From dugsong@umich.edu Sun Nov 3 03:15:00 1996
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 19:05:30 -0500 (EST)
From: Douglas Song
To: entity-list@umich.edu
Subject: chicago trip review
the chicago trip was totally rad. you guys missed out big time.
stuff we hit:
o EVL at UIC. the cave was really, really impressive.
see http://evlweb.eecs.uic.edu/EVL/index.html
o randolph st. gallery. clicking paint stirrer music
and fish in a huge wooden whirligig.
o art institute gallery. giant pigs in bondage gear,
a music room that you "played" by moving around
inside it, huge knitting needles as swimming proxy, etc.
o conference panel talks, electric violin as laserdisk
controller, tour of art institute's sgi lab and other
rad workshops (neon signs, junk, etc.).
other memorable stuff:
o being harassed by our waiter-cum-biker, snake, at
ed debevic's. we stole 2 cups, so who's on top now, big guy?
o getting the downtown tour courtesy of marcus, erstwhile
chicagoan. never could've done it without him.
o porn. (ask heather)
o stuffing 9 people into our hotel room, and mixing it up.
o wandering all over the freakin' city, from the ritzy
magic mile to the seedier parts of town. lots of walking,
L transfers, taxis. lots of shops, stores, etc.
o the stink and fires of gary, indiana.
o constant, 24-7 communication courtesy of thom's headset
"walkie-talkies", even on the road. these were invaluable.
o the awesome view of the lakefront from the top floor
of the art institute.
hopefully the next trip will be even bigger. i spent way more than i
wanted to ($140!) but it was worth every penny. we need to set up a gas
pot in advance next time, the gas/toll $$ never got settled.
btw, happy 21st birthday to erika!
video and flix to be posted soon on a webpage near you...
---
Douglas Song dugsong@{umich.edu,monkey.org}
University of Michigan ITD GPCC Unix Services
www: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dugsong
keyid: C2263445 fingerprint: BF F5 20 EA DA 2F C4 F4 7D 68 4A 50 E4 35 D1 17
From ego@umich.edu Sun Nov 3 03:15:05 1996
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 19:31:41 -0500 (EST)
From: Heather Suzanne Bradley
To: entity-list@umich.edu
Cc: entity-news@umich.edu
Subject: MUSEUM trip:It practically killed us.
Greetings.
Here is an update about entity's journey to the windy city, home of the
TOTAL MUSEUM conference that occured this past weekend:
We had such a great time we almost died (of exhaustion).
The stats:
9 members and two faculty members attended the conference. Michael
Rodemer our infamous faculty sponsor did an outstanding job as a panelist
and speaker at the conference. We were all SO proud of him!
Those attending the conference were:
myself (of course)
Sara Osborn
Thomas Brooks
Erika Sherman
Dan Hacker
Marcus
Joe Harpe
Dirt (that is his uniqname. I never found out his real name)
Dug Song
Transportation:
We left in a three car caravan at 9:30pm on Thursday. We managed to stay
together the entire trip with the help of our ever techy gear supplied by
Thom Brooks. Throughout the trip there and back and ALL over Chicago we
shared four (walkie talkie-esque) headsets which had a range of over over
a quarter mile! We got a lot of stares as we walked around Chicago with
our LED badges, headsets and video cameras.
Those staying in the same room at the hotel:
All of the above.
Yeah, that is correct. We slept nine to a double room. Oddly enough,
this was incredibly fun and a great bonding experience. Everyone worked
together the first night trying to finish up the badges we were planning
to wear at the conference the next day. Dirt unscrewed the bolts on the
windows so that we all didn't die of my toxic solder fumes as I soldered
the wires of the LEDs. Sara was an excellent hot melt glue gun wielder,
Dan did an excellent job creating holes for the LEDs on the badges and Joe
did a great job stripping the wire with his teeth.
Good team work guys!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay so you may be asking what it was that we DID at the conference.
Well, the first day we sat for four hours (beginning at 9am) listening to
speeches given by the panelists. The keynote speaker was David Ross,
Director of the Whitney Museum. A lot of buzz words were tossed around
at first and at times the speeches were disappointing, but overall I think
the panelists had a lot to say. (some of them kept saying it over and
over again at times unfortunately).
After that we went to see some exhibits. Unfortunately the shows were
scattered ALL over Chicago so at times we had to walk fifteen blocks to
see one work of art. Thankfully there was GREAT weather both days and
walking allowed us to see Chicago. The first day's exploration of
exhibits was really disappointing. We saw very little and became
determined that the next day we would see work that would blow us away.
The next day we saw work that blew us away. That made us happy. I will
allow someone else from the trip explain these exhibits in detail. In
brief, they included a room with a video camera that would detect your
movements and convert them into music and a sculpture that detected the
motions of a fish in a small bowl so that the fish could move its own bowl
to different locations of the gallery. (I REALLY like the fish one.)
Throughout the trip lots of crazy stuff occurred.
Everyone was terrified that Dug would kill himself jumping between roofs
of buildings and skateboarding on everything and sometimes everyone! We
all had a very interesting experience Friday night that we will all repent
for I hope. :)
We climbed on cement cars, ate a very cool but very dirty Tai restaurant,
got insulted by waiters at Ed's, got lost only a FEW times, met some cool
cabbies, played tetris in the hotel room on the ancient portable computer
Erika brought, and generally FSU (using Thom's phrase).
I am tired. Very tired.
I am also very happy that so many of us went and hope that many more of
you will come along on our next journey!
I had an incredible time that I will never forget. Thanks everybody!
Heather Bradley
Co-Director of entity -
The Ann Arbor Computer Artist Coalition
entity-list-request@umich.edu
http://www.umich.edu/~entity
"This divorce of art from technology is completely unnatural."
- Robert M. Pirsig
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance