Real Game of Life: Weeks 1 and 2
Comments (1) This is the first blog entry for the Real Game of Life Project. Follow our team of talented creatives as we attempt to create digital lifeforms…
Posts tagged: workshop
Comments (1) 
The Real Game of Life Project
By evan, 23 February 2011 5:40 pm
Call for Participants!
Who: Artists, designers, fabricators, makers, hackers, sculptors, programmers, creative students, with skills to share and a passion for collaboration with other creatives.
Openlab Workshops and SPACE Studios are excited to present a new type of collaborative workshop project. Under the guidance of Openlab Workshops’ instructors, our team of chosen participants will collaborate on an intricate work of art using all their diverse skills, based on an open brief. We will provide a reasonable budget for materials and building costs and project space at SPACE Studios. Participants will have a chance to add their skills to an interactive artwork that, when completed, will be shown at SPACE Studios and then a variety of festivals. On top of that, there is no cost for participating in or applying to this workshop!
To Apply:
To apply, please send us a short bio (1 page or less) and a few examples (links, pics, etc) of prior work. We’ll use these both to pick participants, and to share with picked participants so they can get an idea of who they’re collaborating with. If you don’t have many examples of work, that’s ok too – just let us know what skills you have and what you bring to the team!
Format:
All participants are required to attend regular sessions at SPACE Studios in Hackney for planning, critiques from guest artists, and group work. The rest of the time participants will be divided into small teams which work independently, but have access to centralised resources at SPACE Studios.
Schedule:
8 Tuesdays and Wednesdays from April-June:
5th April, 12 April, 19th April, 3rd May, 18th May, 25th May, 1 June, 15th June
The Brief (in brief):
Using pervasive technologies such as RFID, Twitter, Arduino, digital sound, and LED lighting, we will create an ecosystem of little machines that live, grow, reproduce, communicate, and die with one another, based on Conway’s classic Game of Life. Machines will need tending to by humans (“machine husbandry”), encouraging an evolutionary process of genetic algorithms embedded in the creatures. If left alone, the creatures will die of neglect and loneliness. By interacting with this small slice of digital ecology in a public exhibition, people can draw their own conclusions about our complex and interdependent relationship between technology and the “natural” world.
Free Spaces in the One Button Challenge Manchester
By evan, 30 September 2010 3:48 pm
The One Button Challenge workshop in Manchester fast approaches!
First, we’ve slashed the price – now £20 for the whole day, and we’re giving away 6 free tickets to the first 6 people who contact us!
What sort of device can you make, activated by only a single, simple button? Openlab Workshops and Cybersonica, in partnership with the AND Festival challenge your minimalist interactive design skills.
This Manchester workshop will take place at Cornerhouse from 11am-5pm on this MONDAY OCTOBER 4 at a cost of £45 £20, including materials. An optional second day will take place on Tuesday, 5th October, 11am-5pm at Fablab Manchester, Ancoats – part of a a global network of local labs, enabling invention by providing access for individuals to tools for digital fabrication and supported by the Manufacturing Institute, introducing you to this fantastic free resource and enabling you to fabricate your own custom made enclosures and/or display mount for your one-button device.
Space is limited! Please email us to book, or with any questions.
Making Digital Art in an Analogue World
By evan, 23 September 2010 3:50 pm
A 6 week immersion into making art in a digital age. Through hands-on workshops, talks, lively discussions, and local gallery and studio trips we explore the current state of digital art and gain some hands-on skills. We will use free, open source tools such as Processing and Arduino, look into digital color theory, interactive hardware and sensors, and discuss techniques and ideas, with the goal of creating an interactive work of art by the end.
Schedule: Wednesday nights at SPACE Studios in Hackney from 7-9PM starting Oct. 13.
Cost: £120 for 6 weeks (does not include materials such as Arduinos)
Please register at: http://digitalartanalogueworld.eventbrite.com or email us.
Concessions available – please email reserve@openlabworkshops.org for details.
March 2010: Processing for Everyone
By evan, 3 February 2010 11:15 am
Doodle 3 by Martin Schneider
Hi gang,
Our last Processing course was so successful that we have been scrambling to schedule another one to accommodate all of you who couldn’t get into the current run. Now, we’re happy to announce that we will be running another 5-week introductory Processing workshop at the lovely organic pub, gallery, and performance space called The Flea Pit, on Columbia Rd. near Shoreditch and the top of Brick Lane. Workshops will take place on 5 Tuesday nights from 7-9PM, starting March 9th Tues March 2nd and ending April 13th (skipping April 6th) March 30th.
