Twiddle Beta

Ariel and I have been toying with the idea of making a podcast about videogames and, last week, we recorded an ad-hoc trial run to test the technicalities of recording Skype conversations. From that audio, I distilled a few minutes to mix into a video... here is the end product.

In the video, you'll see "reviews" of We Love Katamari(PS2), MotherLoad(Web) and Psychonauts(Xbox).

We're going to try an actual structured show soon. Maybe you'll hear a podcast from us someday. The "Twiddle" beta version is about 20 minutes long and is mostly us just joking around. You can download that audio here.

Oh! And go watch all of Ariel's OOGLOO + ANJU cartoons.

Tags: videogames, Psychonauts, Ariel, Motherlode, giggling

Crass Pollenation

Here is another timelapse drawing video.

Soundtrack constructed from bits of audio from thefreesoundproject using GarageBand. Included are samples of footsteps in snow, the interior of a refridgerator, a mosquito flying inside a jar and a coin spinning on a table.

A week ago, I attended my second Portland "vlogger meetup". There were three attending, including me. The others were Will and Kazia. I shot some video but haven't had the energy to edit it together. You should check out Will's kaleidoscopic montage of the event. As with last time, the talking was fast and furious about all the ideas we have for community-centric world-exploring videoblogs (as opposed to exclusively posting personal diaries). Will said it best with the phrase "pointing the camera away from, instead of toward, ourselves".

I have a half-dozen videos started... but nothing quite complete. Coming (soon?) will be an interview with artist Robin Ator, some more on-the-scenes with Petr Sorfa's Project Nine, a video trailer for a gaming podcast I'm developing with Ariel Martian and more Gridcosm video.

Tags: drawing, timelapse, art, process, heads

Interactive Composite

WARNING - This entry contains NUDITY. If this offends you, immediately rinse your eyes, strut like a chicken and engage in primal scream therapy.

I'm posting this mainly as a test-of-concept. I want to see if this Interactive Composite video (made in Flash) will show up in aggregator software like FireAnt. In theory, it should.

Occasionally, I build interactive doodles with a program called Macromedia Flash (MX 2004, etc). I'd like to post some of these as part of Big Time TV. Programming in Flash Actionscript is primarily how I've made my living for the last few years, though not so much lately. For the past few months it has been Perl CGI with SQL database interfacing. Know of anyone who needs a Flash-kateer? Let me know.

This particular interactive video is responsive to the mouse. Roll-over parts to "feed" them movement energy. Click parts to bring them closer to the top layer. Drag parts to rearrange them. I'll include links to static composites I've made with Sitka, the model for this interactive.

• Dusk Litany of Optimisms - Sitka composite
  
• The Wake of a Dream - Sitka composite
  
• ActionScript via Wikipedia
  
• Seedling is another of my Flash doodles (press SPACEBAR to re-grow the tree)
  

Tags: Flash, interactive, art, nude, composite

The Five

Drawing + photography / cryptic vocals = video.

• Five in relation to Phi
  
• Johnny Five is Alive!
  
• Pentagram symbol
  
• The Fifth Element
  
• Beethoven's Fifth (midi)
  
• Jackson Five
  

Flashy Gridcosm

I recently reprogrammed the Flash viewer for Gridcosm, a collaborative art project I first developed in 1997 for the art site SITO.org. The project has been ongoing since then and is still the most popular collaborative project, among many, on the site. Here's a video of the new Gridcosm viewer in action.

Music in the video is a song called "Cosmos" by Option42 via Music.podshow.com.

Links:

• SITO.org
  
• Gridcosm collaborative art project
  
• Gridcosm Flash viewer - Starting at the same level I started at in the video
  
• HTML version of that same Gridcosm level
  
• Other collaborative art projects on SITO