratorium.  I had a great and exhausting time.  It was fantastic to see so many friends out in the crowd, and I’m sorry I did not get to talk to any of you for as long as I would have liked.

I’d like to especially thank Almost Scientific team members David Shulman and Jo Slota for their help and support installing and running two high voltage sculptures in one night.  I’d also like to thank Melissa Alexander, Donna Wong and Eric Rosa and The Exploratoruim for everything.

I never got a chance to take any photos of video of the show so if anyone out there got any good media please pass it on to me!

For those who are first coming to the Almost Scientific site please check out our new Gallery where you can see some of our past projects.  You can allso follow us on Twitter if that’s you thing.

Bar opens at 6:00 p.m.

Only $14

I’m excited to announce that the Almost Scientific team will be installing both The Neuron Chamber and The Raygun Gothic Rocketship Uira Engine for a one night show this Thursday, November 5th, at the Exploratorium [...]]]> When: Thursday, November 5, 2009
Time: 6:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: The Exploratorium
Street: 3601 Lyon St, San Francisco CA

Bar opens at 6:00 p.m.

Only $14

I’m excited to announce that the Almost Scientific team will be installing both The Neuron Chamber and The Raygun Gothic Rocketship Uira Engine for a one night show this Thursday, November 5th, at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

Be there!

Both The Neuron Chamber and The Uira Engine will be part of a Exploratorium After Dark: Electricity. Exploratorium After Dark is an evening series exclusively for adults that mixes cocktails, conversation, and playful, innovative science and art events.

Coming to this event (and bringing along all your friends) will be a fantastic way to support Almost Scientific, The Raygun Gothic Rocket, The Exploratorium and Bay Area art/science culture all at once!

In addition to The Neuron Chamber and The Uira Engine there will also be:

* No Kids!
* A Cash Bar!
* All the cool Exploratorium exhibits.
* oh yeah … And Dr. Megavolt

(And tell them you came to see the Neuron Chamber and the Rocket Engine!)

The show was really great.  The maps are really stunning in their history and beauty.  It was a real honor to have my work shown beside such [...]]]> Tonight I went to the opening of “Envisioning the World: The First Printed Maps 1472-1700,” at the Sonoma County Museum, which featured The Triaparator and The Dihemispheric Chronaether Agitator.

The show was really great.  The maps are really stunning in their history and beauty.  It was a real honor to have my work shown beside such amazing objects.   On of the maps on display was the oldest know map of the world, a T and O style map by Guntherus Ziner, Augsburg, 1472.  You can see a photo of it in the sideshow below.  It was really amazing to have two of my sculptures displayed beside such historic jem.

The show runs until Jan 17, 2010, and if you’re into cartography (or my work) it’s worth a visit.

Also below is a little video of my fried Barbara operating The Triaparator.

They incorporate The Triaparator into a little information section on the role of astrology in cartography.

Expounding upon our wildly successful Elemental Interactions series, we take our discussion of ‘The [...]]]> Our good friends over at the Black Rock Arts Foundation (BRAF) have invited Almost Scientific to preform some of our high voltage experiments for their Elemental Interactions event.  Every year the event has a different elemental based theme and this year it’s

ELECTRICITY!

Expounding upon our wildly successful Elemental Interactions series, we take our discussion of ‘The Elements’ even further. This year we dig deeper, broadening our definition of elements to include radical, new forms of media and exciting forces of nature that inspire and inform the work of artists in our community.

We’re happy to announce that our next event in our Elemental Interactions series, ‘Electricity’, will be held at the most appropriate location: PG&E’s Pacific Energy Center!

We hope you’ll join us for another stimulating evening of demonstrations, lectures and performances by artists, scientists and social historians.

Come hear about how electricity in its many forms has inspired our community!

Thursday, July 23, 2009
Doors open at 5:30 pm
Mixer hour 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Presentations begin promptly at 7:00 pm, ending at 9:00 pm

Pacific Energy Center
851 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

(click here for directions)
Members attend free, with a suggested donation of $10 for non-members.

Overall we had a fantastic time.  I’d like to thank Dale and all the other organizers of Maker Faire for putting together such a fantastic event.

Thanks also to CTP and Nemo for pulling together another [...]]]> Here is a every so slightly more polished (and short) video of The Neuron Chamber experience at Maker Faire this year.

Overall we had a fantastic time.  I’d like to thank Dale and all the other organizers of Maker Faire for putting together such a fantastic event.

Thanks also to CTP and Nemo for pulling together another super Applied Kinetic Arts (AKA) show.  The Neuron Chamber was a smash hit at Maker Faire and the AKA show was an even huger hit.  I think in total we won 4 or 5 editors choices awards.  One even went to The Neuron Chamber.

Finally,  thanks to all the other makers who showed up with their great stuff, and thanks to all those visitors who came by, said nice things, and asked good questions.  You feed back left me creatively recharged and ready to make something even cooler.

I’m still recovering a bit from the event — last night I dreamed that one of the army of R2-D2 robots wandering the event attacked me, forced me into an elevator, rotated it 90 degrees and told me I could never escape.  Why R2?  Why?

Here is my posted reply to the orginal post and the comments:

Hello all –

I’m the artist responsible for The Neuron Chamber.

First, thanks to Gizmodo for the post and thanks to ya’all for the comments.

Second, The Neuron Chamber is a collaborative work [...]]]> Tom Sepe just passed me a link to a Gizmodo post featuring The Neuron Chamber.

Here is my posted reply to the orginal post and the comments:

Hello all –

I’m the artist responsible for The Neuron Chamber.

First, thanks to Gizmodo for the post and thanks to ya’all for the comments.

Second, The Neuron Chamber is a collaborative work and credit should also be give to Ben Carpenter (www.backbonemetals.com), Jo Slota (www.joslota.com) and David Shulman.

Third, I assure you this is not a work of Steampunk art. Just because an object has brass fittings on it does not mean it is Steampunk. Trust me, I’ve built Stampunk art and this is not it.

And to address other comments:

We estimate The Neuron Chamber will likely become sentient when we hook it up to the internet and feed it a steady stream of blog comments and tweets.

Maker Faire has always show art, especially, hand made, interactive kieneitc art.

If you think art is dead then you are not living.

I’m not sure what a Flood parasite is but I hope it’s tremendously evil and difficult to kill.

I’m also not sure why a neuroscientist would be offended by this post or The Neuron Chamber. Some of my best friends are neuroscientists and they’ll assure you this is one of the least offensive things I’ve ever done.

Thanks!