The course itself will be a relaxed but project-focused introduction to Processing and interactive art and design in general. We will spend the bulk of the first two sessions on basic methods of working with code, general workflow, and feeling your way around the Processing environment, then focus more on project ideas and specific technologies such as sensors, 3D, OSC, and video. We will be flexible based on the needs of the people attending.
This will be a small workshop, so please reserve soon! The cost will be £130 for the entire 5-week course, paid upfront. You will need to bring a laptop, preferably with Processing installed (very easy to do!). Please email reserve@openlabworkshops.org to reserve spot.
The class will be taught by resident Processing guru Evan Raskob and a few special guest lecturers.
Happy coding!
Pics from Workshop 8: Make Some Noise
By evan, 4 November 2009 12:10 pm
Some pictures from this workshop.
Pure:dyne and Livecoding Fluxus Workshop Pics
By evan, 8 October 2009 5:33 pm
ol-wkshp-fluxus-puredyne-20, originally uploaded by da mad pixelist.
Finally, pictures from the last workshop: http://www.flickr.com/photos/madpixelist/sets/72157622543164404/ !!!
Two Workshops in October 2009
By evan, 6 October 2009 7:01 pm
Openlab, the London-based open source art and technology collective, presents two more workshops in October about doing some really cool sh** using free (as in open source) tech. Come out to Space Studios where the computers are shiny and new, or out to The Roebuck pub where the Budvar Dark flows freely (as in we enjoy drinking it). Either way, learn something cool, and make us happy for having caused you to learn it. And if you’re thinking of coming to a couple, check the schedule at http://openlabworkshops.org and email us at reserve@openlabworkshops.org for a multi-pass.
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~= Workshop #6: Special Daniel vs. Daniel Edition ~=~=~=
When: Thursday 15 October, from 6pm-9:30pm
Where: Space Studios, 129 – 131 Mare St, Hackney E8 3RH
Nearest transport: Bethnal Green (tube), London Fields (Overground), Buses – see http://www.spacestudios.org.uk/contact/SPACE/
Cost: £15 for the entire night, or per workshop (see below).
How to pay: At the door, or via Paypal to be guaranteed a space. Please email or Paypal to reserve@openlabworkshops.org to reserve a space in any workshop.
Schedule:
6PM: Simulating and Sonifying Natural Systems with Daniel Jones – £10
An increasingly popular practice in digital arts is creating sonic representations of dynamical systems — simulating natural phenomena such as insect swarms, tree growth, wind turbulence and neural networks, and translating such phenomena into sound, to create organic, dynamic audio-visual works. Working from a *basic knowledge* of the Java-based Processing environment, Daniel Jones explains how to create such a simulation and subsequently connect it to the open-source SuperCollider synthesis engine, providing a valuable addition to a digital artist’s toolkit.
Requirements:
- Processing (from http://processing.org/download/)
7:45PM: Introduction to Arduino: Microcontrollers, LEDs, Sensors, and You! with Daniel Hirschmann – £10
Newly-minted Goldsmiths’ lecturer Daniel introduces you to the Arduino as a platform for prototyping physical & digital interactive objects, installation, and things. We will cover the programming environment, some basic electronics, and learn how to make sensors do stuff to lights.
Requirements:
- laptop computer with Arduino downloaded and installed. Go through the Getting Started guide on the website.
- An Arduino Microcontroller platform. These can be bought from Tinker.it. If needed, a few will be on hand for use, or for sale. Please let us know by email (see above) whether you’re interested in buying one on the day.
- Breadboard, hook-up wire, switches, LEDs, Potentiometers, Infrared Rangers, Ultrasonic rangers, FSR’s, other sensors… If you don’t know what these are, DON’T worry! We’ll have some available to use during the intro. If you DO know what these are, and you have a them – bring them along and we can help you wire them up!
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~= Workshop #7: Programming is More than Just Words ~=~=~=
When: Tuesday 20 October, from 6pm-10:00pm
Where: The Roebuck pub (upstairs room), 50 Great Dover Street, SE1 4YG
Nearest transport: 5, 133, 343, 21 buses, Borough Tube (Northern line)
About 8 minute walk from London Bridge Station (Northern and Jubilee tube, rail, and bus station: 48, 47, 149 buses)
Cost: £15 for the entire night, or per workshop (see below).
How to pay: At the door, or via Paypal to be guaranteed a space (limited to 30 people per workshop). There will be a few spaces for people who show up on the night. Please email reserve@openlabworkshops.org to reserve a space in any workshop.
