Urushi musical interface by Yuri Suzuki

Japanese designer and electronic musician, yuri suzuki, developed the 'urushi musical interface' project for the exhibition 'collacqueration: designed in the UK - lacquered in japan'. organized by emiko oki, the initiative brings young UK-based designers and the lacquer craftsmen of wajima, in ishikawa prefecture, japan together.


The lacquer of wajima is an important intangible cultural property of japan. it is made using original techniques consisting of at least 20 and sometimes more than 100 processes, giving it extra durability. wajima lacquer is also known for its highly decorative features, such as makie, whereby metal or colored powder is sprinkled on the lacquer, and chinkin, which involves scoring a pattern of lines on the lacquer and then rubbing gold powder into these areas.

In his exploration of the lacquer of wajima technique, yuri suzuki has collaborated with british composer and musician matthew rogers on 'urushi musical interface', a touch panel style instrument which uses the principle of gold inlay. it is a musical instrument in which the two worked together to produce a logically functional circle patterned keyboard. the circular format allows one to understand musical codes very easily.

For example: if you touch the C, G, E keys, the interface will play the G major code. if you touch the C, G, E flat keys you can play the C minor code.
In terms of engineering, each gold inlay line is hooked up to a touch switch board and then connected to contact the MIDI interface, allowing one to connect any MIDI electronic musical instruments and controls from this keyboard.

Urushi Musical Interface from Yuri Suzuki on Vimeo.

'urushi musical interface' was developed in collaboration with wajim lacquer craftsman takashi wakamiya.

Chasing cormorans 2.0 by pan generator

Orany is a recent installation by the polish design group pan generator, created for a recent conference and exhibition at the polish national audiovisual institute. ‘chasing cormorans 2.0’ is an interactive design, which plays a record backwards and forwards at various speeds depending on the viewers position and speed in the space. the song is an old polish hit by piotr szczepanik , ‘goniąc kormorany’ (chasing cormorans) which the group transcribed on a custom vinyl plate. instead of spinning in the forward direction, the record player is run by an arduino board which tracks the movement of the viewer. their movement and speed is measured and then transferred to the record playing, giving the user control of the playing.

◥ panGenerator @ Kultura 2.0 / Culture 2.0 from panGenerator on Vimeo.

http://pangenerator.com

Paik Raster Manipulation Unit or Wobbulator

Demo video of the Paik Raster Manipulation Unit or Wobbulator, an example of Paik's "prepared television" which distorts broadcast signals or, if used as a monitor, images from a live or prerecorded source.

The Wobbulator from blair neal on Vimeo.

Turning the Place Over by Richard Wilson

Turning the Place Over by Richard Wilson was an installation commisioned for the Liverpool 2008 Biennial. He made an 8 metres diameter ovoid cut from the façade of a building in Liverpool city centre and made to oscillate in three dimensions. The revolving façade rests on a specially designed giant rotator, usually used in the shipping and nuclear industries, and acts as a huge opening and closing ‘window’, offering recurrent glimpses of the interior during its constant cycle during daylight hours.

Turning the Place Over - Richard Wilson, 2007 from Liverpool Biennial on Vimeo.

Analog Rozendaal by Agnes Bolt

Agnes Bolt made analog versions of 5 of Rafaël Rozendaal his websites: jello time .com, popcorn painting .com, much better than this .com, to the water .com and color flip .com.

Analog Rozendaal from noisy white noise on Vimeo.

Soviet 1987 Digital Image Editing Tool

Plywood City (2008-2010) by Ujino Muneteru

Ujino Muneteru transforms mechanical sounds into complex rhythms. Bored by the technical limits of his instruments, the guitarist and bassist experiments with new sounds. Different sounding bodies widen the spectrum of resonance; simple mechanical motors produce new tones. In particular domestic appliances, tools, and large machinery from the fifties to the seventies play a significant role here because of their mechanical simplicity and haptic palpability. Points of reference to the Japanese "Noise Music", a type of sound movement from the eighties rooted in John Cage and the Fluxus, can also be seen...

186 prepared dc-motors, cardboard boxes 60x60x60cm by Zimoun

Zimoun : 186 prepared dc-motors, cardboard boxes 60x60x60cm, 2010. from ZIMOUN VIDEO ARCHIVE on Vimeo.

Dead Drops Preview by Aram Bartholl

This a preview of “Dead Drops“, a project by Aram Bartholl which he started off during his ongoing EYEBEAM residency in NYC. It is an anonymous, offline, peer to peer file-sharing network in public space. Aram “injected” 5 USB flash drives into walls, buildings and curbs accessable to anybody. You are invited to go to these places to drop or find files on a dead drop. Plug your laptop to a wall, house or pole to share your files and date. Each dead drop contains a readme.txt file explaining the project. I guess the most prominent location is right next to the New Museum, the other 4 locations are listed on Aram’s website.

Nemore by fishing for compliments

Nemore is an interactive project by fishing for compliments that combines digital processing with a physical presence.The installation consists of 36 bendable poles that each operate individually, reacting to each other and users. Made from
graphite, these poles are run by two servo motors, one for rotation and one to bend the pole. in addition to this each pole has a distinct sound that builds up a chord. No sound is produced until the pole begins to move. the sound is then modulated in pitch and amplitude based on the pole’s movement. Fishing for compliments is a collaborative project between jan bernstein, max kickinger, woeishi lean and sebastian neitsch.