Vacation in Asheville and Ann Arbor: Moogfest and more...

Allen and I had the extreme luck/pleasure to get tickets to go to Moogfest in Asheville this year. Moog Music, which build Moog* synthesizers is based in Asheville. Synthesizers play a unique part in the history of musical instruments because they are analog systems (think wires, transistors, oscillators) to produces sounds that no other instrument could make:  they are not electrified versions of other other instruments nor are they producing strictly digital music (which could be programmed via computer software).

VIP passes with RFID chips to check-in to conference venues

Moogfest, which was part-conference-part-music-festival was a fun way for both of our disciplines (music and technology) to overlap. That said, I'll fess up that we were much more excited about the nerdy conference talks during the day than we were about the musical performances at night (most of which we had never heard of before.

Just a sample of some of the night-time line-up

I'm not going to bore you with an information dump of all the amazing things we saw; but needless to say, this was a conferences we are both very likely to want to return to since it combined so many of our interests into one place. Plus - what is not to love about getting to go down to Asheville for a week!

We really loved the Conductar app, which used a headset to monitor brain activity that was then translated into musical feedback and a Alternate Reality display on a smart phone. Here are some photos to illustrate what it was like.

The head set had a sensor pressed up against my forehead and a clip that attached to my ear lobe to take in measurements of my brain activity.

The headset sent signals to an iPhone with the Conductar app preloaded onto it:  the app played music (which we listened to through headphones) and showed a Alternate Reality display (Allen's holding it up above) of downtown Asheville that would be influenced by the music coming from our brain waves. 

It was a really creative way of re-imagining how you could do Virtual/Alternate reality displays in a more mobile-centric way. The music that my brain produced was quite ambient and unobtrusive and really meshed well with this crazy, goofy, reinterpretation of the landscape of downtown. Also, it was there when I wanted to focus on it and could disappear if I need to give my attention to other things - like traffic. The app makers encouraged us to wander around downtown with their gear so they could create a musical landscape based on everyone's brain activity in different locations.

So we promptly went to go show Allen's parents how to play with this app.

 Allen's Mom looking skeptical but intrigued

 Allen's Dad was able to get the sensors working

They got a real kick out of it and we loved that we were able to share some of Moogfest with them.

We also heard talks about Bjork's Biophilia app and Beck's Phillip Glass REWORK app, which were two attempts to envision a future where listening to music wasn't a solely passive experience. These apps like you listen AND create the music as you experience.

We also heard talks from MIT's Media Lab - literally there were too many to go into. But we loved the talks from the Lifelong Kindergarten group (I know, right!?) including the MaKey-MaKey invention kit that lets you turn anything conductive into a machine to play with. AMAZING!

And speaking of making anything into anything else, we saw a presentation from a young architect from Cambridge, Felix Faire talk about his Contact project, where he used contact microphones to create an audio visual interface on any surface.

We were also able to get into a workshop on calibrating a synthesizer to mimic the human voice - using magnetic pieces built by littleBits. These things were so cool because they took the complication out of learning electronic circuitry. Did you accidentally route this circuit incorrectly? No problem just pull them apart (because they are only held together with magnets) and rearrange them to your hearts content. No more fussing with sodering wires - and the polarity of the magnets ensure that you don't put pieces together incorrectly. Genius!

Allen playing with a light sensitive sensor on our synth

Week two of our vacation took us to Ann Arbor where we've been able to catch up with friends and hang out as if it hasn't been months since we've seen each other. I'm still always amazing at how much I love this town. It feels like just-the-right size for me:  big enough to be interesting but not so big that you need to play meet ups several months in advance (*cough* New *cough* York).

Hanging out at Dominick's, like no time has passed

Celebrating big wins, like our friend successfully passing his dissertation defense!

Oh and playing lots and lots of games! :)

And last but certainly not least, I had the immense privilege to present the second Nikki Candelore Roda Student Impact Award at this year's UMSI graduation to a former classmate of mine, Lan VoBa.

Congratulations to all the 2014 graduates!

Well done, Lan! And many wishes for your continued success!

It was so wonderful to hear during the graduation ceremony about all the amazing work that UMSI students are doing. I am truly thankful to count all these amazing people amongst my friends and I look forward to hearing about all their future successes.

It has been a wild whirlwind of a two week vacation. We're so grateful to everyone that joined this mini  adventure with us and look forward to the next one.
__________
* Pronounced /ˈmoʊɡ/ mohg

Museum Challenge: Weeks 5 and 6 Special exhibit on Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Art Deco Pottery, and Arms and Armor

WHEW! We've had an exciting couple of weeks:  March madness, oyster eating, visits from out of town friends, After Midnight broadway show, and celebrating my birthday with my family. Wow... I don't know where to begin, so I'll begin by describing more of our Met adventures.

Last week we went to see the special exhibit "The Passions of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux" who was an amazing French sculpture during the 19th century. It was neat to see the sketches and self-portraits that were included in this retrospective that showed he was a versatile artist and could work in many media. Unfortunately, they didn't allow us to take pictures - otherwise I would overwhelm you with this post - but they did have Ugolino and His Sons on display, which is in the Met's permanent collection, so I don't feel bad about sharing their photo of it here.