Schedule:
6PM: Processing Beginners’ Workshop with Evan Raskob – £10
You’ve heard Evan’s intro workshops and been slightly terrified by the advanced stuff (it’s ok to admit it). So bring your basic questions and project ideas, and Evan will work thorough them to everyone’s benefit. Or, if people are feeling quiet, he will go through some of his endless bag o’ tricks, including OSC and MIDI.
7:45PM: Understanding Sound and Music by Programming Computers with S. Jagannathan – £10
Session 1 (of 2): Building a music tuner program.
Your very own accurate musical instrument tuner spanning the entire audio range to tune any instrument. Several tuning schemes supported including roll your own. About 50% of the workshop/talk will have computer sound & music ideas – these will be programming language agnostic – in a format that musicians without any prior programming background but with an interest in computer music can understand. PD, max/msp, SuperCollider, etc. users will benefit from looking into that primal black box of sound generators!
Requirements:
- Basic knowledge of C – variables, loops, conditionals, basic pointers. (if you have done programming in the past it should be fairly straightforward.)
- Computer with the ability to compile and run C programs linked to portaudio libraries.
~=~=~=~For More Information~=~=~=~
See our entire Fall / Winter schedule on http://openlabworkshops.org
Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/openlabworkshop
You can also keep up with all Openlab events, performances, workshops, etc. on our low-traffic email list: http://lists.pawfal.org/listinfo.cgi/openlab-announce-pawfal.org
Workshop: Pure:dyne and Fluxus – 22 Sept 2009
By evan, 7 September 2009 9:26 am
Sorry for the change – we’ve had to move the SuperCollider to November due to scheduling conflicts. Instead, we’re lucky enough to have Fluxus creator and BBC streaming video personality Dave Griffiths teaching an introductory session to the audio-visual livecoding tool, Fluxus.
Openlab, the London-based open source art and technology collective, presents an on-going series of in-depth workshops exploring creating and hacking media using free software and tools. Workshops will include both beginner and advanced instruction in such software as PureData, Processing, and SuperCollider, as well as using the microcontroller Arduino, Android programming, general sound hardware hacking, and more. For less than the cost of the cinema, you can gain some valuable skills using free software!
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When: Tuesday 22 September, from 6pm-10:30pm
Where: The Roebuck pub (upstairs room), 50 Great Dover Street, SE1 4YG
Nearest transport: 5, 133, 343, 21 buses, Borough Tube (Northern line)
About 8 minute walk from London Bridge Station (Northern and Jubilee tube, rail, and bus station: 48, 47, 149 buses)
Cost: £15 for the entire night, or per workshop (see below).
How to pay: At the door, or via Paypal to be guaranteed a space (limited to 30 people per workshop). There will be a few spaces for people who show up on the night. Please email reserve@openlabworkshops.org to reserve a space in any workshop.
1) Using Pure:dyne – A Free Audio and Video Toolkit with
Rob Canning and Claude Heiland-Allen – £10
Rob and Claude introduce you to Pure:dyne, an operating system designed for media artists, providing a complete set of tools for realtime audio and video processing. Pure:dyne is a live distribution, you don’t need to install anything. Simply boot your computer using the live CD or USB stick and you’re ready to start using software such as Pure Data, Supercollider, Icecast, Csound, Fluxus, Processing, Arduino and much much more. We will provide Pure:dyne on CD and USB stick for purchase or for (free) copying, no experience required.
More info:
Article from Create Digital Motion
http://code.goto10.org/projects/puredyne/
2) Animation and Livecoding through Fluxus with Dave Griffiths and Evan Raskob- £10
In this workshop you will find out about the emerging art form of
livecoding and learn how to write simple scripts to create animations in
3D space. You will be introduced to scheme programming language and how
to use it to build shapes and animate them. No previous programming
experience required.
Please install fluxus prior to the workshop, which you can find here:
http://www.pawfal.org/fluxus/packages/
(Note: We will bring CDs of Pure:dyne and Fluxus for people)
Windows version not recommended at present due to instability, an
alternative is to use a bootable CD linux distro such as this one:
https://devel.goto10.org/puredyne
More info: http://www.pawfal.org/fluxus/
~=~=~=~For More Information~=~=~=~
See our entire Fall / Winter schedule here.
Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/openlabworkshop
You can also keep up with all Openlab events, performances, workshops, etc. on our low-traffic email list: http://lists.pawfal.org/listinfo.cgi/openlab-announce-pawfal.org
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