Tags: Talk
Jorge Ramos Talk Video
Posted: Sat, 30 Jan 2016 18:11
We hosted a very interesting talk by Jorge Lopes Ramos from ZU-UK at Interact Labs on Wednesday. Jorge took us through his experiences of running the interactive/participatory performance Hotel Medea and other arts activities.
His talk was very relevant to anyone interested in the nature of interactivity and audience participation and it generated lots of questions and discussion with the audience. A recording of the talks (and some of the questions) can be found here on Vimeo. If you are interested in knowing more about Hotel Madea there are also plenty of other videos available.
The talk was arranged by the Computer Arts Society Leicester and IOCT.
Luke Woodbury CAS Talk
Posted: Sat, 23 May 2015 16:04
Luke Woodbury gave a very interesting talk about his work on Wednesday. Despite being based in Bristol, Luke seems to have established himself quite well in Leicester - with involvement in local projects such as Pop Up Play and Esther Rolinson's exhibition at Phoenix last year.
He spoke about these projects, and others, during his presentation and answered many questions. A video recording of the talk is available here on Vimeo.
We will be having a break from hosting talks of the summer, but plan to return in the autumn. Keep an eye on the Interact Labs website for details.
Alex May CAS Talk, Crystal Radio Workshop
Posted: Sun, 15 Mar 2015 18:04
Interact Labs started its spring CAS speaker programme on Wednesday with a talk from artist Alex May. The 20+ audience was treated to an interesting talk from Alex about his creative practice that has included programming, VJing, projection mapping and robotics. We hope to upload a video of the talk soon, for now you can view pictures here. Alex's website can be found at www.alexmayarts.co.uk. Keep an eye our for details of April speaker, who we will be announcing shortly.
We also hosted our first workshop of the year on Saturday. Our "Make a Crystal Radio" workshop was scheduled to tie in with the Julian Oliver exhibition in the Phoenix Cube Gallery. The attendees were able to build a crystal radio from scratch and learnt a bit of radio theory along the way. Read a workshop report here. Again, keep an eye on the Interact Labs website for details of future workshops.
Paul Granjon - Robots and Humans
Posted: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 18:30
Paul Granjon is a performance and visual artist whose interest lies in the co-evolution of humans and machines, a subject he explores with self-made machines for live performance or exhibition. Granjon has produced since the late 1990s a collection of robots that include a set of Robotic Ears and Tail, several Automated Forests, a kicking automaton, a disco-dancing humanoid… His best-known creations to date are the Sexed Robots, a male and a female wheeled platforms that performed their cybernetic romance in the Welsh Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2005.
Paul will be coming to Phoenix on Tuesday 6:30pm 11th March 2014 to give a talk about his work and process. Entry is free, but you are encouraged to book in advance as places are limited. You can do so here on the Phoenix site. You can find out more about Paul's work on his website at www.zprod.org.
The Computer Artwork of Desmond Henry
Posted: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 19:00
We have a great Computer Arts Society talk coming up in February. Elaine O'Hanrahan will be speaking at Phoenix on the 11th February at 6:30 about the artwork of her father Desmond Henry.
Henry was a computer arts pioneer who worked in the 1960s. Unusually, he made use of mechanical - or analogue - computing devices from decomissioned WWII and 1950s bombers. He adapted these machines by adding pens to capture their motions, resulting in a large body of complex and intricate images.
Elaine will be showing examples of her father's work and talking about how he developed his unique machines and ideas. The talk is free to attend and their will be time for questions. Book a free place here.
Interact Labs Open Day Success
Posted: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 19:39
Interact Labs had its first open day yesterday. Over 60 people came along to see the digital makers "Raspberry Jam" in the Midland Room and have a look around the new Interact Labs space. There were also talks by Sean Clark (Interact Labs), John Rance (Phoenix), Paul Brown (Computer Arts Society), Ernest Edmonds (IOCT) and Tony Goodhew (MagPi contributor). The 3D printer was in constant use throughout the day and there was a real buzz around the event.
A number of concrete things came out of the event. Firstly, there will definitely be a monthly Digital Makers / Raspberry Pi event. This will take a similar format to the opening event, with hardware demonstrations a presentations in the Midland Room - but with the presentations focused solely on technical topics - plus access to the 3D printers in Interact Labs. We will set up an Eventbrite for the next event shortly and announce the speakers.
Secondly, there was a 'fringe' meeting about the idea of a "Leicester Hackspace" yesterday. There is lots of interest in establishing a space in Leicester to give people access to manufacturing hardware. We are going to build on this interest by hosting a fourtnightly Leicester Hackspace meeting at Interact Labs. The first of these will be on the 5th November 2013 at 6:30pm. If you want to be involved you can join in the discussion in the Leicester Digital Makers Google Group.
Finally, it was good to see members of the Creative Manifesto arts group attend the event and start working with the 3D printer. Creative Manifesto also meets fortnightly (alternate Tuesdays to Leicester Hack Space) and are keen to initiate futures joint projects with the Digital Maker community.
So, a very useful event indeed and a good start to the Interact Labs project. You can see pictures from the event here. Remember to join the Facebook Group or email list, or get involved with the Leicester Digital Makers Google Group to find out about future activities.