Sculpture of the tormented Ugolino

Week 5 map, making progress

This week we made some serious damage to the map by visiting one of the rooms in Decorative Arts AND visiting the entirety of the Ams and Armor gallery.

Starting in the Robert A. Ellison Jr. collection of French ceramics, we saw some amazing sculptures made from ceramics.

The glazes that were used were so interesting - these vases had details that you could just get lost in. What was really cool was that they put the French ceramics near other objects in the museum's collection that might have been inspiration. The above picture shows both a 19th century French ceramic and Qing Dynasty Chinese that could have been its inspiration.

We then took a pause to check out the guitar busker who was here for this month's performance in connection with the Martin Guitar show. Tim Farrell is a very lovely, relaxed guitar soloist, whose music filled the expansive and echoey Englehard Court.

And since we were so close, we used it as an opportunity to visit the Arms and Armor gallery. I'll be honest - I walked into the gallery quite biased against it. I didn't want to see instruments of war; I just didn't care. But I am so thankful that this challenge forced me to swallow my prejudice and just try something I wasn't expecting to like... because I loved this gallery.

Transporting you back in time

 Many of the pieces were ceremonial, and therefore were unlikely to have actually been worn in battle, but I was just blown away by how intricate some of the details on these pieces were. So, yes, if you just glance at the cases in these galleries - like I had done on every other one of my visits to the Met - you would completely miss how awesome their collection is.

At a glance, this will never seem quite as impressive as... 

... the details you can see when you come closer.

The devil is in the details

Oh, you like this pattern I have in my armor? Yeah, this happened

Shields offered some impressive storytelling opportunity

Even the firearms were beautiful. I'm not a fan of guns myself, but it was hard not to be impressed with the level of detailing that was included within the constrained surface of these guns.

 We also couldn't come to this gallery without the obligatory 'scale-setting' photo op with Henry VIII's suit of armor.

Much wider than he was tall

Maybe the only mild disappointment was that the galleries were divided, literally, in half by the West and the Rest. And while it did have some amazing artifacts from places that weren't Europe, the collection didn't feel as complete.

Shield from Mugal India

Persian warrior with fully armored horse

Amazing inlaid etching on these swords

Another interesting discover was these katana embellishments that were made by the same Goto master that made the Musical Instruments collection's stunning koto. It very truly is a small world.

The most delightful part of the gallery was the small area that served as a tribute to the original curator of the Arms and Armor galleries, Bashford Dean. He's pictured below wearing one of their recent acquisitions, which is something he enjoyed doing with some frequency. He was a polymath, working for the both the Met and the Natural History Museum, where he was the first curator of the Department of Reptiles and Fishes. Here are two articles that the Met wrote about this amazing character.

So we're making great progress on the map. Looking forward to more weeks of "work" to come!

Museum Challenge: Week 4 Historical Piano Concert and Asia Week

This was an exciting week for the Museum Challenge because - yes, folks - we were to sneak in not one but two inspiring art experiences in this week.

On Tuesday we got to sit in on a evening of music for the friends of the Met's musical instrument department. Michael Tsalka performed on three instruments in the Met's collection; the Graf pianoforte (ca 1838), a Kintzing clavichord from 1763, and the Cristofori pianoforte from 1720 - the oldest surviving piano. He played period appropriate pieces, so you could really imagine what it must have been like to sitting in a parlor listening to a relative playing the family instrument. Also, because he played all three instruments in succession you were able to really hear the distinct differences between them. The Graf pianoforte sounded the most like a modern piano with a large, loud sound. The Cristofori pianoforte was similar, but more muffled, quieter. It was exciting to know that this was such an old instrument that could still produce such beautiful sounds - but I'll admit its sound wasn't as exciting to me as the clavichord was. The clavichord had this eery, tinny sound that sounded all the more distinct because it was juxtaposed to the two pianos. I've included a video that I shot of what the clavichord sounds like, but the musical instruments department produced two high end videos about the Cristofori, if you're interested in learning more.

Playing the Cristofori

Playing the clavichord

On Friday we had a chance to visit openings for Asia Week, where dealers in Asian art descend upon New York from around the world to sell their wares to museums and collectors. It was a funny experience to walk through private galleries with museum-caliber artwork and just realize how many amazing, historical pieces of art are in the public domain. There were too many galleries to see in one evening, so instead we focused on those galleries that were showcasing pieces from South Asia.

Mugal and Persian minature paintings

Of course, we gravitated towards any representations of instruments

Through the looking glass

Loved the representations of the many heads, arms, and legs of this deity

Galleries on every floor of  this converted mansion

Intricate and delicate details

Painting on silk

Samurai regalia

... with the Triforce all over it. Zelda and Link are real!

This was a pretty unique week for us. Let's hope it makes up for any museum time we might miss because of March Madness this year!  :)