Finally back to my blog!

So, after what seems like (is) an eternity, I've remembered that I have a blog!

I'm just a few days away from embarking on an incredible arts research project with a professional dancer from the UK, Darren Pritchard.  (I say 'embarking' but it feels more like just 'barking'!)  We're going to be locking ourselves away in darkened room for 6 weeks to explore what can be done with dance and the Kinect sensor.

The project travels under the title of Body of Light.  This is phase 1.  A second phase later in the year will take place in Manchester, UK, and develop what we have created into a performance-ready…er…thing.

A little while back I hooked up the Kinect sensor to my laptop and gave it a test.  It sounds simpler than it was.  This is what I look like as a depth map…

Exciting times ahead!

LED light fitting recovery

Well pleased that last night I managed to put together 3 working LED lights from a dozen+ 'dead' LED lights. 

Most of them had dead power supplies (seen here wrapped in yellow tape) but 3 had defective LEDs.  I simply swapped, soldered and heat-shrunk the various bits into 3 working lights.  They're worth something like £10 each so it was time well spent!

Liberation Day Film

So proud to have worked on his film.  The question posed was "What does Liberation mean to you today?" — we met lots of wonderful people in the process…

"What does Liberation mean to you today?" from Guernsey Arts Commission on Vimeo.

 

Arts trail launched

Bee amazed

I found a dead bee (an X.B.) on the window sill.  I'm fairly sure it's a ground bee rather than a honey bee.

Furry little fella	Have you ever seen a bee's foot?
Wing	Mouth
Da beez kneez

"What does Liberation mean to you today?"

I've just completed a stop motion animation project involving the Guernsey public.  On May 9th, we were celebrating 68 years since the end of the German occupation of Guernsey.  We wanted to know what that means to people in 2013.
The responses were thought provoking — both amusing and sobering.  I can't watch it without smiling from ear-to-ear — partly because of the responses, but mostly from the memory of meeting so many wonderful people that day.
To the old and young, Guerns, Brits, French, German, Polish, Dutch and American/German, echoing what is said at the end of the video; "Thank you, everyone!"

"What does Liberation mean to you today?" from Guernsey Arts Commission on Vimeo.

Click to view these pics full size.

Photos by Guernsey Arts Commission.

Hermit Crab goes walk-abouts

One of the recent additions to our little marine aquarium was a hermit crab.  He turned up in a chocolate brown periwinkle shell.  A couple of days later he had upgraded to a dogwhelk shell.  

The other day I spotted him, out and about and very active – which is unusual.  I snapped some video in action and it was so fascinating that I just kept rolling.

The camera is a but shaky — couldn't be helped.  Focus isn't great — I just wish the camera could get closer.

Stop Motion

Had a first play with stop motion animation the other day with JP.  We had a thoroughly good time together.  Seeing an otherwise inanimate object come to life is quite enchanting. 

Maker School: Ping-Pong Ball Stomp Cannon

Maker School: Ping-Pong Ball Stomp Cannon: …you saw it here first!

Chancre Crab Eats Gooseneck Barnacle

Our Chancre Crab (aka. Brown Crab, Edible Crab, Pastie Crab) enjoyed a feast recently.  We had found a washed up fish-box that was covered in Gooseneck Barnacles.  I scraped a few off the plastic box and strung them up our little marine aquarium.  They were fascinating to watch — sieving the water for food then retracting into their shells to eat.  That was until Chancre got wise to them and decided to get piece of the action for himself — even moving rocks so he could reach them!