Meeting 29

On The Large Scale
Wednesday, June 7, 2006 at 7:30pm
Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA
Admission: Free to all ages and species!

Speakers

RANDY ENGSTROM, CHRIS PFEIFLE, CHRIS MCMULLEN, JORDAN HOWARD
AND THE MAKERS OF THE MACHINE

Learn about The Machine (http://www.themach12e.org/), a five-story wood-and-steel structure that incorporated motion, sound, lights, smells and performance into a mammoth kinetic sculpture, that was built by a group in Seattle and exhibited at Burning Man 2005.   The Machine was one of the most collaborative large scale projects coming out of Seattle, involving the cooperative efforts of about eighty artists, engineers, builders, designers, fundraisers, etc.   At this presentation we will talk about both the design and implementation of the project, and the process of coordinating the interests and skills of such a large crew.

MARK PESCE

Sydney, Australia-based author, academic, media consultant, technology guru and cultural visionary Mark Pesce holds an honorary position at Sydney University and teaches at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.  He is the author of many books and articles, including “The Playful World:  How Technology Transforms Our Imagination”.  Mark will be offering a riposte to Jaron Lainier’s 5/30 Edge article (http://edge.org/3rd_culture/lanier06/lanier06_index.html), “Digital Maoism:  The Hazards of the new Online Collectivism”.

MICHAEL LAINE

Michael J. Laine, founder of Liftport, the Bremerton-based space elevator company, returns to dorkbot to tell us about large scale collaboration in the context of developing the space elevator itself.

In the company's words: "Liftport's mission is to build a complete space transportation infrastructure with a focus on the space elevator. The subject of research for more than a century, the space elevator is a unique way to ferry cargo and people into space." You can find out more at http://liftport.com.

PAUL DE ARMOND

Bellingham, Washington-based scientist, technologist, activist and political campaigner Paul de Armond gives a brief demonstration of his 1960’s lightshow equipment, including his newest updates.  Paul will be doing a full lightshow to ambient music in Bellingham at The Purple Church (corner of Gladstone and Franklin) in Bellingham on Friday, June 16th from 8 – 10 pm, so if you’re in the Bellingham area, drop by and prepare to be entranced.  Wear white so you can participate fully in the lighting effects!

Open Dork/Show and Tell

YOU!!!Yes, if you have a project - any project, at any stage of completeness, an idea - any idea, at any stage of bakedness, an artwork - any kind of artwork at any stage of doneness, please do bring it along to the dorkbot meeting and claim your 10 minutes worth of fame after the presenters.