Eyebeam

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.

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.

I found out this past Thursday that I’m one of 11 finalists short listed for the residency program at Eyebeam! Tomorrow I go to a group interview with 3 other applicants to do a recap of my proposal, and answer any questions from the staff and senior fellows. The residency program runs from March 1st through July 31st, and will give me a chance to use Eyebeam’s resources (3D printer, laser cutter, open studio) to help make project kits to complement the book I’m writing: Making Things Move: DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists. They plan to make a decision by the end of next week, and will accept about 5 of the 11 short-listed applicants. I’m honored to have made it this far in the process out of an estimated 200 applicants, and will hopefully have more good news to report at the end of the week!

I’ve officially decided to apply for Eyebeams’s Artist-In-Residency program. It runs from March 1st through July 31st, and will be the perfect place to write and create projects and kits for my upcoming book. I’ve got less than a week until the application is due, so it’s time for me to stop posting and start working!