Ben and I just launched our Kickstarter project yesterday to raise money for installing SADbot in Eyebeam’s window gallery. We already have four backers in less than 24 hours! Come join the fun at Kickstarter and then come by Eyebeam starting June 8th to see SADbot in action (if it’s sunny).

I also just signed up to teach a session at ITP Camp for grown ups this summer at NYU. It’s a mash-up of an artist residency and a summer camp for adults that spans the whole month of June and there are tons of interesting sessions shaping up. I signed up to teach a 1.5 hour session on Making Things Move on Monday June 7th.

I’ve been hard at work on Making Things Move at Eyebeam lately, and will also be working on an installation for the window gallery over the next month or so. Ben, part of the tech team here, had an idea to install a interactive solar powered drawing machine in the window gallery that passers by can communicate with through sensors on the inside of the glass. We’ve decided to call it the Seasonally Affected Drawing robot – SADbot for short. Since the power for the motors will come from the sun, it will only be active and moving when the sun is shining. It should be up in early June, in time for the Re:Group exhibit at Eyebeam. If you’ve never been, it would be a great time to visit! Open studio hours are 2-4pm on Tuesdays, and the bookstore is open 12-6pm Tues – Sat. We’ll be working through the details of the installation over the next month, so if you stop by you might catch a glimpse of us on the roof installing solar panels and/or mirrors.

I got an email today that started:
______________
greetings Dustyn,

where to begin? I’ve been a fan for some time but honestly think I’ve only ever seen-in-person a solar charging station. I have yet to encounter your work at Eyebeam, but I hope your residency is going well.
______________

I can’t think of a better way to catch someone’s attention! The email was from Nick Normal, who formally offered me an invitation to participate in the upcoming World Maker Faire he is co-organizing that will be held at the New York Hall of Science in Queens this September 25th and 26th. I was going to propose something anyway after attending the original Maker Faire in San Francisco for the first time this year, but it was certainly nice to get formally invited. If nothing else, it means that I’m internet famous enough to be on his radar somehow. Which is excellent, because we’ve never met.

While working on my NYU class on combining simple machines, I stumbled upon this gear ring. Ben Hopson collaborated with entrepreneur Glen Liberman of Kinekt Design to realize this first piece in what will be a line of kinetic jewelry. My first reaction: I want one. My second reaction: I want to collaborate with them on future designs! I took an intro to silversmithing class a few years back at Studio 174, which has since split into Liloveve and Fitzgerald Jewelry. They both do beautiful work, but alas, no gears. I’ll definitely be in touch with Ben Hopson and Kinekt soon.

Actually, the offer from American Express was mailed to Dustyn Robot, my official company name:

You see, Dustyn Robot is registered as a sole proprietorship. In NY state (not sure about others), you can’t register a sole proprietorship with a name that ends in an S that makes it plural – believe me, I tried. So when I register as an LLC one of these days, it will be Dustyn Robots, but for now, I’m just one robot.

Although it would be nice to have a shiny gold business card, I track all my income and expenses on my existing cards through mint.com and it’s working out great for now. Actually, I just finished my 2009 taxes and it took the whole weekend, so I’m looking forward to using mint.com to categorize expenses as I go this year. Cheers to free online tools!

One of the perks of being an adjunct at NYU is access to a professional development fund to support activities like attendance at an academic conference, meeting or other relevant professional development activity. I applied for the maximum of $1,000 to support travel to Maker Faire in San Francisco this May, and just got a letter in the mail today saying that I was awarded the grant! The Maker Faire lines up well with my residency at Eyebeam to finish my book, Making Things Move, and hopefully after I get a taste of what it’s all about I can participate more formally in the Maker Faire in New York in September.

Although I found out on February 11th, the official press release is out – I’ll be joining Eyebeam as one of their winter/spring residents for 2010! I’m so excited I really can’t wait to get started. It feels amazing to be given the chance to work on something I created. My project for the 5 months will be to finish writing my Making Things Move book, and develop the projects, kits, book art, and companion website throughout that time. My goal is to publish as much of the development and project plans as I can to make the material as accessible as possible. Orientation is March 1st, and my work with Atair Aerospace is winding down, so I’m looking forward to spending the majority of my time on book related work! Most of my posts from March 1 through July 31st, the term of the residency, will be book related so will posted on my book’s companion site instead of here.