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Micro-Residency #4: Iga Janik

Iga Janik is an artist, curator, and the director of Artspace in Peterborough. We got to hang out with her back in October for about a week. It was awesome, and now we get to hang out again, but this time, in Windsor.

For her Micro-Residency, Iga will be bringing some micro radio transmitters, which you can see above.  We’re not sure what she’ll do with them over the course of the weekend, but their signals can be picked up by car radios, and hanging out in a parking lot or bugging a city block could be a lot of fun.

However, for Iga, the important part of all of this is what transmitters can do, not how they do it. Consider us very excited!!!

If you want to catch up with Iga, send us a note, we’ll get you connected.

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Drawdio: Audio Made by Drawing

Drawdio is a DIY music project by designer jay silver that let’s users draw the instrument of their choice on a piece of paper and play it with their finger.

While possible to use in a variety of  objects, when used with a pencil, the graphite acts as a circuit on the paper, transmitting the electric signal across the drawing to produce a different sound based on the specific form.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDaj3tBSM2M

If you can get past the sort of hilarious / awkward editing in the video, it’s a very cool and simple design. It makes me curious about the potential for creating some kind of traceable sound-map, what sounds would Detroit’s streets make versus Windsor’s streets? What would happen if you added new roads or buildings — what sound could that make?

[via Designboom]

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Guerrilla Art Residencies at DIY megastores

fourniture 2.2

In Paris, there is a new (guerilla) residency program initiated by Paul Souviron and Antoine Lejolivet through the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD. The residencies consist of spending some time in a DIY megastore and creating temporary installations.

There’s numerous ideas about artist residencies that don’t necessarily take place in the traditional space of galleries or centres, but instead focus on the potential for artists having a role in more everyday places. Schools, landfills, and city halls have been the site for artist residencies, and I have to wonder about the possibilities of artist residencies here in Windsor; and I’m not even that interested in thinking about residencies at the Big 3, Caesars Windsor, or city hall.

What about residencies at the library, at the riverfront, at Walkerville Brewery, at the corner of Randolph and University, at the corner store, at Milk, at the parking garage, at the bridge, or at the bench on Wyandotte near Kildare? And why wait for someone to make one? Why don’t we create a series of residencies? Why don’t you offer your front porch for a week-long artist residency?

Steven’s ideas from last week are looking more and more enticing (and possible).

[via we make money not art]

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Don’t Do It Yourself

Journal of Aesthetics and Protest

I recently got a copy of Issue 6 of the Journal of Aesthetics & Protest, based on a recommendation from WMMNA. I’m still making my way through it, but an article by Lisa Anne Auerbach entitled, “D.D.I.Y.: Don’t Do It Yourself,” really caught my attention.

Auerbach basically argues that D.I.Y. culture has been hijacked by corporations and their marketing departments and we’re not going to get it back anytime soon. What had started as a revolt against these very centers of consumption has been flipped on its head and is being sold back to us as a lifestyle brand. Auerbach goes on to issue a new battle cry, “D.D.I.Y,” noting that we only need to look as far as our neighbour’s garage for the tools or skills we need to complete a project (and in all likelihood, that neighbour is looking for some skill we have). In her words,

“[It] means working with friends, hiring a professional, consuming wisely and conscientiously, and providing for ourselves while working with others. We do what we do best, do what we know how to do, while allowing others to help us with what we are not equipped for.”

Of course, there are many things that can benefit from a D.I.Y. mindset—not the least of which include being able to get things done for yourself, but in a broader sense, I know there are a lot of people I see every week that can do things a lot better than I can, and in turn there are likely some things that I can do better than them. Why don’t I ask for their help more often (or offer my help for that matter)? I’m not entirely sure, but it’s something to start considering a bit more seriously.

You can read the entire article online.