Posted on

20200113

Had the pleasure to meet Kaisa Luukkonen by chance and got a rundown on the Göteborg performance art and independent gallery scene. One of the biggest differences is that in Göteborg artist run gallery boards are formed trough invitations, which makes it difficult for the newly arrived to enter the scene. The arrangement is said to forster commitment but by Kaisas account the board member activity level is the same as in Finland. The more secluded system produces exhibition-venues-as-scenes and their curatorial programs feel repetitive. Joined Kaisa for the Gathering of Fables exhibition opening by Marja Patrikainen at Oksasenkatu 11. After learning about Göteborg I appreciate Oksasenkatu even more. Kaisa had made a interesting observation, many of her dyslexic friends are fascinated by open reel-to-reel tape recorders. This makes sense for some reason.

Learning everything I can, as fast as I can about the Raspberry Pi. Got a nice script running Raspberry Pi – Auto WiFi Hotspot Switch Internet (2017-) which scans if there is a home-wlan available and if it fails to find one, starts the device as a wireless access point. Works well and makes me confident to imagine using the device in field conditions (leaning about sensors in hopes of building a wild water analysis kit). Also tested RaspAP but couldn’t get it to work. Nethood – DIY Networking (links) feels like a good resource for building networking systems on the device.

I need to share files locally and I’m planning to use Piratebox for that. I’ve used it in the past, when sharing documents to students and even translated the Finnish localization of the android app (Reveal: I translated “Sininen” [Blue] into “Uusi musta” [New black] as a hommage of Paula Lehtonen #0000FF is the new #000000 exhibition). An other option for a localized network is MAZI Zone. I’m really digging Networks Of Ones Own too:

Networks Of Ones Own is a para-nodal periodic publication that is itself collectively written in a network. Each of the episodes is thought of as the ‘release’ of a specific software stack, contextualised in its specific practice. The series aims to document a set of tools, experiences, ways of working that are diverse in terms of their temporality, granularity and persistence.

Build an audio amplifier using a pre-assembled pam8403 unit. On start up it draws so much power from the Raspi that I get a throttled=0x500005 error message. I’ll attempt to use a regulator circuit to limit the temporary voltage drop. Used a 3Ω resistors as a “inrush current limiter” on the +5v rail which supplies power to the amp. I tested various values starting from 10Ω but 3Ω seemed to work well enough.

Got Conky working using these tips (made my own config for it) and build a PWM Regulated Fan Based on CPU Temperature to keep the device healthy while on for long. Also revived a 2012 tablet battery using these tips (and flashed a new rom to use it for VNC). Patchbox OS by Blokas.io should support Raspi 4 soon and I’m hoping to install it in a dualboot arrangement (using PINN). For now I’m satisfied with fiddling in Pure Data Sunvox (which feels responsive and fun to use).

Managed to grind Finlandia Hall marble or Chalk stone from Porvoo to a fine powder, to corrode it into tap water it my high pressure carbonator. Tastes chalky. Salvaged the stones from an environmental artwork on the Malminkartano hill called The Winds and The Points of the Compass (1998) Hanna Vainio. I was under the impression that all of the white stones on the hill were marble leftovers from the previous Finlandia Hall outer shell conservation effort. But apparently the marbles have been mixed with chalk stone pebbles. I think the darker samples are marble as they should be more sensitive to the elements. I should get some confirmed Finlandia hall marble to run some experiments.

Experimenting with DIY orthopedics. Made arch support shoe insoils using 100% silicone and cornstarch (for fast curing). Not perfect yet, I’ll have to make new casts to confirm my findings. I’m trying to combat anti-bodybuilding effects of precarisation (mentioned earlier) by emerging as a plastic-bodyborg.

