alternative urbanisms

bluebrain central park

2011-12-07T20:19:00.000-08:00

"Clamp on headphones, start up the iPhone app by the musical duo Bluebrain and walk into Central Park. The music does not begin until you pass through an entrance and head into the trees. Then it sounds like an orchestra tuning up, a chaotic jumble of wind chimes, electronic moans and discordant strings. Push farther into the park, and a sweet violin melody emerges over languid piano chords." James McKinley Jr. from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/arts/music/bluebrains-app-central-park-listen-to-the-light.html

david letellier

2011-12-07T08:40:00.000-08:00

"Versus is a sound installation consisting of two kinetic sculptures placed face to face. Each sculpture is made out of 12 triangular panels, hinged and powered by six linear actuators, controlled by a specific program. At the center of each corolla, a loudspeaker and a microphone allow to play and record sounds." david letellier

Zimoun

2011-11-14T20:53:00.000-08:00

«Using simple and functional components, Zimoun builds architecturally-minded platforms of sound. Exploring mechanical rhythm and flow in prepared systems, his installations incorporate commonplace industrial objects. In an obsessive display of curiously collected material, these works articulate a tension between the orderly patterns of Modernism and the chaotic forces of life. Carrying an emotional depth, the acoustic hum of natural phenomena blends effortlessly with electric reverberation in Zimoun's minimalist constructions.» bitforms nyc image: 25 prepared dc-motors, wire isolated 1.2mm, Zimoun Website

5 stones

2011-10-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

"kymapetra consists of 5 stones arranged in a crescent around a central basin filled with water. The spectator, laying his hand on top of a stone resonates with her. The rustling body / matter is transformed into sound vibrations. They become visible on the surface of the water in a myriad of ripples. The propagation of acoustic vibrations on the surface of the water then draws a geometric composition consists of hollow bellies. The figures vary depending on the intensity of the contact person and stones." www.scenocosme.com (via google translate)

wifi painting

2011-10-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

"WiFi uses high frequency radio to set up a data connection between a base station and device with a WiFi receiving antenna. The WiFi signal strength describes how much of the radio waves that the base station beams off that is received by the mobile device. What you see in the light-paintings is the signal strength of a WiFi network represented as a light-painted graph." Oslo School of Architecture (Yourban), via Space and Culture

rooftop qr code

2011-10-05T12:07:00.000-07:00

"Phillips & Co.’s new proposition, called Blue Marble, offers a “space-accessible profile” for businesses, cities, schools — anyone who wants to raise their profile. In addition to catching the attention of the odd plane passing by, Phillips says in a statement that Google Earth has been downloaded 400 million times and “by integrating a readable code into the space-accessible profile, mobile users can access dynamic marketing programs, videos, digital coupons and other content while viewing the specific geographical location.” via mashable, Todd Wasserman

alternative urbanisms

2011-09-22T00:50:00.001-07:00

alternative urbanisms

achim wollscheid

2011-09-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

redlight haze: "A portion of the facade is overlaid with a grid of red LEDs, which change lightness or pattern according to real-time sound analyses. This interface between architecture and the by-passers is created by the relationship between common sound sources (the voices of passers-by, the noise generated by local traffic) and the programme that regulates the transformation." selektion.com

Apo33

2011-09-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

"Le poulpe (the octopus) is an analogical and digital organism living in a network. Each branch constitutes a sonic installation which, out of a specific location, collects its own locally generated sound effects, transforms them via a digital automaton into a new arrangement of sounds. The outcome is then broadcast locally, through loud speakers, and on the Net, through streaming. Le Poulpe belongs in the city, where people live and make noise. It gives a virtual body to this city, expressing through sounds its invisible mouvements and its continuous flows." Apo33

coincidence engines

2011-05-28T23:54:00.000-07:00

"Coïncidence Engines, by the Quebecois [The User], with its 1240 radio alarm clocks — beyond its obvious homage to Ligeti’s metronomes — provides an interesting perspective on working in a duo. With the diversion of their materials, via the prism of new technologies and the new social relations they create, and the poetic overlapping of structure, space and sound, the aesthetic and exploratory universe of [The User] has discovered an ideal configuration for new growth."via Digital art i