Robert Carter

My blog has moved! Check out my latest work here...

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:32:32 -0400

My blog has moved! Check out my latest work here...

A brain growing in a dish (sort of).

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 23:57:29 -0400

A brain growing in a dish (sort of).

I’m interested in doing a project where clay can be used...

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 19:18:26 -0400

I’m interested in doing a project where clay can be used to shape sound. The video shows how a clay pot is made.

Low Frequency Oscillations seen via an oscilloscope.

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 05:28:11 -0400

Low Frequency Oscillations seen via an oscilloscope.

dylanturney: I am pleased to preview ‘Dead Drops’ a new...

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 05:11:53 -0400

dylanturney:

I am pleased to preview ‘Dead Drops’ a new project which I started off as part of my ongoing EYEBEAM residency in NYC the last couple weeks. ‘Dead Drops’ is an anonymous, offline, peer to peer file-sharing network in public space. I am ‘injecting’ USB flash drives into walls, buildings and curbs accessable to anybody in public space. You are invited to go to these places (so far 5 in NYC) 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. ‘Dead Drops’ is still in progress, to be continued here and in more cities. Full documentation, movie, map and ‘How to make your own dead drop’ manual coming soon! Stay tuned.

Dead drop (Wikipedia)

In the meanwhile drop some files here!

87 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn, NY (Makerbot)Empire Fulton Ferry Park, Brooklyn, NY (Dumbo)235 Bowery, NY (New Museum)Union Square, NY (Subway Station 14th St)West 21st Street, NY (Eyebeam)

An extremely interesting piece of work which in turn is also a social experiment. Would be awesome to implement something similar like this in New Zealand.

Opening event for AUT creative technology 2010

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 18:05:00 -0400

7pm Thursday 4th November Ground floor AUT Tower Rutland St.

Come and see work from Bachelor of Creative Technology students from AUT. Including films, installations and audio work. There will be performances throughout the evening. See see you there!

Click here for a map.

Click here for the FaceBook event.

CD and DVD covers I made for the project Aural Terrains.

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:28:00 -0400

CD and DVD covers I made for the project Aural Terrains.

This is my performance as part of Aural Terrains, a project...

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 21:49:00 -0400

This is my performance as part of Aural Terrains, a project exploring sound composition. The St Paul’s Street Gallery foyer was an excellent space for sound. It is a vault which rises seven floors.

I used a combination of tape loops, a video game and a fan synthesizer based on light. The prepared tape loops were taken from recordings from old records and from our studio environment.

“1201 alarm” is from the Apollo 11 moon landing and describes a computer error that occurred as the space ship began it’s landing procedure. “The electronic digital computer” is Wernher von Braun describing the importance of the computer in making the moon landing possible. “I just couldn’t make it” was taken from a performance of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

The practical project for our Math and Art paper for the BCT. I...

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 19:42:00 -0400

The practical project for our Math and Art paper for the BCT.

I asked members of the public to help me draw chalk lines on the pavements, based on two simple rules.

The lines must close in a loop
The lines may not cross

I began by using elements of the city landscape such as post boxes and bollards as the basis for construction.

Thanks to Chris Clifton for taking the video footage.

Lorne St Pavement drawing. The level of participation here was...

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 18:11:57 -0400

Lorne St Pavement drawing. The level of participation here was good with about 6 people, teenagers and children helping me with the drawing. It was nice to have more objects to draw around, like the bag, the bollards and the mailbox.

Quay St pavement drawing. This was the second location we tried....

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 18:03:24 -0400

Quay St pavement drawing. This was the second location we tried. Not so much participation here. Only one small child was willing to help. I like the way that the fire hydrant in incorporated into the design.

Some examples of my own chalk drawings on concrete (with some...

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 04:10:49 -0400

Some examples of my own chalk drawings on concrete (with some help from Luna). Tomorrow i’m going to go into town and ask members of the public to help me make some of these constraints based drawings. The rules will be:

You can’t cross lines
You must close the line to create a loop

Beyond that people can choose the colour of the chalk, can make a the loop with any number of strokes, can use sharp angles or curves, can make mistakes. We’ll see what comes from it.

Performance setup. I still need to secure the pots for the fan...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 21:15:03 -0400

Setup with devices and mixer

Setup with devices and mixer

Dual fan synth

Electronics

Spinning fan

Performance setup. I still need to secure the pots for the fan speed control.

How the Arts Contribute to the Economy (UK example)

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:38:52 -0400

How the Arts Contribute to the Economy (UK example)

I’ve just installed a tap into the BLASTIT game to let me...

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 05:33:00 -0400

I’ve just installed a tap into the BLASTIT game to let me take the game audio into the mixer. Inside it’s driving a small piezo speaker. I made a circuit from the two solder pads and connected it to a standard RCA audio cable.

I thought the signal might be too weak, and suitable only for a phono input, but it’s at about line level and sounds good!

Essay: Generative Art, Completeness and the Halting Problem

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 17:21:49 -0400

Essay: Generative Art, Completeness and the Halting Problem

Mixer setup I’m not sure how I will use the mixer during...

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 05:07:26 -0400

Mixer setup

I’m not sure how I will use the mixer during the live performance. I will need some way of controlling the levels of the various sound devices so that everything can be heard, but I would prefer not to have to change the mixer levels after initial setup. Some devices will have to be mic’ed also, as they include speakers which are part of what makes their sound interesting.

Apollo 11 - 1201 alarm

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 04:47:00 -0400

A tape loop made by modifying a cassette to play forever, giving about 5 seconds recording time. The recording is from “Footsteps On The Moon - The Epic Flight of Apollo 11”. The 1201 alarm represents an Apollo Guidance Computer error condition.

1201 alarm by vdu23

BLASTIT game disassembly The objective was to take a tap from...

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 04:26:00 -0400

BLASTIT game disassembly

The objective was to take a tap from the sound output of the game to allow it to be used in the live situation to generate sounds. The clips are feeding into a mixer to check the level of output. It works well when sent into a phono input.

How to make an endless cassette loop tape Rewind the tape to the...

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 04:17:00 -0400

Open cassette

Cassette showing tape path

Portable loop capturing setup

How to make an endless cassette loop tape

Rewind the tape to the beginning
Undo the four or five screws securing the two halves of the cassette
Remove the two spindles and detach the tape from them - cut with a blade after pressing out of the spool of tape
Select a short length of tape - don’t use leader tape unless you want blank, unrecordable parts
Form a loop with this tape passing through the cassette tape path
Make sure the tape is not inside out - only one side of the tape is magnetic and if you put in the inside out you won’t get any recording or playback
Get some nail polish and brush onto the end of the tape - about 5mm.
Loop the other end and press together on a flat surface - you should be able to move the tape slightly to get it lined up if you do it in the first few seconds
Check the tape path is set up correctly - it does not need to be under tension as it is the capstan and roller that pulls the tape through - the spindles do nothing at all
Insert into your walkman/recorder and test it out - you should get about 5-6 seconds of recording time