wow it is not easy to be a little ray of sunshine right now! how are u all doing? how are u all managing? I hope you have the resources you need, and are staying safe.
let me know how ur doing! send me things you are making!
here’s some stuff to keep you busy and sane:
resource roundup!
CSS animations! so satisfying, and not too tricky once you know what to do! this little tutorial walks you through the different steps of creating an animated effect triggered by a click that is a combination of a few transformations. a nice place to start!
ok, after that are you ready for more CSS transformations? you can create pretty compelling, simple 3D objects with CSS and animate them in the viewport using the techniques described here.
Shaderbooth is an interactive editor for making face filters with WebGl by Max Bittker. you can fart around with the pre-made examples, or edit the code directly to customize your own. so cute! if you’re tired of only having your own face to look at, maybe this will freshen things up?
here’s a quick lil breakdown of a very cute toon-style shader for Unity:
take some inspiration from this Godzilla fan film from 1991. if this dude can make a totally enjoyable monster movie with literally just his own damn self, you can find some wholesome ways to amuse yourself and be creative while we’re all in self-isolation:
opportunities!
as some of these apply to festivals/events taking place this year, keep an eye out for cancellations and program changes before applying.
The Jane Love Tiny Fund is hoping to send some much needed funds to artists in need in these trying times:
Artists! We love you! If you’ve lost work due to the covid crisis we *may* be able to help. Please send a very short (2-3 sentence) email to janelove183@gmail.com about your work including a Paypal address to request a tiny fund. Tiny funds are $100-$500.
People who have great WFH jobs who would like to donate to this fund should email janelove183@gmail.com to get connected with an artist.
This sounds like a cute way to arrange some micro-patronage! A tiny fund might not make rent, but it would get some groceries or some mail-order art supplies to help you keep making!
University of the Underground has an open call for both students and instructors for their newly online program, ‘From the Underground to the Cloud’:
Initially intended for a research bureau between Georgia and Holland titled ‘If I Can’t Dance I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution’, our repurposed programme will now bring together multidisciplinary practitioners investigating disciplines such as dance and other experiential mediums and their potential in building organised communities and reinventing politics within institutions and beyond.
you can learn more and apply here.
Gray Area has moved the spring session of their Creative Code Immersive Program online, and applications are still open! they also have a diversity scholarship for partial tuition available to students from diverse backgrounds who are underrepresented in higher education and the fields of art, design, and technology. you can learn more here.
Poetry Slash is a recital of computational literature that will take place on Saturday, April 25, within the program of publishing fair Libros Mutantes. they have an open call for participants to read texts produced through code with the intention of exploring unconventional forms of literary creation and doing wonderful and crazy things with computers. you can submit here by April 1.
the ZKM | Hertz-Lab has a new artist-in-residence program, with 3 submission clusters seeking open project proposals. applications are due by April 12. you can learn more here.
arebyte has an open call for young artists (under 28) based in the UK (tho outside of London). you can learn more and apply here by April 16.
VR Arles Festival is seeking submissions for the 2020 edition of the festival that meet their 3 curation themes. the deadline has been bumped back to April 30, and the festival will now take place in the fall. you can learn more and apply here.
applications are also open for VRHAM! in Hamburg, Germany. there are opportunities for both residencies (submit a project to be supported and developed) and the VRHAM! Academy (apply for free entrance to the festival program as well as networking events and guided tours). you can learn more and apply here by April 12. this one still seems to be on for June but keep an eye on their Twitter for updates.
📅 upcoming events!
today!! Tech Learning Collective are hosting a free crash course in cybersecurity fundamentals at this social virtual happy hour featuring clips from Mr. Robot! this will be a great way to spice up your roster of virtual hangouts with a brief look at some of the tools and concepts featured in the show, followed by an open q&a. learn more (and donate to support TLC’s programming if you can) here.
Weds Apr 1! Wonderville has moved their events program online for the time being, and will be hosting their monthly playtest night this week via Discord:
Have a game you’re working on? Want to get some testing and feedback? Bring your prototype to Wonderville! No game of your own but want to see what game designers in NYC are cooking up? The more testers the merrier!
you can learn more and grab the link to their Discord here.
Sat Apr 4! Livecoding in Space is a series of creative coding workshops followed by a dance party/algorave happening this Saturday! if you’ve been wanting to dig in on livecoding, here’s ur chance to learn with some rad people! I’m aiming to drop in on the Livecoding w/ p5.js workshop taught by Leandra T, but everything looks great. there are also still some slots open for the algorave if you’re interested in performing! learn more here.
also Sat Apr 4! Faith Holland, Lorna Mills, and Wade Wallerstein have curated an online exhibition featuring over 60 artists with moving image practices. there will be an opening party via Twitch on Saturday night, with the suggested $5 donation going to the participating artists. learn more here.
Thurs Apr 9! The Live Coders will be hosting a virtual conference on Twitch next month, with a lineup of talks ranging from practical tools to self care. sign up for more info here or follow the team on Twitch here.
Hackaday has been collecting a bunch of virtual events on this Google calendar. check it out!
recommendations!
Adventure Snack is a newsletter where each issue is a choose-you-own-adventure story. They’re quite cute and fun, and a nice way to brighten up your inbox amidst the influx of corporate emails about changing policies (ok I really didn’t need to know what literally every company I’ve ever bought something from is doing re: COVID-19). it’s also a great example of using a medium creatively to make an interactive work – Substack wasn’t built for gaming, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a game with it.
Rhizome and New Museum have commissioned 10 new works for WeChat from Raphaël Bastide, Tega Brain and Sam Lavigne, JODI, LI Weiyi, Evan Roth, Slime Engine, Helmut Smits, XU Wenkai (aka aaajiao), Yangachi, and YE Funa:
The works presented in this exhibition are network-native, exploring the potential of mobile technologies. Many employ with a creative and critical appropriation of various social media platforms. With this online exhibition, CAC aims to reaffirm the importance of net art practice, which offered crucial contributions to early discourses on internet culture during the formative years of new media art as a genre, and which continues to play a vital role in shaping the dynamics of an ever more pervasively networked society.
I’m gonna make some time to check this one out later this week (maybe with a livestream??), and you can too by going here.
important videos is one of my favorite little corners of the internet and infinitely watchable imo- it’s over 300 videos of YouTube cringe. my timelines are all just about unreadable right now without an anxiety attack, and according to my smart watch this playlist is super effective at lowering my heart rate. if you’ve already watched every rare Vines compilation, this is the original fountain of little oddities and lulz.
shameless self promotion! I have been digging up old drawings and sharing them on my Instagram while in self-isolation, and some of them are now included in Dom Barra’s White Page Gallery Outbreak exhibition. there’s lots of interesting work to poke thru, so make some time for it.
Leslie Jordan is a treasure.
just for lulz
*~housekeeping~*
if you have anything in the works that you are excited about (an event, a workshop, a new project), please send me all the details. the next newsletter will cover the week of April 6 – 12, but I’m happy to promote events further in the future as well and keep them on the calendar.