Posted on

20200105

Got a Raspi4 with 4 gigs of ram as a gift! Enabled a powerdown and powerup button by adding dtoverlay=gpio-shutdown,gpio_pin=3 to /boot/config.txt. Got fm_transmitter maintained by markondej working. The project seems to be less complicated then PiFmRds which I was using previously. Learning to add buttons, switches and sensors to the Raspi. Dreaming of adding a WH1602C-YYH-JTK# – LCD display too (I salvaged a unit in New York). Added a button using thagrol’s python script Switch button on GPIO, short press / long press. A short press starts fm_transmitter and long press terminates it. This is done using scripts lauched from python subprocess.Popen(['/home/pi/fm_transmitter/broadcast.sh'],shell=True). I haven’t found a good way to terminate a broadcast, attempts to use pkill cause the a segment of a broadcasted file to loop.

Ilkka send me an interesting link Käsittämättömät koodirivit musiikkina [Incomprehensible lines of code as music] (2014) Viznut (aka Ville-Matias Heikkilä) which introduced me to bytebeat. The text also gives a thorough introduction to Demoscene development culture. Bytebeat is a music programming method which produces rhythms and melodies in complex ways users don’t seem to completely understand. It can be used online (here are some samples for experimentation). There is a tutorial of sorts available Discovering novel computer music techniques by exploring the space of short computer programs (2011) Viznut. Also read Reaching for the blocks of the living world (2018) by the author which feels like an attempt to bridge coding (optimization) and permaculture (degrowth?). The text explores two modes for studying: analytical mode vs. intuition. Viznut argues that “The trial-and-error mode is not problematic per se, it just needs a lot of cycles”.

As a child, I used to believe in endless linear progress. There were ever higher buildings in the world, ever more TV channels, ever-faster computers and spacecraft. […] In my teens, I started to notice the dark sides. […] As a response, I started to embrace an opposite kind of esthetic and technological ideology: small is beautiful, bits are beautiful, hacks are beautiful. True progress is about deepness and compression instead of maximization and accumulation.

Viznut has also made the PC-lamerit online series (2015-2019) which I’ve been browsing last night.

Posted on

20190824

Environmentally conscious art should not be advanced trough gatekeeping which judges individual artists for the technical solution they choose. Discussions about technical solutions are indirect routes for judging taste and not everyone has the opportunity to develop technically ethical taste. Guild about the energy which creative expression wastes should not hinder it. Everyone should be granted the opportunity to shed the burdens of the class they have been born to. This is why degrowth should effect the rich more then the poor. A request for Media Artist I wrote 2012 (I think this company offers a solution which is based on RasPi).

Posted on

20170719

My Bastl microGranny 2.5 kit arrived. The assembly looks very challenging.

I succeeded in installing Pure Data (Pd) on my RasPi 3 and I’ve been playing with Automatonism 1.1. It works great and even got my Novation Circuit to work with it! Automatonism is a virtual modular audio system. It’s the successor of XODULAR (both systems have been written by Johan Eriksson). Automatonism is a great way to learn both Pd and audio synthesis.

While fiddling with Pd I figured our that I can use it to write a midi CC modulator/translator which will change the CCs Novation Circuit sends over midi into CCs which the microGranny understands. The Circuit synths CC values can be automated using the inbuilt sequencer. The combination should make for very interesting results. Much like some Elektron sequencers with parameter locks. I guess I could run a Raspberry Pi Nano which only works as a Pd midi CC modulator/translator: ctlin (isolate CC) -> values -> ctlout (to desired CC). Or something.

I’ll try to learn Pd by making a midi clock input for Automatonism. Also discovered the Piz MIDI plugin collection which seems very useful. The plugins have been updated earlier this year. By the looks of it midiForceToKey can be used to make microtonal stuff.

Posted on

20170713

A great resource for learning about granular synthesis.

  • J.a.g.s by limulo.net is a pd patch I could test with my RasPi
  • Logic X has an inbuilt granular synthesizer (good tutorial)
  • Clouds by Rajmil Fischman is also very complex (and free)

    Also found Automatonism by Johan Eriksson a modular audio environment which works inside pd. Wonder if it can run on RasPi?

    Judging from Erikssons example it appears that nowadays electronic artist have make their own soft-/ hardware to market/facilitate/fund their creative careers. Mark Verbos in another excellent example (see his interview for details). Artists build their income by creating and sharing tools/instruments they use to make their art. This means that tools are currently more significant then artworks.