Interview With The Creator of Pixelache via WMMNA

We Make Money Not Art has an interesting interview with Helsinki based Pixelache organiser Juha Huuskonen. Huuskonen is a multi-talented DJ, artist and software designer, and according to the article, also deemed one of the "Godfathers of the Finnish media art mafia". Wow!

The Pixelache 'movement' has certainly taken off successfully since its' last 6 years. There is even a Pixelache University with monthly events throughout the network.

For those of you unfamiliar, the Pixelache festival brings together media and technology creations and ideas through various events and festivals in several international cities including Paris, Montreal and New York. Like most events, there are informative seminars, concerts and related exhibits. We tried to attend the last one in Paris (Mal au Pixel) but unfortunately couldn't even though we were in the city around the same time. Let's hope we have the opportunity this year!


Here are some excerpts from the interview,
How Pixelache began:
"The first Pixelache festival in 2002 was put together in an improvised manner, with a tiny budget of a couple of hudred euros. The purpose was to bring local active people together to discuss and present experimental work that fell between the categories - not art, not design, not research, but kind of all of these at the same time. This type of work is of course shown in all kinds of international festivals (today even more than a few years ago) but the other special thing about Pixelache has been that we've focused on showing work by young, emerging creators and taking risks by showing work that is still in the concept or prototyping stage."

Pixelache in other countries:
"Our international events started in 2003, when we organised Pixelache festival in New York and Montreal. Both festivals were organised on a shoestring budget, with a lot of effort and enthusiasm from both organisers and artists. We carried most of the necessary gear and artworks as luggage, organised free/very cheap accommodation and traveled on a Greyhound bus between New York and Montreal.

The events in New York and Montreal brought together a quite unusual combination of local organisations that all had a lot of influence in planning the festival program. In addition to international guests, both events featured a lot of local artists, many of whom were later invited to Helsinki. We have maintained this way of working ever since. The model is sort of opposite to ISEA: instead of a separate international jury, the local organisations are in charge of the program, they never have to present projects that they don't consider relevant for the local context. The program decisions are aided by an on-going discussion between various partners within the Pixelache network."

Read the entire interview here at WMMNA.

Links:

Pixelache
Pixelache University
Mal au Pixel
WMMNA


- C

Interview Max Farnea / Creator of The Sound Destruction Unit

I've been admiring Max's work since (again, I know I am obsessed with them!) CDM posted about this incredible modular synth from their flickr pool back in August. Here is the "The Sound Destruction Unit" if you haven't seen it in action.



I have just conducted an interview with not only Max the creator, but also Audrey his wife and fellow artist. These two co-exist with music making, circuit bending, robots, recycled art, dancing, photography and japan. Amazing. It's an interesting and long read, it's in full over on my mog.

Here's more,

"MAX: since I was younger, in the early 80s, electronic music, video games and home computing were my first interests and I lived electronics and computer technology always with a creative point of view. I went deeper in my hobbies studying for some years electronic engineering and taking piano lessons for seven years. Thanks to my studies in electronics I went addicted to robotics and I built a mini-robot for a couple of national competitions."

"AUDREY : my interest in making art with recycled stuff has started when I was watching Max making his electronic experiments and all the junk or surplus material he left on the table. Since now I like finding shapes like faces or body parts in every plastic or metallic piece I take in my hands. After I find such shapes, assembling them is really a natural process. It’s funny when you image me into skip diving in Verona, really funny indeed, but it’s incredible how many unused things can be found simply at home. One of the most beautiful aspect of this kind of art is giving a second life to things...Watching max working on his instruments I’ve found a lot of ideas to make my robots more alive and interactive with little lights and circuits."

"MAX : More than half of my retro and vintage stuff was mine when I was child or teenager. Other hardware comes from friends or eBay bids. The line in balancing the old and new when I’m making a new instrument is always different and is traced putting the old stuff in a modern context, and if needed ignoring also the original rules on which it was based on."

I am really impressed with these two. Everything they make is done in their spare time, and not for profit (though they are both planning to sell work in the future). I wish them the best and hope that they find more avenues to show off their talent.

For more about Max and Audrey. My mog interview.

- C

Deviant Synth: For all your Synth Oddities

Again something from the musicthing blog. A new synth orientated site that purports to only post about totally out their electronic oddities. Their manifesto states no "links to fansites for Kraftwerk, Klaus Schulze, Can, Tangerine Dream, Ultravox, Gay Fairy Twinkle, or any other hideous 70s or 80s funny-haircut nostalgia keyboard act.... All tech must be ODD".

The site is called Deviant Synth and I will be checking it often thats for sure. The site creator says they are looking for contributors and anyone interested with a wordpress account can add content to the site.

-J

Circuit Bending / Glitchmachines / Interview via GetLoFi

I am enjoying the fresh news from Rodney Clark of GetLoFi. Although the site has always been very well done, it's nice to have more frequent content updates.

Rodney just interviewed creator Ivo Ivanov from Glitchmachines. His circuit bent designs are sleek, artistic and fun.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

"Q: If you had to have a favorite bend what would it be and what makes it number one in your book?

There are so many great bends out there that are all characteristically unique, but I’m particularly fond of Casio keyboards in general. The Casio MT-140 is a great unit with a wealth of possibilities for all kinds of interesting bends. The Casio MT-500 is a very interesting bend, but also one of the more difficult for me to build, as I incorporate industrial grade arcade joysticks which are very tedious to mount into the speaker ports."

"Q: Does the love for bending wear off, having to bend so much for so many other people?

I would never do this if I didn’t love it completely. More often than not, I am so eager to implement a new design idea that I can hardly wait to get back to my work bench. Of course, there are certainly moments where I get frustrated, but I always try to implement new ideas to keep things fresh. When you are going to school full time and coming home to 5 projects that all need to be finished and shipped as soon as possible, it can sometimes be a little much."

"Q: Do you ever make your secrets known…and lend advice on bends when contacted for help?

I do, but I treat situations like that on an individual basis. Sometimes if I answer a question with too much enthusiasm, it can lead to a full on tutorial, which is time consuming and often under appreciated. I try to guide people in the right direction without spelling things out completely. After all, circuit bending is all about exploration and I think it’s cheap to just use someone else’s methods without putting any effort into making your own discoveries."

It's always interesting to read an interview with someone who is doing something that is similar to what we do. We can certainly relate to his thoughts on helping others make something or designing something new (John is constantly coming up with new ideas!), or simply just geeking out on the same aural delights. It's not easy to sustain this type of business or lifestyle but it is so much more rewarding if you love it and can share that with others. Ivanov's insight into his work remains candid and humble despite his success. I admire anyone who pursues what they believe in passionately.

Links:

Interview with GetLoFi
Glitchmachines Myspace

- C